5/13/09
SOURCE


TRENTON, N.J. — The help that Maria Zevallos found for her son Jaime's daily seizures - a school for the handicapped, where the staff got to know him well and could help treat him - is going away.

That school will be closed, along with 17 others run by the state that serve handicapped or troubled young people.

The closures, by the state Department of Children and Families, will start this year and be complete by next summer. Students will be sent to local and county school districts, but staff members say there is no concrete plan for them.


Department Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts said Wednesday the closures are a "policy decision," not a budget cut. She said enrollment has plunged over the past decade and the school districts are capable of serving the students. She has also said running the schools is not part of her agency's core mission of child protection.

She said staff and faculty can apply for other state jobs or try to work for the school districts, which have shown interest in hiring them.

The closures were discussed Wednesday at a packed Senate budget hearing, where some lawmakers questioned its necessity and timing. Parents and teachers from the schools attended and expressed frustration at Ricketts' comments.

At an Assembly budget hearing last week, lawmakers raised similar questions and a protest was held nearby.

"You can tell me the district can provide services for my child? I don't think so," said Deborah Cox, whose 14-year-old daughter Bethany attends the same school as Jaime Zevallos, in Passaic County.

Bethany, who has a heart condition and a chromosomal abnormality, is roughly 3 feet tall, weighs 41 pounds and was being pushed in a stroller Wednesday. At times she stuck her bare right foot in her mouth.

Scattered throughout New Jersey, the schools offer 12-month programs for students between the ages of 3 and 21. They serve physically and mentally handicapped, juvenile delinquents and others who did poorly in public school.

Students can learn math, history and other general topics, and if need be, "lifestyle" lessons on, say, feeding themselves or putting items away in a kitchen.

Staff say they know the students intimately and can better serve them than public school districts, where there is less individual attention.

Amalio Rodriguez, who teaches at Jaime's and Bethany's school, said the staff there are trained in CPR and specific emergency procedures for each student.

Once in the school districts, the students would be in unfamiliar settings and could be harassed by other pupils, said Sen. Dana Redd, D-Camden. She drew applause from the audience when she asked whether the plan was needed if saving money was not its goal.

"Is this something that we really have to do?" she said.