Nebraska public school district discriminates against deaf students, DOJ report says

An investigation into a Nebraska school district by the Department of Justice found it was violating deaf and hard of hearing students’ rights.

The investigation came after multiple parental complaints. 

Vicki Campell’s daughter Ella wanted to attend her neighborhood elementary school in the Lincoln Public School (LPS) district. 

But because Ella was deaf, she was placed at a “cluster” school for deaf students more than 20 minutes away. 

“During the summer, she doesn’t have any friends around because all of her friends are down in other areas of the town,” Campell told local media.  

Another mother, Ginger Garrison, whose daughter lost her hearing in adolescence, recalled how LPS tried to move her daughter to a cluster school, even though she didn’t know sign language.  

“She didn’t know a soul there,” Garrison said. “She didn’t know a teacher. She didn’t know anything. And you’re going to throw a deaf student into something brand new? I wasn’t going to do that for her.” 

LPS’ intent was presumably to group deaf students at certain schools so the district could pool its resources. But after parents complained, the Department of Justice found the district’s actions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

“Denying students with disabilities the right to attend their neighborhood school based on a blanket policy is discriminatory and runs afoul of our nation’s civil rights laws,” Assistant Attorney General Kirsten Clarke, of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a press release. 

The DOJ also sent the district a letter explaining that since ASL interpreters were usually provided to students on a one-on-one basis, clustering them wasn’t necessary. 

“This blanket policy does not consider the individualized needs of deaf and hard of hearing students,” the letter read, “denies students an equal opportunity to participate in LPS’ neighborhood school and high school choice programs, is unnecessary to provide equally effective aids and services, and has denied effective communication to deaf students.”  

Parents were pleased with the DOJ’s decision.  

“Deaf and hard of hearing children should not be treated differently than their peers,” Campell said. 

While public schools are often touted as inclusive and welcoming to all students, that isn’t always the case. 

Tim DeRoche, founder and president of Available to All, explains how public schools can find loopholes to cherry-pick their students – often to the detriment of low-income or special needs children. 

Arbitrary school zones can trap low-income families in neighborhood schools that don’t serve their needs, while districts can also find excuses to reject students with disabilities, or – as LPS did – segregate them into certain schools.