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High Court to Hear Md. Special-Ed Case
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Recognizing Brian's learning difficulties, the Schaffers enrolled him at Green Acres, a private school in Rockville. Brian started in kindergarten and liked the school but struggled academically. By seventh grade, administrators said he should enroll elsewhere. The family turned to public schools.
The Schaffers hired experts to diagnose Brian's disabilities. But from the first meeting in February 1998, the school system and the Schaffers disagreed on Brian's diagnosis.
The Schaffers' experts said Brian had a "unique central auditory processing deficit" and should be placed in a self-contained, full-day special education program. The school system's experts diagnosed a "mild speech-language disability" and recommended regular classes for Brian with an aide to help, as well as extra speech therapy and reading and writing help.
When the Schaffers expressed concern that the classes at his home middle school were too large, the school system recommended a second school with smaller classes. Montgomery officials believed this was the best possible situation for Brian, but the Schaffers disagreed. In September 1998, they enrolled their son at the private McLean School of Maryland. They filed a complaint saying the school system's plan did not meet their son's needs and sought to be reimbursed for the private school tuition.
Their legal battle has shown how critical the burden of proof is in such disputes.
Initially, an administrative law judge said the facts were evenly balanced but ruled for the school system because, he said, the parents "bear the burden of persuasion."
The Schaffers appealed in federal court, which sent the case back to the administrative law judge with instructions to reconsider the case with the burden of proof on the school system, which caused him to reverse his ruling.
The federal court rejected an appeal by the system, which then appealed to a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit, which ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Montgomery County.
The case is Schaffer v. Weast , No. 04-698. An opinion is expected by July.
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