ELC COMPLAINT: NJDOE FAILING ON PANDEMIC-RELATED COMPENSATORY EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Education Law Center has filed a formal complaint with the Office of Special Education Policy and Dispute Resolution (SPDR) over the New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) egregious failures in effectuating the right of students with disabilities to compensatory education under federal and state law.
Because the complaint is against the state agency itself, ELC has asked the SPDR to appoint an independent outside party to investigate and resolve the complaint.
New Jersey students with disabilities have been among the hardest hit by school closures during the pandemic, with many losing access to essential services required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and their Individualized Education Programs (IEP). Those rights were not waived by the pandemic, and the United States Department of Education has instructed the NJDOE and other states’ education departments to determine the need for compensatory education for students who lost services or were served inappropriately as a result of the pandemic.
Federal courts governing New Jersey have established clear standards for compensatory education that include placing a student in the position he or she would have been in without lost or inappropriate services and replacing missed or deficient services on a 1:1 basis. The ELC complaint alleges that the NJDOE has violated these well-established requirements by:
- Failing to require compensatory education for IEP services not provided;
- Issuing erroneous guidance that 1:1 replacement services are not required;
- Issuing erroneous guidance that a showing of regression is required for an award of compensatory education;
- Mishandling individual parental complaints by failing to determine and require provision of the specific level and quantum of compensatory services due their children.
“Parents who filed complaints with the NJDOE about missed IEP services during the pandemic have gotten nowhere,” said Rebecca Spar, ELC trustee and a leading special education law expert. “Despite finding that the school district violated the IDEA by failing to provide IEP services, the NJDOE does nothing more than tell the district to ‘consider’ or ‘assess’ the need for compensatory education services without making an independent determination of what is required. This is a clear abdication of the NJDOE’s legal duty.”
“ELC and other advocacy organizations already put the Department on notice about the need to correct its position on compensatory education, but received no response,” said Elizabeth Athos, ELC Senior Attorney. “We will continue to pursue this critical issue for New Jersey students with disabilities until the NJDOE fully complies with its legal obligations to these students.”
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Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24
Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240