Bd. of Educ. v. M.N.
| Docket Number | 088378 |
| Decision Date | 07 August 2024 |
| Citation | 318 A.3d 670,258 N.J. 333 |
| Parties | BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the TOWNSHIP OF SPARTA, Sussex County, Petitioner-Respondent, v. M.N., ON BEHALF OF A.D., Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division.
Krista Haley Rue argued the cause for appellant (John Rue & Associates, attorneys; John Rue, on the briefs).
Katherine A. Gilfillan, Florham Park, argued the cause for respondent Board of Education of the Township of Sparta (Schenck, Price, Smith & King, attorneys; Katherine A. Gilfillan and Catherine Popso O’Hern, on the brief).
Matthew Lynch, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent Commissioner of the Department of Education (Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney, General, attorney; Donna Arons, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel, and Sadia Ahsanuddin, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
Christian R. Martinez argued the cause for amicus curiae Disability Rights New Jersey (Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, attorneys; Christian R. Martinez and CJ Griffin, on the brief).
335In this case, we are asked to decide whether, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a student with disabilities who received a State-issued diploma based on passing the General Education Development test (GED) is entitled to re-enroll in his local public high school to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
The federal regulations implementing the IDEA state that a school district’s obligation to provide a free appropriate public education does not apply to "[c]hildren with disabilities who have graduated from high school with a regular high school diploma." 34 C.F.R. § 300.102(a)(3)(i). Students with disabilities "who have graduated from high school but have not been awarded a regular high school diploma," however, remain eligible to receive a free appropriate public education. Id. at (ii). The regulations define "regular high school diploma" as "the standard high school diploma awarded to the preponderance of students in the State that is fully aligned with State standards, or a higher diploma." Id. at (iv). They then further specify that "[a] regular high school diploma does not include a recognized equivalent of a diploma, such as a general equivalency diploma." Ibid.
[1] We hold that a New Jersey State-issued diploma awarded based on passing the GED is not a "regular high school diploma" under 34 C.F.R. § 300.102(a)(3)(iv). Therefore, a student who receives such a State-issued diploma remains entitled to receive a free appropriate public education under the IDEA. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division.
In September 2018, when he was fifteen years old, A.D. transferred to and enrolled in the Sparta Township Public Schools, run 336by the Sparta Township Board of Education (together, Sparta), for his sophomore year.1 At his previous school, A.D. was designated as having a disability under the IDEA and received special education services. When A.D. began attending Sparta High School, Sparta accepted his individualized education program (IEP), dated April 18, 2018, from his previous school.
In January 2019, Sparta informed A.D. that he was in danger of failing several classes. On or around March 11, 2019, Sparta implemented temporary home instruction for A.D. through a combination of online classes and in-person tutoring. Two weeks later, A.D.’s parents withdrew him from Sparta High School.
A.D. then took the GED and passed, achieving the "Statewide standard score" established pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.2(c). On April 29, 2019, A.D. thus received a State-issued high school diploma. That same month, A.D. re-enrolled at Sparta High School and again began receiving home instruction.
On May 22, 2019, the vice principal of the high school, Michael Lauricella, informed A.D.’s parents that A.D. "ha[d] met New Jersey graduation requirements as the GED diploma serves as an equivalent to one received in a New Jersey high school." Lauricella further advised that "[d]istrict services, including protections under the [IDEA] and home instruction services, cease upon receipt of a diploma" and that A.D.’s home instruction services would therefore be "discontinued effective immediately."
A.D.’s parents objected, and A.D. was permitted to continue receiving services, including home instruction, for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year. A.D. attended Sparta High School, in person, at the start of the 2019-2020 school year as a high school junior. By February 2020, A.D. was again failing to complete his schoolwork, and the school district notified him that he was in danger of losing credit in four classes.
337In March 2020, Sparta stopped in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A.D. was issued a computer for remote learning. However, he did not attend remote classes or complete required assignments, and he earned no academic credit for the 2019-2020 school year. On June 8, 2020, M.N., A.D.’s mother, again withdrew A.D. from the high school, checking off "entering the workforce" as the reason for his withdrawal.
In September 2020, M.N. began the process of re-enrolling A.D. at Sparta High School. However, A.D. did not attend school that fall, and instead enlisted in the United States Army. A.D. was medically discharged from the army on December 16, 2020.
In May 2021, after in-person learning resumed at Sparta High School, M.N. again tried to re-enroll A.D.; he was eighteen years old at the time. Sparta denied the request, citing A.D.’s receipt of a State-issued high school diploma in April 2019.
M.N., pro se, filed a parental request for a due process hearing with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) Office of Special Education Policy and Dispute Resolution, arguing that A.D. had only obtained a diploma based on passing the GED and requesting that her son be allowed to re-enroll in high school "in order for him to obtain [a] regular high school diploma." The Commissioner of the DOE (Commissioner) transferred the matter to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).
Sparta then filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the DOE Office of Controversies and Disputes, seeking a declaration that it was not obligated to re-enroll A.D. and that A.D.’s receipt of a State-issued diploma "foreclose[d] A.D.’s right to receive special education and related services from the District under both the IDEA and N.J.S.A. 18A:46-1.1 et seq. and the concomitant regulations." The Commissioner denied this request and transferred the matter to OAL.
338The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) granted Sparta’s motion for summary decision, determining that the State-issued diploma A.D. received was "not merely … a GED" but was a "regular high school diploma" that was "fully aligned with State standards" under 34 C.F.R. § 300.102(a)(3)(iv). Therefore, the ALJ concluded, A.D. was no longer entitled to a FAPE. In reaching this conclusion, the ALJ relied on the Commissioner’s decision in B.A. & J.H. ex rel. Minor Child M.A.A. v. Board of Education of Somerville, Commissioner Decision No. 201-09 (June 22, 2009). The ALJ then held a hearing on M.N.’s due process petition and dismissed the petition with prejudice.
M.N. appealed the ALJ’s decision on. Sparta’s petition to the Commissioner. The Commissioner concurred with the ALJ that "A.D.’s diploma is a ‘regular high school diploma’ that is fully aligned with State standards and, therefore A.D. is no longer entitled to a free education in Sparta or any other New Jersey school district." According to the Commissioner, " ‘through its acceptance of alternative measures’ to obtain a diploma, ‘particularly the GED program,’ ‘the State has … recognized that means other than course/credit/assessment completion .. [can] satisfy the statutory and constitutional mandate and warrant issuance of a State-endorsed diploma so as to end a student’s entitlement to’ " a FAPE. (quoting B.A. & J.H. and citing N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1(a)).
The Commissioner further found that under N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.2, there is "no distinction" between a State-endorsed diploma and "a State-issued diploma, such that both diplomas demonstrate that the student has completed an education that is fully aligned with State standards." The State Board of Education, the Commissioner concluded, "has recognized that students may complete their education in non-traditional ways," and a "State-issued diploma simply reflects such an alternate pathway" -- it is "in no way a lesser credential." The Commissioner therefore adopted the ALJ’s decision on Sparta’s petition as final.2
339C.
M.N. appealed the Commissioner’s decision to the Appellate Division, arguing that the "ALJ and NJDOE erred by ignoring the federal regulation regarding regular high school diplomas for students eligible under [the] IDEA" and that their decisions were thus "at odds" with the IDEA.3
The Appellate Division affirmed, concluding that there was "no basis to undo DOE’s policy determination." According to the Appellate Division, "[a]t the direction of the Legislature, the DOE promulgated regulations … to establish graduation standards for public high school students." In doing so, The Appellate Division therefore reasoned that Sparta was no longer required to provide A.D. with a FAPE.
D.
We granted M.N.’s petition for certification, limited to the question of whether the Appellate Division erred in holding that a State-issued high school diploma based on passing the GED is a "regular high school diploma" under the IDEA and its implementing regulations....
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