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U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Parents Who Accepted ISD’s $50,000 Offer
Can’t Sue Over Related Special-Ed Claims
Ruling: Parents who accepted an ISD’s settlement offer to pay up to $50,000 for private school tuition for their mentally handicapped son in exchange for dropping their TEA special-ed complaint (that included an allegation that a special-ed aide injured their son by throwing a waste bin at him) can’t sue the district over related claims. Nidia Heston, et al., v. Austin ISD, No. 19-50664. Issued June 9. Ordered “not published.”
Background
The parents of now-former AISD special-ed elementary student A.H. — who early on had been diagnosed with autism, ADHD and bipolar disorder — alleged in their special-ed complaint they filed in August 2016 that educational aides the district assigned to their son were not properly trained and supervised.
They reported that late in the 2015-16 school year, an aide who had been assigned to their son to work with him on a one-on-one basis for many months (despite the mother’s request that another aide be assigned) responded to an “emotional outburst” her son had in class by throwing a waste bin at him, causing physical injury, including significant dental damage.
The TEA-appointed special-ed hearing officer granted AISD’s motion to hear only the parent’s allegations of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and overruled the parents’ attempts, due to being beyond the jurisdiction of the hearing officer to consider, additional complaints of violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Sec. 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (Sec. 504) and §1983 of the Civil Rights Act (§1983).
Accepted Settlement Offer
Prior to the hearing, the parents accepted AISD’s settlement offer whereby the district agreed to pay up to $50,000 for their son to attend the private school of their choice in exchange for the parents dropping all claims against AISD “related to the appropriateness of educational services and resources” — including IDEA claims — while reserving their rights to file additional claims pursuant to Sec. 504, ADA and §1983.
The parents subsequently sued AISD in federal court on the Sec. 504, ADA and §1983 claims, resulting in the trial judge dismissing the litigation on a motion by AISD.
The judge, in a ruling affirmed by a three-judge Fifth Circuit panel in this decision, concluded that these claims had to do with IDEA-related provisions of educational services and were based on the parents’ underlying complaint that the district had denied their son his right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
Despite the “Labels”
Thus — despite the “labels” the parents put on their claims (Sec. 504, ADA, and §1983) — the parents should have begun — and completed — the TEA special-ed complaint process leading to a decision by a special-ed hearing officer before they filed suit in federal court on those claims, the justices ruled, in ordering the suit dismissed.