Copyright 1999 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
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March 4, 1999, THURSDAY, Late
Sports Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 26
LENGTH: 365 words
HEADLINE:
Schools must aid disabled;
All-day medical care required, court says
SOURCE: DAVID LEE HARTLAGE; ASSOCIATED PRESS
BYLINE: BY JOAN BISKUPIC
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that public schools must provide care for
disabled children attending classes despite protests that the decision would
seriously strain the resources of many school districts.
The court voted
7-2 vote to expansively interpret a federal law intended to improve education
for the disabled, ruling that a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, school district must provide
all-day nursing care to a quadriplegic boy. "Congress intended to open the door
of public education to all qualified children," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote
for the court, emphasizing that states are "to educate handicapped children with
non-handicapped children whenever possible." The case involved Garret Frey, a
teenager who was paralyzed in a motorcyle accident at age 4. Now a high school
sophomore, Frey's mental ability was not affected and he can speak, control his
motorized wheelchair with the use of a puff-and-suck straw and operate a
computer with a device that responds to head movements. He uses a ventilator to
breathe.
While at school, Garret needs help with bladder catheterization
and the suctioning of his tracheotomy tube. In kindergarten, an 18-year-old aunt
accompanied him to school; then the family used insurance money from the
accident and other resources to hire a nurse to attend him through fourth grade.
In 1993, Garret's mother asked the Cedar Rapids Community School
District to pick up the nursing cost. The district refused, saying such services
were not part of school health care but rather "medical services," which aren't
covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Lower courts ruled against the district. The school district appealed,
arguing it should be able to weigh the cost of the service.
Spurning
that appeal, Stevens relied on a 1984 ruling on disabilities law that laid out a
two-part standard for determining what is meant by "related services" and what
care is excluded.
Parents had to show that the care was essential to
their child's ability to attend class and that it could be provided in school by
a nurse or other qualified individual, but not a physician. On both counts,
Stevens said, Garret met the test.
GRAPHIC: Garret
Frey, a quadriplegic high school student in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will get all-day
nursing care at school thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday. See
related story page 26.; WASHINGTON POST
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March 4, 1999 
