Baton Rouge Schools Facing Federal Investigation

Trouble is brewing for schools in East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. The school system is now being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to determine whether the district discriminated against a student on the basis of their disability.

The feds are moving forward to follow-up on a complaint that alleges special ed services were denied to a student.  The parents who filed this complaint have filed previous complaints with the Louisiana Department of Education. The parents claim neither the state nor BESE have taken action to make changes. They allege a pattern of discrimination and retaliation that has played out over more than three years in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse.

Here Is the Question to Be Answered:

Whether the District discriminated on the basis of disability by failing to provide regular or special education and related aids and services deemed necessary to meet students individual educational needs and thereby denied the Students a free appropriate public education in violation of Section 504 and Title II and their implementing regulations, at 34 C.F.R. § 104.33 and 28 C.F.R. § 35.130, respectively."

It the feds find the school system has been out of compliance, this discriminatory behavior could put hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding at risk over several years.

The child’s identity has not been released.