Decision No. 18,511
Appeal of ELIZABETH WOLFENHAUT, on behalf of her child, from action of the Board of Education of the Pelham Union Free School District regarding residency.
Decision No. 18,511
(October 15, 2024)
Keane & Beane, P.C., attorneys for respondent, Suzanne E. Volpe, Esq., of counsel
ROSA., Commissioner.--Petitioner appeals the decision of the Board of Education of the Pelham Union Free School District (“respondent”) that her child (the “student”) is not a district resident. The appeal must be dismissed as moot.
The Commissioner will only decide matters in actual controversy and will not render a decision on a state of facts that no longer exists due to the passage of time or a change in circumstances (Appeal of Sutton, 57 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 17,331; Appeal of a Student with a Disability, 48 id. 532, Decision No. 15,940; Appeal of M.M., 48 id. 527, Decision No. 15,937; see Matter of Hearst Corp. v Clyne, 50 NY2d 707, 714 [1980]). Where the Commissioner can no longer award a petitioner meaningful relief on his or her claims, no live controversy remains and the appeal must be dismissed (Appeal of R.B., 57 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 17,394; Appeal of N.C., 40 id. 445, Decision No. 14,522).
Petitioner’s sole request for relief is for the student to be admitted to respondent’s schools. Following the initiation of this appeal, respondent admitted the student to its schools as a district resident. Accordingly, there is no further meaningful relief that can be granted, and the appeal must be dismissed (Appeal of McGraw, 64 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 18,452; Appeal of Mizhirumbay, 61 id., Decision No. 18,101).[1]
THE APPEAL IS DISMISSED.
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[1] This decision is being issued prior to receipt of all required or permitted pleadings in this matter. See 8 NYCRR 276.9 (“[t]he commissioner may, in his/her discretion, and at any stage of the proceedings, dismiss an appeal if it appears to the commissioner’s satisfaction that … the appeal has become moot”).