Higgins v. Board of Ed. of City of Grand Rapids

• Decision Date: 06 December 1974
• Docket Number: No. 73-2198,73-2198
• Parties: George and Carolyn HIGGINS et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 779

508 F.2d 779

George and Carolyn HIGGINS et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS et al.,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 73-2198.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Dec. 6, 1974.

Louis R. Lucas, Ratner, Sugarmon & Lucas, Memphis, Tenn., Nathaniel Jones, New York City, Stuart J. Dunnings, Jr., Dunnings & Gibson, Lansing, Mich., Paul R. Dimond, O'Brien, Moran & Dimond, Ann Arbor, Mich., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen. of Mich., Robert Derengoski, Lansing, Mich., Eugene Krasicky, Gerald Young, Thomas F. Schimpf, Lansing, Mich., Roger D. Anderson, McDonald, Anderson & Swets, Harold S. Sawyer, Kent J. Vana, Benham R. Wrigley, Jr., Grand Rapids, Mich., Edmond R. Wolven, Rockford, Mich., James M. Catchick, Grand Rapids, Mich., George E. Bushnell, Jr., Gregory

L. Curtner, Detroit, Mich., John D. Tully, Grant J. Gruel, James A. Engbers, Eugene Alkema, Peter Armstrong, Grand Rapids, Mich., for defendants-appellees.

Before WEICK, MILLER and LIVELY, Circuit Judges.

WILLIAM E. MILLER, Circuit Judge.

This school desegregation case was initiated in 1970 as a class action by black students and their parents against the Grand Rapids Board of Education. ¹ Upon motion of the defendant, the court ordered the joinder of 11 suburban school districts to afford them a complete hearing on all issues in the event inter-district bussing was to be decreed. ² Certain state defendants were added by a subsequent amended complaint.

A trial was held on all issues except remedy, consuming 27 trial days of hearings. Evidence was heard on the plaintiffs' charges that the Grand Rapids School District (GRSD) was operating the Grand Rapids schools in a manner so as to perpetuate a segregated system. Alleged were specific instances of action and inaction on the part of both the GRSD and the state defendants. In an exhaustive opinion, the district judge carefully analyzed the evidence presented and concluded that there existed substantial de facto residential segregation in Grand Rapids. He further found that the imbalance existing in a portion of the city's schools was the direct result of residential segregation which in trun resulted from 'factors other than any policies or practices of the Grand Rapids Board of Education or other defendants in this lawsuit.' More specifically, the district court found: (1) that inner-city schools had been overcrowded during most of the time in question but that these schools were currently underutilized to some measurable extent as a result of the school board's attempt to enable students of low socio-economic status to attain a broader experience through a lower student-teacher ratio, and also as a result of the reluctance by the Board to take the risk that exchanging students from the outer areas would induce 'white flight' from the district, thus jeopardizing the success of the Board's voluntary desegregation plan; (2) that the school construction program was based on a desire to build the schools 'where the children were' and that decisions in this area were not motivated by any segregative intent; (3) that the actions thken by the GRSD since 1965 to achieve greater racial balance were impressive although far from complete; (4) that the closing of South High School was not improper since it had no effect whatever on the racial balance of the remaining South Middle School; (5) that apprehension of white flight was of such character that 'it could not be rationally ignored by a school board charged with the constitutional duty of maintaining a unitary system' or by a school board endeavoring of its own volition to correct racial imbalance within its jurisdiction; (6) that the Creston-Central optional attendance area (the sole significant optional attendance area) was based on completely neutral criteria, no credible evidence of racial overtones or bias being presented; (7) that all special schools are integrated; (8) that there was no discriminatory use of student transfer policies and procedures; (9) that predominately black schools were of a uniform quality with respect to facilities, teachers, and equipment as compared with other schools in the system; (10) that State Senate Bill 1100 which provided that school district boundaries do not automatically expand to take in areas annexed to the city was based on a legitimate concern for city's tax base and involved no racial bias; (11) that discriminatory hiring practices in early years against blacks had been attenuated over the years, recent recruitment efforts giving preference to black applicants; (12) that faculty placement was on a discriminatory basis until 1969, a condition not yet fully corrected despite significant efforts in that regard; (13) that the discriminatory assignment of teachers did not substantially contribute to the creation of a dual school system; (14) that imbalance in the school system did not significantly contribute to segregated housing conditions; and (15) that the distinction between urban and rural areas in the reimbursement of transportation costs by the state was not related to racial concerns but was a rational distinction related to physical and geographic differences.

Based on these findings, the district court concluded that there had been no constitutional violation in the GRSD's history of student assignments although the practices of teacher assignments had violated plaintiffs' constitutional rights. The court went on to find that there was sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption under the doctrine of Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, 413 U.S. 189, 93 S.Ct. 2688, 37 L.Ed.2d 548 (1973), that by reason of the discriminatory practices concerning faculty assignments other actions of the school board were motivated by segregative intent. ³

With respect to charges that the burdens involved in the Board's voluntary master plan for desegregaion fell more heavily on black students, ⁴ the court found that any inequality was 'motivated by desire to achieve greater racial balance without inducing self-defeating exodus of whites from district.' It was further concluded that this fear was reasonable under the facts of the case and not beyond the broad discretion available to a board seeking voluntarily to achieve greater racial balance. The court finally concluded that the Board's failure to carry through completely with its 'master plan' was not a violation in itself in that uncertainty regarding the pending lawsuit justified the Board's reluctance to invest heavily in construction that might be found to be inconsistent with a court-ordered plan.

By its order of July 18, 1973, the court enjoined further teacher and administrative assignments according to race and ordered submission of a plan to eliminate racial identifiability of schools by teaching and administrative staffs. The court retained jurisdiction of the subject matter of the lawsuit as to GRSD, but dismissed the action as to all other defendants. It granted the motion of the Michigan Education Association and of the Grand Rapids Education Association to intervene. Plaintiffs then perfected their appeal from the findings of the district court insofar as they were adverse to their contentions. ⁵ As GRSD did not appeal, the finding of discrimination in teacher assignments is not questioned here.

While some of the issues decided by the court below are issues of law and fact, the pivotal determinations are primarily factual not to be set aside by this court unless they are found to be clearly erroneous. It is thus necessary to review the evidence and the factual findings of the court in some detail. A good portion of the plaintiffs' evidence was focused upon comparatively few actions of GRSD. We deal with these below but first a general discussion of the historical background of Grand Rapids and its school system is in order.

Grand Rapids is a city lying in the southwest portion of Michigan having a 1970 population of 197,649. It is the county seat of Kent County with a population of 411,044. The Grand Rapids School District is generally coterminous with the city of Grand Rapids.

The racial composition of the Grand Rapids population has changed materially in recent years, growing from a 1% Black population in 1940 to 11.3% In 1970. In the twenty years from 1950 to 1970 the black population tripled, with the vast majority concentrating within an area that began in and expanded from what is generally referred to as the central city.

Historically, the Grand Rapids school population has reflected a higher percentage of blacks than that found in the total population of the city. Thus, the non-white ⁶ school population grew from 2.58% In 1941-42, to 6.52% In 1950-51, to 9.80% In 1954-55, to 15.20% In 1960-61, and to 21.24% In 1968-69. Finally in 1972-73 the black enrollment was 8,459 out of 32,864, representing a percentage of 25.74%. At the elementary level where the black population is greater as a result of recent birth rates the percentage of non-white enrollment increased from 7.2% In 1950 to 18% In 1960 and to 31.2% In 1972. As the district judge assessed these statistics, non-white enrollment in elementary schools increased 351% From 1950 to 1965 and increased another 31.7% From 1965 to 1970. White enrollment increased only 38% From 1950 to 1965. It actually decreased 9% From 1965 to 1970.

By 1965, 97% Of the total non-white elementary school population in Grand Rapids was in attendance at the 11 inner-city schools whose non-white enrollment averaged 83%. By 1970, the percentage of black elementary school children attending these inner-city schools was down from 97% To 85% But by then these schools were on the average 89% Black. The figures continued to shift until at the time of trial only 65% Of all non-white students were attending the inner-city schools then having an average enrollment of 95% Black students.

In the earlier years there was a heavy concentration...