U.S. Supreme Court Decides Special Education Funding Case
posted by admin in Special Needs NewsThe U.S. Supreme Court delivered a favorable decision for parents of kids with special needs related to special education funding. On April 27th, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case called, Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (6/22/09). The Court was asked to decide whether public schools can refuse to pay for a child’s private special education if the child had not first attended a public school special education program. The school district told the Court that the district’s obligation to pay for private education for kids with special needs arose only when the kid received special education or therapeutic services while enrolled in public school. The district argued that kids who never attended public school were not entitled to tuition reimbursement for private special education programs.
The parents hired a private specialist who diagnosed their son with a learning disability. The parents removed their child from public school when the school denied him special education services. Then, they initiated this case with a complaint filed with their state’s Education Administration Office when the school district refused tuition reimbursement for their child’s private special education program. After several appeals, the case made its way to the high court.
The Court found that the school district failed to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including IDEA Amendments of 1997. The Court explained that the private school placement was appropriate regardless of whether the child first received special education services through the public school.
What do you think about the Court’s decision? I wonder whether this decision means that I can petition my school district for reimbursement for Lindamood-Bell? I hope so!
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I am so glad that you covered this story. This is such an interesting case and I am curious to see how this ruling plays out at the state level. Finding appropriate educational settings for our kids is such a challenge and maybe this ruling will help motivate school districts to work more collaboratively with parents before a conflict happens.
posted on July 13th, 2009 at 5:51 pm - #748[...] of thousands of dollars usually depending upon the number of specialists involved. While recent court opinions offer more families funding opportunities for private special education, other parents find that [...]
posted on March 24th, 2010 at 5:31 pm - #2501