Sellers by Sellers v. School Bd. of City of Mannassas, Va.

• Decision Date: 13 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-1762,97-1762
• Citation: 141 F.3d 524
• Parties: 125 Ed. Law Rep. 1078 Kristopher SELLERS, by his parents, Allen and Sherri SELLERS; Sherri Sellers; Allen Sellers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF MANASSAS, VIRGINIA, a Municipal Corporation; James E. Upperman, Superintendent of the School Board of the City of Manassas, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 524

141 F.3d 524

125 Ed. Law Rep. 1078

Kristopher SELLERS, by his parents, Allen and Sherri

SELLERS; Sherri Sellers; Allen Sellers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE CITY OF MANASSAS, VIRGINIA, a

Municipal Corporation; James E. Upperman,

Superintendent of the School Board of

the City of Manassas,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-1762.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued Jan. 29, 1998.

Decided April 13, 1998.

ARGUED: Paul S. Dalton, Dalton & Dalton, P.C., Annandale, Virginia, for Appellants. Kathleen Shepherd Mehfoud, Hazel & Thomas, P.C., Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees.

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge, and VOORHEES, United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Senior Judge PHILLIPS and Judge VOORHEES joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Chief Judge:

Kristopher Sellers and his parents sued the School Board of the City of Manassas and superintendent James Upperman, alleging violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and Virginia law. The Sellers sought compensatory and punitive damages. The district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss primarily on the grounds that such damages are unavailable under IDEA, that the Sellers failed to allege a section 504 violation, and that the Sellers' failure to state a claim under either IDEA or section 504 likewise required dismissal of the section 1983 claim. Sellers v. School Bd. of Manassas, 960 F.Supp. 1006 (E.D.Va.1997). We agree that IDEA does not provide for compensatory or punitive damages and that plaintiffs failed to allege a section 504 violation. Furthermore, because parties may not sue under section 1983 for IDEA violations, the Sellers' claim under that statute also must be dismissed. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

The instant appeal is from a dismissal for failure to state a claim, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); thus we accept the facts alleged in the complaint as true. McNair v. Lend Lease Trucks, Inc., 95 F.3d 325, 327 (4th Cir.1996) (en banc). At the time the Sellers filed their complaint, Kristopher was eighteen years old. Although he had recently been diagnosed as learning disabled and emotionally disturbed, his disability apparently had gone undiscovered for many years. Kristopher received no special education services until the 1995-1996 school year. The complaint states, however, that his test scores as early as fourth grade "should have alerted" the defendants of the need to test and evaluate Kristopher for disabilities. At some point, a truancy petition was brought against Kristopher but was dismissed in March 1996 by the domestic relations court because administrative proceedings under IDEA were pending.

According to the complaint, the parties to the present suit reached a settlement as to all educational issues. After the settlement, a hearing officer held due process hearings and decided that he lacked authority to award compensatory and punitive damages. The Sellers sought review of the decision by a state-level hearing officer. He too, however, concluded that hearing officers lacked authority to award such damages. The Sellers then filed the present suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, seeking, inter alia, compensatory and punitive damages for violations of IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and Virginia law. They complained that the defendants should have discovered Kristopher's learning disabilities and provided him with special education services. The Sellers also disputed the hearing officers' refusal to award compensatory and punitive damages. Terming the Sellers' action one for educational malpractice, the district court dismissed the Sellers' lawsuit pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. The Sellers now appeal the dismissal of their IDEA, Rehabilitation Act, and section 1983 claims. ¹

II.

We first address the Sellers' claims under IDEA. The Sellers appear to base their claims on two alleged violations of the statute. First, because the defendants did not evaluate Kristopher for learning disabilities after certain test scores should have alerted them of the need to do so, they neglected their duty to identify, locate, and evaluate disabled children. Second, because Kristopher did not receive any special education services prior to the 1995-1996 school year, defendants did not provide him with a free appropriate public education. For these alleged violations, the Sellers contend that they are entitled to compensatory and punitive damages under IDEA. See Emma C. v. Eastin, 985 F.Supp. 940, 945 (N.D.Cal.1997).

IDEA provides that a court reviewing the findings and determination of a hearing officer "shall grant such relief as [it] determines is appropriate." 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(2). ² In Hall by Hall v. Vance County Bd. of Educ., 774 F.2d 629 (4th Cir.1985) ("Vance "), this court interpreted the meaning of "appropriate" relief in an earlier version of IDEA. Vance held that appropriate relief could include reimbursement for private school tuition where a county board of education had failed to provide a free appropriate public education to a disabled child. Id. at 633. It followed an earlier decision of the Supreme Court that had likewise found appropriate relief could include tuition reimbursement. School Comm. of Burlington v. Department of Educ. of Mass., 471 U.S. 359, 370, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 2002-03, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985). However, Vance made clear that not all forms of relief are appropriate. While the Act permitted reimbursement, it did "not create a private cause of action for damages for educational malpractice." Vance, 774 F.2d at 633 n. 3.

Vance bars the Sellers' recovery under IDEA. Their claim is indistinguishable from one of educational malpractice. The Sellers simply allege that the defendants improperly diagnosed Kristopher and that, as a result, either they or Kristopher have suffered some unspecified tort-like injuries. To award compensatory or punitive damages under these circumstances would disregard settled circuit precedent.

Nothing in the years since Vance has undermined the soundness of its holding. Tort-like damages are simply inconsistent with IDEA's statutory scheme. The touchstone of a traditional tort-like remedy is redress for a broad range of harms "associated with personal injury, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, harm to reputation, or other consequential damages." United States v. Burke, 504 U.S. 229, 239, 112 S.Ct. 1867, 1873, 119 L.Ed.2d 34 (1992) (interpreting Title VII). By contrast, the touchstone of IDEA is the actual provision of a free appropriate public education.

To advance this goal, IDEA provides a panoply of procedural rights to parents to ensure their involvement in decisions about their disabled child's education. See Burlington, 471 U.S. at 368, 105 S.Ct. at 2001-02; see also Board of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 3050-51, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982). For example, parents may examine all relevant records relating to their disabled child's identification, evaluation, placement, and receipt of a free appropriate public education. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1)(A). They must receive written notice prior to changes in the child's identification, evaluation, placement, or receipt of a free appropriate public education. Id. § 1415(b)(1)(C). They also may present complaints with respect to such matters. Id. § 1415(b)(1)(E). They can air these complaints in an "impartial due process hearing," id. § 1415(b)(2), and, in some cases, can appeal the findings and decision rendered in that hearing. Id. § 1415(c). Finally, a party aggrieved by the findings or decision of a hearing officer may seek judicial review. Id. § 1415(e)(2).

The purpose of these procedural mechanisms is to preserve the right to a free appropriate public education, not to provide a forum for tort-like claims of educational malpractice. Accordingly, the Supreme Court has noted that "equitable considerations are relevant in fashioning relief." Burlington, 471 U.S. at 374, 105 S.Ct. at 2005; see also Florence County Sch. Dist. Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7, 16, 114 S.Ct. 361, 366, 126 L.Ed.2d 284 (1993). For example, the Court in Burlington concluded that "by empowering the court to grant 'appropriate' relief Congress meant to include retroactive reimbursement to parents as an available remedy in a proper case." 471 U.S. at 370, 105 S.Ct. at 2003; see also Florence County, 510 U.S. at 14, 114 S.Ct. at 365-66. Tuition reimbursement requires an education agency "to belatedly pay expenses that it should have paid all along." Burlington, 471 U.S. at 370-71, 105 S.Ct. at 2003. Likewise, appropriate relief may include special education services. Such services are part and parcel of the free appropriate public education to which the child is entitled. See id. at 367-68, 105 S.Ct. at 2001-02. But the Court has never approved an award of compensatory or punitive damages under IDEA for a violation of its requirements. In fact, it "took pains to emphasize that ... reimbursement [for appropriate specialized education] should not be characterized as 'damages.' " Hall v. Knott County Bd. of Educ., 941 F.2d 402, 407 (6th Cir.1991) (citing Burlington, 471 U.S. at 370, 105 S.Ct. at 2002-03); see also Whitehead By and Through Whitehead v. School Bd. For Hillsborough County, 918 F.Supp. 1515, 1519 (M.D.Fla.1996). Compensatory or punitive damages would transform IDEA into a remedy for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other consequential damages caused by the lack of a free appropriate public education. Such a result would be inconsistent with the structure of the statute, which so strongly...