The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously sent a case involving a child who was denied a service dog at kindergarten back to the lower courts, ruling that her parents could sue the school district.
At issue in the high court’s Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools decision on Wednesday was not the legality of denying the child with cerebral palsy use of her trained service dog named “Wonder,” but a procedural question. The Supreme Court’s opinion unanimous opinion ruled that Stacy and Brent Fry did not need to exhaust all administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before pursuing litigation.
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The Frys chose to homeschool their daughter, identified in court documents as E.F., when the local elementary school refused to allow the dog to attend classes with the girl because school officials thought the animal’s presence was superfluous to her education. School officials later invited E.F. to return to school with her dog “Wonder,” but the Frys enrolled their daughter in a different school, fearing resentment, and took legal action against local school districts collectively. A district court dismissed the suit, and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision.
The high court’s opinion on Wednesday means the case is headed back to the federal appeals court, which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
