By Catherine Wilde
Staff Writer | Posted Feb. 4, 3:34 p.m.

Northvale — The Northern Valley Regional High School District will have a meeting between district officials, Northvale officials, representatives of the Archdiocese of Newark and Dr. Walter Zahorodny, director of the New Jersey Autism Study, Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m.

The officials will discuss Zahorodny’s proposal for conducting a new study at St. Anthony’s school in Northvale, where there is believed to have been a significantly high number of children with autism born to past teachers.

The district recently received Zahorodny’s proposal with an estimated cost of $40,000 to $50,000, in which he would determine if the number of children with neurodevelopmental disorders is statistically significant by comparing the numbers to the rates of such births by teachers from area schools.

Zahorodny, a specialist in pediatric neurodevelopment, is an assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He was also a lead researcher on the New Jersey portion of an autism investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Northern Valley Superintendent of Schools Jan Furman said the meeting could determine if the other entities such as the Archdiocese and borough of Northvale would help fund the study.