FORT MYERS, FL. – Representatives from the Lee County NAACP and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) met with Lee County School Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins on December 6 to discuss racial equity concerns.
The NAACP filed a complaint against the school system with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in September pointing out that students of color make up the fast-growing majority of the school district and are:
- more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled,
- more likely to be referred to law enforcement for misbehavior in school,
- more likely to be removed from the classroom and placed in alternative education programs,
- more likely to be designated as having a disability,
- more likely to be retained or drop out,
- less likely to be enrolled in gifted programs, and
- less likely to graduate.
At the meeting, community members from the NAACP and SCSJ offered a set of recommendations that Dr. Adkins can implement to address the racially discriminatory outcomes present in the school system.
SCSJ’s Ricky Watson, co-director of the Youth Justice Project, spoke with WINK News after the meeting to explain the complaint and why the Lee County School system must take action:
The full complaint filed by the Lee County NAACP with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights can be found at http://bit.ly/CivilRightsComplaint.