A federal lawsuit filed against Donna ISD by nonprofit advocacy group Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) claims the district failed to turn over records on the alleged abuse of disabled students.
The group claims it received multiple complaints of possible abuse and neglect by school staff of children with disabilities who were students during the 2021-2022 school year and attempted to investigate those complaints in accordance with its statutory obligations.
Those complaints involved students ages 3 to 5 who were allegedly inappropriately placed in restraints and denied behavioral services required by their educational plans while they were in a special education class at Rivas Elementary.
“Each of the children here has been identified as an individual with Autism, and the child’s disability results in substantial functional limitations in three or more areas of a major life activity, to include self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, and self-direction,” court documents read.
DRTx opened an investigation and obtained consent from parents of five students to access the records that DRTx says it is federally mandated to have access to when given authorization by a guardian.
DRTx requested records from the district for five students with developmental disabilities and included the releases the parents had signed, the suit said. The nonprofit requested their individual education records and records related to the alleged incidents of abuse, including those kept by the district police and any communications with the Texas Education Agency or other third parties.
“The request asked for written documentation as well as electronic files and video or audio tape records,” the suit reads.
On June 3 DRTx reiterated its requests for records and stipulated that the request was being made pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, the suit said. On June 23 the group reiterated the requests once again and threatened to file a lawsuit if the records were not received by July 11.
“As of July 15, 2022, DISD has not provided any records to DRTx,” the suit reads. “Furthermore, DISD has not responded to any of the communications from DRTx.”
The suit asks for the court to enjoin the district from denying access to the records and to issue a declaratory judgment that the district’s policies violate protection and advocacy acts.
Asked for comment on the suit, a Donna ISD spokesperson said Thursday that the district had not yet been served.
“As such, the District is not in a position to comment regarding said matter,” the spokesperson said.
