The impending closure of a small high school in Rhode Island has led to a rare setback: Spanish-speaking families have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Providence Public School District, the Providence School Board, the state Department of Education and the state education commissioner under the Equal School District. Educational Opportunities Act of 1974. With an argument that has a direct line back to it Brown vs. Board of Educationplaintiffs allege that the closure of 360 High School violates the right of students and their families to an equal education.
Typically, the action is invoked following a denial of guaranteed services. But these plaintiffs are making a case to keep a school they say already meets their needs. Attorney Jennifer Wood, director of the Rhode Island Center for Justice, said the law requires schools to remove barriers for English learners and their parents. The law was based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in a 1973 case Lau vs. Nicholswhich descends from Brown and determined that failure to offer additional language classes violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment.
Describing an “arc of history” of Brown Through Lau In keeping with the 1974 legislation, Wood said, “Each of these redefines who can be in public schools and how we are going to fully integrate them.”
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In February, Providence district leaders, under state supervision, unexpectedly announced that 360 would undergo a “merger” at the end of the academic year. Students, but not teachers or administrators, would be included in the new Life Sciences Institute at the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex.
District and state leaders said the closure would benefit 360 students by giving them access to programs that Juanita Sanchez administers through partnerships with the Department of Health, in addition to internships and research opportunities with local industry collaborators, labs and hospitals. They cited the 16% dropout rate, the 75% graduation rate and the 1.5% math and 8.2% English proficiency scores of 360. “I have to make some very difficult decisions,” Superintendent Javier Montañez said during a meeting of city Council. “I am going to do everything I can to protect my students.” The merger would save the district an estimated $1.5 million to 2 million.
But the families and staff of 360 were not convinced. Math teacher Ellen Foley, who has worked at the school since its founding nine years ago, said in an interview that the school follows a clear philosophy: “You build a community when you build a school.” In a district where students choose their high school at the end of eighth grade, 360’s families specifically chose this school, in part because of its reputation for supporting English learners. The students – nearly half of whom do not speak the language at home – take English classes co-taught by ESL teachers, and student council meetings are held in English and Spanish.
Hundreds of alumni, parents, faculty, staff and students attended meetings of the school board, city council, state education department and state legislative committees to call for reversal of the closure decision. There were protests and rallies. Some gatherings required overflow rooms and were so crowded that police were called. During a meeting, 360 senior Michael Isom said, “They wouldn’t let me speak and they wouldn’t let my mother speak. They don’t let certain people speak out.”
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Yet community members advocated wherever they could be heard. At school board meetings, they wore custom T-shirts and handed out bright orange and blue stickers that read “Save 360.” They pointed to data showing that 360 outperformed the district in nearly every category in terms of how community stakeholders feel about their schools.
After hearing from student activists about the school’s impending closure, Wood attended a school board meeting in February that lasted nearly four hours. She listened as parent Lucia Mejia told the board through a Spanish interpreter that her nonverbal son was confused about the closure and testified to “the love he has for going to school.”
But at each meeting, district and state leaders reiterated that their decision to close 360 was irreversible, and families began looking for other options. Wood met several who had testified. “The words they used to us were: ‘We want to fight for our children,’” she said. Plaintiffs Mejia, Ysaura Mezón, Maria Pirir and Juan Cruz Estevez told Wood that their experiences at 360 High School were far better than those at other schools in the district. “They had very good communication from the school, which was in contrast to their previous experiences,” Wood said.
They were also concerned about the safety of their children at other schools, fearing that they would not be notified if something went wrong or that communication would not take place in a language they understood. And they were concerned that students had not received adequate transition planning for moving to the new school. At least 17 of the 286 students enrolled at 360 have already decided not to attend Juanita Sanchez and are choosing other options.
Believing the families had a strong case to stop the closure under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, Wood filed a complaint on April 22 against Providence Public School District, Providence School Board, the state Department of Education and Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante -Green.
Juanita Sanchez, the lawsuit said, has been classified as chronically low-performing for 13 years, about a decade longer than 360. And while only 6% of 360’s English learners met growth goals based on standardized assessments, Wood said families fear that they don’t get a stronger education elsewhere. The district has struggled for years to comply with the law and provide appropriate services to students who speak little or no English.
Wood filed a motion for preliminary injunction on April 29, asking the court to halt the closure of 360 until a decision is made in the case. District spokesman Jay Wegimont declined to comment on the lawsuit other than to say the district and state “have acted in the best interests of students and are committed to expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities for all students, including multilingual students.” ”
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On June 6, Chief Judge John McConnell of the United States District Court of Rhode Island denied a motion by the defendants for summary judgment and ordered the parties to enter an expedited discovery process. He will then rule on the interim measure. Although Wood and prosecutors are pushing for a decision to come as soon as possible, it may not come before the last day of school on June 24.
But the end of the school year would not mean the end of the lawsuit. If a provisional injunction is granted after June 24, the school closure will still be halted until the court decides on the case. 360 displaced teachers and administrators, including some who took jobs at other district schools, would need to be reinstated and student placements adjusted. Wood said this kind of last-minute shuffling is sometimes difficult for the community, but it has been done before in cases of lawsuits or settlements in various parts of the city.
In school closure cases where no preliminary injunction was issued, lawsuits have continued even after certain schools closed their doors for good. While the final rulings did not save certain schools, they could still impact the process followed in future closure decisions.
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Even if the preliminary injunction is granted, the District could later close 360. Depending on the final outcome of the case, what that would look like for students and families could change.
Meanwhile, Foley said on 360 that the students, teachers and families are moving forward — focused on celebrating their “amazing community” and “finishing with dignity and celebration” — ahead of their possible last day of school ever. But Wood believes that if her case prevails, English learners can find “a path forward that takes their needs and perspectives into account.”
