Six-year-old Nathaniel Brown has autism, at the more severe end of the spectrum. He is non-verbal and, according to his Individualized Education Plan (IEP), requires speech therapy, occupational therapy, applied behavior analysis, and a classroom aide. He also needs structure and routine. And right now he has none of this, not even a seat in Newark Public Schools 

That’s according to a new piece in Chalkbeat. And it’s not just Nathaniel—some unknown number of children with disabilities enrolled in Newark Public Schools have been told to stay home because there is no place to put them. 

How can our biggest district in the state fail at this most basic element of running a school district, enrolling students properly, especially our most vulnerable children?

When Nathaniel’s family moved to Newark in July, his father Warren Brown immediately enrolled his two sons (the nine-year-old has a less severe case of autism) through the district’s Newark Enrolls online application. He made sure the district had copies of his sons’ IEP’s, which lists all services and supports they need. By law, the district must provide those services.  His children were assigned to McKinley Elementary School.

Or not. When the family showed up at their new school on the first day of school, they were told to take Nathaniel home because the district didn’t have space for him. He’s been home ever since with his sick grandmother, missing critical opportunities for settling into a routine and starting his essential therapies.

According to the article, “enrollment issues are just a fraction of the problems parents of students with disabilities have faced in Newark.” In 2019 NPS was cited by the state Department of Education for “failing to meet key mandates related to education plans for students with disabilities.” In 2022, after little improvement, “the state ordered the district to take corrective action.”*

This year things are worse! Chalkbeat interviewed special education advocate Nadine Wright-Arbubakr, who said, “this is the first time she has heard about parents of students with disabilities facing enrollment issues during the first days of school.” 

Meanwhile, where is Superintendent Roger Leon on all of this? According to this last month’s school board “Expense Agenda,” he’s been hanging out in Las Vegas and Dallas, along with a bunch of school board members and administrators. Maybe we should expect our school district leaders to put a priority on ensuring our students with disabilities have a classroom to go to in the morning instead of traveling on the taxpayers’ dime.

Fundamentals, people, fundamentals. If we can’t trust our school district with this most basic requirement— to give our kids a seat in a classroom—how can we trust them to give them to give our kids an education?

*(The DOE just released Newark from special education quarterly evaluations due to ” improvements in raising its compliance rates.” Seriously? What’s up with that, DOE?)