Preliminary settlement reached in lawsuits in Newark over the Global Studies report

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The Newark Teachers Union reached a tentative settlement Monday with the district in lawsuits seeking the release of a report detailing racial, cultural and religious dynamics at the Newark School of Global Studies after incidents of racial harassment were exposed in 2022 came.

As part of the proposed deal, Newark Public Schools would ask the union to drop two lawsuits it filed in 2023 and 2024 without admitting liability or culpability, according to a letter filed Monday by the Taylor’s Eltia Montano Galarza with the Essex County Superior Court. Law Group, the prosecutor in the cases. Full details of the preliminary settlement and whether the district would release the Global Studies report as part of the deal have not been disclosed by either party.

The union’s lawsuits are part of a more than two-year battle between the community and the district over the lack of solutions and transparency after incidents of racial harassment against Black students and staff at Newark’s Global Studies High School came to light two years ago came. Since then, district leaders have provided few details about the steps they have taken to resolve the problems at the high school. Superintendent Roger León has said the report will remain confidential and will support the district’s diversity strategy, which remains private.

The proposed agreement comes three months after the union’s attorney, Raymond Baldino of the Zazzali law firm, filed a letter with the court asking for an update on the case after Supreme Court Justice Mayra Tarantino ordered a private review in January of the Global Studies report had ordered.

Montano Galarza, the county’s district attorney, asked questions about the case to Paul Brubaker, the county’s communications director. Brubaker did not respond to Chalkbeat Newark’s email about the case on Tuesday. Baldino said the union cannot comment at this time.

The Newark Teachers Union first sued the district in November 2023 for access to the Global Studies report after León said the document would remain internal and the union’s public records request for the report was denied in October 2023. In April 2024, the teachers union filed again. lawsuit against the district after a second request for access to billing records and the contract between the district and Creed Strategies, the firm hired to conduct the Global Studies report, was denied in February.

Chalkbeat Newark filed two public records requests in 2023 to obtain the report, but the district denied those requests.

On October 9, the county’s attorney filed a letter with the court arguing that the union’s second lawsuit over Creed Strategies’ billing information and its contract with the county is “moot” because the county later documents provided. In an Oct. 10 response, Baldino, the union’s attorney, argues that the documents, which have since been provided to the union, show that the district violated state public records laws because they were rejected in the original the union’s request for the documents in February.

“Despite the absurdity of claiming that he has no record regarding Plaintiff’s requests regarding such a substantial government contract, Defendant now has the audacity to assert that the delay was in good faith,” Baldino said in the letter which was filed in the Essex County Superior Court.

District plans following racist incidents at Global Studies remain private

In November 2022, Black Global Studies students spoke at a board meeting about the racial harassment they faced in high school. In response, the Newark school board commissioned the Creed Strategies report in January 2023, which analyzed the cultural, racial and religious dynamics at the high school. The incidents at the high school resulted in at least a half-dozen black students requesting transfers and two black teachers resigning.

Despite continued calls for more transparency on the issue, the Global Studies report has not been made public. In June 2023, León said the report would not be released publicly, despite requests from members and community leaders, including the NAACP Newark chapter. Deborah Smith-Gregory, who leads the NAACP Newark, said she has asked the district to release the report or provide a summary of the findings but has not heard back.

“Nothing about the report was ever released, and that is wrong. It is a blatant disrespect from the district,” Smith-Gregory said in a phone call to Chalkbeat Newark on Tuesday. “And mind you: the young people involved have graduated. They graduated and they moved on, and this still sticks.”

In September 2023, the district provided the first and only glimpse into the unreleased review by issuing three recommendations calling on the district to assess the effects of “anti-blackness” on the school system, promote conversations about racial issues, and build capacities of school staff. ability to identify cultural differences and create an environment that is racially aware and inclusive. At a school board meeting that same month, León said that “people not having the report in their hands does not mean that work is not happening” at the school.

The recommendations came as former high school assistant principal Hoda Abdelwahab left the district. She was among those called out by parents at board meetings and in legal claims filed by former high school teachers for mishandling the issues. Parents of students at the high school also called for the resignation of Global Studies Director Nelson Ruiz, who has remained in his position.

At a November 2023 school board meeting, board member Crystal Williams asked León for an update on any changes at Global Studies, and member Allison James-Frison said she hoped the report would be released.

Former board member and now Essex County Commissioner A’Dorian Murray Thomas also said at that meeting that the district needed to be “stronger and clearer” about its plans to fix the problems at the high school.

But Smith-Gregory said Tuesday that she feels “disappointed in the board” because “members have one job, and that is to hold the superintendent accountable.”

“They did not push for information to be shared with the public. They didn’t do that,” Smith-Gregory added.

In documents filed with the Supreme Court in December 2023, León argued that releasing the report would have a “chilling effect” on discussions about racial dialogue and sensitivity practices at Global Studies and across the district.

Two former Global Studies faculty members also filed legal claims with state and federal offices in 2023, alleging they faced harassment and racial hostility from students and supervisors. The allegations of racial harassment against students and staff are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, said Jim Bradshaw, a department spokesman.

In an email to Chalkbeat on Tuesday, Bradshaw wrote that the “Office for Civil Rights does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

“We know something happened and we know there was some injustice somewhere,” Smith-Gregory said, “but what are the details?”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at [email protected].