Facilities, student assignment issues remain unresolved in Avoyelles unitary bid

A two-day federal court hearing ended with kind words and a stern warning from the presiding judge.
U.S. District Judge Dee Drell said all parties in the Avoyelles Parish school desegregation case have worked hard, and progress has been made. However, he said care has to be taken not to lose ground once the system is deemed to be a unitary school system.
The U.S. Justice Department only called two witnesses during the second day of hearings on the case. When those witnesses were heard, Drell made several comments concerning the case.
“From the very beginning, desegregation is about the people and not about the law,” Drell said. The law is the path that had to be taken because people could not solve the issue, he noted.
“Avoyelles is coming to a better place, but you are not there yet,” he continued. “I do hear from the people of the parish, not just board members, who like what is going on. They are excited over the progress.”
The judge said one problem with desegregation cases is that the adults involved start thinking about themselves instead of the well-being of the children in the schools. Creating a successfully desegregated school system takes trust between all parties in the issue, Drell said.
“When I let this case go, people may start going backwards,” he said. “That is not always true. Everyone needs to work to get to a better place.”
Drell singled out Maintenance Supervisor Steve Marcotte and Superintendent Dwayne Lemoine for their efforts in this case.
Representatives of the School Board, Justice Department and plaintiff Allen Holmes will meet this fall to try to resolve the last issue in the case -- student assignment, and a related matter of discipline.
“I’m urging you to keep going, try to stay calm and continue working when tempers flare,” Drell concluded.
Drell instructed all parties to submit two briefs to the court. The first is due Aug. 8 concerning the board’s 10-year plan for construction projects. It will also include moving construction of Bunkie New Tech High’s auditorium from 2020-21 to 2016-17. The second brief is due Sept. 9 and is to address the issue of the school system being declared unitary in its school facilities.
Declaring facilities as being unitary is more complicated than one might think due to the laws that must be addressed, Drell said. The judge said the Justice Department wants to wait until all construction projects are completed before unitary status is given on the facilities issue.
Drell asked District Attorney Charles A. Riddle, III why unitary status for facilities should happen and why it should happen quickly. The judge told both sides he will be e-mailing them cases that dealt with facilities in desegregation cases.
If the parties are unable to reach agreement on the student assignment issue in their fall conferences, Drell said a hearing on the issue will be held Dec. 2. He has scheduled up to four days for a hearing. If an agreement is reached before then, the judge could issue a consent decree declaring the school system to be unitary.
“There are some legal questions on facilities, if he grants unitary status without the projects being completed,” Holmes said after the hearing. “Overall, I felt the hearing went great. We are making progress.”
Holmes said the court will appoint a mediator to handle discipline issues in the case. He said that was successfully done in East Baton Rouge Parish.
School Board President Darrell Wiley said there are still some legal procedures to go through, but he wants “to finish and move forward on educating the children." He said the Central Office staff and Dr. William Gordan, the board’s expert consultant for desegregation, have all done good work in trying to bring the desegregation case to a successful end.
“We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Wiley said.
Lemoine said he feels good about the hearing but understands a ruling on the facilities issue may not come until the early fall.
“We are willing to work with the U.S. Justice Department to see what concerns they have on discipline and student assignments,” Lemoine said.
School board member James Gauthier said the entire process is “frustrating.” Gauthier said the board needs to be “progressive and move the school system forward.”
Riddle said he was confident the judge will grant unitary status on facilities. He said the only concern and question is whether he can rule it unitary before certain projects are completed. Riddle said he believes the last remaining areas of the case can be settled before Dec. 2 because all parties have agreed to meet before the December hearing date.