Legal Update for Special Education Law – Case Law Update

Third Circuit Affirms District Court’s Issuance of Preliminary Injunction Requiring a Public School to Place Student in a Residential Educational Facility. 
S.M., by & through his parents, Michael C. & Danielle C.; Michael Ciavarelli; Danielle Ciavarelli v. Chichester School District, Appellant, No. 22-1612, 2024 WL 4262788, at *1 (3d Cir. Sept. 23, 2024)

S.M. is a 17-year-old boy with severe autism and intellectual disabilities. His parents filed an administrative complaint against the defendant-school district with the Pennsylvania Office for Dispute Resolution, asserting claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The parents alleged the school district denied S.M. a free appropriate public education (FAPE) by failing to offer him an individualized education program (IEP) that would place him in a residential educational facility, also known as a “contingent IEP,” upon his release from a residential treatment facility.

Following an administrative proceeding where the special education administrative hearing officer dismissed the complaint, reasoning the school district was the “resident district” and not the “host district,” the District Court rejected the hearing officer’s legal conclusions and held: (1) the school district had assumed the responsibilities of a host district; and (2) there was no imminency requirement in the IDEA. The court’s rationale was based upon the premise that the school district had to provide S.M. with a FAPE because it assumed that responsibility by entering “Local Educational Agency Responsibility Agreement[s]” with neighboring school districts. The District Court issued a preliminary injunction ordering the school district to arrange for S.M. to move to a mutually agreeable residential educational placement. 

The Third Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed. 

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