Our Successes

Least Restrictive Environment

Nicole has won due process hearings when LRE is an issue:

J.V. v. Pottstown Sch. Dist., ODR No. 17720-15-16 (Aug. 12, 2016) (Hearing Officer ordered school district to return a student placed in a full time emotional support program to a district elementary school with supplemental aids and services to address his behavioral needs).

J.C. v. Octorara Area Sch. Dist., 24322-20-21 (May 15, 2021) (Hearing Officer ordered the school district to convene an IEP meeting within 10 days to develop a new program and to then determine placement in accordance with LRE mandates).

D.R. v. Belmont Charter Sch., 30563-24-25 (Apr. 15, 2025) (Hearing Officer ordered the school district to convene an IEP meeting to consider placement options along the entire placement continuum).

Interstate and Intrastate Transfer

Nicole litigated and won on this issue for a student who moved to a school district from another state and the Hearing Officer awarded tuition for Woodlynde School.  J.A. v. Owen J. Roberts Sch. Dist., ODR No. 25443-21-22 (Jan. 14, 2022) (school districts need to have a means for determining whether children who move into the State during the summer are children with disabilities and for ensuring that an IEP is in effect at the beginning of the school year).

Pendency

Nicole has successfully argued that under pendency a school district has to continue to pay tuition for a student placed at a private school by the Charter that they aged out of at the end of the previous school year. A.B. v. William Penn Sch. Dist., O.D.R. No. 22865 19-20., 22865 19-20 (Feb. 10, 2020).

When the school district did not comply, Nicole sought and obtained a preliminary injunction requiring the school district to pay tuition at Stratford Friends School. R.R. and K.F. v. William Penn Sch. Dist., 2:20-cv-1799-WB (Aug. 6, 2020).

Tuition Reimbursement

Nicole has obtained tuition reimbursement through due process in a number of cases, including:

S.S. v. Coatesville Area Sch. Dist., ODR. No. 20136-17-18 (Jul. 3, 2018) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Woodlynde School). 

A.O. v. Norristown Area Sch. Dist., ODR Nos. 23334-19-20, 23394-19-20 (Jun. 28, 2020) (school district ordered to pay tuition for The Quaker School Horsham).

M.F. v. Upper Merion Area Sch. Dist., ODR no. 23339-19-20 (Aug. 7, 2020) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Hill Top School).

F.C. v. Norristown Area Sch. Dist., ODR No. 25209-21-22 (May 13, 2022) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Vanguard School).

S.M. v. Upper Darby Sch. Dist., ODR No. 28243-22-23 (Dec. 3, 2023) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Benchmark School).

A.C. v. Colonial Sch. Dist., ODR No. 29529-23-24 (Aug. 12, 2024) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Woodlynde School). 

S.G. v. Pennridge Sch. Dist., ODR No. 30080-24-25 (Nov. 27, 2024) (school district ordered to pay tuition for Capstone School).

Additionally, Nicole has obtained many settlements for tuition at private schools selected by Parents.  

Compensatory Education

Nicole has obtained awards of compensatory education through due process hearings in several cases, including:

C.M. v. Montgomery Cty Intermediate Unit, 18243-16-17 (Jan. 11, 2017) (awarding 5 hours of compensatory education/day to an early intervention student), affirmed on appeal. Montgomery Cty Intermediate Unit No. 23 v. C.M., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168709 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 12. 2017).  

E.B. v. Downingtown Area School District, O.D.R. No. 21615-18-19 (Jun. 10, 2019) (awarding compensatory education but denying tuition reimbursement). 

M.S. v. Upper Darby Sch. Dist., ODR No. 23355-19-20 (Jun. 15, 2020) (4.66 hours of compensatory education/day for 9 months and 2 hours/day for 3 additional months).

A.D. v. Upper Merion Area Sch. Dist., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197282 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 28, 2022) (compensatory education awarded during time in person instruction not available to student following initial COVID-19 school closures).

J.S. v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., ODR No. 26336-21-22 (Aug. 26, 2022) (awarding compensatory and ordering the school district to convene an IEP meeting).

S.A. v. Chichester Sch. Dist., ODR No. 30220-24-25 (Jan. 29, 2025) (Hearing Officer awarded compensatory education for 2 school years).

Nicole has also settled hundreds of cases for awards of compensatory education.

Discipline

Nicole has been successful at preventing a school district from expelling a student where the incident was a manifestation of the student’s disability. J.S. v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., ODR No. 26270-21-22 (Apr. 28, 2022) (barring school district from convening an expulsion hearing because it would be a unilateral change of placement where the student’s behavior was a manifestation of his disability and no exception applies).

Section 504 and ADA Discrimination Claims

Berardelli v. Allied Servs. Inst. Of Rehab. Med., 900 F.3d 104 (3d Cir. 2018).  (In a matter of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a service dog is a per se reasonable accommodation under Section 504). 

Le Pape v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 103 F.4th 966 (3d Cir. 2024). (Clarifying “some muddled law,” the Third Circuit held that a “denial- of -FAPE claim under the IDEA can be resolved through an administrative appeal but ADA and Section 504 discrimination claims seeking compensatory damages, even if on the same facts, should be resolved through summary judgment and, possibly, trial”).