The
NJ State Board of Education has ruled that alternative education
for an expelled high school student must be extended until
he reaches his twentieth birthday. The
December 3rd ruling in P.H. v. Bergenfield is
the second involving the student, M.C., and clarifies an important
issue in New Jersey: whether students expelled from high school
are entitled under state statute to a free public education
until age 20.
The
State Board had previously ruled, in July
2002, that students expelled from high school,
like M.C., remain entitled under the NJ Constitution to an
alternative education program until graduation or attainment
of age 19. The State Board stressed "the importance of
providing educational services to students who present serious
disciplinary problems." Bergenfield was then ordered
to provide M.C. with an alternative education program until
he graduates from high school or turns nineteen.
Bergenfield
then appealed this ruling to an Appellate Court. Before the
appeal could be decided, M.C. turned 19 without having completed
his high school diploma. The Appellate Court sent the case
back to the State Board to decide if M.C. if should have an
extra year to complete his high school requirements on statutory
grounds. The State Board’s December 3rd ruling
guarantees M.C. the additional year he needs to graduate.
ELC, however, anticipates that Bergenfield will appeal this
latest decision to an Appellate court.
