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Parent criticizes board's appointment of director of student support services, says special-education errors harmed her child
Summary
At the June 10 meeting, parent and educator Shireen Dubis criticized the board’s approval of a candidate for director of student support services, saying her child was wrongly declassified and that restoring eligibility took seven months; the board declined public rebuttal and the comment remains unresolved.
Shireen Dubis, a parent and educator, told the Winslow Township Board of Education on June 10 that the board’s recent approval of the director of student support services overlooked serious concerns. Dubis said her child had been declassified from special-education services and it took seven months for her to identify errors and secure the child’s eligibility again.
“Under this individual's leadership, my child was declassified from special education services … it took me seven months to identify errors in my child's eligibility determination and to advocate for my child's rights,” Dubis said, framing her remarks as both a personal testimony and a public rebuke of the board’s decision. She named the board members she believed supported the appointment, saying that community members are paying attention to the votes they cast.
Dubis urged the board to consider trust, transparency and family collaboration when making appointments that affect students with disabilities. “As elected officials, your responsibility is to the students and their families,” she said, and warned that parents will remember board votes at future elections.
The board did not respond to individual personnel concerns in open session, stating that it would be inappropriate to discuss personnel matters publicly without prior notice. No public rebuttal or administrative response to Dubis’s specific allegations was recorded in the meeting’s open session.
Context: Dubis said many parents expressed concerns before the appointment vote and that the board approved the candidate despite those concerns. The comment follows a set of routine personnel approvals the board carried earlier in the meeting.
