Third Circuit Upholds Award of Attorneys’ Fees Despite Student’s Loss Before Administrative Law Judge - Augustyn v. Wall Twp. Bd. of Educ., No. 23-3156, 2025 WL 1352259 (3d Cir. May 9, 2025) - The student was unsuccessful...more
As attorneys representing families and students with disabilities, we are often asked about the differences between compensatory education and Extended School Year (“ESY”) services for students with disabilities. While both...more
Generally, independent schools intentionally refrain from participating in the majority of federal funding programs, preserving their ability to ensure the educational program is provided in a manner that is reflective of...more
Sometimes, despite the best and thorough efforts of school employees, parents of students receiving special education services will file a request for a due process hearing (usually known as a “due process complaint”). When...more
Third Circuit affirms lower court finding that a school district did not violate the IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Zachary J. through Jonathan and Jennifer J. of Lafayette Hill, PA v. Colonial Sch. Dist.,...more
Can public school children with disabilities sue their schools for violations of the federal antidiscrimination statutes and collect compensatory damages before exhausting their administrative remedies under the Individuals...more
Summary of the ruling (& its underlying alphabet soup): The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) requires school districts to provide their disabled students a Free Appropriate Public Education...more
A.N. v. Upper Merion Area School District, 2022 WL 3371612 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2022). The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld a hearing officer’s award of 5.5 hours of compensatory...more
It is not uncommon for school districts and parents to disagree over what is to be included in a child’s individualized education program (“IEP”). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) provides a process...more
The American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden at the end of last week includes almost $130 billion in education funding. The vast majority of that money will be distributed to school districts based on the Title I...more
In the wake of Governor Pritzker’s recent order requiring all Illinois schools to close between March 17 and March 30, many schools and school districts have been left guessing how to best serve students with disabilities and...more
As you are all aware, a basic educational requirement in the State of Connecticut is that each school district must make a minimum of 180 days of instruction available to students each school year. ...more
Part 2: California Laws Impacting Schools and School Districts for 2020 - Last year brought many changes to the legal landscape affecting educators. In this Best Best & Krieger LLP Legal Alert series, we look at some of...more
School districts have an additional defense in their arsenal when faced with an alleged procedural violation of the IDEA: the student’s own poor motivation. The United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose...more
Once again, the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (“OSERS”) has weighed in on the rights of school districts to limit outside evaluators from accessing school classrooms. The...more
In what appears to be the first case of its kind within the Second Circuit, a United States District Court Judge within the District of Connecticut has crafted an order of over $200,000 in compensatory damages for a school...more
Say what you will about the Roberts Court, but you cannot say it does not confront diffi cult issues that impact the everyday lives of most Americans. One of those issues presently before the Court is public education,...more
The U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) recently issued a second Dear Colleague Letter interpreting the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”) and...more
During a brief altercation in Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel, The Maltese Falcon, the protagonist, Sam Spade, warns one of his antagonists that “when you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it.” That is much the same...more