The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday announced that it has reached a settlement with the Pasco County school district after an investigation into alleged discrimination against students with disabilities on issues such as discipline.
Information posted on the Justice Department website said the investigation focused on the 2018-2019 through 2021-2022 school years and included issues such as school discipline policies and referrals of students to law enforcement. The investigation was conducted under part of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The department’s investigation found that the district routinely suspended students or called police for disability-related behavior that could have been addressed through proper support and de-escalation,” the Justice Department website said.
“The investigation also found problems with how the district conducted threat assessments (a process to identify, evaluate and respond to potential school security concerns). When these assessments involved students with disabilities, the district systematically failed to consider the relationship between a student’s disability and their behavior, and whether appropriate support for the student would address the behavior that prompted the assessment. Instead, the district often unnecessarily referred students to law enforcement to be arrested or to start the process for an involuntary admission into a mental health facility under Florida’s Baker Act.”
The settlement, signed by Justice Department officials and Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning, calls for a series of changes aimed at such things as properly assessing disability-related behaviors and using appropriate interventions, according to information on the website.
