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Parent raises safety and placement concerns about Maple Road School LLB class
Summary
At the July 15 meeting a parent, Catherine Weiss Connors, told the board she believes an LLB class at Maple Road School has become a temporary holding placement and that unsafe behaviors — including a Chromebook thrown that struck her child — have been treated as normal; she urged the new special services leadership to address the issues.
During the public comment period at the July 15 West Milford Board of Education meeting, Catherine Weiss Connors, who identified herself as a Maple Road School parent, urged the board to address what she described as planning and safety concerns in an LLB class.
Connors said the class had been described to her as “created for students whose placement was uncertain,” and that she had been told students would spend “only 2 years in this class while the child study team determined what placement would be most appropriate.” She said that description made it sound “like a holding area for students the district wasn't sure what to do with.”
Connors raised specific safety concerns and cited one incident: “A Chromebook was thrown in the classroom and hit my daughter in the head.” She said that when she questioned staff she was told “this type of behavior is common, not only in this class, but in our general education classrooms as well,” a response she said raised a red flag.
“As a teacher with over 20 years of experience…I want to rest easy knowing my children are receiving a high quality, appropriate education in the West Milford School District, just as every parent should,” Connors said. She told the board she hoped the district’s new director of special services — whom the board welcomed earlier in the meeting — would address the concerns “quickly and thoughtfully.”
The remarks were delivered during the board’s designated public comment period; the record shows no immediate board action tied to those comments during the July 15 meeting. The public comment protocol was read at the start of the period, which reminded speakers to state their name, affiliation and address for the record and limited remarks to five minutes per speaker.
The board did not announce a specific follow-up during the meeting; Connors asked for attention to planning, placement decisions and systemic supports for special education.
