Parent V. Trenton Case Study

Name and year of the case: Parent v. Trenton School Department, 1999
Issues: In this scenario a student maintained residence in the town of Trenton, a community that does not have a high school. Students from this area are able to enrolled in Ellsworth or MDI high schools, however, due to behavioral issues the student was placed in a more restrictive environment in Bangor (Parent v. Trenton, 1999, p.2). During the spring of the 1998-1999 academic year the student returned home without “notifying the Trenton School Department of the student’s self initiated change in residency/educational placement” (Parent v. Trenton, 1999, p.2). The student was denied enrollment in both of the available high schools due to his/her intended date of enrollment, and failure to pass a background check (Parent v. Trenton, 1999, p.5). Interestingly, the issues addressed in this case do not consider the lawfulness of the schools’ denial for enrollment, but instead focused on Trenton School Department and if it sufficiently provided the student
Due to the limited staffing the district claimed it could not hold a PET until “a receiving high school is located and provides the necessary professionals” (Parent v. Trenton, 1999, p.9). Under these circumstances a single administrator was left in the advocacy role, which was found to not be in compliance with special education regulations.
Order: The judge ordered that within 30 days the Trenton School Department must obtain written contract with with the necessary high school to ensure their ability to conduct the PET meeting (Parent v. Trenton, 1999, p.9). Also within 10 days the district must administer the student’s final exams, which had been previously missed, so that the student could receive credit for the spring academic