Settlement reached in 360 High School class action suit

360 High School, at 182 Thurbers Ave., Providence, will close but students can have a say in the new name for the unified school that will be established in the same building under a settlement reached in a federal class action suit filed by parents of students against the Providence Public School District, Providence School Board, the Rhode Island Department of Education and the state education commissioner. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)

A legal saga over the now-shuttered 360 High School in Providence has reached a settlement in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island.

Litigation couldn’t stop the loss of 360 High School as a distinct entity, but aspects of the school’s environment will continue in a newly unified school in the same building, thanks to a settlement finalized Thursday by Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.

The two student bodies sharing the Thurbers Avenue school complex — the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex and the former 360 students — can even work together to decide on a name for their newly combined school. (The settlement clarifies, however, that only the Providence City Council can change the name of the actual school building, which is technically William B. Cooley High School.)

“We’re hoping that we’ve moved the situation closer to a merger,” said Jennifer Wood, executive director of Rhode Island Center for Justice and an attorney who represented the families of 360 High School students

“It speaks volumes that the settlement agreement refers to it as a unified school. The students in the fall will have an opportunity, both student bodies coming together, to determine whether and what they would like to name their school going forward. That’s just one rather symbolic gesture, but rather important to us.”

Unemployed teachers who worked at 360 High School in the 2023-2024 school year will have the opportunity to reapply for a position at the unified school, according to the settlement.

The Rhode Island Department of Education, Providence Public School District and the plaintiffs together announced Wednesday evening that they had mutually reached the agreement .

“The Rhode Island Department of Education and Providence Public Schools will continue to work closely with students, families, staff, and community partners to foster a school community at the new, unified school, that promotes academic excellence and offers a welcoming and supportive learning environment where all students can thrive,” Wednesday’s joint announcement stated.

In April, four 360 High School parents filed the class action suit, Mezón v. Providence Public School Department . The parents and their children all speak Spanish, so the suit alleged that the high school’s impending closure — announced to the surprise of students and families in February —  would violate federal access laws for the school’s many multilingual learners, which comprised more than half the student body.

“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,” said Ysaura Mezón, the lead plaintiff, in a statement.

Legal battle over 360 High School continues in federal court

Providence public schools are under state control, and education officials from both the state and the school district called the closure a merger, since 360 would be fused into the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex in the same building on Thurbers Avenue. Originally, the merged school was going to be called the Juanita Sanchez Life Sciences Institute.

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act can push underperforming public schools into a process known as redesign, in which a school can be closed, made into a charter or private school, or see fundamental changes to its structure. Juanita Sanchez was already engaged in a redesign process approved by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education in July 2023 . The settlement ensures the unified school will be consistent with that makeover while preserving certain elements that 360 High School parents and students appreciated.

The settlement, Wood said, “is really a statement of priorities…that are most valuable or precious [students and families], that they were hoping to be continued and protected in a unified school.”

City and state education officials maintain they did not violate any of the plaintiffs’ rights under the agreement.

“We have every reason to believe that all these commitments have been made in good faith, and then everything will be completely fulfilled and implemented,” Wood said. “And having a blueprint for that is really great.”

Some amenities provided by the settlement’s “blueprint” include:

• Thirty minutes of student advisory time every other school day, on topics like team building, advising and post-graduation plans.
  
• An emphasis on restorative justice practices, which were highlighted in 360 High School’s institutional structure and are meant to maintain a safe school environment as well as teach conflict resolution skills.
• An individual learning plan for each student that meets state and New England Association of Schools and Colleges standards.
• Interpretation and translation services for students and their families — a major sticking point in the original suit.

“Certainly, there are students and their families who are very sad that the school as they knew it in the past will no longer be open next year.” Wood said. “In a perfect world, their desired outcome was to remain at 360 High School next year, with the administrators, faculty and staff that they’re familiar with since they entered the school.”

But with the lawsuit filed only months before the end of the school year, Wood acknowledged time was a constraint. “Federal litigation does not move that fast,” Wood said, and as summer vacation was about to begin, both parties agreed to ask the court if mediation would be an option.

The ensuing conversations were “very productive,” Wood said, and she was grateful that the court helped both defendants and plaintiffs “come to a resolution that wasn’t exactly what any party wanted, honestly.”

“But that’s how settlements are developed, is that there’s compromise and you decide on what the key priorities are,” Wood said.

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