Guida v. Board of Educ. of City of New Haven

• Decision Date: 08 July 1965
• Docket Number: No. 104792,104792
• Citation: 26 Conn.Supp. 121,213 A.2d 843
• Court: Connecticut Superior Court
• Parties: Bartholomew GUIDA et al. v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF NEW HAVEN et al.

Page 843

213 A.2d 843

26 Conn.Supp. 121

Bartholomew GUIDA et al. v.BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF NEW HAVEN et al.

No. 104792.

Superior Court of Connecticut, New Haven County at New Haven.

July 8, 1965.

Charles A. Watrous, New Haven, for plaintiffs.

A. Frederick Mignone, CorporationCounsel, and Joseph E. Bove, Asst. CorporationCounsel, for defendants.

DEVLIN, Judge.

In this action the plaintiffs, parents and taxpayers, seek to enjoin the board of education of the city of New Haven from carrying out certain provisions of a plan adopted by the board on July 7, 1964.The plan had been published on June 8, 1964, and was designated as 'Proposals for promoting equality of educational opportunity and dealing with problems of racial imbalance.'Several public hearings preceded the final action, and the report was vigorously defended and assailed.As a result, only a modified plan was adopted.

In effect, the part of the plan objected to paired the Sheridan Junior High School and the Bassett Junior High School into one attendance zone and then provided that all seventh grade pupils in the entire zone attend one school and all eighth grade pupils in the area attend the other.Since the Sheridan school served a predominantly white area and the Bassett school a predominantly colored one, bussing of some pupils was required, and as a result the racial imbalance in the area was equated to a certain extent.

Claim is made that such a change amounts to a discrimination against the children transported as well as against those not similarly transported, regardless of race, and that General Statutes § 10-15 prohibits such action.This statute simply provides that public schools shall be 'open' to all children without discrimination as to race or color and is not determinative of the issue herein presented.The right to attend is recognized.The power to regulate is in dispute.The simple fact as to the plan adopted and here under attack is that it excludes no one from any school and has no tendency to foster or produce racial segregation.Matter of Balaban v. Rubin, 14 N.Y.2d 193, 199, 250 N.Y.S.2d 281, 199 N.E.2d 375.

General Statutes § 10-220 defines the duties of boards of education.It provides that the boards shall give all children of each town as nearly equal advantages as may be practicable; shall determine the number, age and qualifications of pupils to be admitted into each school; shall designate the schools which shall be attended by the children within the town; and shall provide for their transportation whenever it is reasonable and desirable.Section 187 of the charter of the city of New Haven provides: 'The board of education shall have the...