Class Action News
Fox 32 Chicago – Special needs parents sue to keep Illinois schools open
1/10/2022, Chicago, IL
Parents of special needs students are suing the state of Illinois to keep schools open. The federal lawsuit was filed Monday. Parents are asking for an emergency order to keep school districts from going remote. Attorney Patrick Donohue joined FOX 32 to talk about it.
NorthJersey.com – NJ lawsuit seeks to block remote learning on behalf of special-education students
January 6, 2022, NJ By Gene Myers
A group of New Jersey parents has gone to court to bar schools across the state from switching to remote learning, arguing that online instruction violates the rights of students with disabilities.
A federal judge has set a Friday deadline for the state and 19 school districts named in the lawsuit – including Camden, Toms River, Cape May and Roxbury in Morris County – to respond with details about their virtual-learning programs.
The motion filed by Manhattan attorney Patrick Donohue and his nonprofit Brain Injury Rights Group comes as schools around New Jersey have curtailed in-person learning amid another surge in the coronavirus. In North Jersey, Hackensack, Teaneck, Paterson, Dover and Sparta, among others, are all operating remotely this week. READ MORE
NJ 101.5 – A new demand is made in court to stop NJ schools from going remote
January 6, 2022, NJ, By David Matthau
With a growing number of New Jersey schools closing their doors and going remote because of the COVID surge, a motion has been filed in federal court to force schools to stay open and continue in-person instruction no matter what happens in the pandemic.
Civil rights attorney Patrick Donohue, the founder of the Brain Injury Rights Group, said a motion seeking a temporary restraining order against all New Jersey school districts has been filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of special education students. READ MORE
News 12 Brooklyn – Motion filed to keep New Jersey schools from closing without consent from parents of special education students (VIDEO)
January 6, 2022, NJ By: News 12 Staff
There is a fight to keep schools open in New Jersey for 230,000 special education students.
A motion has been filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent all school districts from switching to remote learning without parental consent.
Civil Rights attorney Patrick Donohue and the Brain Injury Rights Group are taking action.
The restraining order request was filed as part of a pending federal class action lawsuit.
For more information about the lawsuit, click HERE.
New Jersey Monitor – Special education advocates seek court order to keep N.J. schools open
January 5, 2022 , NJ, By: DANA DIFILIPPO READ MORE
WILX – Lawsuit filed to block Michigan schools from going virtual
January 6, 2022 LANSING, Michigan
A group representing students with special needs is suing to stop schools from going remote any more.
The Brain Injury Rights Group allege it’s unfair to the children.
A handful of school districts across Michigan are temporarily online as a precaution due to the rise in COVID cases. The Lansing School District decided to keep students home for a week because so many students and staff were testing positive. The group is asking a federal court to block schools from stopping in-person education. The lawsuit was filed after multiple districts switched to remote education the first week back from holiday break. Read More
FOX 2 DETROIT – Group files federal restraining order to keep schools open for kids with special needs (video)
January 7, 2022, Michigan
The group, representing special education students, already has a class action lawsuit pending in court on the first shut down in 2020, claiming it violated the Civil Rights of the families and fraud. Districts took millions in Medicaid and other federal dollars for low-income individuals and didn’t use them.
DETROIT FREE PRESS Group asks federal court to stop MI school districts from canceling in-person school
January 5, 2022, By Lily Altavena
“A group representing special education students has asked a federal court to block Michigan schools from closing or switching to virtual school.
The Brain Injury Rights Group filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, after a handful of major districts around the state, including Detroit Public Schools Community District and Ann Arbor Public Schools, abruptly shifted to remote learning. The legal motion singles out Ann Arbor Public Schools, but also names the Michigan Department of Education. READ MORE
After Hours – OANN COVID Special Needs with Patrick Donohue
COVID-19 and the affect on special education students
When it comes to special education, nearly 7 million American children with disabilities are trying to balance school in the pandemic. However, experts say the consequences are devastating. News 12’s Tara Rosenblum investigates this, as well as a lawsuit that raising questions if the civil rights of these children are being violated..
About a month in, how are schools doing amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
News 12 Staff Sep 30, 2020, 7:00pm EDT Updated on: Sep 30, 2020, 7:00pm EDT
How the Pandemic Has Affected Students With Special Needs
Lawsuit Alleges Schools Abandoned Special Needs Students
By Cheryl Wills and Rebecca Greenberg | NYC Spectrum News 1
July 28, 2020 | 7:17 PM ET
Full Video and Article Here
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — As school districts scrambled to get distance learning up and running this spring amid the pandemic, a recently filed lawsuit says they forgot about students with special needs.
Last Friday, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Manhattan by 200 hundred families in 10 states.
It says remote learning models were inadequate at best for students with special needs, especially students who require one on one assistance.
The lawsuit includes New York State.
It claims students entitled to federally protected programs have been abandoned and their parents have suffered as well. In some cases, parents left their jobs to care for their children.
As schools prepare to reopen, the lawsuit demands a resumption of full-time-in-person special education for children, fresh evaluations for children who have badly regressed, compensation for the parental expense incurred during remote learning and money for additional staff.
Executive Director of the Autism Council of Rochester and Chairman of the Monroe County Office of Mental Health Community Services Lawana Jones applauds parents for advocating for their children, but she says this is a complex issue.
“But I don’t think the states can handle that alone, I know districts can’t handle that alone,” Jones said. “So, I would expect our local lawmakers to work with the federal government, whether it’s financial assistance [or] professional development, we’re going to need federal aid in doing this.”
Jones says the conversations about services for children with special needs are just starting. She says parents should advocate for their children, but also work in partnership with their school districts to make sure children have services
Father of Developmentally-Challenged Student Files Lawsuit to Reopen Schools
By Adam Kuperstein | July 29, 2020 9:26 PM | NBC News
Full Video Here
He says keeping schools closed for special needs kids is “borderline negl
200 families file federal lawsuit on behalf of students with special needs
By Lynette Adams
July 20, 2020 | 05:11 AM | WHEC-TV
Full Video and Article Here
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — As school districts scrambled to get distance learning up and running this spring amid the pandemic, a recently filed lawsuit says they forgot about students with special needs.
Last Friday, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Manhattan by 200 hundred families in 10 states.
It says remote learning models were inadequate at best for students with special needs, especially students who require one on one assistance.
The lawsuit includes New York State.
It claims students entitled to federally protected programs have been abandoned and their parents have suffered as well. In some cases, parents left their jobs to care for their children.
As schools prepare to reopen, the lawsuit demands a resumption of full-time-in-person special education for children, fresh evaluations for children who have badly regressed, compensation for the parental expense incurred during remote learning and money for additional staff.
Executive Director of the Autism Council of Rochester and Chairman of the Monroe County Office of Mental Health Community Services Lawana Jones applauds parents for advocating for their children, but she says this is a complex issue.
“But I don’t think the states can handle that alone, I know districts can’t handle that alone,” Jones said. “So, I would expect our local lawmakers to work with the federal government, whether it’s financial assistance [or] professional development, we’re going to need federal aid in doing this.”
Jones says the conversations about services for children with special needs are just starting. She says parents should advocate for their children, but also work in partnership with their school districts to make sure children have services.
Lawsuit rips schools for abandoning special needs kids amid COVID-19 pandemic
