Appeals court: Parents can't record son's school day

By Alanna Durkin Richer
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday ruled against a Maine couple who wants to record the school day of their son with autism and a rare neurological disorder that affects his speaking ability.

The parents say their 19-year-old son should be allowed to carry an audio recording device in class so they can ensure he’s being treated properly because he can’t tell them about his school day.

But a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston sided with the school district, pointing to an administrative hearing officer’s finding that the recorder would provide “simply no demonstrable benefit.”

An attorney for School Administrative District 75 in Topsham called the ruling “well-reasoned and solid.”

Ben Pollack’s father expressed disappointment in the decision but said he doesn’t believe they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court because the teen will finish school next spring.

The teen, who is nonverbal, uses a device at school and at home that allows him to answer some questions or request things, but he cannot discuss events from his day, his father said.

The parents first pushed for the recording device in 2012, after the boy was unusually upset one day. They suspected something happened at school but got no explanation from administrators, they said.

The student’s mother told the district they would start recording his days to “have some semblance of peace that he is safe at school.”

The school told the couple, who are both lawyers, that the recorder would violate a ban on students using privately owned electronic devices and would infringe on other students’ privacy rights.