Opinion ID: 613389
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Violation of the IDEA

Text: The parents' primary argument is that the Board's decision to discontinue offering educational programs at the school's campus, and instead offer only outreach services, violated the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. Ordinarily, the IDEA requires a plaintiff to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing a lawsuit in federal court, see § 1415(i), which the parents did not do. The parents claimed that exhaustion was not required, however, because it would be futile, the changes to the school were systemic, and adequate relief could not be obtained by pursuing the administrative remedies. See Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 326-27, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988) (It is true that judicial review is normally not available under § 1415(e)(2) until all administrative proceedings are completed, but as we have previously noted, parents may bypass the administrative process where exhaustion would be futile or inadequate.). At oral argument, the defendants conceded that an administrative law judge could not order the Board to reestablish the educational programs at the school's Sioux Falls campus. We conclude that the parents were not required to exhaust because, if their position was well founded and the Board's actions violated the IDEA, adequate relief likely could not have been obtained through the administrative process. See Murphy v. Arlington Cent. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 297 F.3d 195, 199 (2d Cir.2002) (citing H.R. Rep. No. 296, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. 7 (1985)) (Congress specified that exhaustion is not necessary if ... it is improbable that adequate relief can be obtained by pursuing administrative remedies.); Digre v. Roseville Sch. Indep. Dist. No. 623, 841 F.2d 245, 250 n. 3 (8th Cir.1988). Although the school is subject to the IDEA, see 34 C.F.R. 300.2(b)(iii), South Dakota's administrative rules contemplate that a school district, not the Board, be the local education agency subject to the administrative procedures. S.D. Admin. R. 24:05:15:05 (entitled, Complaint against a school district); 24:05:21:01 (Each local education agency must have a current comprehensive plan approved by the school board on file with the district superintendent or designee.); 24:05:30:07.01 (A parent or a school district may file a due process complaint on any matters relating to the identification, evaluation or educational placement of a child with a disability, or the provision of FAPE to the child.); 24:05:30:10.01 (Nothing in this section precludes a hearing officer from ordering a district to comply with procedural requirements under this chapter.). We agree with the district court that [i]n consideration of the administrative scheme, and as a practical matter, it may be more than improbable that a hearing officer could ultimately enforce an order to the Board of Regents to reverse its policy of cutting programs at the school's physical location and out-sourcing services to home school districts. D. Ct. Order of Sept. 30, 2010, at 13. Accordingly, we will consider the parents' cause of action under the IDEA. The IDEA seeks to to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A). States accepting federal funding under the IDEA must provide a disabled student with a free appropriate public education. Neosho R-V Sch. Dist. v. Clark, 315 F.3d 1022, 1026 (8th Cir.2003) (internal quotation omitted); see also 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1). A child receives a free appropriate public education if he receives `personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally from that instruction.' T.F. v. Special Sch. Dist. of St. Louis Cnty., 449 F.3d 816, 820 (8th Cir. 2006) (quoting Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 203, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982)). The IDEA's free appropriate public education requirement sets a floor of educational opportunity: [T]he Supreme Court has made it clear that the Act does not require states to make available the best possible option. Springdale Sch. Dist. # 50 v. Grace, 693 F.2d 41, 43 (8th Cir.1982). The IDEA also requires that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5). The statute includes a strong preference in favor of educating children with disabilities with children who are not disabled. Id. Because South Dakota receives federal funding under the IDEA, it must ensure that: To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities ... are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. § 1412(a)(5)(A). The parents contend that the least restrictive environment for deaf students is a school of their own. Accordingly, they argue that the defendants violated the IDEA and denied students a free appropriate public education when they discontinued offering educational programs at the school's campus. The parents views regarding deaf-education policy is not without support, see, e.g., Caroline Jackson, Note, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Its Impact on the Deaf Community, 6 Stan. J. C.R. & C.L. 355 (2010), but the IDEA calls for disabled children to be educated with nondisabled children [t]o the maximum extent appropriate and for separate schooling only when education in regular classes cannot be achieved satisfactorily. § 1412(a)(5)(A); see also Evans v. Dist. No. 17, 841 F.2d 824, 832 (8th Cir.1988) ([C]hildren who can be mainstreamed should be mainstreamed, if not for the entire day, then for part of the day; similarly, children should be provided with an education close to their home, and residential placements should be resorted to only if these attempts fail or are plainly untenable.). The IDEA's integrated-classroom preference makes no exception for deaf students. The parents contend that there exists a genuine issue of material fact whether a free appropriate public education could be offered in the absence of a school for the deaf. The parents have not alleged that their children are not benefit[ting] educationally in the programs and schools in which they are currently enrolled. See Rowley, 458 U.S. at 203, 102 S.Ct. 3034. The complaint explains that the students would prefer to attend programs at the school's campus and that the parents would prefer to enroll their children in a separate, language-rich school. Although it is arguable that a stand-alone school for the deaf might provide the best education for their children, the state is not required to make available the best possible option. See Springdale Sch. Dist. # 50, 693 F.2d at 43 (emphasis omitted). Thus the parents have failed to allege facts to support their claim that the school's discontinuation of educational programs at the Sioux Falls campus violated the IDEA. Furthermore, to the extent the parents have alleged that the Board violated the IDEA's procedural safeguards, they have given no reason why the notice provided by the school was inadequate. We thus conclude that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the IDEA cause of action.