The Lakewood, New Jersey school district’s state-appointed monitor has filed tenure charges against the district's supervisor of pupil personnel services for a host of allegedly “illegal and/or highly improper” acts which include overstepping her authority to place children with special needs in haredi yeshivas at an extremely high cost to the district while dumping non-Jewish minority special needs children in the district's public schools.
The APP reports:
The [Lakewood, New Jersey] school district’s state-appointed monitor has filed tenure charges against Helen Tobia, the supervisor of pupil personnel services, for a host of allegedly “illegal and/or highly improper” acts, including overstepping her authority to place children with special needs in Orthodox yeshivas and private specialized schools at their parents’ request, according to court documents.
A total of 18 charges filed by the monitor, Michael Azzara, will be referred to a state-appointed arbitrator, as is set forth under the state’s revised tenure rules.…
A 20-year veteran of the district, she was suspended last month without pay, according to Laura Winters, schools superintendent.
Critics of the school system here have complained for years that the district has used a double standard when it comes to providing services for children with disabilities.
As a matter of routine, they allege, Orthodox children are placed in specialized private schools catering to the Orthodox community, where the tuition can be as high as $90,000 per year or more, while minority children generally receive services in the public schools.
“We’ve been saying it, we’ve been screaming it, and nobody wanted to listen,” said the Rev. Glenn Wilson, the head of Lakewood U.N.I.T.E., a local group that advocates for families in the public schools.…
“This system has been going on since before Helen Tobia. Helen Tobia inherited this system….She continued that system,” Wilson said.
“We’re grateful that now it’s in the open,” he said, “and hopefully we can change course.”