Disability Rights New Jersey Continues
to Fight For Students with Disabilities
Some School Districts Withhold Special Education Services
COVID -19 has created new challenges for all students, but particularly those who need special education and related services. Disability Rights New Jersey has been fighting to make sure that those students continue to receive their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) services even while school buildings are closed.

Disability Rights New Jersey has been fighting against an unfair policy adopted by some school districts to withhold special education and related services over the internet, unless parents agree to sign waivers of their children’s rights. We contend that this policy violates state and federal law. 
Actions Taken Against Injustice
On April 28, 2020, Disability Rights New Jersey filed petitions for Due Process and Emergent Relief against one school district which was refusing to provide a student his IEP services since COVID-19 forced schools to close. Disability Rights New Jersey asked the court (the Office of Administrative Law), to reinstate his services immediately and to order the school district to make up the services that it withheld.

The day after we filed petitions, the New Jersey Department of Education issued long-awaited guidance to all New Jersey school districts announcing that such waivers are a violation of Special Education students’ rights to a Free and Appropriate Public Education .
On Monday, May 4, 2020, the Office of Administrative Law was scheduled to hold a hearing on our petition for Emergency Relief. Instead, the school district - which initially refused to follow the Department of Education’s guidance - agreed to provide the student with the special education and related services to which he is entitled! 

Disability Rights New Jersey is very pleased with this success. However, because the school district would not agree to make up the services it withheld, the fight continues to ensure the student's special education needs are met.
Disability Rights NJ Makes National News in Fight for SPED
April 28 - Disability Rights referenced in NPR article: Secretary DeVos Forgoes Waiving Disability Law Amid School Closures

April 25 - Disability Rights NJ Legal Advocacy Director Interviewed by HUFFPOST on Special Education Waivers: To Access Online Services, New Jersey Students with Disabilities Must Promise Not to Sue
About Disability Rights New Jersey
DRNJ header logo
DRNJ is supported by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration; U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration; and the Social Security Administration.
DRNJ is a private, non-profit, consumer-directed organization established to:

  • Advocate for and advance the human, civil and legal rights of citizens of New Jersey with disabilities;
  • Promote public awareness and recognition of individuals with disabilities as equally entitled members of society; 
  • Advise and assist persons with disabilities, family members, attorneys and guardians in obtaining and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities; and
  • Provide education, training and technical assistance to individuals with disabilities, the agencies that serve them, advocates, attorneys, professionals, courts and others regarding the rights of individuals with disabilities.
Disability Rights New Jersey | DRNJ.org
210 S. Broad Street, 3rd Floor
Trenton, New Jersey 08608
1.800.922.7233 (in NJ only) 1.609.292.9742 (Voice)
1.609.777.0187 (Fax) 1.609.633.7106 (TTY)