by Common Ground | May 25, 2018 | Courts
The Office of Administrative Law has denied a parent’s emergent relief request to allow her son, a student with disabilities, to take part in high school commencement ceremonies. The 2017 case involves an 18 year-old Mercer County teen with specific learning...
by Common Ground | May 24, 2018 | Q&A
Many parents have had an experience similar to the one faced by Endrew F.’s parents, in which their child’s IEP goals don’t vary each year and there is lack of progress. BY DIANA AUTIN, MARIA DOCHERTY AND LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. The recent Supreme Court case, Endrew F....
by Common Ground | May 22, 2018 | Courts
An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has ordered a Morris County school district to provide compensatory education to a student with disabilities. The case involves a student with behavioral disabilities, including self-injury, who had been placed in a public school...
by Common Ground | May 22, 2018 | Capitols
A group of New Jersey democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the NJDOE to develop and maintain a comprehensive searchable website concerning educational programs and resources available to special education students. The website’s purpose is to...
by Common Ground | Apr 24, 2018 | Snapshot
State and federal laws require that all special education due process matters be completed within 45 days, unless the matter is considered “emergent” or “expedited” in which case the matter is to be resolved within 10 days. But advocates for children with disabilities...
by Common Ground | Apr 20, 2018 | Capitols
A new advocacy guide, “School Discipline in New Jersey: A Toolkit for Students, Families and Advocates,” has been released by Education Law Center (ELC) and Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ). The guide provides comprehensive and practical...
by Common Ground | Apr 17, 2018 | Courts
An administrative law judge (ALJ) has ordered that a student with disabilities return to his local public high school, and that his suspension through the end of the school year 2017-2018, including the prohibition from being on school premises, participation in...
by Common Ground | Apr 12, 2018 | Capitols
The Center for American Progress has issued a report finding that preschoolers with disabilities are significantly more likely to be suspended or expelled from preschool or childcare programs than their non-disabled peers. While they account for only13 percent of the...
by Common Ground | Apr 4, 2018 | Teachers
By Michael Somers III “The safest restraint is the one that never happens.” My first encounter with physical restraint was witnessing one that never should have happened. I was a psychology undergrad at a state university in my junior year and looking for a job. I was...
by Common Ground | Mar 30, 2018 | Courts
Parents and school districts are waiting an average of 10 months to obtain a legal decision in non-emergency special education matters, this is in spite of state and federal laws requiring such decisions be made within 45 days. The findings are part of a report issued...
.