Anderson & United States v.

Madison County School District

In this longstanding school desegregation case, the Section and a class of black plaintiffs
opposed the school district's proposal, among other things, to build five new schools. The
Section contended that the district's proposal would not further desegregation of the district's
schools, would not afford black students equal educational opportunities, and would impose
disproportionate transportation burdens on black students. The school district's transportation
records showed, for example, that some black high-school students were required to ride a bus
up to nearly two and one-half hours each way to and from school, while white students were
bussed no longer than forty-five minutes to and from the same school; nonetheless, the school
district proposed to build a new high school at a location that would reduce the transportation
times of white students while maintaining the transportation times of black students. The Section
also alleged that the school district had failed to comply with existing desegregation orders in the
areas of faculty and staff hiring, assignment and compensation; transportation; facilities; and
curriculum.

After a seven-day evidentiary trial in May 1999, the district court issued an order approving the
school district's construction plan, but requiring the school district to address several of the
matters about which we had complained. Among other things, the district court ordered the
school district to take steps to reduce the transportation times to school for black students. The
Section and the plaintiff class appealed from the district court's order relating to new
construction. At the request of the Section and the plaintiff class, the district court entered an
order "staying," or putting on hold, the school district's proposed new construction, pending a
decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

While the appeal was pending, the parties entered into settlement discussions. In April 2000 the
parties signed and the district court approved a consent order that both required the school
district to address areas of its alleged non-compliance with federal law and resolved all but one
of the issues on appeal. The remaining issue on appeal was whether the school district's proposed
site for a new high school was consistent with the district's affirmative desegregation obligations.
On November 6, 2000, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling that
allowed construction of the new high school to proceed at the contested location. In December
2000, the district court entered an order establishing a bi-racial advisory committee.