Running head: SPECIAL EDUCATION 1

Education for a Student with Disability

Esmeralda Lopez

College of Southern Nevada

October 14, 2017

SPECIAL EDUCATION 2

Education for a Student with Disability

A student parents wants him to attend a school in a school district in the south. His name

is Jonathan who has multiple disabilities. He requires constant care by a specially trained nurse.

He is mentally disable, has spastic quadriplegia, and has a seizure disorder. Debbie young is a

principal at the high school Jonathan parents want him to attend. Debbie young has been an

education teacher and an assistant principal. She has refused his parents request for him to attend

a school in her district. She believes the extraordinary expense and a view that the is not

appropriate to place Jonathan at her school.

Is Debbie Young Decision to turn away Jonathan reasonable? One cases that help

support Young decision is LT v. Warwick School Committee (2004). In this case a district offered

a self-contained classroom with the modified version of educational technique known as

Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication-Handicapped Children. The students’

parents didn’t agree with the technique the school used. They preferred the school to use the

Discrete Trial Training. The school is not required to provide what is best for the student their

only reasonability is to give the special needs child an appropriate education.

Another case that supports Ms. Young is McLaughlin V. Holt Public School (2003). This

case helps us understand when or what makes it acceptable to move or where to place a child

with special needs. The courts found that a student could attend a school outside of their

neighborhood. This is more likely when a different school offer the program the child needs that

the home school doesn’t provide. This case show that these students are entitled to go to the

school of their choosing. To find the correct placing for students with special need is to find a

placement that is the least restrictive environment.

SPECIAL EDUCATION 3

For the parents Ms. Young decision was not reasonable. She believed that his disabilities

were to extraordinary expense and refused his parents request. The Case Cedar Rapids

Independent School District v. Garrett F. (1999) Clarified the specific exception of medical

services that a special needs child requires. In this case the parents of the students request the

school to pay for the nurse which they refused to do. The nurse is necessary for the student to

benefit from special education under idea. The courts decided if all other supportive health

services that can be provided by someone other than a physician is considered related services

that the school district must pay for and provide. The school are required to provide related

service to Jonathan no matter the expenses.

Another Case that supports Jonathan parents is Irvin Independent School District v. Tatro

(1984). This case is about a student with spina bifida that requires a Clean Intermitted

Catheterization services. This requires this service without it the student could not attend classes.

The school failed to include it in the students’ IEP. The students’ parents filed a case after they

had already exhausted administrative remedies. The court decided that it was a related to the

effort to educate the student and the student remain in class. The school must provide related

service to the student if it is necessary to provide an adequate education for that student.

I believe that the courts will rule in the favor of Jonathans’ Parents. Ms. Young decision

to refuse Jonathans’ Parents was the wrong choice. They have a responsibility to provide service

that is necessary for the students’ education. Which was stated in both Irvin Independent School

District v. Tatro (1984) and Cedar Rapids Independent School District v. Garrett F. (1999). The

child should not be discriminated for disabilities.

SPECIAL EDUCATION 4

References

Cedar Rapids Independent School District V. Garrett F. (1999). (n.d.). Retrieved

October 14, 2017

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/526/66.html

McLaughlin V. Holt Public School (2003). (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2017

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1253429.html

Irvin Independent School District v. Tatro (1984). (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2017

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/468/883.html

LT v. Warwick School Committee (2004). (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2017

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1241530.html

Underwood, Julie, and L. Dean. Webb. School Law for Teachers: Concepts and Applications.

Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2006.