a victory !

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Got this from another list. Good news hopefully will set the ball in motion for contiued success stories Take care, n By Bill Mckelway for the Times-Dispatch http://tinyurl. com/ftxeh The Hanover County school system didn't provide an appropriateeducation for an autistic 12-year-old and must pay for his private schooltuition, a federal judge has ruled. In an 80-page decision that moves from an analysis of test scores tointerpretations of complex federal disability laws, U.S. District Judge E. Payne of Richmond meticulously dismantled the school division'sarguments that it properly educated the

youngster. For Karl and , who sued the school system in January,the decision achieves a deceptively simple intention. "All along, the objective has been nothing more than to give our son an opportunity to lead as independent a life as possible. Thisdecision shows that Hanover County was not going to make that possible,"said , who received the ruling yesterday. The decision will lead to the payment of legal fees and tuition coststhe s spent to privately school . Some call ruling a landmark It is Payne's second decision this summer dealing with the failure ofschool systems in Henrico and Hanover to meet federal laws requiring anappropriate education for disabled children. "We think it's a landmark

decision that will benefit disabled childrenand their families across the commonwealth, " said Philip C. Strother, aRichmond lawyer who handled the s' case. "But the foremost thingright now is that this incredible family has fought so successfully fortheir son." A Hanover school spokesman said yesterday that lawyers and schoolofficials had not finished reading the opinion and had no immediate comment. Today, a state Senate subcommittee will hear from a Henrico familythat gained a similar victory from Payne this summer. Specific details areconfidential, but a lawyer in that case, Hurd, said a resolution ofthe case involving tuition payments and legal fees is being negotiated. Tutwiler, whose son also is autistic and was the plaintiff inthe Henrico case, will address proposed legislation that would provide

fortuition assistance when a public school system's teaching methods are shownto be inadequate. School hearings criticized Payne's rulings in the Tutwiler case have drawn national attentionfrom advocates for people with disabilities; in the case, hisdecision charts a detailed template for what school systems and judicialhearing officers must establish in showing that a disabled child is makingprogress. A. Eichner, a special-education hearing officer to whom thes appealed the county's educational plan for , failed in almostevery respect to properly assess the case, Payne found. In upholding the school system, Eichner made findings "without anywritten analysis, and without weighing or discussing the over 1,200 pages ofevidence and testimony taken in the administrative

hearings," Payne wrote. Payne went on to analyze the evidence himself and found that keytestimony from ' teachers was impeached and contrary to the evidence inthe case. While teachers argued that a private education paid for by the countywould be detrimental because would lack opportunities to socialize,the teachers said as well that he lacked the verbal skills to socializeadequately. Autism experts, for instance, who testified for the s foundthat made minimal progress or regressed from benchmarks he achieved ina private school before switching to Hanover public schools in 2004. Parents recount struggle But grades he was receiving in Hanover showed he was excelling. A daily record log was "minimally helpful in assessing

progress,"Payne concluded. And Hanover failed to obtain "any explicit assessment of['] intellect, such as an I.Q. test," he wrote. The s removed from the school system for the 2005-06year and enrolled him in the Dominion School for Autism; he will returnthere next month. While Payne's ruling sets dates for arguments on payment of fees andpast tuition, said yesterday that Hanover has made no offerto pay tuition costs for this coming year. "We think they are in violation of federal law, even now," she said."For parents involved in these situations, it can be an incredibleundertaking. It never ends." A low point, the s said, came when tried to videotapeher son's isolation on the playground to disprove the county's contention hewas making good social

progress. The school system wrote the couple a letter saying it would considerfiling trespassing charges if the s showed up at school forunscheduled meetings. "They basically banned us," Karl said last night.

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