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Christopher J. Conrad

Co-Chair, Special Education Law Practice Group

CJConrad@mdwcg.com

Portrait of Christopher J. Conrad

Legal Updates for Special Education Law

Legal Update for Special Education Law – Case Law Update

Legal Update for Special Education Law – March 2024

March 1, 2024

by Christopher J. Conrad

District Court dismisses IDEA claim because plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies under the IDEA for education-centric claim even though plaintiffs sought money damages.

Doe v. Central Bucks School District et al., 2024 WL 871336 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 29, 2024)

The school district provided specialized transportation to R.S., a kindergarten student diagnosed with autism who attended school in the district, on a bus for students with special needs. Also, the school district assigned an aide to ride the bus with the student to and from school. On the third day of school, the student recited and repeated dialog from the movie Toy Story to the aide. According to the complaint, the aide allegedly perceived the student’s recitation of dialog from the movie as disrespectful to her, and she struck the student in his head, face, chin and neck area. The student did not sustain any long-term physical injuries, but he is now fearful of riding the bus and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and an exacerbation of an anxiety disorder.

The family filed suit in federal court against the school district, transportation company and the aide individually, alleging various civil rights claims. In particular, the family alleged the defendants violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and denied the student a free appropriate public education. They also alleged the defendants violated the Rehabilitation Act (RA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by denying the student the benefits of safe school bus transportation because of his autism. The school district and bus company moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing in part that the IDEA claim should be dismissed because the family failed to exhaust their IDEA administrative remedies. The defendants also challenged the family’s RA and ADA claims on similar grounds, arguing the family essentially was raising an IDEA claim for the alleged denial of education-based benefits, cast in the guise of separate RA and ADA claims.

The District Court agreed with the defendants’ exhaustion argument and dismissed the IDEA claim without prejudice: “Our Court of Appeals requires we dismiss R.S.’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act claim because R.S. failed to exhaust his administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for his education-centric claim even though R.S. seeks money damages. We dismiss R.S.’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act claim without prejudice.” Doe, 2024 WL 871336 at *6. As well, the court dismissed the family’s RA and ADA claims without prejudice: 

R.S. alleges claimed educational benefit injuries as Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination claims. R.S. alleges the District and its Transportation entity denied R.S. “fair and safe treatment on school buses” and the “public school education program” benefit of “safe school bus transportation.” R.S. alleges the exact type of denied educational benefits our Court of Appeals requires children seek redress through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s administrative remedies.

Id., 2024 WL 871336 at * 7. 


 

Legal Update for Special Education Law – March 2024 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We would be pleased to provide such legal assistance as you require on these and other subjects when called upon. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1 Copyright © 2024 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints or inquiries, or if you wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.

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Hearing Officer Confirms District Acted Appropriately Under IDEA and Section 504 Atty. William J. McPartland (Scranton) obtained a finding in favor of our client, a school district, on all issues following a due process hearing. The parent had filed a due process complaint alleging that the school district had breached its child find duty under the IDEA and Section 504, that the school district had discriminated against the student on the basis of disability in violation of Section 504, and that the school district had denied a free and appropriate public education to the student both by developing inadequate IEPs and via an actionable procedural violation.  Specifically, the student had received a Section 504 evaluation in October 2023, after a number of behavioral infractions culminating in a fight in September 2023, was identified as having anxiety and a sleep disorder, and received appropriate Section 504 accommodations. The student had never previously demonstrated signs of a learning disability, and the parent denied the school district permission to evaluate the student for special education needs in November 2023, and January 2024. The parent granted the district permission to evaluate the student in October 2024, after a private psychologist diagnosed the student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, possible Oppositional Defiance Disorder, a learning disorder, and anxiety. The school district issued a special education evaluation report in December 2024, finding that the student had an emotional disturbance and other health impairment, and an IEP providing an itinerant level of emotional support, as well as instruction in academics and social skills, was issued in January 2025, and amended in February, March, and April 2025. The student withdrew from the school district in April 2025, to attend a cyber charter school. The hearing officer determined that the school district had not violated its child find duty to the student in violation of either the IDEA or Section 504 where the district developed a Section 504 plan for the student within a month and a half of the parent’s first request for a Section 504 evaluation and where the parent repeatedly denied consent to conduct an IDEA evaluation of the student. The hearing officer noted that the student’s sporadic record of behavioral infractions prior to September 2023, did not suggest that the student had a disability prior to the parent’s initial request for an evaluation. The hearing officer further determined that no evidence had been produced to suggest that the student was discriminated against on the basis of disability in violation of Section 504. Additionally, the hearing officer determined that the IEP offered to the student was substantively adequate and that, to the extent the social and emotional programming offered by the school district was not received by the student, this resulted from the parent’s refusal to accept the same. The hearing officer finally determined that the school district did not commit an actionable procedural violation by delaying development of an IEP for the student where the parent repeatedly denied consent to evaluate the student. Court Dismisses Three of Four Claims Against School District Attys. Christopher J. Conrad and Daniel P. McGannon (Harrisburg) achieved a significant early victory on behalf of a school district client in. The team successfully obtained dismissal of three of the four claims asserted in the plaintiff’s amended complaint. The former district superintendent brought multiple claims arising out of his alleged “forced resignation,” including age discrimination under the ADEA, a Section 1983 Equal Protection claim, a Pennsylvania Whistleblower claim, and breach of contract. On behalf of the district, the defense team moved to dismiss the complaint in part, arguing: The plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts to support a prima facie case of age discrimination. The equal protection claim was barred because the ADEA provides the exclusive federal remedy for age-based employment claims. The breach of contract claim could not stand because the underlying employment agreement had expired prior to the alleged breach. The court agreed, dismissing the ADEA, equal protection, and breach of contract claims in their entirety. As a result, only a single claim under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law remains pending. This outcome substantially narrows the scope of the litigation and positions the client for a more efficient defense moving forward.

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Thought Leadership

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