A recent decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia ruled in favor of a student and parent that challenged the Bedford County School Board under the IDEA for failure to provide the special-education student with FAPE. In the case of DB v. Bedford County School Board, , Judge Norman Moon determined that the School Board failed to evaluate DB for special education eligibility under the category of Specific Learning Disability (SLD) even though the school had conducted psychological testing and made the determination that the child was eligible under the category of Other Health Impaired (OHI). The parent had repeatedly sought a determination for SLD. When the student continued to make no progress in the school curriculum, the parent then placed the child in a private school program.
In this opinion, the court goes to great lengths to stress the responsibility of school districts to examine all evidence related to the different categories of eligibility for special education students. The court stressed that each of the categories for eligibility is a distinct and separate identification of need and cannot be ignored when there is evidence available to consider one or more categories of eligibility.
In addition, the Court gives a clear an unequivocal opinion about the inadequacy and detriment of "social promotion" which occurred in this case. Responding to the argument that the Due Process Hearing Officer found that DB had been promoted to the next grade every year, the Court ruled that “the HO failed to comprehend that this token advancement documents, at best, a sad case of social promotion". Referencing a 2005 4th Circuit case from Henrico County, the Court noted that the Congressional intent under IDEA "did not mean that a school system could discharge its duty under the (Act) by providing a program that produces some minimal academic advancement, no matter how trivial".
This case is a significant decision regarding the requirements of school districts to assess eligibility and to provide meaningful educational programming special needs children.
