Capistrano Unified School District v. Wartenberg ex rel. Wartenberg
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Kleinfeld, J.
Opinion by Judge KLEINFELD; Dissent by Judge FERGUSON.
This case requires us to determine how a district court is supposed to review the decision of a hearing officer under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., and whether the services the school district offered in this case satisfy the Act’s requirement that each child be afforded a “free appropriate public education.” 20 U.S.C. § 1401 (a)(18).
I. FACTS
The dispute in this case is about whether the school district must pay the private school tuition which Jeremy Wartenberg’s parents incurred for him and their attorneys’ fees. Under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, the answer to the question depends on whether the reason Jeremy Wartenberg did poorly at school was misbehavior or a learning disability. If the decisions below finding that disability caused Jeremy’s school failure are correct, then we must determine whether the program the public school developed for him was appropriate. The result turns largely on whether the district court applied the proper standard of review to the administrative determination. The facts were developed in a ten-day *886 long hearing before a…
Dissenting Opinion
Ferguson, J.
dissenting:
I must dissent because the hearing officer, the district court and the majority are in error as a matter of law in concluding that a student’s behavioral problems which are not caused by any specific learning disability can require the public school system to pay for private schooling.
*898 The record in this case demonstrates that public schools are not required to assume responsibility for the volitional behavior of a student simply because that student qualifies for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.
BACKGROUND
Jeremy Wartenberg was a high school student who suffers from a mild, specific learning disability, a language processing problem. It is undisputed that Jeremy is eligible for special education and related services under IDEA based on his specific learning disability. 20 U.S.C. § 1401 (a)(1)(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.7 (b)(10). Jeremy is also an adolescent whose conduct is marked by a distinct lack of conscience. Jeremy’s defiant, hostile and antisocial behavior has been directed towards teachers and administrators at school, as well as towards his family at home.