PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-1059

EILEEN CHOLLET, on behalf of C.M., a minor; DENNIS MA, on behalf of C.M., a minor; MERYEM GHAZAL, on behalf of P.G., a minor; RICHARD GHAZAL, on behalf of P.G., a minor; GUADALUPE WILLIAMSON, on behalf of T.W., a minor; TIMOTHY WILLIAMSON, on behalf of T.W., a minor,

Plaintiffs – Appellants,

v.

DR. SCOTT BRABRAND, in his role as Superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools,

Defendant – Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony J. Trenga, Senior District Judge. (1:21-cv-00987-AJT-JFA)

Argued: October 30, 2024 Decided: May 19, 2025

Before WYNN, HARRIS, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Harris wrote the opinion, in which Judge Wynn and Judge Heytens joined.

ARGUED: George Millington Clarke, III, BAKER MCKENZIE LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. John F. Cafferky, BLANKINGSHIP & KEITH, PC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: James M. Lucas, Dallas, Texas, Christina M. Norman, BAKER MCKENZIE LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellants. Ian J. McElhaney, BLANKINGSHIP USCA4 Appeal: 24-1059 Doc: 44 Filed: 05/19/2025 Pg: 2 of 11

& KEITH, PC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee.

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PAMELA HARRIS, Circuit Judge:

The plaintiffs in this case are the parents of children with special needs who attend

public school in Fairfax County, Virginia. They allege that the transition to remote learning

during the COVID-19 pandemic constituted an unconstitutional “taking” of what they see

as their children’s Fifth Amendment property interest in public education. The district

court rejected this argument and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to

state a claim. We agree and affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Plaintiffs Eileen Chollet, Dennis Ma, Meryem Ghazal, Richard Ghazal, Guadalupe

Williamson, and Timothy Williamson are the parents of children with special needs who

attend the Fairfax County Public Schools (“FCPS”) in Virginia. Pursuant to the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., FCPS provides the

plaintiffs’ children with special education services based on Individualized Education

Programs. Between March 2020 and February 2021, FCPS – like many school districts –

responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by switching to a virtual learning model. The

plaintiffs believe that FCPS’s use of remote instruction was inconsistent with their

children’s individualized needs and caused them to fall behind.

To address these concerns, the plaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against

Dr. Scott Brabrand, in his former role as Superintendent of FCPS, alleging an

unconstitutional “taking” of their children’s purported Fifth Amendment property interest

in a public education. Virginia law, the parents alleged, establishes a fundamental right to

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a public education. And because that right is a protected property interest under the

Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, they argued, i

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