BSEA 09-1335 Ruling Regarding Parent Observation

Weymouth parent requested that she be able to observe her child's program (child had PDD-NOS) for 13 hours and school refused.  Parent went to hearing pro se, and the Hearing Office, Bill Crane, ruled that Weymouth must provide access to the parent for the amount of time requested.  In the decision, the HO stated,  "Consequently, where Parent has provided a prima facie case in support of her proposed observation, where each of Weymouth’s arguments to the contrary is lacking in merit, and where Weymouth has provided no basis upon which I may evaluate how Parent’s proposed number of hours of observation may be appropriately reduced, Parent’s observation request must be allowed in total."

 The decsion was largely based on MGL c 71B s 3 and the DESE Advisory 2009-2 which discusses observations and the recent observation legislation.