The state’s child welfare department has announced plans to close all 18 special needs schools in the state, including one in Secaucus that serves the severely disabled and children with behavioral problems throughout Hudson County.
The school primarily accommodates children, teens, and young adults with severe developmental disabilities. A handful of other students with history of emotional and behavioral problems, who have been removed from their homes, attend the regional school while living in a halfway house in Kearny.
The student body comes from Secaucus, North Bergen, Union City, Jersey City, Weehawken, and other towns in Northern New Jersey.
Under the state plan, these students will receive services and will be educated in their home districts.
But parents fear most school districts are not staffed or equipped to handle their children’s special needs.
“Before my daughter came to this school, she was very hyper and easily rattled,” said Secaucus resident Julia Branda whose daughter, Janna Rose, is wheelchair-bound, nonverbal, and has the mentality of a 2-year-old.
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