County School Board of Henrico County, Virginia v. Z.P., a Minor by and Through His Parents and Next Friends R.P. N.M.P.

The district court rightly held that the hearing officer’s findings should not be followed because the hearing officer substituted his own views on education policy— and those of Z.P. and his experts — for the determinations of the local educators charged with formulating an individualized education program (“IEP”). The majority’s opinion unwittingly thwarts the purpose of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (“IDEA”) by supporting the hearing officer’s misapplication of the law. Thus, I respectfully dissent. .

- As the majority notes, Z.P. was diagnosed with autism at age two. He was…