D.C. failed to provide students with disabilities in prison access to the education the law entitles them to, according to a new class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed by two students with disabilities on behalf of themselves and other impacted students, names D.C. Public Schools, the city鈥檚 Office of the State Superintendent of Education and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as defendants.
D.C. is accused of denying students access to schooling that they鈥檙e entitled to under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
In a statement, OSSE said it doesn鈥檛 comment on ongoing litigation.
鈥淲e’re really just advocating for the education rights for these young people that are being completely denied their education,鈥� said Marja Plater, senior counsel at the Washington Lawyers鈥� Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
Students who are convicted of what Plater called D.C. Code offenses serve their sentences in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, because D.C. does not have a state prison. Students with disabilities “aren鈥檛 receiving their education while serving that sentence,” she said.
That situation, Plater said, is unique. If the same students were incarcerated in Virginia or Maryland, they鈥檇 have access to the education, 鈥渂ecause those systems have a process for them to receive that education on the state level.”
Anywhere from 40 to 60 students are either currently impacted or could be in the future, Plater said.
While the students with disabilities are in the Bureau of Prisons, Plater said there鈥檚 鈥渘o high school diploma program that they can receive special education and related services that they’re entitled to, to access their education.鈥�
She added, 鈥淲e’re dealing with a complete lack of education, which amounts to a complete denial of their educational rights.”
In 2018, The School Justice Project took a case to federal court in an attempt to get educational rights 鈥渇or this very same reason,鈥� Plater said. A District Court judge ruled that D.C. is required to provide the education to incarcerated students.
鈥淭he District’s been on notice since that time, and just hasn’t made the arrangements to provide this education to these young people,鈥� Plater said.
Class members in the lawsuit, Plater said, 鈥渨ould be entitled to some level of compensatory education to repay them for the time that they’ve lost and not being able to obtain their education.鈥�
Tayo Belle, deputy director of School Justice Project, said in a statement that 鈥渙ur clients have been deprived of their rights to special education instruction and services while incarcerated for violations of the D.C. Code solely because of their status as D.C. residents.鈥�
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