A federal judge has ordered Galesburg District 205 to pay more than $248,000 in attorney fees and other costs to the parents of a child with disabilities after siding with them in a civil rights lawsuit over the child’s educational placement.
The parents will be granted $245,171 in attorneys’ fees for 516 hours of legal work and $3,070 in other costs. Judge Jonathan Hawley also ordered the school district to pay prejudgment interest of 7.5% dating back to May 17 to account for delays in payment, according to an Aug. 15 order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
“We appreciate the court’s judgment and their ability to recognize the importance of the issues brought before them in this case. Acknowledgement of the hard work we have had to put forth into reaching this pivotal point in the proceedings means a lot to our family,” said Pamella Bess-Tabb, the child’s mother and a former Galesburg school board member.
But the years-long dispute about whether the child has the right to be educated at a local school is not over yet. Superintendent John Asplund told TSPR the district is disappointed by the Aug. 15 order and is considering filing an appeal.
“We disagreed with the judge on the decision in the case and we disagree with the judge’s decision on the fees,” Asplund said.
If the district appeals the order awarding the parents the fees, that would be in addition to its appeal of the federal court’s December 2024 decision in the case, which is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Arguments in the appeal are scheduled for next month.
The lawsuit
In 2023, the school district developed an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that called for the child, then in first grade, to attend a segregated therapeutic day school more than an hour away from his home, saying the child exhibited aggressive behaviors and posed a threat to the safety of others.
The parents objected and requested a due process hearing, arguing the placement was unnecessarily restrictive and separated the child from his non-disabled peers. An administrative hearing officer sided with the school district in April 2024, saying it was not possible to provide any additional supports to the child in a local school.
The parents then sought judicial review in federal court. In a 20-page complaint filed in July 2024, the parents alleged the school district’s plan to place the child at High Road School in Peoria violated a requirement of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that stipulates a child with a disability has the right to be educated in the “least restrictive environment.”
In December 2024, District Judge Hawley ruled in the parents’ favor, finding that the district’s IEP for the child violated IDEA. He ordered the school district to create a new IEP that would allow the child to remain in a local school and have accommodations including a 1:1 paraprofessional. The school district appealed that decision in early 2025.
The child is diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and sensory issues. Bess-Tabb, who is a licensed clinical social worker, said neurodivergent children are highly intelligent and they require supports to be successful in school alongside their non-disabled peers. She defends her decision to sue the school district over her child’s placement while serving on the school board.
“I have a parental and professional duty to advocate for my children in the educational environment when it is clear their educational rights have been violated. Procedural safeguards and procedures are given to all special education parents and guardians,” she said. “These procedures lay the foundation for disputes and resolution.”
Bess-Tabb was elected to a first term on the school board in 2021. She ran for a second term this spring, but was not re-elected.
Judge: Fees are reasonable
Federal law allows courts, at their discretion, to award reasonable attorneys’ fees to the parents of a child with a disability if they are the prevailing party in an IDEA case. In April of this year, the parents asked the district court to order the school district to pay the legal fees and expenses incurred by their case.
In response, the school district asked the court for a 60% reduction, saying the attorneys’ fees were excessive and should be reduced to around 200 hours. The district said in court documents it was “baffled” how the federal court case could proceed with “uncommon efficiency” and still result in more than 500 billable hours.
In his order, Judge Hawley said the number of hours billed and the attorneys’ rates of between $465 and $525 an hour were reasonable within the market for litigation of special education and other civil rights discrimination claims.
Hawley noted that the parents’ legal team, from the Chicago firm Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, had taken the case on after the family was unable to find an attorney in Galesburg, Peoria, or Springfield willing to represent them in federal court. The law firm was also working on a contingency basis after the parents met a predetermined threshold of paying at the standard hourly rate.
Parents not seeking damages
As of now, the school district is not paying out of pocket for its own legal expenses or for the amount being awarded to the parents' legal expenses. Asplund told TSPR the district’s liability insurance carrier, Gallagher Bassett, is covering these expenses up to a certain limit. He declined to say what that limit is while the appeal process is ongoing.
Bess-Tabb said that prior to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer, families in due process proceedings under IDEA could only recover attorney fees and compensatory educational services. That ruling makes clear that students with disabilities have the same rights to seek remedies under the ADA and Section 504 as anyone else facing disability discrimination.
But she said the family is not seeking damages from the district, just the legal expenses — and for the child to receive Free and Appropriate Education under federal law.
“Our only focus is our children's right to receive FAPE within a public school district we pay taxes in to support,” she said.
Bess-Tabb said as a parent and former school board member, she understands the fiscal burden for all parties involved in an educational dispute.
“Which is why we have invited the district to resolve these issues on several occasions within the last two years during our due process dispute. The district has been persistent in continuing on this fiscally irresponsible educational dispute,” she said.
Bess-Tabb said she believes the school district’s “continuance of legal fees over the years instead of investing in the special education department is irresponsible financial management.”
The parents and the school district have already filed briefs in the appeal over the court's December 2024 decision.
Oral arguments are set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, in Chicago.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department, please consider making a financial contribution.
