SIMANDLE, Chief Judge:
In this action, Plaintiffs A.D. and R.D., individually and on behalf of their son, S.D. (hereinafter, "S.D." and collectively, "Plaintiffs") allege that Defendant the Haddon Heights Board of Education (hereinafter, "Defendant") failed to comply with its statutory obligations to provide S.D., a student with a disability, with a free and appropriate education (hereinafter, "FAPE"), and enacted an attendance policy that deprived S.D. of an education equivalent to that provide to his nondisabled peers. Plaintiffs therefore allege that Defendant violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 791 et seq. (hereinafter, "RA"), Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12132 et seq. (hereinafter, the "ADA"), the First and Fourteenth Amendments pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. §§ 10:5-12 et seq. (hereinafter, "NJLAD").
Defendant now moves to dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint on an array of jurisdictional and substantive grounds. (Def.'s Br. [Docket Item 32-2].) First, Defendant asserts that the parties' July 2014 Settlement Agreement and Defendant's subsequent accommodations have rendered Plaintiffs' claims moot and/or premature for adjudication, thereby depriving the Court of subject matter jurisdiction. (Id. at 9-13.) Second, because Plaintiffs seek relief available under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. (hereinafter, the "IDEA"), Defendant insists that Plaintiffs must comply with the IDEA's administrative process, despite the fact that Plaintiffs only assert non-IDEA claims. Because Plaintiffs indisputably failed to exhaust the IDEA's administrative remedies, Defendant therefore argues that Plaintiffs' claims must be dismissed for failure to exhaust. (Id. at 16-22.) Lastly, Defendant seeks dismissal of Plaintiffs' claims on the merits because Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs, however, dispute the Settlement Agreement's effect on the justiciability of their claims, and argue that the terms of the Agreement served to "inflict further discrimination," rather than to redress the allegations set forth in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint. (Pls.' Opp'n [Docket Item 37], 5-9.) In addition, Plaintiff asserts that the exhaustion requirements of the IDEA have no application to this litigation, because Plaintiffs do not — and cannot — claim entitlement to relief under the IDEA. (Id. at 10-14.) Finally, Plaintiffs argue that Defendant's motion should be rejected with respect to its substantive challenges to Plaintiffs' claims, primarily because such challenges rely upon a "conjure[d]" version of facts entirely different to those averred in the Amended Complaint. (Id. at 15-30.)
The principal issues before the Court are whether the parties' July 2014 Settlement Agreement impacted Plaintiffs' standing to pursue their claims; and whether, in this non-IDEA action, the nature of Plaintiffs' claims nevertheless require compliance with the IDEA'S administrative exhaustion process.
For the reasons that follow, Defendant's motion will be granted on exhaustion grounds. Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint will, accordingly, be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Because resolution of the pending motion relates inextricably to the procedural posture of this litigation, the Court will discuss the factual predicate
S.D., an eleventh-grade student at Haddon Heights Junior/Senior High School, suffers from "multiple medical problems including chronic sinusitis with frequent acute exacerbations, allergic rhinitis, and intermittent asthma," all of which "make it likely that he will have frequent" school absences and tardiness "due to [his] acute [] underlying chronic illness." (Am. Compl., Ex. C.) On October 24, 2012, Plaintiff's physician, Dr. Wendy S. Cook, D.O., therefore advised that S.D. "should qualify for 504 plan modifications for school" and "should be excused for absences/lateness due to his illness." (Id. at Ex. A.)
For the remainder of the 2012-2013 school year, Defendant, accordingly, developed a 504 Accommodation Plan, in consultation with Plaintiffs, on October 25, 2012 (hereinafter, the "initial 504 Plan"). (See Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 24-25, 29-30.) The initial Section 504 Plan provided S.D. with "extra time for assignments, tests, and quizzes when absent," and directed Plaintiffs "to communicate" with S.D.'s teachers concerning "any missed work" and absences. (Am. Compl., Ex. A at 2.) Despite these accommodations, however, Plaintiffs allege that the initial 504 Plan failed to "impose any enforceable obligations" upon Defendant and its teachers, and provided no mechanism for S.D. "to be instructed in
Defendant thereafter convened a 504 meeting on April 19, 2013, and developed an amended 504 Accommodation Plan (hereinafter, the "amended 504 Plan"). (Id. at ¶ 33-34.) The amended 504 Plan continued to provide S.D. "extra time to complete assignments," but required all assignments to "be completed within two weeks from [S.D.'s] return from absence," allowing teachers to reduce S.D.'s assignments at their discretion. (Am. Compl., Ex. B.) In addition, the amended 504 Plan directed S.D.'s teachers to "send weekly updates" concerning missing assignments and to provide class notes and, if possible, background information and/or discussion materials concerning information covered in class. (Id.) The amended 504 Plan further imposed various, purportedly onerous "responsibilities," by requiring S.D. to create lists in order to track assignments and to maintain folders to segregate complete and incomplete work, and directed him to meet, regularly, with his teachers and guidance counselor. (Id.; Am. Compl. at ¶ 39.)
Plaintiffs, however, allege that the amended 504 Plan similarly failed to provide any "mechanism" or "firm or enforceable directive" to ensure that S.D.'s teachers provided class notes and/or exercised their discretion to reduce assignments. (Am. Compl. at ¶ 44.) Plaintiffs further allege that the amended 504 Plan failed to ensure that S.D. received supplemental or alternative instruction (namely, home instruction), "to enable him to keep up with the curriculum, [to] complete his assignments in a timely manner," and to otherwise enjoy the benefits of, and access to, the educational opportunities offered by Defendant to S.D.'s "typical peers." (Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 35, 41, 46.) Rather, Plaintiffs allege that the amended 504 Plan continued to require S.D., in effect, "to teach himself the curriculum and to [] identify and understand assignments" explained by teachers in his absence-only causing S.D. to fall "further and further behind" in his academic assignments. (Id. at ¶ 46.)
The attendance policy in effect for the 2012-2013 academic year prohibited a student from earning credit for a course in which the student accrued more than 15 absences, unless the student provided a "medical note from a physician" to substantiate and excuse the excess absences.
"Due to his chronic medical issues, S.D. had over 33 absences during the 2012-2013 school year." (Am. Compl. at ¶ 48.) Despite such absences, however, S.D. purportedly
In the summer of 2013, Defendant enacted a new attendance policy, as follows:
(Id. at ¶ 53; see also Am. Compl., Ex. E.) The new policy, however, left undisturbed Defendant's existing Saturday Credit Completion program. Plaintiff therefore alleges that Defendant "made a deliberate choice to enact the Policy," in order to "target" students, like S.D., "with frequent excused absences," and "never" offered the only exception to the new policy, home instruction, as an accommodation, despite S.D.'s frequent "medically-excused" absences. (Id. at ¶¶ 54-56, 65.)
On September 30, 2013, Defendant prepared a 504 Plan for S.D.'s 2013-2014 academic year — a plan that "simply repeated" the amended 504 Plan "virtually verbatim," despite the new 33-maximum-absence attendance policy.
On March 13, 2014, Ronald F. Corn, the Principal of S.D.'s High School, thereafter informed Plaintiffs that Defendant's "records show that [S.D.] ... accumulated
Nevertheless, Defendant scheduled a 504 meeting for March 24, 2014, in order "to discuss ways [to] accommodate [S.D.] regarding time missed for attendance for absences related to [his] underlying disability." (Am. Compl., Ex. F.) Defendant, however, purportedly failed to provide Plaintiffs with the requisite notice, and "refused" to reschedule the meeting despite Plaintiffs' request. (Am. Compl. at ¶ 86.) Rather, Defendant convened the meeting, despite Plaintiffs' absence, and provided Plaintiffs with a revised 504 Plan on April 14, 2014. (Id. at ¶ 85.) The revised 504 Plan required that S.D. make up excused "absences related to [his] underlying disability" by attending "Saturday school for credit reinstatement" or by "homebound instruction." (Am. Compl., Ex. F.)
Plaintiffs, however, allege that the revised 504 Plan still failed to provide an appropriate education, because "simply logging" extra hours in the last six weeks of the school year purportedly failed to provide S.D. "with the targeted instruction intended to provide him with equal opportunity to benefit from Defendant's educational program." (Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 91-93.) Plaintiffs further allege that the "credit reinstatement process" serves as a punitive, rather than educational, substitute for in-class instruction, given that Defendant created such process "for students who are repeatedly truant from school for no identifiable reason deemed worthy of excuse." (Id. at ¶ 94.) Plaintiffs, accordingly, assert that these additional efforts similarly failed to provide an appropriate and enforceable mechanism "to deliver [the] supplemental instruction and guidance" necessary for S.D.'s education. (Id. at ¶ 95.)
Despite Defendant's policy of automatic retention for excessive absences, S.D. purportedly earned sufficient credits in his 2013-2014 courses for promotion to Grade 11. (Id. at ¶ 87.) Given S.D.'s allegedly inevitable retention under the new attendance policy, Plaintiffs filed for a motion for preliminary injunction on April 11, 2014. In their motion, Plaintiffs requested that the Court enjoin Defendant from enforcing "its policy to retain students based [] solely [upon] the student's number of total absences," including absences excused for medical reasons, thereby enabling S.D. to Grade 11. (Pls.' Br. [Docket Item 4-10], 19.)
On June 18, 2014, however, the parties reached a settlement that resolved the issues presented in the motion for preliminary injunction without Court intervention. Specifically, "in order for S.D. to be promoted to Grade 11," Plaintiffs agreed to retake, at Plaintiffs' expense, an online drivers' education course that S.D. had already mastered. (Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 96-97.) Plaintiffs, however, agreed to such terms "without waiving any rights or making any admissions with respect" to the Settlement's requirements, and specifically allege that such requirements amplified, rather than diminished, Defendant's purported discrimination. (Id. at ¶¶ 96-100.)
Indeed, as alleged in connection with Defendant's earlier accommodations, Plaintiffs assert that the Settlement Agreement (though accepted) failed to "address any harm that results from student
Shortly thereafter, Plaintiffs moved to file an Amended Complaint, in order to clarify and supplement Plaintiffs' claims. (See Pls.' Br. [Docket Item 28-3].) In connection with such submission, Plaintiffs specifically asserted that the parties' resolution of the "immediate issues of irreparable harm" raised in the motion for a preliminary injunction did not "resolve[] the dispute in its entirety." (See id. at 1.) Defendant filed no opposition, and the Court, accordingly, granted Plaintiffs' motion on August 19, 2014. [Docket Item 29.]
In the six-count Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant's various proposed accommodations from September 2012 through the present subjected S.D. to discrimination due to the nature and severity of his disability, by denying him the meaningful opportunity to engage in and access the educational program and services, in violation of the RA, the ADA, and NJLAD. (Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 102-13, 133-39.) In addition, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant enacted the new attendance policy in retaliation for Plaintiffs' engagement in protected activity, namely, filing this litigation and complaints before the DOE, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the RA, the ADA, and the NJLAD. (Id. at 114-32, 140-44.) In light of Plaintiffs' discrimination and retaliation claims, Plaintiffs seek:
(See Am. Compl. at 27-28 (setting forth the thirteen precise forms of requested relief).) Defendant's pending motion followed shortly thereafter.
In this action, Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). When a party moves to dismiss under more than one Rule 12 ground, the Court must first consider the Rule 12(b)(1) challenge, "because if it must dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, all other defenses and objections become moot." In re Corestates Trust Fee Litig., 837 F.Supp. 104, 105 (E.D.Pa.1993).
Because federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, the party seeking to invoke the court's jurisdiction bears the burden of proving the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. See Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) therefore enables a party, as here, to move to dismiss a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Under Rule 12(b)(1), the court's jurisdiction may be challenged either facially (based on the legal sufficiency of the claim) or factually (based on the sufficiency of a jurisdictional fact). Gould Elecs. v. U.S., 220 F.3d 169, 178 (3d Cir.2000). In considering a factual attack, as here, the Court's inquiry is not confined to allegations in the complaint. Rather, the Court may "consider affidavits, depositions, and testimony to resolve factual issues bearing on jurisdiction." Gotha v. U.S., 115 F.3d 176, 179 (3d Cir.1997); see also Mortensen v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 549 F.2d 884, 891-92 (3d Cir.1977).
Article III of the United States Constitution requires that "an actual controversy must be extant at all stages of [the Court's] review, not merely at the time the complaint is filed." Camesi v. Univ. of Pittsburgh Med. Ctr., 729 F.3d 239, 247 (3d Cir.2013) (quoting Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1523, 1528, 185 L.Ed.2d 636 (2013)). Exhaustion of applicable administrative remedies is similarly required in order for the Court to exercise subject matter jurisdiction. See, e.g., D.E. v. Central Dauphin Sch. Dist., 765 F.3d 260, 274 (3d Cir.2014) (generally noting that exhaustion constitutes a prerequisite to the district court's subject matter jurisdiction).
Consequently, mootness and ripeness arguments, as here, present factual (rather than facial) challenges to the Court's subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). See Holland v. N.J. Res. Corp., No. 12-07858, 2013 WL 4780763 at *1 n. 2 (D.N.J. 2013); Gordon v. East Goshen Twp., 592 F.Supp.2d 828, 837 (E.D.Pa.2009). Consequently, the Court need not credit the allegations set forth in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, and may instead consider matters extraneous to the pleadings, if necessary. See Gould Elecs. Inc. v. U.S., 220 F.3d 169, 178 (3d Cir.2000).
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), by contrast, the court must "`accept all factual allegations as true, construe
Defendant argues that, as a result of the parties' July 2014 Settlement Agreement and S.D.'s most-recent 504 Plan, S.D.'s disability-related absences no longer affect his eligibility for promotion to the next grade, and that Defendant has begun to provide S.D. with home instruction in order "to make up for instruction he misses" on account of his "chronic health condition or disability." (Def.'s Reply
Indeed, the allegations of the Amended Complaint extend far beyond the narrow issues of absence counting under the new attendance policy and S.D.'s promotion to Grade 11. (See Pl.'s Opp'n at 6.) Rather, the crux of Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint concerns Defendant's repeated development of purportedly ineffective, discriminatory, and poorly implemented Section 504 plans from September 2012 through the present; Defendant's allegedly retaliatory enactment and discriminatory application of the new attendance policy; and Defendant's purportedly retaliatory requirement that Plaintiffs meet advancement standards (namely, the online driver's course required by the Settlement Agreement) not required of other students. (See Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 102-44; see also Pls.' Opp'n at 5-6 (summarizing the nature of Plaintiffs' claims).) In connection with such claims, Plaintiffs seek specific findings concerning the propriety and implementation of each 504 plan developed for S.D. (See Am. Compl. at 27-28 (delineating the relief requested by Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint).) Moreover, Plaintiffs' retaliation claims rest, in part, upon the purportedly retaliatory terms of the Settlement Agreement. (See generally Am. Compl. at 27-28.)
Consequently, though the parties' Settlement Agreement may have partially resolved the effect of certain of the alleged violations of S.D.'s civil rights, the Agreement does not, by itself, resolve Plaintiffs' allegations concerning "two years of discriminatory treatment," nor does it dispose of Plaintiffs' contentions that Defendant enacted the new attendance policy and required Plaintiff "to pay for and meet additional requirements" not imposed upon other students, in retaliation for Plaintiffs' litigation efforts. (See Pls.' Opp'n at 6, 9.)
Consequently, for all of these reasons, the Court rejects Defendant's assertion that Plaintiffs' claims should be dismissed on justiciability grounds, and turns to the parties' positions concerning the need for administrative exhaustion in this litigation.
Defendant also argues, in this non-IDEA action, that Plaintiffs' claims must be dismissed for failure to first exhaust the IDEA'S exhaustion requirements. (See Def.'s Br. at 16-21; Def.'s Reply at 5-9.) In that regard, Defendant insists that Plaintiffs must "fully exhaust" the IDEA's administrative remedies because Plaintiffs seeks relief "available under the IDEA." (Id.) Plaintiffs counter, however, that no such exhaustion requirement applies because "they simply do not seek any relief" available under the IDEA, nor could S.D. claim entitlement to such relief.
At the outset, the Court addresses Plaintiffs' threshold assertion that S.D. does not constitute "a child with a disability that adversely affects his educational performance," as required to fall under the purview of the IDEA.
In that regard, the Court notes that the IDEA aims to "`ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a
20 U.S.C. § 1401(3)(A) (emphasis added). The IDEA similarly defines "other health impairments" as
34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(9)(i)-(ii). Disability under the IDEA therefore extends beyond solely students with learning disabilities, and expressly includes health impairments that limit a student's ability to attend regular classes and which adversely affect his or her educational performance. In Batchelor, the Third Circuit has held that the IDEA governs actions seeking relief that could be obtained under the IDEA, regardless of the statutory basis of the claims pleaded in the complaint, 759 F.3d at 274-75.
Here, Plaintiffs allege that S.D. suffers from acute and chronic medical problems, including sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma. (See Am. Compl., Ex. A.) Plaintiffs further allege that such conditions adversely impact his ability to learn, and necessitate frequent school absences. (See Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 3-4, 26-27, 56.) In light of these conditions, the amended Section 504 plan expressly provided S.D. with "the right to 10-15 minute breaks during the day," presumably due to the fact that S.D.'s conditions result, on occasion, in his diminished vitality. (Id. at ¶ 38.) In that regard, Plaintiffs' own allegations concede the presence of both statutory prerequisites for the IDEA's application, namely, a qualifying disability (here, asthma
Consequently, the record before the Court supports, at this time, the conclusion
The IDEA requires, in relevant part, that states receiving federal funds "make
Congress required plaintiffs to complete the administrative process prior to resorting to federal court, "because allowing a `claim without requiring exhaustion ... would not only `render superfluous most of the detailed procedural protections out-lined in the statute, but, ... would also run counter to Congress' view that the needs of handicapped children are best accommodated by having the parents and the local education agency work together to formulate an individualized plan for each handicapped child's education.'" M.G. ex rel. LG v. Caldwell-West Caldwell Bd. of Educ., 804 F.Supp.2d 305, 313 (D.N.J.2011) (quoting Komninos, 13 F.3d at 778 (quoting Smith v. Robinson, 468 U.S. 992, 1011-12, 104 S.Ct. 3457, 82 L.Ed.2d 746 (1984))). Exhaustion further affords the education agencies an opportunity "to apply their expertise and correct their own mistakes." Woodruff v. Hamilton Twp. Pub. Sch., 305 Fed.Appx. 833, 837 (3d Cir.2009) (citing McKart v. U.S., 395 U.S. 185, 194-95, 89 S.Ct. 1657, 23 L.Ed.2d 194 (1969)).
Consequently, parties may only commence a civil action in district court following "the findings and decision" of an administrative hearing. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(C)(i)-(iii) At that time, the reviewing court may grant "such relief as [it] determines appropriate," see id., including "attorneys' fees, reimbursement for a private educational placement, and compensatory education." Chambers v. Sch. Dist. of Phila. Bd. of Educ., 587 F.3d 176, 185 (3d Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Though Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint does not identify a claim under the IDEA, in Batchelor v. Rose Tree Media School District, 759 F.3d at 272, the Court of Appeals found that "[e]xhaustion of the IDEA'S administrative process is also required in non-IDEA actions where the plaintiff seeks relief that can be obtained under the IDEA." Indeed, Section 1415(l) of the IDEA expressly provides a rule of construction, which states that:
Id. (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l)). This provision therefore "`bars plaintiffs from circumventing [the] IDEA'S exhaustion requirement by taking claims that could have been brought under IDEA and repackaging them as claims under some other statute — e.g., section 1983, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or the ADA.'"
Determining whether the IDEA's administrative process must be exhausted prior to bringing claims in federal court therefore turns on "whether the parties could have asserted the claims under the IDEA" and "whether the claim could have been remedied by the IDEA'S administrative process." Id. at 273. In other words, claims under Section 504, the ADA, Section 1983, or any state analogue, will require exhaustion, if such claims seek relief "available under the IDEA." Id. In that regard, the Court again finds the Third Circuit's Batchelor case instructive.
In Batchelor, the plaintiffs, a mother and son, filed suit against the school district, primarily alleging that the school district retaliated against them "`for their advocacy with respect to [the son's] legally protected right'" to a FAPE. Id. at 270, 274 (citation omitted). The plaintiffs specifically asserted three claims: retaliation and failure to provide a FAPE under the IDEA; retaliation in violation of Section 504; and retaliation in violation of the ADA. Id. at 270. The plaintiffs argued, as here, that they need not exhaust administrative remedies with regard to their Section 504 and ADA claims. Id.
Upon review of the plain language of the statute — which "affords parents of a disabled child the opportunity to present a complaint `with respect to any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to such child'" — the Court of Appeals, however, found "a logical path to be drawn" from the claims of retaliation to the school district's failure to provide, and plaintiffs' efforts to obtain, "`a free appropriate public education.'" Id. at 274-75 (emphasis in original). Because of the "`unmistakabl[e]'" relationship between the retaliation claims and the provision of a FAPE under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6), the Batchelor court concluded that such claims must be exhausted under the IDEA. Id. at 274-75.
In the wake of Batchelor, district courts throughout this Circuit have found non-IDEA actions subject to IDEA exhaustion requirements, where the asserted claims bear relation to the IDEA'S guarantee of a
Here, as in Batchelor, Plaintiffs' retaliation and discrimination claims are inextricably linked to the key benefit secured by the IDEA — a free and appropriate public education. (See generally Am. Compl.) Indeed, although discrimination claims may not ordinarily be provided for under the IDEA, see Hornstine v. Twp. of Moorestown, 263 F.Supp.2d at 901-02, Plaintiffs' discrimination claims in this instance explicitly center upon the appropriateness of the education provided to S.D. in light of his disabilities.
Indeed, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint principally alleges that Defendant failed to provide S.D. "the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the educational services and programs," and limited "his enjoyment of the right and opportunity to receive a free, appropriate public education equal to the opportunity enjoyed by his nondisabled or differentially disabled peers." (Id. at ¶¶ 5, 9, 14, 64.) In so alleging, Plaintiffs contend that Defendant failed to prepare and implement a Section 504 Plan sufficient "to identify the reasonable accommodations necessary to allow S.D. to access the free, appropriate public education," despite the fact that S.D.'s medical disabilities "necessitate frequent excused absences from school." (Id. at ¶¶ 4, 22, 95, 98.)
Consequently, though couched in slightly varied terms, it is clear that Plaintiffs' allegations principally concern: (1) whether Defendant appropriately identified S.D. as a student with a disability; (2) what constitutes a free appropriate public education for S.D.; and whether, and to what extent, the various accommodations sufficiently addressed S.D.'s right to a FAPE. (See Am. Compl. at ¶¶ 102-13, 133-39.) In that regard, Plaintiffs' discrimination claims squarely relate to the core provision of the IDEA: Defendant's obligation to provide a FAPE, and therefore fall within its ambit. See 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(6) (noting that the IDEA applies to "any matter relating to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the[ir] child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to such child") (emphases added); Polera v. Bd. of Educ. of Newburgh Enlarged City Sch. Dist., 288 F.3d 478, 488 (2d Cir.2002) (finding that the plaintiff's claim for "failure to provide her with the free appropriate public education" sought redress under the IDEA); Cave v. East Meadow Union Free Sch. Dist., 514 F.3d 240 (2d Cir.2008) (rejecting plaintiffs' argument that their claims rested upon unlawful discrimination and not a violation of the IDEA, because the FAPE discrimination claims all could have been addressed within the framework of the IDEA); Baldessarre v. Monroe-Woodbury Cent. Sch. Dist., 820 F.Supp.2d 490, 505 (S.D.N.Y. 2011) (citing a multitude of cases, and finding that "all of [p]laintiffs' claims of discrimination relate to the interplay between [the child's] disability and his education," and therefore require IDEA exhaustion).
Plaintiffs' retaliation claims similarly turn upon the educational placement of S.D. and the enforcement of rights available under the IDEA, namely, the provision of a free and appropriate education. (See id. at 55 114-32.) Indeed, Plaintiffs specifically allege that Defendant took "adverse action" as a result of "Plaintiffs'
For all of these reasons, the Court concludes that, under Batchelor, Plaintiffs' claims fall within the ambit of the IDEA, and therefore require exhaustion of the IDEA's administrative remedies.
Plaintiffs need not comply with the IDEA's exhaustion requirements if "exhaustion would be futile or inadequate," if "the issue presented is purely a legal question," or if "the administrative agency cannot grant relief." Komninos, 13 F.3d at 778 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Here, Plaintiffs argue that, even if their claims fall within the scope of the IDEA'S exhaustion requirement, the futility exception applies to the extent Plaintiffs seek monetary relief not available under the IDEA. (Pls.' Opp'n at 12-13; see also Am. Compl. at 28 (setting forth Plaintiffs' request for an award of compensatory and punitive damages).)
Though compensatory and punitive damages, as sought in this action, "`are not available under the IDEA and cannot be awarded in the context of a Due Process hearing,'" the remedies sought in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint do not constrain the relief the Court "is authorized to grant." Batchelor, 759 F.3d at 276. Rather, "`the theory behind the grievance may activate the IDEA'S process, even if the plaintiff wants a form of relief that the IDEA does not supply.'" Id. (quoting
Here, although Plaintiffs seek incidental monetary damages,
For all of these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiffs' claims fall within the ambit of the IDEA and require exhaustion. In addition, the Court finds, under the facts presented, that no exception excuses compliance with the IDEA's exhaustion requirement.
Moreover, because Plaintiffs' failure to exhaust deprives this Court of subject matter jurisdiction, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint will be dismissed in its entirety without prejudice.
An accompanying Order will be entered.
