Van Duyn v. Baker School District

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. Factual History

Van Duyn is a severely autistic boy who was 13 years old during the 2001-02 school year. During the three years prior VAN DUYN v. BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT 5J 3789 to 2001-02, Van Duyn was a student at South Baker Elemen- tary School, where he received extensive special education services. On February 22, 2001, a team comprised of teachers, district representatives and Van Duyn’s mother finalized a comprehensive IEP for the 2001-02 school year, during which Van Duyn would transition to Baker Middle School.

Van Duyn’s 2001-02 IEP called for him to work on “lan- guage arts — reading and written work” for 6-7 hours per week, “math computation/math computer drills” for 8-10 hours per week and “adaptive P.E. - gymnastics and swim- ming” for 3-4 hours per week. At the middle school, his schedule consisted of alternating “red” and “white” days, with gym, language arts/reading, math and study skills on red days, and social studies/language arts, computers/vocational, lan- guage arts and reading on white days. Classes each lasted for about 80 minutes, and he worked on math skills during his designated red day math…