Federal appeals court reverses special ed cost ruling
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 10:30 AM PDT
PORTLAND (AP) — The Forest Grove School District may have to pay for private school for a student whose family claimed he was entitled to special education benefits.
The family of the teenager sent him off to a private school in Prineville when he was having trouble in public school in Forest Grove — including marijuana addiction.
He was never enrolled in any special education program in Forest Grove, but his family argued that federal law for students with learning disabilities required the school district to pay the private school costs at the Mount Bachelor Academy.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday in a 2-1 decision that a lower court must reconsider the case and possibly order the school district to pay some of the cost.
‘‘Congress conferred broad discretion on the courts to provide appropriate equitable relief,’’ Judge Susan Graber wrote, referring to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Connie Potter, a school district spokeswoman, said the district could not comment because the case is still pending. Nancy Latini, the Oregon Department of Education assistant superintendent who supervises special education programs, said it appeared the appeals court was asking the lower court to reconsider the case using a different standard. Graber wrote for the majority that U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ‘‘applied the wrong legal standard’’ when he denied the family’s request for reimbursement by Forest Grove. The appeals court said there were no other rulings by the 9th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court that suggested reimbursement was allowed only in ‘‘extreme cases.’’
