Forest Grove School District v. T. a.
Decided June 22, 2009. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 08-305 · 557 U.S. 230 (2009) · Cited 381 times
Holding
IDEA authorizes reimbursement for private special-education services when a public school fails to provide a FAPE and the private-school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special-education services through the public school.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 6–3.
Majority · 6
- John Paul Stevens · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 3
- Antonin Scalia
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- School Committee of the Town of Burlington v. Department of Education · 471 U.S. 359 (1985)
- Florence County School District Four v. Carter Ex Rel. Carter · 510 U.S. 7 (1993)
- Lorillard v. Pons · 434 U.S. 575 (1978)
- Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy · 548 U.S. 291 (2006)
- Branch v. Smith · 538 U.S. 254 (2003)
- Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman · 451 U.S. 1 (1981)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- Corley v. United States · 556 U.S. 303 (2009)
- Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
- Carlisle v. United States · 517 U.S. 416 (1996)
- United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. · 551 U.S. 128 (2007)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. · 594 U.S. 559 (2021)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).