Moonsammy v. Aviles-Ramos

Background

The plaintiffs are parents and guardians of five students with disabilities enrolled at the International Academy for the Brain, known as iBRAIN. They sued Melissa Aviles-Ramos, in her official capacity as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, and the Department. The plaintiffs alleged that the Department failed to identify, implement, and fund the students’ educational placements for the 2025–2026 school year.

The parents had filed administrative complaints alleging that the Department failed to provide the students with a free appropriate public education. While those proceedings were pending, they enrolled the students at iBRAIN. The plaintiffs then asked for a preliminary injunction requiring the Department to recognize iBRAIN as the students’ placement during the proceedings and to fund tuition, transportation, and, for some students, nursing services.

Placement

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act includes a “stay-put” or “pendency” provision. It generally requires a student to remain in the student’s current educational placement at public expense while the dispute is pending. The court explained that this provision automatically protects the student’s placement, without requiring the usual preliminary-injunction showing of likely success, irreparable harm, and a favorable balance of hardships.

The Department did not dispute that iBRAIN was the operative placement for each student when the plaintiffs invoked the stay-put provision. The court therefore found that iBRAIN was the students’ pendency placement for the 2025–2026 school year.

Funding

The court separately considered the request for funding. It held that the stay-put provision automatically protects educational placement but does not automatically require payment. The plaintiffs therefore had to satisfy the traditional requirements for a preliminary injunction.

The court focused on irreparable harm, meaning an actual and imminent injury that money damages could not adequately remedy. The plaintiffs did not show that the students’ schooling, related services, or continued enrollment at iBRAIN were at risk. Their assertion that delayed payments could lead to tuition, transportation, and nursing late fees was too speculative to establish irreparable harm. The court therefore denied the request for a preliminary injunction requiring funding.

Disposition

The court granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Specifically, it declared that iBRAIN was the students’ pendency placement for the 2025–2026 school year and denied the motion in all other respects.