Civil rights group plans suit against school district

Shemir Wiles
Staff Writer
INVERNESS — An Orlando-based civil rights group announced Monday plans to file a federal lawsuit against the Citrus County School District for defamation, false imprisonment and upholding racially biased polices in its Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) at Withlacoochee Technical Institute.
According to a press release from the Florida Civil Rights Association (FCRA), the group’s president, J. Willie David III, claims the school district violated federal law by “falsely accusing two African American students of cheating simply due to a higher test score than students of the non-African American race.”
The accusations stem from an incident that occurred April 20, 2010. FCRA states Leila Jackson-Burch and another woman drove from Orlando to Inverness to take a TABE test for nursing at WTI.
Once they completed the test and left the examination room, school officials allegedly began accusing Jackson-Burch and the other woman of cheating because they scored “too high” on the exam; FCRA says there was no evidence to support the allegation.
A school official then told Jackson-Burch, “you people (meaning African-Americans) don’t score that high,” the press release stated.
School officials reportedly demanded Jackson-Burch and the woman take another exam at no charge and surrender the exam scores previously provided to her. Jackson-Burch
refused.
After arguing with officials, FCRA stated Jackson-Burch attempted to leave the facility; however, school officials blocked her from leaving.
“In fear that she would be assaulted by the officials she secured the vehicle’s doors until Citrus County Sheriff’s deputies arrive,” the press release stated.
According to an incident report from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, school officials stated they felt the test was compromised and would be contacting the Florida Department of Education about the matter.

Jackson-Burch reportedly advised once again she would not retake the test because “she worked too hard in order to achieve her results.” She also informed law enforcement she took the test at WTI because it was cheaper than taking it locally in Orlando.
The report stated Jackson-Burch explained how she felt she was being discriminated against because of her race, and she allowed a lieutenant to search her cell phone and folders for any information related to the test
“This was met with negative results,” the report said.
FCRA claims after the incident, school officials then contacted the college Jackson-Burch had attended for three years and the Florida Department of Education with their allegation that she was caught cheating on the TABE test.
“For over eight months, school officials refused to validate her scores, which resulted in her missing out on a planned Nursing class at Orange County Public Schools in Orlando,” FCRA stated.
Betty Joseph, an Orlando attorney representing Jackson-Burch in this matter, stated Tuesday afternoon during a phone interview with a Chronicle reporter that the lawsuit had not been officially filed due to an investigation currently being conducted by the Office for Civil Rights.
If the investigation yields results that show discrimination on the school board’s part, Joseph stated she would file the lawsuit.
Joseph, who took the case after a colleague referred it to her, said her client had been in contact with the school district about this matter for months before they stopped cooperating.
“I don’t think the school district took her seriously,” she said.
Joseph said the district did settle with the other woman involved in the incident; however, Jackson-Burch was unwilling to settle because she wanted the district to implement training and issue an apology to her. She also felt the monetary compensation they were prepared to give her did not justify the loss she experienced.
Superintendent of Schools Sandra “Sam” Himmel did not return a call for comment by press time Tuesday, and the school district’s attorney, Wes Bradshaw, is on vacation, according to a representative from his office.
Jeff Davis, director of human resources for the school district, said Tuesday during a telephone interview that he had not heard anything about a potential lawsuit against the district in reference to this matter and didn’t know enough about the incident to go on the record about it.
“I want to review the case first,” he said.
He added he would try to look into the case either later this week or early next week before giving any official comment from the school district.
Chronicle reporter Shemir Wiles can be reached at (352) 564-2924 or swiles@chronicleonline.com.