Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Accessibility topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves field trips to sensory-friendly park after parents and specialists pushed for inclusive use
Summary
The Roselle Park Board of Education approved agenda items 19 and 20, which authorize field trips to a sensory-friendly park in front of Aldine Elementary School. Parents, special-education advocates and district staff described months of coordination to make the park accessible and to use it for inclusive programming.
The Roselle Park Board of Education approved field-trip items that will allow students to visit the sensory-friendly park on Fatute Avenue in front of Aldine Elementary School.
Jackie Garcia, a Roselle Park resident and member of the district's special-education parents advisory group, told the board the proposals reflect months of community coordination. "By integrating field trips to the sensory friendly park, we are giving our students the chance to experience inclusion in action," Garcia said.
The board considered agenda items 19 (standard field trips) and 20 (field-trip approval) as part of the education section and approved the education section in a roll-call vote. President Dr. Brittany Kirkland registered an abstention on item 19; other board members voted in favor (see "Votes at a glance").
Garcia described the work that preceded the vote: a survey by the Bridal Parks CPAC group showing parental support, planning with the district's director of special services (named in public comment as Miss Gil Gallen), collaboration with occupational therapists and early-childhood professionals and involvement from the Aldine Elementary PTO and families across the district. "Parents made it clear that they didn't want the space removed. They simply wanted a better understanding of its purpose and potential," Garcia said.
Board documents provided in the meeting agenda list items 19 and 20 under the education section along with several other approvals; the vote on the education section carried with one abstention recorded for item 19. The agenda did not specify additional operational details (transportation, chaperone ratios, or exact dates for the trips) in the public portion of the meeting.
The public comment and staff remarks framed the field-trip approvals as part of a larger effort to use the sensory park for inclusive programs and therapist-led activities. The district did not present a separate memorandum of agreement or contract for partner services at the meeting.
The board meeting began with an executive session that the board said would last about two hours for personnel, attorney-client and student matters; the minutes of that executive session will be released when the board determines the reason for confidentiality has ended.
Looking ahead, the district will implement the approved field trips under standard district procedures for trips and parental permissions; the agenda did not list a start date. The board may provide further operational details at a subsequent meeting or through school communications.
