The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of an educational advocacy group seeking access to reports of settlements and programs made available to other disabled children.

The state's highest court agreed April 17 to hear the appeal.

In an October 2017 published ruling involving a series of consolidated cases from around the state, a three-judge Appellate Division panel said allowing such access to advocacy groups, researchers and parents of disabled children may lead to improved services for those students.

However, it did not mandate access and instead remanded the case for further hearings.

The lawsuits were filed by individual parents and the Montclair-based Innisfree Foundation, which advocates on behalf of disabled and special-needs students.

“We want access to settlement agreements,” said Innisfree's attorney, Bloomfield solo John Rue. “We didn't get what we want.”

The plaintiffs are seeking documents and records outlining settlements reached between school districts and the parents of individual disabled or special-needs students, for information about services that have been offered as terms of those settlements.

The affected school districts, which are located in counties around the state, along with some parents of disabled children, objected to the plaintiffs' requests for the records, primarily citing students' privacy rights.

Innisfree and the plaintiffs filed lawsuits in several counties.

In Somerset County, a judge ruled that there could be no disclosure, citing a ruling by the Government Records Council. A judge in Camden County ruled that the documents could be released, provided that the identification of affected students is redacted. In the last case, a Camden County judge said a parent could be allowed to see the records concerning her own child, so long as any information involving any other student was redacted.

A series of appeals followed, and the Appellate Division consolidated the cases.

Appellate Division Judge Jack Sabatino, joined by Judges Mitchel Ostrer and Mary Gibbons Whipple, said the plaintiffs could be allowed access to certain records, provided that safeguards are implemented. The appeals court stayed its order for 30 days for the parties to file appeals with the state Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs can be granted access to related documents provided that they are appropriately redacted to protect the privacy rights of other students. Those documents also should be made available to qualified researchers on the subject of the education of disabled students, Sabatino said.

The plaintiffs must also obtain a court order before being able to review any of those records, the judges said.

Additionally, the parents of disabled students who may be affected by the release of any documents, even though they may already be redacted, must be given advance notice and the right to object to any release, or to ask for further redactions or modifications, the appeals court said.

Any release of documents must ensure that personal identifying material remains confidential, the panel ruled.

The release of some material, the judges noted, could be helpful in further research.

“Such information could yield trends or practices that could inform policy-making, academic studies, grants and other related endeavors,” Sabatino said.

The ruling will apply to all current and future cases, and will be consolidated in Camden County.

Attorneys for the various school districts were not immediately available for comment.