A student eligible for special education is entitled to certain protections outlined in the IDEA (in disciplinary matters, for example), but the right to obtain a particular grade is not enumerated anywhere in these protections. The purpose of the IDEA is “to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, independent living.” The United States Supreme Court has articulated that “. . . the intent of the [IDEA] was more to open the doors of public education to [children with disabilities] on appropriate terms than to guarantee any particular level of education once inside.” [Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley, 455 U.S. 175, 102 S.Ct. 3034, (1982)] Thus, an IEP is not a contract, and a school cannot be held liable if a student does not perform at a certain level. Arizona law is clear that teachers “make the decision to promote or retain a pupil in grade in a common school or to pass or fail a pupil in a course in high school.” [See A.R.S. § § 15-701(E) and 15-701.01(E)] (There is, however, a specific exception pertaining to the promotion from third grade under A.R.S. § 15-701). Accordingly, the assignment of grades is not something that can be determined by an IEP team and included in a child’s IEP.
