The question of how the desegregation order will affect the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District is still up in the air, but the district will have to comply with how they report under the order, according to former Montgomery County Board Attorney Chynee A. Bailey.
Bailey said the order handed down by Justice Neal B. Biggers substitutes Winona -Montgomery Consolidated School District’s name in the original 1967 Desegregation Order the former Montgomery County School District was under.
“The extent to which the former desegregation order applies to the consolidated district is still a question up in the air,” Bailey said. “The question that has to be answered is whether the mandate is going to be modified to address issues that exist today.”
She said the Department of Justice wanted to ensure that equal educational opportunities were provided to the former Montgomery County students as they have been provided to the former Winona Separated School District students.
“They want to be sure they are being treated equally,” Bailey said. “They’re just wanting to be able to double check. There have been numerous complaints that have been reported to DOJ. There was a recent meeting where parents were asked to attend and give feedback. And the feedback was not positive. They want to be able to move forward. The DOJ has requested information from consolidated district, and they were denied because they said it didn’t apply them.”
And, it didn’t. The former Winona Separated School District was never under a desegregation order, but the district complied to the integration order in the 1970s. The Montgomery County School District, however, was under a desegregation order.
want to be able to move forward. The DOJ has requested information from consolidated district, and they were denied because they said it didn’t apply to them.”
And, it didn’t. The former Winona Separated School District was never under a desegregation order, but the district complied to the integration order in the 1970s. The Montgomery County School District, however, was under a desegregation order.
In the order handed down by Senior Justice Biggers, the consolidated district is the MCSD “successor.” The district was absorbed but the desegregation order still followed the former district. The order states the Department of Justice wanted to determine if any amendments should be made to the order and requested information from the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District but they didn’t comply.
Justice Biggers wrote in the order, “Although WMCSD has responded in opposition, just less than a year ago it moved to be joined as a party in the instant case, arguing that the ‘court will have to consider how the Desegregation Order applies to WMCSD,” and the “Desegregation Order will have to be modified in some respect because there will be a new school district.”
Biggers wrote in the order, “There remain desegregation orders in the instant cause which, by their own terms, apply to MCSD’s successors. WMCSD is undoubtedly MCSD’s successor. Moreover, WMCSD itself has argued for intervention and acknowledged the potential implications of the orders on the new school district…”
She said how it will be applied is yet to be answered.
“We’ll be looking to the court for that to see if it will be applied that is written. Because it’s written for schools and a school system that no longer in existence. So, it’ll have to be modified in some respect,” she said. “That will be set for a later date. The school district least has to provide information. The DOJ wants statistics. They want to know how many students ride the bus and is transportation accessible to them, how many Montgomery County students are in extracurricular activity.”
Bailey said the DOJ will provide their findings to the court and a judge to determine if and how the findings are applicable to the consolidated district and the desegregation order.
“But they do have to comply with certain reporting requirements,” Bailey said. “Right now, the DOJ is gathering information from the district to determine whether they are equal opportunities and will report any deficits and they will make recommendations regarding their findings. It’ll take some time to request information and to format it. I have no idea what time frame.”
She said not only is the desegregation order litigation ongoing, but there’s still a consolidation case that is still ongoing also.
“A lot of people don’t know that case is still ongoing. We just had a status conference two weeks ago in Oxford on outstanding issues in that case. But, I hope to see rulings in that case in the near future,” Bailey said.
She said several motions have been filed in the case that a judge will have to consider and decide. The biggest is a motion for an injunction in the consolidation. The biggest point in that lawsuit is the makeup of the temporary school board and the permanent school board that will take office Jan 1.
If a judge rules in favor of Montgomery County, whose stance is the temporary school board was unconstitutional, it takes the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District back to the Winona Separated School District and the Montgomery County School District and it would void every decision the board made since the conception of the consolidated school district on July 1.
