## Facts

- Tiffany Massey, a District of Columbia student with learning disabilities and emotional disturbances, received services while placed at a residential treatment facility and attending its affiliated school.
- Tiffany was discharged from the facility on September 8, 2005, making her ineligible to continue at that school and requiring a new placement.
- Tiffany’s parents notified DCPS about the impending discharge approximately three weeks in advance but received no timely placement decision by the discharge date.
- After discharge, Tiffany lacked an approved educational placement and was effectively out of school.
- The parents located a private special-education school (Leary School in Maryland) willing to enroll Tiffany if DCPS authorized and funded the placement.
- The parents requested the Leary placement on September 16, 2005; DCPS held an IEP meeting on September 21, 2005, and indicated it would provide a proposed placement by September 26, 2005, but did not do so.
- DCPS later proposed two alternative placements without a clear, record-supported explanation of their appropriateness for Tiffany’s needs compared to Leary.
- The parents pursued IDEA administrative remedies and sought interim court relief requiring DCPS to fund the Leary placement while the dispute proceeded.

## Issues

1. Whether the parents showed a likelihood of success that DCPS violated IDEA by failing to timely provide Tiffany a free appropriate public education (FAPE) after her discharge.
2. Whether Tiffany would suffer irreparable harm absent an order requiring an immediate appropriate placement.
3. Whether the balance of harms and the public interest favored ordering DCPS to fund a private placement pending final resolution.

## Decision

- The court granted the motion for a preliminary injunction.
- The court ordered DCPS to authorize and fund Tiffany’s placement at Leary School pending final resolution of the IDEA dispute.
- The court found a substantial likelihood of success on the merits based on DCPS’s delay, lack of continuity in services, and inadequate justification for proposed alternatives.
- The court found irreparable harm because continued educational deprivation for a disabled student is not readily remedied by later monetary relief.
- The court concluded the balance of harms favored Tiffany over DCPS’s primarily financial and administrative burdens.
- The court held the public interest favored prompt enforcement of IDEA rights, emphasizing that the relevant public interest in this context is the student’s educational welfare.

## Legal Principles

- A preliminary injunction requires consideration of likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of harms, and the public interest.
- IDEA requires provision of FAPE, including timely and appropriate placement and compliance with IDEA procedures.
- A school system’s delay that leaves a disabled student without an appropriate placement can support interim injunctive relief compelling a specific placement.
- Educational deprivation to a child with disabilities may constitute irreparable harm.
- In IDEA injunction disputes, the public-interest analysis centers on the student’s interest in receiving timely special-education services.

## Conclusion

The court ordered DCPS to fund an immediate private special-education placement because the record showed likely IDEA noncompliance through delayed action and interruption of services, and because ongoing lack of appropriate schooling posed irreparable harm outweighing the school system’s administrative and cost concerns.


Massey v. District of Columbia, 400 F. Supp. 2d 66 (D.D.C. 2005)