In early February, COPAA submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of the family of a child with a disability, urging the court to reverse the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in J.H. v. Seattle Public Schools. You can read the amicus brief here.

In J.H., the family prevailed following a due process hearing, where the administrative law judge (ALJ) found that the school district had failed to provide the student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and ordered the district to pay the costs of a private placement. As COPAA argued in its brief, the ALJ’s findings were careful and thorough and were entitled to deference by the federal district court, which overturned the ALJ’s decision.

The district court further erred by ordering the parents to reimburse the school district for the costs of the private placement. The IDEA requires school districts to bear the costs of private placements that are ordered by ALJs during the pendency of litigation.

COPAA noted that there is no case precedent requiring parents to reimburse a school district for the costs it incurs in complying with an ALJ order that is later overturned. Requiring parents to do so runs counter to both the IDEA’s stay-put requirement and to the substantive FAPE guarantee.

COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan and board member Ellen Saideman authored the amicus brief. Charlotte Cassady represents the family in the appeal along with COPAA member, Kerri Feeney.