NSBA to Court: School Districts Need to Have the Ability to Determine Locations for Special Services for Students

Alexandria, Va. (October 19, 2011) – The National School Boards Association (NSBA) and Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) are encouraging the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in R.K. v. Board of Education of Scott County, Kentucky to allow school districts to retain the ability to determine in where to locate specialized services that serve their student population in the most effective and efficient manner. NSBA and KSBA have filed an amicus brief in this case.

The 6th Circuit will review whether a diabetic kindergarten student who used an insulin pump was discriminated against on the basis of disability in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act when his school district required him to attend an elementary school other than his neighborhood school because it had an on-site nurse to assist him with monitoring his blood glucose levels.

Previously, the district court concluded that the school district offered the student a reasonable accommodation—attending an elementary school with a nurse—and did not have to train a staff member at the student’s neighborhood school to monitor student’s blood sugar or administer insulin in violation of Kentucky’s regulations. The court found that student had no “absolute right” to attend his neighborhood school. 

“School districts routinely place students with similar special needs in one location where personnel qualified to address the particular need are employed.  This is done to create economies of scale that permit districts to ensure that the needs of children with disabilities receive services from the limited number of qualified, professional staff members available in the district,” said NSBA’s Executive Director Anne L. Bryant. “This case threatens this common practice of deploying the district’s resources in a manner that is both fiscally responsible and educationally sound.”

NSBA’s General Counsel Francisco M. Negrón Jr. noted, “The Court should not read into Section 504 a requirement that a school district be required to provide all disability-related services to students in their neighborhood schools.  In addition to minimizing the role of the individualized education program staffing process, such a ruling could needlessly increase costs by minimizing the flexibility of school districts in managing limited resources.”

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Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing state associations of school boards and their more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the U.S. Working with and through our state associations, NSBA advocates for equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership. www.nsba.org