February 
  14, 
  2017 
  
 
  
Hilda 
  Young 
  
Joseph 
  A. 
  Craig 
  Charter 
  School 
  
1423 
  St. 
  Phillip 
  Street 
  
New 
  Orleans, 
  Louisiana 
  70116 
  
 
  
Dear 
  Ms. 
  Young, 
  
 
  
This 
  letter 
  represents 
  a 
  Notice 
  of 
  Breach 
  of 
  the 
  Charter 
  School 
  Performance 
  Compact 
  for 
  removing 
  a 
  student 
  
from 
  school 
  without 
  due 
  process 
  or 
  appropriate 
  documentation. 
  
 
  
On 
  Thursday, 
  February 
  2, 
  2017, 
  a 
  social 
  worker 
  from 
  the 
  Youth 
  Opportunity 
  Center 
  (YOC) 
  alerted 
  the 
  Louisiana 
  
Department 
  of 
  Education 
  (the 
  Department) 
  of 
  an 
  incident 
  involving 
  a 
  student, 
  
), 
  
at 
  Joseph 
  A. 
  Craig 
  Charter 
  School 
  (Craig). 
   
  The 
  YOC 
  was 
  made 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  situation 
  by 
  
s 
  mother. 
  
 
  
According 
  
s 
  mother, 
  Craig 
  informed 
  both 
  her 
  and 
  
s 
  grandmother 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  not 
  allowed 
  at 
  school 
  
until 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  psychiatrist 
  and 
  that 
  he 
  needed 
  to 
  be 
  on 
  medication. 
   
  The 
  mother’s 
  account 
  is 
  corroborated 
  by 
  
the 
  attached 
  document 
  that 
  she 
  received 
  from 
  the 
  school. 
   
  The 
  document, 
  dated 
  January 
  25, 
  2017, 
  states 
  that 
  
is 
  not 
  allowed 
  to 
  return 
  to 
  school 
  until 
  he 
  meets 
  with 
  the 
  psychiatrist 
  recommended 
  by 
  the 
  school. 
   
   
  
 
  
s 
  mother 
  was 
  told 
  that 
  she 
  had 
  to 
  bring 
  a 
  clearance 
  letter 
  from 
  this 
  particular 
  mental 
  health 
  provider 
  
before 
  
 
  would 
  be 
  admitted 
  back. 
  
s 
  appointment 
  with 
  this 
  provider 
  was 
  on 
  January 
  31, 
  2017. 
   
  As 
  a 
  
result, 
  he 
  was 
  out 
  of 
  school 
  from 
  January 
  26 
  through 
  February 
  1, 
  2017. 
  
 
  
On 
  February 
  3, 
  2017, 
  Lindsey 
  Bush 
  spoke 
  to 
  Ms. 
  Ford 
  who 
  confirmed 
  that 
  
. 
  was 
  asked 
  to 
  remain 
  out 
  of 
  
school 
  until 
  seeing 
  a 
  doctor. 
   
  Ms. 
  Ford 
  said 
  that 
  this 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  “strange” 
  behavior 
  and 
  verbal 
  threats. 
   
  There 
  
was 
  no 
  documentation 
  presented 
  that 
  the 
  student 
  received 
  a 
  suspension 
  for 
  this 
  behavior 
  that 
  would 
  lead 
  to 
  
him 
  being 
  kept 
  out 
  of 
  school. 
   
  Additionally, 
  the 
  document 
  given 
  to 
  
.’s 
  mother 
  made 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  verbal 
  
threats 
  but 
  instead 
  said 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  “depressed.” 
  
 
  
The 
  Notice 
  of 
  Exclusion 
  document 
  that 
  was 
  shared 
  with 
  
’s 
  parent 
  lists 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  various 
  illnesses 
  that 
  are 
  
generally 
  considered 
  contagious 
  but 
  which 
  are 
  unrelated 
  to 
  this 
  student’s 
  situation. 
   
  It 
  appears 
  this 
  list 
  was 
  
created 
  in 
  response 
  to 
  BESE 
  policies 
  related 
  to 
  exclusion. 
   
  According 
  to 
  state 
  law 
  (La.R.S. 
  17:437) 
  and 
  BESE 
  policy 
  
(Bulletin 
  135), 
  students 
  can 
  be 
  “excluded” 
  when 
  the 
  student 
  shows 
  signs 
  of 
  a 
  communicable 
  disease 
  or 
  
infestation 
  that 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  spread 
  by 
  casual 
  contact. 
   
  In 
  the 
  event 
  that 
  a 
  child 
  is 
  excluded 
  for 
  these 
  reasons, 
  
that 
  exclusion 
  is 
  limited 
  to 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  five 
  days 
  or 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  time 
  necessary 
  to 
  confirm 
  the 
  illness. 
   
   
  
 
  
State 
  law 
  and 
  BESE 
  policy 
  do 
  not 
  provide 
  for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  exclusion 
  in 
  the 
  instance 
  of 
  a 
  child 
  recommended 
  for 
  
psychiatric 
  evaluation 
  or 
  showing 
  signs 
  of 
  depression. 
   
   
  Bulletin 
  135 
  goes 
  on 
  to 
  state 
  that 
  mandatory 
  screening 
  
for 
  diseases 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  spread 
  by 
  casual 
  contact 
  shall 
  not 
  be 
  required 
  as 
  a 
  condition 
  for 
  school 
  entry 
  and 
  
any 
  student 
  medical 
  information 
  shall 
  be 
  confidential 
  information 
  only 
  to 
  be 
  shared 
  with 
  anyone 
  in 
  the 
  school 
  

 on 
  a 
  “need 
  to 
  know” 
  basis. 
   
  
s 
  exclusion 
  from 
  school 
  amounted 
  to 
  a 
  suspension 
  and 
  failed 
  to 
  fall 
  within 
  one 
  
of 
  the 
  enumerated 
  reasons 
  for 
  suspension 
  under 
  BESE 
  policy 
  (Bulletin 
  741) 
  and 
  state 
  law 
  (La.R.S. 
  17:416). 
   
  
Therefore, 
  
was 
  kept 
  out 
  of 
  school 
  without 
  due 
  process, 
  without 
  appropriate 
  documentation 
  and 
  outside 
  of 
  
state 
  law 
  and 
  BESE 
  policy. 
  
 
  
To 
  address 
  this 
  Notice 
  of 
  Breach 
  and 
  return 
  to 
  Good 
  Standing, 
  please 
  complete 
  the 
  following 
  steps 
  by 
  close 
  of 
  
business 
  on 
  March 
  1, 
  2017: 
   
  
 
  
1) Issue 
  an 
  apology 
  to 
  
and 
  his 
  mother 
  for 
  inappropriately 
  removing 
  him 
  from 
  school. 
  
2) Provide 
  
, 
  in 
  writing, 
  an 
  opportunity 
  to 
  receive 
  instruction 
  and 
  make 
  up 
  assignments 
  missed 
  during 
  
the 
  time 
  out 
  of 
  school 
  and 
  how 
  specifically 
  this 
  will 
  occur. 
   
  Submit 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  this 
  documentation 
  to 
  the 
  
Department. 
  
3) Submit 
  to 
  the 
  Department 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  Craig’s 
  Response 
  to 
  Intervention 
  procedures. 
  
4) Submit 
  to 
  the 
  Department 
  your 
  policies 
  and 
  procedures 
  for 
  addressing 
  student’s 
  mental 
  health 
  needs, 
  
including 
  ones 
  not 
  explicitly 
  related 
  to 
  behavior. 
  
 
  
All 
  documentation 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  steps 
  must 
  be 
  submitted 
  to 
  Kristine 
  Barker 
  at 
  kristine.barker@la.gov 
  by 
  the 
  
specified 
  date. 
  Please 
  reach 
  out 
  to 
  myself 
  or 
  Kristine 
  Barker 
  with 
  any 
  questions. 
   
  
 
  
Sincerely, 
   
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
Laura 
  Hawkins 
  
 
  
 
  
Cc: 
   
  
Dr. 
  Doris 
  Hicks, 
  Friends 
  of 
  King 
  
Ann 
  Ford, 
  Friends 
  of 
  King 
  
Kristine 
  Barker, 
  Manager 
  of 
  School 
  Performance 
  
Kunjan 
  Narechania, 
  Louisiana 
  Department 
  of 
  Education