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A group of parents has filed a federal class action lawsuit against New York city and state education officials over alleged shortcomings in remote learning for the city’s special needs students.
Since the pandemic began, the city’s schools have not provided special needs students with the services – including speech therapy, language assistance, in-person support and, in some cases, technology and equipment – that their individualized education plans, or IEPs, call for, the parents say. The students are falling perilously behind, according to the class action lawsuit, and the city and state must fix the “pervasive failure,” quickly.
Dissatisfied with the results of their own individual efforts to effect change, the parents of seven special needs students in the New York City school district and the guardian of another filed the class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Nov. 23.
Named as defendants in the case are the New York City and New York State departments of education, the New York City Board of Education, Chancellor of the New York City School District Richard Carranza and New York State Board of Regents and Interim Commissioner of Education Betty A. Rosa.
“From the onset of remote learning necessitated by the pandemic, defendants have failed to meet their obligations to students with disabilities under federal and state education laws,” the class action lawsuit says. “At the most basic level, [they] have failed to provide these students with the programs and services required by their IEPs.”
Individualized education programs are legal documents developed by educators, specialists, administrators and parents working in collaboration to set a plan for students who need special education. The education blueprints are usually reviewed each year and evolve to meet the student’s changing needs.
In addition to setting out which classes and courses the student will have, IEPs often call for related services such as occupational, physical and speech therapies, behavior counseling, paraprofessional support and other services.
U.S. Department of Education regulations say services prescribed by IEPs are expected to continue during periods of remote learning, lawyers for the parents who are suing say.
“Students who do not receive these programs and services can, and often do, regress,” the class action lawsuit states, and since the schools have gone to remote learning, that is exactly what has happened to many.
“While the pandemic may have made it harder to provide services, this does not discharge defendants of their legal obligations to ensure those services are provided or to remedy the educational losses suffered by students with disabilities,” the parents’ complaint goes on to say. “Defendants have failed to meet those obligations and have demonstrated no mechanism or plan to rectify those failures.”
Because the IEPs are legal documents, parents can challenge them, or challenge schools or educators they think are not abiding by them, through an established hearing process.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say that option is not adequate to deal with the pandemic-related remote learning issues. That’s due, in part, to the fact that, as of February, before the crisis began in earnest, the city’s Department of Education was already juggling 10,000 open complaints, the class action lawsuit alleges.
The parents and guardian who are serving as lead plaintiffs in the case want to represent a Class of all parents or guardians of students with special needs who are not getting the services – or compensatory services – required by their IEPs. According to the class action, there are tens of thousands of special education students enrolled in New York City schools.
They are asking the court to order the education departments and administrators to come up with a plan “which will promptly afford these students the education to which they are legally entitled—before they fall any further behind.”
Do you have a child who requires special education and has an IEP in the school system? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs and the proposed Class Members are represented by Joshua Kipnees, George A. LoBiondo and Danielle C. Quinn of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyle LLP and Rebecca C. Shore of Advocates for Children of New York Inc.
The Remote Learning Class Action Lawsuit is Z.Q., by his parent, G.J., et al. v. New York City Department of Education, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-09866, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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101 thoughts onParents of Special Needs Students Bring Class Action Lawsuit Over Remote Learning
I’m in Delaware and my six year old daughter has a IEP. We just got her progress report and it says she’s falling behind due to the pandemic. Please add me
This is not only in New York this is happening to children all across the world and nothing is being done about it only option parents has is to hear the teachers say how the child is failing and and the child put no effort to make a better grade but once the child was returned back into the school setting which is critical to them they does a tremendous turnaround with their education
They not caring about our children they caring about a pay because it is time consuming to try to teach a child who needs more assistance virtually than it is hands on when they barely assist them with face to face and hands on add me I suggest add all special need children so they can receive better assistance
My son has an IEP, and he doing terrible with distant learning. I’m in California, Inglewood Unified School District.
My son is suppose to be in speech therapy but since the pandemic has not recieved the help he needs
My son has an IEP, add me.
Please add me
My son has an IEP. Add me ty
this has been happing not only in new York but every wheres here in the u.s.a. my child is one that has to have help with things and she been getting the help her school was to go back to on line schooling but since they did file a court order in the courts here in wi they won there case so well now she gets to go back to school so that she can get the help she needs. children that need the help should be giving that help and not set a side.
Hello I am in GA… I have a Special Needs child with an IEP. I also have emails I sent to the School about issues regarding my Childs learning and issues surrounding the the remote learning plan. Please include me!!!
I have a similar situation. My daughter has genetic health issues, as well as ADHD. I live in Pasco County, Fl and they have ignored my request for testing since 2nd grade. She is unable to do work at this time. We already tried Hospital Homebound and that didn’t work. I am so tired of all the neglect and exceptionalities that are not in her IEP and should be in order to help her