Notice of Response to Plaintiffs' Fourth Request for Production of Documents
Public Court Documents
May 22, 1991

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Case Files, Sheff v. O'Neill Hardbacks. Notice of Service and Plaintiffs' Second Set of Interrogatories, 1992. 8f1bdb7d-a446-f011-877a-002248226c06. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/cf19d143-9f72-41f4-9b88-0677ddfbebb3/notice-of-service-and-plaintiffs-second-set-of-interrogatories. Accessed July 29, 2025.
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CcvV89-0360977S MILO SHEFF, et al. Plaintiffs SUPERIOR COURT JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF HARTFORD/NEW BRITAIN AT HARTFORD ve. WILLIAM A. O'NEILL, et al. Defendants JULY 15, 1992 LL ] o e e e [1 ] (1 ) L 1] e d LL ] e e [1 ] L LJ [1 ] NOTICE OF SERVICE OF SECOND SET OF INTERROGATORIES Plaintiffs give ‘notice that on July 13, 1992, they served Plaintiffs’ Second Set of Interrogatories on the defendants by service upon their counsel. Respectfully Submitted, w PP EK Philip D. Tegeler Martha Stone Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation 32 Grand Street Hartford, CT 06106 Wesley W. Horton Wilfred Rodriguez Moller, Horton, & Rice Hispanic Advocacy Project 90 Gillett Street Neighborhood Legal Services Hartford, C7 06105 1229 Albany Avenue Hartford, CT 06112 Julius L. Chambers John Brittain Marianne Engelman Lado University of Connecticut Ronald L. Ellis School of Law NAACP Legal Defense & 65 Elizabeth Street Educational Fund, Inc. Hartford, CT 06105 99 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 - 2 - | Helen Hershkoff Ruben Franco John A. Powell Jenny Rivera | Adam S. Cohen Puerto Rican Legal Defense American Civil Liberties and Education Fund | Union Foundation 99 Hudson Street 132 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10013 | New York, NY 10036 | Attorneys for Plaintiffs | CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that one copy of the foregoing has been mailed postage prepaid to John R. Whelan and Martha M. Watts, Assistant | Attorneys General, MacKenzie Hall, 110 Sherman Street, Hartford, CT 7 vo aes £1 06105 this /2 day of July, 1992. Philip D. Tegeler : » Cv89-0360977S MILO SHEFF, et al. SUPERIOR COURT Plaintiffs JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF HARTFORD/NEW BRITAIN AT HARTFORD Vv. WILLIAM A. O'NEILL, et al. Defendants JULY 15, 1892 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ° 00 oo PLAINTIFFS’ SECOND SET OF INTERROGATORIES You are requested pursuant to §§220 and 223 of the Connecticut Practice Book to respond to the following interrogatories thirty days of service of this Request. Service shall be made at the office of plaintiffs’ counsel, Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation, 32 Grand Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06106. I. INSTRUCTIONS AND DEFINITIONS 1. If the information requested does not exist exactly in the frm requested, please provide information which most closely corresponds to the information sought by this particular document request. 2. As used herein: a. "Surrounding Communities" means the towns of Avon, Bloomfield, Canton, East Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Manchester, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, South Windsor, Suffield, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor, and Windsor Locks. b. "Surrounding Communities" means the school districts in each of the surrounding communities. If data requested does not exist on the "district" level, please provide for the surrounding communities. ITI. INTERROGATORIES 1. Please list, by title, year, and number, all "Research Bulletins" issued by the Connecticut Department of Education, 1965 to the present. 2. Identify, by author, title, and date, each document or document excerpt attached hereto as Exhibits A and B. (Plaintiffs also request full copies of each of these documents in their Fifth Request for Production.) 3. State the total number of children receiving the free and reduced lunch program in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 4. State the total number of children living below the poverty level in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 5. State the total number of children receiving aid to dependent children (ADC) in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 6. State the total number of Spanish language dominant children in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 7 State the total number of children receiving special education services in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 8. State the total number of children on a full time equivalent basis (FTE) receiving special education services in Hartford and each of the surrounding districts. 9. State the total grant amount for special education reimbursement for Hartford and the surrounding districts for the years 1983-1990 (data missing from Exhibit 4, attached to defendants’ July 8, 1991 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment). 10. State the total grant amount for transportation reimbursement for Hartford and the surrounding districts for the years 1983-1990 (data missing from Exhibit 4, attached to defendants’ July 8, 1991 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment). 11. State the total special education budget for Hartford and each of the surrounding districts for the years 1983-1990. Wesley W. Horton Moller, Horton, & Rice 90 Gillett Street Hartford, CT 06105 Julius L. Chambers Marianne Engelman Lado Ronald L. Ellis NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. 99 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 BY: Respectfully Submitted, WL Gai? Philip D. Tegeler Martha Stone Connecticut Civil Liberties Union Foundation 32 Grand Street Hartford, CT 06106 Wilfred Rodriguez Hispanic Advocacy Project Neighborhood Legal Services 1229 Albany Avenue Hartford, CT 06112 John Brittain University of Connecticut School of Law 65 Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105 - 5m Helen Hershkoff Ruben Franco ! John A. Powell Jenny Rivera Adam S. Cohen Puerto Rican Legal Defense American Civil Liberties and Education Fund Union Foundation 99 Hudson Street 132 West 43rd Street . New York, NY 0013 | | New York, NY 10036 Attorneys for Plaintiffs CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that one copy of the foregoing has been mailed postage prepaid to John R. Whelan and Martha M. Watts, Assistant Attorneys General, MacKenzie Hall, 110 Sherman Street, Hartford, CT | : 7H 06105 this /% day of July, 1992. A 4 Philip D. Tegeler << E+ HH mM H i a & [1985 ROM ar, sate BOARS 0 EPA ov] State of Connecticut william A. O'Neill, Governor Board of Education Abraham Glassman, Chairman James J. Szerejko, Vice Chairman A. Walter Esdaile Warten J. Foley Dorothy C. Goodwin Rita L. Hendel John F. Mannix Julia S. Rankin Humberto Solano Norma Foreman Glasgow (ex officio) Commissioner of Higher Education Gerald N. Tirozzl Commissioner of Education Frank A. Altlerl Deputy Commissioner Finance and Operations Lorraine M. Arohson Deputy Commissioner Program and Support Services | [ves nee | FOREWORD Policy Is difficult to create. Information, knowledge, judgment and a great deal of time are required to create good policy. The State Board of Educa- tion often seeks the advice and direction of committees as it formulates educa- tional policy for the stale. Committees are able and willing lo give complex educational Issues the close atiention and long hours of study they merit. Another advantage of committees is that the representation of many consti tuencles results in recommendations that take Into account the diversity ol Connecticul's schools and students. | wish lo express my sincere thanks to all the Connecticut citizens who served so devotedly during the past two years on the seven ad hoc advisory com- mittees lo the State Board of Education. Their thoroughness In researching the Issues, thelr thoughtful analyses and deliberations, and the astuleness of thelr recommendations are invaluable contributions to the betterment of education in Connecticul. The combined results of the committees’ work, summarized In this booklet, far exceed my expectations In 1984 when | presented and the Board adopted Connecticut's Challenge: An Agenda for Education Equity and Excellence. We hoped lo set the stage for a busy year of commitiee meetings in which ideas and lssues would be debated, bul no one could have anticipated the zeal with which members would respond to the charges given them. All of the commitiees were charged to consider topics in the Instructional realm, related to what we teach and how and when we teach it. The topics for study were: ® Aduk Education ® Basic Skills @ Course Offerings and Graduation Requirements ® Early Childhood Education ® Services to Handicapped Infants and Toddlers @® Teacher Certification @ Vocational Education Forerunners of the current commitiee reports also deserve recognition for having laid the groundwork for the more recent activities. Among them are the Professional Development Councils Recommendations Related to Ensuring Professional Competence (1982); the report of the Distinguished Citizens Task Force on Quality Teaching (1983); the report of the Commit- {ee on Standards and Procedures for the Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs (1984); and the report of the Governor's Commission on Equity and Excellence in Education, titled Teachers for Today & Tomorrow (1985). The roadmap, charted by representatives from every area of the state, Is here 10 be followed. This broad participation in determining the future of educa- tion In Connecticut Is fitting, since every resident has a stake In the public schools as elementary and secondary school students, as parents, as parii- cipants in adult education and retraining, and as shareholders In the state's economy and quality of life which we all enjoy. Through our joint efforts, we will achieve equity and excellence in our public schools. ly Gerald N. Tirozzd N Commissioner of Education INTRODUCTION As a result of Initiatives proposed in Cornineclicut’s Challenge: An Agenda For Educational Equity and Excellence (1984), the State Board of Education appointed seven ad hoc advisory commitiees. Approximately 200 individuals representing public and private organizations and businesses from all regions of the state served as members of the committees. One or more State De- partment of Education staff members served as liaison to each of the commitiees. The committees were asked lo develop lindings and recommendations con- cerning: Adult Education; Basic Skills; Course Offerings and Graduation ‘Requirements; Early Childhood Education; Services lo Handicapped Infants and Toddlers; Teacher Certification; and Vocational Education. All committees reported thelr findings and recommendations to the Board in 1985. Some recommendations, those requiring only Stale Board of Educa- tion action, have already been implemented. Others require legislative action and are Included among the Board of Education's recommended legislation for consideration during the 1986 session of the General Assembly. This booklet presents, for each of the commitiees: ® the challenge that generaled the study; ® the charge lo the committee: ® a summary of the commitiee’s findings: ® is recommendations; . ® a status report on actions taken (prior lo November 15, 1985) to implement the recommendations, and ® a listing of the members of each commitiee and ts staff Naison(s). This publication Is intended as a tribute to the nearly 200 citizens of Connecti: cut who devoted valuable time to studying the Issues assigned to them and formulating responsible recommendations for future actions lo improve education in Connecticut. Additionaldnformation about the advisory committee reporis and proposed legislative actions may be obtained from the State Department ol Education's Public Information Office. EXHIBIT B MINORITY IMBALANCE IN CONNECTICUT PUBLIC. SCHOOLS SOURCE -QF DATA In May, 1966, at the request of the (then) Connecticut Cammission on Civil Rights, the State Department of Education completed a racial census of the public schools, the first ever taken in Connecticut. .. sccond consus was taken in 1967 , Lut tabu- lation of the data by schools is not yet completed, so the May, 1966, census is the source used for this report. No action which would very significantly alter the town profiles presented here has been taken in the interim. NEGROES AND PUERTO RICANS In the 1966 tally, teachers were asked to indicate the number of white and of non- white students in their classes. A "don't know" column was also included, but entries throughout the state was insignificant. A separate tally of Spanish-speaking students was requested of the teachers. These are primarily Puerto Rican children. In the over-all tally, these children were counted either as white, as non-white, or some as one, some as the other. There is no way to tell, It has been estimated that about 20% of Puerto Ricans in the United States classify themselves as Negroes. A rather careful examination of the reports for schools with which staff members of this Commission are quite familiar reveals that the Spanish-speaking students for the most part must have been included in the count of white students. To ignore this would be to underestimate the problems of minority imbalance in Connec- ticut schools. For example, Barnard Brown School in the heart of Hartford's North End enrolls about 1000 children, nearly half of whom are non-white and wore than half of whom are Spanish-speaking. A very small percentage of the children in Barnard Brown School are non-Spanish-speaking white chi.dren. To regard Barnard Brown School as a well integrated school because half of its students are Puerto Ricans would be unrealistic. Therefore, we have noted the number of non-white and the number of Spanish-speaking students in each school and have added them together to arrive at the number of minority group children in that school. While this method may slightly over- estimate the minority percentages in a few schools, the error is insignificant for our purpose, which is not so much to arrive at an exact count of the minority group students in the public schools as to present a picture sufficiently accurate to permit various remedies to be considered realistically. In the nineteen school systems considered in detail here, there are about 10,000 students classified as non-white and about 5,000 students classified as Spanish- speaking. The maximum error would involve about 1000 students who may be included in both the non-white and the Spanish-speaking count. The number of "Negro" students reported in the 1967 census is 49,560—8% of the students in Connecticut public schools. No mention of Spanish-speaking or Puerto Rican students was made in the 1967 questionnaire. Again it is uncertain how they were classified. MINORITY IMBALANCE AMONG TOWNS In 1966, 35 towns and 1 regional high school reported no non-white or Spanish- speaking students. Most of these towns were rural, but Darien and Thamaston were among them, as were the fairly populous suburbs, Easton ard Middlebury. The 19 towns summarized here reported a total non-white and Spanish-speaking en- rollment of approximately 45,000. Not included in this group were New Britain (for which breakdowns by school were not available from the State Department of Education, but which reparted a N-W & S enrollment of approximately 1,500) and Bloomfield (which had not submitted figures but for which we estimate at least 500 NW & S students). The totzl N-W & S enrollment for these 21 towns was approxi- mately 47,000. The remaining 113 towns in the state reported a total N-W & S enrollment of fewer than 3,000 students. Fifty-two of these towns reported fewer than 10 NW & S students. Only 16 reported more than 50 N-W & S students, and of these only 3 had more than 100, Thus, the total mumber of N-W & S students in Comecticut public schools in the spring of 1966 was in the neighborhood of 50,000, We believe that approximately 5,000 Spanish-speaking students should be added to the 1967 census to give a comparable figure for 1967. MINORITY IMBALANCE IN METROPOLITAN REGIONS Gross minority imbalances exist within the metropolitan regions of the state. For all but political purposes, for example, Ansonia, Shelton, and Derby form one city, yet the figures for these towns are: N-W & S Students Ansonia L43 Derby 38 i Shelton 1 9 Similarly, for the Bric eport area the figures are: N-W & S Students Bridgeport 7,916 Stratford 576 Trucbull 62 Pairfield 60 Easton 0 As a final example, the situation in Waterbury and its contiguous towns, is: N-W & S Students Waterbury 3,540 Naugatuck 81 Watertown L3 Cheshire 14 Plymouth 12 Wolcott 12 Prospect 10 a hools is heavily concentrated in e minority school population distribution of the total public ited as follows: ittending the various grades in New london New Britain L1% L9% 27% 23% 21% 19% 100% 1002 ps of young adults who are disproportionately large lower elementary grades, can only intensify problems bls in the immediate future segregate both schools and pup students is a significant e high school ‘population, but oup school population is also ES imbalanced schools those schools y groups students that the town ee cities having a minority student have designated schools with more tire town at each school level as ese schools Class 3 schools, Class 3 schools in 16 Comecticut imbalanced schools, 60 of which - from New Britain, Bloomfield, and re would probably be no more than lic schcols. -l- ferences can be made: students in Connecticut urban public schools iroportionate nucber of such students. ance at the junior and senior high school ly by redistricting. .ance is particularly acute in Hartford . 3/L, of the minority students attend 8 1000 children apiece on the average. These ranging from 89% to 98% of their student ‘or the various cities given on Sheet 3 jle their N-W and S enrcllzents are relatively eveloping Negro neighborhoods illustrative of year adopted a plan whereby Negro students hool to the extent that white children from rans fer to Newhall, Twenty-five white students i students were assigned to other schools. tterns, announced plans to close its "Class 3" rity children out of that school upon the ied by this Commission as utilizing housing sf their minority populations. The fact that percentages larger at the high school than at ce this oelief. ~f Education experienced hard pressure from zate Nathaniel Ely School, new elementary roject and 87% non-white. The school was shildren were bused, and later developments: additional minority children. Figures are jeet 18: indicates the changes that have 3s 1 school now, but had 9 in 1963. It has ., in 1963. In both years, it had 2 Class 3 sb with its junior high schools. munity tension over the districting for its 3 ago. Desegregationists finally prevailed, well-integrated high scheols. , size of its minority imbalanced schools at slementary schools, each having a school N-W & S, enroll a total of 4,872 students .. Hartford is also unique among Connecticut :¢ at the high school level. Be Project Concern, the pilot regional approach to the education of minority children, while of great potential valua, obviously has made no dent in Hartford's problems of minority imbalance, since only about 300 children have been involved. REPORT ON WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK Sheet #23, reprint of an article received on January 3, shows that White Plains has adopted a policy similar to Norwalk's, is satisfied with it, and that in general this policy is to maximize the number of Class 2 schools as defined in this study and eliminate Class 3 schools. 4 -— — a — . } > i : . ey ; Te : rare Class 1 schools are schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spahish-speaking students 1s less then one-half the percentage of such students Ain a1] the schools of the same grade levels in the city. Class 2 schools are schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spanish-speaking students is more than one-half and less than twice the percentage of such students in all the schools of the same grade levels in the city. | Class 3 schools are schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spanish-speaking students is more than twice the percentage of such students in all the schools of the same grade levels in the city. For example: Town X has 3 elementary schools, which have a total percentage of non-white ‘and Spanish-speaking of 20%. School A has 3% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollment. School B has 22% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollment. School C has 65% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollment. By the definitions above, any school with less than 10% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollmen would be a Class 1 school. Any school with more than 10% and less than 40% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollment would be Class 2. Any school with more than 407% non-white and Spanish-speaking enrollment would be Class 3. . Therefore: School A is a Class 1 school, School B is a Class 2 school, and School C is a Class 3 school. For cities with a student population with 30% or more non-white and Spanish-speaking, the classifications becomes Class 1 schools are schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spanish-speaking is less than two-thirds the percentage of such students in 211 the schools of the same grade levels in the city. Class 2 schools are schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spanish-speaking is more than two-thirds and less than one and one- HW: half times the percentage of such students in all schools of -the same grade levels in the city. AQ. Class 3 schools ire schools in which the percentage of non-white and Spanish-speaking 1s more than one and one-half time the percentage of sich students in all the schools of the same grade levels in the city. Certain school systems are run on an 8-4 basis; others on a 6-3-3; and still others on a 6<2-4, Please note these variations on the headings of the columns. uw" stands for "non-white"; "SP" stands for n3panish-speaking". Rew data from the Connecticut State Department of Education, Research Bulletin #1, Series 1966-67. -