[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 22-14234 ____________________

A.W. BY AND THROUGH J.W., E.M. BY AND THROUGH B.M., M.F. BY AND THROUGH J.C., D.G. BY AND THROUGH D.G., Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus COWETA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, CHRISTI HILDEBRAND,

Defendants-Appellees.

____________________ USCA11 Case: 22-14234 Document: 73-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2024 Page: 2 of 16

2 Opinion of the Court 22-14234

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 3:21-cv-00218-TCB ____________________

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and JILL PRYOR and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: This appeal requires us to decide whether Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act allows the recovery of damages for emotional distress, see 42 U.S.C. § 12133, and whether several spe- cial education students alleged a constitutional violation against a principal and school district. The students alleged that the principal and school district violated Title II when the students’ teacher physically and emotionally abused them. They also alleged that the principal’s deliberate indifference violated their constitutional right to due process. The district court dismissed the students’ com- plaint. It correctly ruled that emotional distress damages are not recoverable under Title II, but it erred when it failed to consider whether the students might be entitled to other relief. It also cor- rectly ruled that the students failed to state a constitutional viola- tion against the principal and the school district. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND We draw all facts from the students’ proposed amended complaint. The Coweta County School District operates Elm USCA11 Case: 22-14234 Document: 73-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2024 Page: 3 of 16

22-14234 Opinion of the Court 3

Street Elementary School in Coweta County, Georgia. The school district is a public entity under the Americans with Disabilities Act, see id. § 12131(1). Dr. Christi Hildebrand served as the principal of Elm Street in fall 2019. A.W., E.M., M.F., and D.G. attended Elm Street as students in fall 2019 and were assigned to the same special education classroom. The students have disabilities that affect their ability to communicate to varying degrees. A.W. was 12 years old in fall 2019. He has several disabilities, including developmental delays that affect his cognitive abilities and language skills. He is “verbal but non-communicative.” He also has Dravet Syndrome, a rare and severe kind of epilepsy that is dif- ficult to control. E.M. was 11 years old in fall 2019. He has autism and suffers from social delay and learning disabilities. He is verbal, but he has limited social understanding and a limited ability to communicate. In 2022, E.M. was an eighth-grade student with the cognitive ability of a second grader. M.F. was 10 years old in fall 2019. She has Down