The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently reinstated a case that alleges a Florida school district failed to uphold disabled students’ legal right to free and appropriate public education. The plaintiff’s rights under both the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were reportedly ignored.
Originally, a US district court had ceased proceedings on the case due to the exhaustion requirements under IDEA, causing the appeal. The Eleventh Circuit countermanded this decision, ruling that the district court had mistakenly prohibited the plaintiff’s pursuit for monetary damages.
The student’s attorneys have claimed that the school board consistently employed informal measures to exclude students with disabilities from classroom instruction. Among the alleged tactics were sending children home early, instructing parents to keep their children at home unless suspended, and removing them from classrooms, subsequently denying them access to education.
Although IDEA necessitates parties to request a hearing before a local or state educational agency before filing a lawsuit and to appeal an unfavorable local decision prior to doing so, its exhaustion requirement does not extend to “suits seeking remedies unavailable under IDEA”.
According to the 2023 Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools verdict by the US Supreme Court, plaintiffs seeking redress no longer have to meet every administrative requirement under IDEA to file an ADA claim concurrently since IDEA does not encompass monetary damages. The appeals court clarified in this instance that the plaintiffs “unambiguously sought compensatory monetary damages under ADA and not compensatory education under the IDEA.” Hereafter, plaintiffs should be able to make claims for monetary relief under the ADA without first navigating the administrative rigmarole of the IDEA, which does not provide for monetary relief.
Enacted in 1975, IDEA was designed by the US Congress to ensure all children with disabilities have an opportunity to reach their full academic potential.
More details can be found in the original article available here.