The #ReOpenClass Action Lawsuit For Special Education Students Has More Than 500 Parents Signed Up

Patrick Donohue

This post is an update of the previous post,

Parent Activist Patrick Donohue Sues the NYC Department of Education For Neglecting Special Needs Kids During COVID-19

From: Patrick Donohue <patrick@braininjuryrights.org>

Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2020, 4:03 PM

Subject: NBC News interview about national ReOpenClass action lawsuit

NBC News just interviewed me about our national #ReOpenClass action lawsuit demanding school districts to either reopen the schools for special education students OR provide a Pendency Voucher and allow parents to self-cure (https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/father-of-developmentally-challenged-student-files-lawsuit-to-reopen-schools/2541072/).  All of the details, including a copy of the federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, is located on the website www.ReOpenClass.com and the media advisory is below.

There are now over 500 families from more than 25 states who have joined this effort (and growing every hour)!  Here was my interview on NY1 speaking about the #ReOpenClass action lawsuit: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/ny1-interviews/2020/07/28/lawsuit-alleges-schools-abandoned-special-needs-students.  And in case you didn’t see the previous article in the New York Post: https://nypost.com/2020/07/16/lawsuit-rips-schools-for-abandoning-special-needs-kids-amid-covid-19/.

There will be some MAJOR developments happening next week … so be sure to check out www.ReOpenClass.com or follow the efforts on Facebook (Re-open Class) or Twitter (@ReOpenClass).

All the best,

Patrick

Patrick B. Donohue, JD, MBA

Founder & Chairman, Brain Injury Rights Group

300 East 95^th Street, #130, New York, NY 10128

MEDIA ADVISORY                                   Contact: William Frazier              

(888) 927-4332 (927-IDEA)
July 30, 2020                                                                Email: William@pabilaw.org

National Class Action To Re-Open Schools Has Website: www.ReOpenClass.com
Families Across America With Special Needs Demand Schools Re-Open

NEW YORK, NY – Civil Rights attorney, Patrick Donohue, and Brain Injury Rights Group announced a National Class Action Lawsuit on behalf of millions of special education students across the country. The lawsuit seeks to reopen their schools to provide in-person services OR provide a Pendency Voucher for parents to self-cure. It also seeks compensation for the students and parents for the failure of their school districts to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) since mid-March when schools were shut down during the coronavirus crisis.

There is now a website set up with all of the details, including a copy of the federal complaint which was filed in the Southern District of New York: www.ReOpenClass.com.

There are more than 7 million students in the United States between 3 and 21 years of age receiving special education services (over 200,000 in New York City alone). These students have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) with their local school districts that outline the educational program the student is supposed to receive. When the local school districts unilaterally, substantially and materially changed their educational programs by sending these 6.7 million students home in mid-March to receive “remote learning”, or no services at all, they violated the federal civil rights of these students under the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). In many cases, the local school districts failed to even provide live synchronous service to these students while they were home. Instead, the responsibility for “remote learning” landed squarely on the shoulders of parents across America. Many parents had to quit or lost their jobs and some had to pay money out of their own pocket to do what the local school districts were getting paid to do: provide educational benefits to their disabled child!

More than 500 families from over 25 states have already signed up to be part of the national class action. Families are going directly to the website: www.ReOpenClass.com or are calling the toll-free hotline: 888-927-4332 / 888-927-IDEA.

Patrick Donohue is a civil rights attorney who became an advocate after his daughter, Sarah Jane, who was violently shaken by her baby nurse when she was only five days old, breaking four ribs, both collarbones and causing a severe brain injury. The Brain Injury Rights Group is a national civil rights legal advocacy non-profit organization located in New York City. Besides Brain Injury Rights Group, Mr. Donohue has founded one of the largest brain injury programs in the country located in New York City, the International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN).