Complaint alleges juveniles at the Allegheny County Jail being denied access to education

The Education Law Center on Thursday filed a formal complaint with the state alleging that juveniles with learning disabilities who are housed at the Allegheny County Jail are not being provided a proper education.

The complaint was filed against Pittsburgh Public Schools, which is the host school district for the jail, and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which is contracted by Pittsburgh Public Schools to manage the jail school program.

According to the complaint, school-age juveniles who have disabilities are not receiving adequate education while housed at the jail.

The National Disability Rights Network said that youths with disabilities make up at least two-thirds of those involved in the juvenile justice system.

The state administrative complaint, filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, asserts that there are 20 to 35 juveniles aged 15 to 17 at the jail at any given time, and more who are age 18 to 21.

According to the complaint, students with disabilities are entitled to an education until their 22nd birthday.

At the jail, the complaint said, as soon as students turn 18, they are denied access to the jail’s school program.

Instead, they are given a self-guided study packet with access to a teacher once per week, or access to a GED program.

“Students who do not have many high school credits are urged to ‘sign themselves out’ of high school and take the GED, regardless of their disability or need for support,” said Maura McInerney, legal director of Education Law Center-PA. “In one case, a 19-year-old student with significant disabilities received no education at all during his time at (Allegheny County Jail) from March to November 2023.”

McInerney said in a news release that the educational policies at the jail disproportionately impact students of color and violate both federal and state disability laws.

The complaint alleges that students are being discriminated against based on their disabilities.

The complaint also alleges that juveniles who are held in any of four isolation units at the jail are also deprived of an education. This applies, the center said, frequently to female students, who are routinely placed in isolation because of their gender.

Again, the center said, students receive education packets that are not individualized as required by the students’ Individualized Education Plan.

Students with disabilities who attend the on-grounds “Academic Institute School” are also deprived of federally mandated education services, including progress monitoring and evaluations, the complaint said, and parents are deprived of their right to participate in IEP meetings.

As a result, it continued, students with disabilities are unable to make meaningful progress.

Ebony Pugh, a spokeswoman with Pittsburgh Public Schools, said she could not comment on pending litigation.

A message left with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit late Thursday was not immediately returned.

Jeese Geleynse, a spokesman for the jail, said he could not comment.

“(W)e do not comment on legal matters — particularly those involving other organizations,” he said.