A review by the Georgia Department of Education found that the Cobb County School District did not comply with federal law and state regulations when it denied education services for a 5-year-old student with Down syndrome.
Now, the district must provide compensatory services and possibly revise its policies, according to an order from the state issued last week. If it does not comply, Cobb risks losing federal and state funds for special education.
In December 2022, the student’s family and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a complaint with the state alleging that Cobb failed to provide a “free and appropriate education” to the student as required under federal law.
The student’s name was redacted from the order by the Georgia Department of Education.
The district denied the family’s request for home education services while undergoing a treatment program. District officials argued about whether the treatment was necessary or voluntary, despite being provided information about the student’s condition by the family’s doctor, according to the complaint. Officials argued the student did not qualify for the at-home services because he would be traveling to and from the hospital for the treatment.
After missing 10 consecutive days of school to participate in the program, the student was withdrawn, and re-enrolled when the program completed at the end of November.
The state found the district failed to provide accommodations and education services for the student as required by law.
The district “forced (the student) to choose between a ‘medically necessary’ eight-week treatment program, or his education,” the complaint states. “(The student) chose treatment, and CCSD withdrew (the student) from school.”
Now the district has until March 3 to meet with the student’s family and come up with a plan to deliver 50 hours of compensatory services to the student, to be completed by September.
The district did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Additionally, the district must review and revise, if necessary, its policies related to providing services to students with disabilities. Cobb must provide the procedures to the Georgia Department of Education by March 17 for approval. The district has until April 28 to train special education teachers and administrators on how to implement the procedures.
“The district’s actions were arbitrary, and a blatant violation of the student’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Act and Georgia law,” said Eugene Choi, a senior attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, in a news release. “We believe training for the district’s special education staff is critically important to ensure this does not happen again. Fortunately, the Georgia Department of Education agrees and will oversee the needed changes in the district.”
Cobb schools is currently embroiled in another lawsuit related to accommodations for students with disabilities. Four students with medical conditions and their parents alleged in a 2021 lawsuit that the students could not attend school in-person and would not receive an equitable education remotely if the district did not implement recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including a mask mandate. The district originally won the suit, but the families recently won an appeal. The suit is ongoing.
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