The Jefferson Parish School Board and the family of a fourth-grader who was suspended for briefly moving a BB gun last year during an online class will take part in settlement talks in May to resolve a federal lawsuit.
A mediation conference involving the Nyron Harrison-Thelma Williams family, the state of Louisiana and the Jefferson Parish Schools will take place May 18, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Chelsea Brener Cusimano, told the Louisiana Record in an email.
The family’s 9-year-old son, Ka’Mauri Harrison, had been recommended for expulsion over the incident that occurred during remote instruction as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He was suspended for six days, and the family filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Louisiana to expunge Ka’Mauri’s record and recover legal costs.
“We are hopeful that all parties – the Harrison family, the state and Jefferson Parish School system – can work together to come to an amicable resolution and that the attention of this case can be redirected to the classroom and developing concrete policies that set a standard for parents to follow, yet do not infringe upon a student's and family's rights in their home when receiving virtual instruction,” Cusimano said.
The school board’s willingness to mediate the dispute represents a step in the right direction, she said.
The decision about settlement talks comes after the ACLU of Louisiana filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Harrison-Williams family. School officials’ decision making in Ka’Mauri’s case reflects a history of Black children being unfairly singled out for excessive punishment, according to the ACLU’s brief.
“Decades of social science research shows that Black students disproportionately suffer suspension and expulsion from school in large part because of the discriminatory exercise of discretion, especially when combined with so-called ‘zero-tolerance’ policies,” the brief states.
School administrators apparently assumed that Ka’Mauri had violated Louisiana’s Gun Free Schools policy, a zero-tolerance law that was aimed at keeping weapons out of school campuses, according to the ACLU. Jefferson Parish public school officials seemed to apply the statute to virtual learning settings.
“The choice is an overly expansive use of discretion, highly susceptible to abuse and the disproportionate educational disenfranchisement of Black students,” an ACLU news release said.
The ACLU’s entry into the case comes in the wake of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry becoming an intervenor.