On Roll Special Ed Full-Time Students by Grade
Dear Saddle River School District,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form.
Records Requested:
The total number of On Roll Special Ed Full-Time Students enrolled in Wandell School in the 2023-24 academic year by grade. I am not asking for personally identifiable information of any students. Instead, I am seeking a total count of On Roll Special Ed Full-Time Students enrolled in Wandell School in the 2023-24 academic year for each grade.
Common Law: Under common law, I seek access to the requested documents to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds by the Saddle River School District.
(1) To the extent that any such records contain personally identifiable information related to any individual student, please redact that personally identifiable information prior to disclosure.
(2) To the extent that any such records are exempted from disclosure under OPRA, and also unavailable under the common law right of access, please provide a complete Vaughn index of all such records, disclosing “sufficient detail to prove the requestor ‘with as much information as possible to use in presenting his case’ and to enable the ‘decision-maker’s review of governmental records to determine whether they contain privileged material.’” Paff v. Division of Law, 412 N.J. Super. 140, 161 (App. Div. 2010).
Regards,
Brian Hampel
Hello Mr. Hampel,
I am in receipt of your request. Please expect a response within seven (7)
business days, Tuesday, December 19, 2023.
Have a good day,
Kaitlyn Lawler
Good Afternoon Mr. Hampel,
Please see the attached response to your OPRA request.
Have a good day,
Kaitlyn Lawler
Dear Ms. Lawler,
I believe there may be a misunderstanding regarding the "n-size." This term generally refers to the total size of a group needed to report on the parts, it is not that each part needs to be of a certain size. Meaning, the "n-size" is the total number of students is a grade, and not the total number of Special Education students.
Further, please clarify what you believe the required "n-size" is? Is it 10 students, 15 students, or another number? Thank you for your clarification.
Regards,
Brian
Hello Mr. Hampel,
I am in receipt of your email & will respond shortly.
Best,
Kaitlyn Lawler
Hello Mr. Hampel,
Please note the district is not legally obligated to respond to additional
inquiries.
There are a number of NJDOE official documents which reference n-size. All
of which have guiding principles of what is acceptable to release to the
public, similar to confidential information.
1. [1]NJDOE Broadcast 9.6.23
2. [2]NJDOE QSAC User Manual August 2023
3. [3]School/District Performance Report Reference Guide
4. [4]ESSA Accountability Profiles Companion Guide
NJ Public schools are graded on the following official score reports:
1. School/District Report Cards (annually)
2. NJ QSAC (every 3 years)
3. ESSA Accountability Profiles (annually)
4. NJSLA state assessment (annually)
Once you review the documents mentioned above, you will see a minimum
n-size range from 10 to 20 students depending on the subject matter.
Therefore, by asking for the special education students at Wandell School
on-roll for the 2023-24 school year by grade level, you are asking for
numbers that do not meet the n-size requirements from the NJDOE.
Lastly, the total on-roll special education students at Wandell School is
available on page 1 of the 2023-24 public document of the [5]2023-24 User
Friendly Budget, which is posted on the Board of Education's website.
Regards,
Kaitlyn Lawler