On behalf of the Latino Parent Advisory Council (CAPL), we are writing to express our profound disagreement with the district’s decision to pay the Leahy family a $32,500 settlement for their lawsuit alleging that the district’s equitable discipline policies constitute discrimination against white students. BVSD’s disciplinary policies have been historically inequitable and discriminatory in practice toward students of color, specifically toward Latino/Hispanic and Black/African-American students. Data from the district demonstrates that the opposite is true: When white students commit offenses, they are often under-disciplined by teachers, school administration and/or school leaders. The data also illustrates that students of color are over-disciplined, often for perceived resistance to systems of white supremacy (i.e., subjective violations such as insubordination and disrespect). Discrimination and inequitable discipline have been among the greatest concerns for parents of students of color in BVSD. CAPL has attempted to get the district to rectify the abuses that students of color have been forced to endure under racist teachers and the inequitable disciplinary system. Recent acknowledgment of the disproportionality of the disciplinary system and attempts to create greater transparency have now resulted in white backlash against equity in discipline as evidenced by the Leahy family lawsuit which states that the “disciplinary equity initiative is actually a system of discrimination against white students.” A loss of privilege is not the same as racism.
Any payment to the Leahy family is a complete disregard for students with diverse identities and experiences and undermines the racism and discrimination that students and families of color endure at school without any financial compensation or punitive consequences for the aggressors. For this reason, CAPL requests the district refrain from any payment to the Leahy family as it will set a terrible precedent allowing any white family of means to use the legal system to undermine equitable discipline policies and hold BVSD hostage for financial settlements. An equitable disciplinary system requires that the district investigate and create a restorative justice process for resolving cases of discrimination without families having to sue the school district. Not doing so will continue to create a hostile environment and feed the perception among students and the community that only those with the financial resources to obtain legal representation will be the ones who will benefit from such lawsuits.
If financial settlements are now a resolution for the discriminatory discipline of students in BVSD, then the district should create a price and a process by which families of color, those with students with disabilities and low income families, s can solicit compensation for the unjust consequences and experiences their students have suffered as a result of racism, classism and inequity in BVSD.
The entire process of this lawsuit has been shrouded in secrecy, in contrast to the stated goals of increasing transparency around disciplinary practices in BVSD. For this reason, we request that BVSD share a public communication about the case, the school board voting process and the settlement itself as an act of transparency. Families have a right to be informed on how BVSD will respond and resolve future situations when a student with marginalized identities has been oppressed through acts of racism and discrimination at any BVSD school. Creating a commitment to equity across all of its forms does not signal the district to give financial settlements when they are based on wealth and power. Every student has the right to feel safe, protected and celebrated at their school of choice, and this settlement undoes this commitment and sends a clear message to students of color and other marginalized identities that they do not matter.
We hope the district reconsiders its actions and its genuine commitment to equity.
Sincerely,
Latino Parent Advisory Council (CAPL)
This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
