Running head: PORTFOLIO #5

EDU 210 Chapter 8 Assignment Submission Portfolio #5

Ryan Moore
College of Southern Nevada

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EDU 210 Chapter 8 Assignment Submission Portfolio #5

Debbie Young is a seasoned high school principle that also served as a special education
teacher as well as an assistant principle in a progressive Southern school district. The parents of
Jonathan, who is a tenth-grade student who has multiple disabilities that requires constant care
by a specially trained nurse, approached her to have their son attend one of the schools in the
district. Jonathan has spastic quadriplegia, a seizure disorder, and is profoundly mentally
disabled. Debbie Young refused the parents request based on the judgment that the school is not
the most appropriate placement for Jonathan due to extraordinary expense.
The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) provides major
principles, which are the right to a free and appropriate education, identification and
nondiscriminatory evaluation, and individualized education program, a least restrictive
environment, and procedural due process. By denying Jonathan access to one of the schools in
her district, Debbie Young is going against everything that the IDEA stands for. According to LT
V. Warwick School Committee IDEA does not require schools to provide what is best for a
student, but a school must provide an IEP that is reasonably calculate to provide an
appropriate education.
Jonathan does require a specialized nurse at all times. According to Cedar Rapids
Independent School District v. Garrett F if a student requires a service such as a nurse, the school
district must pay for it and provide it if deemed necessary to the students benefit. The
extraordinary expense that Young used as reasoning to not accept Jonathan into the school
district is an expense that the school district must pay.
However, it is only implied that Debbie Young used her best discretion when denying
Jonathan the right to attend one of the schools in the district. Board of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson

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Central School District v. Rowley found that the school district does not have to provide the best
education, but one reasonably calculated to confer educational benefits. Perhaps Young truly
believed that the school district would not be able to meet Jonathans educational need. Although
a teacher should never feel that they couldnt give a child the best education, it is an argument
that would give reasoning to her actions.
The original ruling of Timothy W. v. Rochester School District upheld the literal
interpretation of P.L. 94-142 that requires all disabled children are to be provided with a free,
public education with no exceptions. However, the three-judge appeals court overturned the
decision of the district court judge. They ruled that the district did not need to educate a 13-yearold boy with multiple mental disabilities because he would not benefit from special education.
Overall, saying no to a child before even trying seems like a very wrong thing to do as an
educator. Debbie Young says that educating Jonathan would be an extraordinary expense,
however the Cedar Rapids Independent School District v. Garrett F case states that school
districts must pay for services such as Jonathans specialized nurse. The case LT V. Warwick
School Committee says nothing about accepting a child or not but it says that a school must
provide an appropriate education. There is nothing appropriate about blatantly turning away a
child before trying. At the end of the day Debbie Young is in the wrong, and Jonathan should be
allowed to attend school in the district.

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References

Board of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley. Dean Webb, L., &
Underwood, J. (2006). School Law for Teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Cedar Rapids Independent School District v. Garrett F. Dean Webb, L., & Underwood, J.
(2006). School Law for Teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
LT V. Warwick School Committee. Dean Webb, L., & Underwood, J. (2006). School Law for
`Teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Timothy W. v. Rochester School District. 875 F.2d 954 (1st Cir.) 1989.