On April 28, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada sent a letter to Gov. Steve Sisolak declaring that the state has been failing to provide an equal education to all students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The letter made two requests: that students be provided equal access to technologies that make remote learning possible, and that privacy protections be put in place to protect students while learning from home.

“The burden of this failure has fallen unequally on students who traditionally have struggled to secure an equal, quality education, including students from low-income families, students of color, students with disabilities and students who lack permanent housing,” ACLU of Nevada wrote in the statement.

Reached for a response, Nevada Department of Education spokeswoman Terri Hendry said, “We are in receipt of the letter by the ACLU of Nevada regarding concerns about digital or distance learning. We are following up with the ACLU’s executive director, Tod Story, this week to see how best we can address the ACLU’s concerns. Since we have not met, nor discussed, it would be premature to say anything more.”

Las Vegas is a diverse community. According to CCSD statistics, during the 2018-2019 school year, 46.4% of students were Latino, 14.1% were black and 6.4% were Asian. And with schools shut down since mid-March—and through at least the end of the academic year—some worry that low-income students, many of whom are also students of color, will be affected most.

“Students of color who are in low-income communities may or may not have access to technology,” says Iesha Jackson, assistant professor of teaching and learning at UNLV. “They may not have a computer or fast-enough internet to access all the resources a teacher might want a student to have.”

And, Jackson adds, many such students might not have a caregiver who can assist with technical difficulties. The pandemic, she says, has magnified inequalities already present.

“During the school year, I don’t know if we paused and asked if everyone is accessing the curriculum in the same way,” Jackson says. “People within the district are questioning, ‘Does everyone have access?’ I think a [better question might be], ‘Is it adding new layers to academic struggles?’”

The ACLU’s letter invokes the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which found that education is “a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

Though CCSD is offering Chromebooks to students, the ACLU has argued that adequate Internet access, printers, assistive technology for students with disabilities and native language materials (so parents can understand and access the technology) must be made available to be legally compliant.

Tod Story, ACLU of Nevada’s executive director, also argues that online learning raises privacy issues and could discourage some children, especially undocumented students, from engaging in distance learning.

“Online exchange occurring between teachers and students can be a way for the schools to monitor what students are doing,” Story says. “We want to make sure students are not put into a situation where they’re nervous, concerned and apprehensive about learning in that environment. Some students might have a different status, and if they’re concerned about the government monitoring their activity, they may choose not to participate. We want to make sure their privacy is being protected.”