Manbeck v. Katonah-Lewisboro School District
Manbeck v. Katonah-Lewisboro School District
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Plaintiff appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Conner, J.) granting defendants’ motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts, proceedings below, and specification of issues for review.
At the time suit was filed, plaintiff was not entitled to a public education as a property interest protected by the Due Process Clause, see Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 574, 95 S.Ct. 729, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1975), because her fifth birthday was after
New York Education Law § 3202(1) is consistent with the Equal Protection Clause, which does not require classes of people that are “different in fact or opinion to be treated in law as though they were the same.” Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 216, 102 S.Ct. 2382, 72 L.Ed.2d 786 (1982) (quoting Tigner v. Texas, 310 U.S. 141, 147, 60 S.Ct. 879, 84 L.Ed. 1124 (1940)) (internal quotation mark omitted). In considering the New York State Legislature’s decision to set December 1 as the cutoff date for kindergarten admission, we are mindful that “[a] legislature must have substantial latitude to establish classifications that roughly approximate the nature of the problem perceived, that accommodate competing concerns both public and private, and that account for limitations on the practical ability of the State to remedy every ill.” Id. Moreover, defendants’ refusal to provide plaintiff with public transportation to the private school at which she attended kindergarten did not violate the Equal Protection Clause. The Legislature has rationally determined that, although a school district in New York must provide transportation “for all the children residing within the school district to and from the school they legally attend, who are in need of such transportation because of the remoteness of the school to the child or for the promotion of the best interest of such children,” N.Y. Educ. Law § 3635(l)(a), it has no obligation to transport a child “who is younger than the age of entrance into the public schools established by the school district in which that child resides,” N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8, § 125.9.
We have considered plaintiffs remaining contentions and found them to be without merit.
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Courtney MANBECK, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. KATONAH-LEWISBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT, Robert Lichtenfeld, school superintendent, individually and in his official capacity, Transportation Department and James Minihan, Transportation Supervisor, individually and in his official capacity
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published