by Common Ground | Aug 12, 2019 | Capitols
Last spring, leaders in Washington, DC gave New Jersey just three months to change the state’s judicial system for resolving special education disputes. The US Department of Education has found that NJ’s current process involving the Office of Administrative Law (OAL)...
by Common Ground | Jun 13, 2018 | Courts
A Middlesex County school district has prevailed in due process matter centering on bullying and school safety. The case involves a girl who is blind and, according to the parent’s petition, had been knocked down in the hallway, called names, pushed down steps and...
by Common Ground | Jun 13, 2018 | Courts
A Salem County student with disabilities was allowed to return to his local public school, following inappropriate removal for disciplinary reasons. The 2016 case involves a 15 year-old boy with specific learning disabilities who attends a the local public high...
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 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 | 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 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 | 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...
by Common Ground | Oct 6, 2015 | Courts
A New Jersey Administrative Law Judge has order a Passaic County school district to reimburse parents for out-of-district tuition they paid because the district failed to provide FAPE. The case involves a teen with Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD who was classified as...
by Common Ground | Oct 6, 2015 | Courts
A New Jersey Administrative Law Judge has ordered the parents of a Morris County student with disabilities to consent to evaluation. The case involves a 6th grader classified as “Other Health Impaired.” At the time of the child’s classification in the 3rd grade, the...