NJ Education Report

Katharine Hart of Medford Lakes has a son who just turned three years old, a preschooler who became eligible for special education services beginning in January. Since he has been diagnosed with two speech disorders and, says Hart, “does not understand most of what is being said to him and he does not have the ability to verbalize,” she tried to amend his Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to allow him to attend the district’s preschool for students with disabilities without a mask, which she felt would be traumatizing for him.

The district refused to amend the IEP to allow him to attend preschool without a mask. Hart sued. She just lost the case.

While Gov. Phil Murphy’s mask mandate in schools allows for exceptions to be made, Judge Jeffrey Rabin said that Hart’s son suffered from learning disorders, and not from a medical disorder that could prevent him from wearing a mask, even though Hart said, according to North Jersey, “her non-verbal child would not be able to cope with the frustration and anxiety of having to wear a mask in a new environment where he is already at a disadvantage because of his learning disability.”

The ruling did not take a position on what could qualify as a reason to be excused from the mandate. It simply said that Hart’s son didn’t qualify for the exemption. Judge Rabin did write that the harm mask-wearing could do to a single child did not outweigh the public health benefit of wearing masks in school. In “balancing the saving of students’ lives throughout the school system against one student’s unproven claims of harm,” the balancing clearly leans in favor of the school district,” he wrote.

Hart said,

It was what I expected would happen as those courts always side with the district regardless of how much evidence, data or just plain common sense you bring in. I don’t take it as a total loss as everything I did say and share is now part of the record…The district’s actions violated our trust in placing him there as they clearly do not care about his best interests or his needs.

The family is currently looking for another placement for their son.