On May 1, 1970, the United States filed this suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against the Franklin Parish (Louisiana) School Board to enjoin the School Board’s operation of a dual school system. The District Court permanently enjoined the School Board’s discriminatory practice and approved a desegregation plan on August 20, 1970. The presiding judge was Judge Benjamin C. Dawkins Jr..

This case is relatively simple compared to cases that preceded it because it was decided after Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd. 417 F.2d 801 (1969). In St. Helena, the Fifth Circuit officially ruled “freedom of choice” plans as inadequate for the purposes of achieving unitary status. For more information on the St. Helena case, see in this Clearinghouse.

There is a relatively sparse record of this case. In October 1974, the District Court allowed the School Board to consolidate three high schools into two. The plan was not against modified until June 1982, where objective criteria for the demotion of personnel was implemented. New Plaintiffs, “Save Our Schools,” tried to intervene in the case in July of 1994 but were denied entry by the District Court (affirmed by Fifth Circuit). “Save Our Schools” was founded by parents who objected to a School Board plan that sought to consolidate schools in the parish, however the plan was never approved by the Department of Justice or the District Court.

The School Board has filed bi-annual reports since the date of the injunction. On March 1, 2013 the School Board filed its Motion for Declaration of Unitary Status. The District Court officially declared the School Board to have achieved unitary status on August 6, 2013 and the case ended then.

Available Opinions
Hall v. St. Helena Parish School Bd., 417 F.2d 801 (1969)
U.S. v. Franklin Parish School Bd., 2013 WL 4017093 (2013)
U.S. v. Franklin Parish School Bd. v. Save Our Schools, 47 F.3d 755 (1995)

Alaael-Deen Shilleh - 04/30/2017


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