After the New York Commissioner of Education’s decision, the Rowleys then brought an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that the denial of a sign-language interpreter was a denial of free appropriate education (FAPE) guaranteed by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now IDEA). The judge of the District Court ruled that Amy, though performing better than the average student, was not reaching her full potential without a sign language interpreter and thus not receiving FAPE. The school district was ordered to provide Amy a sign language interpreter. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit later affirmed the judgment.