Board Member's Attempt to Put Monitoring Report on School District Website Denied

The majority of members voted against a measure that would have put the Special Education Monitoring Report on the district website and provided copies to parents or guardians of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

School board member Joseph Blundo asked the board Thursday to approve a motion to make the report, which shows 27 areas of non-compliance in the IEP process, more readily available. The document is public and is available in district offices and on the New Jersey Department of Education website.

Board of Education Vice President Carol Mountain said personnel involved in the IEP process, administrators and board members are all aware of the issues and are working to improve procedures. She said handing out a report when parents might not know all the background information could be problematic.

"Our goal is to serve the special needs population for a successful education and be in compliance with laws and regulations. These actions could potentially undermine rather than support the progress of special services," Mountain said. "I think that this is not in the best interest of anybody."

But Blundo said he wanted to be as open with members of the public as possible. "Not sharing information, to me, is a disservice to every one of those parents," he said.

School board member Darlene Mandeville, who seconded Blundo's motion and voted with him to post the document on the website, said the district had set a precedent by posting the Middle States Report online because she said the Special Education Monitoring Report was similar. She also said letting the parents know about the issues could help resolve some of them.

Roberta Hanlon said she believed having parents get the report from school personnel would be more beneficial than simply handing out copies or having them look at it online because they could ask relevant questions and get some context.

Blundo disagreed with that reasoning. "What you're advocating is removing information and not making it as accessible as we can," he said. "And I actually think one of the reasons is it's not a great report. And god forbid the public know that we have a problem."

Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller said he opposed the motion. He explained that the IEP process "can become tense and heated" and adding another element might further complicate issues.

"It just enters a tremendous number of variables into a system that admittedly is not working properly," Zoeller said.

The final vote was 6-2 against the measure. Charles Koch was not present.

Later in the meeting, Blundo put forth a motion to have the superintendent and director of special education give a public presentation about the Special Education Monitoring Report at the April 14 school board meeting, accompanied by discussion. He pointed out that the state requires a discussion about the corrective action plan at a board meeting.

Zoeller said he would give the presentation but asked to have until May since April is dedicated to informing the public about the district budget before the election.

"I think it’s a little unreasonable to mandate to me that I have to put together a presentation in what is probably the most critical time in the school district calendar for me to be focused on other items," Zoeller said.

He told members of the board that he would be "more than happy" to present the report in detail during one of the two May school board meetings and asked that his word be taken instead of formal action. Blundo withdrew the motion.

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for April 14.