I would like to bring to the attention of the town a recent U.S Supreme Court ruling regarding learning-disabled students. The case involved a father seeking reimbursement from New York City for private school tuition without giving the city’s public school program a chance to meet the boy’s need. The Supreme Court let stand a federal appellate court ruling in favor of the father.
The following are two quotes from the October 11 New York Times:
“Washington, Oct. 10—The Supreme Court on Wednesday let stand a ruling that the New York City school system must pay private school tuition for disabled children, even if the parents refuse to try public school programs first.”
“Mr. Feston’s fight on behalf of his son began a decade ago, when his son, then 8, was found to have learning disabilities. The city offered the child a coveted spot in the Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education, on the Upper East Side, but Mr. Feston wanted a smaller setting and put his child in the private Stephen Gaynor School. He won tuition reimbursements through administrative hearings and an appeals board proceeding.
Then the Board of Education sued in federal court, where a district judge ruled that a family could not receive tuition reimbursement unless a child first attended public school. But the Second Circuit Court found for Mr. Feston.
Ralph Goodell
Hillcrest Drive
