N.J. education department settles special-education lawsuit
By Nic Corbett/The Star-Ledger
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NEWARK — When Ahiezer Ortiz was in kindergarten in 1996, said his mother, Gladys Lorenzo, she knew he needed extra help by the way he paused for an unusually long time before answering questions. It turned out he had attention-deficit disorder and a learning disability.

Lorenzo tried to enroll him in a special-education program of the Newark school district, but it took four years of pleading before the district had him evaluated to determine eligibility. By law, the district was to have done an evaluation within 20 days of her request.

In 2001, Lorenzo and the parents of five other Newark students filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court, citing delays in the process of obtaining special-education services in the city’s schools.

Last week, the Newark public school district and the state Department of Education, also a defendant, settled the suit, both agreeing to safeguards to ensure Newark schools are complying with the law.

"I’m worried for the other kids in the school, who maybe have the same problem and don’t get help," said Lorenzo, 65, a nurse. Her son, now 20, has since graduated from high school, she said. As with all the plaintiffs, the issues of Ahiezer Ortiz were resolved soon after the filing of the lawsuit, which nevertheless continued as a class-action case.

Besides the years-long delay for evaluations, there was also a time lag in preparing education programs for eligible students, said Ruth Lowenkron, a senior attorney at the Education Law Center, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

The law requires a plan to be implemented within three months of parental consent, but, that was happening in fewer than 10 percent of the cases, she said.

The parents of the six students named in the suit were also represented by Gibbons P.C. and the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice.

The terms of the settlement include:

• Newark school staff members will be trained to identify students in need of special education services by their behavior and academic performance.

• The state will provide the district with $1 million in federal funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide special-needs students from the past two school years with services they missed while on waiting lists.

• The school district will switch from paper-based record-keeping to an electronic database and produce compliance reports.

• Newark schools will pay $233,000 and the state will pay $117,000 to cover the parents’ attorney fees.
The state Department of Education last year designated an independent monitor to see that the district complies with the law.

"We will continue to work closely with Newark to ensure that all students receive the education they deserve," said Justin Barra, a spokesman with the Department of Education.

A spokeswoman for the Newark school district, which is looking to hire a special-education director, deferred comment to the state.