Two-year statute of limitations bars untimely IDEA claims where parents had reason to know of facts giving rise to claim.

Topic: Special Education, Decided by: Judge Howells 
Docket Number: ***** , Decision Date: October 30, 2013 
Attachment: Click here to download the decision. 

Claims arising under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were barred by the running of the two-year statute of limitations period. IDEA claims must be brought within two years of when the family knew or should have known of the underlying facts. Parents are on inquiry notice and cannot wait to bring a claim until they are absolutely certain of the harm or know its full extent. The parents also need not learn of the harm from the school to trigger the running of the statute of limitations. Here, more than two years had elapsed since the parents had significant information to suspect that their child had been abused in middle school: first, his physician noted bruises that could not have been self-inflicted; second, they personally saw rough treatment of children; and, third, other parents had told them of abuse.

Scroll to Top