Challenge to Autistic Student’s School Transfer Largely Moot

A Colorado family challenging efforts to move their autistic son to a different school can seek attorneys’ fees and tuition reimbursement, but their claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are moot, the Tenth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

The family’s IDEA claims against Harrison School District No. 2 were rendered moot by the expiration of their 17-year-old son’s individualized education plan (IEP), the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held. The family failed to show how the specific IDEA violations they alleged—all of which stemmed from the now-expired IEP covering their son, Patrick G.—will be repeated in the future, the court said.

“Vague assertions that a school district and a student’s parents will continue to ‘lock horns’ over a student’s placement cannot, on their own, make out a reasonable probability that the same legal controversy will repeat itself,” the court said.

The opinion, written by Judge Jerome A. Holmes, builds off the court’s two recent rulings under the IDEA: Steven R.F. v. Harrison Sch. Dist. No. 2 and Nathan M. v. Harrison Sch. Dist. No. 2, Both decisions, issued in 2019, rejected as moot IDEA claims brought by families of children with autism against the same Colorado school district at issue here.

In Patrick G.'s case, the court also considered questions not present in Steven R.F. or Nathan M.: specifically, whether the family’s claims for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement for Patrick G.'s tuition were also rendered moot.

The court allowed the family to press both claims, sending them back to district court for a first look. There are live questions as to whether the family was entitled to attorneys’ fees as the “prevailing party” in the parties’ administrative proceedings, and whether they’re entitled to reimbursement for tuition payments, the court said.

Finally, the court rejected as moot the family’s “stay put” claim, which sought to have Patrick G. remain in his initial educational placement until the proceedings are resolved.

The dispute arose in 2016, when the school district proposed transferring Patrick G. from Alpine Autism Center, a private treatment facility not certified as a school by the Colorado Department of Education, to a special program at Mountain Vista Community School allegedly tailored to his needs.

Judges Bobby R. Baldock and Scott M. Matheson Jr. joined the decision.

Spies Powers & Robinson PC represents the family. Anderson, Dude & Lebel PC represents the school district.

The case is Patrick G. v. Harrison Sch. Dist. No. 2, 10th Cir., No. 20-1372, 7/26/22.