Some DeKalb County parents have asked a judge to intervene and halt the school board’s decision to close eight schools and redistrict thousands of students.
Four residents filed a complaint in DeKalb County Superior Court late Monday, asking for an injunction to prevent the redistricting and a moratorium on school closures until an audit of school operations is conducted.
The case has been assigned to Judge Michael Hancock, but no court date has been set, according to the clerk's office.
Monday night, the school board voted 7-2 to redistrict 6,000-7,000 students and close eight schools to save about $12.4 million a year.
The complaint, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says the children have no voice in redistricting and that the decisions have “threads of segregation and gentrification.” The majority of the schools slated to close are in south DeKalb, which is home to primarily African-American students. The south end of the county is one of the areas hardest hit by foreclosures.
“Most students are going to north side schools because south side schools don’t have the best instructional quality,” said Annette Davis Jackson, one of the plaintiffs. “DeKalb is citing this is due to low enrollment, but if that school was a Kittredge or a Tucker High School, you wouldn’t have to worry about closing down the school. I want to see a district where the north doesn’t have to fight the south.”
Jackson, who said she moved from DeKalb to Gwinnett after her two children were kicked out of the district, said she wants to see the school system release all of its expenditures before closing schools.
The injunction request was filed by parents Latasha Walker, Kim Ault, Kendall London and Jackson. It also lists the citizens of DeKalb and DeKalb NAACP President John Evans as a petitioner, but Evans said he is not part of the litigation and his name was “illegally” added to the complaint.
School board chair Tom Bowen said Tuesday he had not seen the suit, but dismissed the allegation that race was involved.
“The district spent thousands of hours to identify empty seats, the condition and education adequacy of buildings and expected savings to recommend the best plan for the district. Neither the approved plan nor the extensive process to develop it were racially motivated,” he said.
Attorney Glenn Brock, whose firm Brock Clay represents districts across the state, including Fulton, Cobb and Clayton, said lawsuits are frequently filed during redistricting because it is an emotional process.
“As long as the school district follows its own policy on how to approach redistricting, they have broad discretion on how to move attendance lines. If they don’t follow their own policy, then a suit could have merit,” Brock said. “School districts have to have broad discretion because of populations shift and facility needs change.”
The board’s policy gives the board the discretion to redistrict, but it must follow state laws and hold public hearings when closing schools.
Redistricting is one of eight mandates the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools listed for DeKalb to keep its accreditation.
Schools spokesman Walter Woods said the district began working on an implementation plan Tuesday and plans to send school assignment letters to parents by the end of the year.
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