Fed. court sides with Tennessean suing school after graduating illiterate

• An appellate court sided with a Tennessee man, referred to as “William A.,” who sued his former school district for graduating him without addressing his disability. He’s seeking damages and proper education.

• Despite having an Individual Education Program, the school district failed to properly diagnose and address William’s disability, resulting in his inability to read upon graduation.

• William’s parents filed a federal lawsuit, and an appellate court recently ruled in their favor.

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An appellate court on Feb. 3 sided with a Tennessee man suing his former school after graduating him from high school without addressing his disability. Court documents say his grade point average was 3.4 when he graduated amid the court battle.

Referred to as “William A.” in court documents obtained by the Free Press, the plaintiff enrolled at Clarksville-Montgomery County school district northwest of Nashville in 2016 as a fifth grader. The district gave him an Individual Education Program, or IEP, saying he had a “learning disability” and “language impairments,” but did not address the underlying cause of the boy’s learning problem; he has dyslexia.

“William A. is dyslexic and graduated from high school with a 3.4 grade-point average. Yet even then, he could not read,” the appellate ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals began.

The complaint states that the district failed to make progress with the student and even saw him regress over time. He did his homework using artificial intelligence and spelling programs. 

“William would first dictate his topic into a document using speech-to-text software. He then would paste the written words into an AI software like ChatGPT,” the appellate ruling said. “Next, the AI software would generate a paper on that topic, which William would paste back into his own document. Finally, William would run that paper through another software program like Grammarly, so that it reflected an appropriate writing style.”

In William’s freshman year, a teacher warned school administrators that “this kid can’t read.”

It wasn’t until William’s junior year that he was properly diagnosed with dyslexia by a private specialist and enrolled in a program. The school district kept the boy on the previously unsuccessful IEP despite the specialist’s urging to add dyslexia treatment.

Later that year, court documents say William’s parents filed a complaint under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. An administrative law judge ruled that the school had violated William’s right to a “free and appropriate public education” under the IDEA. 

William’s parents later filed a federal lawsuit while the school district tried to reverse the administrative guidance. The court sided with his parents but denied them the right to have William receive dyslexia treatment under the original specialist. 

The appellate court ruled that “William did not receive that education here. Apart from his dyslexia itself, William’s most salient ‘circumstance’ for our purposes was that — with proper instruction — he can learn to read.”

The family is seeking $266,967 in attorney fees and compensation for an appropriate education. The district told the Free Press they don’t comment on pending litigation.