MAY JUNG LAW FIRM ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH ORANGE COUNTY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, IMPOSING SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS ON ITS STUDENT DISCIPLINARY PROCESSES

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ORANGE, Calif., Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National civil rights firm May Jung Law announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Orange Unified School District ("OUSD") regarding OUSD's allegedly unconstitutional treatment of students under the guise of student discipline.    

The lawsuit alleged that OUSD's discipline of May Jung's client, a young Latino-Korean teenage boy, for normal interactions with his female peers, violated his constitutional rights and state law.  May Jung further alleged that OUSD's student disciplinary procedures discipline Black and Brown children at 2-3 times the rate of white students and that the probability of this deviation occurring by chance is no less than 1 in 70 million.   OUSD continues to deny Plaintiff's allegations.

The parties successfully reached a settlement agreement that provides financial compensation to May Jung's client and requires meaningful changes to OUSD's student disciplinary system. 

At issue was OUSD's "Student Success Panel" ("SSP"), a process it uses to suspend, "involuntarily transfer," and expel certain students—but for which there have been no written policies, procedures, or guidelines and little to no information provided to students and parents.

As part of the settlement agreement, OUSD has implemented written procedures for the SSP, including:

• Clearly identifying the factors the committee will consider when determining discipline,
• Ensuring that families can review the statements and documents at issue in advance of the SSP hearing,
• Affirming families' right to present evidence at the SSP hearing,
• Clearly enumerating the processes families can use to appeal the SSP's decision,
• Affirming that OUSD will provide alternative educational instruction for the student while the SSP process is pending, and
• Affirming that OUSD will provide a translator when needed.

"May Jung is dedicated to effecting systemic change that improves the experiences of marginalized communities.  Our overarching goal in this lawsuit was to improve OUSD's disciplinary system, especially for disproportionately-affected Black and Brown students. We anticipate that these new processes will improve fairness and process, better apprise families of their fundamental rights, and create meaningful change in the OUSD community," explained Jessica H. Meeder, Senior Counsel at May Jung. 

She added: "We sincerely hope that this settlement communicates to OUSD that compliance with the constitution and state law is neither discretionary nor optional.  OUSD has an obligation to protect and fairly treat every child it is privileged to educate, and we expect that these systemic changes will help ensure it fulfills that duty." 

For more information or to schedule an interview with the legal team, please contact at [email protected]

For more information about May Jung LLP, visit www.mayjung.com

SOURCE May Jung LLP