A Pennsylvania judge will soon hear a class action case alleging that a school district is illegally moving children from one school to another based solely on their disability.
The case, brought by the parents of four elementary students with autism, would affect more than 3,000 students in Philadelphia. The plaintiffs contend that the district’s “Automatic Autism Transfer Policy,” which mandates that students with autism move to another school at the end of third and fifth grades, violates state and federal law. They are seeking to have the transfer policy overturned so their children can attend support classes in their current school. No other students, with or without disabilities, have to move.
Autism-support classes are located in various schools throughout the city, requiring most students to be transferred every three years. Most schools that have an autism-support class have a K-2, 3-5, or 6-8 class, but not all three. Two of the parents have already prevailed in due-process hearings, in which judges found that the district violated the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act by forcing students with autism out of neighborhood schools and by allowing classrooms to become overcrowded. The hearing officer, who encouraged the district “to alter its procedures on a broader scope, if only to avoid a plethora of identical claims from similarly situated students,” did not have authority to address the automatic-transfer policy.
