BRICK — A school district plan to move about 60 special education students to the Osbornville Elementary School from their neighborhood schools has drawn the ire of some parents who think it will have a negative impact on their children?s education.
Marjory Towey said she was shocked when she heard her 7-year old daughter, a special education student, would attend the Osbornville Elementary School in September. Her daughter now attends the Emma Havens Young Elementary School.
?These are special education students who need stability in their surroundings and we feel that the Brick school system has unjustly chosen to move this demographic and has not thought of our children?s best interest,?? said Towey, 40. ?This will be the third school that my daughter has attended in three years. How is that stability???
Some concerned parents attended the township Board of Education meeting July 25 seeking answers to why students are being moved. During the meeting, district officials said the move was an educational move but failed to elaborate. Superintendent Walter Uszenski said he would meet with groups of parents to discuss the issue during the next couple of weeks. Calls to Uszenski on Wednesday were not returned.
Towey said parents were kept in the dark until the last minute about the change.
?The only way that I knew something was going on was when I saw my daughter?s teacher getting transferred to the Osbronville School last month,? Towey said. ?We feel like this was done behind our back. It?s like they kept us out of loop. It?s like they did not want anyone to fight it. It?s so late in the summer, what can be done??
Jennifer Hanley?s son will be a special education first-grader in September. She said moving the students is not right.
?The district did not supply any information to the parents, there is a lot of confusion,? said Hanley, 41. ?We feel our kids are being segregated and being taken away from their neighborhood kids.?
Colleen Collichio, a 36-year-old mother of twin 6-year-old boys, one of whom is autistic, said the change could have long-term effects on the children.
?They (the district) really didn?t give us much information. They claim that the smaller condensed classes will give them more one-on-one academically,? Collichio said. ?Most of these kids on the spectrum are so academically smart, it is the social issue that they need help with to prepare them for independence.?
Since the move was announced, Collichio talked district officials into letting her son stay at Lanes Mills Elementary School. Yet Collichio said she still is upset by the situation.
?Most of us parents accept that our kids won?t go to college but if they can get a job and know how to take care of themselves, know how to communicate to the locals to get through life that is all we want,? Collichio said. ?We would rather them have the social skills to get through life so we don?t have to put them in assisted living or nursing homes when we pass away.?
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