A federal judge has ruled that Downingtown Area School District does not have to pay for the private-school tuition of a former student who left the district over dissatisfaction with her individualized education plan.

U.S. District Chief Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld a hearing officer's decision denying the minor K.D.'s parents tuition reimbursement for her private schooling.

K.D. was diagnosed with dyslexia, mathematics disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Her parents, Theresa and Jonathan Dunn, claimed that a series of IEPs offered to her by Pickering Valley Elementary School from kindergarten to third grade failed to help her improve in her schoolwork, necessitating her transfer to private school.