The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal filed by the Hamilton County Schools of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court’s decision in the Zachary Deal case.
The case will now move back to Judge R. Allen Edgar’s court for review in light of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court’s decision in favor of the Deal family.
Chip Baker, County School Board chairman, said, “While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear our appeal, we are not surprised since the Court only takes a limited number of court cases each session.
“The board continues to believe the district complied with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in the Deal case and will do the right thing to ensure all children with special needs have a reasonable and adequate education in our public schools.”
He said the school board will be communicating with its attorney in this case, Charlie Weatherly, to discuss its legal options in the coming weeks.
The Deal parents had filed suit saying their autistic child was not receiving proper services from the county schools.
County Commissioner Curtis Adams said, "This goes back to bad management at the schools. You've got to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Register doesn't know when to fold em'."
He said, "For the millions of dollars spent by the schools on this lawsuit, we could have built a little school for this kid and hired four teachers for him.
"Instead, we got ridiculous, outrageous charges from this attorney - $600 a night hotels and flying all around the country."