Opinion ID: 174111
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Hawaii DOE's Arguments

Text: Hawaii DOE argues that the H. Family cannot show that it denied Michelle and Natalie meaningful access by showing that Hawaii DOE failed to provide reasonable accommodation. Hawaii DOE supports this argument in part by pointing to 34 C.F.R. § 104.33, a regulation implementing Rehabilitation Act § 504. Regulation § 104.33 requires public schools to design programs for students with disabilities to meet their individual educational needs ... as adequately as the needs of non[-disabled] persons are met. 34 C.F.R. § 104.33(b)(1)(i). This regulatory requirement, Hawaii DOE argues, is the only way in which a school district may deny a student meaningful access. That one regulation identifies a specific requirement for compliance with the Rehabilitation Act § 504, however, does not negate the broader rule that a federally funded entity violates the Rehabilitation Act § 504 if it denies a qualified disabled person the reasonable accommodation that the person needs in order to enjoy meaningful access to a program or service. Hawaii DOE also argues that the H. Family cannot rely on reasonable accommodation cases from other contexts, such as college or graduate school, to determine what constitutes a reasonable accommodation in preschool or elementary school. Although it might be improper to rely on specific examples of what amounts to reasonable accommodation from a different context, there is nothing improper in extrapolating the reasonable accommodation standard, or how that standard is applied, from a different context. See, e.g., Mark H., 513 F.3d at 937-38 (drawing on cases from other contexts to outline the meaningful access and reasonable accommodation standards). Finally, with respect to meaningful access, Hawaii DOE argues that the H. Family cannot rely solely on the fact that Hawaii DOE violated Michelle and Natalie's rights to a FAPE under IDEA to establish liability under Rehabilitation Act § 504. This is an accurate statement of law, but it is irrelevant to this case because the H. Family does not merely rely on Hawaii DOE's IDEA violations. Instead, as outlined above, the H. Family has alleged that Hawaii DOE failed to provide Michelle and Natalie with the reasonable accommodation that would have allowed the girls to enjoy meaningful access to the benefits of a public education.
Hawaii DOE also argues that the H. Family failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact with respect to deliberate indifference. Hawaii DOE advances two theories in support of this argument: (1) that the H. Family relied solely on the fact that Hawaii DOE violated IDEA to show that Hawaii DOE acted with deliberate indifference, and (2) that Hawaii DOE was merely negligent, not deliberately indifferent, to Michelle and Natalie's federally protected rights. These arguments fail. First, the H. Family has done more than argue that Hawaii DOE violated IDEA. Second, Hawaii DOE's assertion that it was merely negligent, rather than deliberately indifferent, only highlights that there is a dispute of fact; it does not resolve the question in Hawaii DOE's favor.