Lemon v. Bossier Parish School Board, 30447.

Citation444 F.2d 1400
Decision Date17 June 1971
Docket NumberNo. 30447.,30447.
PartiesUra Bernard LEMON et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. BOSSIER PARISH SCHOOL BOARD et al., Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Jesse N. Stone, Jr., Shreveport, La., Norman J. Chachkin, Margrett Ford, New York City, A. P. Tureaud, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.

J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Shreveport, La., Edward S. Christenbury, Civil Rights Div., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Arthur M. Wallace, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Benton, La., for defendants-appellees.

Before GEWIN, GOLDBERG, and DYER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal from an order of the district court approving a school board plan for the operation of the public schools in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. The plan in question provides that students in grades 4-12 will be assigned to one of the two schools in the system on the basis of scores made on the California Achievement Test. Plaintiffs appeal, contesting the validity of the board's plan.

We think it obvious that the plan approved by the district court, insofar as it provides for the assignment of students on the basis of achievement test scores, is not in compliance with previous orders of this court in school desegregation cases. In Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School District, 5 Cir. 1969, 419 F.2d 1211, rev. in part on other grounds, 396 U.S. 290, 90 S.Ct. 608, 24 L.Ed.2d 477, this court sitting en banc said:

"This suit seeks to desegregate two school districts, Marshall County and Holly Springs, Mississippi. The district court approved plans which would assign students to schools on the basis of achievement test scores. We pretermit a discussion of the validity per se of a plan based on testing except to hold that testing cannot be employed in any event until unitary school systems have been established." 419 F.2d at 1219.

Since Singleton we have repeatedly rejected testing as a basis for student assignments, United States v. Sunflower County School District, 5 Cir. 1970, 430 F.2d 839; United States v. Tunica County School District, 5 Cir. 1970, 421 F.2d 1236, and we see no occasion to depart from this rule in the present case. The Plain Dealing School System has been a unitary system for only one semester. This is insufficient to even raise the issue of the validity of testing itself. In Singleton we made it clear that regardless of the innate validity of testing, it could not be used until a school district had been established as a unitary system. We think at a minimum this means that the district in question must have for several years operated as a unitary system. The Plain Dealing district does not meet this...

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35 cases
  • Bossier Parish School Bd. v. Reno, Civ. A. No. 94-1495 (LHS (USCA)
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • 2 Noviembre 1995
    ...the School Board's plan to assign students to one of two schools in Plain Dealing based on their test scores. Lemon v. Bossier Parish Sch. Bd., 444 F.2d 1400 (5th Cir.1971). In 1979, the School Board filed a motion seeking a declaration of unitary status and a release from further court sup......
  • Anderson v. Banks
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Georgia
    • 17 Junio 1981
    ...this means that the district in question must have for several years operated as a unitary system." Lemon v. Bossier Parish School Board, 444 F.2d 1400, 1401 (5th Cir. 1971). In McNeal, the Fifth Circuit charged the district courts with scrutinizing any plan which assigns students to segreg......
  • Milliken v. Bradley
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 27 Junio 1977
    ...District, 419 F.2d 1211, 1219 (C.A.5 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1032, 90 S.Ct. 612, 24 L.Ed.2d 530 (1970); Lemon v. Bossier Parish School Board, 444 F.2d 1400, 1401 (C.A.5 1971); Arvizu v. Waco Independent School Dist., 373 F.Supp. 1264 (W.D.Tex.1973), rev'd in part on other issues, 495 ......
  • Morgan v. Nucci, AFL-CIO
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • 28 Septiembre 1987
    ...acceptable plan is adopted and implemented, for the remnants of desegregation are not readily eradicated."); Lemon v. Bossier Parish School Board, 444 F.2d 1400, 1401 (5th Cir.1971) ("One swallow does not make a spring."). Thus, where a court has reason to believe that a discriminatory anim......
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