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East Baton Rouge Special Education

In May 2006, the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with attorneys from the Southern Disability Law Center and the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, obtained a class-wide settlement agreement affecting all special education students with Emotional Disturbance in East Baton Rouge Parish.

The agreement, benefiting as many as 300 children, requires major systemic changes including:

  • The hiring of a nationally recognized team of experts in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to help the district develop and implement school-wide PBIS training for all staff at all schools where there are ED children,
  • The reduction in the number of suspensions and expulsions of children with ED,
  • Strict compliance with the IDEA's discipline requirements
  • Greater access to regular education curriculum and classrooms for kids with ED, and
  • Access to intensive reading and math remediation for kids with ED who are at least two years behind their grade level.