ATLANTA -- Today, a teacher from Fulton County, her son and the Georgia Association of Educators filed a federal lawsuit against Fulton County School District (FCSD) asking a Court to stop the District from requiring those teachers returning to work to waive their constitutional and statutory rights if they want to bring their school aged children with them. Fulton County employs hundreds of teachers with school aged children and because most are receiving remote instruction, they could not return to work without bringing their children to school.
FCSD offered to allow teachers with school age students to enter onto FCS premises, but only by agreeing to give up their own constitutional, and federal statutory rights as well as waiving the rights of their child. Fulton County coerced this extreme waiver of employee, parent and child rights and demanded that any employee that does not return to in-person work at their school because they cannot find child care will not be paid.
Kristin Nicholas, a teacher in the lawsuit, has a child with a disability that needed to accompany her to school. FCSD told Ms. Nicholas that if she did sign the waiver, she could not come to work and she would suffer a reduction in pay. According to Ms. Nicholas, “I was simply trying to get to work. I love being a teacher, but my son has special needs and requires continual supervision.”
The case filed on behalf of Ms. Nicholas and the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) seeks injunctive relief so that Ms. Nicholas, and other teachers in her situation, do not have to waive rights unrelated to being on campus with their children. As GAE General Counsel Mike McGonigle explained, “We sent the school district an amended waiver in hopes that our members could return to work and still retain their civil rights. They refused to accept our changes and insisted that teachers could not return without relinquishing their rights.” Mr. Jonathan Zimring, an attorney that specializes in education civil rights explains that the waivers sought by Fulton County, “have nothing to do with Covid-19 or any pandemic risks. We asked the District to limit the waiver and the Superintendent’s response was that these were what their lawyers wanted. Parents who understand what these waivers mean cannot in good faith waive their child’s educational and civil rights.” The lawsuit is attached.
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