The South Jersey student suspended for a year must be allowed back in school, state official rules

A South Jersey student suspended for the entire school year and placed on home instruction because of a cafeteria fight must be allowed back in school immediately, acting state Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer has ruled.

The seven-page decision clears the way for Sania Anderson to return in September to Kingsway Regional High School in Woolwich Township. The ruling was handed down Friday— the same day classes ended for the 2023-24 school year.

“It is done,” her mother, Naimah Howard, said Monday. “I’m relieved that she at least gets to go back to in-person school.”

Anderson was suspended for eight days in March 2023 after getting involved, as four other students had, in a cafeteria fight. A legal battle ensued after the district put Anderson on long-term suspension and demanded that she undergo a risk assessment and a psychological evaluation. Howard refused, arguing that such tests could result in unfairly classifying her daughter as having special needs.

Dehmer found that a refusal by the school board to allow Anderson, 16, a rising senior, to return to school because her mother refused to give permission for the teen to undergo the child study team evaluation was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable conduct.”

The commissioner intervened in the case after it had dragged on while Anderson remained on virtual instruction. An administrative law judge, Robert Herman, had refused to grant an emergent hearing earlier this month, saying there was no urgency since there were only two weeks remaining in the school year at the time.

Dehmer said the harm to Anderson “has already been considerable.” She would likely have prevailed in a hearing that was slated for this summer, but legal delays and appeals could have left the matter unresolved even by September, he said.

Citing a 2011 case, he wrote: “...case law is clear that a child suffers irreparable harm when she is deprived of an education for even a brief period of time.”

Howard’s lawyer, Sarah Zuba, said she was disappointed that the commissioner’s ruling came at the end of the school year, but said his decision vindicated the arguments she had made all year. She wants the state to reconsider whether long-term suspensions should be permitted.

“Residents of New Jersey benefit most when all public school students are in school at all times, with the guidance and supervision of educators and the structure of the school day and environment,” Zuba said in a statement. “Our laws and regulations should encourage and require it.”

Anderson missed her entire junior year. She had instruction at home, with a twice-a-week, in-person meeting with her algebra teacher. Howard said the isolation took a toll on her daughter.

Howard has raised questions about alleged disparities in the treatment of Black and brown students, and has filed a civil-rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against the Kingsway Regional School District alleging discriminatory discipline.

According to the New Jersey Department of Education, Black students constitute only 15.5% of the state’s student population, but account for 29.8% of referrals from schools to law enforcement, and 28.9% of arrests in schools. About 11.2% of Kingway’s 2,765 students are Black.

The other four students involved in the fight with Anderson are Black. They were also suspended long-term and charged with simple assault. They later left the district.

Anderson said she was trying to break up the fight among a group of girls when she was struck twice in the head by one of those students, according to documents in the case. According to the district, Anderson punched a student on the ground several times, and several students and staff members were injured attempting to break up the fight.

As a condition for Anderson’s return, the district had demanded that Howard withdraw her complaint, according to documents provided by Howard. The district later withdrew the demand.

“I am moving forward with a civil suit against them,” Howard said Monday. “What they did is completely wrong.”

Superintendent James J. Lavender had also insisted on a risk assessment as a condition for Anderson to return to school. Dehmer noted that an assessment conducted in January determined that Anderson “does not present a danger to herself or others.”

The commissioner said the school system could have sought a due process hearing to obtain the evaluation. Instead, the district used the disciplinary proceedings to attempt to gain permission from the mother.

The girl’s “interest in returning to school outweighs the board’s interest in continuing to exclude her,” the commissioner wrote. The case will continue before Herman for any proceedings needed to bring closure, he said.

Lavender and board lawyer Margaret Miller did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Dehmer agreed with Herman that Anderson should be allowed to sit for her senior portraits next week, and participate in other school programs and activities, he said. She had been prohibited from visiting school grounds while on suspension.

Howard said the commissioner’s ruling seemed surreal for her daughter.

“She doesn’t believe it, that it’s really real,” she said. “She said, ‘Can I really go back this time?’”