Paul Kadri

Paul Kadri is Superintendent of the Neshaminy School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania as of May 2008. [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-02212008-1491320.html Superintendent won't be leaving, Bucks County Courier Times]

In 2003, as Superintendent of the Moorestown Township Public Schools, Kadri proposed a change the school district’s policy in selecting their valedictorian. The rules and regulations promulgated by the school district provided that the graduating senior with the highest grade point average after the seventh semester would be valedictorian. A student with a disability, Blair Hornstine, had the highest grade point average at the end of the seventh semester that year. Superintendent Kadri said he was approached by “parents, students, and other community members” who believed that “students were not provided equal opportunities to earn the awards” due to the accommodations received by Ms. Hornstine because of her disability. Kadri proposed a change in policy that would give the school board final say in who received the honors. Hornstine sued Kadri and the Board of Education to restrain them “from retroactively applying to her [the] proposed policy amendment.”cite court
litigants=Hornstine v. Township of Moorestown
vol=263
reporter=F.Supp.2d
opinion=887
court=D.N.J.
date=2003-05-08
url=http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/fed/html/ca03-1953-1.html]

In May 2003, United States Federal District Judge Freda Wolfson issued an order restraining Kadri and the Board from changing the policy. Judge Wolfson found that the proposed changes violated Blair Hornstine’s rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD).

Judge Wolfson noted that Paul Kadri did not take the advice of the school’s own special education team and the school’s own physician and that Kadri “embarked on a course to denigrate Blair Hornstine’s remarkable achievements as a special needs student, and thus, diminish the recognition due to her…”

In June 2008, Kadri successfully orchestrated something that hadn't been accomplished in years; a budget proposal that featured less spending than in the previous year [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06182008-1550790.html] . Neshaminy's business manager said "This is a significant and important accomplishment in keeping our operating costs low so that we may maintain the integrity of our educational programs." Despite declining investment returns and soaring fuel costs, Mr. Kadri and his staff managed to limit the tax increase to the State limit of 4.4% without having to utilize any of the exemptions available to him under Act 1 [http://www.pde.state.pa.us/proptax/lib/proptax/SDAdjIndex_2008-2009.pdf] .

References