Wednesday, May 06, 2009
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO
STATEHOUSE BUREAU

SOURCE

State officials promise that no children will be left hanging during the phase-out of 18 state-run special education schools, including one at Mercer Campus on Stuyvestant Avenue in Trenton, but some parents and teachers continue to worry.

More than 50 parents and teachers staged a protest in Trenton yesterday as members of the Assembly Budget Committee pressed Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts to explain her decision to begin shutting down the 18 special education schools over the next 13 months.

DCF spokeswoman Kate Bernyk said yesterday the agency hoped to complete the Mercer Campus "transition" off state books by August, but accommodating all of the school's 38 students would be the priority.

"If we have an instance that there are students that are not ready to transition, we're not going to stop providing services for that student," Bernyk said. "We will continue doing that ... until that student has appropriate educational needs met."

She said state and local officials would be meeting to develop a plan for each affected student.

Bernyk said yesterday the "transition" did not necessarily mean "closing." In some cases across the state, county school districts have expressed interest in taking over the "building and program as it stands," she said.

It was unclear late yesterday whether the Mercer County Special Services School District would be interested in taking over the state-run Mercer Campus. Bernyk did not rule out that possibility.

MCSSSD currently operates four schools in the county, according to its website.

Yesterday, Ricketts said she chose to close the schools and transfer as many as 560 children into their local or county school districts because enrollment has declined from about 1,200 from more than a decade ago. Operating these schools also no longer fulfills the department's "core mission" of child protection, she added.

But Ricketts confirmed she has delayed the first round of closures -- from June to August -- to allow more time for school district employees and the state to work with parents and find a fit for each child's "individualized and specialized needs," either within the district or the county or a private school.

Still, some lawmakers criticized Ricketts for rushing the closures before a clear transition plan was developed.

"There seems to be a lot of confusion over the placements of children and placement of workers," said Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose, R-Sussex. "It appears to me this is being done willy-nilly."

The decision to close the schools was not driven by economics, Ricketts said. When children transfer to county or local districts, tuition money will follow them. The districts can apply for more financial aid if the costs exceed what they can pay, she said.

Teachers and parents, some pushing their children in wheelchairs, packed the committee room at the Statehouse during the hearing, and later met with reporters to react to the commissioner's statements and describe why the schools are worth saving.

These special schools and their highly-skilled teachers welcomed children local school districts have rejected, said Jocelyn Reyes of Elizabeth, whose son, Jonathan, attends the school in Essex County. "They have had many successes with them. Now they are being thanked for their services by getting kicked to the curb as if this dedication didn't matter," Reyes said.

Amy, a 16-year-old girl living in a group home, said she has tried but failed to succeed in public school, and appreciates the extra attention she gets from her teachers at a regional school.

"I understand that we would eventually find another school, but I think this isn't right or considerate of the students," Amy said. "What about our stability? I'm also a foster child, and I know how important stability is. I feel like everything is being taken away from me."

Nancy Brooks, a teacher at Bergen Regional Day School, took offense at the commissioner's comments that "these children without voices are no longer part of the Department of Children and Families mission."

"We are teachers who have answered a special calling, teachers who are adept at forming relationships so that we may hear children who cannot talk, nurse hearts that are broken . . . and inspire children to work toward their greatest education potential," Brooks said.

More than 500 teachers and other school personnel would lose their jobs when the schools close, although Ricketts said she believes many local districts will be looking to hire many of these professionals for their expertise.

Of the 560 students, 248 have "severe disabilities" while the rest are pregnant, have already given birth, have had brushes with the law, or otherwise could not succeed in public school.

Besides Trenton, the schools slated to close in August are in Egg Harbor, Mt. Holly, Newark, Avenel, Ocean, Totowa, Wanaque and Port Murray. The remaining schools will close in June 2010, Bernyk said.


Times staff writer Ryan Tracy contributed to this report.