Seeking to secure a Florida high-school student’s educational rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Southern Legal Counsel and Three Rivers Legal Services filed a federal complaint against the student’s local school board.

The lawsuit argues that the law, which bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 and restricts such discussions for students through grade 12 based on undefined standards of appropriateness, effectively silences and erases LGBTQ+ students and families. The law demands that school districts implement its terms, and it empowers any parent to directly sue the school district if they are dissatisfied with its implementation of the law.

As Florida students returned to in-person education following more than a year of school closures and distance learning, Southern Legal Counsel partnered with pro bono attorneys and other advocacy organizations to support students with disabilities who were impacted by COVID-19 school disruptions.

Abigail Adkins was just six months into her two-year Equal Justice Works fellowship at Southern Legal Counsel when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools where she was working to improve safety by advocating for the provision of comprehensive school- and community-based mental health services for at-risk students.

“COVID-19 school closures delayed or disrupted special education services and accommodations for a lot of the students I work with, in addition to the broader impacts on student mental health and well-being,” said Adkins, whose fellowship is sponsored by McDermott Will & Emery and Darden Restaurants Inc. “As students return to in-person classes, it is more important than ever for educators and families to support kids’ social and emotional needs.”

In partnership with Equality Florida, the state’s largest statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, Southern Legal Counsel has engaged with all 67 Florida school districts to educate their leadership, personnel, students and parents on how to affirm, support, and protect LGBTQ students and their rights.