"Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District"
In “Endrew F. v Douglas County School District RE-1,” a unanimous Supreme Court of the United States ruled that disabled students have the right to more than a minimum education, which was the standard set by the Tenth Circuit Court.
The child at the center of the case, “Drew,” attended public school in the Douglas County School District (near Denver, Colo.) until second grade. His IEP was written to work with a diagnosis of autism. His parents removed him from public school stating he was not making progress and placed him in private school, where they stated he made academic, social and behavioral progress. They then sued the public school district for reimbursement.
The Tenth Circuit court ruled in favor of the district stating that under “Board of Education v. Rowley,” “free appropriate public education” need only provide an educational benefit more than the minimum standard of education. After “Rowley,” districts and courts had been free to interpret “free and appropriate public education” under IDEA in several ways, so long as students were provided with an IEP.
In “Endrew F.,” the SCOTUS ruled that a single standard needed to guide the IDEA and it needed to be more than merely “more than the minimum.” Rather, the decision said, a child must be able to “have the chance to meet challenging objectives” and a school must offer an IEP that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” This standard applies to all public schools across the nation.
For the case, see FindLaw’s Case Law Resources.
Also see FAPE and “Board of Education v. Rowley”.