Boyd v. Pointe Coupee Parish School Bd., 71-3305

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
• Writing for the Court: Before WISDOM, COLEMAN and SIMPSON; PER CURIAM
• Citation: Boyd v. Pointe Coupee Parish School Bd., 505 F.2d 632 (5th Cir. 1974)
• Decision Date: 10 December 1974
• Docket Number: No. 71-3305,71-3305
• Parties: Yvonne Marie BOYD et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant, v. POINTE COUPEE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD et al., Defendants-Appellees.

Page 632

505 F.2d 632

Yvonne Marie BOYD et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellant, v. POINTE COUPEE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 71-3305.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Dec. 10, 1974.

David L. Norman, Asst. Atty. Gen., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Gerald J. Gallinghouse, U.S. Atty., New Orleans, La., Norman J. Chachkin, New York City, Murphy W. Bell, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiff-appellant.

John F. Ward, Jr., Baton Rouge, La., Samuel C. Cashio, Dist. Atty., Maringouin, La., for defendants-appellees.

A. M. Trudeau, Jr., New Orleans, La., Murphy W. Bell, Baton Rouge, La., Jack Greenberg, Norman J. Chachkin, New York City, amici curiae.

Before WISDOM, COLEMAN and SIMPSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

This school desegregation case has had a long and tortuous career, procedurally in the courts and out where the people live. The latest Court Order, from which the United States appeals, is reported, Boyd v. Pointe Coupee Parish School Board, 332 F.Supp. 994 (D.C.La.1971). The District Court denied an application for supplemental relief, on the ground that the school system had become unitary.

As of the entry of the Order, eight of the ten schools in the system did not meet Singleton ratio requirements (419 F.2d 1211 en banc (5 Cir., 1970)). In one attendance area there was an all black school and another that was virtually all white.

We, therefore, must hold that the Pointe Coupee school system had not attained unitary status and that the Order of the District Court in this respect must be reversed, Ellis v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, Florida, 5 Cir., 1970, 423 F.2d 203; Mays v. Board of Public Instruction of Sarasota County, Florida, 4 Cir., 1970, 428 F.2d 809; Lemon v. Bossier Parish School, 5 Cir., 1971, 444 F.2d 1400; Beaumont Independent School v. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1974) 855 F.2d 504.

A thumbnail sketch of prior events in this District may help put the case in more meaningful focus.

The schools of the Parish first came under the desegregation process in 1969. There was a mass exodus of white students to private schools. Public school attendance during the ensuing years has been as follows:

 Year    White  Black
                 ----    -----  -----
                1968-69  2375   3643
                1969-70   680   No
                                statistics
                1970-71  1232   3857
                1971-72  1234   3688
                1972-73  1535   3715
                1973-74  1573   3606
                1974-75  1605   3546
                

Thus, from the attendance low of 680 in 1969-70, white enrollment in five years has increased by approximately 250%, although it yet remains 770 below what it was when the desegregation...