The Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sent a letter to Mingus Union High School alleging that the school’s student ID badge practices are discriminatory against students and improperly disclose students’ private information.
The civil rights organization is acting on behalf of Jordan Pickett, a student at MUHS, and Pickett’s mother, Jennifer Lansman.
According to the ACLU, Pickett, an 11th-grade student at Mingus who had not completed the requisite number of credits to be classified as a junior, was discriminated against by the school, being required to wear a red student ID badge like freshmen and sophomores and unlike other juniors and seniors who wear grey badges.
“Classmates, the public, non- educational school staff and teachers and school administrators who do not have a ‘legitimate educational interest’ in obtaining student private educational records and information are not authorized to view student records or information without express written consent,” Kathleen Brody, legal director for the ACLU of Arizona, wrote in the letter, citing 20 United States Code §1232g(b)(1)(A)-(L).
“By compelling students to wear their educational records and information on visible identification badges, MUHSD’s current policy requires the release of private education records without consent, in violation of [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act],” Brody wrote. “The public display of student education records through the creation of ‘scarlet badges’ exemplifies the type of student privacy violation that spurred the passage of FERPA and must immediately cease.” The ACLU’s letter also argued that badges that are dependent on academic performance violate the Americans with Disabilities Act in that it “prohibits disabled students who are forced to wear the ‘scarlet badge’ from receiving certain privileges afforded other students, like the right to leave campus, while also leading to increased bullying and stigmatization of disabled students.”
The ADA includes mental and learning disabilities.
The ACLU was approached by Pickett and Lansman after several students brought up the issue at a
Sept. 13 meeting of the Mingus Union High School District Governing Board and were unsat- isfied with the board’s response.
“Not surprisingly, students forced to wear the bright red badges have experienced increased bullying, public ridicule and shaming by other students and teachers,” wrote Brody in the ACLU’s letter. “Jordan [Pickett] has heard other students call class- mates wearing the scarlet badge ‘stupid’ and ‘problem kids.’”
“Jordan reports that because of wearing the scarlet badge, she receives less individual instruc- tion from teachers because they assume she is not interested, motivated or capable of learning,” Brody wrote.
The school has pushed back on the ACLU’s assertion that the coloring of the badges is in any way discriminatory and has not expressed any intention to change its policy based on the ACLU’s letter.
Susan Segal, an attorney for the law firm Gust Rosenfeld retained by the school, drafted a letter in response, stating that “the district denies that it has violated any laws or rights of the student as you have alleged in your letter.”
“The color of the badges is derived from the Mingus Union High School colors which are red and grey. The red color is used for freshmen and sophomores and the grey is used for juniors and seniors,” Segal wrote.
She also pushed back against the claim of the ACLU that students lacking in academic achievement were forced to wear “scarlet badges” or that the different badge colors represented a discriminatory intent.
“The differentiation in colors is because juniors and seniors have different privileges, such as being allowed to go off campus for lunch,” Segal wrote.
Segal’s letter also makes the case that “need for the use of student identity badges has been recognized by the United States Department of Education, which has enacted a regulation under the Family Educational Privacy Rights Act” and that “under FERPA, ‘grade level’ is among the information classified as ‘directory Information.’ 34 [Code of Federal Regulations] 99.3. Directory information is public information that may be disclosed unless parents ‘opt out’ or request that such information is not disclosed.”
According to Segal’s letter, neither Pickett nor a parent had sought to formally opt out from any of the school’s disclosure policies, nor had they sought any accommodation for ADA compliance.
Segal’s letter also expressed a willingness by the school to defend itself in court if the ACLU pursued the matter further.
“Whether it’s referred to as a ‘scarlet’ badge or not, the bright red identification card remains the same,” ACLU Communications Coordinator Marcela Taracena wrote in an email when asked about the school’s response. “Upperclassmen are publicly shamed when they are forced to wear this badge that tells their teachers, students and friends that they are missing school credits.”
“It is that in violation of FERPA and ADA regulations, Mingus is forcing struggling students to publicly disclose their academic information by wearing that badge,” Taracena wrote.
“We have never issued red IDs based upon disciplinary issues or letter grades,” MUHS Principal Genie Gee wrote in an email. “This year, the only difference in IDs is that juniors who have not earned the credits of a junior are not allowed to leave campus for lunch.”
The ACLU has not yet determined a plan for its next steps after the school expressed in its letter an intention to defend its policy in court if necessary.
“We hope, and Jordan and Jennifer hope, that the school will stop this practice of publicly shaming its students,” Taracena wrote. “Mingus should work with its community, school and students to find a solution.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
