Determining that a high schooler’s placement in a residential treatment center was necessary for educational purposes and primarily oriented toward providing an education, a District Court held that the unilateral placement was appropriate. The court ordered a Colorado district to reimburse the parents for all services not provided by a licensed physician. Jefferson County Sch.… [Read more…]
Because a district’s evaluation of a kindergartner with ADHD overemphasized the child’s strong academic performance while downplaying his problem behaviors, an independent hearing officer (IHO) was correct in finding the evaluation inappropriate. The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania affirmed the IHO’s award of compensatory education. G. “J.” D. by G.D. and M.D. v.… [Read more…]
Although the parent of a student with ADHD and Tourette syndrome rejected a proposed FAPE settlement, she still could recover the full amount of attorney’s fees she incurred in an IDEA action against a Texas school district. The U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas awarded the parent $50,175 in fees and costs, plus pre-judgment… [Read more…]
A California school district must permit a six-year-old boy with autism to bring his dog to school while the parents’ discrimination claims against the district are pending. Concluding that the dog qualified as a “service animal” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the… [Read more…]
The Ninth Circuit recently ruled in favor of an eighteen-year-old teenager with autism represented by Paul Kamoroff, Esq. of Kamoroff & Associates. The court held that a new diagnosis of Serious Emotional Disturbance entitled the student to request placement at a residential treatment center (“RTC”) and to have an expanded IEP team meeting to consider… [Read more…]
An Illinois school district did not satisfy the requirements of Section 504 and its implementing regulations when it expelled a middle schooler with a Section 504 plan, concluded the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). To resolve OCR’s compliance concerns, the district agreed to conduct a manifestation determination (MD) and to consider whether compensatory education was… [Read more…]
The Office of Special Education Programs recently stated that Districts must provide students with disabilities the chance to participate in state-mandated general physical education classes even if the student could be receiving specialized instruction during that time. Irby, Letter to, 55 IDELR 231 (OSEP 2010). A “free appropriate public education” includes physical education. For… [Read more…]
A private school was the stay-put placement of a student with a learning disability, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held. The court also rejected a California district’s request to temporarily delay the enforcement of an administrative ruling that required it to pay for the student’s private placement. Ravenswood City Sch.… [Read more…]
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that a local school district predetermined a child’s placement by reaching definitive conclusions prior to the child’s IEP meetings, and by refusing to consider her parents’ input. Finding that the school district denied the child a free appropriate public education (FAPE), the court ordered… [Read more…]
An independent evaluator’s access to public school property is governed by Cal. Ed. Code §56329(b). That section reads, in pertinent part: “[a] parent or guardian has the right to obtain, at public expense, an independent educational assessment of the pupil from qualified specialists…if the parent or guardian disagrees with an assessment obtained by the… [Read more…]
October 31, 2011
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