Perhaps they will decide this time?

BoardBuzz has a good post on the potential case out of Oregon that may decide the Tom F. issue ... if the Supreme Court agrees to hear it. As BoardBuzz notes, that will depend on Justice Kennedy, who, at the last minute, recused himself in the Tom F. case leading to a one page per curium decision. The Court split on the issue of private school reimbursement of special education services without public school knowledge 4-4, so the lower court decision was affirmed by rule. Marcia Coyle had a nice summary of the case on the Newshour.

BoardBuzz applauds the district for sticking with the case all the way to the Supreme Court to try to provide resolution on this issue and I couldn't agree more. I have not read this specific case yet, so I won't give my take on it, but as a general principle I do think public schools need to be involved in placement decisions, even when public schools are being uncooperative or don't offer appropriate services. For better or worse, the public school is the guardian of the public dollars that will be used to fund private placements, so they need to be involved in those decisions. Rest assured, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear it, I will provide a more detailed take as the case approaches.