A § 504 case at the US Supreme Court
Will a decision in AJT v Osseo Area Schools guarantee or gut disability rights in the US?
The US Supreme Court is set to hear the only case for the 2024-2025 involving special education. The main question of the case is how egregious a school’s actions must be for her family to receive compensation after her rights under the Rehabilitation Services Act were violated. The case, known as A. J. T. v. Osseo Area Schools, will be argued 28 April 2025.
The decision in this case (which will probably be announced in June 2025 at the earliest) will likely have substantial implications for special education around the US. This is not because the issue is about eligibility, teaching methods, access to services, or similar matters; it is because the issue is how courts should decide whether families who sue deserve financial compensation for wrongs their children suffered.
That’s right. In A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, the Supremes will be deciding what legal standard (“test”) is required to award damages. Should families receive compensatory damages when schools have been “deliberately indifferent” or only when the schools have acted in “bad faith or gross misjudgment?”
If that question seems a little confusing or even arcane, that’s understandable. And we’ll explain, but first it’s good to know a bit about the case.
A. J. T., the schools, and the courts
This case originated because the parents of Ava, a child with epilepsy requested accommodations for her disability. There are different forms or types of epilepsy and for some children (and adults) epileptics seizures may be so severe and frequent that it is even difficult for them to sleep—and one of the factors that can trigger a seizure is lack of sleep. Ava has a severe form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome,1 and as a result she is typically unable to attend school in the morning because that is when her seizures are most frequent.
When her family moved from Kentucky to Minnesota, they sought accommodations for Ava because her epilepsy was so severe that she could not participate in educational activities at some times. Her school in Kentucky had provided accommodations allowing her to attend school in the afternoons and receive instruction after school. Her family requested the accommodation of having her school services be solely provided in the afternoon with some evening hours.
When the family and school couldn’t agree on accommodations, an administrative law judge ruled that the district had violated Ava’s § 504 and ADA rights. The family sought damages and the law suits began.
Back to the courts
Courts from different parts of the US use different standards to decide whether people who have been wronged should receive damages. Ultimately, the 8th Circuit Court held that just establishing “a genuine dispute” is not sufficient to require compensation under a standard established in Monahan v. Nebraska in 1982. As David Bateman explained over on the blog he and Mitchell Yell write, SpedLawBlog, that famous 1982 case has guided many more recent decisions.
Monahan v. Nebraska (1982) is a landmark Eighth Circuit case in which the court held school districts are not liable under the IDEA merely because an IEP fails to produce the desired educational outcomes. The court emphasized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (then the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) does not guarantee a student’s success but rather mandates the provision of a program reasonably calculated to provide educational benefit. It clarified a school district is not in violation of the law unless it acted in bad faith or with gross misjudgment.
Of course, when different circuit courts use different standards, the Supreme Court has a role to play. It will need to decide whether there should be a uniform standard or that circuits should be able to use different standards.
As David explained on the Sped Law Blog post (called “Supreme Court Case, April 28, 2025”), the implications for special education derive from whether the Supreme Court sustains or overturns the earlier Monahan v. Nebraska case. Read that post for in-depth information.
Review a timeline of the case and links to briefs published by the U.S. Supreme Court for A. J. T., By and Through Her Parents, A. T. & G. T., Petitioner v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279, et al.
Learn from Justia Law’s report about A. J. T. v. Osseo.
See what The Arc published about the case 5 March 2025 (includes a link to The Arc’s amicus brief).
Check coverage by Disability Scoop under the headline, “Supreme Court To Hear Case That Could ‘Gut The ADA And Rehabilitation Act’.”
Please check back on Sped Law Blog and here on Special Education Today to learn how the court decides the case.
Footnote
For more about Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, see the Web site for the LGS Foundation and the page about L-GS at the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.