February 10, 2023
In November 2020, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) and Patterson Belknap filed a class action complaint in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and New York State Education Department (NYSDOE) alleging a systemic failure to provide students with disabilities an appropriate education during the COVID-19-related remote learning period.
In the complaint, Plaintiffs requested, among other relief, that the Court order the NYC DOE and NYS DOE to create an efficient and expedited process to provide make-up educational services to address the resulting learning loss, rather than require parents of each of the thousands of affected students with disabilities to litigate individually to receive the services and supports their children need.
The SDNY dismissed the case in March 2022, deciding that each family needed to exhaust administrative remedies, (i.e. proceed through an administrative hearing process individually) before proceeding in federal court.
Stroock, along with the New York City Bar Education & the Law Committee, co-authored an amicus brief describing a dire need for system-wide reform and arguing exemption from the exhaustion requirement:
“Untold thousands of students with disabilities were left behind during the pandemic in our City, where they lost the special education and related services that they were promised. These students already were among the most vulnerable populations when the pandemic hit, and the education system’s responses often made matters worse. . . . To require aggrieved families to pursue administrative proceedings, one by one, then litigate, one by one, and attempt to obtain reform on an individual basis, cannot serve the interests of affected students, their parents, the public schools, or the state, and would effectively undermine the goals of the IDEA.”
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of SDNY, finding that the allegations fall within the futility exception to the exhaustion requirement and highlighting “persistent” failures to provide timely due process to this vulnerable student population.
The Stroock team included Associate and Secretary of the New York City Bar Education & the Law Committee, Gilana R. Keller and Senior Counsel Bruce H. Schneider.
About AFC
AFC is dedicated exclusively to protecting every child’s right to an education, focusing on students from low-income backgrounds who are struggling in school or experiencing school discrimination of any kind. For more than 50 years, staff of attorneys and education specialists have successfully helped hundreds of thousands of families by providing free legal and advocacy services, including representation at school-related hearings and appeals, and teaching families what they need to know to stand up for their children’s educational rights. Click here to learn more.
About the Stroock Public Service Project
Stroock’s Public Service Project continues the firm’s longtime commitment to serving the public interest. With the primary focus on providing legal assistance to underserved and under-resourced communities, the PSP practice offers a multidisciplinary approach to delivering comprehensive legal services. To learn more about Stroock’s award-winning Public Service Project, please click here.
February 10, 2023
In November 2020, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) and Patterson Belknap filed a class action complaint in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and New York State Education Department (NYSDOE) alleging a systemic failure to provide students with disabilities an appropriate education during the COVID-19-related remote learning period.
In the complaint, Plaintiffs requested, among other relief, that the Court order the NYC DOE and NYS DOE to create an efficient and expedited process to provide make-up educational services to address the resulting learning loss, rather than require parents of each of the thousands of affected students with disabilities to litigate individually to receive the services and supports their children need.
The SDNY dismissed the case in March 2022, deciding that each family needed to exhaust administrative remedies, (i.e. proceed through an administrative hearing process individually) before proceeding in federal court.
Stroock, along with the New York City Bar Education & the Law Committee, co-authored an amicus brief describing a dire need for system-wide reform and arguing exemption from the exhaustion requirement:
“Untold thousands of students with disabilities were left behind during the pandemic in our City, where they lost the special education and related services that they were promised. These students already were among the most vulnerable populations when the pandemic hit, and the education system’s responses often made matters worse. . . . To require aggrieved families to pursue administrative proceedings, one by one, then litigate, one by one, and attempt to obtain reform on an individual basis, cannot serve the interests of affected students, their parents, the public schools, or the state, and would effectively undermine the goals of the IDEA.”
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of SDNY, finding that the allegations fall within the futility exception to the exhaustion requirement and highlighting “persistent” failures to provide timely due process to this vulnerable student population.
The Stroock team included Associate and Secretary of the New York City Bar Education & the Law Committee, Gilana R. Keller and Senior Counsel Bruce H. Schneider.
About AFC
AFC is dedicated exclusively to protecting every child’s right to an education, focusing on students from low-income backgrounds who are struggling in school or experiencing school discrimination of any kind. For more than 50 years, staff of attorneys and education specialists have successfully helped hundreds of thousands of families by providing free legal and advocacy services, including representation at school-related hearings and appeals, and teaching families what they need to know to stand up for their children’s educational rights. Click here to learn more.
About the Stroock Public Service Project
Stroock’s Public Service Project continues the firm’s longtime commitment to serving the public interest. With the primary focus on providing legal assistance to underserved and under-resourced communities, the PSP practice offers a multidisciplinary approach to delivering comprehensive legal services. To learn more about Stroock’s award-winning Public Service Project, please click here.
