Renewed efforts to desegregate three nearly all-black elementary schools and recruit a diverse faculty and staff are part of a new agreement between a Louisiana school district and the U.S. Department of Justice in a federal court case that dates back to 1965.
The 27-page agreement was approved by a federal judge last week. It’s one of numerous federal desegregation cases in the South dating back to the 1960s, some of which have taken decades to resolve.
The agreement requires the St. James district to implement a new assignment plan to desegregate the three elementary schools, revise its code of conduct to ensure fairness in disciplinary matters at all schools, recruit a diverse pool of applicants for faculty and staff vacancies, take steps to encourage all students to take part in extracurricular programs, and “guarantee racially diverse panels of judges” for students trying out or auditioning for after-school activities.
