YORK - The parents of a former York High School student are appealing a Department of Health and Human Services ruling that they are ineligible to have the York School Department pay for their child's private school tuition because the issues at hand are medical rather than educational in nature.

School officials confirmed that an appeal has been filed to the state's July, 2007, ruling, which came after a due process hearing that took place over four days in June. According to the transcript of that hearing, the parents asked the state to determine whether the York School Department violated the student's rights under state or federal special education laws by not identifying the student as eligible for special education and related services. The filing also asked whether the family would be entitled to reimbursement for the student's placement at a private boarding school.

The hearing transcript details the student's struggles with depression, but notes that she maintained good grades throughout her time at York High School.

When the student was evaluated in 2006, the York School Department determined the student did not have an emotional disability "because her educational performance was not adversely affected by her anxiety and depression," according to the transcript.

The parents contended that the student "has a consistent record of depressed mood and numerous diagnoses of both Dysthymia and Major Depression over the past six years," according to the transcript.

The York School Department's position, according to the case summary, is that the law "requires a significant degree of impairment on a number of different grounds before a child will qualify under it. The student does not fall within any of the five categories of characteristics of an emotional disability, but reveals characteristics of social maladjustment."

Shari B. Broder, Esq., the hearing officer in the case found the school did not violate the student's rights, writing, "The student's inability to cope with... depression is not an educational issue, but a medical one."

School officials confirmed that no date for the appeal to be heard has yet been set.