Parents of Millburn Student Triumph Over Board of Education

A 17-year-old Millburn student is entitled to attend private residential school at the district’s expense, according to a recent NJ Office of Administrative Law ruling.

A judge from the state agency handed down the decision last week, according to a report.

The conflict revolved around the parents’ wishes to send their child to a therapeutic residential school in Utah to receive special care and 24-hour a day programming. Despite classifying the teen as a special education student who required out-of-school placement, the district rejected placement in the residential school and recommended a less expensive alternative.

The parents then placed their child in the Utah school and sued the district for reimbursement.

According to case documents, treatment for the student was needed because of multiple suicide attempts, suspected self-mutilation and “severe emotional and psychiatric challenges.”

Administrative Law Judge Tiffany Williams ruled in favor of the parents, and ordered the district to pay for the costs of the residential school.

“By all reports, it is clear that [she] is a gifted young woman with boundless potential of achieving the highest levels of success throughout her life,” Williams wrote in her decision.

“Undisputed, credible evidence demonstrates that [the student’s] severe emotional and psychological barriers are inextricably tied to her educational progress and cannot be separated. [The student’s documented behaviors] consistently interfered with her ability to physically attend school and/or manifest her academic capabilities while there.”