Hellman v. Mass Dep't of Elementary and Secondary Education

── Hellman v. Mass Dep't of Elementary and Secondary Education ── Case No.: 25-1417 Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: March 20, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 25-1417 ARIELLA HELLMAN, on their own behalf and as next friend of their child, E.H.; DAVID HELLMAN, on their own behalf and as next friend of their child, E.H.; JOSH HARRISON, on their own behalf and as next friend of their child, H.H.; MIRIAM SEGURA-HARRISON, on their own behalf and as next friend of their child, H.H., Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION; KATHERINE CRAVEN, in the official capacity as Chair of the Board; MATTHEW B. HILLS, in the official capacity as Vice-Chair of the Board; DR. ERICKA FISHER, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; ISABELLA CHAMBERLAIN, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; FARZANA MOHAMED, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; DR. ERICKA FISHER, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; DÁLIDA ROCHA, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; KRISTEN SMIDY, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; MARY ANN STEWART, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; DR. AMY KERSHAW, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; DR. MARTIN WEST, in the official capacity as a member of the Board; PEDRO MARTINEZ, in the official capacity as Acting Secretary of the Board and Commissioner of DESE; MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION,* Defendants, Appellees. * Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Russell D. Johnston has been substituted by Pedro Martinez, Dr. Patrick Tutwiler has been substituted by Dr. Amy Kershaw, and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Members Ela Gardiner, Michael Moriarity, and Paymoun Rouhanifard have been substituted by Isabella Chamberlain, Ericka Fisher, and Kristen Smidy.  APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Judge] Before Gelpí, Thompson, and Montecalvo, Circuit Judges. David G. Hodges, with whom Renée D. Flaherty, Institute for Justice, John C. La Liberte, Pioneer Public Interest Law Center, Tiffany Stichel, and Schlossberg, LLC, were on brief for appellants. Timothy J. Casey, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Andrea Joy Campbell, Attorney General of Massachusetts, was on brief, for appellees. Donald A. Daugherty, Jr., Martha A. Astor, and Defense of Freedom Institute on brief for amicus curiae Defense of Freedom Institute. March 20, 2026  GELPÍ, Circuit Judge. Massachusetts grants all of the state's students with disabilities an individual entitlement to publicly funded special education services. But state regulations distinguish between public and private school students when determining where those services may be provided. While public school students may generally receive services at their schools of enrollment, private school students may receive services only at a public school or another public or neutral location. This distinction reflects, in part, a provision of the Massachusetts Constitution that prohibits the state from providing direct aid to private schools. The parents of E.H. and H.H. -- two children with disabilities enrolled in private schools -- challenge this regulation under the Fourteenth Amendment. They claim it violates the Due Process, Equal Protection, and Privileges or Immunities Clauses by interfering with their fundamental constitutional right to enroll their children in private school. The district court dismissed their complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Proc