(1)(a) A hearing shall be conducted pursuant to rules of the State Board of Education if:

Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 343.165

  • Child with a disability: means a school-age child who is entitled to a free appropriate public education as specified by ORS § 339. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Decision: means the decision of the hearing officer. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Determination: means the determination by the school district concerning the identification, evaluation or educational placement of a child with a disability or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child in a program paid for by the district. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Individualized education program: means a written statement of an educational program for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed and revised in a meeting in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education for each child eligible for special education and related services under this chapter. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Instruction: means providing children and families with information and skills that support the achievement of the goals and outcomes in the child's individualized family service plan and working with preschool children with disabilities in one or more of the following developmental areas:

    (a) Communication development;

    (b) Social or emotional development;

    (c) Physical development, including vision and hearing;

    (d) Adaptive development; and

    (e) Cognitive development. See Oregon Statutes 343.035

  • Order: has the meaning given that term in ORS Chapter 183. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Parent: means the parent, person acting as a parent or a legal guardian, other than a state agency, of the child or the surrogate parent. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
  • Related services: means transportation and such developmental, corrective and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, including:

    (A) Speech-language and audiology services;

    (B) Interpreting services;

    (C) Psychological services;

    (D) Physical and occupational therapy;

    (E) Recreation, including therapeutic recreation;

    (F) Social work services;

    (G) School nurse services designed to enable a child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education as described in the individualized education program of the child;

    (H) Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children;

    (I) Counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling;

    (J) Orientation and mobility services;

    (K) Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes;

    (L) Parent counseling and training; and

    (M) Assistive technology. See Oregon Statutes 343.035

  • School district: means a common or union high school district that is charged with the duty or contracted with by a public agency to educate children eligible for special education. See Oregon Statutes 343.035
  • Special education: includes instruction that:

    (a) May be conducted in the classroom, the home, a hospital, an institution, a special school or another setting; and

    (b) May involve physical education services, speech-language services, transition services or other related services designated by rule to be services to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. See Oregon Statutes 343.035

(A) The parent requests a hearing to contest the determination of the school district concerning the identification, evaluation, individualized education program, educational placement or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child; or

(B) The school district requests a hearing to obtain a decision regarding whether its identification, evaluation, individualized education program or educational placement of the child is appropriate or whether the district’s proposed action is necessary to provide the child with a free appropriate public education.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection, a school district may not request a hearing if a parent refuses or revokes consent for placement in a program providing special education and related services.

(2)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a hearing described in subsection (1) of this section must be requested within two years after the date of the act or omission that gives rise to the right to request a hearing under subsection (1) of this section.

(b) The timeline described in paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply to a parent if the parent was prevented from requesting the hearing due to:

(A) Specific misrepresentations by the school district that it had resolved the problem forming the basis of the complaint; or

(B) The school district withholding from the parent information that the district was required to provide under this chapter.

(3) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules that establish when a school district is obligated to initiate a contested case hearing to ensure that a student with a disability is provided with a free appropriate public education.

(4) The rules adopted for a hearing as provided by subsection (1) of this section shall be as consistent as possible with the procedures applicable to a contested case under ORS Chapter 183, except that:

(a) The school district is required to provide any evidence without undue delay to:

(A) A parent, if the parent requests the evidence;

(B) The Department of Education, a court or an entity designated by the department or court, if the department, court or entity requests the evidence; or

(C) A parent, the department, a court or an entity designated by the department or court if the evidence was provided to the school district’s attorney and is not subject to attorney-client privilege;

(b) Any evidence provided to a parent, the department, a court or a designated entity of the department or court may be redacted only to the extent necessary to protect personally identifiable information of other students unless disclosure is authorized by law or court order;

(c) Any party to a hearing has the right to prohibit the introduction of any evidence that has not been disclosed to that party at least five business days before the hearing; and

(d) The hearing officer may prohibit the introduction of any evidence regarding evaluations and recommendations based on those evaluations that a party intends to use at the hearing, if the evidence has not been disclosed to the other party at least five business days before the hearing, unless the other party consents to the introduction of the evidence.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of this section, in an expedited hearing the evidence must be disclosed to the other party not later than two business days before the hearing.

(6) The parent shall be entitled to have the child who is the subject of the hearing present at the hearing and to have the hearing open to the public.

(7) An expedited hearing shall be held if:

(a) In a dispute over a disciplinary action for a child with a disability, the child’s parent disagrees with a determination that the child’s behavior was not a manifestation of the child’s disability or with any decision regarding the child’s educational placement; or

(b) The school district believes that maintaining the current placement for the child is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or others.

(8) The hearing shall be conducted by an independent hearing officer appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The hearing officer:

(a) Shall not be:

(A) An employee of a school district involved in the education or care of the child;

(B) An employee of the Department of Education; or

(C) A person having any personal or professional interest that would conflict with the person’s objectivity in the hearing.

(b) Shall possess:

(A) Knowledge of, and the ability to understand, the provisions of state and federal special education laws, regulations and legal interpretations by federal and state courts;

(B) The knowledge and ability to conduct hearings in accordance with appropriate standard legal practice; and

(C) The knowledge and ability to render and write decisions in accordance with standard legal practice. [1979 c.423 § 6 (enacted in lieu of 343.077); 1989 c.252 § 1; 1989 c.491 § 35; 1991 c.795 § 5; 1993 c.45 § 206; 1993 c.749 § 8; 1999 c.989 § 16; 2001 c.483 § 1; 2005 c.662 § 5; 2007 c.70 § 104; 2009 c.255 § 5; 2023 c.189 § 2]

 

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