Grandview School District settles special education case for $1M
"What happened to
The school district, which fought the case in both state and federal court, denied it deprived Garcia of an education.
"I feel like we did a good job for the plaintiff," Superintendent
The case began in 2010, when Garcia's mother learned that her son wouldn't graduate with his class. She filed a complaint with the state Office of Superintendent
The district appealed Wacker's decision in
Garcia, now 22, is expected to graduate in November, and was allowed to walk with the 2015 class last month.
The case, including the recent settlement, has cost roughly
The settlement was large, according to the district's insurance provider,
"For the type of case this was, it was a pretty big settlement," said claims director
Nonetheless, the district managed to secure a state grant to pay for half the roughly
Despite the roughly
"No one has admitted any liability on either side. By settling this, we're not admitting any wrongdoing and the plaintiff recognizes that," Chase said.
However, Koehler disagrees with Chase's assessment.
"They lost every single appellate process they brought," she said. "The only thing that's left is their appeal of attorney fees."
OSPI is keeping a close eye on the district, and it monitored the school's operations this past year, said spokesman
"We do additional looks at districts when there are warning signs," he said.
When the district first appealed Wacker's ruling and refused to provide Garcia private education, OSPI threatened the local educators with the loss of federal Individual Disability Education Act funds.
The Garcia case isn't the only controversy over educating students with special needs in
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