Dowell v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF OKLAHOMA CITY PUB. SCH.

338 F. Supp. 1256, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15310
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 1, 1972
DocketCiv. 9452
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 338 F. Supp. 1256 (Dowell v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF OKLAHOMA CITY PUB. SCH.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dowell v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF OKLAHOMA CITY PUB. SCH., 338 F. Supp. 1256, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15310 (W.D. Okla. 1972).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BOHANON, Chief Judge.

This is another step in the struggle to implement the constitutional imperative for a unitary school system in the Oklahoma City School District. This case has been before this court in one posture or another for about ten years. Although unnecessary to detail every facet of the complex history of this litigation, every action of this court has been predicated upon the finding that as historically administered, the policies of the Defendant School Board have reflected a system of state imposed and state preserved segregation, and that because it had operated a state compelled dual system, the Defendant School Board was “clearly charged with the affirmative duty to take whatever steps might be necessary to convert to a unitary system in which racial discrimination would be eliminated root and branch.” Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. 430, 437-438, 88 S.Ct. 1689, 1694, 20 L.Ed.2d 716 (1968). 1

On August 30, 1971, the Court of Appeals directed this court to hold hearings for the purpose of determining the effectiveness of the plans heretofore ap *1259 proved for the junior and senior high-schools of Oklahoma City and to evaluate the expected effectiveness of the plan for the elementary schools, and then to put into effect forthwith whatever modification of either or both plans thereupon found necessary, or additional plans, to accomplish the desegregation of the Oklahoma City Public Schools in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court. Pursuant to this directive, hearings on these matters were conducted by the court on September 21, November 18, 19, and December 9, 1971. Appearing therein for the Plaintiffs was Mr. John W. Walker, Attorney at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas. The individual members of the Defendant School Board were present in person and with the Board’s attorney, Mr. J. Harry Johnson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Three plans are presently before the court for consideration. First there is the current plan in operation in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. The School Board stoutly maintains this is adequate to meet constitutional requirements and has refused to present any other plan for the further desegregation of the Oklahoma City Public School System. It did suggest to the court the name of Dr. Harold H. Eibling, Superintendent of Schools, Columbus, Ohio, as being a person who is an expert in the field of education and in the field of school administration and one who is competent and qualified to evaluate, analyze, and propose a full and complete plan for the desegregation of the Oklahoma City School District. Following the recommendation of the Board, the court, on June 16, 1971, appointed Dr. Eibling to make a careful study in depth of the current plan adopted by the Oklahoma City School Board and to make a report and recommendation concerning the current plan and any modifications which might be necessary to meet constitutional requirements. Later Dr. Eibling requested that Dr. Forrest E. Conner of Washington, D. C., another expert recommended by the Defendant School Board, be appointed to assist him in his task. The “Consultants’ Plan,” together with the objections of the Defendant School Board was filed with the court on November 9, 1971. The Plaintiffs have submitted a plan prepared by Dr. John A. Finger, Providence, Rhode Island, a professor of education at Rhode Island State University and an expert in the field of desegregation and integration. *

I

CURRENT PLAN

The Public School System operated by the Defendant School Board is comprised of 86 regular elementary schools (K-6), one middle school (6-8), twelve junior highschools (7-9), eight senior high-schools (10-12), Dunjee for grades 7-12, Star-Spencer for grades 9-12, and five special schools. 2 On September 10, 1971, the total enrollment was 68,840: 76.6 per cent of these students were white and 23.4 per cent black. There *1260 are 31 schools attended entirely by students of one race. 78 per cent of the public schools are at least 90 per cent predominantly white or black. 3

*1261 A. HIGHSCHOOLS.

The highschools are being operated under what is generally described as the Cluster Plan. The highschools have been divided into two clusters. Cluster A includes Capitol Hill, Douglass, Grant, and Southeast Highschools; Cluster B includes Classen, Marshall, Northeast and Northwest Highschools. Dunjee and Star-Spencer Highschools, while nominally attached to Cluster B, because of their remote location serve only as home-site schools. Each cluster contains one highschool with a majority black enrollment. This court approved a “COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR COMPLETE DESEGREGATION OF SENIOR AND JUNIOR HIGHSCHOOLS OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AFTER 1969-1970

*1262 SCHOOL YEAR” on January 16, 1970, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals which, however, noted:

“It is of course apparent that the real and ultimate issue in any case such as this is the actual effectiveness of the plan proposed. This is difficult to predict in this instance since the Plan here presented is a virtually untried method and one departing widely from customary school attendance and scheduling practices.” Dowell v. Board of Education of Oklahoma City Public Schools, 430 F.2d 865, 868 (CA 10 1970).

The current plan is not the plan approved by this court. The plan submitted provided :

“Under this plan, each secondary school will serve in a dual capacity. It will be a home-base school for students within its attendance area and will serve as a specialized center for a specified curricular area. For example, one school could serve as a Social Studies Center, another as a Science Center, another as a Math Center. Each school, in its role as home-base, will offer some elective courses and such activities as physical education, athletics, and music to its resident students ; in its role as a specialized Center, it will offer a full range of courses in that curriculum area to students from several attendance areas, including its own.
“ . . . Within each cluster, individual schools will serve as home-base schools for students in their own attendance areas and as specialized schools for students from all schools within that cluster.
“Students will spend varying amounts of time each week in each of the Centers, though not less than half the school day at any one Center.” [Emphasis supplied.]

As conceived by the court from the language of the plan and the testimony in support, 4 the school acting as a speeial-

*1263 Cite as 338 F.Supp. 1256 (1972)

ized center would offer

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Related

Hampton v. Jefferson County Board of Education
72 F. Supp. 2d 753 (W.D. Kentucky, 1999)
Dowell ex rel. Dowell v. Board of Educations
8 F.3d 1501 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)
Dowell v. BD. OF EDUC. OF OKLAHOMA CITY PUB. SCH.
778 F. Supp. 1144 (W.D. Oklahoma, 1991)
Dowell v. Oklahoma City Public Schools
890 F.2d 1483 (Tenth Circuit, 1989)
Dowell v. Board of Education
795 F.2d 1516 (Tenth Circuit, 1986)
Dowell v. Board of Education
606 F. Supp. 1548 (W.D. Oklahoma, 1985)
Cunningham v. Grayson
541 F.2d 538 (Sixth Circuit, 1976)
Morgan v. Kerrigan
401 F. Supp. 216 (D. Massachusetts, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
338 F. Supp. 1256, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dowell-v-board-of-education-of-oklahoma-city-pub-sch-okwd-1972.