The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD), one of the largest school districts in Colorado, to significantly improve language access services for parents with limited English proficiency. The agreement addresses allegations that the district failed to communicate with these parents in a language they could understand, thereby denying them important information about their children’s education.
“No parent should be left in the dark about their child’s education,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Open and effective communication between schools and parents, including parents with limited English proficiency, is essential to safeguarding students’ equal access to educational opportunities. The Justice Department will continue to ensure school districts take steps to help parents overcome language barriers that prevent them from participating fully in their children’s education.”
“Parents with limited English proficiency face barriers to understanding how public schools work,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan for the District of Colorado. “This agreement is intended to ensure that the Cherry Creek School District implements policies and practices to enable all parents in the district to participate meaningfully in their children’s education. We urge all school districts in Colorado to review their practices to ensure that they are complying with their obligations to provide language assistance services to parents with limited English proficiency.”
The CCSD serves about 53,000 students whose parents speak more than 150 languages. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado received multiple complaints alleging that parents with limited English proficiency could not meaningfully participate in important school programs and activities because the district did not provide them with appropriate and effective language assistance services. The complaints alleged, for example, that the district did not provide interpreters and translation services when enrolling children or during expulsion hearings and other disciplinary proceedings.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in coordination with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, investigated these complaints under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974.
To resolve this investigation, CCSD has agreed to improve its communications in several critical areas:
- Enrollment: The district will identify parents with limited English proficiency who are seeking to enroll their children in district schools, document their preferred language of communication, and provide them with language assistance services.
- Student disciplinary proceedings: The district will translate letters involving suspension and expulsion into the preferred languages of such parents and provide language assistance services during disciplinary proceedings.
- Engagement: The district will administer surveys and hold listening sessions in over a dozen languages to better understand the communication needs of these parents.
The enforcement of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 remains a top priority for the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about this division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, while details about its Educational Opportunities Section can be found at www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section.
To report a possible civil rights violation, visit www.civilrights.justice.gov/. Further information about civil rights enforcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office can be accessed at www.justice.gov/usao-co/civil-rights-enforcement.