SCOTUS Stands Up for Students with Disabilities and Their Learning

 Via NPR:


The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a narrow ruling, made it easier for students with disabilities to sue to enforce their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws enacted to ensure that disabled children get appropriate schooling. 

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor wrote separate, concurring opinions — joined, respectively, by Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

It sounds like an interesting case - a girl was receiving services in one district in a way that supported her disability needs but when her family moved, the new district would not.

Tharpe and her parents sued the Osseo Area Schools under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. The three laws mandate that schools receiving federal funds provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. 

A state administrative law judge sided with the Tharpes, finding that the school district violated Tharpe's rights and needed to make up for her missed class time with 495 additional instruction hours. After years of litigation, the school district relented. 

The Tharpe family then sued for compensatory damages to make up for the money they spent on outside specialists and teachers prior to the school district's compliance. The money damages are not available under IDEA, but they are under the other two federal statutes protecting people with disabilities. 

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Tharpes' claims, ultimately blocking Tharpe's family from financial compensation. The court said that Tharpe's family would need to show that school officials acted either in "bad faith" or with "gross misjudgment" in order to get damages under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. 

That is a higher standard than required for other discrimination claims. And on Thursday, the Supreme Court sided with Tharpe and her parents in lowering the burden for the school children to meet when seeking to vindicate their rights in court.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Notably, the girl needed schooling at night. Eg after the holy “contract hours”. This type of discrimination happens every day in SPS. They never think their contract somehow trumps student ieps. Good on the court.

Sped Mom
6/12/25, 11:18 AM
Amanda F. said…
I think this is a hard situation and I have sympathy all around. of course all students deserve the best education they can get. But there have to be limits for teachers as well. What if a student could only work at night? As a teacher I would not be willing to be apart from my own family and work in the evenings. As a college instructor I honor all sorts of individual requirements, but I would not be willing to hire child care in the evenings and not be with my own kids if a student could only do work then. Not for what I get paid anyway. I'm not sure what the solution looks like in practice here.
6/13/25, 8:03 AM
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