Board+of+Education+of+the+Hendrik+Hudson+Central+School+District+v.+Rowley


 * Case || Board of Education of the Hendrik Hudson Central School District v. Rowley ||
 * Date || 1982 ||
 * Citation || 458 U.S. 176 ||
 * Outcome || All children have the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) by means of an IEP ||
 * Story || This case was the first decision in Special Ed. case by the U.S. Supreme Court. It involves a hearing impaired student, Amy Rowley, who was nearly deaf with very little residual hearing. Despite her impairment, she was very well adapted and had developed the skill of lip-reading. When Amy was about to start school, her parents and the school administrators decided to place her in a normal kindergarten classroom to assess what types of supplements she would need. The school prepared by taking sign-language, and they installed a teletype machine so that they would be able to communicate with Amy's parents, who were both deaf. They determined that Amy would benefit using an FM hearing aid to amplify, and she successfully passed kindergarten. Upon entered first grade, an IEP was developed for Amy which included: continued use of the FM hearing amplifier, specialized tutoring one hour/day, and speech therapy three hours/week. In addition, Amy's parents demanded that she be provided with a sign-language interpreter. After a period of time with the interpreter, the school denied this request after determining it was unnecessary because Amy was very well adjusted to school and was "successful".

Amy's parents filed suit when the sign language interpreter was denied by the school's administration. The court found that even though Amy was performing above the average student in her class and although she was advancing with her studies, she still was not performing to the full potential that she would without her hearing impairment. Therefore, Amy was not receiving FAPE, which is defined as "an opportunity to achieve full potential commensurate with the opportunity provided to other children." || [|Case Law] ||
 * Link(s) || [|Story]