School district, DoJ continue desegregation order negotiations

In a joint filing in federal court Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District said they wish to extend the deadline to submit a permanent desegregation order from Feb. 15 to March 4.
SOCSD has been operating under a temporary desegregation order that was approved by a federal judge last summer. Because both the Oktibbeha County School District and the Starkville School District were under desegregation orders prior to consolidation, a new desegregation order is required to govern the consolidated school district. Many school districts in Mississippi were placed under federal desegregation orders in the late 1960s and 1970s, providing federal oversight of efforts to integrate schools and provide equal educational opportunities.
Friday’s court filings indicate the DoJ and school district have been in negotiations in recent weeks. At Tuesday’s school board meeting, school district lawyers met with the school board in executive session to discuss legal matters, but the matters discussed were not specified. Friday’s filing does not identify any specific issues that are still being negotiated.
“The Parties are optimistic that they will come to agreement on the terms of a desegregation order governing the Consolidated District, and therefore request the permission of the Court to submit a proposed desegregation order on March 4, 2016, which, if approved, would govern the Consolidated District until unitary status is achieved,” the joint filing states. “If the Parties are unable to reach agreement on a proposed order by March 4, 2016, the Parties will each submit proposed orders that reflect the areas in which agreement was reached and each Party’s proposal for the remaining desegregation obligations.”
According to the filing, the DoJ and school district exchanged drafts of desegregation orders and continued negotiations between Feb. 5 and Feb. 11.The two sides also held negotiations by telephone from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.
Justice Department officials visited the school district on Dec. 14-15 and January 5. According to Friday’s filing, those visits included with district and school administrators an evaluation of the school district’s facilities. In December, Justice Department officials attended a community meeting in Oktoc where residents of the former Oktibbeha County School District voiced concerns over what they feel is a lack of representation in the consolidated school district.
In filings last year, the Justice Department took issue with some aspects of the school district’s plans for consolidation. Lawyers raised concerns over the lack of diversity at East Elementary, which has a student population that is over 90 percent African-American. Other concerns included the school district’s decision to issue non-renewals to faculty and staff East and West Oktibbeha County High Schools, which were closed after consolidation.
As part of a compromise with the Justice Department last summer, the school district decided to send all sixth graders from East and West Elementary to Armstrong Middle School. Justice Department officials felt educational opportunities were available at Armstrong that were not available at East and West Elementary. The school district brought in two portable buildings at Armstrong to help handle the influx of students.
The desegregation order case is under the jurisdiction of federal Judge Michael P. Mills in United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi.