Case study:
Doe and Doe v. Withers, 1993, 20 IDELR 422- West Virginia Circuit Court, Taylor County
ISSUE:The Plaintiff, D. D suffered academic prejudice, and bias as a result of the Defendants who included school teachers, principals, administrators and the Board of Educationdepriving him his statutorily protected civil right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) which is guaranteed by federal and state laws for the education of handicapped children.
FACTS:Plaintiff D. D. had been diagnosed as having a learning disability in the fourth grade, requiring him to be educated pursuant to an Individual Educational Program CIEP) designed to accommodate his learning disability as required by Public Law 94-142.
Defendant, Michael Withers, a public school history teacher at Grafton High School as Plaintiff D. D.'s teacher failed deliver FAPE to him as required. Further, Defendant, Greg Cartwright, the principal of the school failed in his duty to see that handicapped students at the school were afforded their rights to a FAPE under state and federal law. Wendell Teets another defendant who was the superintendent of Taylor County Schools failed in his duty to see that al principals and teachers under his supervision provided handicapped students with a FAPE as required by state and federal law. Moreover, the defendant Taylor County Board of Education failed to ensure that its set educational policy and the educational system of the County protected the rights of handicapped students like D.D to a FAPE, pursuant to Public Law 94-142 20 U.S.C.
HOLDING:Judge John Waters of the Circuit Court of Taylor County, West Virginia held that the Defendants who were acting under color of state law deprived the Plaintiff, D. D., of his statutorily protected civil right to a FAPE which is guaranteed by both federal and state laws for the education of handicapped children and which is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 3, Section 10 of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia. As a result of these constitutional deprivations, the Plaintiffs including D.D'S. parents were damaged as alleged therein, therefore entitled to compensatory damages totaling $60,000.00 from all defendants in addition to a punitive penalty of $30,000.00 against Defendant Michael Withers.
RATIONALE: All defendants violated IDEA principles, and were beyond reasonable doubt negligent of the statutorily protected civil right to a FAPEguaranteed by both federal and state laws for the education of handicapped children and which is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S Constitution and Article 3, Section 10 of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia
IMPLICATIONS:Prejudice and discrimination against handicapped children in the education system, and schools is expressly prohibited by West Virginia Human Rights Act and the obligation for reasonable accommodation under state law. School officials are required to carry out test on students with disability to determine their suitability to FAPE OR IEP. If such students are proven to have disabilities, they should be accommodated within the school system as their needs dictate.