D.L. v. Unified School District No. 497

The suit before us on appeal arises out of a dispute concerning the eligibility of J.L. and R.L. (the children) for special-education services provided by Unified School District No. 497, Douglas County, Kansas (the District). Plaintiffs are J. L; the Estate of R.L., who died after the suit was filed; their mother D.L. (Mother); and her cohabiting boyfriend P.P. Defendants are the District and Dr. Douglas Eicher, its former director of special education. Before this suit was filed, the District brought a state-court action (which is still pending) to require Mother and P.P. to pay for special-education services provided the children during a period when, according to the District, the children were not residents of the District and therefore were ineligible for those services. Plaintiffs then sued in federal district court, claiming that denial of the special-education services received by the children from the District would have violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq.; the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; and the Fourteenth Amendment.