An Email Raises Ire of New Jersey School District's Parents

ALLENDALE, N.J. — Special needs students and their education are often placed under an uncomfortable spotlight.

The range of perspectives on the topic are as long as they are wide in how a district, school or the state should finance, provide and instruct special education. As this topic was discussed at the Dec. 16 Allendale Board of Education meeting, tempers flared and emotions were visible.

Many parents came to the meeting upset with a Dec. 5 email sent by school officials to parents concerning a clarification of a survey on special needs education distributed by a local group. The email stated that the school district have not "approved, sanctioned or endorsed the dissemination of this survey or the collection of any date through this stratagem." And that parents are not under any obligation to "answer, complete or respond" to any section or in its entirety.

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