Prominent education attorney best known for championing the educational rights of Kiryas Joel school district dies

George Shebitz, a prominent education attorney and a Nyack resident, known for championing the educational rights of children with disabilities, dies after a long illness. He was 58.

Among Shebitz’s best known work was his representation of the Kiryas Joel school district in Orange County in the 1980s and 1990s. The state Legislature created the school district for children with disabilities, but it was challenged by the state school board association over the school district’s religious affiliation. The school serves special needs students from the Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish community.