Choose guidelines Clark County Faculty District ‘considerably’ violated federal training incapacity regulation
The Clark County School District violated federal disability law by failing to provide services that would adequately meet the needs of a student with dyslexia, a federal judge in Nevada ruled last week.
In a stinging reprimand, Judge Richard Boulware wrote that the school district failed to address the student’s specific needs and ignored professional recommendations – and urged her parents to simply trust the district to provide the appropriate services. He ruled that the district’s actions were “materially and procedurally” in violation of the federal law on the education of persons with disabilities known as IDEA.
The student, referred to as “OR” in court documents, is the child of businessman and Republican political advisor Sig Rogich and his wife, Lori, a Las Vegas-based lawyer. While the Rogich family’s ruling entitles the Rogich family to reimbursement of transportation and tuition fees totaling $ 456,990 for private schools and other related services, the family views the ruling itself as a victory as it impacts other Clark County students could have.
“This is a historic victory, I think, for children with special needs and their families,” Sig Rogich said in a telephone interview on Friday. “We are actually very proud that it made it through the courts.”
The case dates back to May 2016, when Sig and Lori Rogich filed a lawsuit with the school district for “challenging the appropriateness” of an individual education program for their daughter two years earlier. IEPs, as the curricula are colloquially known, spell out services and accommodation for students who are eligible under IDEA law.
The Rogiches argued that the IEP failed to address their daughter’s special needs as the district refused to include a well-known learning intervention known as the Orton-Gillingham methodology. Two IEPs – one from the school district in 2014 and another in 2016 – simply said the Rogiches’ daughter would be given a “multi-sensory” approach to teaching. The Rogiches had provided the school district with professional assessments of their daughter, and those assessments recommended that a teaching methodology should be followed.
The Orton-Gillingham Approach – named after the neuropsychiatrist and educator who researched and developed it – is a method for teaching students with dyslexia, a learning challenge that has difficulties with sound perception, spelling and quick visual-verbal response brings itself.
Boulware’s ruling last week, on the plaintiffs side, could end the Rogich family’s longstanding legal battle against the district.
“The district has given no answer to OR’s specific needs other than essentially telling parents – trust us we can give her what she needs,” wrote Boulware in his order. “That is not enough.”
The judge said the district had “ignored the key findings and recommendations of the expert opinions,” which called for a specialized teaching method.
Boulware also questioned the district’s intention to offer a multi-sensory program, calling it “illusory”.
“The district did not even have the necessary knowledge of (a multidisciplinary team) to properly identify or create a program,” the court ruling read.
The school district “is still evaluating its options,” a spokesman wrote via email when asked about plans for an appeal.
Since the judge’s verdict, Rogich said his family had received numerous calls from other parents or friends asking what this could mean. He said the decision could be “transformational” if it forces the school district to provide certain services.
His daughter, now 19, is a freshman at the University of Utah.
“She went through a lot to get there, but we’re really quite proud of her,” said Rogich.
Advocates within the special education community hailed the ruling as a positive move, particularly because it highlights the specialized teaching methods required for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. The latter two learning disabilities include difficulties with fine motor skills, such as handwriting, and basic math skills, respectively.
Linda Avendano, a Las Vegas-based private teacher helping children with dyslexia, has a waiting list until 2022, which she believes highlights the need for these specialized services. She is a Masters certified tutor at Barton, an Orton-Gillingham-based reading and spelling program.
Avendano said the court ruling could have far-reaching implications by empowering more parents to demand adequate school services for their children. She previously worked as a teacher in the Clark County School District and retired to tutor full time after initially looking into dyslexia services to help her granddaughter.
“That’s a voice and they did it,” she said, referring to the Rogich family. “But we need many, many voices to stand up and say we need these accommodations.”
Michael Kagan, whose daughter is tutored by Avendano, thanked the Rogich family for doing what he believes others may not have the energy or the means to do – waging a lengthy legal battle that could affect thousands of children.
Kagan’s daughter, now in sixth grade, has dyslexia and autism. She was attending school in the Clark County School District until that year when Kagan transferred her to a charter school that he thought was better equipped for her needs.
Kagan, a law professor and director of the UNLV Immigration Clinic, said paying out of pocket for his daughter’s dyslexia tuition put a financial burden on his family in itself, underscoring his concern for other parents who do not have the same financial resources.
“So many children in our school district suffer and fail when they could be successful if professional educators in the school district simply implemented established science on teaching reading and treating dyslexia,” said Kagan.
Rogich, who founded R&R Advertising in 1973, is no stranger to Nevada’s educational community. He was the longtime chairman of the Public Education Foundation and named a school in the Clark County School District after him. Sig Rogich Middle School is located in Summerlin.
