For the first three days of an administrative law hearing about the education plan for a Northport Public School special education student, only one witness was called.

According to Northport superintendent Tyrus Wessell, 47 witnesses are scheduled to appear and 600 pieces of evidence presented. Wessell said he could not comment about the ongoing hearing, or provide details on what’s transpired over the three days.

The next session for the hearing will be held on Dec. 13-14 in Ann Arbor to accommodate testimony of state Department of Education officials. After testimony is taken, the hearing is not slated to resume until sometime in January.

“The hearing dates and locations are set to meet the schedule of the judge and the witnesses,” Wessell said.

The first week of the hearing concluded Thursday afternoon with the student’s mother being asked to review pages of testimony from other witnesses as to when she may have discussed her child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) with them. Attorneys representing the family and the school district have foot-thick binders full of exhibits, reports and previously given testimony that could relate to the hearing.

At the heart of the dispute is whether Northport and Traverse Bay Intermediate School District (TBAISD) officials developed a comprehensive plan and had properly trained staff on hand to deal with the student’s special needs.

Part of the reason for the slow progress in the hearing was demonstrated during testimony Thursday morning. Attorney Jeff Butler, representing Northport Public School, asked the mother to review specific pages of testimony provided by a special education teacher with the TBAISD in which the teacher stated she had met with both of the student’s parents to discuss the student’s progress.

Since Butler was asking the mother to remember a conversation that happened three years ago, she looked as if she were struggling to provide an exact recollection. Butler told her it was okay to say, “I don’t remember,” if that was the case.

The first day and a half of the hearing was spent with both sides agreeing to each other’s exhibits, and making sure information was accurate. The original hearing schedule had both Wessell and the student’s mother testifying over the same time period.

In a report Wessell gave to the Northport Board of Education last month, he said the administrative law judge, Lauren J. Harkness, may take a while to review all the material and testimony before determining an outcome.

If the judge rules in favor of the parents, the Northport school district could be responsible for between $100,000 and $200,000 in costs for holding the hearing.