COPAA, along with the California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy and Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, filed an amicus brief last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in J.R. v. Ventura Unified School District. COPAA and its fellow amici urged the court to affirm the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, which correctly interpreted the statute of limitations in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) as starting to run “when the parents knew or should have known about the facts which give rise to their cause of action (discovery rule), not when the events occurred (occurrence rule).”

In this case, the parent did not learn that her son’s school district had not complied with its obligation under the IDEA to fully and appropriately evaluate her child until a later private evaluation diagnosed him with autism. As COPAA and its fellow amici assert in the brief, “[t]he district court correctly concluded that the challenges borne by parents do not include taking on the burden of ensuring that the school district complies with its statutory obligation to evaluate in all areas of suspected disability.” A timely, comprehensive evaluation as required by the IDEA is essential to avoid harmful delays in needed interventions and services.