| Supreme Court Considering New Special Ed Case
Fry v. Napoleon Comm. School District, 788 F.3d 622 (6th Cir. 2015)
On June 12, 2015, the Court of Appeasls for the 6th Circuit held that the Fry's case had to be dismissed because the parents failed to exhaust their administrative remedies, i.e. did not request a special education due process hearing.
Fry v. Napoleon began as a reasonable accommodations / service dog case that was filed on behalf of a young girl with cerebral palsy. The child has mobility and balance problems. Her school district refused to allow her to bring her trained service dog to school to help with balance problems and and increase her independence. Read the original Complaint.
When the parents filed suit on their child's behalf, they were not seeking to change her IEP or any educational remedy. They were simply seeking damages under Section 504 and the ADA. Read the facts of the case.
The Sixth Circuit held in part: "It is true that IDEA procedures, which could at best require Ezra Eby Elementary to permit Wonder to accompany E.F. at school, would not at present be effective in resolving the Fry's dispute. First, E.F. no longer attends Ezra Eby Elementary, and her current school and school district permit Wonder to accompany her. Second, before the Fry's decided to transfer E.F., the defendants settled the Fry's ADA complaint before the Office of Cvil Rights and agreed to permit Wonder to accompnay E.F. at school; IDEA procedures could not have produced a substantially better outcome."
The parents appealed the adverse decision from the court of appeals to the Supreme Court. Read the Parent's Petition for Certiorari.
On January 19, 2016, the Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General of the United States to file a brief as to whether or not the Supreme Court should hear the case. The Supreme Court case number is 15-497.
be mmary of Performance (SOP) is most useful when completed during the transition IEP process. The SOP should include recommendations about ways to help meet post-secondary goals.
Q. My son is on a basic ed diploma track. Will retention push my child off the diploma path?
Advocate Sue Whitney answers, "I assume 'basic ed diploma' means something less than a standard diploma? Do you know what it means?"
Parents need to be very sure, very early in the game, you understand which diploma...
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