Kiryas Joel — Parents of a severely disabled student have lost a 2½-year battle with Kiryas Joel public schools to educate their child in a private religious school.
The case, resolved earlier this month, is one of the longest heard before the state Education Department and highlights the unique nature of the public school system in the ultra-orthodox Hasidic village.
Representatives of the district claim that the case revolved around a family struggling to face the severity of their child's impairment.
"(Kiryas Joel schools) found that the child's needs were more than what I think the parents were willing to accept," said Matthew Delforte, attorney for the district.
Kiryas Joel School District serves only special-needs students. Students who do not have special needs go to yeshivas or religious schools, in accordance with Hasidic tradition. There are 250 full- and part-time students at the public school.
According to the 128-page decision, which does not identify the child or the family, the boy, now 7 years old, had severe disabilities, including speech and language impairments, poor vision, poor motor skills and inadequate social skills. The district recommended the child attend the public school with other special-needs students.
The parents wanted him mainstreamed at B'nai Yoel, a religious school with no special education services.
When the district refused to pay the cost, the family launched its legal battle in 2005. At stake were hundreds of thousands of dollars in educational services and the family's legal fees Kiryas Joel taxpayers would have had to pay if the district lost.
The case was the district's only impartial hearing in its 19-year history, said District Superintendent Joel Petlin.
In all, the family demanded the district pay for a full-time aide, as well as supplementary services for the child while he was attending the religious school, even as the child continued to receive occupational therapy and related services at the public school.
The battle cost the district $300,000 to $400,000 in legal fees, as well as the cost of an impartial hearing officer, which state law requires school districts to pay in such cases.
State Review Officer Paul F. Kelly voted to uphold a previous decision to disallow the family's demands, as it could not be proven the child could satisfactorily be educated in a general education program, even with the use of supplementary aides and services.
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