Portfolio Artifact # 5

Adamarys Hernadnez
CSN EDU 210
October 8, 2018
 Debbie Young is a high school principal with lots of experiences. She taught special
education and also has experience being an assistant principal in a school located in the South.
The parents of Jonathan, who Is a severely disabled tenth grader approached Debbie to have their
son enrolled in one of the schools in the district. Jonathan does require some assistant care by a
nurse due to his several disabilities. His multiple disabilities are seizures and quadriplegia
considered to be a mental disability. Debbie Young ends up not granting Jonathan parents their
request to have their sun enrolled into a school for some reason. The reason Debbie young
decided to not accept him was because she believed the expenses would be too excessive and
also believed the school setting would not be the best place for Jonathan to be every day.
An example of a case that could be used to support Jonathans parents is M.L v. Federal
Way School District. In this case the parents of a disabled student, M.L sued the school for
failing to provide and adequate teacher for their child under the IDEA act. He had several mental
disabilities and it was suggested that he was able to handle his regular environment, but if moved
he wouldn’t do to well. It ended up being decided that the school district was in the wrong for
violating the IDEA act to provide him with an adequate teacher. This case could support
Jonathan parents because Young has no right to decide whether a student would be able to
handle public school or not, just like the school in M .L’s case. Even if the cost may be
expensive Young still is violating the IDEA Act by not providing a teacher to accommodate
Jonathan when he attends school. Therefore he should be allowed to attend in any school district
they choose.
Another case Jonathans parent can reference is the Irving Independent School District v.
Tatro case. This particular case is very similar to the situation that Jonathan parents are going
through. This case ruled that without the services of a specific procedure the student could not
attend classes and benefit from penial education instructions. Debbie Young could argue that the
cost of her school would be super high, Jonathans parents could also argue that the school is
required to prove him the services he needs under any circumstance. There is a three-part test to
determine whether a school district is required to provide a particular service to a student as a
related service. With this test it basically states the students service must fall within a specific
exclusion such aa a physician’s service or individually perspired equipment. Jonathan requires a
nurse and not a physician and therefore the school is required to provide him this service.
A case that would rule in Debbie Young’s favor is Popson V. West Clark Community
Schools. The parents lost in this case because they failed to prove that the school did anything
wrong. The parents of an autistic child claimed they were denied free appropriate public
education under IDEA. The district Court stated that the parents failed to demonstrate that
decision by hearing officer was wrong, individual education plan (IEP) for autistic children’s
extended school year (ESY) services were reasonably designed to confer meaningful benefits to
the child, and the parent failed to prove that goals in their child’s proposed IEP were trivial or
inappropriate. Not enough information is given in Jonathan’s case whether the parents can prove
any of those stated in Popson’s case, but this would help the school if applicable. Debbie Young,
being the principal, knows this information very clearly unlike the parents in the case above who
didn’t really understand the laws dealing with their case. If Debbie denied a parent request to
have their child in a public school, it was probably for a good reason.
A case where the parents of two autistic students went to court sating the school would
not allow their own experts in the special education classroom. They ended up ruling in the favor
of the district because the court felt there was no evidence that they were denied of any type of
service. This case was called Glass V. Hillsboro School District and it could help the school
district rule in favor of Young. Johnathan would not be denied any help that he would need if he
were to attend a public school. Young, however, feels that he is too mentally unstable to function
in a normal classroom, which would end up costing the school more money than they have. It
was her professional opinion since she does have experience with special education students that
it would be best Jonathan does not attend public school due to his condition. This case would
help Debbie Young due to the parents not having enough information to state their side of being
denied certain services.
In Conclusion, after reviewing the facts stated in all the previous cases stated in this essay
to rule in the parent’s favor. Debbie Young’s decision is defensible but not as strongly as the
student and his parents. As stated in M.L V. Federal Way School, under the IDEA Act the
parents have a good chance of winning due to not providing Jonathan with the adequate nurse to
help him live a normal life in a public school. The court case Cedar Rapids Independent School
District v. Garrett F really solidifies the case also. If a student needs a service to be able to
achieve his or her IEP goals than the school is responsible by law to provide it to them. In this
case a nurse id required and under the IDEA Act the parents can eb granted summary judgement
on the ground that the services are related rather than excluded from medical services.
References
FindLaw’s United States Sixth Circuit case and opinions. (n.d) Retrieved October 08,2018 from
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1253429.html

FindLaw’s United States Seventh Circuit case and opinions. (n.d) Retrieved October 08,2018
from
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1250134.html
IRVING INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Petitioner v. Henri TATRO, et ux.,
individually and as next Friend of Amber Tatro, a minor. (n.d.) Retrieved October 08, 2018,
from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/468/883
Ray, S. B (n.d). Court Cases Involving People with Disabilities: Special Education. Retrieved
from
http://jjray.iweb.bsu.edu/portfolio/resources/SPCED-202-8-cases-pdf.pdf