Freeport mom sues state /Newsday

BY JENNIFER SMITH
Newsday Staff Writer

November 6, 2006
 

The mother of a Freeport teenager who received electric shock therapy at a controversial Massachusetts school has sued New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi and the state Department of Education, saying the state illegally spent an estimated $150 million to send New York students there, her lawyer said yesterday.

The lawsuit alleged that the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass., is not certified by the state of Massachusetts to provide treatment for individuals with disabilities, attorney Kenneth Mollins of Melville said yesterday.

Under New York state's education code, "any school you send a student out of state to must be certified," said Mollins, who said he filed the lawsuit on Friday in state Supreme Court in Mineola on behalf of Evelyn Nicholson of Freeport and Vito Albanese of Brooklyn.

Nicholson, whose son Antwone was enrolled at Rotenberg until April, sued the Freeport school district and the Rotenberg school in July. Albanese is an advocate whose son was abused and neglected at treatment centers in New Hampshire and New Jersey, he has said. A state law named for Albanese's son was passed last year that requires New York to more closely monitor students sent to out-of state facilities.

Reached last night, Rotenberg's director, Matthew Israel, said that the school is "fully certified by the state of Massachusetts" and accused Mollins of "harassment."

The complaint asks for a permanent injunction to prevent the state from writing more checks to the Rotenberg school. The facility has received around $50 million a year since 2004 to pay for about 150 New York students enrolled there, the suit said.

New York State Department of Education spokesman Tom Dunn declined to speak about the lawsuit yesterday, saying "it's premature to comment."

Calls last night to spokesmen for the comptroller's office and the state attorney general's office were not returned.