Manning v. School Board of Hillsborough County Florida

• Decision Date: 16 March 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-2049,99-2049
• Citation: 244 F.3d 927
• Parties: (11th Cir. 2001) Andrew L. MANNING, a minor, by his father and next friend, Willie MANNING, Shayron R. Reed, by her father and next friend, Sanders B. Reed, Sandra E. Reed, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. THE SCHOOL BOARD OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA (formerly Board of Public Instruction of Hillsborough County, Florida), Clyde McLeod, et al., Defendants- Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 927

244 F.3d 927 (11th Cir. 2001)

Andrew L. MANNING, a minor, by his father and next friend, Willie MANNING, Shayron R. Reed, by her father and next friend, Sanders B. Reed, Sandra E. Reed, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. THE SCHOOL BOARD OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA (formerly Board of Public Instruction of Hillsborough County, Florida), Clyde McLeod, et al., Defendants- Appellants.

No. 99-2049.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

March 16, 2001.

March 28, 2001.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. No. 58-03554-CIV-T-17C), Elizabeth A. Kovachevich, Chief Judge.

Before BLACK, FAY and COX, Circuit Judges.

BLACK, Circuit Judge:

Appellants, the School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida, and its officials, appeal two orders of the district court which subject them to continued supervision under a federal desegregation decree. See Manning v. Sch. Bd. of Hillsborough County, Fla., 24 F.Supp.2d 1277 (M.D.Fla.), mot. to alter or amend den., mot. for clarification granted in part, 28 F.Supp.2d 1353 (M.D.Fla.1998). Appellants argue that they have eliminated the vestiges of past discrimination to the extent practicable and have fully complied in good faith with the desegregation decree. Accordingly, Appellants claim their school district should be declared unitary and federal judicial supervision should cease. Conversely, Appellees, a class of African-American schoolchildren, contend the school district is not unitary and federal judicial oversight of Appellants remains necessary. We hold that Appellants have achieved unitary status. We reverse and remand for the district court to enter judgment, in accordance with this opinion, declaring the Hillsborough County school system to be unitary.

I. BACKGROUND

A.Procedural History

Appellants for many years operated a racially-segregated, dual school system. As a result of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954) (Brown I), Appellees in 1958 filed this class-action lawsuit on behalf of all "minor Negro children and their parents" residing in Appellants' school district.¹ In 1962, the district court found that Appellants, by operating a segregated school system, had violated the Fourteenth Amendment. For the next eight and half years, the district court issued various orders as part of its efforts to remedy the harm caused by Appellants' unconstitutional conduct. See, e.g., Mannings v. Bd. of Pub. Instruction of Hillsborough County, Fla., 306 F.Supp. 497 (M.D.Fla.1969).

In 1970, our predecessor court examined whether Appellants had sufficiently eradicated the illegal dual school system such that it could be found "unitary." See Mannings v. Bd. of Pub. Instruction of Hillsborough County, Fla., 427 F.2d 874 (5th Cir.1970). Relying upon the six so-called Green² factors, the former Fifth Circuit concluded that, with regard to three factors (transportation, extracurricular activities, and facilities), Appellants had indeed achieved a unitary school district. See Mannings, 427 F.2d at 878. Nonetheless, based on its examination of three other factors (faculty desegregation, staff desegregation, and student assignments), the court found Appellants had fallen short and had not attained unitary status. See id. The case was remanded to the district court with instructions to remedy the deficiencies. See id.

After remand, the Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 1267, 28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971), gave firm guidance on a district court's equitable power to remedy illegal segregation. On May 11, 1971, just 21 days after Swann was decided, the district court directed Appellants to submit a comprehensive desegregation plan that conformed with the requirements of Swann. Thereafter, Appellants submitted such a plan, and the district court adopted the plan in its order dated July 2, 1971 (the July 1971 Order). From 1971 to 1991, the district court's supervision of Appellants was governed, with some minor modifications, exclusively by the July 1971 Order.³

In 1991, Appellants and Appellees entered into a consent decree (1991 Consent Order). The primary reason for the 1991 Consent Order was to enable Appellants to reorganize the school district, so as to eliminate single grade centers and to create middle schools. The 1991 Consent Order, which was to be implemented over a 7-year period, did not annul the July 1971 Order, but merely modified it.

Appellee moved in 1994 to enforce the 1991 Consent Order. The matter was referred to the magistrate judge who recommended denying the motion. The district judge, however, deferred ruling on the motion and sua sponte recommitted the matter to the magistrate judge to consider whether the school district had become unitary, thereby removing the need for federal judicial oversight.

In October 1996, the magistrate judge conducted a 7-day hearing, at which both sides presented considerable evidence. In August 1997, the magistrate judge issued a detailed report and recommendation wherein she recommended the district court find that Appellants had achieved unitary status and thus should be released from federal judicial supervision. Without holding an evidentiary hearing, the district judge in a 110-page order dated October 26, 1998, rejected in part and adopted in part the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. See Manning, 24 F.Supp.2d at 1277-1335. The district judge concluded that Appellants had not attained unitary status and therefore federal judicial supervision was still warranted.⁴See Manning, 24 F.Supp.2d at 1335. Within ten days of the order dated October 26, 1998, Appellants filed a motion to alter or amend judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e). The district court, in a 13-page order, denied the motion on December 4, 1998. See Manning, 28 F.Supp.2d at 1361. Within 30 days, Appellants filed a notice of appeal as to the district judge's orders of October 26, 1998, and December 4, 1998.

B.Facts

To analyze this case that has endured for over 40 years, we first summarize the contents of the July 1971 Order and the 1991 Consent Order, which, with minor modifications, have served as the guideposts for Appellants' journey toward a unitary school district. Then, we set forth the district court's most recent factual findings with respect to Appellants' unitary status.

1.July 1971 Order

As previously discussed, the district court ordered Appellants in May of 1971 to submit a comprehensive desegregation plan. The district court stated that the "primary objective" of the plan should be the abolition of segregation. In particular, the district court sought to eliminate, at every school, racial balances where black students comprised more than 50% of the student population. The district court further stated that the "most acceptable and desirable" result would be a white/black ratio of 86%/14% in senior high schools, 80%/20% in junior high schools, and 79%/21% in elementary schools.

The July 1971 Order, which ratified Appellants' proposed desegregation plan, dealt primarily with student assignments in grades one through twelve. For elementary schools, the plan clustered each predominately black school with two to five predominantly white schools. The white schools would be used for grades one through five and would be integrated with black children from "satellite zones"⁵ who had previously attended the black school in the cluster. The black school in each cluster would be used as a sixth-grade center and would be integrated with white children who had previously attended the white schools in the cluster.

For junior high schools, each black school would be clustered with one to three white schools. The black schools would be used for seventh grade, and the white schools would be used for eighth and ninth grades. Again, the schools would be integrated with students from satellite zones. For senior high schools, the two black schools would be closed, but their facilities would be used for junior high schools. Through a series of re-zoning and satellite busing measures, the white high schools would be integrated.

With regard to faculty and staff, the district court had previously entered an order on August 25, 1970. In the July 1971 Order, the court found that no additional measures were necessary, and it directed Appellants to continue to abide by the August 25, 1970, order. With respect to transportation, facilities, and extracurricular activities, the July 1971 Order directed Appellants to comply with all previous orders. The order also mandated that all operations relating to these areas should be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner and should be regularly re-examined by Appellants.

The July 1971 Order also remarked on four other topics: (1) majority to minority transfers, (2) other transfer rules, (3) the bi-racial committee, and (4) approval of site locations. Specifically, the district court stated, "Each of these has been required by previous orders of this Court. Some of them may not be required if [Appellants'] plan is effectuated and accomplished." Nevertheless, the district court stated that it was "retaining jurisdiction and [would] require the continuation of all of these procedures to be available and used as necessary."

Attached to the July 1971 Order were two exhibits which explained the bi-racial committee, majority-to-minority transfers, and other transfer rules. The bi-racial committee was to serve as an advisory body on a number of issues and was to consist of ten members, with Appellants and Appellees each selecting five members. In some instances, the committee was to receive reports about students transferring from their assigned schools. In other instances, Appellants were barred from approving student transfers before considering a recommendation from the committee.

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