The intersection and interplay of the IDEA, ADA, and Section 504 can be complicated and confusing. All three laws provide protections to students with disabilities in public schools. But how are their requirements different? And when can families go to court versus when must they exhaust administrative remedies? What remedies are available under each? A year ago, the Supreme Court decided Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, weighing in on when administrative exhaustion is required. That decision altered the paradigm of IDEA exhaustion and the interaction of these laws protecting students with disabilities.   

The Fifth Circuit recently joined the fray on this developing intersection of laws in Lartigue v. Northside Independent School District. The Fifth Circuit held that even though a hearing officer found that the district provided the student FAPE under the IDEA (and the student did not appeal that finding), the student might still be able to prove a violation of the ADA related to her accommodations. The decision scraps the previous understanding that the provision of IDEA FAPE was a defense to FAPE claims under Section 504 and the ADA. The school district has requested that the Fifth Circuit rehear the case en banc.