SpedPro A source for current professional information about special education

Reconsidering LEA reimbursement

The US Supreme Court will reconsider a case about whether parents who, during a dispute with a local education agency (LEA), are eligible for reimbursement for the costs of having their children educated in a private setting (even though the child has not previously been eligible for special education services). Should parents be reimbursed by the LEA for tuition and etc. when they, based on their own judgment, send their child to a private special education program, even though she has not previously been determined to have a disability by the schools?

This issue was examined by the US Supreme Court in 2007, but the court voted 4-4 in that case; the tie was because Justice Antony Kennedy did not vote, having recused himself because of a prior connection to the case. The new case

In this special education case [Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (Case No. 08-305)] based on events in the Forest Grove LEA (OR, US), the justices will return to an issue they deadlocked over in their last term: Whether parents in a special education dispute with a school district may be reimbursed for “unilaterally” placing their child in a private school when that child has never received special education services from the district (New York City v. Tom F.).

Be Sociable, Share!

•