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Saugus Public Schools sued by civil rights groups over admissions policy records
The groups have been pushing Saugus officials to revise the policy, which they say violates the rights of migrant children and their families.
Last month, two civil rights groups said that a Saugus Public Schools admissions policy violates the constitutional rights of migrant families using “overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements.” Now, those groups are suing the town in an effort to obtain public records about the policy.
The lawsuit was filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children in Essex Superior Court Wednesday against the town, the school district, and the Saugus School Committee.
The policy was approved by the Saugus School Committee just two days after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency regarding the state’s overburdened shelter system last August. A surge in the number of migrants coming to Massachusetts filled the system and prompted Healey to implement a number of restrictions on how long people can stay within it.
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Migrant families, including many Haitians fleeing the violence that has engulfed their Caribbean nation, are still heading to Massachusetts despite Healey’s declaration that the state is “full.” Earlier this week, families with young children returned to Logan Airport seeking shelter, despite rules prohibiting them from doing so.
In accordance with the Saugus policy, families who move there must complete the town census to register their children for public schools. Parents or guardians of new students must also provide documents demonstrating proof of residency, occupancy, and specific identification documents such as a valid Massachusetts driver’s license or U.S. passport. The advocacy groups say these requirements disproportionately exclude migrant children, violating their rights and state and local laws that ban discrimination in public school admissions.
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“Since the time that the Saugus School Committee enacted it, the policy has resulted in numerous harms to young children, including missed months of school, inability to secure adequate transportation to and from school, and other barriers to entry,” they wrote in a complaint.
The groups sent a public records request to the district in May, asking for detailed information about the policy, its adoption, and how it has been applied so far. In response, Saugus officials only sent back the policy itself, according to the complaint. The groups accuse the district of not conducting an adequate search for the documents sought and for not supplementing the initial response with more relevant information, including internal communications.
“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,” Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in a statement. “Transparency is critical, particularly when the government is violating the rights of vulnerable schoolchildren.”
Saugus School Committee Chair Vincent Serino defended the policy.
“Our admission policy ensures that our students are residents of Saugus and do not live in surrounding cities and towns. It does not apply to students covered under the McKinney-Vento Act, nor would the immigration status of a student or their family impact their ability to receive an education in Saugus schools. This exact policy is used in surrounding districts without issue,” Serino said in a statement to Boston.com Thursday.
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The Saugus policy specifically states that its requirements do not apply to students entitled to attend the town’s public schools under the federal McKinney-Vento Act. Under that act, public schools must immediately enroll homeless students living in the district, unless it’s in their best interest to remain in their “school of origin.”
The policy also clarifies that no child who “actually resides” in Saugus will be denied access to schooling because of their immigration status or the immigration status of their parents or guardians.
The advocacy groups asked Saugus officials to revise the policy before the beginning of the current school year, a request that went unmet. So the groups filed a civil rights complaint with Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, asking it to open an investigation into the matter. Campbell’s office has said that it has been in contact with Saugus about the policy, but the policy remains in place.
“School districts should be welcoming students, not enacting exclusionary policies designed to deter enrollment,” Massachusetts Advocates for Children Legal Director Diana Santiago said in a statement. “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.”
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