The Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON — A federal judge on Friday may declare Galveston public school district desegregated after 50 years.

Judge Sim Lake could rule that the district has achieved unitary status — or a formal declaration of desegregation. The ruling would effectively end a lawsuit filed against the district in 1959.

But he could also rule to give Anthony Griffin, the attorney for the sole plaintiff, more time to rebuild his files that were flooded when Hurricane Ike slammed into Galveston on Sept. 13. If that happens, the district’s bid to end the half-century of litigation would be postponed again.

The hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Lake’s Houston courtroom. Lake has consistently said his goal is to declare the district desegregated by the end of this school year.

The court considers eight factors when determining whether a district is ready to be declared desegregated in the eyes of the federal government: student assignment, faculty and staff assignments, pupil transportation, extracurricular activities, facilities, allocation of resources, student achievement and special programs.

Galveston public school district is among nine Texas districts still considered segregated by the federal courts.

Although the district formally integrated in 1968 — when the African-American high school, Central, merged with the white high school, Ball — the court has ruled several times that the district was not fully integrated.

In 1978, the court ruled that Morgan Elementary School, with 90 percent African-American students, was the only vestige of segregation and the district remained under judicial scrutiny. The district made a bid for desegregation again in 1981, but was rejected.

In 1996, the district hired civil rights consultant John Bell who concluded that achievement gaps between minorities and whites remained; too few were involved in honors societies, too many African-American students were disciplined or placed in special education classes and more minority teachers needed to be hired. The district did not pursue unitary status. Bell did a second review in 2004, and some of the same problems existed, particularly the underachievement of African-American students.

In 2007, Bell told the district it erred by not telling the court when it closed schools because of declining enrollment.

He also said that while the reconfiguration of the district — opening a magnet school for grades five through eight and placing all island fifth- and sixth-graders at Weis and all seventh- and eighth-graders at Central — would help desegregation efforts, some of the same problems with teacher assignment and underachievement of minorities will remain.

The League of United Latin American Citizens filed a federal complaint about the closure of two predominately minority elementary schools and the U.S. Department of Justice got involved.

The justice department questioned whether school closures put more of a burden on minority students than whites.

In June, the district asked for unitary status, but the ruling was delayed when Judge Lake allowed Griffin to substitute a plaintiff. Lake gave Griffin six weeks to respond to the district’s motion for unitary status. Griffin missed the deadline and instead asked for more time to rebuild his files and gather new information about the district’s reconfiguration decisions after Hurricane Ike.

The district is considering not reopening three schools in 2009-10, including Central Middle School and Burnet and Scott elementary schools.

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At A Glance

WHAT: Motion hearing on Smiley v. Blevins (GISD desegregation lawsuit)

WHEN: 3:30 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Courtroom 8C, 8th Floor, United States Court House, 515 Rusk, Houston

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Under Order

Texas districts that remain under federal order to desegregate:

• Galveston ISD

• Garland ISD

• Richardson ISD

• San Angelo ISD

• Crosby ISD

• Longview ISD

• Carthage ISD

• Tyler ISD

• Ector County ISD

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice

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Timeline

• 1954: Brown v. Board of Education mandates desegregation of all schools in the United States.

• 1959: Several African-Americans join in class-action lawsuit seeking full integration of Galveston’s public schools.

• 1960: A judge orders the district to dismantle dual school system and implement a school choice plan by 1973.

• 1968: Central High School and Ball High School merge and the first integrated class graduates in spring 1969.

• 1970: The district floats a bond to replace three predominately African-American schools, but the proposition fails.

• 1975: Bond proposal passes and L.A. Morgan Elementary School is built to replace three former African-American elementary schools.

• 1976: Morgan Elementary School opens but 90 percent of its students are African-American.

• 1978: Court rules that Morgan Elementary School is the school district’s single vestige of a dual school system and calls for a remedy.

• 1979: District begins a majority to minority transfer program, allowing Morgan Elementary School students to attend Parker Elementary School and vice versa.

• 1981: Judge rules that vestiges of segregation remain at Morgan. District remains under judicial scrutiny.

• 1994: District passes a $25 million bond election that leads to the re-establishment of three, rather than one, middle schools, rezoning of all middle and elementary schools and the return of fifth-graders to elementary campuses.

• 1996: District hires civil rights consultant John Bell who concludes that the district can achieve unitary status by increasing numbers of minorities in gifted-talented education, golf, baseball and National Honor Society; trimming down the numbers of African-American students referred to special education and discipline programs and recruiting more minority teachers. District does not pursue unitary status.

• 2004: District asks Bell for a second review. He finds the district is not ready to pursue unitary status. It needs to develop a new magnet curriculum at Morgan Elementary School and assign teachers in a nonracial, nondiscriminatory method, among other things.

• 2006: District closes San Jacinto Elementary School, due to declining enrollment, and transfers students. It does not tell the court.

• February 2007: District closes Alamo Elementary School and reconfigures middle school campuses without telling the court.

• May 2007: After telling district it erred by not telling the court of school closures, Bell says district not ready for unitary status.

• July 2007: The U.S. Department of Justice gets involved, asking whether school closures put more of a burden on Galveston’s minority students than whites.

• August 2007: Justice department attorneys and the school district’s attorneys accuse each other of lying to the federal court about a promised report by consultant Bell. Bell backs up the district. District explains school closures plans to redraw school zones to federal court.

• September 2007: Justice department asks to visit district and depose Bell and administrators. District’s attorneys ask judge to deny the visit. They later say they are not opposed to the visit.

• November 2007: Justice department attorney Allison Brown visits district and meets with angry parents and residents. She visits every school except Ball High School, meets with principals and Superintendent Lynne Cleveland and attends a rezoning meeting.

• February 2008: Justice department drops request to depose Bell and Cleveland. Federal Judge Sim Lake rules that Alamo Elementary School can remain closed.

• April 2008: Judge Lake approves district’s plan to redraw elementary school zones.

• June 2008: District says it is ready for unitary status and asks court for ruling.

• September 2008: Hurricane Ike hits Galveston, damaging three schools so severely they can’t reopen.

• October 2008: Judge Lake allows Griffin to substitute a new plaintiff — an African-American student in special education classes.

• November 2008: Griffin asks for more time to rebuild files destroyed by hurricane. Lake gives him six weeks.

• December 2008: Griffin misses deadline and asks for more time.

• January: Court to hold hearing on unitary status.