Requestor
J.L. Wolinsky
Requested Information
I request records documenting attorney fee payments made by Howard County Schools in connection with special education disputes or similar proceedings involving claims under disability-related education laws between January 1, 2018 and the present.
I’m interested in understanding fees paid when parents or students raise concerns under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or related Maryland or Federal laws. I’m especially interested in the award of attorney fees as a result of HB 1237 Special Education - Judicial Actions - Attorney’s Fees and Related Costs.
Please include payments of attorney fees by Howard County Schools that resulted from:
• Due process hearings
• Mediations
• State complaints
• Settlement agreements (including informal or pre-hearing resolutions)
• Any other formal or informal proceedings related to a parent/child challenge under IDEA or special education
For each payment, I’m requesting whatever details your records can provide, such as:
• Date of payment
• Amount paid in total and hourly rate
• Payee (attorney or law firm)
• Type of proceeding (if known)
• Whether the payment was part of a settlement, court order, or other resolution
• Itemized billing entries by the attorney or any other means of communicating total fees
I’m interested in understanding fees paid when parents or students raise concerns under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or related Maryland or Federal laws. I’m especially interested in the award of attorney fees as a result of HB 1237 Special Education - Judicial Actions - Attorney’s Fees and Related Costs.
Please include payments of attorney fees by Howard County Schools that resulted from:
• Due process hearings
• Mediations
• State complaints
• Settlement agreements (including informal or pre-hearing resolutions)
• Any other formal or informal proceedings related to a parent/child challenge under IDEA or special education
For each payment, I’m requesting whatever details your records can provide, such as:
• Date of payment
• Amount paid in total and hourly rate
• Payee (attorney or law firm)
• Type of proceeding (if known)
• Whether the payment was part of a settlement, court order, or other resolution
• Itemized billing entries by the attorney or any other means of communicating total fees
Date Received
Status
Complete
Responsive Documents
Responsive to this request, please find attached requested information on payments made specifically for attorney’s fees from available tracking used by the Department of Special Education. Given none of these instances resulted from court/due process proceedings, costs are not derived from itemized attorney billing. As noted in our initial response, tracking in this
manner was initiated in FY2022 and thus is not available prior to that time. The total would need to be derived from individual records/settlement payments/etc. Please note, this includes only those cases where payments by the school system are identified as parent’s attorney fees. This will not include instances in which the school system pays a parent a sum to be used at their discretion for education-related expenses, where the school system would not know how the monies were ultimately spent by the family.
manner was initiated in FY2022 and thus is not available prior to that time. The total would need to be derived from individual records/settlement payments/etc. Please note, this includes only those cases where payments by the school system are identified as parent’s attorney fees. This will not include instances in which the school system pays a parent a sum to be used at their discretion for education-related expenses, where the school system would not know how the monies were ultimately spent by the family.