A federal judge from the District of Massachusetts has granted summary judgment to a school district and affirmed an administrative decision by the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) that the school district does not have to reimburse the parents of a student-athlete, who suffered a concussion and struggled in public school thereafter, for a private school education.
In ruling for the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District, the judge agreed with the hearing officer that the argument of Mr. and Mrs. W., parents (pseudonyms) of a minor child, Wallis, was “patently frivolous” and brought for “an improper purpose.”
In fall of 2012, Wallis was a sophomore at Lincoln-Sudbury High School. The school is regarded by many as one of the best public high schools in Massachusetts and serves two relatively affluent towns.
On Sept. 30, 2012, Wallis was injured during a field-hockey practice and suffered a concussion. She was seen by her doctor a few days later, and at a follow-up appointment not long after that. She missed about two weeks of school, and on her doctor’s orders, her activities were limited for another two weeks or so after that. The school was aware of the doctor’s orders and complied with them in all respects. She was permitted to make up her school work and received a variety of other accommodations to help her catch up, according to the court.
Wallis was, before and after the concussion, a good student. Her grades were largely unchanged after the concussion, and she was almost entirely symptom-free after she returned.
Wallis was taking a rigorous schedule of classes, including the most rigorous and intensive mathematics class offered by the school. In her sophomore year, she struggled somewhat in that class. Eventually—in May 2013, eight months after the concussion—her math teacher recommended that she take an advanced, but less-rigorous, course her junior year.
That recommendation precipitated a lengthy dispute between Lincoln-Sudbury and Wallis’s parents, culminating in this lawsuit, according to the court. Her parents began to claim that Wallis was a disabled child and accused the school of failing to comply with its legal obligations to provide her with a special education. In September 2013, they removed her from the Lincoln-Sudbury schools and enrolled her at Lawrence Academy, a private school. Wallis is now an honors student at George Washington University.
The parents brought a proceeding before the BSEA seeking, among other things, reimbursement for the costs of Wallis’s private education and tutoring. The hearing was contentious. Among other things, the parents accused the school of making false statements and engaging in intimidating and coercive behavior. The BSEA Hearing Officer, however, found that Lincoln-Sudbury had in fact complied with the requirements of the law and that the parents were not entitled to reimbursement. She further found that the parents’ claim was “patently frivolous” and brought for “an improper purpose.”
After the decision, the parents sought to reverse the hearing officer’s decision. Both sides moved for summary judgment.
In its review, the court didn’t mince words, noting that the BSEA Hearing Officer found that Wallis “did not have a continuing disability and did not require special-education services. Those conclusions are overwhelmingly supported by the evidence. Indeed, there is almost no evidence to the contrary.”
“It is undisputed that Wallis suffered a concussion on September 30, 2012. … Wallis was given medical advice from Dr. Gaughan on October 3, 2012, that she should rest, stay home from school, and avoid reading and physical activity for a period of two weeks. The school was made aware of that advice on October 5. On October 12, Dr. Gaughan further advised that she should be excused from make-up work and exams for at least two weeks (that is, through October 26) and from gym and sports activities until October 29. Dr. Gaughan never prescribed any additional limitations, and the prescribed period of inactivity ended on October 29.
“The defendants have proffered no medical evidence supporting their claim that Wallis continued to suffer from a disability after October 29. No physician evaluated her again for a period of eight months (that is, between October 12, 2012, and June 14, 2013). Her parents never suggested that their daughter was disabled during that period, and indeed they concede that she was no longer disabled by the following spring. And Wallis was hardly a neglected child; she lived in an affluent community, with supportive parents, and with no apparent barriers to obtaining health-care services. Furthermore, with some minor possible exceptions, Wallis did not exhibit or complain of any post-concussion symptoms during that eight-month period.
“Nor is there any evidence that Wallis ever needed any special-education services, or that the accommodations provided by the school upon her return were inadequate. All of Wallis’s teachers complied with Dr. Gaughan’s orders. No further instructions for school staff concerning Wallis’s health were provided by any physician, or anyone else, for another eight months. See Loch v. Bd. of Educ., 573 F. Supp. 2d 1072, 1084-85 (S.D. Ill. 2008) (holding that child was not a ‘child with a disability’ where parents failed to offer proof that medical conditions adversely affected her educational performance).”
The court added that “by the end of the first semester—several months after October 29, 2012—no teacher or administrator believed that accommodations of any kind were needed.
“In short, there is no evidence that Wallis’s concussion impaired her ability to learn and master course material during the weeks and months after October 29. The conclusion of the BSEA Hearing Officer that she did not require special-education services is overwhelmingly supported by the evidence, and will not be overturned on appeal.”
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District v. MR. and MRS. W. et al.; D. Mass.; Civil Action No. 16-10724-FDS, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11920; 1/24/18
Attorneys of Record: (for plaintiff) Doris R. MacKenzie Ehrens, Murphy, Hesse, Toomey, and Lehane, Quincy, MA. (for defendant) John N. Morrissey, Jr., John N. Morrissey, Attorney at Law, Lincoln, MA.
