Parent Required to Reimburse School District for Failure to Establish Student’s Eligibility for Enrollment
A child is eligible to enroll in a school district and receive a free public education if the parent or guardian of the child is domiciled within the district or the child is kept in the home of an-other person domiciled within the school district as an affidavit student pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-1(b)(1). Domicile is established when the student spends the majority of his time at a residence located within the school district and intends to make that residence his permanent home. Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:22-3.1(a)(1)(i), when the parents are separated and are domiciled in different school districts, the student’s […]
Clarifying (Maybe) Who Can Participate In Negotiations
By: Kelly E. Adler, Esq. Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. Negotiations are a hot topic in New Jersey right now; specifically, which Board members can and cannot participate in negotiating with teachers, administrators and staff is a question Board solicitors are constantly fielding. In an attempt to clarify this issue, the School Ethics Commission (“Commission”) released three separate Advisory Opinions regarding this very issue. The School Ethics Act, N.J.S.A. 18A:12-24 et seq., governs New Jersey School Board members as well as school officials. Generally speaking, the School Ethics Act prohibits school officials and Board members from using or attempting to […]
Appellate Division Vacates Summary Judgment Decision and Issues Remand in Employment Discrimination Case
In an unpublished decision dated January 7, 2016, the New Jersey Appellate Division in Sheridan v. Egg Harbor Township Board of Education, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 10 (App. Div. 2016) vacated the trial court’s dismissal of a former employee’s discrimination complaint and remanded the matter for trial. Plaintiff, a former custodian for the Egg Harbor Township Board of Education, alleged that the Board wrongfully terminated her on the basis of obesity in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and subjected her to a hostile work environment due to her floor supervisor’s repeated disparaging remarks about the custodian’s […]
School District Granted Emergent Relief to Conduct Psychiatric Evaluation and Place Student in an Alternative Interim Setting
On November 23, 2015, Administrative Law Judge Caridad F. Rigo granted the Clifton Board of Education’s Request for Emergent Relief to complete a psychiatric evaluation of a special education student and to place her in an alternative interim educational setting due to escalating behaviors. Clifton Bd. of Educ. v. K.M. o/b/o K.M., OAK Dkt. No. EDS 18260-15, Agency Dkt. No. 2016-23665, 2015 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 576 (Nov. 23, 2015). K.M. was an eighth grade female student classified as emotionally disturbed eligible for behavior plans, counseling, among other interventions. K.M. exhibited significant behavioral and discipline issues. K.M. had been suspended from […]
OPRA Does Not Authorize Anonymous Filings in Superior Court
In a published decision dated September 17, 2015, the New Jersey Appellate Division in A.A. v. Gramiccioni, et al., 442 N.J. Super. 276 (2015) affirmed the trial court’s determination that, under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), an individual may not anonymously file a complaint in Superior Court. OPRA governs the public’s access to government records in New Jersey. Public agencies, including school districts and charter schools, must comply with OPRA, which requires disclosure of a government record unless a specific exception applies. An individual who believes that a public agency improperly denied his or her OPRA request may […]
IDEA Does Not Limit Compensatory Education Claims to Two Years
On September 22, 2015, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that will have widespread implications for New Jersey school districts in defending against claims brought by parents of special education students pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). The IDEA authorizes the courts to award compensatory education as remedy to a special education student who is successful in his or her claim that a public school district deprived the student of a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). For numerous years, school districts relied upon the two-year statute of limitations set forth in §1415(f)(3)(C) of the […]
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