District Court Upholds Decision: School District Provided Student with Free Appropriate Public Education

Earlier this month, the federal district court in the Northern District of Illinois upheld a hearing officer's decision finding that a school district provided a student with a free appropriate public education by placing the student in a cross-categorical classroom within the student's home school district. Franczek Radelet attorneys Darcy Kriha and Amy Dickerson represented the school district in this case. Richard Paul E. v. Plainfield Comm. Consol. Sch. Dist. 202, 2009 WL 995459, 07 C 6911 (N.D. Ill. April 9, 2009).

This case involves a twelve year old multiply disabled student who spent most of his elementary school years attending a therapeutic day treatment program. The school district determined that the student would be better placed within the District upon concluding that such a placement would provide the student with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The student's guardian, disagreeing with the placement, filed a due process complaint, asserting that the student should instead be placed in another private school program. The hearing officer found the District's IEP provided the student with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment as is required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). The student's guardian appealed the decision to federal court, where the court upheld the hearing officer's decision.

In reviewing the hearing officer’s decision, the court found that the plaintiffs had to "strongly convince" the court that the hearing officer's decision was erroneous in order for it to prevail, and the plaintiffs failed to accomplish that. Among other procedural arguments, the plaintiffs alleged that the school district did not provide them with a formal written offer of placement. The Court, however, held that a school district's failure to provide the parent(s) with a formal written offer does not violate the IDEA when no prejudice results. In upholding the hearing officer's decision, the court emphasized the importance of deferring to school districts' expertise when reviewing cases under the IDEA, noting that "[a] long black robe and a gavel give the judge authority to rule on legal issues, not to make educational policy judgments."