Urging Saugus Schools to Change Exclusionary Admission Policies
August 28th, 2024
Advocates Ask Massachusetts Attorney General to Investigate Saugus Public Schools’ Exclusionary Admissions Policy
Boston – Escalating the battle over exclusionary student admissions policies, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) today formally requested that the Massachusetts Attorney General open an investigation into Saugus Public Schools’ policies.
Earlier this month, LCR and MAC sent a letter to the Saugus School Committee, urging it to revise its Student Admissions Policy, which unlawfully excludes families who do not complete the Town of Saugus Census, and contains overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements that disproportionately impact immigrant and mixed-status families. However, the School Committee has failed to remedy its illegal policy, and its Chair has publicly stated that the policy will remain in place.
“With school starting in Saugus this week and the School Committee digging in its heels, it is imperative that the Attorney General intervene,” said Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights. “No child in Massachusetts should be denied the right to an education based on exclusionary policies.” Attorney Walton noted that Norfolk schools recently backed off of a similar policy that sought to exclude migrant students staying at a temporary shelter.
“The Attorney General has issued powerful guidance to school districts, reminding them that they must welcome all schoolchildren, regardless of race, national origin, or immigration status,” said Julia Landau, Senior Project Director at MAC. “Opening an investigation into Saugus’ exclusionary policies is critical not only for protecting the rights of schoolchildren in Saugus, but also for sending a much-needed message to all school districts in Massachusetts: that exclusionary enrollment practices are illegal and will not be permitted to stand.”
August 15, 2024
Massachusetts Advocates for Children partnered with Lawyers for Civil Rights to demand that Saugus Public Schools immediately change their exclusionary admissions policy. The policy adopted in August 2023 imposes overly strict residency and proof-of-identity requirements, denying admission to children of families who have not filled out the Town Census. These requirements disproportionately impact migrant, immigrant, and mixed-status families, violating their legal rights.
Read our press release below:
Urging Saugus Schools to Change Exclusionary Admission Policies
Saugus, Mass. – Pushing back against a recent wave of school districts seeking to illegally deny migrant children the right to attend school, Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children today demanded that Saugus Public Schools immediately revise its Student Admissions Policy. The policy, adopted in August 2023, imposes overly stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements and impermissibly denies admission to children of families who have not filled out the Town Census. These requirements disproportionately impact immigrant and mixed-status families, violating their rights under the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions. The policy must be revised by the town’s School Committee prior to the start of the school year in Saugus, on August 27, 2024.
Strewn with exclusionary language, the policy purports to require all students of the Saugus Public Schools to be “legal residents”; excludes any family that has not completed the Town Census; requires identity documents that many immigrants lack; and even threatens investigations and “criminal and civil penalties” against anyone who violates the policy. If a family moves from Saugus during the school year, the policy warns that the district will send unspecified “immigration records” to the student’s new school. These threats – individually and collectively – are unlawful, exclusionary and discriminatory.
Under both the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions, school districts are duty-bound to provide an education to all students, regardless of race or immigration status. Further, Massachusetts law does not authorize school committees to use a town census to prevent children from attending school. Policies that are intentionally discriminatory, as well as those that have the effect of discouraging access, are illegal under both state and federal law.
Saugus’ policy is part of a recent wave of xenophobic policies enacted in districts across Massachusetts, which unfairly target children from immigrant and mixed-status families. Lawyers for Civil Rights successfully advocated against a recent attempt by Norfolk Public Schools to prevent migrant children from enrolling in its schools.
“School districts cannot pick and choose the students they serve,” said Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights. “If a child lives in a particular school district, they are entitled to attend that district’s schools, regardless of race or national origin,” she added.
“Denying children the right to go to school is not only cruel, it’s also illegal,” said Diana Santiago, Legal Director at Massachusetts Advocates for Children. “School districts should be welcoming students, not making harmful and misleading statements designed to deter enrollment.”