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For four consecutive days last month, a group of Los Angeles County students was suspended after a fight broke out in their classroom inside a juvenile detention facility.

This is according to Stacy Nu帽ez, an education attorney representing one of the students, who said her client was among those suspended and questions why he was penalized before the facility called a meeting to discuss other behavioral interventions.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education can interrupt education services, even those legally required under an Individualized Education Program, if there is 鈥渁n immediate threat to the safety of youth or others,鈥� according to a  with . A second settlement with Los Angeles County, including its Probation Department, Department of Mental Health, and Department of Health Services, was also entered at the time.

But exactly how an 鈥渋mmediate threat鈥� is defined is unclear and appears to be 鈥渃ompletely discretionary,鈥� Nu帽ez said.

This lack of clarity on the legal settlement with the county education department, often referred to as LACOE, is just one of the reasons advocates say education access for detained youth must be prioritized in ongoing court hearings to decide whether L.A. County鈥檚 juvenile halls should be placed into a receivership.

Saying it is 鈥渢he only option left to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the youth currently in its care,鈥� California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a request in July to grant full operational control of the county鈥檚 juvenile detention facilities to an appointed receiver. He also said the county is 鈥渟ubstantially compliant with just 25% of all requirements鈥� in the 2021 settlements.

After several court hearings on the receivership request, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Peter A. Hernandez has listed education as one of five core reform areas, along with staffing, room confinement, use of force and data management. The next hearing is on Friday.

The county鈥檚 education department declined an interview to discuss the status of the settlement stipulations.

鈥淥ver the past four years, we鈥檝e made substantial progress across multiple areas of the agreement, even while managing significant operational changes, including the closure of Central Juvenile Hall and the opening of Los Padrinos,鈥� Elizabeth Graswich, LACOE鈥檚 executive director of public affairs and communication, wrote in a statement to EdSource. 鈥淎s with many complex, multi-year agreements, some areas required additional time to fully implement.鈥�

Prioritizing education

Full operational control under receivership would include management of its Probation Department, which contracts with the county education department for services to students enrolled in schools within detention facilities. The most recent enrollment  shows 532 students enrolled across seven juvenile detention facilities, with at least 225 in juvenile halls.

It鈥檚 this memorandum of understanding between the departments, plus how closely they must work on a regular basis to ensure students receive an education, that makes changes to one department nearly inextricable from the other.

Despite this, advocates say education is not always a priority in discussions about reforms to the juvenile justice system.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a theme that education is a secondary thought 鈥� but I think the point is really valid that young people spend a majority of their waking hours in school each day when they鈥檙e in a facility, so we should really be focusing on that,鈥� said Megan Stanton-Trehan, a senior attorney with Disability Rights California.

When Stanton-Trehan represented detained students during the initial years of the settlement with LACOE, staff would sometimes say her clients refused special education services, only to later learn her clients weren鈥檛 always clear on what the services were.

The settlement requires that the county 鈥渄ocument efforts to send youth to the classroom on the same day that the youth refuses to go to school, except when there is an immediate threat to the safety of the youth or others.鈥�

But Nu帽ez agreed that, to this day, it still isn鈥檛 always clear whether students actually refused services or how the alleged refusal is documented.

鈥淚f I go visit a client and they don鈥檛 come out to see me, all I鈥檒l be told is 鈥榯hey refused,鈥欌�� said Nu帽ez, who was recently told a client didn鈥檛 want to meet with her. It was only when she pressed further that she was told the client was in the middle of completing a test.

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