United States Ninth Circuit

In an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Rehabilitation Act action brought by parents and their autistic twin children arising from defendant-school district's handling of various issues relating to the children's education, summary judgment against plaintiffs is affirmed in part over claims that: 1) the district court abused its discretion in reducing their award by fifty percent for equitable reasons and in not awarding them the costs of services; and 2) various Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) were not adequate and did not provide the twins with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). However, a decision reducing reimbursement for evaluations parents had conducted on their children is reversed as it was an abuse of discretion, and a merits ruling on the Rehabilitation Act claim is vacated as such claim should have been dismissed without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/24/2008
• Published 12/24/2008

Judges

• Before: DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN, RONALD M. GOULD, and CARLOS T. BEA, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Janet Belcove-Shalin, William W. Heaivilin, Lynne P. Bigley, Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center, Las Vegas, NV, for the plaintiffs-appellants., David A. Campbell, Jonathan Damon, LeBoef, Lamb, Greene & Macrae, Chicago, IL, for the amicus.


• For Appellees:
  
• James R. Hales, Rowe & Hales, Minden, NV;  David B. Lockie, Lockie & MacFarlan, Elko, NV, for the defendant-appellee.