P.F., a minor, by A.F. v. Carolyn S. Taylor
Opinion
Under Wisconsin's open-enrollment program, a public-school student can apply to transfer from his resident school district to a nonresident district that has an available space for him. WIS. STAT. § 118.51. The program distinguishes between "regular education and special education spaces." Id. § 118.51(5)(a)1. If a student with a disability requires special services, a nonresident district may deny the student's *469 transfer application if it lacks the services or space necessary to meet those special needs. Id. § 118.51(5)(a)4.
This suit concerns a group of disabled schoolchildren whose transfer applications were denied because nonresident districts determined that they could not meet the students' special needs. The students' parents, on their children's behalf, sued the school districts and various state actors seeking injunctive, declaratory, and compensatory relief under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"),
We affirm. Differential treatment of special-needs students doesn't make the program unlawful. Federal law "forbids discrimination based on stereotypes about a handicap, but it does not forbid decisions based on the actual attributes of the handicap."
Anderson v. Univ. of Wis.
,
I. Background
In keeping with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
Wisconsin's open-enrollment program permits such a transfer.
Between February and April, interested students may submit transfer applications to up to three nonresident districts. WIS. STAT . § 118.51(3)(a)1. If an applicant has an IEP in place, the resident district will send a copy of the plan to the nonresident district.
[w]hether the special education or related services described in the child's individualized *470 education program under [ WIS. STAT .] § 115.787(2) are available in the nonresident school district or whether there is space available to provide the special education or related services identified in the child's individualized education program, including any class size limits, pupil-teacher ratios[,] or enrollment projections established by the nonresident school board.
Districts notify applicants of their acceptance or rejection in June.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction administers the program at the state level. It promulgates the standard application forms, which include a checkbox for whether the student has an IEP. The Department's guidance emphasizes that "[a] student may not be denied open enrollment based on the student's disability." MARY JO CLEAVER, WIS. DEP'T OF PUB. INSTRUCTION, MAKING OPEN ENROLLMENT SPECIAL EDUCATION DECISIONS NONRESIDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 2 (2012). Rather, "[t]he application may only be denied based on the availability of or space in the special education or related services required in the student's IEP."
The three plaintiffs-R.W., P.F., and S.B.-each applied to transfer to nonresident school districts under the open-enrollment program. R.W. and P.F. have autism while S.B. has ADHD. R.W. and his twin brother applied to transfer from the Kenosha Unified School District to the Paris J1 School District in 2012. Paris initially accepted both applications but later revoked its acceptance of R.W.'s application because it lacked the capacity to meet his special needs.
P.F. applied to transfer from the Racine School District to the Muskego-Norway School District in 2014. Muskego-Norway had previously determined that it had 55 spaces for regular students but zero spaces for special-needs students. Moreover, under the law in effect at the time, Racine would be responsible for reimbursing Muskego-Norway for the additional costs required to educate P.F. in accordance with his IEP. So Racine declined to approve the transfer, and Muskego-Norway ultimately denied P.F.'s application.
S.B. applied to transfer from the Milwaukee School District to the Shorewood School District in 2014. His application was initially accepted. But when Shorewood later discovered that S.B. had an IEP, it promptly revoked his acceptance under section 118.51(5)(a) 4 and expelled him from the school.
The three students, by their parents, filed suit against the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the three school districts that rejected their applications: Paris J1, Muskego-Norway, and Shorewood. 1 The plaintiffs claimed that the program violates the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Equal Protection *471 Clause. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the district judge entered summary judgment for the defendants on all claims except for R.W.'s claim for injunctive relief against Paris. That claim was later dismissed, and the judge entered final judgment for the defendants.
II. Discussion
The plaintiffs limit their appeal to their claims under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act; they do not seek review of the judge's ruling for the defendants on their equal-protection claim. We review a summary judgment de novo.
Pain Ctr. of Se. Ind. LLC v. Origin Healthcare Sols. LLC
,
We first address a jurisdictional issue. S.B. now resides in Shorewood, so he is entitled to enroll as a resident student. We therefore dismiss as moot his claims for injunctive and declaratory relief against Shorewood.
See
CTL ex rel. Trebatoski v. Ashland Sch. Dist.
,
Both Title II of the ADA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination against disabled individuals. For our purposes the statutes are "functionally identical."
Wagoner v. Lemmon
,
The plaintiffs do not contend that the State Superintendent, the Department, or any of the school districts intentionally deviated from the program in a discriminatory manner. Rather, they claim that the program itself discriminates on the basis of disability and that the defendants are liable for their role in administering it. The question before us, then, is whether the open-enrollment program, by its terms, violates federal antidiscrimination law.
It does not. The plaintiffs argue that the program discriminates against disabled students because it imposes criteria that apply only to students with special needs. But their argument rests on mischaracterizations of federal law and the program itself. Under federal law a program is not discriminatory just because it takes an individual's disability into account. "[A]lthough a disability is not a permissible ground for assuming an inability to function in a particular context, the disability is not thrown out when considering if the person is qualified...."
Knapp v. Nw. Univ.
,
Under the open-enrollment program, nonresident districts cannot turn away applicants merely because they are disabled. Instead the program allows nonresident districts to realistically assess whether they have the capacity and resources to comply with a transfer student's IEP. Because decisions are based on a student's special needs, the program hinges on "the actual attributes of the handicap" rather than mere "stereotypes."
For the program to work, school districts must evaluate their existing space and resources and the needs of the transfer applicants. Not all students are the same. A sixth grader requires different services than a fourth grader, and the program allows districts to categorize their capacity accordingly. It wouldn't follow that the program discriminates against fourth graders if a nonresident school district only has excess capacity in the sixth grade. The same is true of students with special needs. If a student with an IEP requires special resources, it doesn't make any more sense to treat his needs as identical to those of his peers than it would to treat fourth graders the same as sixth graders.
Properly framing the program leads to an easy resolution of this case. To be a "qualified individual with a disability," a child must meet the program's "essential eligibility requirements."
Even if we analyze this case as a request for an accommodation, the plaintiffs still aren't entitled to relief. Neither the ADA nor the Rehabilitation Act requires modifications that "would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity."
AFFIRMED .
Three other disabled children, by their parents, joined the suit below, but they are not involved in this appeal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- P.F., a Minor, BY A.F., His Parent, Et Al., Plaintiffs-Appellants v. Carolyn Stanford TAYLOR, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees.
- Cited By
- 16 cases
- Status
- Published