After the Second Circuit decision, the Hendrick Hudson Central School District appealed to the Supreme Court, which then reversed the Second Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court held that the purpose of “free appropriate public education” wasn’t to provide for a child’s full potential, but simply to give them access to education.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

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.

Hearing Before District Court

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2022, June 21). Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Board-of-Education-of-the-Hendrick-Hudson-Central-School-District-v-Rowley

Britannica: Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley

Idaho State Department of Education, The Rowley Case: What Does It Really Mean? (2020). Boise, Idaho. 

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