FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2024
CONTACT: Edie Surtees, Disability Rights Texas, esurtees@DRTx.org
Willis Jacobson, National Center for Youth Law, wjacobson@youthlaw.org
Laura Felix, Texas Appleseed, lfelix@texasappleseed.org
Savannah Tarbet, Texas Civil Rights Project, media@texascivilrightsproject.org
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas⎯Corpus Christi ISD (CCISD) is in violation of federal education law and must take corrective action according to an investigative report completed last week by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
In February, Disability Rights Texas, National Center for Youth Law, Texas Appleseed, and Texas Civil Rights Project filed complaints against two Texas school districts, one with the TEA and another with the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint filed with TEA against CCISD described how the District discriminates against students with disabilities by relying on truancy court referrals that push students out of school.
TEA’s investigative report confirmed the allegations against CCISD and included the following findings and corrective actions:
CCISD violated its obligations under federal law to identify and evaluate students with disabilities who were referred for truancy between February 6, 2023, and February 6, 2024.
For students who were eligible for special education and referred for truancy between February 6, 2023, and February 6, 2024, CCISD did not ensure that the students’ individualized education program (IEP) teams revised their IEPs in accordance with federal law to address attendance/truancy.
TEA required CCISD to review the files of every student who was sent to court for truancy to see if these violations had occurred.
CCISD must also:
Revise its policies and guidelines to bridge gaps between truancy action and IEP teams so that these teams are informed of the concern prior to truancy being filed and can revise students’ IEPs appropriately.
For more information on the specific corrective actions required, see our summary of the findings. TEA did not release the full report to protect student privacy.
“These findings require CCISD schools to start providing evaluation and support to students with disabilities, instead of shirking their responsibilities and sending them to a court,” said Dustin Rynders (he/him), Legal Director, Texas Civil Rights Project. “This win is progress and came at just the right time, because my recent observations in the Court show that CCISD is still sending students with disabilities to court without providing any special education intervention.”
“We are pleased to see these findings from TEA and the corrective actions required,” said Olivia Lee, Attorney at Disability Rights Texas. “Though these students have experienced serious setbacks in their education, we are hopeful the school district will implement changes to prevent future harm to other students.”
“We are encouraged to see TEA order such sweeping corrective actions, and urge the agency to ensure that CCISD carries them out with fidelity so that all students with disabilities are appropriately served rather than being pushed out via truancy court,” said Renuka Rege, Senior Staff Attorney at Texas Appleseed.
“Parents and students should know what CCISD needs to do differently so that they can protect their rights. No student should be sent to court for truancy, and no parent should risk fines for their child’s truancy, because of CCISD’s failure to provide services and supports,” said Hannah Benton Eidsath, Senior Director at the National Center for Youth Law.
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