A.B. v. Lawson
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
354 F.3d 315 (2004)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
A.B. was a child with learning disabilities in the areas of reading and writing. A.B. attended a private school for kindergarten through third grade, but when the school recommended that A.B. be held back, A.B.’s parent D.B. (plaintiff) enrolled A.B. in a public school in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) (defendant). D.B. and administrators at AACPS disagreed about the type and level of special-education services that A.B. should receive. After multiple rounds of testing and evaluation, AACPS eventually proposed an individual education plan (IEP) that would keep A.B. mainly in regular education classes but also provide approximately 10 hours of special education per week. D.B. maintained that A.B. required full-time special education. D.B. enrolled A.B. in a private school for children with learning disabilities and brought an administrative challenge against AACPS to force the district to pay for A.B.’s private education and challenge the IEP. An administrative-law judge found that the proposed IEP complied with the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to A.B. D.B. appealed, and the district court overruled the decision, holding that the proposed IEP would not provide a FAPE to A.B. AACPS appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gregory, J.)
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