Schools

UPDATE: Sayville Family Seeks Busing Costs for Son's Charter School

The Reddan family contends their fourth grader was taught by an aide and not a certified teacher while at Sayville schools.

A Sayville family is claiming the Sayville School District did not meet New York State educational rules regarding reading services for their son who has dyslexia, and that they were forced to enroll their son in a charter school to get him the required help, according to a Channel 7 Eyewitness News report.

According to the broadcast, Bill and Kristen Reddan claim their 10-year-old son Aidan, a fourth grade student, was being taught by a teacher’s aide for his learning disability and not by a certified teacher, which is required by state education law.

They are seeking to have the district pay for the transportation costs to an Hamptons-based charter school, Child Development Center of the Hamptons, that Aidan is now attending.

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The issue is the focus of a legal battle between the family and the district that began this past January after the family was put in touch with George Deabold, an self-described children's educational advocate, after reaching out to the Long Island Advocacy Center in Hauppauge. Deabold said he is not a lawyer.

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“Teacher aides should not be teaching in the Sayville district,” Deabold told Patch in a phone interview this morning.

“The family doesn’t want Aidan back in Sayville as he nearly had a breakdown from the stress of the classroom. What they want is the school to pay for Aidan’s transportation to the school where he is now doing well.”

Sayville School District Superintendent Dr. Walter Schartner told Patch the district cannot comment on the allegations given legal action taken by the family.

“We are currently in an impartial hearing with the Reddan family. I can not comment regarding an ongoing case,” Schartner wrote Patch in an email.

According to New York State education law a charter school is deemed a nonpublic school for transportation purposes. Therefore, a school district must provide transportation to charter school students who reside in the district to the same extent transportation is provided to resident students who attend nonpublic schools. In that regard requests for transportation must be submitted by April 1 of the preceding school year, even if parents have not yet enrolled their child in the charter school, according to state policy.

According to Sayville School District transportation policy a charter school is a parent placement, and parents of students have to pay for their own transportation if the chosen school is located more than 15 miles from the district. For example, a placement to St. Johns in West Islip falls within the 15 miles, so the district pays transportation in that scenario.

Deabold said that depending on the outcome of the impartial hearing process, the family can appeal and retain a lawyer to move the issue into court if necessary.

This article was updated with information relating to district transportation policy.


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