When a student in the Compton Unified School District in California was in 10th grade, her teachers found that her work was “gibberish and incomprehensible” and that she had failed every class. The school district referred the girl to a mental health counselor, who recommended that the student be evaluated for learning disabilities. The district didn’t follow the recommendation, and it promoted the girl to the 11th grade, according to court papers.
The district eventually found that the student was eligible for special education services for a learning disability, but the mother brought an administrative claim under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, writes my colleague, Mark Walsh, arguing that the school district failed under the law’s “child-find” requirement to identify the girl’s disabilities sooner. An administrative law judge largely sided with the family, ordering up to 150 hours of tutoring for the girl’s lost educational opportunities.
The school district has appealed the ruling. And now the Obama administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear their case. Get the detail’s from Mark’s School Law blog.