Hill v. Greene County School District

848 F. Supp. 697, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3925, 1994 WL 108442
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 2, 1994
DocketCiv. A. 2:89-cv-151WS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 848 F. Supp. 697 (Hill v. Greene County School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hill v. Greene County School District, 848 F. Supp. 697, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3925, 1994 WL 108442 (S.D. Miss. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WINGATE, District Judge.

Before the court is plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction pursuant to Rule 65, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to require the defendant Greene County School District to reopen the State Line Elementary School located in State Line, Mississippi. Plaintiffs here are students who attended State Line Elementary School, their parents, and the Greene County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (hereinafter “NAACP”). Defendants are the Greene County School District, Greene County Board of Trustees, Wilma Leverette, Marvin Welford, Gerald Denmark, Lavell Henderson, and George Perkins. State Line Elementary School programmed to neighborhood children in grades K to 8. In 1988, State Line Elementary was closed by the Greene County School District (hereinafter “School District”) after School District authorities learned that the physical plant of the elementary school contained friable asbestos, 1 which, all agree, poses a serious health hazard. Aggrieved over the closure, plaintiffs have charged in their complaint that defendants’ action violates the Fourteenth Amendment 2 of the Constitution of the United States, as well as Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. 3 In a nutshell, plaintiffs charge that the defendants’ motives in closing State Line, a predominantly black school, were rooted in racial animus. Plaintiffs thus ask the court to find racial discrimination here and order the defendants to reopen the school, after it has been renovated in accordance with the criteria imposed by the Mississippi Department of Education to provide a clean and safe environment. Defendants oppose plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief, vigorously denying any racial animus, while asserting dilemmas of the pocketbook as the sole cause of the school’s closing.

This court has held a lengthy hearing on the matter, having heard from a number of live witnesses and having received into evidence voluminous documentary material relating to the demographics of Greene County, the School District’s transportation program, the physical condition of the elementary school, and the proceedings conducted by the official bodies entrusted with the operation and maintenance of the Greene County Schools. Fully educated by the pointed and, in some cases, passionate testimony of the witnesses for both sides and the mass of relevant documentary material, this court is persuaded to deny plaintiffs’ request for an injunction.

PROLONGED ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE THIS DISPUTE

Several times since the evidentiary hearing in this dispute, the court and the parties wrongfully concluded that this lawsuit was on the verge of settlement. As always, this court encourages parties to reach an harmonious compromise if such is attainable. Settlements conserve judicial resources, obviate appeals, foster goodwill, and allow both sides to claim a measure of victory. The efforts at *699 -resolving this dispute were remarkable in that the efforts spanned over two years and contemplated some original solutions. Generally, where the court probes at settlement but finds no bedrock basis in a short time, the matter is reactivated on the judicial calendar and resolved juridically. However, this case was an atypical one, in that both sides expressed keen interest in reopening the school and both sides were willing to exhaust amicable, unified efforts towards resolving the matter before requesting a ruling on plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction. Both sides favored a school in the State Line area and neither side wanted in its midst an asbestos-laden, abandoned, unusable school complex containing classrooms, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and a band room. While plaintiffs sought to compel defendants to renovate the school and clean out the asbestos, plaintiffs were sharply aware of defendants’ statements that the School District not only was financially unable to remove the asbestos, but also was financially unable to acquire the requisite Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter “EPA”) demolition certificate and personnel to tear down the structure. So, in good faith, the parties conferred and collaborated on efforts to resolve this lawsuit short of a court resolution.

First, the parties explored the prospect of gaining the approval of the School District electorate for the issuance of school bonds. After the initial hearing in this action, the parties entered into an agreed Provisional Consent Judgment, which in part provided for a bond issue election to fund the asbestos removal and also to make the necessary capital improvements at State Line to bring the school into compliance with the State Department of Education standards of accreditation. However, the June 5, 1990, bond election failed by a vote of 325 (15%) for and 2,033 (85%) against. The State Line precinct voted against the bond issue by a margin of 137 (43%) for and 157 (57%) against. Under state law, the bond issue required a 60% margin to pass. See Miss.Code Ann. § 37-59-17 (1972) (effective March 3, 1987).

Notwithstanding the failed bond issue, the parties pressed on with additional efforts to find a non-judicial solution. The plaintiffs investigated measures of raising the needed monies themselves. The defendants sought grants from the State and various organizations. These attempts failed.

Then, the court and parties hit on the idea of seeking the services of experts who, free of charge, would remove the asbestos. When personnel with the requisite expertise assigned to the United States Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, agreed to remove the asbestos at State Line Elementary at no cost to the School District, all counsel deemed this to be a miraculous solution.

In October of 1990, the Keesler personnel began the removal process, but the friable material was worse than originally expected. Keesler personnel reported that they would need special air filtration machinery to complete the job. This machinery was not immediately available at Keesler Air Force Base, but was on back order. Consequently, the clean up project at State Line Elementary School was delayed while the new machinery made its way to the Air Force base. After the machinery’s arrival, more delay was encountered. The Air Force experts had to obtain special permission through military channels in order to use the machinery on a volunteer project such as the asbestos cleanup project at State Line Elementary.

Eventually, permission was obtained to use the new machinery, but another development stopped the asbestos removal project in early 1991. Although the Keesler Air Force Base personnel were federally certified to conduct asbestos removal operations, these experts were not licensed in accordance with the higher standards imposed by Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality regulations which became effective in November of 1990. Accordingly, Keesler personnel could not proceed without obtaining either state certification or a special exemption from- the state authorities.

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Bluebook (online)
848 F. Supp. 697, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3925, 1994 WL 108442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-greene-county-school-district-mssd-1994.