New York Court of Appeals, 1981

Dubner v. Ambach

New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 10, 1981

52 N.Y.2d 910; 419 N.E.2d 337; 437 N.Y.S.2d 659; 1981 N.Y. LEXIS 2153

Cases that cite this one

9 later published cases cite this decision.

Antkowiak v. Ambach (2d Cir. 1988)
Antkowiak ex rel. Antkowiak v. Ambach (2d Cir. 1988)
Michael M. v. Bd. of Educ. of NYC School Dist. (District Court, E.D. New York 1988)
Smrcka Ex Rel. Smrcka v. Ambach (District Court, E.D. New York 1983)
Gregg B. v. Board of Education of Lawrence School District (District Court, E.D. New York 1982)
Williams v. Cuomo (New York Supreme Court 1985)
County of Broome v. Cuomo (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1984)
Healey v. Ambach (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1984)
Marthen v. Evans (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1981)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.

We agree with the court below that, pursuant to section 4407 of the Education Law, the State Education Department has the statutory authority to contract with public as well as private out-of-State educational facilities for purposes of providing educational services to handicapped New York residents unable to find suitable instruction within this State.* We would only add that the statute relied upon by the Commissioner of Education in support of the position that the Education Department can only contract with private out-of-State facilities clearly defines a handicapped child as one who “can receive appropriate educational opportunities from special services and programs to include, but not limited to* * * the special services and programs delineated in subdivision two” of section 4401 of the Education Law. (Education Law, § 4401, subd 1 [emphasis supplied].) Although the services delineated therein include private nonresidential and private residential out-of-State schools. (Education Law, § 4401, subd 2, pars f, h), that statute does not expressly exclude public out-of-State schools and certainly does not qualify the broader grant of authority found in section 4407 of the Education Law which empowers the State Education Department to contract with an out-of-State “educational facility”, be it public or private.

*913Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Meyer concur in memorandum.

Order affirmed.

Of course, a handicapped child can be placed in an out-of-State school only upon a determination by the Education Department that appropriate instruction is unavailable within the State and certification by the commissioner as to the handicap or handicaps involved. (Education Law, § 4407, subd 1.)

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.