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| By City, Newest First: Hilton Head, SC: "The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights confirmed Wednesday that it had received two complaints regarding the racial makeup of the four academies at Hilton Head Elementary School. " 'The matter is under investigation,' [U.S. Dept. of Ed] OCR spokesman Roger Murphy said. He said the Office of Civil Rights probably would schedule an on-site visit to collect more information on the situation. Already, OCR has requested data from the Beaufort County School District on the school's academies.
"The inquiry is seeking to determine whether the racial composition of the elementary
school's four new 'academies' is balanced. In a letter [one parent] sent in
November, [the parent] asked OCR to review the academies. Each has a different
approach to teaching, ranging from strong emphasis on basics to more challenging course
work. Some parents have said a disproportionately large number of black students are
enrolled in the more basic programs." (Beaufort Gazette, 01/21/99, by Sherry
Jones) Rock
Hill, SC: Based
on the Rock Hill Herald Story staff reporters published 10/16/02
However, this current story, Oct. 16, 2002 discusses eight different parents who have joined the lawsuit in order to preserve (defend) Rock Hill's race-based school assignments. One must wonder if the NAACP, who is also defending these racial policies, deliberately sought to confuse readers and parents by encouraging the exact same number (eight) of supporters of discriminatory racial quotas to file a motion to defend (preserve) Rock Hill's racial quota policies. You decide.] The Rock Hill Herald reports the following: "A federal court judge has granted a group of eight parents a request to join the Rock Hill school district as defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to dismantle the district's elementary school reassignment plan. "In August, eight [pro-quota] parents represented by the New York-based NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund asked [Judge Matthew] Perry for permission to intervene in the lawsuit, because they feel they are not adequately represented by existing [anti-quota] parties. They say that their children benefit from the new elementary attendance zones [which rely heavily upon racial quotas and race-based school assignments]." On October 2, 2002, U.S. District Judge Matthew Perry (U.S. District Court in Columbia) cited the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in granting the pro-quota parents' right to join this lawsuit as defendants (i.e., as supporters of race-based school assignments). Additional Background: "On April 30 [2002], [another, different] group of eight parents [who oppose race-based school assignments] sued the school district in an attempt to block an elementary student assignment plan on the basis that it was unconstitutionally based on race. The suit seeks to prevent the rezoning of about 2,000 students when school began in August [2002]. Based on the 10/16/02 Rock Hill Herald story "Parents Join School District as Defendants in Lawsuit" by Herald reporters Last Known Link: http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/1817033p-1816398c.html Rock Hill, SC: Based on the Rock Hill Herald Story by reporter Erica Pippins published 7/31/02
"Attorney Lee Parks, one of the parents' representatives, said he felt the appellate court should deny the district's "racial formula" because new schools were not filled by changing the racial composition of all of the schools. He said that if the judges granted the injunction, they could send the matter back to the district court which could then oversee that the district alleviate the "racial criteria" as soon as possible. "[Judge] Widener said he was concerned that the school board considered race as one of its criteria. "Lawyers for eight parents suing the administration over the rezoning submitted an appeal to the circuit court after Judge Matthew Perry of the U.S. District Court in Columbia denied their request for a temporary injunction. The parents' attorneys could not be reached for comment Tuesday. "The injunction request stems from a lawsuit the parents filed in opposition to the school board's decision in November to rezone about 2,100 elementary students in August, when the district's 15th elementary school opens at the intersection of Heckle Boulevard and Rawlinson Road. One of the board's main objectives was to create attendance zones that are balanced racially and according to the number of students that receive free or reduced lunch. [Emphasis added.] "In his July 19 ruling, Perry said that while the plaintiffs contend they are being reassigned solely based on their race, the evidence established that the school board tried to maintain diversity, but it was only one of the criteria that guided the formulation of the plan. Appellate Court Judge H. Emory Widener said: "The Fourth Circuit Court covers five states, and numerous districts in those areas have been able to maintain it (diversity) without explicit use of a very divisive tool [racial quotas] which invariably lands in litigation and mounts up legal fees. There are going to be many new schools that open within the next few weeks with uncontested student reassignment plans, and I just don't understand why one of the most socially divisive criteria was used." "Appellate court Chief Judge Harvie Wilkinson and Judges Robert King and H. Emory Widener heard arguments Tuesday morning via telephone conference from attorneys who debated whether the students were reassigned on the basis of race versus where they live. [Emphasis added.] "In the order issued late Tuesday, the judges state that the case must be sent back to the district court in Columbia for further proceedings on the merits of the reassignment plan. "The district court must ascertain the basis for assignment of each of the named plaintiffs to their schools under the proposed plan, the judges wrote. "If any of the plaintiffs were assigned to their schools under the proposed plan on an impermissible constitutional basis, they are entitled to appropriate relief." "... attorneys for the district, Andrew Lindemann and Ken Woodington, argued that the plan does not create racial classifications and students were reassigned based on where they live. [Emphasis added.] Based on the 07/31/02 Rock Hill Herald story "Judges Deny Appeal in Rezoning Case" by Herald reporter Erica Pippins Last Known Link: http://www.heraldonline.com/front/story/1596099p-1623849c.html END of South Carolina Education |
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