Endrew F. v. Douglas Cnty. Sch. Dist. Re-1

• Decision Date: 25 August 2015
• Docket Number: No. 14–1417.,14–1417.
• Citation: 798 F.3d 1329
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
• Parties: ENDREW F., a minor, by and through his parents and next friends, JOSEPH F., and Jennifer F., Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE–1, Defendant–Appellee.

798 F.3d 1329

ENDREW F., a minor, by and through his parents and next friends, JOSEPH F., and Jennifer F., Plaintiffs–Appellants

v.DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE–1, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 14–1417.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

Aug. 25, 2015.

Jack D. Robinson, Spies, Powers & Robinson, P.C., Denver, CO, for Appellants.

Robert S. Ross, Jr., Douglas County School District Re–1, Castle Rock, CO, for Appellee.

Before HARTZ, TYMKOVICH, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

Federal law requires public schools to provide students with disabilities a free and appropriate education. If a school cannot meet the educational needs of a disabled student, the student's parents can place the child in private school and seek reimbursement of tuition and related expenses. In this case, the parents of an autistic child withdrew him from the Douglas County School District because they believed his educational progress was inadequate. They later sought reimbursement that the District challenged. The District's denial of reimbursement was upheld after a due process hearing in administrative court, and that determination was also upheld in federal district court.

We affirm. We find sufficient support in the record to affirm the findings of the administrative law judge that the child received some educational benefit while in the District's care and that is enough to satisfy the District's obligation to provide a free appropriate public education. Accordingly, under Tenth Circuit precedent, the District did not violate the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (IDEA), and is not required to reimburse the cost of the student's private-school education.

I. Background

The IDEA makes federal education funding conditional on the states' provision of a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to all children with disabilities. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). The central mechanism by which the Act ensures a FAPE for each child is the development and implementation of an individualized education program (IEP). See id. § 1401(9) (defining a FAPE as “special education and related services that ... are provided in conformity with the [IEP] required under section 1414(d) ”); Sch. Comm. of Burlington v. Dep't of Educ., 471 U.S. 359, 368, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985) (“The modus operandi of the Act is the ... [IEP].” (internal quotation marks omitted)). An IEP is “a detailed written document which describes the student's educational goals for an academic year and establishes a plan to achieve those goals.” Jefferson Cty. Sch. Dist. R–1 v. Elizabeth E. ex rel. Roxanne B., 702 F.3d 1227, 1230 (10th Cir.2012). The Act put in place detailed procedural requirements by which a child's IEP must be created and maintained. See 20 U.S.C. § 1414(d)(1)(A)(i). Beyond the procedure required, however, Congress “left the content of th[e] programs entirely to local educators and parents.”

Thompson R2–J Sch. Dist. v. Luke P. ex rel. Jeff P., 540 F.3d 1143, 1151 (10th Cir.2008). The Act does not prescribe the substantive level of achievement required for an appropriate education. Rather, the substantive adequacy of an IEP is determined by a standard articulated by the Supreme Court: the IEP must be “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 207, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982).

The plaintiff-appellant, Endrew F. (Drew), was diagnosed with autism at the age of two and with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder a year after that. Drew's autism affects his cognitive functioning, language and reading skills, and his social and adaptive abilities. Drew attended Douglas County schools from preschool through fourth grade. During that time, he received special-education services, including IEPs tailored to meet his unique needs.

At the conclusion of an especially rocky fourth-grade year, Drew's parents, Joseph and Jennifer F., decided Drew was not making any meaningful progress and rejected the IEP proposed by the District for fifth grade. As a result, they withdrew him from the District and instead enrolled him at Firefly Autism House, a private school that specializes in educating autistic children. The parents then turned to the District for reimbursement of Drew's private-school tuition and related expenses. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(C)(ii). They contended the reimbursement was due because the District had failed to provide Drew with a FAPE.

After a three-day administrative due process hearing, see id. § 1415(f), an administrative law judge (ALJ) denied the request finding the District had provided Drew with a FAPE. The parents next filed suit in federal court for judicial review of the ALJ's decision. See id. § 1415(i)(2)(A). The district court affirmed.

II. Discussion

Drew's parents contend they are entitled to tuition reimbursement under the IDEA and that the ALJ and the district court failed to recognize the District's procedural and substantive violations of the Act. After describing the tuition reimbursement provisions of the IDEA, we consider the District's denial of reimbursement and ask whether the procedural and substantive violations alleged by the parents resulted in the denial of a FAPE.

A. Tuition Reimbursement Under the IDEA

The IDEA allows parents who believe their children are not receiving a FAPE in state schools an option. Those parents may pull their children from public school, enroll them in private school, and then request reimbursement from the school district. Id. § 1412(a)(10)(C)(ii) ; see also Florence Cty. Sch. Dist. Four v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7, 12–13, 114 S.Ct. 361, 126 L.Ed.2d 284 (1993) ; Burlington, 471 U.S. at 370, 105 S.Ct. 1996.¹

Parents who take unilateral action, however, “ ‘do so at their own financial risk.’ ” Jefferson Cty., 702 F.3d at 1232 (quoting Florence Cty., 510 U.S. at 15, 114 S.Ct. 361 ). If a school district denies the parents' request for reimbursement, a court may order reimbursement only if (1) “ ‘the public placement violated IDEA’ ” and (2) “ ‘the private school placement was proper under the Act.’ ” Id. (quoting Florence Cnty., 510 U.S. at 15, 114 S.Ct. 361 ). There is no contention here that Drew's placement at Firefly is not permissible under the Act. The only issue is whether the District violated the IDEA by failing to provide Drew with a FAPE.²

In determining whether a school district provided a student with a FAPE, we follow a two-step analysis and ask (1) whether the district complied with the Act's procedural requirements, and (2) whether the IEP developed by those procedures is substantively adequate such that it is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 207, 102 S.Ct. 3034 ; see also O'Toole ex rel. O'Toole v. Olathe Dist. Schs. Unified Sch. Dist. No. 233, 144 F.3d 692, 701 (10th Cir.1998). If a district has met both the procedural and substantive requirements, it “has complied with the obligations imposed by Congress and the courts can require no more.” Rowley, 458 U.S. at 207, 102 S.Ct. 3034.

We review the district court's judgment de novo, applying the same standard of review as the district court. Jefferson Cty., 702 F.3d at 1232. In reviewing an administrative decision in the IDEA context, we apply a modified de novo standard of review, meaning we give “ ‘due weight’ ” to the administrative proceedings and consider the ALJ's factual findings to be prima facie correct.Id. (quoting Garcia v. Bd. of Educ., 520 F.3d 1116, 1125 (10th Cir.2008) ).

B. Application

The parents raise both procedural and substantive challenges. They first allege two procedural deficiencies: (1) the District's failure to provide them with adequate reporting on Drew's progress during the school years, and (2) the District's failure to conduct a proper assessment of Drew's behavior and put in place an adequate plan to address his particular behavioral needs.

Their substantive challenge also proceeds in two parts. First, the parents argue the district court and the ALJ utilized the wrong legal standard in evaluating the substantive sufficiency of the rejected fifth-grade IEP. Second, they argue the ALJ and the district court erred in concluding the IEP was substantively adequate because (1) Drew made no measurable progress on the goals set in his past IEPs, and (2) there was no consideration of Drew's escalating behavioral problems.

We consider each in turn.

1. Procedural Challenges

The Supreme Court has emphasized the importance of the procedural safeguards contained in the Act, explaining that “[w]hen the elaborate and highly specific procedural safeguards embodied in [the IDEA] are contrasted with the general and somewhat imprecise substantive admonitions contained in the Act, ... the importance Congress attached to these procedural safeguards cannot be gainsaid.”

Rowley, 458 U.S. at 205, 102 S.Ct. 3034. But merely identifying a procedural deficiency does not automatically entitle a family to relief. See Systema ex rel. Systema v. Acad. Sch. Dist. No. 20, 538 F.3d 1306, 1313 (10th Cir.2008) ; O'Toole, 144 F.3d at 701. A school district's procedural failure must have effectively denied the child a FAPE either because it (1) “impeded the child's right to a [FAPE],” (2) “significantly impeded the parents' opportunity to participate in the decisionmaking process regarding the provision of a [FAPE] to the parents' child,” or (3) “caused a deprivation of educational benefits.” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(f)(3)(E) ; see also Garcia, 520 F.3d at 1126 (“[O]ur precedent hold[s] that procedural failures under IDEA amount to substantive failures only where the procedural inadequacy results in an effective denial of a FAPE.”).

Drew's parents contend they meet this standard because the District's alleged procedural violations impeded their ability to participate in informing Drew's education and denied Drew his right to adequate educational...