The Moorestown Public School District has appealed a ruling by Judge Anne Marie Bumb in early September, which ordered the school district to reimburse the Duman family for tuition costs and legal fees associated with their son, who is a special needs student, according to the son’s father.
The Duman family sued the school district in civil court in 2008 after the school district did not create an individualized education plan for their son so they could determine if the school district could provide him with a free and appropriate public education, as required through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The district, according to Scott Duman, father of the special needs student in question, filed an appeal with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The district had 30 days to appeal the decision if they so wished.
This is the second appeal the district has made in regards to this case. The district originally appealed a ruling that went in favor of the Duman family when it was heard at the state court level.
The Duman family sued the school district in civil court in 2008 after the school district did not create an individualized education plan for their son so they could determine if the school district could provide him with a free and appropriate public education, as required through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The family had pulled their son out of the school district and had enrolled him in the Orchard Friends School in Riverton in fifth grade. The district denied their request for the IEP unless their son was enrolled in the district, however. The family had shown interest in reenlisting their son into the district for middle school.
Duman said they couldn’t take him out of Orchard Friends School and enroll him back into the Moorestown district for fear that the public school district couldn’t provide him with the education he needed. If they took him out of Orchard Friends he most likely would have lost his spot in the district.
According to the IDEA, school districts must provide IEPs to students in the district boundaries, even if they’re not enrolled in the school district.
“What I think, this is no longer about reimbursing me for tuition. It’s about creating a barrier for other kids in my son’s situation, who are going to private schools because the school couldn’t provide them an education, and they’re creating a barrier to keep them away,” Duman said. “It’s not so much about my particular case anymore, I think it’s about maintaining this barrier they’ve put up to keep these kids in similar situations from getting the instruction they need from the district.”
Duman said the family filed the lawsuit against the district for their refusal to pay for their son’s tuition to the school and their refusal to give him an IEP unless he was enrolled in the district.
Duman said that the district began to pay for his son’s tuition at Y.A.L.E. School in Cherry Hill last year after Bumb ordered the district to begin paying in February 2010.
Bumb ruled that the district reimburse the family for three years of tuition costs at Orchards Friends School and for four-years of legal fees.
John Comegno, legal counsel for the school district, could not be reached for comment.
