A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which parents of a disabled student sought tuition reimbursement from Hamburg Area School District.
The district’s determination that the student, identified only as Landon B., could receive a free appropriate public education at Hamburg Area High School should not be overturned, U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson ruled in a 13-page opinion filed Monday.
“The court agrees with the hearing officer that Landon would have been able to receive an appropriate education at Hamburg Area High School for his senior year,” Leeson wrote.
Since that education would have been proper, Landon’s parents are not entitled to tuition reimbursement for his year at Janus School, a private school for students with disabilities, Leeson concluded.
Leeson’s decision upheld the ruling of Hearing Officer Linda M. Valentini, who also concluded that there was no evidence that Landon’s return to Hamburg Area after two years at Janus would cause him undue stress and trauma that would impede his learning or that his individualized education plan was inappropriate.
Hamburg Area had agreed to allow Landon to attend Janus for two years — 10th and 11th grades — but re-evaluated him after 11th grade and determined he did not need to attend Janus for his senior year, Leeson wrote. Landon’s parents failed to prove the district’s action violated the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, according to Leeson.
Leeson wrote that Valentini properly assessed Landon’s individualized education plan and did not let the parents’ actions influence her in that respect.
He also ruled that the individualized education plan is legally sufficient and that the parents’ objections were aimed at any such plan that required Landon to return to Hamburg Area.
Leeson wrote that while Landon had been bullied at Hamburg Area and expressed fears about returning there, the evidence showed he had gained composure and maturity while at Janus and could return to his old school.
“Landon would have been able to receive an appropriate education at Hamburg Area High School for his senior year pursuant to the (individualized education plan) prepared by the district,” Leeson wrote.