This site will periodically highlight major new legal developments, with a focus on student issues under the IDEA and Sec. 504/ADA. To receive these updates via email or WordPress reader, please subscribe.
Monthly Legal Updates
August 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent, published federal court decisions and are of general significance: (a) exclusionary discipline of students with disabilities on the basis of school safety, and (b) attorneys’ fees for prevailing parents. Click here to download the update and read more.
July 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent federal appeals court decisions and are of general significance: (a) the application of Endrew F. and PRR, and (b) a surprising and puzzling wrinkle in tuition reimbursement jurisprudence. Click here to download the update and read more.
June 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update identifies two new federal appeals court decisions focusing on the substantive dimension of FAPE, with secondary attention to interrelated requirements, such as LRE and transition services. Click here to download the update and read more.
May 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent relevant court decisions and are of general significance: (a) the emerging fourth dimension of FAPE—capability to implement the IEP, and (b) the overlapping issues of the procedural and substantive dimensions of FAPE with LRE. Click here to download the update and read more.
April 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent relevant court decisions and are of general significance: (a) racial and ethnic disproportionality in discipline, and (b) eligibility of students with dyslexia under the IDEA classification of specific learning disabilities (SLD). Click here to download the update and read more.
March 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns issues that were subject to recent officially-published court decisions and are of practical significance: (a) FAPE variations, including ABA methodology and transition services, and (b) child find and eligibility complications, including the IDEA statute of limitations, in the case of a gifted child with school attendance and mental health problems. Click… Continue reading March 2019 Legal Update
February 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns two issues that were subject to recent court decisions and are of practical significance: (a) child find and eligibility under Section 504 v. the IDEA; and, as a variation and extension of last month’s legal alert, (b) the district of residence’s obligations to a student with disabilities during the student’s placement… Continue reading February 2019 Legal Update
January 2019 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns two issues that were subject to recent court decisions and are of practical significance: (a) contingent IEPs for students in third-party placements, such as Medicaid-provided residential treatment facilities; and (b) restrictions on parental communications to district personnel based on a previous pattern of excessive or intimidating e-mails, calls, and/or visits. Click… Continue reading January 2019 Legal Update
December 2018 Legal Update
This month’s update concerns two issues subject to recent court decisions and of practical significance: (a) juvenile justice proceedings for students with disabilities, as illustrated by Commonwealth v. Geordi G. (Mass. Ct. App. 2018); and (b) the meaning of “placement” along with the interaction between the IDEA’s adjudicative and investigative dispute resolution mechanisms, as illustrated… Continue reading December 2018 Legal Update
November 2018 Legal Update
This month’s legal alert summarizes two new cases. First, Avaras v. Clarkstown Central School District (2018) addresses various current issues, including the possible child find-RTI connection. Second, Johnson v. Boston Public Schools (2018), illustrates the generally nondramatic impact of Endrew F. These various issues are further explained and updated in various articles listed in the “Publications”… Continue reading November 2018 Legal Update
