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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Forest Grove school district, parents tussle on private school costs
An administrative law judge tells the district to pay, saying it didn't
deal with a teen's learning problems
March 22, 2004 - Oregonian by Shirley Dang
A family's frustration with the Forest Grove School District's failure to
respond to their child's learning problems has led to an order that the district
pay for private school for him.
Betty Smith, an administrative law judge, found the district failed to recognize
the teenager's attention deficit disorder as a disability and to offer him
proper services, as required by federal law.
The case is among a small but growing number across the country involving
tuition reimbursement for private schooling. Parents faced with bills from
expensive private programs are increasingly using legal action to recoup money,
said Thomas Mayes, a lawyer for Iowa Legal Aid. Districts, seeking to contain
costs, are fighting back.
Smith ordered the Forest Grove district in January to reimburse the
19-year-old's family for tuition and fees -- about $65,000 -- at Mt. Bachelor
Academy in Prineville, where he enrolled in March 2003 as a high school junior.
She also ordered the district to pay legal fees.
The district has appealed the order to U.S. District Court. The teen was not
identified by name in the case paperwork to protect his privacy.
Paying for the youth's private schooling would be a financial hardship for the
district, Superintendent Jack Musser said. In addition, the student's problems
stemmed not from a disability but from drug and alcohol use, he said.
"We have an educational responsibility to students in this district," Musser
said. "This has gone beyond the bounds of our responsibility."
Smith's 55-page order says the student used marijuana. Mary Broadhurst, the
family's attorney, said his drug use was symptomatic of his difficulties, not
the cause.
"Drugs isn't the point," Broadhurst said. "What's relevant is whether the
district was providing appropriate services."
Besides the Forest Grove case, two similar requests were filed with the Oregon
Department of Education in 2003, said Suzy Harris, legal specialist at the
department's Office of Special Education.
Nationwide, the number of similar cases is growing, experts say.
"It started out as a slow stream, and it's becoming more of a river," said
Mayes, who has written several papers on such cases.
"The outcomes are a mixed bag, so there's not a deterrent for parents not to
file or districts not to fight these requests," he said.
Last month, a hearings officer found in favor of the Eugene School District in a
reimbursement case. The officer decided the district did not need to reimburse
the family because the district had made a legitimate attempt to offer a "free
and appropriate public education," as outlined by the federal Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act of 1997.
In the Forest Grove case, Broadhurst argued, the district did not recognize the
student's disability.
During the boy's elementary school years, teachers noted on his report cards how
he failed to complete work on time or to use time productively, the order said.
His parents helped him nightly with assignments, but as he got older, his grades
dropped to a C- average or below, according to the order.
Distressed by their son's school performance, his parents asked for a special
education evaluation in December 2000. In notes from a January 2001 meeting,
district staff wrote, "Maybe ADD/ADHD?" the order said.
Forest Grove High School psychologist Vinny Martin evaluated the youth in June
2001, the order said. Martin asked the student if he thought he had "attentional
deficits," to which the student replied that he did not think so.
Martin determined that the student lacked motivation but did not have a learning
disability, the order said. Martin also noted that the youth might have a health
disability, which could make him eligible for special education services.
The teenager began using drugs in the winter of 2002 and intermittently took
antidepressants prescribed by his doctor, the order said.
When he flagged academically, several Forest Grove High School teachers offered
him extra help, according to the order.
"To the extent that there were problems in any class, the teachers were
cooperative with the parents and provided extra help as needed," said Nancy
Hungerford, lawyer for the district.
In January 2003, a counselor suggested the youth enter Portland Community
College's Partnership Program, run with the high school, to finish credits. His
parents told school staff several times that he would attend PCC in April after
receiving drug treatment at Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Expeditions.
In mid-March 2003, his parents received a diagnosis for ADD from a private
psychologist. In late March, Freer counselors suggested the youth needed more
residential care.
The father left messages for two counselors during spring break to say his son
would not attend PCC, but a private school. After getting legal advice about
parental rights, the parents asked for a hearing in April 2003.
The resulting January 2004 order asked the district to pay for costs incurred at
Mt. Bachelor until the district could offer the student federally compliant
instruction. In February, staff drew up a plan, which the parents refused.
They filed another hearings request March 3, hoping to cover tuition costs from
Feb. 19 until graduation. The payment for his entire schooling at Mt. Bachelor
would be nearly $90,000, Broadhurst said.
Hungerford said the district is looking into steps to block payment of the
January order until the appeal is decided, which could be three or four months.
Shirley Dang: 503-294-5956;
shirleydang@news.oregonian.com
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"I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical.
Even God had some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin."
~ Jerry Newport