In 1954, the United States Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling which declared school segregation unconstitutional, but desegregation came slowly in Mississippi, with many districts — including Lowndes County — not achieving complete integration until placed under court order to do so in 1970.
The premise — that separate is not equal — required a complicated legal process to enforce and is proving to be an equally complex process to untangle. When the courts declared dual black and white school systems illegal, districts were placed under the U.S. Justice Department’s jurisdiction until they could prove they had achieved “unitary status.”
In short, until districts could prove they had met legal requirements to end racial discrimination in four key areas — student assignments, faculty and staff assignments, transportation and facilities — they would remain under the watchful eye of the Justice Department.
For years, facilities have been the sticking point for the Lowndes County School District, Board Attorney Jeff Smith said Thursday.
Three years ago, the board wanted to file for unitary status, but they were told improvements would have to be made at the predominantly black West Lowndes High School and at the school’s athletic field to bring it up to equal standards with New Hope High School and Caledonia High School, which both are predominantly white.
They were “minor issues,” Smith said — leaks around the front doors, a leaking skylight, standing water that made the baseball field unusable much of the time — and the district spent thousands of dollars working to alleviate the problems.
At the end of the month, the district will learn if those efforts were successful. A fairness hearing is scheduled July 31 at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Oxford. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills will preside.
District Superintendent Lynn Wright declined to comment on the hearing, referring all questions to Smith.
The issue has generated controversy with some parents, Smith said, but he believes it will be a positive step if the district achieves unitary status, because it will return the county schools to full local control and remove the extra step of requiring Justice Department approval for things like building new facilities.
It will keep the board from having its needs and decisions “second-guessed,” he said.
Robert Phillips, president of the West Lowndes Parents Association, declined to speak on the matter Monday afternoon, saying he did not want to generate unnecessary pre-hearing publicity.
But Board President Jane Kilgore said she feels seeking unitary status is “the right thing to do” and will help the district continue to grow and excel.
“Over the past years, we have had numerous calls wanting us to get out from this status,” Kilgore said Monday afternoon. “If we wanted to build anything or do anything, we’d have to ask permission. We’re all adults. I think we, as a board, want education for all our students, no matter where they go to school, and want all nine of our schools to have up-to-date, first-class facilities.”
The Columbus Municipal School District was released from its order and granted unitary status in 2007, paving the way for the creation of magnet schools and the construction of Columbus Middle School.
But 47 Mississippi school districts still operate under the Justice Department’s order, and 196 districts still have open desegregation cases nationwide, said Mitchell Rivard, press assistant for the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs.
LCSD’s motion has three possible outcomes — unitary status can be granted, denied or partially granted.
The district petitioned the court for unitary status in August 2008 but withdrew its petition in October 2008 while in negotiations with the Department of Justice and several private plaintiffs — including board member Jacqueline Gray’s husband, Will Gray — who alleged unfair treatment of black students and inadequate facilities at West Lowndes in a lawsuit against LCSD.
Board member Jacqueline Gray has refused to comment on the hearing due to her involvement with the discrimination lawsuit.
The hearing is open to the public, and written comments and objections will be accepted via forms available from the district’s central office, located at 1053 Highway 45 South.
The forms must be postmarked and submitted by July 16 to the attention of The Honorable Michael P. Mills, United States Federal Courthouse, 911 Jackson Ave., Room 369, Oxford, MS 38655-3622.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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