Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 R.T. by and through his guardian ad litem, Case No.: 25-cv-1624-AJB-BJW DAVID TSUKIYAMA, 12 ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO Plaintiff, 13 SEAL PREVIOUSLY FILED v. DOCUMENT 14 SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL 15 DISTRICT, (Doc. No. 16) 16 Defendant. 17 18 SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL 19 DISTRICT, 20 Counter Claimant, 21 v. 22 R.T. by and through his guardian ad litem, DAVID TSUKIYAMA, 23 Counter Defendant. 24 25 26 On June 25, 2025, Plaintiff filed the instant action seeking reversal of a decision 27 from the State of California’s Office of Administrative Hearings (“OAH”), pursuant to the 28 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. (Doc. 1 No. 1.) On September 18, 2025, Defendant San Diego Unified School District answered 2 the complaint and filed a counter claim. (Doc. No. 4.) Now pending is Plaintiff’s motion 3 to file under seal the entire copy of the OAH administrative record. (Doc. No. 16.) For the 4 reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS the motion. 5 A party seeking to seal a judicial record attached to a dispositive motion or one that 6 is presented at trial must articulate “compelling reasons” in favor of sealing. See Kamakana 7 v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). Plaintiff contends that 8 the administrative record contains the “medical, disability, and educational records of a 9 minor.” (ECF No. 16-1 at 2.) Specifically, Plaintiff provides that “the administrative record 10 includes Plaintiff’s individualized education plans (“IEPs”), IEP amendments, evaluation 11 reports (including psychoeducational evaluation reports), correspondence between school 12 staff and student’s parents concerning student’s educational program, standardized test 13 scores, health information, grade transcripts, progress reports, attendance records, and 14 residency information.” (Id. at 2–3.) Plaintiff also contends that the information is protected 15 from public disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). 16 (Id. at 2.) FERPA prohibits federal funding of an educational institution that “has a policy 17 or practice of releasing, or providing access to, any personally identifiable information in 18 education records” without the written consent of the student, a lawfully issued subpoena, 19 or a judicial order. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(2). The term “personally identifiable information” 20 means information such as names, birthdates, social security numbers, and “[o]ther 21 information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that 22 would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal 23 knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty.” 24 34 C.F.R. § 99.3. 25 Here, Plaintiff provides compelling reasons to seal the administrative record. See, 26 e.g., D.L. v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., No. 19-cv-0780- GPC-RBB, at *3–4 (S.D. Cal. 27 Nov. 1, 2019) (sealing OAH record and hearing transcripts); G.R. v. Del Mar Union Sch. 28 Dist., No. 19-cv-132-AJB-MSB, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2019) (sealing record of a due | || process hearing before OAH); Escondido Union High Sch. Dist. v. Aloy, 24-cv-1653-RSH- 2 || JLB, 2025 WL 486175, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 13, 2025) (sealing the entire copy of the OAH 3 ||administrative record). The administrative record contains references to the disabilities, 4 || educational records, and medical information of a minor, and such material is “largely 5 || protected from public disclosure by both federal and state law.” J.M. v. Oakland Unified 6 || Sch. Dist., No. 17-cv-04986-HSG, 2018 WL 6574190, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2018). 7 Further, the prohibited references here are “too numerous to redact,” A.B. ex rel. 8 || WEB. v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist., No. C 07-4738 PJH, 2007 WL 2900527, at *1 9 ||(N.D. Cal. Oct. 2, 2007), “as the administrative record is voluminous.” E.M. v. Poway 10 || Unified Sch. Dist., No. 19-cv-00689-JM-MSB, at *2 (S.D. Cal. July 29, 2019). Indeed, the 11 || documents total more than 2,000 pages and contain sensitive details pertaining to the minor 12 || throughout. (See Doc. No. 15.) 13 Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion to File Documents Under Seal. 14 (Doc. No. 16.) The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to file the documents, currently lodged 15 || with the Court at Doc. No. 15, UNDER SEAL. 16 IT IS SO ORDERED. 17 Dated: November 19, 2025 © 18 Hon. Anthony J. attaglia 19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28