The Costs of Staying Put: The Stay-Put Provision's Competing Interpretations and Financial Implications

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), which ensures that disabled children are not discriminated against in their education, is one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation passed in the 20th century. The IDEA’s stay-put provision requires that, when parents and a school district disagree about the child’s appropriate educational placement, the child must remain in the setting for the dispute’s duration.

However, there is currently a circuit split on the stay-put provision’s scope. The D.C. Circuit interprets the stay-put provision narrowly, holding that the stay-put provision ceases to apply after a trial court decides where the proper placement is, even if the case is appealed to the appellate level. In contrast, the Ninth Circuit adopted a broad interpretation, holding that the stay-put provision applies until the dispute is finally resolved, which includes any appeals to the appellate court. In the 2014 case M.R. v. Ridley School District, the Third Circuit agreed with the Ninth Circuit that the stay-put provision applies during any judicial appeals.

This Note argues that the Ridley court correctly interpreted the stay-put provision. The Ridley court’s interpretation is correct because it comports with the statutory text, the legislative intent and history, the Department of Education’s regulations, and Supreme Court precedent on the stay-put provision and the IDEA as a whole. This Note, however, highlights that the Ridley court’s interpretation creates financial issues for cash-strapped school districts where a child is required to stay in an expensive private school during lengthy appeals. Therefore, this Note argues that Congress should amend the IDEA to allow financially burdened school districts to move for a preliminary injunction requiring the child to transfer to the public school placement following a district court decision. This Note’s proposal strikes a balance between the child’s interest in receiving an appropriate and stable educational environment and the school district’s ability to fund the placement while the dispute is pending.

Keywords: stay-put, IDEA, Individuals With Disabilities Act, Ridley, Andersen, Joshua