Legal Issues
Since its creation, UCMHS has been a subject of controversy. There are 20 municipal school districts that are contained within the Union County Vocational Technical Schools District (UCVTSD). Following the creation of this school in 1997, a number of these districts filed suit against UCMHS. Scotch Plains petitioned the New Jersey Department of Education to force the exclusion of students from their district from the Magnet School. Rahway, New Jersey refused to allow Rahway students attending Magnet to participate in Rahway extracurricular programs. Their argument was that Magnet was taking the best students away from the home districts and that Magnet was drawing funds away from the home districts.
The final case against UCMHS was the case launched by the City of Linden. It was resolved late in 2002 in favor of UCMHS. Linden ran a science school within its own district where it sent its gifted and talented students. They argued that their program was comparable to UCMHS and they should not, therefore, be required to pay tuition for students attending the county school. The UCMHS argued that the programs were not comparable, as evidenced by Linden students desiring to leave their home district in favor of Magnet.
Magnet won each of these suits because it is, legally, a Vocational-Technical school (a school which offers a vocational education) and offers vocational certifications. State law requires local school districts pay tuition for students who attend the county vocational school.
Recently, as a result of extensive state budget cuts, the Board of Education of the Springfield Public Schools announced its plan in 2010 to refuse to pay tuition for students attending several of the schools on the UCVTS campus, on the grounds that it has comparable programs in engineering, performing arts, and health-care training. The Springfield Board of Education believes that, in the absence of any state funding to offset the cost of sending students to the Magnet, Performing Arts, and Allied Health high schools, it should not be obligated to pay to send its students to these schools.
Read more about this topic: Union County Magnet High School
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