District Settles with Family in Special Needs Education Case

After four long years, the Duman family’s lawsuit against the may be coming to a close.

Attorneys for the Dumans, of Moorestown, and the school district came to terms on a settlement during mediation ordered by the and the school board approved the settlement agreement at their meeting this week, according to a release from the district.

The Dumans sued the district in 2007 after it refused to evaluate or provide an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for their autistic son unless he was enrolled in the district. The Dumans argued——the district’s refusal violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires school districts provide an IEP to all disabled students living in the district, whether or not they’re enrolled.

Amelia Carolla, who represented the Dumans in the case, would not disclose the details of the settlement, but said the main terms include the district reimbursing the Dumans for tuition and attorney’s fees, as well as dropping its appeal.

“I was happily surprised,” Carolla said of the district’s sudden willingness to settle. “Because Scott Duman’s been trying to get a resolution to this and the district wasn’t interested.”

Duman said he was pleased his family’s ordeal seemed to be coming to an end, but was somewhat restrained since both he and Carolla had yet to see a formal settlement agreement.

“I’m concerned they’re going to put something in front of me I can’t sign,” he said.

Carolla explained it’s not unusual for it to take several days for an official settlement agreement to be drawn up and sent out. She should have it within a week and said she’s “not expecting any unusual terms.”

Though the statement released by the district referred to this as an “amicable settlement,” Duman has been very critical of the district throughout the case. He questioned why the district was willing to spend so much on fighting his family when it would have been cheaper to work with them.

“It’s something the district could have easily avoided,” he said. “I would rather see them spend money on programs for kids, not on money for litigation.”

The Dumans pulled their son out of the Moorestown School District after he began to regress and enrolled him in Orchard Friends School in Riverton. Later, they considered reenrolling their son in Moorestown, and requested an IEP. They were told he had to enroll in the district first, which meant they would have to pull him out of Orchard Friends without knowing whether the program offered by Moorestown would be acceptable, and run the risk of losing his spot at the Riverton school.

IEPs are vital for challenged students like their son, Duman said, because “he’s not like a kid you can just drop off in front of the school. He has to know what he’s getting into.”

The Dumans’ son, now 15, attends the Y.A.L.E. School in Cherry Hill, another institution for children with social and learning disabilities.

The family went to great personal expense to fight the district. Scott Duman estimated the family racked up about $200,000 in legal fees.

“It’s very expensive, for any family, to continue a case over a long period of time,” said Carolla. “And I’ve had clients that have stopped pursuing claims against a district because they couldn’t afford it.”

Attorney John Comegno, whose firm represented the district, told the Philadelphia Inquirer the district spent about $150,000 on its legal fees in this case. He said his firm provided another $125,000 in legal services free of charge.

Carolla said the case has extraordinary legal significance as well because it clearly delineates a school district’s responsibilities to special needs students.  

“I’m happy that other special education lawyers will be able to use this case,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of phone calls from lawyers as far away as Hawaii … saying this is going to clear an issue up for them.”