UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT · FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ANA LEMUS, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 20-cv-3839 (RCL) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Orlin Cruz Lemus ("Orlin"), 1 a student with a disability, was expelled from District of Columbia International Charter School ("DCI") for threatening to shoot his math teacher. After his expulsion, Ana Lemus ("Ana"), his mother, administratively appealed to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education seeking a reversal of the expulsion. After the Office determined that Odin's expulsion was proper, Ana appealed the administrative determination to this Court, seeking declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief. Both DCI and Ana moved for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Court will GRANT DCI's motion for summary judgment, DENY Ana's motion for summary judgment, AFFIRM the administrative determination, ENTER JUDGMENT for DCI, and DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE the complaint. 1 This Court's previous opinion referred to Orlin, who was a minor at time, by his initials "O.C.L." See Lemus on behalfofO.C.L. v. Dist. of Columbia Int'! Charter Sch., Case Nos. 20-cv-3839 (RCL), 21-cv-0223 (RCL), 2022 WL 407151 (D.D.C. Feb. 10, 2022); Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2. However, as will be discussed, because Orlin is now over eighteen years old and brings this suit in his own name, the Court will refer to him by his given name. See K.P. v. Dist. of Columbia, Case No. 15-cv-1365 (CRC), 2018 WL 6181737, at *1 n.l (D.D.C. Nov. 27, 2018). 1 I. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK A. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") 2 "Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (known as 'IDEA'), states and territories, including the District of Columbia, that receive federal educational assistance must establish 'policies and procedures to ensure,' among other things, that 'free appropriate public education,' or 'FAPE,' is available to disabled children." Reid ex rel. Reid v. Dist. of Columbia, 401 F.3d 516,518 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(l)(A)). Under the IDEA, school districts "must ensure that '[a]ll children with disabilities residing in the State ... regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated."' Id. at 518-19 (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(3)(A)). When a child with a disability is identified, an Individualized Education Program Team ("IEP Team")-a group including the child's teachers and parents-creates an Individualized Education Program ("IEP") to provide "personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally from that instruction." Id. at 519 (quoting Bd. of Educ. of the Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. Westchester Cnty. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 203 (1982)); 20 U.S.C. §§ 1412(a)(4), 1414(d). B. IDEA Disciplinary Procedure The IDEA provides a specific process by which a school may remove a child with a disability who violates the school's code of conduct. The relevant statutory provision and corresponding regulation provide that, in order to expel a student with a disability, the school must 2 Congress revised the IDEA through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement …
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