Civil Rights – IDEA — FAPE

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights – IDEA — FAPE

Where a disabled child made progress in half-day kindergarten, the district’s refusal to provide him full-day kindergarten did not deprive him of a free appropriate public education.

“[T]he appropriateness of an IEP “can only be judged by examining what was objectively reasonable at the time” the case conference committee created the IEP. M.B., 2010 WL 3168666, at *6 (citing Roland M. v. Concord Sch. Comm., 910 F.2d 983, 992 (1st Cir. 1990)). That is, an IEP must be ‘evaluated prospectively and not in hindsight.’ See Bd. of Educ. of Comm. Consol. Sch. Dist. No. 21 v. Ill. State Bd. of Educ., 938 F.2d 712, 717 n.4 (7th Cir. 1991). With that in mind, it was reasonable to discount Dr. Hudson’s July report and subsequent testimony in considering whether the May IEP denied M.B. a FAPE. Because the record supports the conclusion that M.B. was making progress toward his IEP goals as of the May committee meeting, it was reasonable for the administrative tribunals to conclude both that M.B. did not require double-session kindergarten, and that the proposed IEP was reasonably calculated to confer an educational benefit on M.B.”

Affirmed.

10-3096 M.B. v. Hamilton Southeastern Schools

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Pratt, J., Gottschall, J.