Judge blasts Montgomery County schools for ‘blatant attempt’ to dodge disability law

A Maryland administrative law judge admonished Montgomery County Public Schools leaders for a “blatant attempt to circumvent” federal disability law, according to documents obtained by The Banner, raising questions about how the district handled the education of some of its most vulnerable students.

Judge Willis Gunther Baker took issue with what she described as a policy that required preapproval by senior district officials to change school placements for students with disabilities.

The disputed rule, which the judge said was created under Chief Student Support Officer Margaret Cage, conflicts with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, the judge wrote in an April decision.

The decades-old law requires that teams of people familiar with a student, along with the parents, decide a child’s placement.

The judge’s decision came in response to a cased filed by parents who wanted the district to place their 6-year-old son in a specialized school for children with disabilities.

“The directions and policy documents created at MCPS under the authority of Dr. Cage were a blatant attempt to circumvent the requirements of the IDEA,” the judge wrote.

MCPS officials dispute this was ever a district policy, though they acknowledge there was miscommunication and that some staff members felt uncertain about what to do.

“We respectfully disagree with the administrative decision and several of its characterizations of our work, including the characterization of a policy being in place,” district spokesperson Liliana López said in a statement Thursday in response to an inquiry from The Banner.

The recently obtained documents show the judge also questioned a senior district official’s credibility.

Cage, who holds a doctorate in education and oversees special education in Maryland’s largest district, was not available for an interview, López said.

Shortly before the judge issued her decision, district leaders published new guidelines emphasizing that placement decisions cannot be predetermined.

López said Cage has made improvements to district processes, reinforcing its compliance with federal law.

The case

The judge’s ruling stemmed from a case initiated by parents who wanted the district to place their kindergartner in a specialized, nonpublic school that serves children with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

District officials insisted the child should be educated in a specific special education program within MCPS.

The parents filed a due process case against the district, and the judge heard arguments last school year.

Due process hearings are generally kept private and are hard for parents to win in Maryland. The documents recently obtained by The Banner — which included the judge’s ruling, testimony transcripts and court exhibits — shed light on the proceedings. The student and parents’ names are redacted.

The documents described how the child’s disability triggers behavior that can put him and others in danger, and they detailed the myriad ways he struggled in a traditional elementary school.

The judge determined the district operated in bad faith, made a disingenuous argument and violated procedures needed for an individualized education program, often called an IEP.

“Parents are entitled to have a voice,” said attorney Brian Gruber, who represented the family. “When an IEP team comes to a meeting — either with a closed mind or has already decided the placement recommendation — parents are cut out.”

‘Documents speak for themselves’

Montgomery County Public Schools leaders are managing the ballooning expense for students with disabilities to attend highly specialized nonpublic schools.

Federal law gives children with disabilities the right to a free education that meets their needs. If a Maryland public school can’t serve a child, the district can be required to pay for that student to attend a campus that can.

It cost about $57 million to send roughly 700 Montgomery County students to nonpublic schools in fiscal year 2025, according to state data. These include private day schools, residential programs and campuses for students who are blind and deaf.

When Cage joined MCPS about a year and a half ago, she was shocked when she learned of these high costs.

According to the judge’s analysis, “Dr. Cage began implementing a new policy related to Special Education in part meant to ‘manage fiscal exposure from private placements/settlements.’”

This caused confusion among staff, the judge determined.

A former MCPS employee testified in the case that “experienced teachers were very concerned about this policy and discussed it among themselves.”

Newer teachers, meanwhile, “were not as familiar ... and were just starting out [and] would feel pressured to follow the policy,” the judge wrote.

MCPS leaders say they don’t factor in the financial aspect when considering nonpublic placements.

“One of the reasons that special education nonpublic placement costs are increasing to MCPS is because the state is actually reducing their contributions,” López said. “But that’s not how we make decisions in special education. We make decisions according to the IEP and the service needs of the child.”

The district’s problematic directive on placement decisions was presented to staff during a fall meeting, according to materials reviewed by The Banner.

According to the judge’s ruling, “Dr. Cage denied knowledge of this document and testified that her staff had gone rogue.”

Cage also disputed what was meant by the word “placement.”

But the judge said she “did not find Dr. Cage credible in this explanation,” adding that, “the documents speak for themselves.”

Ultimately, the judge ruled, the district had to place the boy in his parents’ desired school “due to the blatant failures of the MCPS that have had a negative impact on the student’s ability to receive education.”