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Thank you for that information. Has "placement" ever happened outside the zoned school one lives in? I'm less worried about him being pulled out for different classes within school. I'm more worried about having him placed in a different school than the one I am zoned for if for some reason his progress slows or he shows future maladaptive behavior.
Here are a few numbers to call and talk directly to the program supervisors. (right side of page)
Thank you for that information. Has "placement" ever happened outside the zoned school one lives in? I'm less worried about him being pulled out for different classes within school. I'm more worried about having him placed in a different school than the one I am zoned for if for some reason his progress slows or he shows future maladaptive behavior.
Placement outside the school district is only for extreme students....very aggressive, violent, kids who need residential placement, etc. That is a last, last resort, again, because the home district has to pay for the child's 12 years of schooling in the outside district as well as pay for transportation for the child. The residential placements are hugely expensive, can be $100.000 a year for one child. But those are kids who are very severely disabled. So it's a very rare occurrence that they would send a child out of district. It could legally only happen if the home district cannot provide an appropriate education for the child in any case. A child who simply does poorly would never be a reason to go out of district. It would have to be a very extreme situation.
We did have one child with autism who attended an out of district private pre-school that specialized in autism, that the school district paid for, because the mom knew how to advocate and insisted he wasn't getting an appropriate education in our preschool disabled class. I remember they paid the mom $800 a month to provide his transport there and back every day, in addition to his tuition.
If you want help navigating, you might consider getting an advocate. Often the district will pay for the advocate, but either way it's worth it. They will work to make sure your child has the best placement, even go to the IEP meeting with you where they decide on an educational plan. Here is just one I found but there are many, and we had several parents use them: https://njspecialedadvocate.com/
I also found a special ed parents advocacy group in NJ. There may be parents in that group that can share their experiences, recommend an advocate, etc. https://www.tspag.org/board-of-directors
Placement outside the school district is only for extreme students....very aggressive, violent, kids who need residential placement, etc. That is a last, last resort, again, because the home district has to pay for the child's 12 years of schooling in the outside district as well as pay for transportation for the child. The residential placements are hugely expensive, can be $100.000 a year for one child. But those are kids who are very severely disabled. So it's a very rare occurrence that they would send a child out of district. It could legally only happen if the home district cannot provide an appropriate education for the child in any case. A child who simply does poorly would never be a reason to go out of district. It would have to be a very extreme situation.
We did have one child with autism who attended an out of district private pre-school that specialized in autism, that the school district paid for, because the mom knew how to advocate and insisted he wasn't getting an appropriate education in our preschool disabled class. I remember they paid the mom $800 a month to provide his transport there and back every day, in addition to his tuition.
If you want help navigating, you might consider getting an advocate. Often the district will pay for the advocate, but either way it's worth it. They will work to make sure your child has the best placement, even go to the IEP meeting with you where they decide on an educational plan. Here is just one I found but there are many, and we had several parents use them: https://njspecialedadvocate.com/
I also found a special ed parents advocacy group in NJ. There may be parents in that group that can share their experiences, recommend an advocate, etc. https://www.tspag.org/board-of-directors
Wow, this is fantastic information, thank you SO much!
Our town is small but there are several elementary schools. Only one of them has self contained classrooms. The only reason a child would attend a school they're not zoned for here would be if they need to be in a self contained classroom and they are not zoned for the school that has them. Most that have special needs outside of the classroom just get pulled out for special classes/services.
I have a child who is very mildly autistic. He is in kindergarten and most people don't realize he's autistic because he's so outgoing, gregarious, and friendly. He could pass as neurotypical and we've been told by his doctors that he needs to be in a regular classroom with neurotypical kids to mimic their behaviors and that him being in special education would be very bad for him. He's currently in a very small private school in a different state that has terrible public schools in a combined K-1st grade class where he is everyone's best friend and gets S and S+ in all subjects.
We are considering moving to Princeton. Primarily for the good school system. What I'm trying to understand though, before I pay through the nose for an overpriced home in an excellent school district is, what happens if he can't measure up academically with the other kids? While he excels in many other things such as dance, tennis, and math, he is delayed in reading and is not more than an average student overall.
Does Princeton "relocate" kids with special needs to other schools if they aren't making the academic cut in order to keep their ratings up? Would they move him to a special education unit that he might feel embarrassed to be in (yes he has enough self-awareness to understand this)? Do I have the right to refuse IEP services for him (he gets tutoring and speech therapy privately)? Do I have to reveal his diagnosis?
Basically, I'm just trying to understand if the school districts have the power to remove students that are different learners. There's no point in my paying so much for a home in an area that we want him to be educated in if it's possible for them to tell us they don't have the resources to give him the education he needs and send him elsewhere. Thanks
If he's diagnosed, make sure you get a reasonable accommodation when he gets a little older. I have a nephew who's mildly autistic and they give him a little extra time on quizes/tests.
No the public schools will not kick your student out. Be proactive and setup an IEP. If the child is not meeting the IEP, they will look for other options.
Central NJ has some of the best autism care in the country. Check out the Eden School for additional options.
In middle school, West Windsor kicked me out to Center School because I was emotionally withdrawn and wouldn’t do the school work. I was not violent. They didn’t want to deal with me. Center School was great - there was another kid similar to me but with ADHD and OCD from the Princeton school district was there as well. So presumably they had kicked her out as well. Both of us were eventually main-streamed, i.e. returned to the school district. It really depends on what is best for your kid. A special school that can support your son’s needs may be better than going all the way through Princeton high school. It may be that for a period of time he’ll need that special school and can return later.
I would say your son should get an IEP if he qualifies for one. That way the teachers understand what is going on with him and what expectations should be, versus assuming he is normal-functioning and cracking down when he fails to meet the expectations.
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