Lawsuit over 360 High School closing settled. Here's what will change.

PROVIDENCE – A federal lawsuit brought by parents over the closing of 360 High School has been settled, city and state school officials announced late Wednesday night.

At a glance: The school will still close, and merge as planned with another high school under the same roof it now shares, but with renewed commitment to the concerns of multilingual students and their families.

“The families’ focus in the case has been on ensuring that multilingual learners and their families have positive educational experiences in the new school, and the parties are pleased to be able to reach this agreement with that goal in mind,” the parties in the suit said in a joint statement.

Background on the lawsuit

The announced closure in February of the nine-year-old high school caught some parents and teachers by surprise and prompted a walkout by students .

Two months later, the legal nonprofit The Center for Justice filed suit against city and state education officials on behalf of four parents of students. (The state Education Department runs the Providence schools.)

The lawsuit alleged that the plan to merge 360 High School with Juanita Sanchez High School and form a new school – the Juanita Sanchez Life Sciences Institute , focused on preparing students for careers in such fields as medical research and technology – violated the federal Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974.

The act “requires that school districts make affirmative efforts to support equal educational opportunity and to remove barriers to language access for Multilingual Learner students and their families,” the lawsuit said.

The Center for Justice said each of the four plaintiffs in the case had chosen 360 High School for their children “because they learned that the school offers exceptional support to Spanish-speaking students and their families."

Going deeper: What will the agreement do?

As part of the settlement, school officials have agreed to take several steps that they said were already in the works and required by law, including:

• Offering interpretation and translation services for students and families, and an advisory class for them.

• Supporting every student with the development of an Individual Learning Plan.

• Emphasizing so-called “restorative justice practices” for community building and student safety.

Under the agreement, any displaced staff member at 360 High School will have two weeks once the federal court approves the settlement to apply for a position at the unified school. And they will retain their seniority if they are offered a job and commit to working there.

Ysaura Mezón, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said of the settlement agreement: “I am glad that we were able to have our voices heard. I will stay actively involved in my son’s education at the unified school.”

Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawsuit over 360 High School closing settled. Here's what will change.