Secaucus school board agrees to pay $30K to family of developmentally disabled student THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY AUGUST 1, 2013, 6:09 PM BY LINH TAT STAFF WRITER THE RECORD PRINT | E-MAIL SECAUCUS — The Board of Education has agreed to pay $30,000 to the family of a developmentally disabled student whose mother claims the district deliberately caused her daughter to miss out on her middle school graduation. Superintendent Robert Presuto did not want to comment before speaking with the district’s attorney, whom he had left a message for on Tuesday, the new schools chief said. According to the settlement terms, district officials did not admit to any wrongdoing. The settlement was announced Tuesday by the state Attorney General’s Office. The student in the case has Cri-du-chat, also known as 5P Minus Syndrome, a chromosome abnormality that delays development. All her instructions are held in a special-education classroom, and she receives occupational, physical and speech therapy, and has a nurse attendant. The mother was told in February 2012 that her daughter would remain in eighth grade the following year. But that April, school officials determined the student should be promoted to the high school, according to findings that the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights noted in a report following an investigation, which was launched after the mom filed a discrimination complaint last year. The mother said she was not properly informed of the change in status until June, causing her daughter to miss the opportunity to walk in a graduation ceremony, to receive her diploma and to attend a dance following the ceremony, according to the mother’s complaint and the subsequent Division on Civil Rights report. In addition to paying $30,000 to the family, school officials agreed to properly notify in the future all students with disabilities and their case managers about graduation ceremonies or other special events and to train staff in the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, according to the settlement agreement. “This settlement represents a fair and just resolution to an unfortunate situation,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said in a statement. “This case wasn’t simply about allegations of disparate treatment. It was about a young, disabled student having the, same chance as her non-disabled schoolmates to take part in an especially well-deserved youthful rite of passage.” While the district cited misunderstanding and miscommunication, the mother believes officials deliberately excluded her daughter from taking part in graduation-related festivities, according to findings by the Division on Civil Rights. The student’s case manager, Jeanne Gannon, had emailed the district’s special services director, Susan Smahl, in April 2012, asking if the student should participate in graduation-related activities. Smahl wrote back that she and the school principal, Robert Daniello, “thought that the families would want them to participate,” but she was open to suggestions, according to the Division on Civil Rights’ report. In her testimony, Gannon told investigators that in a subsequent conversation, Smahl said “a decision was made” to not have the student participate in the activities, according to the report. But Smahl and Daniello denied purposely excluding the student. Smahl told investigators she directed Gannon to contact the parents about graduation and was surprised when the student did not attend the ceremony, the report stated. It also noted that the district said it informed the mother — as it does with all parents — about the graduation, yearbook purchases, caps and gowns and other end-of-year details via phone and email messages. The mother said she ignored those general announcements, thinking they did not apply to her daughter, who she thought would remain in the eighth grade another year. In April, the Division on Civil Rights found probable cause “to suspect that [the district] deliberately withheld … information” that denied the student from joining her peers in graduation activities. Now, the district has settled with the family. Officials have not admitted any wrongdoing or liability but agreed to pay the family to avoid further litigation, according to the settlement. The district also invited the student walk in the 2013 middle school ceremony, but the family declined. Email: tat@northjersey - See more at: northjersey/news/education/Secaucus_school_board_agrees_to_pay_30000_to_family_of_developmentally_disabled_student.html?page=all#sthash.8EKLnlTD.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 12:13:34 +0000
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