Nazareth Area School District sued by family who claims their daughter was denied special education services

By COLIN MCEVOY
The Express-Times

NAZARETH | A family is suing the Nazareth Area School District, claiming the district has denied their daughter special education services during a crucial period of her development.

The parents of the woman, identified in court documents only by the initials K.C., claim the district denied their daughter services for nearly two years as the district and parents fought over therapies and services to which she was entitled.

K.C. has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, and is entitled under the law to special education schooling until she turns 21, according to the lawsuit.

K.C. turns 21 next month. As part of the lawsuit, K.C.'s parents seek continued education services after her 21st birthday, as well as unspecified monetary damages and legal fees.

"This is a case about parents who have been fighting many years to get the appropriate services for their child, who is soon to transition to the community," said Ilene Young, the attorney for K.C. and her parents.

"They want to make sure she has the right kind of training so she will be able to live independently," Young said.

District: Services offered, refused by family

The district is fighting the lawsuit, claiming K.C.'s parents were uncooperative, unreasonable and rejected all services and educational plans the district offered their daughter, according to court documents.

Officials cite a decision made by an independent hearing officer, who found the district was not at fault and that any delay in services to K.C. was attributable to the parents, not the district, according to court records.

John Freund, special counsel for the district, declined to discuss specifics of the lawsuit because a judge sealed some portions of it.

"The school district believes that it served this child appropriately and completely, and that position was confirmed by the hearing officer," Freund said. "We believe the hearing officer's decision will be affirmed on appeal."

K.C. and her family declined to comment through Young, who herself also declined to comment beyond a prepared statement.

Nazareth Area School District Superintendent Victor Lesky declined to comment because it is a litigation matter.

Rare syndrome causes cognitive problems

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare congenital disease that involves obesity, decreased muscle tone, decreased mental capacity, and sex glands that produce few or no hormones, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

It causes cognitive problems that make processing information difficult, and speech-language delays that impede communication, according to the lawsuit.

As a result, K.C. required various individualized treatments, such as physical, occupational, behavioral and executive functioning therapy, according to the suit.

Evaluations dating from 2005 provided an extensive list of development needs for K.C., but the district in September 2007 depended on different evaluations when forming an education plan that severely reduced her needs and services, according to court documents.

K.C.'s parents claim she was denied various services from September 2007 to August 2009 while the two parties went back and forth in meetings and discussions over her education, according to the documents.

The district offered three different educational plans for K.C., and her parents rejected all of them as insufficient, according to the suit.

A hearing officer found the parents responsible for their daughter's lost education because they refused offers of services and delayed a resolution of the dispute, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was first filed in August. The attorney for K.C. filed a motion for summary judgment this month, and the district will file its own motion by next month, Freund said.

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