The minor C.B. moved with his parents to Missoula, Montana. A local educational agency responsible for providing students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE) was the Hellgate Elementary School District (Hellgate). Where C.B. and his parents had lived immediately before moving to Montana, the local school district had provided an individualized education program (IEP) for C.B. based on his diagnosis as having an “autistic component.”
Hellgate initially adopted C.B.’s existing IEP, but it later sought to develop a new one. Hellgate personnel formed an IEP team which first developed a diagnostic IEP that included substantially reduced educational and related services. During an IEP meeting, Hellgate suggested that C.B.’s parents obtain a general evaluation of the child at the Missoula Child Development Center (CDC). Several weeks later, during a meeting to create a new IEP to replace the diagnostic one, C.B.’s parents suggested to the Hellgate IEP team members that C.B. might be autistic. C.B. later underwent the referred testing at the CDC, which found that C.B. exhibited behavior consistent with autism spectrum disorder. The IEP team incrementally increased C.B.’s preschool instruction time.
