C.B. had an IEP since kindergarten. His reading level never improved beyond the first percentile even by the time he reached fifth grade. His parents notified the school district that they were enrolling their son in a private school and they requested the district to pay his tuition. As the basis for their request, the parents asserted that C.B.’s special education remained the same year after year with little change to the goals and objectives. Also, C.B. had made no demonstrable progress during his years in the public school and the parents contended that he had not been provided with the right intervention to address his disabilities.

The parents requested a due process hearing. The hearing officer determined that the school district had to reimburse C.B.’s parents for the cost of the tuition because it failed to provide a FAPE for him. That victory was short-lived, however, because the school district appealed and the district court reversed. While the district court agreed that a FAPE had not been provided to C.B., it did not require the school district to reimburse the tuition because it determined that the private school was not an “appropriate placement” under the IDEA. The district court said that the private school did not offer C.B. an education in the least restrictive environment. The parents appealed to the Eighth Circuit, who reversed the district court and ruled in favor of the parents, requiring the school district to reimburse the parents the cost of the tuition.

The Eighth Circuit found that the central dispute in the case was whether the district complied with the procedures set forth in the IDEA, to ensure that the IEP was “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” The Court said that there might be instances in which an educational program that results in such slight progress is sufficient to comply with the IDEA, but this is not such a case.  

In a significant step, the Eighth Circuit joined two other circuits in concluding that a private placement need not satisfy a least-restrictive environment requirement to be proper under the IDEA.  The Eighth Circuit reversed the decision of the district court and remanded the case to the lower court to implement its ruling.

Of particular note is the length of time that the Eighth Circuit took to decide this case. Generally, opinions are issued on cases within 90 days of submission. However, it took the Eighth Circuit nearly a year to reach its decision here.