American Apartheid

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Desegregation Timeline

1956: Desegregation lawsuit filed on behalf of 37 North Baton Rouge African-American students

1964: Freedom of Choice implemented in school system with very limited success.

1969: First major court order handed down ordering the closing of some schools, desegregation of some schools mainly in Mid-City, North Baton Rouge, Baker, and Zachary. It also orders the integration of the faculties and staffs at all schools.

1970: Court-ordered busing plan implemented.

1974: Plaintiffs file motion saying 1970 plan did not desegregate system. Judge E. Gordon West rules against motion saying school system is unitary. NAACP appeals to U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

1978: Fifth Circuit vacates Judge West’s order and remands the case back to the Middle District of Louisiana for more hearings. Case assigned to Judge John V. Parker.

1980: U.S. Justice Department successfully files for a Summary Judgment in the case. Judge orders the NAACP and Justice Department to meet with the School Board to come up with a plan for desegregating schools. After rejecting the School Board Magnet School Plan, Judge Parker orders a desegregation plan involving clusters and pairs at the elementary level, single grade centers at the middle school level and revised high school districts. The School Board submits a new middle school plan that is accepted by the courts allowing students to attend one school for all three grades. School Board appeals ruling while implementing the plan.

1981: Elementary schools part of the plan is implemented.

1982: Secondary Schools part of the plan is implemented.

1983: U.S. Fifth Circuit reaffirms the lower court ruling. U.S. Justice Department submits its own desegregation plan to possibly end suit. School Board rejects plan.

1989: School redesign plan setting up special programs to voluntarily desegregate program instituted.

1996: Consent Decree between NAACP, School Board and U.S. Justice Department calls for board to improve facilities and educational opportunities for students. This plan replaced Judge Parker’s 1981 plan with a new plan consisting of neighborhood schools with magnet programs.

2001: Judge John Parker resigns from case and is replaced by Judge James Brady.

2001 or early 2002: School Board to ask that the federal courts declare the system unitary.

2003: US District Judge James Brady dismisses objections at fairness hearing, approves final settlement agreement, ends 47-year old desegregation case. Settlement agreement.