1 SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA MELVIN HARRIS, a minor, by and through CHRISTOPHER HARRIS and DEBBIE HILL, his parents; QUARTEZ GOODMAN, a minor, by and through COKETHIA GOODMAN, his mother; MONTAVIOUS HOUSTON, a minor, by and through JOYCE HOUSTON, his legal guardian; DEVQUAN JONES, a minor, by and through JACQUELYN JONES, his mother; TERRANCE PARKS, a minor, by and through SANQUITA PARKS, his mother; JATOYA RUFF, a minor, by and through ANTOINETTE RUFF, her mother; REGINALD WEEMS, a minor, by and through ALGERNON WEEMS, his legal guardian; TERRY PATRICK WELCH, a minor, by and through PATTI WELCH, his mother; and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. ATLANTA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SYSTEM; CITY OF ATLANTA BOARD OF EDUCATION; BEVERLY L. HALL, in her official capacity as Atlanta School Superintendent; and COMMUNITY EDUCATION PARTNERS, INC., Defendants. CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. _____ VERIFIED COMPLAINT Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §§ 9-4-2, 9-5-1, and 23-1-1, the Plaintiffs and each of them, for their claims against Defendants, and each of them, state and allege as follows:
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1
SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA
MELVIN HARRIS, a minor, by and through
CHRISTOPHER HARRIS and DEBBIE HILL, his parents; QUARTEZ GOODMAN, a minor, by and through COKETHIA GOODMAN, his mother; MONTAVIOUS HOUSTON, a minor, by and through JOYCE HOUSTON, his legal guardian; DEVQUAN JONES, a minor, by and through JACQUELYN JONES, his mother; TERRANCE PARKS, a minor, by and through SANQUITA PARKS, his mother; JATOYA RUFF, a minor, by and through ANTOINETTE RUFF, her mother; REGINALD WEEMS, a minor, by and through ALGERNON WEEMS, his legal guardian; TERRY PATRICK WELCH, a minor, by and through PATTI WELCH, his mother; and all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v. ATLANTA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SYSTEM;
CITY OF ATLANTA BOARD OF EDUCATION; BEVERLY L. HALL, in her official capacity as Atlanta School Superintendent; and COMMUNITY EDUCATION PARTNERS, INC.,
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. _____
VERIFIED COMPLAINT
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. §§ 9-4-2, 9-5-1, and 23-1-1, the Plaintiffs and each of them, for
their claims against Defendants, and each of them, state and allege as follows:
2
NATURE OF THIS ACTION
1. The Atlanta Independent School System (“AISS”) has contracted with
Community Education Partners (“CEP”) to run an alternative school (“the AISS-CEP School”).
The school — which is privately run but publicly accountable to the school district — does not
function as a school at all, but rather as a warehouse for poor children of color. Academics at the
school are virtually non-existent and students are inadequately supervised. Violence is rampant.
The school’s motto reflects its priorities: “Be Here, Behave, Be Learning.”
2. This is a civil rights class action brought pursuant to Article I, Section I,
Paragraphs I and XIII, and Article VIII, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution; the Fourth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; and the terms of the contract between
AISS and CEP, on behalf of all students currently enrolled or who will be enrolled in the AISS-
CEP School. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief against Defendants AISS, the
Atlanta Board of Education, Beverly L. Hall, and CEP to prevent violations of Plaintiffs’ legal
rights and to remedy Defendants’ continuing failure to provide Plaintiffs with a constitutionally
adequate education, with appropriate due process and Fourth Amendment protections, and with
the services called for in the contract between AISS and CEP.
3. The Georgia Constitution guarantees a right to an adequate public education,
creating a property interest that cannot be taken away without due process of law. AISS
Defendants are obligated to provide an adequate education and may do so directly or via contract
with another party. In assuming the contract, CEP Defendants are accountable not only under
the terms of the contractual delegation, but also as state actors.
4. The relief Plaintiffs seek is supported by satisfactory proofs, including the public
records, facts and other documentation referenced throughout the Complaint.
3
PARTIES
5. The Plaintiffs are as follows:
a. Plaintiff QUARTEZ GOODMAN is a 17 year old enrolled in the 8th
grade at the AISS-CEP School. After a series of suspensions at his regular school,
Quartez was referred to the AISS-CEP School and has been at the school for 3 years.
Although he received good grades prior to being referred to the school, he was forced to
repeat the 8th grade three times at the AISS-CEP School. He finally stopped attending
the school in September 2007 because of its chaotic environment and lack of educational
opportunity. If conditions at the school were fixed, he would gladly return. He appears
in this action by and through his mother, Cokethia Goodman.
b. Plaintiff MELVIN HARRIS is 14 years old and is enrolled in the 6th
grade at the AISS-CEP School. Melvin was a good student at his regular school, but in
2006 he was referred to the AISS-CEP School for cutting classes and misbehaving.
Although he was released in 2007, he was subsequently referred to the AISS-CEP School
a second time, and did not receive a hearing or other opportunity to be heard that time.
He has since repeated the sixth grade twice, has been the victim of violence at the school,
and is subjected to unreasonable searches each day he attends. Earlier this school year,
Melvin received a de facto 10-day suspension without proper notice or opportunity to be
heard when his parents were not permitted to timely re-enroll him after a 9-day
suspension. More recently, Melvin received a 3-day “bus suspension” along with all of
the other boys on his bus route with no opportunity to be heard. Because his family does
not own a car and cannot afford bus fare, the bus suspension effectively imposed an out-
of-school suspension. He appears in this action by and through his parents, Christopher
4
Harris and Debbie Hill.
c. Plaintiff MONTAVIOUS HOUSTON is 14 years old and enrolled in the
8th grade at the AISS-CEP School. He was on the football and basketball teams at his
regular school and got good grades. He was referred to the school via a tribunal hearing
on or around November 19, 2007, but his great grandmother was told not to enroll him
until after the Thanksgiving holiday. On or around November 23, he was placed in
juvenile detention. Upon his release, on or around December 17, his great grandmother
was told that he could not be enrolled until after January 10. After the 10th, his great
grandmother was told that because orientation was full, he would have to wait until
January 22 and that no alternative arrangements were possible. Montavious ultimately
missed roughly two months of school. Since he has been at the AISS-CEP School, he has
suffered from the lack of educational opportunity, chaotic environment, and unreasonable
search procedures at the school. He appears in this action by and through his great
grandmother, Joyce Houston, who is also his legal guardian.
d. Plaintiff DEVQUAN JONES is a 16 year old 10th grader at the AISS-CEP
School. Devquan and his family moved to Atlanta in August 2007 from Blakely,
Georgia, where he attended regular school, got Bs and Cs, had never been left back or
received an out-of-school suspension, and was on the football team. His mother was
prevented from enrolling him in his neighborhood school in Atlanta by a series of
bureaucratic delays and requirements imposed by the Atlanta Board of Education.
Devquan was denied a public education for a month as she attempted to get him into
school. In September 2007, Devquan’s mother was informed that because he had missed
so many days of school, he would have to enroll at the AISS-CEP School. Devquan
5
never received a hearing or any other opportunity to challenge that assignment. Since
attending the AISS-CEP School, Devquan’s academic performance has deteriorated and
he has been subject to unreasonable search practices. He also suffered an unprovoked
physical attack by a security guard, who slammed his head into a wall. His mother, who
was not notified by the school of the injury, was forced to take him to the hospital. He
appears in this action by and through his mother, Jacquelyn Jones.
e. Plaintiff TERRANCE PARKS is 15 years old and enrolled in the 8th
grade at the AISS-CEP School. He was referred to the school for an alleged violation of
a “student contract” that waived his right to a hearing prior to referral. No hearing was
ever held regarding the underlying contract violation or the referral to the AISS-CEP
School. Because orientation for the school takes place only on Mondays, Terrance was
out of school for a week. Terrance was subsequently arrested and handcuffed at the
school for possession of marijuana, which was found underneath the insole of sneakers he
had borrowed from a friend. He was placed in juvenile detention for 2 days and received
a 9 day out-of-school suspension. Although he ultimately received a tribunal hearing to
decide whether he would be expelled for the remainder of the year, he received no
opportunity to be heard prior to the 9 day suspension. Terrance also recently received a 3
day out-of-school suspension that was summarily imposed upon his entire class because
one student misbehaved. He appears in this action by and through his mother, Sanquita
Parks.
f. Plaintiff JATOYA RUFF is a 15 year old enrolled in the 8th grade at the
AISS-CEP School. After a brief stay in juvenile detention following an argument with
her mother, JaToya was informed by her regular school that she was criminally
6
trespassing and would have to enroll at the AISS-CEP School. JaToya has not attended
the school since September 2007 because she is afraid of the unsafe conditions. She is
currently on leave from school because she recently gave birth, but she has not officially
withdrawn from the school and if she were to return to the educational system, she would
attend the AISS-CEP School. She appears in this action by and through her mother,
Antoinette Ruff.
g. Plaintiff REGINALD WEEMS is 15 years old and enrolled in the 8th
grade at the AISS-CEP School. He played football at his regular school and received
average grades. When he moved with his family from Decatur to Atlanta in March 2007,
he was summarily referred to the school without a hearing or other opportunity to be
heard, along with two of his siblings. Reginald had been unable to attend regular school
the previous month because of a series of deaths in his family and lack of money for
transportation. He was unable to enroll at the AISS-CEP School until May 2007, because
administrators said the school was full. In the fall of 2007, Reginald was arrested and
held for a month in juvenile detention. Although the charges were dismissed, his
grandmother was told he could not re-enroll at the AISS-CEP School until after the
holidays. In the beginning of January 2008, she was told he could not enroll until
January 22, because the school was full. On January 22, Reginald was not picked up by
the school bus and his grandmother was told he would have to wait until January 29.
Reginald missed at least 2 months of school. He appears in this action by and through his
grandmother, Algernon Weems, who is also his legal guardian.
h. Plaintiff TERRY PATRICK WELCH is 15 years old and a 10th grader at
the AISS-CEP School. He was referred to an alternative school in Douglasville for
7
fighting, and his mother waived his right to a hearing because she was informed that if
she did not do so, her son would be expelled. After moving to Atlanta from Douglasville,
his mother attempted to enroll Terry in a regular school, but was told that he was required
to attend the AISS-CEP School because he had previously attended an alternative school.
Since then, Terry’s grades have dropped significantly, he has suffered from the violent
and chaotic environment at the school, and he has been subject to unreasonable search
practices. He has also received out-of-school suspensions without any notice or
opportunity to be heard. He appears in this action by and through his mother, Patti
Welch.
6. The defendants are as follows:
a. Defendant ATLANTA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SYSTEM is charged
with establishing and maintaining the public schools by which the guarantees of Article
VIII, Section I, are to be met. The AISS-CEP School is one of the public schools under
the control and supervision of Defendant AISS.
b. Defendant CITY OF ATLANTA BOARD OF EDUCATION — which
consists of Brenda Muhammad, Khaatim Sherrer El, Cecily Harsch-Kinnane, Kathleen
Pattillo, LaChandra Butler Burks, Yolanda Johnson, Eric Wilson, Mark Riley, and
Emmett Johnson — is also charged with establishing and maintaining the public schools
in Atlanta by which the guarantees of Article VIII, Section I, are to be met. The AISS-
CEP School is one of the public schools under the control and supervision of Defendant
City of Atlanta Board of Education.
c. Defendant BEVERLY L. HALL is the Atlanta School Superintendent and
is sued in her official capacity. She is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia. She is appointed by
8
the Atlanta Board of Education pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-101 and is responsible for
ensuring that schools in her district operate in compliance with the law. The AISS-CEP
School is one of the public schools under the control and supervision of Defendant Hall.
Defendant Hall is a signatory to the AISS-CEP Contract on behalf of AISS and is a final
policymaker for AISS.
d. Defendants Atlanta Independent School System, City of Atlanta Board of
Education, and Beverly L. Hall are referred to collectively as “AISS Defendants.”
e. Defendant COMMUNITY EDUCATION PARTNERS, INC. is a for-
profit entity incorporated under Delaware law, doing business in Atlanta, Georgia, whose
principal office is at 2636 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN 37214. Its registered agent in
Georgia is the C T Corporation System, at 1201 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA
30361. It has contracted with AISS to provide educational services for children referred
to alternative school in the Atlanta school district in exchange for $6.975 million a year.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
7. This case arises under the Constitution and laws of the State of Georgia. This
Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Article VI, § 1, ¶ 4 of the Georgia Constitution
and O.C.G.A. §§ 9-4-2, 23-1-1 and 23-3-1, which provide that the Court may issue declaratory
and equitable relief.
8. Venue in this County is appropriate under Art. VI, § 2, ¶¶ 3 and 6 of the Georgia
Constitution and under O.C.G.A. § 9-10-30, because this is a suit in equity for declaratory and
injunctive relief and because a majority of the defendants against whom substantial equitable
relief is prayed reside in this County.
9. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law or access to any comprehensive
9
administrative scheme that would adequately redress the grievances they bring in this complaint.
LAWSUIT PROPERLY MAINTAINED AS A CLASS ACTION
10. Plaintiffs bring this action as a class action pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-23.
11. The proposed class to be maintained in this action consists of all children
currently enrolled or who will be enrolled in the future at the AISS-CEP School. The
representatives of this class are Melvin Harris, Quartez Goodman, Montavious Houston,
Devquan Jones, Terrance Parks, JaToya Ruff, Reginald Weems, and Terry Patrick Welch.
12. The Plaintiff Class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impractical. At
any point in time, hundreds of students are enrolled at the AISS-CEP School.
13. There are questions of law and fact common to the members of the Plaintiff Class,
including, but not limited to:
a. Whether Defendants have an obligation to ensure that members of the
Plaintiff Class receive an adequate public education;
b. Whether Defendants’ policies and practices have resulted in the referral
and discipline of members of the Plaintiff Class to the AISS-CEP School without due
process;
c. Whether Defendants’ policies and practices of subjecting all students to
intrusive daily searches without individualized suspicion is unreasonable.
14. The claims of the Plaintiff Class representatives are typical of claims of the
putative class members and, by pursuing their own interests, the class representatives will
advance the interests of the absent class members.
15. The Plaintiff Class representatives will fairly and adequately protect the interests
of the class. There are no conflicts of interest between the class representatives and absent class
10
members with respect to the matters at issue in this litigation; the class representatives will
vigorously prosecute the suit on behalf of the class; and the class representatives are represented
by experienced counsel. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys employed by the American Civil
Liberties Union (“ACLU”), the ACLU of Georgia, and the ACLU Southern Regional Office,
nonprofit legal organizations whose attorneys have substantial experience and expertise in civil
rights and education reform matters.
16. Defendants have acted or failed to act on grounds generally applicable to all
Plaintiffs, necessitating declaratory and injunctive relief for the Class.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
I. Legal and Statutory Framework
17. Article VIII, Section I of the Georgia Constitution imposes on AISS Defendants
an obligation to provide every member of the Plaintiff class with an “adequate public education.”
The General Assembly of the State of Georgia has declared that it is the policy of this state to
assure that each school-age child in Georgia has access to quality instruction designed to support
student development of essential competencies in order that students may realize their potential.
O.C.G.A. § 20-2-131. With respect to alternative schools, the General Assembly has
specifically required that an environment be provided where students can stay in school and
acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for a productive life. Id.
18. Pursuant to Georgia law, an adequate public education must include: a safe
learning environment, a sufficient number of teachers and support staff, appropriate classroom
instruction and resources, appropriate support services, and basic record-keeping. See O.C.G.A.
§§ 20-2-131; 2-2-140 to 148; 2-2-735(c); & 2-2-737 to 738. See also GBOE Rule 160-4-8-.12.
19. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I,
11
Section I, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution provide that no person may be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law.
20. Plaintiffs have a property interest in the adequate public education guaranteed to
them by the Georgia Constitution and may not be deprived of their right to such an education
without due process of law.
21. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section I,
Paragraph XIII of the Georgia Constitution protect Plaintiffs from unreasonable searches.
22. The AISS-CEP Contract requires CEP to operate the AISS-CEP School in
compliance with all applicable federal and state constitutional requirements and federal, state and
local laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, and regulations, and AISS policies and procedures.
II. AISS-CEP School Background
23. The AISS-CEP School is an Atlanta public alternative school located at 2930
Forrest Hills Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30315, with an enrollment over the course of 2006-07 of
approximately 844 students. It serves both middle school and high school students, and has been
open since 2002.
24. Georgia law requires local school systems to provide an alternative education
program for disruptive students and notes that such programs “are intended to meet the education
needs of a student who is suspended from his or her regular classroom and also of a student who
is eligible to remain in his or her regular classroom but is more likely to succeed in a
nontraditional setting such as that provided in an alternative education program.” O.C.G.A. §
20-2-154.1. The instruction provided in such programs “shall enable students to return to a
general or career education program as quickly as possible.” Id.
25. The AISS-CEP School has an obligation to help students who were struggling in
12
their regular schools to catch up academically and behaviorally with the goal of returning them
to the regular school system. Its failure to deliver on this obligation has transformed it into a
dumping ground for unwanted students.
26. Other alternative schools in the Atlanta metropolitan area serving similar student
populations include the McClarin Alternative School in Fulton County and the DeKalb
Alternative School in DeKalb County.
27. Prior to contracting with CEP, AISS operated several alternative programs for
students with behavioral and disciplinary problems: the Burger King Academy, the Opportunity
Center, the Therrell Academy, the Harper-Archer Academy, and the Phoenix Program. AISS
Defendants consolidated these programs into one school, and in 2002 granted CEP Defendants
the contract to run that school.
28. AISS entered into a First Amended and Restated Agreement with CEP on August
29, 2003; a Second Amended and Restated Agreement on September 3, 2004; and a Third
Amended and Restated Agreement on July 1, 2006 (“the AISS-CEP Contract”).
29. With these contracts — and at a cost to Atlanta taxpayers of $36,570,941 between
November 2002 and June 2007 — AISS delegated to CEP its obligation under Georgia law to
provide Atlanta schoolchildren with an adequate public education, and CEP accepted that
obligation.
30. The AISS-CEP Contract provides for base compensation of $6,975,000 for each
school year for an enrollment of up to 750 students. Additional students may be enrolled at
$51.67 per additional student per day. The contract requires AISS to use reasonable efforts to
enroll 750 students in the AISS-CEP School at all times. The contract also provides for payment
of an $89,000 “incentive fee” upon the attainment of enumerated performance goals.
13
31. In exchange for this compensation, CEP Defendants agreed to provide a safe
learning environment, a sufficient number of teachers and support staff, appropriate classroom
instruction and necessary resources, appropriate support services, and basic record-keeping.
III. Plaintiffs are denied an adequate public education at the AISS-CEP School.
A. Some students are denied an education altogether for months at a time.
32. Defendants have an intentional policy and practice of referring students to the
AISS-CEP School but refusing to permit them to attend the school. Parents are sometimes told
they must wait until after “the holidays” have passed to register their children, even if their
children were referred in November. Parents are also sometimes told they cannot register their
children with the school because orientation sessions are full. No alternatives are made available
to these parents and their children, who receive no educational services whatsoever for months at
a time.
33. Upon information and belief, the wholesale denial of educational services has
taken place even when fewer than the 750 students contemplated by the AISS-CEP Contract are
enrolled at the school.
B. Violence at the AISS-CEP School exceeds any conceivably acceptable level.
34. The provision of an adequate education requires the provision of a safe education.
Georgia Board of Education Rule 160-4-8-.16 defines a persistently dangerous school as one in
which, during each of three consecutive years, at least two percent of the student population or
ten students (whichever is greater) are found by official action to have committed an offense in
violation of a school rule that involved drugs, felony weapons, or terroristic threats.
35. Although the AISS-CEP School is exempt from the Unsafe School Choice Option
provided by Georgia, it meets the definition of a persistently dangerous school, reporting 22
14
qualifying offenses in 2005, 24 in 2006, and 12 in 2007. None of the other alternative schools in
the area serving similarly situated students would so qualify.
36. In addition to the most serious offenses that make the AISS-CEP School
persistently dangerous, the 2006 Georgia Department of Education Discipline Incident School
Summary Report lists 176 reported incidents of battery, 189 of fighting, 41 of threat or
intimidation, 79 of vandalism, 5 of knife possession, and 2 of firearm possession, as well as
1,202 other discipline incidents. The school had a reported enrollment of 415 students that year.
37. In 2006, the AISS-CEP School made 274 delinquency referrals to the Fulton
County Juvenile Court, or about two referrals for every three students. In contrast, the McClarin
School (with a student enrollment of 242) made 64 such referrals, or about two referrals per eight
students.
38. Of the 90 schools in the Atlanta Public Schools district reporting statistics to the
Georgia Department of Education (“GDOE”) in 2006, the AISS-CEP School alone accounted for
67.7% of all reported incidents of battery, 46% of all reported incidents of vandalism, and 20%
of all reported incidents of gun possession.
39. In 2006, the number of offenses per 100 students for the Atlanta Public School
system as a whole was 51.6. The rate for the AISS-CEP School was eight times higher, at 416.9.
The rate was 141.8 at the DeKalb Alternative School, and only 9.9 at the McClarin School.
40. The 2007 GDOE report for the AISS-CEP School lists a dramatically reduced
number of incidents: 5 incidents of battery, 3 of disorderly conduct, 28 of fighting, 4 of threat or
intimidation, and 63 other discipline incidents. Upon information and belief, Defendants did not
actually reduce levels of violence, but instead simply reported fewer incidents.
41. Other AISS data for that year show that 165 students received out-of-school
15
suspensions in 2006-07, 93 students were suspended for 10 or more days, and 169 were
disciplined for crime/violence. The same data list 4 out-of-school suspensions for arson, 13 for
battery, 6 for disorderly conduct, 14 for fighting, 2 for threat/intimidation/assault, and 3 for
“weapons-knife.”
42. None of these reports reflects the violence inflicted upon students by teachers and
administrators. Teachers (and at least one administrator) routinely hit students, throw books, and
throw students against walls or to the floor. Nor do these reports reflect the violence inflicted by
school resource officers and police officers. Such officers are often physically aggressive, and
have a practice of using chokeholds on the students.
43. Georgia law requires that disruptive students assigned to alternative education
programs be separated from non-disruptive students, O.C.G.A. § 20-2-154.1, and that students
victimized by other students be permitted to transfer to another school within 10 school days of
the violent criminal offense, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 160-4-8.16(2)(d). Defendants are in
violation of both requirements. As a result, the many non-violent students who are victimized by
other students at the AISS-CEP School must face their attackers every day.
C. The AISS-CEP School does not have a sufficient number of teachers and
necessary support staff.
44. The provision of an adequate public education requires that schools have a
sufficient number of qualified teachers and necessary support staff. The Georgia Department of
Education (“DOE”) recommends a maximum student-to-teacher ratio of 10:1 for alternative
education programs. The average across the entire Atlanta Public School System, which serves
children without any behavioral or other special needs, is 14:1.
45. The AISS-CEP School is not staffed with a sufficient number of qualified
16
teachers or paraprofessionals. There are no tutors on staff. According to the 2006-07 State of
Georgia K-12 Report Card for the AISS-CEP School, the overall ratio of students to teachers was
roughly 20:1 that year, with only one full-time support person on staff. The teacher-to-support
person ratio was 11:1. Support personnel are defined to include special education personnel,
student services personnel, paraprofessional/teacher aides, librarians, teacher support specialists,
and lunchroom monitors.
46. While these figures indicate a comparatively low number of teachers per student
and an insufficient number of support staff, the AISS-CEP School possesses an abundance of
administrators, with a teacher-to-administrator ratio of 3:1.
47. Other alternative schools in the area serving similarly situated populations have
more teachers and support staff, and fewer administrators. At the DeKalb Alternative School,
the teacher-to-student ratio in 2006-07 was 1:7, the teacher-to-support person ratio was 7:1, and
the teacher-to-administrator ratio was 9:1. At the McClarin Alternative School in Fulton County
that year, the teacher-to-student ratio was 1:12, the teacher-to-support person ratio was 5:1, and
the teacher-to-administrator ratio was 8:1. Support personnel represent only 6.3% of staff at the
AISS-CEP School, but 16% at McClarin, and 11.5% at DeKalb.
48. Those other alternative schools also spend far more than the AISS-CEP School
does on teacher salaries, and allocate less money in their budgets to administrator salaries. For
example, in 2006-07, the McClarin School spent nearly twice as much as the AISS-CEP School
on teacher salaries and nearly $95,000 less than the AISS-CEP School on administrator salaries
for a smaller student enrollment.
49. Due to the lack of teachers, class sizes at the AISS-CEP School exceed those
permitted by the State Board of Education, which limits class sizes as of the 2007-08 school year
17
to 18 students at an alternative program without a paraprofessional.
50. Teachers at the AISS-CEP school are largely inexperienced, averaging just 0.94
years of experience as of 2006-07. By contrast, teachers at the McClarin Alternative School
averaged 19.07 years of experience and teachers at the DeKalb Alternative School averaged
10.58 years.
D. The AISS-CEP School provides little or no classroom instruction or
resources necessary for teaching and learning.
51. Georgia law requires that alternative education programs include objectives of
the Quality Core Curriculum and provide instruction that enables students to return to regular
education as soon as possible. O.C.G.A. § 20-2-154.1. Georgia DOE Rule 160-4-8-.12
additionally requires that course credit be earned in the same manner as in other education
programs. And the Georgia DOE’s alternative education program guidelines further require that
the instructional materials provided be the same as as those supplied in the regular school
program.
52. Students at the AISS-CEP School spend the majority of their time in class filling
out worksheets without teaching, supervision, or feedback. It is the rare teacher who provides
actual lessons, in which information is conveyed by teachers to students. There is functionally
no curriculum. Class times vary, but many are short even by alternative school standards.
53. Students from as many as three different grades are often combined, all working
on the same worksheets.
54. It is the school’s policy not to assign homework. Students are not permitted to
take books home, or to bring school supplies to and from school. Many teachers simply sit in
their classrooms, sometimes on a cell phone or computer, while students fill out worksheets.
18
Most teachers do not return completed worksheets to students or provide other feedback.
55. AISS-CEP School staff conducts no individualized review of student records to
address students’ specific needs or develop individualized academic plans. Students who
struggle academically receive no guidance. Students who are not struggling quickly become
bored.
56. To the extent tests are administered, preparation is nearly impossible because
students cannot take their textbooks home. The rule against homework and the ban on taking
school materials home deprive students of the opportunity to develop good study habits.
57. Defendants have failed to ensure that students have the materials necessary for
learning. Many textbooks at the school are missing pages or otherwise damaged. Some
teachers never hand out textbooks. There are no supplementary materials or teaching aids.
There is no library.
58. Students at the AISS-CEP School have no extracurricular activities, or art, music,
and physical education classes. Instead, students are randomly and periodically released into the
schoolyard with no meaningful supervision.
E. The AISS-CEP School relies inappropriately on the Programmed Logic for
Automated Teaching Operation (“PLATO”) Program.
59. Rather than providing classroom instruction and benchmarking student
achievement with the standardized tests used in other Georgia schools, Defendants rely heavily
on computer programs marketed by a company called PLATO for assessment and instruction.
60. PLATO’s own manuals recommend active guidance of students using the
programs and studies have shown the programs to be of limited value without adequate staff
training and supervision.
19
61. Defendants fail to provide the supervision necessary for PLATO to be effective or
its test results accurate. Students work with minimal supervision and often ask each other for the
correct answers to reach the next level of questions. Many students do not work on the programs
at all, but rather play computer games.
62. Sometimes there are not enough computers for all the students. Those without
computers sit at empty desks.
F. The AISS-CEP School fails to provide students with the support services to
which they are entitled.
63. The provision of an adequate public education requires that certain support
services be available. Georgia law requires alternative education programs to provide
appropriate supervision and counseling. O.C.G.A. § 20-2-154.1; GBOE Rule 160-4-8-.12.
Georgia DOE guidelines also note that such programs should customize intervention programs
and support services to meet the needs of individual students.
64. Defendants have failed to ensure that the AISS-CEP School provides access to the
services students need. Students lack adequate access to guidance counselors, psychologists,
social workers, and career counselors.
65. Students who struggle academically or have behavioral issues, i.e., the majority of
those enrolled at the AISS-CEP School, are supposed to receive support from student support
teams (“SST”). Of 127 students represented by the Fulton County Juvenile Court Educational
Advocate between August 2004 and August 2007, 60 had never had an SST intervention.
66. Students with personal, home, school, or community adjustment issues lack
access to a social worker. Although the school currently has one social worker/therapist on staff,
20
the vast majority of students with such issues receive no services at all.
67. Defendants have failed to offer appropriate social/discipline skills instruction or a
discipline management and behavioral development program to students at the AISS-CEP
School. Although the school does offer an anger management class to some students, it is only
20 minutes long, is offered only once a week, and attendance is optional.
G. Record-keeping at the AISS-CEP School is so lax that the school cannot
provide an adequate public education.
68. Basic record-keeping is essential to the provision of adequate educational
services. GBOE Rule 160-4-8-.12 requires school systems to maintain records on enrollment,
disciplinary referrals, grades, pass rates, and entry/exit dates.
69. Defendants have failed to maintain these records accurately. Attendance records
often fail to reflect the extent to which students are truant. The course list does not accurately
reflect the educational opportunities actually available. Grades are given out haphazardly.
H. Although Defendants have long been on notice about the failure of the AISS-
CEP School to provide an adequate public education, they have done nothing to
improve the quality of the education provided.
70. AISS Defendants were well aware of the possibility that the AISS-CEP School
would be nothing more than a dumping ground for unwanted children before they ever signed
the contract.
71. Between 2004 and 2006, AISS Defendants were aware or should have been aware
of the AISS-CEP School’s failure to provide an adequate education. For example, a series of
articles in the Atlanta Voice in September-November 2004 highlighted problems at the school,
21
and included an acknowledgement by the then-principal that students did not receive homework
or books to take home as a matter of school policy.
72. Nevertheless, on July 1, 2006, AISS Defendants renewed the contract with CEP
Defendants for another three years, until June 30, 2009, with terms that renew the contract for
five years at a time.
73. The AISS-CEP School moved to a new building in the fall of 2007, but the
162. Paragraphs 1 through 134 are hereby incorporated by reference.
163. Defendants are in violation of many of the requirements of the Quality Basic
Education Act’s provisions governing alternative education programs, including, but not limited
to, the Act’s requirement that disruptive students be separated from non-disruptive students; that
the program provide a focus on self-discipline; that the program provide for students’
educational and behavioral needs; and that the program provide supervision and counseling.
164. Defendants are also in violation of many of the Act’s provisions governing
education programs more generally, including but not limited to the Act’s requirement that
students be provided with a course of study in the background, history and development of the
federal and state governments, Georgia county and municipal governments, the history of the
United States and Georgia, and the essentials of the United States and Georgia constitutions,
including the study of American institutions and ideals; the Act’s requirement that students be
provided with a course on the dangers of alcohol and drugs; and the Act’s requirement that
students be provided with a course in sex education and AIDS prevention.
165. Plaintiffs are among the class for whose especial benefit O.C.G.A. § 20-2-130 et.
seq. was enacted and enforcement of this statute by Plaintiffs is consistent with the underlying
purpose of the legislative scheme.
COUNT VI
FAILURE TO FOLLOW DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES — O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-737,
20-2-738, 20-2-753, 20-2-754, 20-2-765
166. Paragraphs 1 through 134 are hereby incorporated by reference.
39
167. Defendants are required to ensure that teachers file reports about disruptive
students and that the principal or principal’s designee forward a copy of such reports to the
students’ parents within one school day along with information on how the parents may contact
the principal or designee. If disciplinary action is taken in response to such a report, written
notice is to be sent to the teacher and the students’ parents within one school day of the action
taken and reasonable attempts are to be made to confirm that such notification has been received.
Defendants have failed to ensure that these procedures are followed. O.C.G.A. § 20-2-737.
168. Defendants are required to ensure that certain procedures are followed when a
student is removed from a classroom. Teachers are to file a report describing the student’s
behavior; written notice is to be sent to the student’s parents along with a copy of the teacher’s
report; the student is to receive an opportunity to be heard by the beginning of the next school
day; if the teacher does not consent to the student’s return to class, a change in placement must
be made by a placement review committee; out-of-school suspensions may not exceed more than
10 school days; and reasonable attempts must be made to confirm that written notices have been
received by the student’s parents. Defendants have failed to ensure that these procedures are
followed. O.C.G.A. § 20-2-738.
169. Defendants are required to hold a disciplinary hearing following any instance of
an alleged violation of the student code of conduct where the principal recommends a suspension
or expulsion exceeding 10 days. Defendants have failed to ensure that these hearings take place.
O.C.G.A. § 20-2-753.
170. Defendants are required to follow certain procedures when convening disciplinary
proceedings. All parties must be given an opportunity for a hearing after reasonable notice
served personally or by mail; hearing are to be held no later than 10 school days after the
40
beginning of the suspension; all parties must have an opportunity to present and respond to
evidence and to examine and cross-examine witnesses; a verbatim electronic or written record
shall be made available; decisions shall be based solely on the evidence received at the hearing
and made in writing within 10 days of the close of the record; decisions are appealable to the
board of education. Defendants have failed to ensure that these procedures are followed.
O.C.G.A. § 20-2-754.
171. Defendants are required to ensure that whenever a teacher or principal identifies a
student as a chronic disciplinary problem student, the principal shall notify the parent of the
disciplinary problem, invite the parent to observe the student in a classroom situation, and
request at least one parent to attend a conference with the principal and/or teacher to devise a
disciplinary and behavioral correction plan. Defendants have failed to ensure that these
procedures are followed. O.C.G.A. § 20-2-765.
172. Plaintiffs are among the class for whose especial benefit O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-737,
20-2-738, 20-2-753, 20-2-754, 20-2-765 were enacted and enforcement of this statute by
Plaintiffs is consistent with the underlying purpose of the legislative scheme.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
173. WHEREFORE, the Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:
174. Assume jurisdiction over this action;
175. Order that Plaintiffs may maintain this action as a class action pursuant to
O.C.G.A. § 9-11-23;
176. Declare unconstitutional and unlawful:
a. Defendants’ violation of Plaintiffs’ rights, including their right to an
adequate public education under Article VIII of the Georgia Constitution;
41
b. Defendants’ violation of Plaintiffs’ rights under the Due Process Clause of
Article I of the Georgia Constitution, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983;
c. Defendants’ violation of Plaintiffs’ rights under Article I, Section I, Para.
XIII of the Georgia Constitution, the Fourth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983;
d. Section 11.11 of the AISS-CEP Contract, as being void for public policy
reasons; and
e. Defendants’ violation of Plaintiffs’ rights under O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-130 et.
seq., 20-2-737, 20-2-738, 20-2-753, 20-2-754, and 20-2-765.
177. Permanently enjoin Defendants from subjecting Plaintiffs to practices that violate
their rights;
178. Order appropriate relief requiring Defendants to provide educational services
consistent with the requirements of the Georgia Constitution and Georgia Code;
179. Order CEP Defendants to specifically perform under the terms of the AISS-CEP
Contract and AISS Defendants to enforce the provisions of the AISS-CEP Contract;
180. Award to Plaintiffs the reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the prosecution
of this action, including reasonable attorneys’ fees; and
181. Grant any other relief the Court deems necessary or proper.
42
Dated this 11th day of March 2008. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ _____________________________
Chara Fisher Jackson (386101) Mawuli M. Malcom Davis (212029) American Civil Liberties Union Robert O. Bozeman (073561) of Georgia The Davis Bozeman Law Firm PC 75 Piedmont Ave., Ste. 514 4153 B Flat Shoals Pkwy, Ste 204 Atlanta, GA 30303 Decatur, GA 30034 Phone: (404) 523-6201 Phone: (404) 244-2004 Fax: (404) 577-0181 Fax: (404) 244-2020 _____________________________ The following counsel for Plaintiffs will seek pro hac vice admission: Nancy G. Abudu (001471) American Civil Liberties Union Emily Chiang Southern Regional Office Reginald T. Shuford 2600 Marquis One Tower Laurence M. Schwartztol 245 Peachtree Center Ave American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Atlanta, GA 30303 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor Phone: (404) 523-2721 New York, NY 10004 Fax: (404) 653-0331 Phone: (212) 549-2500 Fax: (212) 549-2680 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS