District Skirted Law in Trying to Deny Education to Autistic Boy, Federal Judge Rules

Moorestown School District engaged in “gamesmanship” when it tried to put hurdles in front of the parents of an autistic child who wanted the district’s help to give their son an education, according to a federal judge.

Judge Renee Marie Bumb ruled last week in favor of the Duman family, who sued the district in civil court after it refused to evaluate or provide an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for their autistic son unless he was enrolled in the district, even though the law— per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)—says the district must provide services to any and all disabled students as long as they reside in the district’s boundaries, according to an article in the New Jersey Law Journal.

Scott Duman, the boy’s father, said his son—who is diagnosed with high-functioning autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—was enrolled in Moorestown for several years, but began regressing dramatically when he hit fourth grade.

“The district made some accommodations to help him get better grades, but he wasn’t learning anything,” Duman said.

He and his wife pulled their son out of the district and sent him to Orchard Friends School in Riverton, a school for children with communication deficiencies.

The district refused to pay the $30,500 yearly tuition, Duman said, so he and his wife picked it up. Their son attended Orchard Friends for part of fifth and all of sixth, seventh and eighth grades, though they hoped to eventually send him back to Moorestown for middle school.

During this time, the Dumans filed a lawsuit against the district for its refusal to pay for their son’s tuition at Orchard Friends, as well as its insistence that they reenroll their son in the district in order to get an IEP.

That meant they would have had 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, which has a very small enrollment.

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 contended the district’s position flew in the face of the law, which requires school districts provide an IEP to all disabled students living in the district, whether or not they’re enrolled.

After three years of legal wrangling, including an appeal by the district after an initial ruling went against them, Judge Bumb ruled in the Dumans’ favor. Bumb was highly critical of the district in her ruling, calling the district’s position “troubling” and “indefensible,” according to a case summary.

She also said the district’s requirement that the Dumans’ son be enrolled before he could be considered for special education services served no purpose other than to “circumscribe the district's IDEA obligations and create a barrier to the provision of a free and appropriate public education,” according to the law journal article.

While the case was still being litigated, the district began paying for tuition for the Dumans’ son after the two parties reached an agreement last year.

Scott Duman said their son, now 15, attends the Y.A.L.E. School in Cherry Hill, another institution for children with social and learning disabilities.

Under Bumb’s ruling, the district is responsible for reimbursing the Dumans roughly $60,000 for tuition costs at Orchard Friends, as well as attorney’s fees for the 4-year-old case.

Scott Duman said he and his wife’s legal fees are in the neighborhood of $200,000 and suspects the district’s are even higher.

“For them to be spending that much money for legal fees when they could be providing programs to students is crazy to me,” he said. “I just feel the district is too willing to spend money on legal fees than do what’s right.”

The district can appeal Bumb’s ruling.

John Comegno, attorney for the board of education, said the district is “currently reviewing its options,” but had no other comment at this time.

“My wife and I are very relieved,” said Scott Duman. “I have my fingers crossed that this is the beginning of the end.”