Opinion
Civil Action No. 1908.
July 9, 2009
For the United States: LORETTA KING, Acting Assistant Attorney General, FRANZ R. MARSHALL, JONATHAN FISCHBACH, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section, Washington, D.C.
For the School District of Vermilion Parish: CALVIN WOODRUFF, ESQ., Vermilion Parish Schools, Abbeville, LA.
AGREED ORDER OF DISMISSAL
In September 2006, the United States initiated a review of the Vermilion Parish School District ("District"). After reviewing data provided by the District as well as other publicly available information, the United States advised the District that, in its view, the District had fulfilled its affirmative desegregation obligations under the Fourteenth Amendment and applicable federal law. This determination, if ratified by the Court, entitles the District to a declaration of unitary status and the termination of this litigation. As indicated by the signatures of counsel below, the parties request that the Court approve this Agreed Order of Dismissal, declare that the District has achieved unitary status, and dismiss this case.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On December 20, 1974, Vermilion Parish entered into a consent decree ("Decree") with private plaintiffs and the United States. In the order entering the Decree, the Court noted that
[i]t is apparent from the record in this case, including the detailed plan for the operation of the Vermilion Parish public schools, and we so find and accordingly decree that the above-named defendants have previously achieved a unitary school system and have operated as such for a period in excess of three (3) years prior to this date; accordingly all detailed regulatory injunctions heretofore entered by this Court against said defendants are hereby dissolved.See Decree at ¶ III.
One objective of the Decree was to implement a "Merit System For Hiring and Promotion of Personnel" that incorporated a series of objective criteria to assess the qualifications of applicants for positions as principals, teachers, teacher-aides, and other staff working directly with children in the school system. The Court also issued a permanent injunction enjoining the District
from operating a dual public school system in the parish of Vermilion and from adopting any regulatory policies, practices or performing any acts in regard to said public school system in any aspect of its operations which are discriminatory as to any members of the student population, faculty or staff, or any of its employees, or which would deny any benefits to any of said persons or classes of persons, or others affected by said action, on grounds of race, religion, color or national origin.See Decree at ¶ IV.
Finally, the Decree obligated the District to file two annual statistical reports on or before November 15, 1975 and November 15, 1976, in the format required by the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Hinds County School Board, 433 F.2d 618-19, Appendix B (5th Cir. 1970). See Decree at ¶ V. The docket sheet for this case reflects that the District filed both reports in accordance with the requirements of the Decree. After the District filed the second report the Court administratively closed the case. According to the records of both parties, no additional court orders or consent decrees have been entered in this matter.
Since December 20, 1974, the District has operated under the auspices of the permanent injunction established by the Decree. To assess the status of the District's desegregation efforts, the United States initiated a review of this case on September 13, 2006 by requesting that the District submit information regarding student assignment, transfers, faculty and staff assignment, facilities, transportation and extracurricular activities. The United States also conducted a site visit of the District in February 2008. On the basis of this review the parties now approach the Court and request that it approve this Agreed Order of Unitary Status and Dismissal.
II. STIPULATED FACTS
A. Student Assignment
The District operates nineteen schools that served approximately 9,060 students in 2008-09. The racial composition of the District's enrolled student body was approximately 22% black, 73% white, and 5% other races. At each school students were assigned to classrooms on a non-discriminatory basis. The most recent student enrollment data for District schools, disaggregated by race, is set forth below: Abbeville HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Erath HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Gueydan HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Kaplan HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American North Vermilion HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Total Student Enrollment Total % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American
The total student enrollment includes 82 students enrolled in the Vermilion Parish Alternative Program at the time this data was compiled.
Data from the 2008-09 school year reveals that the racial composition of teachers at each school hewed closely to the racial composition of teachers for the District as a whole. Faculty were assigned to District schools on a non-discriminatory basis. The most recent faculty data for District schools, disaggregated by race, is set forth below: Abbeville HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Erath HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Gueydan HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Kaplan HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American North Vermilion HS Attendance Zone Location % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American Total Faculty Total % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Native American
Abbeville HS (9-12) 87.9 12.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 58 staff members J. H. Williams MS (6-8) 84.2 15.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 57 staff members Seventh Ward ES (PreK-5) 89.7 10.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 29 staff members Herod ES (PreK-5) 96.4 3.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 55 staff members Eaton Park ES (PreK-5) 89.9 10.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 69 staff members Erath HS (9-12) 95.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 40 staff members Erath MS (4-8) 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 62 staff members Dozier ES (PreK-3) 98.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 49 staff members Gueydan HS (6-12) 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 31 staff members Jesse Owens ES (PreK-5) 96.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25 staff members Kaplan HS (9-12) 97.8 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 46 staff members Renee Rost MS (5-8) 97.4 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.0 39 staff members Kaplan ES (PreK-4) 96.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 50 staff members Forked Island ES/MS 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 (PreK-8) 31 staff members North Vermilion HS (7-12) 95.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 60 staff members Meaux ES (PreK-6) 96.8 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 31 staff members Maurice ES (PreK-6) 90.2 9.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 41 staff members Indian Bayou ES/MS 95.7 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 (PreK-8) 23 staff members 796 staff members 94.3 5.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 C. TransportationAn examination of materials submitted by the District reveals no evidence of discrimination or other non-equitable treatment in the transportation of students to District schools.
D. Facilities
The United States received a copy of the District's facilities upgrade schedule and personally inspected many District schools. On the basis of this review the United States determined that the District has satisfied its legal obligation to construct and maintain school facilities in a manner that is non-discriminatory and does not perpetuate racial segregation.
E. Extracurricular Activities
Data furnished by the District reflects that students of all races are well represented on athletic teams, academic competition teams, and in other extracurricular clubs. Minority students successfully compete for school accolades, but do not receive rewards or recognition on the basis of race.
III. LEGAL ANALYSIS
The remedial objective of a school desegregation case is to convert a de jure segregated school system to a system without identifiable "white schools" or "black schools," but just schools that serve students of all races. The standard established by the Supreme Court for determining whether a school district has achieved unitary status, thereby warranting termination of judicial supervision, is: (1) whether the school district has fully and satisfactorily complied with the court's desegregation orders for a reasonable period of time; (2) whether the school district has eliminated the vestiges of past de jure discrimination to the extent practicable; and (3) whether the school district has demonstrated a good faith commitment to the whole of the court's orders and to those provisions of the law and the Constitution that formed the predicate for judicial intervention in the first instance. See Missouri v. Jenkins, 515 U.S. 70, 88-89 (1995); Freeman v. Pitts, 503 U.S. 467, 491-92, 498 (1992); Board of Educ. of Oklahoma City Pub. Sch. v. Dowell, 498 U.S. 237, 248-50 (1991).
The Supreme Court has identified five areas, commonly known as the "Green factors," which must be addressed as part of the determination of whether a school district has fulfilled its duties and eliminated all vestiges of the prior dual school system to the extent practicable: (1) student assignment; (2) faculty and staff; (3) transportation; (4) facilities and resource allocation; and (5) extracurricular activities. See Freeman, 503 U.S. at 486; Green v. County Sch. Bd. of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430, 435 (1968). The Green factors are not a rigid framework, and the Supreme Court has endorsed the consideration of other factors, such as "quality of education," to determine whether a school district has satisfied its desegregation obligations. See Freeman, 503 U.S. at 492-93.
The information obtained by the United States demonstrates that the District has complied with the Court's desegregation orders for a reasonable period of time and has eliminated the vestiges of past de jure discrimination to the extent practicable. The Court therefore concludes that the Vermilion Parish School District has met the legal standards for a declaration of unitary status and is entitled to dismissal of this action.
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that all prior injunctions against the Vermilion Parish School District are DISSOLVED, jurisdiction is TERMINATED, and the case against the Vermilion Parish School District is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.