Y.S. v. New York City Department of Education

Background

The plaintiffs asked the court to stay, or temporarily pause, the action. They sought to wait for developments in a prior related class action and for the Supreme Court’s decision in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, ISD No. 279. The plaintiffs said those developments could affect issues remaining in this case, including arguments about whether services were too generalized and the standard for a claim under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The plaintiffs’ letter discussed Y.F.’s school-home program, including at-home applied behavior analysis, behavior analysis supervision, and bilingual speech-language therapy. They argued that the program had continued for several years and that the relevant educational evaluators and experts supported continuing it. They also contended that the defendant’s proposed individualized education program had been found inadequate by the administrative decision-makers. The plaintiffs further argued that receiving services did not make the case moot and that later developments could support an additional Section 504 claim.

Ruling

The court denied the application for a stay. The court stated that, given the narrow issues in the case, a stay was not warranted. The order did not resolve the underlying disputes about the educational services or Section 504.

Within two weeks after both the Supreme Court’s decision in A.J.T. and the ruling on the pending adverse-inference motion in the prior related class action, the plaintiffs may file supplemental letters of no more than two pages explaining any effect of those decisions on the remaining issues. The defendant may respond within one week of the plaintiffs’ submissions, also in letters of no more than two pages. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the motion at Docket No. 33.