Board memo

Spike is a 10th-grade student at Sunnydale High School. When he was in 5th grade, he was diagnosed with a disability: emotional disturbance. The individualized education program (IEP) team created an IEP that includes psychological counseling, additional time for tests, and a paraprofessional in the classroom. Spike has passed all of his classes to date and has met annual IEP goals for reducing inappropriate comments in his classes. But he has received low grades in most of his classes largely because he fails to comply with some teacher rules and has difficulty maintaining satisfactory interpersonal relationships with his peers and teachers. Spike has particular difficulty relating positively to his male teachers.

The issue came to a head this year in auto-mechanics class, a general-education vocational elective taught by Mr. Riley Finn. Mr. Finn’s class is popular with students – and Sunnydale’s principal and counselors often recommend that students, even those who intend to go to college, take the class because it offers hands-on and collaborative experiences for teaching practical skills. Students often work together in teams to assess a problem with a car and use critical-thinking skills to make repairs, as Mr. Finn rotates from group to group answering questions and providing support. Spike’s parents wanted him to take the class because they own a car dealership across town and hope he can have summer jobs there and eventually join the dealership’s service department after he graduates.

According to Mr. Finn, Spike had become a big problem in his class. Despite the fact that a paraprofessional is in the classroom to help Spike, he is constantly shouting out both (correct) answers to Mr. Finn’s auto-tech questions and negative comments about the class and the teacher. Mr. Finn explained to Principal Giles that he tends to self-destruct every time Spike mutters inappropriate comments about him under his breath and talks to other students while he is giving directions. “The kid never listens, and I can barely concentrate with all the ruckus he is creating. And then he gives away all the answers to his team – and they get their task completed way too fast. I’d stick the kid in the corner with his para, but the para doesn’t know the first thing about a car. What am I to do?”

Spike, like the other students, passed the auto-shop safety test. The test includes, among other things, rules about placing jack stands under cars, identifying and handling flammable liquids, using power tools, and operating motor vehicles.

Against the wishes of Spike’s parents, the IEP team modified the course of study in Spike’s IEP to remove him from auto-mechanics class and place him in a general vocation class at the school for students with IEPs. It is a small class with two teachers, who instruct the students about how to be successful in the workplace and how to search and apply for jobs.

Spike’s parents believe that he should remain in the class and that it is Mr. Finn who has the problem, not Spike. The day after the IEP team’s decision, Spike’s mother told Principal Giles: “We’re tired of Spike being singled out by your teachers. This is not Spike’s fault. He likes school more now because of auto shop and wants a career in the auto industry, like his father!

We’ve cooperated with this school district, and what has it gotten us? We just want Spike included in regular classes and to lead a normal life.”

As the school district’s attorney, please write a two-page memorandum to the Board of Education, discussing whether or not modifying Spike’s IEP will violate the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). Assume that Spike’s parents will complain that the new placement will fail to provide Spike with both a free appropriate public education and the least restrictive environment. Assume that the school district is located in California and thus that 9th circuit precedent is controlling in addition to any Supreme Court precedents discussed in class. Hint: Discuss Spike’s substantive rights from both an “appropriate” and “least restrictive environment” perspective. Note: Please submit all written assignments with 1.5-spacing, Calibri 12-pt font, and one-inch margins. Include your name and assignment number/name in the top-left corner.