Federal lawsuit on JPS special ed violations settled

A 2012 federal lawsuit alleging the state's failure to protect students with disabilities from widespread violations at Jackson Public Schools tentatively ended Sept. 30 after parties reached a settlement agreement.

But while the agreement signals a positive step toward resolving the complaint, which arose after years of systemic noncompliance from the state's second-largest school district, observers say problems persist.

"We've seen some small improvements, and they are not necessarily consistent across the district," said Joy Hogge, executive director of Families As Allies, a Jackson-based special-education advocacy group.

U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III administratively closed the class-action suit filed by special-needs students against the Mississippi Department of Education, but he wrote in his order that either party can reopen if necessary.

As part of the agreement, MDE must provide JPS training and assistance to implement a sustainable special-education program. MDE also must conduct quarterly reviews of that program through the end of the current school year and provide summaries of those reviews to attorneys for the plaintiffs.

Both parties must file for a dismissal with 20 days after MDE fulfills the terms of the settlement agreement, which ends July 31, Jordan wrote.

"We reached an agreement with the state because we felt it was in the best interest of our clients," said Corrie Cockrell, attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represents the students.

Disability Rights Mississippi also provides legal counsel on the case. DRM executive director Ann Maclaine lauded the settlement and what it will mean for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

She also said she looks forward to monitoring the district's progress through MDE's reports.

The JPS students, who now are seniors, sued after claiming they exhausted all other legal means to obtain a free and appropriate education as guaranteed by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Among their allegations were that the district withheld services for their disabilities, suspended them at a higher rate than their nondisabled peers and generally neglected their education over the course of several years.

They also said that despite filing a complaint with MDE in 2010 — and despite MDE finding the district in violation of federal laws — JPS continued to deny the students' rights.

The students are identified in the lawsuit by their initials.

Because MDE bears the ultimate responsibility for ensuring all districts follow the laws, plaintiffs sued MDE for "utterly fail(ing)" the plaintiffs and all other students with disabilities at JPS.

The state eventually cleared JPS from wrongdoing, finding that it had corrected all of its IDEA violations even as the lawsuit remained active.

But Cockrell said it's difficult to independently verify MDE's findings based on the current reporting measures, which is why the settlement agreement requires the comprehensive quarterly reports.

"We're going to monitor things," she said. "We want to make sure they're moving in the right direction. Even though progress is being made in some areas, there are so many things that need to be done."

JPS referred all comments to MDE. MDE would not comment because it's technically still an open case, spokeswoman Jean Cook said.

Nearly 3,000 of the 29,898 students in JPS have a disability, according to data on the Department of Education website. More than one-third have what's called a "specific learning disability," under which many conditions fall, among them dyslexia.

Although the state set a goal for 71 percent of children with disabilities to graduate, just 12 percent of those in JPS did as of 2012, MDE data show.

Other districts, including Corinth and Greenville, graduated even fewer special-education students. The state average is 23 percent.

As for the students in the MDE lawsuit, Cockrell said they're aiming for diplomas.

"We've come a long way," she said. "We're hoping we can get to graduation in May."

Contact Emily Le Coz at elecoz@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7249. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

The Mississippi Department of Education must provide the plaintiffs' attorneys:

• Quarterly reports showing how Jackson Public Schools is implementing its special-education program;

• Reports about any training and technical assistance MDE provides to Jackson Public Schools for the purpose of implementing its special-education program;

• The technical assistance providers' monthly activity reports, as well as the providers' licensure certifications.

• District-level data on several key indicators in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.