Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Spec. Ed. Case

By Mark Walsh

Washington

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last week to try to clarify whether federal special education law requires districts to pay for continuous, one-on-one nursing services for medically fragile students.

Lower federal courts have been split on whether services such as a full-time nursing aide for a student with a severe physical disability are an education-related responsibility of districts under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Some courts have ruled that such needs are "related services" and thus a district's obligation; others have held that they are "medical services" for which districts are exempt.

The high court on May 18 agreed to hear the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, district's appeal of lower-court rulings requiring it to pay for a full-time nursing aide for a 16-year-old quadriplegic boy identified as Garret F. The boy was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident at age 4 and depends on a ventilator for breathing. He requires constant monitoring by a trained aide because he could die if...