October 11, 2008
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Manhattan Beach Unified School District agrees to $6.7 million settlement of a special education suit


Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) has agreed to pay the family of a special education student more than $6.7 million to settle a suit filed in a California federal district court. The dispute began in 1999 when Deborah and John Porter claimed that MBUSD had failed to provide their son with a "free and appropriate public education" as required by state law. A state hearing officer ruled that MBUSD had failed the Porters' son in reading and language instruction and in socialization interventions and ordered the district to make corrections. The Porters sued in 2000, claiming that MBUSD had failed to comply with the hearing officer's order. In a December ruling, the court found that MBUSD appeared to have used its power to retaliate against the parents for their criticism and lawsuit and that the California Department of Education (CDE) failed to oversee the district's actions in the case. "No amount of money can compensate for the school district's deliberate failure to provide an appropriate education at a crucial point in our son's life," says Mrs. Porter. "This will provide for his future well-being, and we also hope this will force this school district, and all school districts, to do the right thing for other children." In a statement, MBUSD officials indicate that the district "takes very seriously its legal obligations to this student and to the district's entire special needs community, and is committed to ensuring that each and every student with a disability receives a free and appropriate public education." The settlement calls for MBUSD and CDE to pay nearly $1.6 million for a special needs trust for the student and almost $2.4 million for a trust for his parents. An additional $1.1 million is being spent on a court-appointed special master to oversee the student's education through June 2007. The remainder of the settlement amount, nearly $1.7 million, goes to the law firm that represented the parents.

Los Angeles Times
By Jean Merl
[Link to full story]

[Editor's Note: Press releases from MBUSD and the plaintiff's lawyers with additional details about the settlement are linked below.]
[MBUSD press release]
[Plaintiffs' lawyers press release]