Tasby v. Woolery

869 F. Supp. 454, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16583, 1994 WL 645732
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJuly 26, 1994
DocketCiv. A. 3-4211-H
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 869 F. Supp. 454 (Tasby v. Woolery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tasby v. Woolery, 869 F. Supp. 454, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16583, 1994 WL 645732 (N.D. Tex. 1994).

Opinion

INDEX

Page

I. Background........................................................................456

A History of Litigation.......................................................... 456

B. Condition of the DISD ........................................................ 457

C. Principles of Law............................................................ 458

D. The Positions of the Parties................................................... 460

II. Factors Relevant to Unitary Status..................................................460

A Compliance with the Judgment................................................ 460

1. Subdistricts............................................................. 460

2. Student Assignment and Attendance Zones................................ 460

3. Majority to Minority Transfers........................................... 461

4. Curriculum Transfers.................................................... 463

5. Magnet Schools......................................................... 464

a. The Magnet Program................................................ 464

b. Honors Programs ................................................... 466

6. Regular Schools (Elementary, Intermediate, Middle, and High Schools) and Bilingual Education.................................................... 467

a. Regular Schools..................................................... 467

b. Bilingual Education.................................................. 467

7. Programmatic Remedies ................................................. -468

8. Nolan Estes Plaza....................................................... 469

9. Personnel............................................................... 469

a. Recruitment......................................................... 469

b. Assignment......................................................... 470

1. Teachers........................................................ 470

2. Administrators.................................................. 471

3. Conclusion Regarding Singleton Compliance....................... 472

c. Training............................................................ 472

10. Facilities................................................................ 472

11. Reporting and Monitoring................................................ 473

12. Other Issues Relevant to Compliance with Court Orders................... 473

a. Learning Centers.................................................... 473

b. Allocation of Resources.............................................. 474

c. Racial Harmony on the School Board................................. 475

d. Future School Boards’ Commitment to Desegregation Programs......... 475

B. Remaining Green Factors..................................................... 475

1. Transportation.......................................................... 475

2. Extracurricular Activities................................................. 476

3. Student Achievement.................................................... 476

Conclusion.............................................................................. 477

*456 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SANDERS, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Unitary Status, filed December 17, 1993; Defendants’ First Revision to Proposed Amended Judgment and Final Plan for Desegregation, filed January 18, 1994; Plaintiffs’ Response, filed January 27, 1994; Intervenor Black Coalition to Maximize Education’s Response, filed January 27, 1994; and related pleadings.

Summary

Subject to the requirements of this Opinion, the Motion for Unitary Status is GRANTED.

I. Background

On May 9,1994, the Court began a hearing on Defendants’ Motion for Unitary Status. The hearing ended on a date with symbolic significance for this case: May 17, 1994, the fortieth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that banned segregated education, Brown v. Board of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954) (“Brown I”). See also Brown v. Board of Educ., 349 U.S. 294, 75 S.Ct. 753, 99 L.Ed. 1083 (1955) (“Brown II”).

To obtain unitary status, the District is required to prove that it has complied in good faith with this Court’s desegregation orders for a reasonable period of time, and has eliminated the vestiges of prior discrimination to the extent practicable. See Freeman v. Pitts, 503 U.S. 467,-, 112 S.Ct. 1430, 1446, 118 L.Ed.2d 108 (1992); Board of Educ. v. Dowell, 498 U.S. 237, 250, 111 S.Ct. 630, 638, 112 L.Ed.2d 715 (1991). A declaration of unitary status signals the beginning of the end of federal judicial supervision over DISD operations. Before turning to the merits of Defendants’ motion, the Court will review the history of this litigation, the present condition of the school district, the legal principles governing the case, and the positions of the parties regarding the motion.

A. History of the Litigation

The Dallas Independent School District (“the DISD” or “the District”) has been embroiled in school desegregation litigation since 1955. 1 Until the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown I, supra, schools were segregated by law in Texas. In 1955, an action was brought to compel the elimination of racially segregated schools in the DISD. See Bell v. Rippy, 133 F.Supp. 811 (N.D.Tex. 1955). A stair-step or grade-a-year desegregation plan was ordered by the federal court in 1960, and a few Black children were admitted to the first grade at previously all Anglo schools in 1961. In 1965, the Fifth Circuit ordered the District to accelerate the desegregation process.

In 1970, most DISD schools were still one-race schools, that is, were comprised of at least 90% Anglo or 90% minority students. This case was filed in 1970 to challenge the segregated system, as evidenced chiefly by the high number of segregated schools in the DISD. Tasby v. Estes, 342 F.Supp. 945, 947 (N.D.Tex.1971), aff'd in part, rev’d in part, 517 F.2d 92 (5th Cir.1975), cert.

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Bluebook (online)
869 F. Supp. 454, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16583, 1994 WL 645732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tasby-v-woolery-txnd-1994.