The statement below was released by to the media by WW-P communications director Gerri Hutner:
This summer, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Education presented the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District with an offer to conclude a complaint filed by a parent: the process would be for WW-P to review the educational programs of all students with disabilities, and sharing data and documents over the course of the 2012-’13 school year to record compliance with the laws governing equal access for the disabled. To avoid time-consuming and costly litigation, WW-P accepted this offer and will provide OCR with the requested documentation and information over the course of the school year. The district’s focus on its mission — excellence in education for every child — guided the negotiation of a resolution agreement between OCR and the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District.
As background, four years ago a parent filed a complaint with OCR within the U.S. Department of Education alleging that the WW-P District violated the rights of disabled students by failing to supplement the staffing of certain World Language, Honors, and Advanced Placement classes with certified teachers of the handicapped. WW-P denied the allegations, noting that the educational program of each disabled student is determined by the individual needs of the student and is supported with appropriate services. WW-P fully cooperated with the OCR investigation, which consisted of interviews of staff members and the production of thousands of pages of documents. WW-P strongly disagreed with the allegation that disabled students were not being provided with the services necessary to help them succeed in all of their classes.
With respect to the comments of Ms. Dwyer, who describes herself as an “education attorney who handled the matter on behalf of families of affected students,” her accusation that the district did not allow “equal access of bright students to advanced or accelerated courses if they also have learning differences” is enormously inaccurate. In the district’s high schools, for example, many special education-classified students took and successfully completed honors and advanced placement classes in the 2011-’12 school year; many of them took advanced classes in several subject areas. Similarly, approximately 50 special education students are scheduled to take honors and AP classes this school year.
It is also unfortunate that Ms. Dwyer chose to share selective information, much of it inaccurate, regarding particular students. Unlike attorneys issuing press releases, school districts are subject to strict confidentiality laws that prohibit the sharing of personally identifiable student data. These laws prevent the district from providing the information necessary to respond to the misinformation released by Ms. Dwyer.
As for Ms. Dwyer’s accusation that the district “fought to keep these exceptionally able students out of advanced or honors level classes,” this is a gross distortion of reality. The law requires that public school districts provide each classified student with Special Education services tailored specifically to his or her individual needs; this is what the district agreed to continue doing, as it always has done.
Finally, WW-P did not enter into a “Corrective Action Plan.” It entered into a Resolution Agreement to resolve a lengthy legal battle on terms that served the best interests of the district and its students.
