Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Lawsuit: N.J. preschool expelled Down syndrome toddler because she was not toilet trained

A Moorestown preschool is facing allegations that it unlawfully expelled a 3-year-old girl with Down syndrome because she was not potty trained, according to a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

A Moorestown preschool is facing allegations that it unlawfully expelled a 3-year-old girl with Down syndrome because she was not potty trained, according to a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court in Mount Holly alleges that Chesterbrook Academy, part of the national preschool chain Nobel Learning Communities Inc., was discriminatory in 2015 when administrators expelled the child but not others at the school who were not fully potty trained.

Initially, an acting principal reached out to the parents, to "partner" with them to potty-train their child, identified as "Jane" in the lawsuit. Months later, under the supervision of another principal, the parents were told they had seven days left to potty-train their child, or she would be kicked out, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also documents a history of disability discrimination at Nobel schools.

"Due to pending litigation, we are unable to address the details of this specific case; however, our schools are dedicated to serving the needs of a diverse student population, including many with disabilities," said a statement provided by Chris McMurry, a spokesman for Nobel Learning Communities.

"We are proud of our comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure compliance with state and federal laws governing the rights of all students," the statement said.

According to the lawsuit, even though the girl was not potty trained, in January 2015 Chesterbrook initiated her advancement to an intermediate class that did not have the accommodations needed for toilet training. The parents wanted their daughter to remain in a class that provided diaper services for children 21/2 to 3 years old.

The suit maintains that the preschool had a legal obligation under disability laws to make potty-training accommodations.

On Jan. 21, 2015, the newly appointed acting principal sent an email to the girl's parents.

"I just wanted to follow up to our conversation about [Jane]'s potty training. We are really going to work on getting her potty trained here at school! We need to partner with you on this," the email said.

"Since she is in a non-diapering classroom we need to set a time frame for her potty training. I was thinking April 1st? Since it is a corporate policy I have to set a time frame to get her potty trained. I'm confident that if we all work together we can get her potty trained."

The parents believed April 1 was a goal, not a deadline, the lawsuit says.

On March 23, 2015, the parents sent a note from the girl's doctor, who is with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, that the child likely would not be fully potty trained until she was 5 or older because she was developmentally delayed due to Down syndrome, according to the lawsuit.

Two days later, the parents received another email from a new principal saying the child would be "disenrolled" if she was not toilet trained within seven days. On April 1, she was expelled.

That month, the parents filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office. After more than a year of investigation, the complaint was verified, leading to Wednesday's lawsuit.

Chesterbrook, the suit alleges, made allowances so nondisabled intermediate students were permitted to remain in the program even though they also needed assistance related to toilet training.

The state's complaint also documents prior accusations of similar conduct regarding disabled children at other Chesterbrook Academy facilities in New Jersey and across the country over the past decade.

In a Gloucester County case, there was a 2006 settlement that required training for Chesterbrook staff on disability discrimination. In that case, the school was accused of refusing to accept a student who was disabled because of spina bifida.

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Nobel Learning Communities for excluding children with disabilities from programs in 15 states, including New Jersey.

The suit was settled in 2011 with Nobel Learning agreeing to implement a disability nondiscrimination policy, implement a policy to address reasonable modification requests, appoint a disability compliance officer, and arrange for staff training.

In Wednesday's lawsuit, the state is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a court-ordered requirement that Chesterbrook submit to training and state monitoring for five years.

"This case is particularly troubling because Chesterbrook and its parent company have faced similar allegations in the past despite holding themselves out as the 'gold standard for ADA classroom compliance,' " said Craig T. Sashihara, director of the Division on Civil Rights for the New Jersey attorney general.

"Given their past assurances to comply with the law and to train their staff on the governing legal standards for dealing with young children with disabilities, we expected better - more compliance, more sensitivity, and less intractability - when responding to the needs of a 3-year-old girl with Down syndrome."

bboyer@phillynews.com

856-779-3838 @BBBoyer