A plan for the East Ramapo school district to incorporate a private special-education school serving Yiddish- and Hebrew-speaking students is drawing harsh criticism from public-school advocates who feel the plan is a bailout of a failed religious institution and will result in the segregation of students.
District administrators contend that absorbing the Rockland Institute for Special Education, or RISE, will reduce the number of special-education students attending classes outside the district by bringing each RISE child into the public school system.
Though some in the district had expected a vote on the proposal Wednesday night, the board had taken no action by 11 p.m., and Superintendent of Schools Ira Oustatcher said it was likely that no action would be taken before a scheduled Feb. 2 meeting during which the district administration would further discuss the plan with the Board of Education.
The plan became public in the late evening hours of Jan. 5 when, at a school board meeting, Oustatcher read a statement declaring the school district’s interest in absorbing RISE, a school at 972 Chestnut Ridge Road run by Yeshiva Ohr V’Daas that hosts about 70 special-needs students.
The superintendent has said incorporating the school and reducing out-of-district tuition costs would alleviate at least one situation cited by a state Education Department Quality Assurance Report released in August, the district’s tendency in recent years to improperly place special-needs students outside of the school district.
During Wednesday’s school board meeting, the topic of RISE was not raised until close to 10:45 p.m., after district officials disappeared for more than two hours to discuss real estate matters and contract negotiations in executive session.
Shortly before 11 p.m., the roughly 40 stalwart district residents that remained quietly held signs with slogans like “Vote No” and “Don’t Segregate the Children” as others took to the podium to voice their concerns with the proposed takeover.
(Read More: Journal News)
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4 Responses
That’s actually what the Supreme Court suggested in its opinion, but neither the hiloni fanatics (meaning Jewish hiloni fanatics – the goy don’t really mind us), as well as the Hasidim, weren’t interested. The frum parents want their own school, and the hilonim want the school to be run on their “freedom from religion” principles (which Jewish hilonim have made into their religion).
Baruch HaShem the right wing nativists never got New York to adopt an “English is the official language” law.
akuperma,
What does the Supreme Court hav to do with this?
This will be wonderful. So we don’t have to send to kiryas joyl school district.