From the Concord Monitor
The parents of a severely disabled Deering boy say they will file a lawsuit against the Hillsboro-Deering School Board after it again refused to discuss a decision to put their son into the public school district.
Ed Naile, chairman of the New Hampshire Coalition of Taxpayers, a group that is representing Cindy and Joel Durham, asked the board to consider evidence from their son’s doctor that moving him from Crotched Mountain would adversely impact his health.
The board last night voted, 1-2, with one abstention, not to overrule judgment by interim chairwoman Kathy Pepper that it is not the board’s policy to talk about individual students.
After holding a nonpublic session in May, the board decided, 3-2, not to vote on a decision made by the district’s special education team to bring the Durhams’ son, Joel, into the public school system. The Durhams have filed several right-to-know requests to find out what the board discussed in nonpublic session and said they will bring lawsuit against the board next week to find out what was said.
Joel Durham, 17, suffers from autism and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy and has been attending Crotched Mountain School since age 10.
“Before I go to superior court… I just want to make sure everybody understands what we’re doing and our ultimate goal,” Naile said. “I want to make sure all the records we’ve submitted, you’ve seen.”