Tangipahoa plan back in court

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Sep 9, 2009 - Page: 4B

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

NEW ORLEANS — No matter what plan is approved, the Tangipahoa Parish school system will never desegregate unless the School Board and the community faithfully implement the plan, U.S. District Judge Ivan R.L. Lemelle said Tuesday morning.

Attorneys for both sides were in federal court here to offer closing arguments over the School Board’s proposed desegregation plan in the 46-year-old case of Joyce M. Moore v. the Tangipahoa Parish School Board. Tuesday’s hearing followed a dozen court hearings held since June 30.

Besides listening to oral arguments, Lemelle plans to  visit schools in Tangipahoa Parish on Friday.

The judge also gave attorneys 10 days to submit supplemental written arguments and copies of court-approved desegregation plans of all the past cases in other school systems cited by attorneys in their arguments.

The School Board proposed a plan that aims to desegregate the schools with a combination of themed-magnet programs, attendance zone changes and new schools. The plan seeks to have 17 of 36 schools desegregated.

Lemelle  said Tuesday that 30 of the school system’s 36 schools  are segregated.

The plaintiffs, represented by the Greater Tangipahoa Parish National Association for th Advncement of Colored People, have offered changes to the School Board’s plan, which include a proposal to create three attendance regions — north, central and south — and combine Amite, Independence and Loranger high schools into a single central high school.

Along with pointed questions about the legality and practicality of both sides’ ideas, Lemelle asked whether any plan approved by the court will be successful given the history of this case.

The School Board did not implement its first plan, and the plaintiffs did not seek court attention when the plan was not put in place, Lemelle said.

“Doesn’t that history of where you’re coming from have some bearing here in terms of how serious the board and perhaps even the community are in getting a desegregated school system?” Lemelle asked Charles Patin, one of the School Board’s attorneys.

Patin told the judge he could not defend the past but could only say that the current board is committed to desegregating based on the “ambitious” plan it is proposing.

Plaintiffs’ attorney James Gray requested that Lemelle appoint a special master to oversee the desegregation plan.

A special master has the power to hear complaints and make decisions to resolve them. Currently, the School Board has a court-appointed compliance officer who can hear complaints and file reports to the court.