Split Kentucky Court of Appeals Strikes Down JCPS Student Assignment Plan

This from the Courier-Journal:

Kentucky's largest school district must revamp how it assigns students to schools before the 2012-13 school term to allow parents to enroll children in the school nearest their homes, a split Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The court, in a 2-1 vote, found that Jefferson County Public Schools were in violation of state law by having a plan that allows parents to register for classes at the nearest school, but doesn't allow all students to enroll in classes at that same facility.  

"When located in proximity to home, the school is the center of a community, inviting parental participation in school events and offering personal connections among the school, students and classmates," Judge Kelly Thompson wrote in an opinion joined by Judge Michael Caperton.

The court, though, didn't require the Louisville-based school district to undo the plan in place for the current school year, saying it understood the "complexity and difficulty" in putting a student assignment plan together.

The school district has vowed to appeal the decision, potentially delaying any changes to the student assignment plan.

The central legal issue is whether Kentucky law, which says parents shall "enroll" a student at the school closest to their home, also entitles that student to attend the same school. Thompson wrote that "enroll" meaning anything other than signing up to attend a certain school "defies logic."

"Busing creates the impediment of distance among parent, child, and school and, therefore, increases the difficulty of family involvement," Thompson wrote.

Judge Sara Combs, in dissent, noted that in 1990, lawmakers removed the phrase "enroll for attendance" from the state law. That change took away a requirement that school systems must allow students to attend the school closest to their home. "No doubt it would be ideal in the utopian sense for children to be able to attend schools nearest their homes," Combs wrote. "Even in remote, rural areas of the state, however, that idyllic preference is often not a reality."

Attorney Teddy Gordon, who represented a group of parents challenging the student assignment plan, was unavailable for comment Friday because of Rosh Hashanah.

In a written statement, Donna Hargens, the Jefferson County schools superintendent, said Jefferson Circuit Judge Irv Maze was correct in upholding the assignment plan and it will be appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

"The law and facts support Judge Maze's decision and we are confident that the Supreme Court will agree," Hargens said. Maze dismissed a lawsuit brought by parents who contend the school district must allow their children to attend the school nearest their home. Maze said state law clearly reserves for school boards the right to "determine what schools the students within the district attend."

The appeals court arguments are the latest volley in a long-running battle over how students in Louisville are assigned to schools. The school district voluntarily continued busing students to maintain diversity in the classroom after a judge lifted a mandatory busing order in 2000 after 25 years. The current plan divides the county into attendance zones, with some students having to ride on buses across the county to get to school each day.

During oral arguments, Thompson openly argued that Jefferson County's plan was illegal and said students should be allowed to attend neighborhood schools. Caperton joined him, making similar comments.

In her dissent, Combs took issue with the behavior of her colleagues during arguments, saying given the importance of the issue, it should have gone directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court. "In hindsight, the volatile tenor of the oral argument made this alternative not only feasible, but desirable — if not, indeed, necessary," Combs wrote.

The court case touches on a current political issue. State Senate President David Williams, a Republican running for governor against incumbent Democratic incumbent Steve Beshear, has pushed legislation to allow Louisville public school students attend the school closest to their homes.

Williams has said the bill would empower parents frustrated by school assignment plans.

Opponents say the measure would erode local control of schools and would relegate many poor and minority students to underperforming schools.