On-Premise Aid For Disabled Student At Parochial School Upheld

In a recently-published decision, Bay Shore Union Free School District v. T, 405 F. Supp. 2d 230 (EDNY, Dec. 21, 2005), a New York federal district court held that New York’s education law requires the state to furnish a one-on-one aide at the parochial school of a student diagnosed with ADHD. The court held that neither the religious liberty guarantee nor the prohibition on using state funds to aid religious denominations found in the New York Constitution bar providing special educational services to a disabled student on the premises of a parochial school. No party claimed that such aid would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. The court also observed that substantial free exercise concerns would be raised if New York’s education law were interpreted in a manner that required handicapped students to choose between receiving needed services and attending the private school of their choice.