During its 2008 term, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a contentious dispute between parents and public schools over the right to reimbursement under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. (IDEA). Forest Grove School District v. T. A., 557 U.S.___ 129 S.Ct. 2484 (2009), involved a claim by parents of a special education student for reimbursement from a public school district for their child’s tuition and related expenses at a private school based on the school district’s failure to provide the required plan for the child’s public school education.
The student in Forest Grove had been in regular classes through his junior year in public high school despite being diagnosed with learning disabilities. His parents requested an Individual Education Plan (IEP) under the IDEA. When the school district’s specialists concluded that “his ADHD did not have a sufficiently significant adverse impact on his educational performance” and the school district declined to provide an IEP, the parents unilaterally placed him in a school that focused on special needs children and sought reimbursement of the tuition and costs.
