Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Placement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent asks Bordentown board to delay approval of curriculum item tied to Princeton treatment site
Summary
At the board meeting, Tara McKee asked the Bordentown Regional School District to delay action on a curriculum item authorizing education at a Princeton treatment facility, saying the facility’s materials appeared to favor a particular religion; the superintendent and board clarified the district must pay for education at state-approved placements when a family chooses them.
A parent urged the Bordentown Regional School District board on Nov. 12 to delay action on a curriculum motion that would authorize education services at a Princeton-based treatment facility she said appears to lean toward a particular religion.
"If I could come before you and ask maybe if we could table that for now as an agenda item just until you had a little further information," Tara McKee said during the public comment period, identifying herself and giving her address. McKee said she had checked the facility's website and worried that district funds could support programming that "leans toward a particular religion."
The board and interim superintendent responded by explaining the district’s legal obligations when families place students in state-approved inpatient or outpatient programs. "This will be an as needed basis...we pay for education where we have students who are admitted to an inpatient program...we would be responsible for paying the hourly rate for the education of that child," Dr. Forrester said, describing how the district covers education costs at approved facilities.
A board member reiterated the distinction between endorsement and legal responsibility: "If a family chooses to put their child there, we have no saying that, but we have a legal responsibility to pay for the education of their child that is there. This is not the district endorsing this facility; this is us doing what we are legally required to do," the member said.
Discussion on the curriculum slate (items 1–7, which included the referenced item) closed with the board approving the package; the chair later announced the motion carried. McKee had asked the board to defer or seek more vetting; board members said they would consider the concern and had reviewed the program language, noting state approval of qualifying facilities affects the district’s obligations.
The board did not provide additional paperwork or a formal review timeline at the meeting; McKee’s request to table the item was acknowledged but the curriculum slate was approved as presented. The board’s clarification underscores the district’s limited discretion to refuse responsibility for education when a parent chooses a state-approved treatment placement.
