TOMS RIVER – A resolution creating a school for special needs students was passed at the most recent Board of Education meeting, taking another step toward turning Intermediate North into a hub for special education students from the region.
The resolution notes state statute 18A:46-14 authorizes special classes within the district. It also allows joint facilities where districts can make an agreement to send their kids to a neighboring district.
Another statute, NJAC GA:14 requires each board of education to provide free special education and related services to students with disabilities from ages 3 through 21. It also requires a district to provide the least restrictive environment and sets out the rules for a district to send a child to another.
Title 34 of the federal code details when it is appropriate for a child to leave a district due to the “nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.” The sending district would need to identify “students with intensive academic, behavioral, communication, medical, sensory, physical, social-emotional, and adaptive needs who require highly specialized programming that cannot be fully addressed through the (sending) district’s existing in-district programs.”
The resolution also notes that often, a student will be sent to a private school for special needs students, which costs more than a public school.
A student’s IEP (individualized education program) team would consider whether to place the student in Toms River’s new special education school. It would be done on a case by case basis. In other words, a sending district wouldn’t make a deal that all of their kids would come to Toms River; it would be done when it is in the best interest of the child.
The Toms River school will provide “individualized academic and functional instruction, behavioral and social-emotional supports, communication services, assistive technology, adaptive equipment, related services, nursing support, daily living instruction, vocational training, community-based instruction, and transition services” based on their IEP.
Opportunities will be provided for special needs students to interact with regular education students.
Toms River will set a tuition rate that will be approved by the county superintendent, who despite the name is actually appointed by the state.
Toms River will use the 2026-2027 school year to establish the new special education school at Intermediate North for September of 2027. This includes recruiting and training staff and preparing the facility.
