The Cape May County Technical Board of Education and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) have entered into an agreement to change the admissions practices of the Cape May County Technical High School (CMCT). The changes are intended to give students with disabilities a fair opportunity to attend the program.
The settlement follows an investigation into why so few students with disabilities were enrolled in the CMCT’s full-time program. In 2010, the Newark-based Education Law Center alerted DCR to possible discrimination against students with disabilities after receiving a complaint from school district administrators in Cape May County.
In the 2009-10 school year, students with disabilities constituted only 1.25% of the student body of the CMCT full-time program, even though the classification rate for Cape May County districts was almost 18%.
In its filing with the court, DCR described the difficulties of students with disabilities in gaining admission to the program, including one child who was not allowed to take CMCT’s admissions test unless the parent declared whether or not that child was classified for special education services.
The settlement requires Cape May to use objective criteria in its admissions procedures, and prohibits the program from asking if a student is classified as having a disability. The school also cannot review an applicant’s health record, Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan without permission from a parent. Parents must be given a reason for rejection if the student is not admitted, and they will have an opportunity to appeal. Cape May agreed to provide public notice of its revised admissions policies and to train its staff in the new procedures.
Cape May also agreed to provide DCR with statistics on student admissions for 2012 through 2016, including the total number of applicants and the number with IEPs and/or 504 plans who apply and are accepted or rejected from the full-time or part-time programs or are placed on a waiting list.
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