On April 29, NJ Left Behind wrote about the illegal waivers certain New Jersey districts were asking parents to sign to receive special education services and quoted Paul O’Neill’s op-ed on the subject.
When news leaked that 30 New Jersey districts were demanding that parents sign waivers before their kids could get access to special education services during pandemic school closures, the proverbial shit hit the fan.
And rightly so.
Special education parents know that certain services listed in Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s) can’t be delivered remotely and certain therapies can’t be replicated in the home environment. Here’s what we do know: IEP’s are legal contracts and, while reasonable accomodations may be necessary during COVID-19, we won’t waive our rights to due process or the rights of our children to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). We’ll get through this and then look at compensatory services once schools re-open.
Comments are closed.