Georgia Schools That 'Segregate' Disabled Students Face Lawsuit

ATLANTA, GA — The federal government plans to file a lawsuit against Georgia over schools it says segregate children with learning disabilities.

Established in 1970, Georgia's GNETS program is designed to "provide comprehensive educational and therapeutic support services to students who might otherwise require residential or other more restrictive placements" due to disability, mental or emotional disorders, the state says.

But the U.S. Department of Justice argues that the program is, instead, being used to take students out of mainstream schools where they could be educated instead.

"We have determined that we must pursue the United States’ claims in federal court to vindicate the rights of thousands of affected students with behavior-related disabilities across Georgia," wrote Vanita Gupta, who heads the department's civil rights division, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

That was in a letter sent to Gov. Nathan Deal and other top Georgia officials this week.

The state and the justice department have been going back and forth over the GNETS schools since last July. That's when the feds declared that the schools violated federal law by segregating disabled students into schools with no students who were not disabled.

The justice department also said some of those schools were in decrepit, old buildings and that several didn't have facilities like libraries and gyms.

The state closed nine GNETS schools, but federal officials said that didn't go far enough.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a message seeking further comment for this story on Friday. A spokesman for the state Department of Education passed along questions to state Board of Education Chairman Mike Royal, who did not immediately respond.