Milwaukee Montessori seeks legal fees from victim’s family after settling discrimination claims

• Milwaukee Montessori will pay families $240,000 and the government a $50,000 penalty to resolve claims of discriminating against students with disabilities.
• The school is seeking roughly $440,000 in court costs from the family whose complaint sparked the federal investigation.
• The private school previously settled with federal goverment over disability discrimination allegations in 2014.
• Nonreligious private schools are required by ADA to make “reasonable modifications” to serve students with disabilities.

Milwaukee Montessori School agreed to pay nearly $300,000 and update its policies to resolve accusations of discriminating against students with disabilities.

On the same day the private school reached the agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, it filed motions seeking roughly $440,000 in court costs and attorney’s fees from the family whose complaint about their 7-year-old’s expulsion from the school sparked the federal investigation.

“This is outrageous on so many levels,” said Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, the family’s attorney. “Equally as bad, it makes us very concerned about whether they will comply with the agreement they signed with DOJ.”

The May 7 settlement requires the school to pay a $50,000 penalty to the U.S. Department of Justice, and $240,000 to affected families. It’s the second time in the past decade the U.S. Department of Justice has investigated and fined the private school, near Bluemound Road and 95th Street, for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Milwaukee Montessori said it is changing its policies on admissions and disciplinary matters to ensure it is in compliance with the ADA. Headmaster David Swanson recently took over the school, which enrolls about 420 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

“The DOJ is going to be working with with us for the next two years (and) collaborating to make sure we’re up to speed,” Swanson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I’m happy for that, to be honest with you, because there were needed changes.”

Milwaukee Montessori discriminated against 10 students with disabilities, DOJ reports

Milwaukee Montessori previously settled with the Justice Department in 2014 after the government said the school violated ADA by disenrolling a student with a neuromuscular disability. The school disputed it broke the law but settled, paying the family $50,000 and the Justice Department $5,000. It also agreed to change its policy.

But the Justice Department found Milwaukee Montessori’s discriminatory practices continued. Its latest investigation detailed acts of discrimination against 10 students with disabilities from 2017 through 2023, according to the settlement agreement.

Two of the 10 students identified in the agreement were denied admission after their parents disclosed their disabilities during the application process. The families of four more students withdrew their children after being denied reasonable accommodations or seeing their children sent home early or to the office or a separate classroom. Four additional students were expelled.

Milwaukee Montessori disputed the Justice Department’s findings but cooperated with the investigation, the settlement said. The agreement includes no admission of liability. It requires Milwaukee Montessori to hire a disability discrimination expert to create a remediation plan, write new admissions and nondiscrimination policies, train its employees on the policies and submit regular reports to the government on its compliance.

Milwaukee Montessori now seeking fees from family who sparked investigation

The family whose complaint led to the Justice Department investigation later sued Milwaukee Montessori, the family’s attorney, Spitzer-Resnick said. The 2022 lawsuit claimed the school denied their 7-year-old son reasonable accommodations and later expelled him because of behavioral problems. The student was later diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

A federal judge in April dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning it can be re-filed. The judge said the family had no standing to sue because they had planned to move overseas by the time they filed their complaint, making the child’s re-enrollment at the school unlikely. The judge said the family’s failure to be forthcoming about its move was “troubling” and the lawsuit could have been resolved sooner had they disclosed their intentions.

The lawsuit’s dismissal opened the door to the school seeking reimbursement for court costs and attorney’s fees. Spitzer-Resnick said he had been hashing out an agreement with the school attorney, with his clients agreeing not to appeal or disparage the school. In exchange, he said Milwaukee Montessori would not seek court costs.

Spitzer-Resnick said the school’s attorney, Joel Aziere, drafted the agreement and emailed it May 2, asking for a response by May 7. Spitzer-Resnick emailed back the morning of May 7, saying his clients agreed to the conditions and would sign a copy after the school signed the DOJ agreement. A few hours later, with the Justice Department agreement inked, the school filed motions seeking $440,000 from the family.

“It’s bad faith to send a settlement agreement over, ask the other side to agree to it and then when they say ‘yes,’ say ‘never mind,’” Spitzer-Resnick said. “I’ve been an attorney for 40 years, and I’ve never seen this happen.”

Aziere said in a statement that the school’s “possible agreement” did not cover the full $440,000 cost and it fell through after Spitzer-Resnick made additional conditions, which Spitzer-Resnick disputed. In court records, the school argued it was entitled to $440,000 to make up for the cost of defending itself because the family withheld its intent to move until later in the litigation process.

Are private schools required to serve students with disabilities? 

Unlike public schools, private schools are not required to provide special education services for students under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. 

Religious private schools are also exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

But nonreligious private schools, like Milwaukee Montessori, are required by ADA to make “reasonable modifications” to serve students with disabilities, as long as those modifications don’t “fundamentally alter” the school. 

“This settlement is an important reminder that the ADA’s obligations extend to private schools and their treatment of students with disabilities,” acting U.S. attorney Richard Frohling said in a statement.

Reporter Rory Linnane contributed to this article.

Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.