A Galesburg school board member has filed a federal lawsuit against District 205 and the Illinois State Board of Education, claiming they failed to guarantee her child an appropriate education as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Attorneys representing Pamella Bess-Tabb — who is set to complete her first four-year term on the District 205 Board of Education next spring — and her husband filed the suit July 15 in the United States District Court for The Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division.
The court document only identifies the plaintiffs by their initials. However, WGIL has confirmed through multiple sources that Bess-Tabb is one of the individuals who brought the suit against the district she represents.
When asked if she had brought the suit against the district, Bess-Tabb told WGIL, “I can neither confirm nor deny that, given my position.”
John Asplund, District 205 superintendent of schools, verified the district has been named in a federal lawsuit “related to a special education matter.”
When asked if the case involves a district school board member, he said, “I can neither confirm or deny that.”
Asplund said District 205 has spent $58,370.76 to date in legal fees defending the federal case related to a special education matter. He also confirmed all board members have been made aware of the case.
Once records of the case were turned over to the court and approved by both parties, the Illinois State Board of Education was terminated from the suit, according to the court document.
The plaintiffs are represented by Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, LTD of Chicago.
According to the court document, the parents initiated the lawsuit to enforce their child’s “right to attend school along with children who do not have disabilities, and with appropriate supports and services.” The child attends a Galesburg elementary school.
The case contends District 205 was in error when it adopted an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to send the student to a school for children with disabilities located in Peoria.
The plaintiffs claim the placement in the Peoria school violates the fundamental requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that a child with a disability be educated in the “least restrict environment,” that is, the least segregated environment, “to the maximum extent appropriate … with children who are not disabled.”
The case further says Galesburg District 205 violated the integration mandate of the IDEA because the ED classroom at the student’s home school can implement the supports, services, and accommodations required by the IEP that the district wrote for him.
A state hearing officer concluded after three separate meetings in March and April that the Peoria school was the least restrictive, i.e. least segregated, setting that could provide an appropriate education to the child. The hearing officer further noted the Galesburg District 205 IEP provided the child with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.
The plaintiffs contend Galesburg District 205 violated the IDEA, and that the hearing officer erred legally and factually in upholding the IEP. They request Galesburg District 205 be ordered to provide the student an appropriate education with instruction in Galesburg.
The plaintiffs request that the court:
- Receive and review the record of the administrative proceedings from the Illinois State Board of Education;
- Supplement the record and hear additional evidence from the Parents, as the Court deems appropriate;
- Overturn the Hearing Officer Decision and Order;
- Order the District to provide (the child) an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, specifically through placement in a special education classroom at a general education school with appropriate behavior supports and related services;
- Award Plaintiffs reasonable attorney fees, costs, and expenses; and
- For such other relief as the Court may deem just and proper.
Earlier this week, the executive director of the Champaign-Urbana Autism Network addressed the District 205 Board of Education, saying she represented a group of Galesburg school parents that have issues with how the district deals with special education students.
In a prepared statement, Julie Duvall told board members Monday the district has failed to properly handle Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) of the district’s neurodivergent students.
It is unclear if complaints brought forward Monday are connected to the federal suit naming District 205 as a defendant.
