Saugus Public Schools Sued Over Exclusionary Admissions Policy
Lawsuit Seeks Documents Showing Why Policy Was Created And How It Is Used To Harm Vulnerable Schoolchildren
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2024
Today, Lawyers for Civil Rights (“LCR”) and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (“MAC”) filed a lawsuit in Essex Superior Court against Saugus Public Schools, seeking to uncover documents related to the school district’s exclusionary Student Admissions Policy. The Policy illegally denies school admission to families who do not fill out the Town Census and imposes numerous other overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements that disproportionately impact immigrant and mixed-status families. The two non-profits are represented pro bono in the lawsuit by the law firm Anderson & Kreiger LLP.
Adopted in August 2023, the Policy is causing numerous harms to young students, including months of missed school and inability to secure transportation to and from school. In response to a public records request sent to Saugus in April 2024, seeking a broad range of documents showing why the Policy was created and how it is being implemented, Saugus produced only one document: the Policy itself. Today’s lawsuit challenges this insufficient response, and asks the Court to order Saugus to turn over internal policies, forms, and School Committee emails and texts related to the Policy.
“The public has a right to know why the Saugus School Committee approved this illegal policy in the first place and how it is being used to exclude young children from school,” said Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights. “Transparency is critical, particularly when the government is violating the rights of vulnerable schoolchildren.”
“School districts should be welcoming students, not enacting exclusionary policies designed to deter enrollment,” said Diana Santiago, Legal Director at Massachusetts Advocates for Children. “Refusing to turn over public records that would shed light on why such a policy was enacted and how it is being implemented only compounds the problem,” she added.
Today’s lawsuit follows a civil rights complaint that the organizations filed with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell last month. The Attorney General’s office has stated that it has been in contact with Saugus regarding the Policy, but to date the Policy remains in place.
“Federal and state laws guarantee equal access to public education for all schoolchildren, regardless of race, national origin, or immigration status,” said Christina Marshall, Partner at Anderson & Kreiger LLP. “Today’s lawsuit is the next step in ensuring that those guarantees are protected, in Saugus and throughout the Commonwealth.”
The public records complaint filed today can be found here.
The Attorney General complaint can be found here.