ELIZABETH Maria Lorenz, the mother of a child in the special education program at the city's schools, staged a dramatic presentation at a February Board of Education meeting, presenting members with black ribbons she said represented a failure to meet some state targets for special-needs students.
A regular speaker at board meetings, Lorenz took the mic again last week to ask about inclusion for autistic students and the ways parents are kept informed. When she reached the three-minute time limit, another mother took up the same topic where she'd left off.
The president of Elizabeth's Special Education Parents Advisory Council, Lorenz said she tries to be a voice for parents of children with disabilities. She said the district provides little cooperation, a claim board members disputed at last week's meeting.
"My opinion is that we are viewed as the very bottom the barrel," Lorenz said. "We are the leftovers."
Lorenz has a folder full of emails to school officials, which she says have gone unanswered or received only partial replies. She said she wishes the district could be more open and communicative, pointing to other parents who say they've been blocked from posting on the Elizabeth Public School's Facebook page or from viewing the Twitter accounts of board members.
Board of Education member Carlos Trujillo said he thought some of the parents who spoke during last week's meeting were "playing to the cameras" and stirring up the frustrations felt by parents of special-needs children for political reasons.
"It's shameful," Trujillo said. "If the concerns are legitimate, I've never seen the superintendent not address them. Usually things are taken care of at the school level. We have great principals, and we have an excellent staff throughout the school district."
He called the idea that the schools were providing inadequate services to special education students "a misrepresentation."
Next year's proposed school budget, scheduled to be voted on Tuesday night, includes a $362,230 increase in special education instruction funds and a $43,323 bump in speech, occupational and physical therapy services. The district also plans to hire one additional special education teacher.
Some parents, though, say this is not enough and getting the services their children need presents a challenge.
"Just to deal with the Board of Education is 24 hours a day," said Julissa Reyes. "It is a job. It's not enough to have a kid with a disability, which is a lot, you have to fight."
Reyes has two children with disabilities, including a 10-year-old she says lost his personal aide because of budget cuts.
Deborah Johnson has a son with a sensory disorder and epilepsy, whose seizures she said can last for hours. She's concerned that her son's classroom is far from the nurse's office and he might not be able to get help quickly if he had a seizure during the day.
"I talk to the teacher, but the teacher can only do so much," Johnson said. "They're good to my son, always, but it's scary. Imagine that something might happen."
Dannette Torres' 4-year-old son is in pre-kindergarten, on an individualized education plan that calls for a personal aide. She said he didn't get an aide for a few weeks and had no speech therapy for six months.
"Unless you fight for it, you don't get it," she said.
Katie Lannan may be reached at klannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @katielannan. Find NJ.com on Facebook.