Fisher v. Tucson Unified

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedApril 19, 2021
Docket4:74-cv-00090
StatusUnknown

This text of Fisher v. Tucson Unified (Fisher v. Tucson Unified) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fisher v. Tucson Unified, (D. Ariz. 2021).

Opinion

Case 4:74-cv-00090-DCB Document 2572 Filed 04/19/21 Page 1 of 56

1 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Roy and Josie Fisher, et al., No. CV-74-00090-TUC-DCB (Lead Case) 10 Plaintiffs 11 and 12 United States of America, 13 Plaintiff-Intervenor, 14 v. 15 Tucson Unified School District, et al., 16 Defendants, 17 Maria Mendoza, et al., No. CV-74-0204-TUC-DCB 18 (Consolidated Case) Plaintiffs, 19 and 20 United States of America, 21 Plaintiff-Intervenor, 22 ORDER v. 23 Tucson Unified School District, et al. 24 Defendants. 25 26 Supplemental Petition for Unitary Status: GRANTED IN PART and reserved in part 27 pending compliance for USP § V.A as previously ordered and for § X, as ordered herein. 28 Case 4:74-cv-00090-DCB Document 2572 Filed 04/19/21 Page 2 of 56

1 PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 On September 6, 2018, this Court granted unitary status in part and adopted 3 recommendations by the Special Master for Completion Plans, which were designed to 4 bring the District into full compliance with the Unitary Status Plan (USP). The Court made 5 specific findings, identified specific deficiencies in respect to attaining unitary status for 6 specific programs, and issued express directives and set benchmark deadlines for 7 completing the work required under the USP. 8 In adopting the Special Master’s recommendations, the Court called for the 9 District to file Notices of Compliance related to the Completion Plans and other directives 10 of the Court, and held that such notices would trigger supplemental briefing by the parties 11 and the Court’s reconsideration of unitary status.1 The Court set two Completion Plan 12 benchmarks: December 1, 2018 and September 1, 2019. Compliance was only partially 13 attained by these dates, and the District was required to file supplemental Notices of 14 Compliance. For every Notice of Compliance, including supplemental ones, the parties and 15 Special Master provided review and comment, and the Court addressed all assertions of 16 noncompliance and ineffectiveness until finally, compliance was attained, except for a few 17 limited tasks which remain as noted herein. The Court turns to the District’s Supplemental 18 Petition for Unitary Status filed on December 31, 2019. (Supp. Petition (Doc. 2461)) 19 The Supplemental Petition has been fully briefed by the parties, and the Special 20 Master recommends that the Court grant unitary status, except for a few specific objections 21 which have been addressed by the Court over the course of the past year and are now moot. 22 23 1 In 2017, the District filed a Motion for Unitary Status. (Doc. 2005.) The Court denied it as moot and directed that the District’s 2016-17 Annual Report (DAR) include a 24 detailed analysis regarding compliance with each USP provision and that the Special Master’s 2016-17 Annual Report (SMAR) (Doc. 2096) include a like status report 25 regarding progress made under the USP. The District filed an Analysis of Compliance (USP RAC (Doc. 2075)) simply asserting that evidence reflected there was no basis to 26 conclude it would revert to segregated schools and its efforts since the inception of the USP reflected its good faith. The District stopped short of renewing the Motion for Unitary 27 Status, however, it objected to the Special Master’s recommendation for partial unitary status by arguing that he should have recommended immediate and complete termination 28 of supervision because the District had attained unitary status. (TUSD Response (Doc. 2099)).

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1 The Court adopts the recommendation of the Special Master after being fully advised by 2 Plaintiffs’ Objections. The Court finds in favor of the Defendant, and hereby makes the 3 following special Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law pursuant to the Federal Rules 4 of Civil Procedure, Rule 52(a) and (c) which constitutes the decision of the Court that the 5 Tucson Unified School District has attained unitary status, except where the Court has 6 found compliance contingent on outstanding filings from the District as specified herein. 7 FINDINGS OF FACT 8 To the extent these Findings of Fact are also deemed to be Conclusions of Law, they 9 are hereby incorporated into the Conclusions of Law that follow: 10 1. The District has moved forward with deliberate speed over the past approximately 11 six years. In 2013, it agreed to participate in drafting and adopting the USP as a consent 12 decree. It developed action and implementation plans for all USP provisions and made 13 adjustments to improve program effectiveness as ordered by the Court. By SY 2016-17, 14 when the Court last reviewed unitary status, the District was implementing those plans. 15 Since then, the District has monitored and tracked data relevant for assessing program 16 effectiveness and complied with all operational directives from this Court, issued in 17 response to challenges asserted by the Plaintiffs and Special Master. As of now, all USP 18 programs have been designed to meet best practices standards and to be the most 19 effective programs for each USP provision based on research. There has been full 20 implementation of USP strategies, and the District is being operated, accordingly, under 21 the USP, now and into the future. These operations over six years, from 2013 through 22 now, have eliminated the vestiges of segregation to the extent practicable over this period 23 of time. 24 2. The District has acted in good faith to comply with the USP over the past six 25 years, which is a reasonable period of time to establish a lasting commitment to the USP 26 and the Constitution, rather than merely being a temporary constitutional ritual by the 27 District’s board. 28

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1 3. For over six years, the District has demonstrated its good-faith commitment to the 2 whole of the USP and to those provisions of the law and the Constitution that predicated 3 judicial intervention, and where contingencies for compliance remain, they do not call 4 into question the District’s commitment to the whole of the USP or to the Constitution. 5 4. The District has the commitment, the relevant data, technology, and the expertise 6 to make program decisions, now and in the future, based on the effectiveness of strategies 7 and programs to integrate its schools and afford equal access to educational opportunities 8 and improve academic achievement for African America and Latino, including English 9 Learner (EL), 2 students. 10 5. The District’s course of action reflects more than a mere promise. The District has 11 now done the things previously found lacking, see supra ¶¶ 14-15, that once precluded a 12 finding of good faith. 13 6. It is time for the District to be released from judicial oversight and held 14 accountable by the community. 15 7. It remains, pursuant to the USP § X, for the Special Master to oversee the 16 District’s development of a Post Unitary Status Plan (Post-USP) to restore accountability, 17 through transparency, in the governmental systems that are designed to oversee the 18 District’s operations. 19 8. On December 31, 2019, the District filed the Supplemental Petition for Unitary 20 Status. (Doc. 2461.) The Special Master filed a Report and Recommendation (R&R) 21 (Doc. 2468) recommending that the Court find unitary status has been attained and grant 22 the Petition. The Court adopts the recommendation of the Special Master based on the 23 Findings of Fact and Conclusions of law as stated herein. 24 History 25 9. “In 1974, two class action lawsuits were filed alleging segregation in TUSD 26 between White students and African-American students (Fisher Plaintiffs), CV 74-90 27 TUC DCB, and Mexican-American students (Mendoza Plaintiffs), CV 74-204 TUC 28 2 English Language Learners (ELL). (USP § II.E.3 (Doc. 1713) at 11.)

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Bluebook (online)
Fisher v. Tucson Unified, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisher-v-tucson-unified-azd-2021.