Public school children with disabilities in North Carolina are excluded from school more, per capita, than are children with disabilities in any other state, according to recent research by Nate Morabito.
“Excluding children with disabilities from school pushes them toward a path with a disproportionate risk of entanglement with the juvenile justice system,” said Lisa Lukasik, director of the new Richardson Family Education Equity Clinic at Campbell Law School. “Some research indicates that a single suspension, even for a discretionary offense, triples the likelihood that a student will end up in the juvenile justice system within a year. Overall, students with disabilities are more than twice as likely as their peers without disabilities to land in prison within 18 years, and the numbers show even greater disproportionality for Black children with disabilities.”
“Historical disciplinary data from Durham Public Schools, and likely many other public schools across the country, has revealed that the most vulnerable students to disciplinary violations are students of color and students with disabilities,” said District Court Judge Amanda Maris, who oversees Durham County’s Juvenile Court along with Chief District Court Judge Clayton Jones. ”I have observed that many of the youth in court have either a diagnosed but unsupported educational or mental health need or an undiagnosed, undetected, and thus unmet educational or mental health need that understandably impacts the chances of their success in school.”
Richardson Clinic Opens
The Richardson Family Education Equity Clinic at Campbell Law School opened earlier this year. It is helping low-income families with special needs children who can’t afford a lawyer to work with a school district to address their child’s unmet needs. “The families do not pay anything,” Lukasik said. “We provide free legal advice and representation.”
The clinic is underwritten by Fayetteville attorney Billy Richardson, a 1980 Campbell Law graduate, and his family. His wife, Barbara, has a master’s degree in special education, and their daughter, Caroline McGann, has a post-graduate degree in occupational therapy.
“Because of what we’ve been exposed to with special needs children throughout our lives, watching and seeing the needs they have is compelling,” Billy Richardson said. “When [Campbell Law School] Dean [Rich] Leonard presented us with this idea, it was just a natural fit. And we as attorneys have a sacred obligation to give back to the profession.”
Barbara Richardson added, “There’s a great need to serve these students. For parents of a child with special needs, it’s overwhelming. First, coming to grips that you have a child with special needs and then navigating the school system and the rights your child has as a student.”
Practical Legal Skills
The Richardson clinic’s just-completed first semester had four law school students who worked with 20 families. “These were children with disabilities in public schools who sought legal advice or representation to restore, protect and/or enforce their educational rights,” explained Lukasik.
Students who work at the clinic are second- or third-year law students, who are enrolled in classwork in special education law. “This is a great space through which students can find a meaningful opportunity to develop practical legal skills with the support and guidance of a supervising attorney,” Lukasik said.
She ran an abridged pro bono program at Campbell Law with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Right to Education Project for a few years before launching the clinic. “We learned there was an enormous need for representation to protect children’s educational rights when the families could not afford legal representation on their own and needed pro bono representation.”
There are federal and state laws that require public schools to provide appropriate education for children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.
“Many parents we serve in the Richardson Clinic feel enormous pressure to find time and financial resources to educate themselves on evidence-based practices,” Lukasik said. “These are necessary to meet their child’s needs and also to independently provide the required services and support when their public school fails to offer a free appropriate public education.
“In many of the clinic’s cases, when our students communicated concerns about violations of controlling law to counsel for the public schools, the schools’ counsel recognized the issues, too,” Lukasik continued. “Schools then came to the table ready to get to work to remedy wrongs brought to their attention. This is consistent with what is envisioned by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”
Judge Maris added, “It requires schools and families to work together on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) team toward a common goal of providing eligible children with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. An IEP plan for a child might just mean the difference between the child staying in school and thriving at their dream job one day or falling victim to the crosshairs of an all-too-often unforgiving school-to-prison pipeline.”
Lukasik said, “My sense is that N.C.’s local boards of education and public-school employees want to provide the special education and related services required for each child under the law. And my sense is that they want to do what it takes to keep children in school and on a path to success. There are good, well-intentioned people working hard every day in public schools across N.C. [But] public schools remain underfunded. These are tough times for both families of children with disabilities and public schools. N.C.’s public schools are experiencing teacher shortages, especially in special education.”
Enormous Interest
The Richardson clinic recently added a second faculty member with an eye to expanding the program. “My hope for our students is that they find and follow a path in their practices that is compelling and fulfilling to them,” Lukasik said. “I’m delighted that after being exposed to education law in Campbell Law’s courses and clinic, many students discover they have an enormous interest in and passion for this work.”
