Doe ex rel. Doe v. Board of Education of Connecticut

A male student (plaintiff) completed five academically successful years in the gifted program for kindergarten through fifth grade public-school students in Darien, Connecticut. In the sixth grade, the student became so depressed and violent that his parents chose to hospitalize him at a residential treatment facility and sought tuition reimbursement from the school district. The parents claimed that their son was a socially and emotionally maladjusted child and was an exceptional child in need of special education at a residential facility under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, later known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The school district rejected the claims. On the parents’ appeal from the school district’s decision, a state administrative-due-process officer agreed with the school district that the student was not eligible for benefits under the IDEA. The parents brought suit on behalf of the student in the district court against the Board of Education of Connecticut (school board) (defendant) to appeal the state administrative officer’s decision that the student was not entitled to special education. Teachers and doctors testified that the student could be aggressive and destructive toward other children, but his grades and achievement-test results were always satisfactory or higher. The student’s parents claimed that the state administrative officer’s decision violated the right to a free and appropriate education under the IDEA and requested that the district court order the school board to reimburse tuition and related expenses at the residential facility.