On the Glynn County School System

In late July, the Georgia Department of Education told the Glynn County School System the state was closing the Coastal Academy facility. Glynn school leaders had just 20 days to transfer about 70 students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders to another building. Fortunately, Glynn school leaders had a viable option and are now housing the young people at the Risley Annex on Albany Street.

The move happened because the U.S. Justice Department told the state education department and the administrators of the GNETS program that Coastal Academy and eight other similar schools statewide no longer met appropriate building standards.

But that’s old news. Now the Justice Department intends to sue the state of Georgia over a different issue with the program. It says the state violates the civil rights of the students in the program. A federal official said the agency objects to the state’s position that it plans to “continue to fund, operate, and administer a separate, segregated and unequal statewide service system for students in need of mental health and therapeutic educational services.”

GNETS — the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support — has 24 programs that are administered through the state. County school systems provide facilities, nurses, cops and other services. Leslie Lipson, a Georgia Advocacy Office attorney told The Brunswick News that GNETS has done little to adequately serve its students, that “they’ve been warehoused, put away and shut away.” The students should attend traditional schools, the Justice Department said.

However, that contention appears to be far too harsh in Glynn County. Sure, the old Coastal Academy facility may not have been up to par. However, the staff and administration have worked hard to meet the needs of their students. Inclusion is a complex issue for school systems. Yet the Justice Department’s stance is also valid. These youngsters and teenagers may later face the risk of being even more segregated from society when they reach adulthood. If they attend other schools within Glynn County, their teachers and specialized personnel may have more opportunities to help them alleviate some of their emotional and behavioral issues. Such new settings could also provide the students with socialization skills they might not encounter as much in a separate facility.

Such an approach could take years. Still, the Glynn County School Board and top administrators should explore the long-term possibilities to further accommodate these students.

It may be prudent considering it seems the Department of Justice is intent on making the state close down the GNETS program, which would mean the local system would have no choice but to adjust.