A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge affirmed a U.S. District Court judge’s decision that religion is not one of the educational needs that MCPS must meet by law.

MCPS not required to teach disabled child Orthodox Jewish faith

...Judge G. Steven Agee of the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit said Monday under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, MCPS is providing a free and public education (FAPE) for the plaintiff’s child M.L., who was born with Down syndrome. The parents, Rabbi Akiva Leiman and Shani Leiman, had alleged that the proposed plan for M.L.’s education was inadequate because it did not include teaching practices observed in M.L.’s Orthodox Jewish community.

“MCPS provided M.L. with equal access to an education, on the same basis as it provides to all other students with disabilities,” Agee said in his opinion. “It does not provide religious and cultural instruction to its students with or without disabilities and has no duty under the IDEA to administer such instruction to M.L.”...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/5663-judge-for-u-s-court-of-appeals-for-the-fourth-circuit-rules-in-favor-of-mcps