Several local advocacy organizations are calling on Pittsburgh Public Schools to permanently end the use of a disciplinary practice they say is “disparately” used against Black students.
The impacts of the use of summary citations, sometimes called non-traffic citations, were laid out in a nine-page letter sent to school board president Gene Walker on Monday. The letter, which details “stark racial disparities” in how summary citations are issued, alleges that the practice violates federal civil rights law.
The letter — written by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic on behalf of local advocacy groups 412 Justice and the NAACP Pittsburgh — comes a week before a moratorium on the use of summary citations at district schools is set to end. The moratorium was first put in place by school directors in July.
“There’s so much attached to [summary citations] that we’re saying this is not the appropriate disciplinary action for a child who has done something minor,” Ghadah Makoshi, the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s advocacy and policy strategist and a Pittsburgh Public parent, told the Post-Gazette. “You can do any of these other things … to actually address the root of the problem rather than sending them to court.”
Summary citations are the most minor type of criminal offense in the state that are issued for nonviolent crimes such as disorderly conduct and harassment. Those issued a citation are required to appear before a judge, usually resulting in a fine, which at most can cost $250. At Pittsburgh Public, the state’s second largest school district that educates around 19,000 students, citations are issued by school police officers.
Mr. Walker and a district spokesperson did not immediately return emails seeking comment.
According to the letter, summary citations are issued to Black students at “significantly higher rates” than their white peers, officials found by examining data from the past decade.
In all, Black children and teens — who make up 53% of district students — account for over 75% of all students involved in incidents leading to summary citations. That means that Black students are 12 times more likely to receive a summary citation than white students. Black girls are 24 times more likely to be cited than white girls. During the 2021-22 school year, 87% of all summary citations were issued to Black students, while 38% of all citations were issued to Black girls. Only one white girl received a summary citation that year.
Ms. Makoshi attributed those numbers to the “subjective” manner of summary citations.
And, the letter states, there is no evidence that summary citations reduce student misbehavior; rather, they “push students into the criminal legal system for minor alleged infractions” such as posting a disparaging remark on social media or throwing a water bottle. But the citations remain on a student’s record, meaning they must be reported when they apply for a job or college. And they often result in fines and fees that “can place a particularly significant burden on students from low-income families,” the letter reads.
Because of those disparities, the letter alleges that Pittsburgh Public’s summary citation discipline practice violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, a federal civil rights law that protects students from discriminatory school discipline.
The use of summary citations have been at the center of discussions between school directors for months. The board first voted to temporarily suspend the practice in July after advocates and parents raised concerns that the offense unfairly targets Black students. At the time, directors honed in on three paragraphs around the issuance of summary citations by school police officers in the district’s 2023-24 student code of conduct, raising concerns over what they said was vague language used in the section.
They pointed to lines stating an officer will consult with the school principal “to ensure there is agreement based on the evidence provided and the recommended school action.” Other concerns centered around students with disabilities and whether officers are trained to know if a behavior is a manifestation of the disability.
That moratorium in November was extended through Jan. 29. It is not clear how school directors will proceed.
But, the letter states, the use of summary citations “is part of a larger troubling pattern of racially disproportionate punishment” at the district.
The letter alleges that Pittsburgh Public “has long been on notice of the racially disproportionate impact of its exclusionary discipline practices but has failed to take corrective action.” In addition to receiving summary citations at higher rates than their white peers, Black students also receive almost 75% of all in-school suspension, almost 77% of out-of-school suspensions and about 80% of expulsions.
And Pittsburgh Public refers Black students to police at higher rates, the letter states. Between 2013 and 2020, 80% of incidents leading to arrest in city schools involved Black students. The highest percentage of the incidents occurred at Perry High School, Westinghouse Academy and Carrick High School, where the majority of students are Black. And 75% of incidents in which the police were called involved only Black students, while less than 20% of calls involved white students.
“These severe racial disparities cannot be explained by differences in behavior,” the letter reads.
The advocacy organizations are now urging the district to make nine changes, including permanently ending the use of summary citations; expanding restorative justice programs and other alternatives to exclusionary discipline; retaining an expert to provide staff training on racial equity; analyzing and making public data on racial and disability-based disparities in summary citations, suspensions, expulsions and arrests; engaging with stakeholders about discipline reform and examining the root causes of racial disparities in the district.
The letter also asks the district to commit to permanently ending the use of summary citations by Feb. 1.
“It’s almost the end of January, they’ve had this moratorium since the beginning of the school year, nobody has been hurt by not having it, school has gone on, life has gone on,” Ms. Makoshi said. “They’ve managed to find alternatives in the last few months, they can continue to find alternatives.”
First Published: January 23, 2024, 1:52 p.m.
Updated: January 24, 2024, 2:59 p.m.
