SPLC Sues Walton County School District for Disability Discrimination
WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) recently filed both an Administrative Due Process Complaint and an Office for Civil Rights Discrimination Complaint against the Walton County School District. E.C., a Black middle school student with a disability, was asked by a white student to hand a vape pen to another white student. E.C. was the only student expelled and referred to juvenile court for prosecution. He was then denied the necessary support and services in the school district’s online alternative school program, which he struggles to access because of his disability.
“The Walton County School District disproportionately disciplines Black students and denies students with disabilities of their accommodations. Ignoring our requests to remedy this situation and serve the needs of our client, the school district has sought to avoid its legal obligations,” says Eugene Choi, senior staff attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center. “The school district’s unilateral acts against E.C. are not only discriminatory and retaliatory, but they are also short-sighted with real-world consequences to E.C.'s education and his ability to graduate and attend college. Thus, we have no choice but to litigate on behalf of E.C. and the many other students like him.”
A Special Education Formal Complaint was previously filed against the Walton County School District in July with the Georgia Department of Education, which addressed ongoing individual and systemic violations. The state’s Department of Education ruled in favor of E.C. on every issue alleged in the complaint and ordered the school district to review and revise its policies, train its special education teachers and administrators, and submit its revised policies and training materials to the state for review. While that complaint was resolved, E.C. continues to experience retaliation from the school district, jeopardizing his access to a free appropriate public education now and impacting his future college opportunities.
“These complaints underscore the discriminatory school discipline practices affecting Black students and students with disabilities in the school district’s alternative school program,” concluded Choi.
