MR
Mark Richert
Wed, Feb 22, 2017 5:13 PM
All, in these very strange and mysterious days,
it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court
decision having to do with an issue we all care
so much about. This decision just came out like a
couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the
syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the
bottom line is that if a school discriminates
against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service
animal, the parents should be able to go straight
to court to enforce the student's rights under
ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the
administrative procedures you have to satisfy
under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a
bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v.
NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange
for a commitment to furnish a free appropriate public
education (FAPE) to children with certain
disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and
establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the
provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also
protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith
v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the
IDEA, holding that theIDEA was the exclusive
avenue through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009.
Congress responded by passing the Handicapped
Childrens Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smiths preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined
exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a
plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws seeking relief that is also
available under [theIDEA] must first exhaust the
IDEAs administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral
palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists
her with various daily life activities. When E. F.s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission
for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten,
officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of
E. F.s individualized educationprogram rendered
the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of
Educations Office for CivilRights (OCR),
claiming that the exclusion of E. F.s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school
officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby
with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the
service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in
federal court against Ezra Ebys local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school
districts),alleging that they violated Title II
and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts motion to
dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required
the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEAs administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that
§1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiffs alleged
harms are educational in nature.
Held:
- Exhaustion of the IDEAs administrative
procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of
the plaintiffs suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEAs core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when
a plaintiffseeks relief that is available
under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich
the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or
access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEAs
stated purpose and specific commands center on
ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEAs
administrative procedures test whether a school
has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing
officer on a request for substantive relief shall be
based on a determination of whether the child
received a free appropriate public education.
§1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the
denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a
denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But
if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a
different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEAs procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief
for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the
gravamen of the plaintiffs complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central
the plaintiffs own claims, as §1415(l)
explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact seeks relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a
plaintiffs complaint should consider substance,
not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a schools
failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or
framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that
description, a court should attend to the diverse
means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored
educational services for children with
disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith
disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny
some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences
mean that a complaint brought under Title II and
§504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEAs FAPE obligation. One
clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from
asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same
claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a
public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same
grievance? When the answer to those questions is
yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that
subject. But when the answer is no, then the
complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the
history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the
IDEAs administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiffs claim
concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the
complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
- This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals
for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of
E. F.s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys complaint alleges only
dis-ability-based discrimination, without making
any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.s school provided.Instead, the Frys have
maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.s right to equal accesseven if their
actions complied in fullwith the IDEAs
requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different.
The parties have not addressed whether the Frys
initially pursued theIDEAs administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On
remand, the court below should establish whether
(or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEAs dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the
Frys started down that road, thecourt should
decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE,
thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO,
J., filed an opinion concurring in part and
concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
All, in these very strange and mysterious days,
it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court
decision having to do with an issue we all care
so much about. This decision just came out like a
couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the
syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the
bottom line is that if a school discriminates
against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service
animal, the parents should be able to go straight
to court to enforce the student's rights under
ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the
administrative procedures you have to satisfy
under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a
bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
----
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v.
NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange
for a commitment to furnish a free appropriate public
education (FAPE) to children with certain
disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and
establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the
provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also
protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith
v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the
IDEA, holding that theIDEA was the exclusive
avenue through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009.
Congress responded by passing the Handicapped
Childrens Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smiths preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined
exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a
plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws seeking relief that is also
available under [theIDEA] must first exhaust the
IDEAs administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral
palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists
her with various daily life activities. When E. F.s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission
for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten,
officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of
E. F.s individualized educationprogram rendered
the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of
Educations Office for CivilRights (OCR),
claiming that the exclusion of E. F.s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school
officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby
with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the
service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in
federal court against Ezra Ebys local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school
districts),alleging that they violated Title II
and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts motion to
dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required
the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEAs administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that
§1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiffs alleged
harms are educational in nature.
Held:
1. Exhaustion of the IDEAs administrative
procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of
the plaintiffs suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEAs core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when
a plaintiffseeks relief that is available
under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich
the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or
access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEAs
stated purpose and specific commands center on
ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEAs
administrative procedures test whether a school
has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing
officer on a request for substantive relief shall be
based on a determination of whether the child
received a free appropriate public education.
§1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the
denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a
denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But
if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a
different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEAs procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief
for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the
gravamen of the plaintiffs complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central
the plaintiffs own claims, as §1415(l)
explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact seeks relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a
plaintiffs complaint should consider substance,
not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a schools
failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or
framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that
description, a court should attend to the diverse
means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored
educational services for children with
disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith
disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny
some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences
mean that a complaint brought under Title II and
§504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEAs FAPE obligation. One
clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from
asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same
claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a
public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same
grievance? When the answer to those questions is
yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that
subject. But when the answer is no, then the
complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the
history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the
IDEAs administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiffs claim
concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the
complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
2. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals
for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of
E. F.s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys complaint alleges only
dis-ability-based discrimination, without making
any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.s school provided.Instead, the Frys have
maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.s right to equal accesseven if their
actions complied in fullwith the IDEAs
requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different.
The parties have not addressed whether the Frys
initially pursued theIDEAs administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On
remand, the court below should establish whether
(or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEAs dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the
Frys started down that road, thecourt should
decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE,
thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO,
J., filed an opinion concurring in part and
concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
LB
Laura Bozeman
Wed, Feb 22, 2017 5:22 PM
Thank you for sharing this, Mark! Wow.
Laura
Laura Bozeman, Ph.D., COMS, CLVT
Associate Professor/Director: Vision Studies
School for Global Inclusion and Social Development
UMass Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd. Bayside Center Room 428
Boston, MA 02125
Laura.bozeman@umb.edu
www.nercve.org
617-287-4385
Fax 617-287-7727
On 2/22/17, 12:13 PM, "AERNet on behalf of Mark Richert" <aernet-bounces@lists.aerbvi.org on behalf of 4justice@concentric.net> wrote:
All, in these very strange and mysterious days,
it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court
decision having to do with an issue we all care
so much about. This decision just came out like a
couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the
syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the
bottom line is that if a school discriminates
against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service
animal, the parents should be able to go straight
to court to enforce the student's rights under
ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the
administrative procedures you have to satisfy
under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a
bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
----
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v.
NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange
for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate public
education” (FAPE) to children with certain
disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and
establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the
provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also
protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith
v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the
IDEA, holding that theIDEA was “the exclusive
avenue” through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009.
Congress responded by passing the Handicapped
Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined
exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a
plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws “seeking relief that is also
available under [theIDEA]” must first exhaust the
IDEA’s administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral
palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists
her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission
for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten,
officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of
E. F.’s individualized educationprogram rendered
the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of
Education’s Office for CivilRights (OCR),
claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school
officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby
with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the
service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in
federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school
districts),alleging that they violated Title II
and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts’ motion to
dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required
the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that
§1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiff’s alleged
harms are “educational” in nature.
Held:
1. Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative
procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of
the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when
a plaintiffseeks “relief” that is “available”
under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich
the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or
access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s
stated purpose and specific commands center on
ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEA’s
administrative procedures test whether a school
has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing
officer on a request for substantive relief “shall” be
“based on a determination of whether the child
received a free appropriate public education.”
§1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the
denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a
denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But
if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a
different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief
for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the
gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central
the plaintiff’s own claims, as §1415(l)
explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks” relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a
plaintiff’s complaint should consider substance,
not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s
failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or
framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that
description, a court should attend to the diverse
means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored
educational services for children with
disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith
disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny
some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences
mean that a complaint brought under Title II and
§504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One
clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from
asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same
claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a
public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same
grievance? When the answer to those questions is
yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that
subject. But when the answer is no, then the
complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the
history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the
IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim
concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the
complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
2. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals
for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of
E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only
dis-ability-based discrimination, without making
any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have
maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their
actions complied in fullwith the IDEA’s
requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different.
The parties have not addressed whether the Frys
initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On
remand, the court below should establish whether
(or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the
Frys started down that road, thecourt should
decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE,
thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO,
J., filed an opinion concurring in part and
concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
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Thank you for sharing this, Mark! Wow.
Laura
Laura Bozeman, Ph.D., COMS, CLVT
Associate Professor/Director: Vision Studies
School for Global Inclusion and Social Development
UMass Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd. Bayside Center Room 428
Boston, MA 02125
Laura.bozeman@umb.edu
www.nercve.org
617-287-4385
Fax 617-287-7727
On 2/22/17, 12:13 PM, "AERNet on behalf of Mark Richert" <aernet-bounces@lists.aerbvi.org on behalf of 4justice@concentric.net> wrote:
All, in these very strange and mysterious days,
it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court
decision having to do with an issue we all care
so much about. This decision just came out like a
couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the
syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the
bottom line is that if a school discriminates
against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service
animal, the parents should be able to go straight
to court to enforce the student's rights under
ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the
administrative procedures you have to satisfy
under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a
bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
----
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v.
NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange
for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate public
education” (FAPE) to children with certain
disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and
establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the
provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also
protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith
v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the
IDEA, holding that theIDEA was “the exclusive
avenue” through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009.
Congress responded by passing the Handicapped
Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined
exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a
plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws “seeking relief that is also
available under [theIDEA]” must first exhaust the
IDEA’s administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral
palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists
her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission
for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten,
officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of
E. F.’s individualized educationprogram rendered
the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of
Education’s Office for CivilRights (OCR),
claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school
officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby
with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the
service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in
federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school
districts),alleging that they violated Title II
and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts’ motion to
dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required
the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that
§1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiff’s alleged
harms are “educational” in nature.
Held:
1. Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative
procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of
the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when
a plaintiffseeks “relief” that is “available”
under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich
the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or
access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s
stated purpose and specific commands center on
ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEA’s
administrative procedures test whether a school
has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing
officer on a request for substantive relief “shall” be
“based on a determination of whether the child
received a free appropriate public education.”
§1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the
denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a
denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But
if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a
different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief
for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the
gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central
the plaintiff’s own claims, as §1415(l)
explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks” relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a
plaintiff’s complaint should consider substance,
not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s
failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or
framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that
description, a court should attend to the diverse
means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored
educational services for children with
disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith
disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny
some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences
mean that a complaint brought under Title II and
§504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One
clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from
asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same
claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a
public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same
grievance? When the answer to those questions is
yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that
subject. But when the answer is no, then the
complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the
history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the
IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim
concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the
complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
2. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals
for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of
E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only
dis-ability-based discrimination, without making
any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have
maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their
actions complied in fullwith the IDEA’s
requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different.
The parties have not addressed whether the Frys
initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On
remand, the court below should establish whether
(or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the
Frys started down that road, thecourt should
decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE,
thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO,
J., filed an opinion concurring in part and
concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
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TG
Tamara Greenwood
Wed, Feb 22, 2017 5:29 PM
Ok. Now that this topic has been confirmed. Are there any references to
guidelines that school districts/day cares/hospitals shall follow to
determine what party is responsible for correcting and providing care for
the dog throughout the day? Remember, therapy dogs are also considered
service animals.
Tamara Greenwood
AER District 5 Representative
On Feb 22, 2017 12:16 PM, "Mark Richert" 4justice@concentric.net wrote:
All, in these very strange and mysterious days, it's awesome to see a
unanimous Supreme Court decision having to do with an issue we all care so
much about. This decision just came out like a couple hours ago, very cool.
I'll share the syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the bottom
line is that if a school discriminates against a kiddo for using a guide
dog/service animal, the parents should be able to go straight to court to
enforce the student's rights under ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust
all the administrative procedures you have to satisfy under IDEA. The
formatting of the syllabus is a bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from
the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) offers federal
funds to States in exchange for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate
public
education” (FAPE) to children with certain disabilities, 20 U. S. C.
§1412(a)(1)(A), and establishes formal administrativeprocedures for
resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the provision of a FAPE. Other
federal statutes also protect the interests of children with disabilities,
including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and §504 of the
RehabilitationAct. In Smith v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court
considered the
interaction between those other laws and the IDEA, holding that theIDEA
was “the exclusive avenue” through which a child with a disability could
challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009. Congress responded by passing
the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s
preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined exhaustion provision.
Under that provision, a plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the
RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws “seeking relief that is also available under [theIDEA]”
must first exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
§1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral palsy; a trained service dog
named Wonder assists her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s
parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission for Wonder to join E. F.
in kindergarten, officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The
officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of E. F.’s individualized
educationprogram rendered the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys
removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for
CivilRights (OCR), claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal
violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school officials invited E. F. to
return to Ezra Eby with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment
from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the service dog. The Frysthen
filed this suit in federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional
school districts
and principal (collectively, the school districts),alleging that they
violated Title II and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The
District
Court granted the school districts’ motion to dismiss the suit, holding
that §1415(l) required the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative
procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that §1415(l) applies whenever a
plaintiff’s alleged harms are “educational” in nature.
Held:
- Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative procedures is unnecessary where
the gravamen of the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of
the
IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when a plaintiffseeks “relief”
that is “available” under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l),
then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich the IDEA enables a person
to obtain redress or access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the
primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s stated purpose and specific
commands center on ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the
IDEA’s
administrative procedures test whether a school has met thisobligation:
Any decision by a hearing officer on a request for substantive relief
“shall” be
“based on a determination of whether the child received a free appropriate
public education.” §1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion
rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE. If a
lawsuit charges such a denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely
by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But if the remedy sought in
a suit brought under a different statute is not for the denial of a
FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE,
what matters is the gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any
attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central the plaintiff’s own claims,
as §1415(l) explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks”
relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a plaintiff’s complaint
should consider substance, not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when
the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s failure to provide a FAPE,
even if not phrased or framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that description, a court should attend
to the diverse means and ends of the statutes covering persons with
disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored educational services for
children with disabilities, while Title II and §504promise
nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith disabilities of all ages. That is
not to deny some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all
three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences mean that a complaint
brought under Title II and §504 might instead seek relief for simple
discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One clue to the gravamen of a
complaint can come from asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same claim if the alleged
conduct had occurred at a public facility that was not aschool? Second,
could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same grievance? When the answer
to those questions is yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the
denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that subject. But when the
answer is no, then the complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further
sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the history of the proceedings.
Prior pursuit of the IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong
evidence
that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim concernsthe denial of a FAPE,
even if the complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
- This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for a proper analysis of
whether the gravamen of E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the
denial
of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only dis-ability-based
discrimination, without making any reference to the adequacy of the special
education services
E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have maintained that the school
districts infringed
E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their actions complied in fullwith
the IDEA’s requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of
these
proceedings might suggest something different. The parties have not
addressed whether the Frys initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative
remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On remand, the court below
should establish whether (or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s
dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the Frys started down that
road, thecourt should decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen
of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE, thus necessitating further
exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO, J., filed an opinion
concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J.,
joined.
You are subscribed to AERNet, The Association for Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Listserv.
To post a message to all the list members, send an email to
aernet@lists.aerbvi.org.
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AERNet mailing list
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Ok. Now that this topic has been confirmed. Are there any references to
guidelines that school districts/day cares/hospitals shall follow to
determine what party is responsible for correcting and providing care for
the dog throughout the day? Remember, therapy dogs are also considered
service animals.
Tamara Greenwood
AER District 5 Representative
On Feb 22, 2017 12:16 PM, "Mark Richert" <4justice@concentric.net> wrote:
> All, in these very strange and mysterious days, it's awesome to see a
> unanimous Supreme Court decision having to do with an issue we all care so
> much about. This decision just came out like a couple hours ago, very cool.
> I'll share the syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the bottom
> line is that if a school discriminates against a kiddo for using a guide
> dog/service animal, the parents should be able to go straight to court to
> enforce the student's rights under ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust
> all the administrative procedures you have to satisfy under IDEA. The
> formatting of the syllabus is a bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from
> the PDF slip opinion.
>
> Mark
> ----
> SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
> Syllabus
> FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
> ET AL.
> CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
> No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
> The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) offers federal
> funds to States in exchange for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate
> public
> education” (FAPE) to children with certain disabilities, 20 U. S. C.
> §1412(a)(1)(A), and establishes formal administrativeprocedures for
> resolving disputes
> between parents and schools concerning the provision of a FAPE. Other
> federal statutes also protect the interests of children with disabilities,
> including
> Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and §504 of the
> RehabilitationAct. In Smith v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court
> considered the
> interaction between those other laws and the IDEA, holding that theIDEA
> was “the exclusive avenue” through which a child with a disability could
> challenge
> the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009. Congress responded by passing
> the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s
> preclusion
> of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined exhaustion provision.
> Under that provision, a plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the
> RehabilitationAct,
> or similar laws “seeking relief that is also available under [theIDEA]”
> must first exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
> §1415(l).Petitioner E.
> F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral palsy; a trained service dog
> named Wonder assists her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s
> parents,
> petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission for Wonder to join E. F.
> in kindergarten, officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The
> officials
> reasoned that the human aide provided as part of E. F.’s individualized
> educationprogram rendered the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys
> removed E.
> F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
> Syllabus
> filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for
> CivilRights (OCR), claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal
> violated her rights
> under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school officials invited E. F. to
> return to Ezra Eby with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment
> from
> school officials, instead enrolled
> E. F. in a different school that welcomed the service dog. The Frysthen
> filed this suit in federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional
> school districts
> and principal (collectively, the school districts),alleging that they
> violated Title II and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The
> District
> Court granted the school districts’ motion to dismiss the suit, holding
> that §1415(l) required the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative
> procedures.
> The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that §1415(l) applies whenever a
> plaintiff’s alleged harms are “educational” in nature.
> Held:
> 1. Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative procedures is unnecessary where
> the gravamen of the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of
> the
> IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
> list of 2 items
> (a)
> The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when a plaintiffseeks “relief”
> that is “available” under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l),
> then,
> requires identifying the circumstances inwhich the IDEA enables a person
> to obtain redress or access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the
> primacy
> of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s stated purpose and specific
> commands center on ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the
> IDEA’s
> administrative procedures test whether a school has met thisobligation:
> Any decision by a hearing officer on a request for substantive relief
> “shall” be
> “based on a determination of whether the child received a free appropriate
> public education.” §1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion
> rule
> hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE. If a
> lawsuit charges such a denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely
> by bringing
> the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But if the remedy sought in
> a suit brought under a different statute is not for the denial of a
> FAPE,then
> exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
> (b)
> In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE,
> what matters is the gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any
> attempts
> at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central the plaintiff’s own claims,
> as §1415(l) explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks”
> relief
> available under the IDEA. But examination of a plaintiff’s complaint
> should consider substance, not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when
> the gravamen
> of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s failure to provide a FAPE,
> even if not phrased or framed in precisely that way. In ad
> list end
> Syllabus
> dressing whether a complaint fits that description, a court should attend
> to the diverse means and ends of the statutes covering persons with
> disabilities.
> The IDEA guarantees individually tailored educational services for
> children with disabilities, while Title II and §504promise
> nondiscriminatory access
> to public institutions for peoplewith disabilities of all ages. That is
> not to deny some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all
> three
> statutes. But still, these statutory differences mean that a complaint
> brought under Title II and §504 might instead seek relief for simple
> discrimination,
> irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One clue to the gravamen of a
> complaint can come from asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
> the plaintiff have brought essentially the same claim if the alleged
> conduct had occurred at a public facility that was not aschool? Second,
> could an adult
> at the school have pressed essentiallythe same grievance? When the answer
> to those questions is yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the
> denial
> of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that subject. But when the
> answer is no, then the complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further
> sign of
> the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the history of the proceedings.
> Prior pursuit of the IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong
> evidence
> that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim concernsthe denial of a FAPE,
> even if the complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
> 2. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for a proper analysis of
> whether the gravamen of E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the
> denial
> of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only dis-ability-based
> discrimination, without making any reference to the adequacy of the special
> education services
> E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have maintained that the school
> districts infringed
> E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their actions complied in fullwith
> the IDEA’s requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of
> these
> proceedings might suggest something different. The parties have not
> addressed whether the Frys initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative
> remedies, and
> the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On remand, the court below
> should establish whether (or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s
> dispute
> resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the Frys started down that
> road, thecourt should decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen
> of
> their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE, thus necessitating further
> exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
> 788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
> KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
> C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
> FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO, J., filed an opinion
> concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J.,
> joined.
>
>
> You are subscribed to AERNet, The Association for Education and
> Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Listserv.
>
> To post a message to all the list members, send an email to
> aernet@lists.aerbvi.org.
>
> Address list requests to: aernet-request@lists.aerbvi.org
>
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailma
> n/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org and follow instructions to
> unsubscribe. Go to the same address to access the list archives.
> _______________________________________________
> AERNet mailing list
> AERNet@lists.aerbvi.org
> http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org
>
LG
Leah Gerlach
Wed, Feb 22, 2017 5:48 PM
That is a good question. Most all of guide/seeing eye dogs are issued to people over the age of 16 and care and diciplin are the blind person’s responsibility. Other types of service / Therapy dogs which are issued to younger children pose a unique challenge in this area.
Leah Gerlach, M.S.
Rehabilitation Counselor, and Access Technology Specialist
[cid:image002.jpg@01D28D01.A1ED8FB0]
at Deicke House
219 East Cole Avenue
Wheaton, IL 60187
P: 1-630-690-7115 ext. 122
F: 1-630-690-9037
www.spectrios.orghttp://www.spectrios.org/
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Thank you.
From: AERNet [mailto:aernet-bounces@lists.aerbvi.org] On Behalf Of Tamara Greenwood
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 11:30 AM
To: Mark Richert 4justice@concentric.net
Cc: aernet@lists.aerbvi.org
Subject: Re: [AERNet] excellent unanimous Supreme Court decision about service animals just handed down!
Ok. Now that this topic has been confirmed. Are there any references to guidelines that school districts/day cares/hospitals shall follow to determine what party is responsible for correcting and providing care for the dog throughout the day? Remember, therapy dogs are also considered service animals.
Tamara Greenwood
AER District 5 Representative
On Feb 22, 2017 12:16 PM, "Mark Richert" <4justice@concentric.netmailto:4justice@concentric.net> wrote:
All, in these very strange and mysterious days, it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court decision having to do with an issue we all care so much about. This decision just came out like a couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the bottom line is that if a school discriminates against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service animal, the parents should be able to go straight to court to enforce the student's rights under ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the administrative procedures you have to satisfy under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate public
education” (FAPE) to children with certain disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the IDEA, holding that theIDEA was “the exclusive avenue” through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009. Congress responded by passing the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws “seeking relief that is also available under [theIDEA]” must first exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten, officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of E. F.’s individualized educationprogram rendered the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for CivilRights (OCR), claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school districts),alleging that they violated Title II and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts’ motion to dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that §1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiff’s alleged harms are “educational” in nature.
Held:
- Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when a plaintiffseeks “relief” that is “available” under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s stated purpose and specific commands center on ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEA’s
administrative procedures test whether a school has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing officer on a request for substantive relief “shall” be
“based on a determination of whether the child received a free appropriate public education.” §1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central the plaintiff’s own claims, as §1415(l) explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks” relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a plaintiff’s complaint should consider substance, not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that description, a court should attend to the diverse means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored educational services for children with disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences mean that a complaint brought under Title II and §504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same grievance? When the answer to those questions is yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that subject. But when the answer is no, then the complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
- This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only dis-ability-based discrimination, without making any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their actions complied in fullwith the IDEA’s requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different. The parties have not addressed whether the Frys initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On remand, the court below should establish whether (or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the Frys started down that road, thecourt should decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE, thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
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That is a good question. Most all of guide/seeing eye dogs are issued to people over the age of 16 and care and diciplin are the blind person’s responsibility. Other types of service / Therapy dogs which are issued to younger children pose a unique challenge in this area.
Leah Gerlach, M.S.
Rehabilitation Counselor, and Access Technology Specialist
[cid:image002.jpg@01D28D01.A1ED8FB0]
at Deicke House
219 East Cole Avenue
Wheaton, IL 60187
P: 1-630-690-7115 ext. 122
F: 1-630-690-9037
www.spectrios.org<http://www.spectrios.org/>
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Thank you.
From: AERNet [mailto:aernet-bounces@lists.aerbvi.org] On Behalf Of Tamara Greenwood
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 11:30 AM
To: Mark Richert <4justice@concentric.net>
Cc: aernet@lists.aerbvi.org
Subject: Re: [AERNet] excellent unanimous Supreme Court decision about service animals just handed down!
Ok. Now that this topic has been confirmed. Are there any references to guidelines that school districts/day cares/hospitals shall follow to determine what party is responsible for correcting and providing care for the dog throughout the day? Remember, therapy dogs are also considered service animals.
Tamara Greenwood
AER District 5 Representative
On Feb 22, 2017 12:16 PM, "Mark Richert" <4justice@concentric.net<mailto:4justice@concentric.net>> wrote:
All, in these very strange and mysterious days, it's awesome to see a unanimous Supreme Court decision having to do with an issue we all care so much about. This decision just came out like a couple hours ago, very cool. I'll share the syllabus from the Court's decision below, but the bottom line is that if a school discriminates against a kiddo for using a guide dog/service animal, the parents should be able to go straight to court to enforce the student's rights under ADA and 504 and do not need to exhaust all the administrative procedures you have to satisfy under IDEA. The formatting of the syllabus is a bit funky cuz I just cut and pasted it from the PDF slip opinion.
Mark
----
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
FRY ET VIR, AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR E. F. v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
No. 15497. Argued October 31, 2016—Decided February 22, 2017
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) offers federal funds to States in exchange for a commitment to furnish a “free appropriate public
education” (FAPE) to children with certain disabilities, 20 U. S. C. §1412(a)(1)(A), and establishes formal administrativeprocedures for resolving disputes
between parents and schools concerning the provision of a FAPE. Other federal statutes also protect the interests of children with disabilities, including
Title II of theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and §504 of the RehabilitationAct. In Smith v. Robinson, 468 U. S. 992, this Court considered the
interaction between those other laws and the IDEA, holding that theIDEA was “the exclusive avenue” through which a child with a disability could challenge
the adequacy of his education. Id., at 1009. Congress responded by passing the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986, overturning Smith’s preclusion
of non-IDEA claims and adding a carefully defined exhaustion provision. Under that provision, a plaintiff bringing suit under the ADA, the RehabilitationAct,
or similar laws “seeking relief that is also available under [theIDEA]” must first exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures. §1415(l).Petitioner E.
F. is a child with a severe form of cerebral palsy; a trained service dog named Wonder assists her with various daily life activities. When E. F.’s parents,
petitioners Stacy and Brent Fry,sought permission for Wonder to join E. F. in kindergarten, officialsat Ezra Eby Elementary School refused. The officials
reasoned that the human aide provided as part of E. F.’s individualized educationprogram rendered the dog superfluous. In response, the Frys removed E.
F. from Ezra Eby and began homeschooling her. They also
Syllabus
filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for CivilRights (OCR), claiming that the exclusion of E. F.’s service animal violated her rights
under Title II and §504. OCR agreed, and school officials invited E. F. to return to Ezra Eby with Wonder. But the Frys, concerned about resentment from
school officials, instead enrolled
E. F. in a different school that welcomed the service dog. The Frysthen filed this suit in federal court against Ezra Eby’s local and regional school districts
and principal (collectively, the school districts),alleging that they violated Title II and §504 and seeking declaratoryand monetary relief. The District
Court granted the school districts’ motion to dismiss the suit, holding that §1415(l) required the Frys tofirst exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed, reasoning that §1415(l) applies whenever a plaintiff’s alleged harms are “educational” in nature.
Held:
1. Exhaustion of the IDEA’s administrative procedures is unnecessary where the gravamen of the plaintiff’s suit is something otherthan the denial of the
IDEA’s core guarantee of a FAPE. Pp. 918.
list of 2 items
(a)
The language of §1415(l) compels exhaustion when a plaintiffseeks “relief” that is “available” under the IDEA. Establishing the scope of §1415(l), then,
requires identifying the circumstances inwhich the IDEA enables a person to obtain redress or access a benefit. That inquiry immediately reveals the primacy
of a FAPE in thestatutory scheme. The IDEA’s stated purpose and specific commands center on ensuring a FAPE for children with disabilities. And the IDEA’s
administrative procedures test whether a school has met thisobligation: Any decision by a hearing officer on a request for substantive relief “shall” be
“based on a determination of whether the child received a free appropriate public education.” §1415(f)(3)(E)(i). Accordingly, §1415(l)’s exhaustion rule
hinges on whether a lawsuit seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE. If a lawsuit charges such a denial, the plaintiff cannot escape §1415(l) merely by bringing
the suit under a statute other than the IDEA. But if the remedy sought in a suit brought under a different statute is not for the denial of a FAPE,then
exhaustion of the IDEA’s procedures is not required. Pp. 913.
(b)
In determining whether a plaintiff seeks relief for the denial of a FAPE, what matters is the gravamen of the plaintiff’s complaint,setting aside any attempts
at artful pleading. That inquiry makes central the plaintiff’s own claims, as §1415(l) explicitly requires inasking whether a lawsuit in fact “seeks” relief
available under the IDEA. But examination of a plaintiff’s complaint should consider substance, not surface: §1415(l) requires exhaustion when the gravamen
of a complaint seeks redress for a school’s failure to provide a FAPE, even if not phrased or framed in precisely that way. In ad
list end
Syllabus
dressing whether a complaint fits that description, a court should attend to the diverse means and ends of the statutes covering persons with disabilities.
The IDEA guarantees individually tailored educational services for children with disabilities, while Title II and §504promise nondiscriminatory access
to public institutions for peoplewith disabilities of all ages. That is not to deny some overlap in coverage: The same conduct might violate all three
statutes. But still, these statutory differences mean that a complaint brought under Title II and §504 might instead seek relief for simple discrimination,
irrespective of the IDEA’s FAPE obligation. One clue to the gravamen of a complaint can come from asking a pair of hypothetical questions.First, could
the plaintiff have brought essentially the same claim if the alleged conduct had occurred at a public facility that was not aschool? Second, could an adult
at the school have pressed essentiallythe same grievance? When the answer to those questions is yes, a complaint that does not expressly allege the denial
of a FAPE is alsounlikely to be truly about that subject. But when the answer is no, then the complaint probably does concern a FAPE. A further sign of
the gravamen of a suit can emerge from the history of the proceedings. Prior pursuit of the IDEA’s administrative remedies may provide strong evidence
that the substance of a plaintiff’s claim concernsthe denial of a FAPE, even if the complaint never explicitly uses that term. Pp. 1318.
2. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for a proper analysis of whether the gravamen of E. F.’s complaint charges, and seeksrelief for, the denial
of a FAPE. The Frys’ complaint alleges only dis-ability-based discrimination, without making any reference to the adequacy of the special education services
E. F.’s school provided.Instead, the Frys have maintained that the school districts infringed
E. F.’s right to equal access—even if their actions complied in fullwith the IDEA’s requirements. But the possibility remains that thehistory of these
proceedings might suggest something different. The parties have not addressed whether the Frys initially pursued theIDEA’s administrative remedies, and
the record is cloudy as to the relevant facts. On remand, the court below should establish whether (or to what extent) the Frys invoked the IDEA’s dispute
resolutionprocess before filing suit. And if the Frys started down that road, thecourt should decide whether their actions reveal that the gravamen of
their complaint is indeed the denial of a FAPE, thus necessitating further exhaustion. Pp. 1820.
788 F. 3d 622, vacated and remanded.
KAGAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,
C. J., and KENNEDY, GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined.
FRY v. NAPOLEON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Syllabus ALITO, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which THOMAS, J., joined.
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