BYE, Circuit Judge.
J.B., by and through his parents, Kevin and Laurie Bailey, J.B.'s parents themselves, A.L.A., by and through his guardian, Laura Liberty, and Laura Liberty herself (collectively "Plaintiffs") filed suit against the Avilla R-XIII School District ("District"), alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq., and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Rehabilitation Act"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 706 and 794a. The District moved for summary judgment. The district court,
At all times pertinent to this case, J.B. and A.L.A. attended schools in the District. J.B. and A.L.A. each have a disability. Both also had an individualized education program ("IEP"). J.B.'s parents participated in the design of J.B.'s IEP. A.L.A.'s guardian similarly participated in the design of A.L.A.'s IEP. Both J.B.'s parents and A.L.A.'s guardian, however, had ongoing disputes with the District over the manner in which the District implemented the IEPs.
While the disputes were ongoing, J.B.'s parents filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") about the District's disability discrimination grievance resolution process, averring the process was inadequate for addressing parents' complaints about IEP issues. Appellants' App. 18. The OCR investigated and found the process adequate for addressing IEP-related complaints, but inadequate to handle complaints regarding other forms of disability discrimination. Id. at 23.
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400-1491, a parent dissatisfied with the manner in which an IEP is implemented may file a due process complaint with the local state agency. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2). The Plaintiffs, however, did not file IDEA due process complaints and instead jointly filed suit in district court. They filed two disability discrimination claims alleging the District had discriminated against J.B. and A.L.A. in violation of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, by failing to adequately implement each child's IEP or establish an adequate grievance
The District moved for summary judgment in each case, which the district court granted. The district court concluded all of the claims related to the implementation of IEPs. As such, the district court dismissed the claims, further concluding the Plaintiffs had been required to go through the IDEA due process complaint procedures before filing suit under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The Plaintiffs appealed and the cases were reconsolidated.
The central issue in these reconsolidated cases is whether the Plaintiffs were required to exhaust their administrative remedies under the IDEA before filing their ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims in district court. We review de novo the grant of a motion for summary judgment and the underlying issue of whether exhaustion of administrative remedies was required. Brown v. J.B. Hunt Transp. Servs., Inc., 586 F.3d 1079, 1083 n. 4 (8th Cir.2009) (citing Hutson v. Wells Dairy, Inc., 578 F.3d 823, 825 (8th Cir.2009)).
In the IDEA, Congress established procedural safeguards to ensure individuals with disabilities will have the opportunity to obtain a free appropriate public education (FAPE). 20 U.S.C. § 1415(a). The primary tool for implementing the aims of the IDEA is the IEP, which "tailor[s] the statutorily required `free appropriate public education' to each child's unique needs." Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 311, 108 S.Ct. 592, 98 L.Ed.2d 686 (1988) (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1414(a)(5)). The other safeguards "include ... an opportunity to present complaints concerning any aspect of the local agency's provision of a free appropriate public education; and an opportunity for `an impartial due process hearing' with respect to any such complaints." Id. at 311-12, 108 S.Ct. 592 (quoting 20 U.S.C. § 1415(b)(1), (2)). A party aggrieved by the outcome of an IDEA due process hearing may challenge the outcome before the state educational review agency. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(g)(1). The outcome of the administrative review hearing may then be disputed in district court. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(A). However, before parties may bring a claim in district court under a different statute for which they seek relief which is also available under the IDEA, the parties must first exhaust the administrative remedies under the IDEA. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l). Section 1415(l) of the IDEA sets forth:
20 U.S.C. § 1415(l) (emphasis added).
The Plaintiffs did not go through the IDEA due process complaint procedures before filing their ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims in the district court. Accordingly, the only questions are whether they seek relief available under the IDEA and, if so, whether an exception to the IDEA's exhaustion requirement applies.
The Plaintiffs first contend their claims are not subject to the exhaustion requirement of 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l) because they do not seek relief which is available under the IDEA.
The Plaintiffs seek relief available under the IDEA for their disability discrimination claims. Although the Plaintiffs base those claims on allegations the District failed to develop an adequate disability discrimination grievance resolution process, they also allege the District failed to adequately implement J.B.'s and A.L.A.'s IEPs as a basis for the claims. For those claims, the Plaintiffs seek attorneys' fees, compensatory education, and compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are not available through the IDEA. Heidemann v. Rother, 84 F.3d 1021, 1033 (8th Cir.1996). Compensatory education, however, is. Birmingham v. Omaha Sch. Dist., 220 F.3d 850, 856 (8th Cir.2000). As are attorneys' fees. 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(3)(B).
The Plaintiffs also seek relief available under the IDEA for their claims based on payment of education-related materials and services. In School Committee of Burlington, Massachusetts v. Department of Education of Massachusetts, 471 U.S. 359, 370-71, 105 S.Ct. 1996, 85 L.Ed.2d 385 (1985), the Supreme Court considered whether the potential relief available under the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA), the predecessor to the IDEA, "includes reimbursement to parents for private school tuition and related expenses." Id. at 367, 105 S.Ct. 1996. The Court noted that a court reviewing the outcome of EHA administrative proceedings was authorized to award the relief it deemed appropriate. Id. at 369, 105 S.Ct. 1996; see also 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2)(C)(iii). Reasoning reimbursement did not constitute money damages for the purposes of the EHA as it was merely the payment of expenses the school district should have paid all along, the Court held reimbursement to be an available form of relief under the EHA. Burlington, 471 U.S. at 370-71, 105 S.Ct. 1996.
Notably, Burlington concerned a claim only for reimbursement of tuition paid at a private institution and related expenses. Id. at 367, 105 S.Ct. 1996. However, other circuits which have considered
The Plaintiffs seek relief available under the IDEA for each of their claims. Accordingly, they were required to first exhaust the administrative remedies of the IDEA unless an exception to the requirement applies.
"Courts recognize only three exceptions to the exhaustion requirement, including futility, inability of the administrative remedies to provide adequate relief, and the establishment of an agency policy or practice of general applicability that is contrary to law." Blackmon ex rel. Blackmon v. Springfield R-XII Sch. Dist., 198 F.3d 648, 656 (8th Cir.1999) (quoting Urban ex rel. Urban v. Jefferson Cnty. Sch. Dist. R-1, 89 F.3d 720, 724 (10th Cir.1996)).
"[A]pplication of the exhaustion doctrine is `intensely practical.'" Bowen v. City of New York, 476 U.S. 467, 484, 106 S.Ct. 2022, 90 L.Ed.2d 462 (1986) (quoting Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 331 n. 11, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976)). A court deciding whether to waive exhaustion should be "guided by the policies underlying the exhaustion requirement." Id. Regarding those policies, the Supreme Court explained:
Id. (quoting Weinberger v. Salfi, 422 U.S. 749, 765, 95 S.Ct. 2457, 45 L.Ed.2d 522 (1975)). "[J]udges are not trained educators," E.S. v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 196, 135 F.3d 566, 569 (8th Cir.1998), and we are cautioned not to substitute our "own notions of sound educational policy for those of the school authorities which [we] review." Bd. of Educ. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 205-06, 102 S.Ct. 3034, 73 L.Ed.2d 690 (1982).
The Plaintiffs first contend exhaustion would have been futile, arguing the adequacy of the District's disability discrimination grievance resolution process could not have been addressed in an IDEA due process hearing. Although the administrative venue may not have been able to address the grievance resolution process, we disagree exhaustion would have been futile. Exhaustion would have allowed the
The Plaintiffs next contend IDEA remedies are inadequate, arguing the Missouri statute of limitations for special education claims has now expired and they could not have received the compensatory damages they seek through the IDEA due process complaint procedures.
The Plaintiffs' statute of limitations argument is unavailing. We have previously held that for an individual showing no reason why claims could not be brought within the statutory limitations period, the expiration of the period reflects only on the individual's choice and not the adequacy of the remedy. See United States v. Lurie, 207 F.3d 1075, 1077-78 (8th Cir.2000) (considering a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition). Here, the Plaintiffs have shown no reason why they could not have filed IDEA due process complaints within the limitations period. Accordingly, the Plaintiffs' failure to timely avail themselves of the IDEA due process complaint procedures does not render the relief available in those procedures inadequate.
The Plaintiffs' compensatory damages argument is also unavailing in this case. It is worth noting the Plaintiffs seek compensatory education, reimbursement for IEP-related expenses, and attorneys' fees in addition to compensatory damages. We have not previously addressed the specific issue of whether a plaintiff is excused from exhausting IDEA administrative remedies when asserting a claim based on both the denial of a FAPE and other grounds, for which some of the sought relief is unavailable under the IDEA. We have, however, previously noted (albeit in dicta) that "the IDEA's exhaustion requirement remains the general rule, regardless of whether the administrative process offers the particular type of relief that is being sought." M.P. ex rel. K. v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 721, 326 F.3d 975, 980 (8th Cir.2003). In addition, we have previously required the exhaustion of administrative remedies with regard to other statutes, even where the precise form of relief sought by the plaintiff was not available in the administrative venue. See King v. Iowa Dep't of Corr., 598 F.3d 1051, 1052 (8th Cir.2010) (concerning § 1983 claims); Foulk v. Charrier, 262 F.3d 687, 695 (8th Cir.2001) (concerning claims under the Prison Litigation Reform Act). There may be other circumstances in which this exception applies to a plaintiff seeking relief both available and unavailable under the IDEA for a claim based on grounds both related and unrelated to the denial of a FAPE. On this record, however, where some of the relief the Plaintiffs seek is available under the IDEA and exhaustion would not be futile, the inadequate remedy exception to the exhaustion requirement does not apply.
The Plaintiffs finally contend they should be excused from exhausting the IDEA's administrative remedies because the District's disability discrimination grievance resolution process is contrary to law. The Plaintiffs focus on the OCR's finding that the grievance resolution process was inadequate for addressing disability discrimination complaints unrelated to implementing IEPs. Appellants' App. 23.
Here, the Plaintiffs have failed to show exhaustion of their IDEA remedies would not have served the purposes of the requirement. Two of those purposes are to develop the factual record and obtain the benefit of the agency's expertise with regard to IEP-related claims. The OCR report gives no indication the District's grievance resolution process was inadequate for addressing IEP-related claims. Accordingly, the "practice contrary to law" exception also does not apply.
At the last, the Plaintiffs urge us to dismiss those of their claims which required exhaustion and remand the remaining claims to the district court. That is not an option here. The Plaintiffs, as masters of the complaint, have pled their claims such that each claim required exhaustion of the IDEA's administrative remedies.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.