Settlement Reached in NY Supreme Court Case against SCCSD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release
March 4, 2021
Contacts:
Elianne Ramos | Chief Communications Officer | [email protected] | 212.739.7513
Sarai Bejarano | Manager of Traditional & Digital Media | [email protected] | 212-739-7581
LatinoJustice Reaches Settlement in NY Supreme Court Case against SCCSD
South Country Central School District to Change FOIL Policies & Requirements
New York, NY- On Thursday February 4, 2021 after a comprehensive settlement was reached, LatinoJustice PRLDEF discontinued two lawsuits challenging the adequacy of responses by the South Country Central School District to a Freedom of Information Law(FOIL) request. After intensive litigation and negotiation, including a three-day hearing in the New York State Supreme Court of Suffolk County in Riverhead, NY the settlement includes wide-spanning injunctive relief, as well as the District’s payment of $100,000 to LatinoJustice. The settlement specifies the District’s obligations including a renewed search of District records for responsive documents, three years of District staff training on FOIL legal requirements and record retention policies, a change in District Policy on documenting and retaining records when students interact with law enforcement, and new District policies and practices when the District contracts, employs or otherwise engages law enforcement in the District.
LatinoJustice sent a FOIL request to the District on August 1, 2017 as part of its ongoing investigation into a disturbing expansion of the School-to-Deportation pipeline in Long Island schools, where the improper labeling by school officials of Latinx unaccompanied minor youth as gang-involved or affiliated was linked to devastating collateral consequences ranging from student school suspensions, to immigration detention and possible deportation from the United States. The phenomenon has torn Latinx families apart and re-traumatized vulnerable Latinx youth. A review of several Latinx youth’s immigration files revealed that observations made on school grounds were being used by law enforcement as the basis for labeling Latinx youth as gang-involved and denying immigration relief.
LatinoJustice filed its FOIL requests seeking records of District policies, procedures and data regarding discipline of students on the basis of alleged gang-involvement and the improper sharing of student information with law enforcement. Records obtained during the course of this lawsuit demonstrated that the District had a substantial uptick of Latinx student school suspensions based upon allegations of purported gang-involvement. According to such records, 34 students were suspended for purported gang-activity or affiliation between 2013-2017 with 82% (28) of those suspensions occurring in the 2016-2017 school year. Records released by the District as a result of this litigation, included redacted lists titled “Students with potential MS-13 involvement and siblings” and notes kept by District employees about law enforcement interaction.
“While we are happy to reach settlement on this FOIL matter, the harm happening in Latinx communities because of interagency information sharing fueled by racist rhetoric and stereotypes against Latinx youth still remains unresolved," said Nathalia Varela, Associate Counsel at LatinoJustice."Terms of our settlement include immediate procedural safeguards regarding interagency information sharing and the presence of law enforcement on District grounds and at District functions. However, until all law enforcement is removed from school districts Latinx youth, students of color and immigrants’ access to education will continue to be impeded.”
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About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For more information about LatinoJustice, visit www.latinojustice.org