Immigrant students demand Collier classroom access while court case rolls on

Immigrant students who say they were denied entry to local high schools demanded in court that the Collier County School Board allow them re-entry to classes while their lawsuit plays out in court.

The six students filed the preliminary injunction in Fort Myers Middle District Federal Court on Wednesday, with eight weeks until the start of next semester.

If the judge approves the preliminary injunction, the students will be enrolled in classes in August.

The students are taking classes at Immokalee and Lorenzo Walker technical colleges, which they have argued in past filings amounts to a lesser education with no real pathway to a diploma.

As part of pervasive school policies at Immokalee, Golden Gate and Lely high schools, the students have alleged, school officials illegally blocked and then diverted them from Collier public schools because of their birthplaces and poor English skills.

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The School Board’s policy has diverted at least 300 students, according to past allegations. The judge initially denied class-action status, but that could change as the case progresses into later stages.

This latest motion demands that the school district stop excluding recently arrived foreign-born students who still are learning English. It also demands that everyone who had been blocked be given entry.

The students argued that by missing even more school time while their case plays out, they will "suffer irreparable injury" that "outweighs whatever damage" might come to the School Board, according to the motion.

“I have missed over a year of school,” one student said in a statement Wednesday. None of the students are identified in the suit.

“This has delayed my life, my career and my future. I am working so hard, and I just need access to a real school to give me the chance to achieve my dreams.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a national civil rights advocacy group based in Alabama, filed the original lawsuit more than a year ago.

Michelle LaPointe, a senior staff lawyer at the center, said in an interview that the students are pushing to get back into the classroom now because of the case's drawn-out schedule, coupled with evidence that suggests the policy might be more entrenched than they first thought.

The trial is set for 2019, when many of the plaintiffs will be older than high school age.

She hopes the injunction will "force some action one way or another."

School district officials declined to comment on the newest motion until after they file a response. But they cited past filings, including motions for dismissals, in which they laid out their arguments against the students’ assertions.

The school district has argued that students were not blocked but were redirected to comparable programs in the school system that would provide better educational opportunities than regular high school.

Officials also have said the district retains the right to redirect students if they won’t graduate on time due to prohibitive language barriers. It's the schools' prerogative, lawyers said, to implement their English language learner programs however they see fit.