In Landsman v. Banks, No. 24-2303, 2025 WL 2155553, 125 LRP 22327 (2d Cir. July 31, 2025) (unpublished), the Second Circuit affirmed denial of tuition reimbursement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) where the parent failed to provide the required ten days’ written notice before unilateral private placement, notwithstanding acknowledged errors in the district court’s equitable analysis.
The student had an individualized education program (IEP) developed by the New York City Department of Education that called for a full-time aide, special education instruction, transportation, and related services. When the district failed to provide what the IEP required, the parent placed the student in a private school and sought tuition reimbursement.
At the administrative level, reimbursement was denied on the grounds that the parent failed to give ten days’ written notice before the private placement and had acted unreasonably. The district court affirmed, concluding that the parent failed to meet the statutory notice requirement and had not established that the private services were appropriate.
On appeal, the Second Circuit agreed with the parties that the district court erred in its equitable analysis by failing to consider the school district’s conduct and by relying on the parent’s litigation conduct rather than conduct connected to efforts to secure an appropriate placement. The court emphasized that equitable considerations must include the behavior of both parties and focus on placement-related conduct.
Despite those errors, the Second Circuit affirmed. It concluded that the district court did not clearly err in finding that the parent failed to provide timely written notice as required by 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(C), and that the failure provided a valid basis to reduce or deny reimbursement. The court further held that the parent failed to show that the district’s conduct would have altered the equities analysis sufficiently to warrant a different outcome. Additional reimbursement claims were rejected because they were not meaningfully argued and were unsupported by the record.
The decision reflects that compliance with IDEA’s ten-day notice requirement remains a significant factor in tuition reimbursement cases, that errors in weighing equitable factors may be deemed harmless where the record does not support a different result, and that failure to satisfy statutory notice obligations may defeat reimbursement even where the district did not fully implement the IEP.