Due to the belief that her son was not receiving an appropriate education in public school, a student’s mother unilaterally placed him in private school at her own expense. In December 2008, the student was faced with two tragedies in three days. His house was completely burned down and three days later, his father passed away. After these tragedies, the student’s mother did not contact the school district about reenrolling her son in public school. However, on April 1, 2009, the student’s mother notified the school district of her intent to file a due process hearing request, alleging that the District failed to offer the student a FAPE for the 2008-2009 school year and sought reimbursement for the cost of tuition.
During the due process hearing, the administrative hearing officer ruled that the school district had offered the student a FAPE for the 2008-2009 school year. The school district contended that absent some indication from the parent that she wished to re-enroll her son in public school, the district was under no obligation to craft a new IEP for the student mid-year. The Court held that when a parent withdraws their student from public school without the consent of or a referral from the school district, the parents can only be reimbursed for their tuition if the school district “had not made a free appropriate public education available to the child in a timely manner prior to… enrollment [in the private school].” The offer of FAPE must be evaluated at the time it was offered, not at some later date. The case is Drake P. v. Council Rock School District, 111 LRP 39448 (E.D.Pa 2011).
This case demonstrates how important it is for a school district to craft an appropriate IEP for a student even if the student is planning to enroll in private school. In this case, if the school district had not created an appropriate IEP for this student before he left the school, they could have been liable for tuition reimbursement costs. However, while it is a parent’s right to enroll their student in private school, their unilateral decision to do so forecloses them from receiving tuition reimbursement costs when the school district has provided an appropriate offer of FAPE.
If you are interested in learning more, or if you have any questions and would like to discuss these developments further, please contact any of Brock Clay’s special education attorneys.
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