[BHS etree] MISC: Smith Vs BUSD Legal Notice

[bhs at idiom.com]

This notice is being delivered to BUSD households by order of the United
States District Court, Northern District of California, as a result of a
class action lawsuit, Smith Vs BUSD.
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IF YOU ARE THE PARENT/GUARDIAN OF OR YOU ARE AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN OR LATINO
STUDENT AND LIVE IN THE BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PLEASE READ THIS
NOTICE CAREFULLY.

Smith v. Board of Education is a class action lawsuit affecting (1) all
African Americans and Latinos self-identified as such in official records
(2) who have been students in the Berkeley Unified School District and (3)
who have been involuntarily excluded from comprehensive school or
involuntarily reassigned from comprehensive school programs to
noncomprehensive school programs for alleged violations of the District’s
student conduct rules without having received appropriate due process of
law. After extensive negotiation, the parties in the case have reached a
Settlement Agreement that provides for the immediate reinstatement of
class members to regular high school or middle school programs with
individualized plans for compensatory educational services and credit
repair; the development of a plan for reducing disproportionality in the
number of African-American and Latino students subject to disciplinary
measures; the establishment of a Students’ Rights Monitoring Committee to
review BUSD’s compliance with the Settlement Agreement; and payment of
reasonable attorney fees and costs to Plaintiffs’ attorneys by the
District.

Class members have the right to agree with or object to the Settlement
Agreement, but may not opt-out of the class. Before determining the
fairness of the Settlement Agreement, the Court will consider any comments
or objections made by class members at a hearing on August 3, 2005 at 1:00
p.m. at the District Court for the Northern District of California, 1301
Clay Street, 3rd floor, Courtroom 4 in Oakland. Class members who agree
with the Settlement Agreement do not need to take any action at this time.
Class members who wish to object, should file written statements that
identify what they object to and that explain why they object.  These
written statements must include the Class Members’ names, addresses,
contact telephone numbers, and email addresses if available indicating
their objection to the Settlement Agreement.  These statements must be
filed with the U.S. District Court in Oakland by no later than July 11,
2005.  Class members may file the statements at the courthouse or by mail
to the Court’s address above.  Class members must mail copies of the
statements to the following addresses: Youth and Education Law Project,
559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA 94305 and Atkinson Andelson Loya Rudd
& Romo, 5776 Stoneridge Mall #200, Pleasanton, CA 94588. You can find out
more information about this class action and the fairness hearing and get
a complete copy of the Settlement Agreement at [ http://www.lsc-sf.org
]www.lsc-sf.org or [ http://www.law.stanford.edu/clinics/yelc
]www.law.stanford.edu/clinics/yelc or by calling Legal Services for
Children at 415-863-3762 or the Youth and Education Law Project at
650-723-4336.

LEGAL NOTICE

If you or your child is a Berkeley Unified School District student,
you may be affected by the settlement of the class action lawsuit called
Smith v. Board of Education of the Berkeley Unified School District.


What is this case about?

Smith v. Board of Education of the Berkeley Unified School District is a
class action lawsuit about the Berkeley Unified School District’s duty to
provide African-American and Latino students with legally required due
process protections prior to removing them from regular high school and
middle school programs or transferring them to alternative school programs
for disciplinary reasons. The case is also about the District’s obligation
to ensure that African American and Latino students are not
disproportionately subjected to disciplinary measures. In short, Plaintiff
students allege that the District has (1) violated their right to
procedural due process, (2) violated their right to equal protection under
the law, and (3) infringed upon their state constitutional right to a
public education.

Are you affected?
This lawsuit affects all African Americans and Latinos self-identified as
such in official records who have been students in the Berkeley Unified
School District and who have been involuntarily excluded from
comprehensive school or involuntarily reassigned from comprehensive school
programs to noncomprehensive school programs, (such as county community
schools, continuation schools, home-hospital instruction programs, and
independent study programs), for alleged violations of the District’s
student conduct rules without having received appropriate due process of
law.  Due process involves being clearly informed of what the alleged
misconduct was and given an appropriate opportunity to tell your side of
the story at a hearing.

What are the terms of the Agreement?
After extensive negotiation, the parties in the case recently reached a
Settlement Agreement. Under the Agreement the Plaintiff Class agrees to
release the Berkeley Unified School District from all claims, demands,
liabilities, and damages—including  monetary damages, relating to the
lawsuit in exchange for the following:
 BUSD will revise its policies to ensure that no student is unlawfully
excluded from school.
 BUSD will immediately reinstate class members to comprehensive school
programs.
 BUSD will correct student records where it is found that the class
member’s exclusion from school was not lawful.
 To try to ensure that affected class members will be able to graduate on
time, BUSD will provide class members with individualized plans to (1)
receive compensatory educational services and (2) earn credits as quickly
as possible to regain those that can be demonstrated as lost due to the
District’s unlawful exclusion of the student.
 BUSD will establish a plan to reduce disproportion-ality in the number of
African-American and Latino students recommended for expulsion, formally
expelled, and reassigned to alternative school programs.
 A Students’ Rights Monitoring Committee will review and assess BUSD’s
compliance with all aspects of the Settlement Agreement.
 BUSD will pay attorneys for Plaintiffs reasonable fees and costs in the
amount of  $50,000.

What are your options?
Class members have the right to agree or disagree with the Settlement
Agreement, but may not to opt-out of the class. Before deciding to approve
the Settlement Agreement, the Court will consider any comments or
objections made by class members at a hearing on  August 3, 2005 at 1:00
p.m. in front of  Judge Wayne D. Brazil at the District Court for the
Northern District of California, 1301 Clay Street, 3rd floor, courtroom 4
in Oakland. If you are in agreement with the Settlement Agreement, you do
not need to take any action at this time. However, class members who wish
to object, should file written statements that identify what they object
to and that explain why they object.  These written statements must
include the Class Members’ names, addresses, contact telephone numbers,
and email addresses if available indicating their objection to the
Settlement Agreement.  These statements must be filed with the U.S.
District Court in Oakland by no later than July 11, 2005. Class members
may file the statements at the courthouse or by mail to the Court’s
address above.  Class members shall mail copies of the statements to the
following addresses: Youth and Education Law Project, 559 Nathan Abbott
Way, Stanford, CA 94305 and Atkinson Andelson Loya Rudd & Romo, 5776
Stoneridge Mall #200, Pleasanton, CA 94588

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Mark A. Coplan
Public Information Officer, BUSD
510-644-6320
Mark_Coplan at berkeley.k12.ca.us
Berkeley Unified School District
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, Ca 94704-1180