Robertson v. District of Columbia

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ CRYSTAL ROBERTSON, on behalf of ) herself and her minor child D.R.; ) ) ELIZABETH DAGGETT, on behalf of ) herself and her minor child H.D.; ) ) JOANN MCCRAY, on behalf of herself ) and her minor child J.C.; ) ) VERONICA GUERRERO, on behalf of ) herself and her minor child A.F.; ) ) Civil Action No. 24-0656 (PLF) MARCIA CANNON-CLARK AND ) DAVID CLARK, on behalf of themselves ) and their minor child B.R.C.; and ) ) THE ARC OF THE UNITED STATES ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________)

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

On April 11, 2025, the Court ordered the District to send a Notice to the parents

of any students who may have their personally identifiable information disclosed if the Court

orders production of trip tickets generated during the 2024-2025 school year. See Order of

April 11, 2025 [Dkt. No. 91] at 2-4. The Court ordered the District to allow a 14-day objection

period following distribution of the Notice. See id. at 3-4. The Court further ordered that the

parties file a joint status report on or before May 28, 2025, advising the Court of (i) the potential production of the trip tickets, (ii) the number of objections that were lodged, and (iii) a suggested

procedure for handling trip tickets to which objections were lodged. See id. at 4.

On May 28, 2025, the parties filed a joint status report advising the Court that the

District distributed the Notice on April 29, 2025, and families were given until May 16, 2025 to

object to the disclosure of their students’ personally identifiable information. See May 28, 2025

Joint Status Report [Dkt. No. 95] at 1. According to the report, the District received 297

objections to the disclosure of student information (“objectors”) “out of more than 4,100 students

whose families received the notice.” Id. “Because most of those students are assigned to

different routes, the total number of routes that include objectors is close to 300.” Id.

The parties agree that the personal information of the objectors should not be

disclosed, and that the District will produce all trip tickets for routes that do not include an

objector. See May 28, 2025 Joint Status Report at 1. But the parties disagree regarding: (i) the

production of trip tickets that include both students whose families did not object to the

disclosure of their information and one or more objectors; (ii) the time frame for which trip

tickets are to be produced; and (iii) the timeline over which the District will produce trip tickets.

Id. at 1-2. The Court has considered the parties’ respective positions. Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED that, on or before July 1, 2025, the District shall produce, without

redaction, all trip tickets generated between August 26, 2024 and November 30, 2024 for routes

that do not include an objector; and it is