In a May 19, 2025 settlement, the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District will include religious private schools as potential placements for students with disabilities. The plaintiffs in Loffman v. California Department of Education had challenged a California code that excluded religious private schools from being an option for students with disabilities whose individualized education program team determined the student’s needs could not be met in the public school setting.
When these types of school-determined placements are made, school systems typically pay the student’s tuition and other education expenses. School systems also provide child find services and other resources for parentally placed students with disabilities who attend private schools, including religious ones. When students with disabilities are placed by their parents in private schools, they do not have the right to all of the protections under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the parent would be responsible for those education costs. However, when IEP teams make that placement decision, those IDEA due process rights follow the student to the private school setting.
The agreement means the state will begin to allow religiously affiliated schools to apply to be considered as potential IEP-determined placements and will provide the necessary oversight of those services.
Plaintiffs say the settlement is a “win for religious liberty,” but public school advocates are concerned about the use of tax dollars for religious education.
Source: K-12 Dive.