The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments in a dispute involving parents’ right to record conversations with their child’s school district concerning special education services. The Supreme Court declined to hear Pitta v. Medeiros this week. Scott Pitta, a Massachusetts father, appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this year after lower courts decided that school authorities could prevent him from recording an online meeting regarding his son JJ’s IEP.
Bridgewater High School disputed the claim that JJ needed extra support. Pitta wanted to record a meeting that was taking place over Google Meet.
Pitta requested that the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District videotape a September 2022 IEP meeting. School officials declined his request. Instead, they offered to provide an audio recording of the meeting. Pitta said that an audio recording wouldn’t identify who was speaking.
Pitta said his family has been in a “constant fight with the school system” for as long as JJ has been in school. The fight escalated into a legal dispute. Their school district said Pitta could audio record but not video record their online meeting.
Mary Ellen Sowyrda, the school district’s attorney, told USA TODAY that videotaping goes beyond the audio recording accommodations schools must provide parents to make the meeting accessible. Speaking generally about IEP meetings rather than the Pitta case, Sowyrda stated that school administrators may oppose a video recording because they are concerned about how their photos would be utilized and are reluctant to open themselves up for possible intimidation.
Most importantly, Sowydra said the courts that have addressed this matter have determined that the meetings are not public events; therefore, there is no constitutional right to record them. Pitta argued that citizens should be able to record encounters with government officials, comparing the accountability afforded by a video recording of a school meeting to that of a police officer’s body camera.
“The average, day-to-day person doesn’t interact with the police department every day,” he said. “But they’ll interact with their local government, their school district several times throughout the year,” Pitta told USA TODAY.
“Pitta’s argument ignores established limitations in First Circuit law, which permit recording of government officials performing their duties only in indisputably public places in full view of the public, and even then, only when the act of filming would not hinder officials in the performance of their public duties and would serve public interests,” according to a decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in January.
Pitta appealed the case to the Supreme Court. He said that circuit courts nationwide are divided on the matter. However, the Supreme Court dismissed the case without comment.
Pitta also had the support of the Goldwater Institute. The Goldwater Institute is a conservative and libertarian public policy think tank based in Phoenix, Arizona. Its declared aim is “to defend and strengthen the freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the constitutions of the United States and all fifty states.” The organization was founded in 1988 with the backing of Republican Senator Barry Goldwater.
Special education services can be challenging to navigate. Schools should make every effort to ensure that students and parents understand what is being discussed. After all, disabled students are entitled to a free and appropriate public education. However, without the support they need, receiving an education will be impossible.
Sources:
“About – Our Story.” Goldwater Institute, Goldwater Institute, 24 Feb. 2023, goldwaterinstitute.org/en/about/.
Diament, Michelle. “Supreme Court Declines to Weigh in on Whether Parents Can Record IEP Meetings.” Disability Scoop, Disability Scoop, 12 June 2024, http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/06/12/supreme-court-declines-to-weigh-in-on-whether-parents-can-record-iep-meetings/30917/.
Groppe, Maureen. “Special Education Clash at Supreme Court: Why One Dad Is Asking to Record School Meetings.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 6 June 2024, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/06/05/iep-disabilities-autism-supreme-court-massachusetts/73879835007/.
Lacey, Marc. “A Watchdog for Conservative Ideals.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 26 Dec. 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/goldwater-institute-an-aggressive-conservative-watchdog.html.