Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Board
Headline: Louisiana school districts must prepare now to implement federal desegregation plans, as Court orders immediate administrative steps to achieve full student and faculty integration by February 1, 1970.
Holding:
- Forces school districts to prepare for full student desegregation by February 1, 1970.
- Stops school boards from taking steps that would delay implementing federal plans.
- Affects students, teachers, schedules, bus routes, and school facilities this year.
Summary
Background
Three cases filed in 1965 sought desegregation of three Louisiana school districts. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare prepared terminal desegregation plans for the 1969–1970 school year, but the District Courts rejected those plans. The Court of Appeals sitting en banc reversed on December 1, 1969, ordering complete faculty desegregation and conversion to unitary systems by February 1, 1970, while allowing pupil desegregation to be delayed until September 1970. Petitioners asked this Court for immediate review and emergency relief to require school boards to prepare now for student assignment under the federal plans.
Reasoning
The central question was whether the Court should order interim steps to prevent delay and preserve effective relief. The per curiam order granted the emergency application. The Court directed that school boards take preparatory clerical and administrative steps (such as determining new student assignments, bus routes, athletic schedules, and necessary physical changes) to implement the federal student‑assignment plans on or before February 1, 1970. The Court also vacated the portion of the Court of Appeals’ judgment that deferred desegregation until the 1970–1971 school year and set a deadline for respondents to file a response by January 2, 1970. This relief is interim and given while the Court considers the petition on the merits.
Real world impact
The order forces school boards to begin concrete preparations this school year so that student integration can proceed by February 1, 1970, affecting students, teachers, bus routes, schedules, and school facilities. Because the ruling is temporary and tied to the pending review, the final outcome could change after the Court decides the full case.
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