The California Attorney General has found that a school district in Sacramento unlawfully suspended students and disciplined Black youth and students with disabilities more harshly; Several advocates point out that the problem is national.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Oct. 2 announcement of an agreement with the Natomas Unified School District over its treatment of students validated what Black parents in the area had long suspected, according to Carl Pinkston, chairperson of the Black Parallel School Board, who has worked with families there. Their children were being pushed out of the classroom at higher rates, and in some cases illegally. The district disputes the findings.
For Mr. Pinkston, the bigger story is that Natomas is not unusual. “No, this is not an anomaly,” he told The Final Call. “This is pervasive across the country.”
The California Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in Sacramento County Superior Court on Sept. 26, along with a proposed stipulated judgment. The filings came after an investigation by its Bureau of Children’s Justice that began in January 2023.
Investigators found that from the 2018-19 through 2024-25 school years, Black students and students with disabilities were substantially overrepresented among students referred for discipline.
They were also more likely to receive harsher, exclusionary punishments such as out-of-school suspension or expulsion. The DOJ concluded those practices were not necessary to meet a legitimate educational purpose, because less discriminatory alternatives were available.
The DOJ also found that the district issued out-of-school suspensions for disruption or willful defiance, in several cases to children in kindergarten through eighth grade, in violation of state law. It also found the district released confidential student records to third parties without required parental consent.
Under the proposed two-year agreement, which awaits court approval, Natomas Unified would be required to revise its discipline and records policies, work with a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) provider, train staff annually, and hold yearly information sessions for parents. The state would monitor its progress for multiple years.
The DOJ said Natomas Unified had proactively begun implementing several policy changes and worked cooperatively with the state on the agreement. Mr. Bonta said giving all California children a fair and equal chance at success in school is a top priority for his office.
“The Department of Justice’s alleged findings do not reflect the realities faced at Natomas Unified and the significant work our District has undertaken over the past several years. Natomas Unified has continued evaluating and strengthening its programs and supports for all students.
Several of the changes outlined in the agreement highlight work Natomas Unified had already initiated independent of the DOJ, and that work will continue,” the school district said in a statement. The district also said protecting student privacy remains a priority and that it regularly reviews its safeguards.
Sister Kathleen Muhammad, student directress of Muhammad University of Islam at Muhammad Mosque No. 45 in Houston, said environment alone can produce a change, and that the Natomas findings took her back to her family’s experience since 2019 as foster parents.
When they enrolled foster children in public schools, she said, staff tried to place the children in a box based on past behavior. She described IEP (Individualized Education Program) and behavior-assessment meetings built around records from previous schools, even when the child was not showing those behaviors in the new setting.
“We’ve seen it in public school. We’ve seen it in foster care. So, we’ve seen it across the board,” Sister Kathleen Muhammad said.
Muhammad University of Islam is an independent school system established by the Nation of Islam when the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Muslims in the 1930s withdrew their children from public schools in Detroit who were being miseducated.
Sister Kathleen Muhammad cited the impact of the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Study Guide 21, which addresses a new educational paradigm needed for the 21st century.
“Being in our environment and being blessed to be on the post as the Student Directress here at Muhammad University of Islam in Houston, Texas, we advocate with our parents for our children to let them see the best opportunity that they could possibly have,” she said.
Mr. Pinkston traced the problem to the founding of California’s public schools. In 1860, he noted, the state legislature passed a law stating that “Negroes, Mongolians, and Indians, shall not be admitted into the public schools.” The April 28, 1860, law allowed districts to set up separate schools for those students instead.
“Our public educational system is, with the best of intentions, racist by design,” he said.
Suspension, Mr. Pinkston argued, “is a way of sorting you out to the prison.” It is one of the most common approaches, he said, and “it disproportionately impacts Black students and Black students with disabilities, in particular.”
He pointed out that Black families who moved to the suburbs are now meeting the treatment once associated with places like Oakland and Compton. He also said he hears from people in Contra Costa County, Newark, and parts of Texas.
In New Jersey, he added, the Black Parents Workshop settled a 2018 federal lawsuit in 2020 that accused the South Orange-Maplewood School District of discriminating against Black students.
Dr. Denice Price, CEO of New Hope Academy of Change Educational Corporation in Long Beach, Calif., said the DOJ’s action was justified.
“I support the settlement agreement with the California Department of Justice and believe it was warranted,” Dr. Price said in a written statement to The Final Call. “The district must be held accountable for protecting the confidentiality of all student records,” she continued.
Dr. Price said the problem starts young. “I am concerned that disparities in discipline affecting Black students and students with disabilities begin as early as preschool,” she said.
She said those children may be left out of classroom activities or placed in isolation time-outs.
As an elementary school principal, Dr. Price said she has implemented programs that teach students to understand conflict, practice self-control, and strengthen their conflict-resolution skills. Staff and parents are trained so students get consistent support.
“I believe every educator should embrace the principle that all students can learn when they are given equal access to meaningful opportunities and support,” she said.
Mr. Pinkston said parents must organize, because many do not know their rights.
“You have to go from me to we,” he said. “It’s not just simply my child.”
The fight, he said, is for all Black students. “You don’t have to call yourself a parallel school board,” he added. “Just get organized.”
