澳彩开奖

The U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights will investigate issues outlined in the complaint, which highlighted data showing that the district鈥檚 black students are nearly four times as likely to be arrested as white students. Students with disabilities are nearly three times as likely to be referred to law enforcement as students without disabilities. Federal officials will also investigate other discipline practices in the district.

The agency announced the investigation in a letter dated Nov. 21. It can be viewed here. The 澳彩开奖 filed its complaint on Aug. 31.

鈥淭he Department of Education鈥檚 decision to investigate is an encouraging step toward addressing troubling issues in Pinellas County Schools,鈥� said Amir Whitaker, 澳彩开奖 attorney. 鈥淭he school district has simply handed over discipline to law enforcement when it comes to black students and students with disabilities. The results have been disastrous. Students like our clients now have criminal records and trauma from being pepper-sprayed for something as minor as a lunchroom scuffle.

鈥淲e hope the investigation will lead to meaningful reforms to protect children from being needlessly pushed out of school and into the justice system.鈥�

Pinellas County Schools鈥� discipline practices, which were the subject of the documentary series , are marked by a stark racial disparity. Between 2010 and 2015, district students were arrested more than 3,800 times. Despite black students comprising less than 20 percent of Pinellas鈥� student population, they made up nearly 60 percent of all school-based arrests and 71 percent of disorderly conduct arrests during the 2014-15 school year, the most recent year for which data is available.

The disparity is even greater at Richard L. Sanders School, which exclusively serves students with disabilities. During the 2014-15 school year, the school had one of the highest arrest rates in Florida 鈥� 58 times the state average. Black students at the school made up 93 percent of the arrests.

The most common charge in Pinellas County Schools is 鈥渄isorderly conduct,鈥� which can be as minor as talking back or knocking over a trash can. School officials have recently taken steps that resulted in a 25 percent drop in school arrests during the last school year 鈥� including promising to limit student arrests for disorderly conduct. The 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Pinellas County Report Card, which was published in partnership with the NAACP and The Micah Center, recommended the reform.

Despite the change, however, district schools continue to needlessly rely on arrest to discipline students. Many of the school board鈥檚 promised changes, including limiting disorderly conduct arrests, have not become policy.

鈥淭he school district has an obligation to end the discriminatory practices that scar vulnerable youths with criminal records for adolescent misbehavior,鈥� Whitaker said. 鈥淪tudents should not have memories of their classmates being subjected to pepper spray.鈥�

The 澳彩开奖 complaint asks the Department of Education to compel the school district to revise its arrest policies and practices; restrict the use of chemical weapons on students; eliminate arrests for disorderly conduct; increase alternative, evidence-based programs, such as restorative justice, to reduce arrests and address disproportionality; train school-based officers on bias education and adolescent development; and better track and monitor all police-involved incidents on school campuses.