Alabama High School Accused Of Turning Away Mexican-Born Student

A public high school in Fort Payne, Alabama twice refused to allow a 17-year-old Mexican-born student to enroll after he and his family moved to the area from Colorado, forcing him to miss nearly a semester of school, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said on Tuesday. SPLC attorney Caren Short told the Associated Press that the teen, who the civil rights group is referring to as “J.T.” because he is a minor, was “kept out because of his national origin, because his parents did not speak any English”.

The SPLC says that J.T., who has lived in the United States since age one, had provided the school with his Social Security card, birth certificate, proof of residency and other required documents. The teen’s parents, who unlike J.T. don’t speak English, believe they were discriminated against because they only speak Spanish. His stepfather told the group that the Fort Payne High principal hadn’t even waited for his son to interpret from English into Spanish for him. “I felt helpless to help my son,” said his stepfather.

“I felt really frustrated,” the teen told the group. “I was really upset and sad.” He says his plans to join the military the following summer have been delayed. Fort Payne City Schools Superintendent Jim Cunningham told CNN that he could not give public comment on the specific concern, but added in his statement that he could “unequivocally confirm that the Fort Payne City School System in no manner utilizes or considers an individual's national origin in its enrollment decisions.”