K.M. Ex Rel. Bright v. Tustin Unified School District

These two cases, consolidated for oral argument, raise questions about the obligations of public schools under federal law to students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The plaintiffs’ central claim is that their school districts have an obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to provide them with a word-for-word transcription service so that they can fully understand the teacher and fellow students without undue strain and consequent stress.

K.M., a high schooler in the Tustin Unified School District (“Tustin”) in Orange County, California, and D.H., a high schooler in the Poway Unified School District (“Poway”) in San Diego County, California, both have hearing disabilities. Each student, through her parents, requested that, to help her follow classroom discussions, her school district provide her with Communication Access Realtime Translation (“CART”) in the classroom. CART is a word-for-word transcription service, similar to court reporting, in which a trained stenographer provides real-time captioning that appears on a computer monitor. In both cases, the school district denied the request for CART but offered other accommodations. Also in both…