State DOE fined over
disabled Big Isle student

A federal judge finds that the state failed
to provide educational services to the boy

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A federal magistrate has fined the state Department of Education $15,000 after it repeatedly failed to comply with court orders to provide educational services for a disabled Big Island student.

Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi found the state in contempt after giving it "opportunity after opportunity to properly implement a critical behavior plan and to take reasonable steps to ensure that compliance actually occurs."

"By failing to comply with this court's contempt order, state defendants have breached their duties to this court, as well as those duties arising under the federal statutory and regulatory scheme created by the Individuals with Disabilities Act," Kobayashi noted in her findings issued Wednesday. "More importantly, however, they have undermined any climate of reliability and imposed an unacceptable burden on (plaintiff's) family."

The court rarely exercises its contempt power, said Stanley Levin, attorney for the student.

"The DOE would just not follow the court's orders, so she had no other choice than to fine them," he said.

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said the department is committed to complying with the court's order. "When we find we haven't been able to, we are obligated to go in and correct it and make sure this doesn't happen again."

The court had found the Department of Education in contempt as early as last March. The court had provided specific deadlines back then for then-Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu and the department to finalize a behavior plan for the student, which required review and input by the student's mother, aunt and others who worked with the student and approval by a neutral behavioral expert.

The plan also was to be implemented by the teachers, therapeutic and educational aides and parents, and training was to be provided to the student's family.

In October the court found "clear and convincing evidence" that the state had failed to comply with the March contempt order, but sought arguments from both sides on the amount and type of remedial sanctions.