The Huntsville City Schools district is seeking partial release from its federal court desegregation order.

The district will be seeking to remove federal supervision over faculty and staff, activities and facilities, school board attorney Christopher Pape said at a public meeting on Monday.

Next week (March 11) will be the 62nd anniversary of a lawsuit filed by parents – including Sonnie Hereford – of five Huntsville public school students seeking the right to be enrolled in schools operated by Huntsville on a nonsegregated basis. On Sept. 2, 1970, the federal court entered an order requiring “a plan for a unitary school system not based on race which meets the requirements of law,” according to a court document. Since then, the federal court has overseen and has had to approve certain operations of the system, including construction and zoning.

The release would mean the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education “has done what it said it would do in the desegregation case related to these three factors,” he said.

If the school board approves the motion at its meeting on March 25, the district is expected to file the motion in April.

The district is in the process of seeking public comment about its motion. Public comments can be submitted on the district’s website through March 18. The public can also submit feedback to the Desegregation Advisory Committee.

“We think it’s appropriate for the board to seek this motion,” Pape said. “We wouldn’t bring it if we didn’t.”

Pape said the board’s legal team believes the district has eliminated “the vestiges” of segregation in the areas in which the school board seeks control.

Pape said the motion does not affect current faculty, staff, students, activities or the district’s 10-year, $60 million capital plan. He said the court approved the capital plan last September.

A partial release would not mean the end of the case, Pape said.

To resolve its desegregation case, the board must prove that it has eliminated the remnants of segregation to the extent practical and that it has complied with the court’s desegregation orders in good faith.

Partial release “would narrow the scope of the case considerably,” Pape said. Student assignments, equity access to course offerings and student discipline areas would remain under federal supervision.

Pape also said the granting of the motion “does not mean the school system is immune from all other future lawsuits.”

“It doesn’t mean the school system can’t be sued under various federal laws related to discrimination and harassment,” he said.

For more information on the desegregation efforts, visit: Motion for Release from Federal Supervision as to Staff, Facilities, & Extracurricular Activities | Huntsville City Schools

See video: Huntsville City Schools ETV