Millville Public Schools is one of several dozen school districts in
New Jersey which have been identified for annual monitoring by the New
Jersey Department of Education for failing to provide students with
disabilities with placements in the least restrictive educational
environment. “Least restrictive environment” is a continuum of
placements in which students with disabilities receive their educational
services. Possible placements in our district range from the general
education classroom where students with disabilities receive educational
services with their general education peers to self-contained
classrooms which include only students with disabilities. Students with
disabilities who need very intensive services may be placed in
specialized programs or schools which are located outside of the
district. The goal of the IEP team for every student with a disability
is to place the student where he/she has appropriate access to learning
while having as much contact as possible with general education peers.
Millville Public Schools was identified for monitoring because we have
disproportionately placed minority students with disabilities in
restrictive educational environments. Millville Public Schools
administration and staff will participate in training and technical
assistance activities provided by the New Jersey Department of
Education, and the district will be monitored by the New Jersey
Department of Education annually through 2018 to remedy the deficiencies
identified in the federal lawsuit described below.
A lawsuit was
initially filed in federal court, District of New Jersey, on June 27,
2007, by the Education Law Center, New Jersey Protection and Advocacy,
Inc., the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey, and the Arc
of New Jersey, on behalf of children with disabilities in New Jersey
Public Schools. The lawsuit was filed against the New Jersey State Board
of Education, the New Jersey Department of Education (“NJDOE”),
then-Commissioner of Education, Dr. Lucille E. Davy, and the individual
members of the State Board of Education seated at the time the lawsuit
was filed. The complaint alleged that children with disabilities in New
Jersey public schools, ages three to twenty-one, were being denied a
free, appropriate, public education (“FAPE”) in the least restrictive
environment (“LRE”). Plaintiffs sought an order compelling the
defendants to provide a free, appropriate, public education in the least
restrictive environment to all students enrolled in New Jersey public
schools. In February, 2014, the parties negotiated a settlement to
ensure that the rights of children with disabilities were protected and
that all students would receive their education in the least restrictive
environment. Those measures included:
- A needs assessment that identifies patterns that need improvement
- Training and Technical assistance
- Assistance from state inclusion facilitators to help districts that are deemed "non-compliant"
- Annual webinars for educators
- Professional development
- Annual Compliance monitoring
- Final monitoring to determine district compliance with LRE requirements