Allen Holmes raises issue of extending ‘look back’ period for deseg case

When Allen Holmes asked Avoyelles School Board members if they want the federal court to extend its “look back” period by two years, a moment of anxiety coursed through the meeting room.

As it turned out, Holmes was not delivering a threat but calling for more honest and inclusive discussions of issues affecting the school district.

His remarks were in response to recent comments by officials that U.S. District Judge Dee Drell might extend the monitoring period as a way to deter any additional charter schools in the parish. Drell has never publicly commented on the applications of two proposed charter schools -- Red River Charter Academy (RRCA) for secondary students and Avoyelles Children’s Charter (ACC) for elementary students. Individual board members, District Attorney Charles Riddle and others have expressed their personal opinions that Drell would not allow another charter school in Avoyelles.

There are currently two charters in the parish, Avoyelles Public Charter in Mansura with grades K-12 that operates on a BESE-approved charter and LaSAS, near Bunkie, a 7-12 high school, that is part of the Avoyelles School System.

Holmes, the plaintiff in the desegregation suit, supports Red River Charter’s right to open and has promised to appear with them in federal court should the matter ever get that far.

At the recent Board of Elementary & Secondary Education meeting, RRCA fell one vote short of its effort to take its application to Drell’s court. The vote was 5-5, with Dr. Gary Jones abstaining. The school must have six votes of the 11-member board to gain BESE approval to overrule the local board’s denial of a charter.

JONES' COMMENTS
Jones attended the Feb. 7 meeting and gave a brief update on his view of the parish’s progress in desegregation.

“There is no longer any willful discrimination” in the school system, Jones said. He said he visits the schools often and is impressed with officials’ willingness to assist him in his information-gathering for the court-ordered reports. He said his next official update will be in October and his final report should be delivered to the board in May 2018.

Jones said he has seen nothing in the schools that poses a major problem or impediment to the district’s goal of being declared unitary.

Red River officials have said they will apply once again to the School Board this year and, if denied as expected, will once again take their case to BESE. ACC has been silent on its charter application plans for the past year.

DOJ WANTED 5-YEAR PERIOD
Holmes reminded board members that the U.S. Department of Justice wanted to impose a 5-year monitoring period when Drell issued a consent decree stating Avoyelles is now a unitary district with no vestiges of the old “dual” system of white schools and black schools. Holmes said he and the board pushed for a 3-year period, and Drell accepted that.

That “probation” will end in May 2018, unless the Justice Department or Holmes presents evidence to show why Avoyelles should not be completely removed from federal court supervision and the decades-old suit finally closed.

Holmes asked if board members had changed their mind and been discussing the possibility of having the court extend that “look back” period.

Board President Chris LaCour said he had not engaged in any such conversation and was not aware of any such sentiment among board members. Several board members nodded in agreement.

RIDDLE'S OPINION
Riddle said he made the comments that prompted Holmes’ concern.

While discussing RRCA’s application before the BESE meeting, Riddle said Superintendent Blaine Dauzat asked what Riddle thought Drell would do if the charter issue reached his court.

“I told the superintendent that, in my opinion, Judge Drell would not approve a charter but that he could take the opportunity to extend the look back period as a way to control whether this parish would have another charter school,” Riddle said.

He added that he does not want that to happen, and that he and Dauzat joked about what opinions are worth.

“I’m ready for this to be completely over,” Riddle said.

Holmes asked board members to openly discuss their concerns with him so there won’t be any future misunderstandings.

“Words have consequences,” he added.

Board member Michael Lacombe said he is opposed to any new charter school because he believes it would adversely affect the ratio of white and black students in the school system’s schools.

‘IT'S ABOUT EDUCATION’
In his comments, Holmes told board members that the issue in the schools “is not about black and white. It’s about education.”

He pointed out that in its negotiations with RRCA, the board required the proposed school to agree to maintain a 50-50 racial ratio. While the school district is approximately 50/50, the parish population is closer to 68/32. The four parochial schools, Avoyelles Public Charter School, two online charter schools, a homeschool program and other non-public options affect the racial ratio in the public schools.

Holmes noted that Lafargue Elementary, in Ward 1, is 78 percent white and 22 percent black. He did not criticize that ratio or call for any action to address it. He said he was only relaying the enrollment numbers he had been given. However, Holmes concluded his comments by asking board members how they can justify requiring RRCA to maintain a 50/50 ratio when they allow one of their existing schools to have only 22 percent minority enrollment.