Topic: Education

We fight for students in the public education system to get access to the quality education they have a right to, and to end the school to prison pipeline.

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

In this session, join school-based MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) experts in a discussion about what MTSS is, how it should be operating in schools to improve overall school climate and student success, and how parents can most effectively advocate to ensure that their students are receiving individualized supports in the regular education environment.

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

In this session, join a panel of parents for a lively discussion about their struggles and successes in advocating for their students. In addition to sharing individual advocacy strategies, they will discuss their work to amplify the voices and concerns of other parents and students within their school system, and will provide concrete tips for parents seeking creative ways to engage and advocate in the coming school year.

For the full PowerPoint, go to https://tinyurl.com/parentpower101
For the full Toolkit, “Education Advocacy in Action: A Toolkit for Parents, Caregiver, Students, & Youth Justice Advocates” go to https://tinyurl.com/EducationToolkit

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

In this session Jen Story, REP’s managing attorney, and Katie Haberman, a REP social worker, will provide parents/caregivers with an overview of their legal rights to school enrollment, along with practical strategies for ensuring that students are promptly enrolled in and given meaningful access to the school environment. In addition to covering enrollment protections for all students, this session will focus on unique enrollment rights for students who are living apart from their parents due to crisis situations, students and families who are homeless and/or living in unstable situations, and students in foster care.

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

CHARLOTTE—The application period for the state Extra Credit Grant program has been extended. The deadline to apply is now December 7, 2020, at 2 p.m.

The Extra Credit Grant program provides eligible North Carolinians with a one-time grant of $335 to cover costs related to virtual schooling and childcare during the pandemic.

The state extended the application period because of a lawsuit brought by the law firm of Robinson Bradshaw on behalf of the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and Legal Aid of North Carolina.

You only need to apply for the Extra Credit Grant program if all of the following statements are true:

  • You have not already received your grant
  • You have not already applied for the grant
  • You did not file a 2019 state tax return solely because your 2019 income was less than $20,000 for a married couple, $15,000 for a head of household, and $10,000 for a single person
  • You lived in North Carolina for all of 2019
  • You had at least one qualifying child who was age 16 or under in 2019

To learn more about eligibility:

Click here to apply for your Extra Credit Grant at 335forNC.com.

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

Daisy Requeno, a bilingual paralegal in our Central Intake Unit, tells you want you need to know–in English and Spanish–about North Carolina’s Extra Credit Grant program, which provides $335 to some parents/guardians to cover costs associated with virtual schooling and childcare.

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

RALEIGH—Legal Aid of North Carolina’s systemic state complaints against Guilford County Schools and Vance County Schools have been resolved. The complaints, filed on May 29 with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, allege that the school systems violated federal and state law by failing to provide special-education services to minor students with disabilities while they were incarcerated in adult jails.

Legal Aid of North Carolina’s education-justice unit, Advocates for Children’s Services, filed the complaints on behalf of three high school students—two in Guilford County and one in Vance County—who allege that they received no educational services whatsoever while they were incarcerated.

The Guilford County complaint was resolved via confidential agreement with Guilford County Schools. The Vance County complaint was resolved via an investigation by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. More information, including links to documents, follows.

Guilford County

Legal Aid was pleased with the opportunity to work with Guilford County Schools (GCS) to advance policies and procedures, some of which were already underway by the district, that will enable GCS to improve services for incarcerated students with disabilities by:

  • Reviewing and revising current procedures to require that all GCS students with disabilities incarcerated in any Guilford County jail receive appropriate special educational services;
  • Designating an employee to be responsible for ensuring legally compliant special educational services for students incarcerated in local jails for more than ten school days as well as continuity of educational services when the students exit from local jails;
  • Training special education staff regarding appropriate special educational services for incarcerated students; and
  • Conducting an internal audit for the 2019-2020 school year to determine whether special education services and related safeguards were properly afforded to GCS students with disabilities who were incarcerated in local jails for more than 10 school days and had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) during incarceration.

Moving forward, it is the hope and desire of both GCS and Legal Aid to continue to look for opportunities to collaborate for the benefit and support of incarcerated students with disabilities.

Learn more

Vance County

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s investigation into our complaint uncovered widespread violations of the rights of incarcerated students with disabilities in Vance County Schools (VCS). The department has mandated VCS to follow a corrective action plan, which includes:

  • Various trainings for staff, not only regarding incarcerated students but also various general procedural requirements for students with disabilities;
  • Development of procedures to serve students incarcerated in the local jail;
  • Compensatory education for the named student in the complaint; and
  • Identification of eligible students who were incarcerated without services with the named complainant for the purposes of providing them with compensatory education.

A parent involved with the VCS complaint stated, “I’m grateful that this situation got resolved. I’m glad that the decision will help my son to get the skills he needs to be a productive citizen, and I’m just as glad that it will help other kids in his situation to do the same.”

Learn more

Tessa Hale, lead attorney for the cases, expressed satisfaction with outcomes in both counties, stating, “As the country turns its gaze towards the criminal justice system, we must confront every way in which our youth get funneled into the system without hope of making a successful exit. Providing them with the education they are legally entitled to is a positive step towards making sure that incarceration does not become a dead end for students.”

The resolution of these complaints comes at a time when the population of youth incarcerated in adult jails has shrunk significantly. As a result of a new state law which went into effect on August 1, 2020, no more minors will be held in adult jail. Still, because the right to special education continues for students who are 18 to 21 and have not yet graduated, both the developments in GCS and VCS will help ensure that eligible incarcerated students at all stages receive the special education services they are entitled to. Further, some students who may be identified through audits and who were improperly served before the law was passed will now be entitled to remedies.

# # #

About

Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Legal Aid’s Advocates for Children’s Services project seeks to end North Carolina’s school-to-prison pipeline by defending the rights of low-income children in public schools.

Media Contact

Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, 919-856-2132, seand@legalaidnc.org

Topic: Education

← Back to Education

Learn about The Child’s Advocate that gives children a voice when custody and visitation decisions are being made by the court. The Child’s Advocate brings the child’s perspective, their view, and their wishes to the attention of the court while making sure that the judge has reliable information about the child.

The Child Advocate serves Wake, Orange, and Chatham Counties in North Carolina.