No. 96-1194

Michael C. Liddell, a minor, * by Minnie Liddell, his mother * and next friend; Kendra * Liddell, a minor, by Minnie * Liddell, her mother and next * friend; Minnie Liddell; * Roderick D. LeGrand, a minor, * by Lois LeGrand, his mother * and next friend; Lois LeGrand; * Clodis Yarber, a minor, by * Samuel Yarber, his father and * next friend; Samuel Yarber; * Earline Caldwell; Lillie * Caldwell; Gwendolyn Daniels; * National Association for the * Advancement of Colored People; * United States of America; City * of St. Louis, *
* Plaintiffs, * * Appeals From the United States
v. * District Court for the * Eastern District of Missouri. Board of Education of the * City of St. Louis; *
* Defendant-Appellant, *
* Rev. Earl E. Nance, Jr., * President, Board of * Education of the City of St. * Louis; Renni B. Shuter, a * member of the Board of Educa- * tion; Paula V. Smith, a member * of the Board of Education; * Dr. Albert D. Bender, Sr., a * member of the Board of Educa- * tion; Eddie G. Davis, a member * of the Board of Education; * Hattie R. Jackson, a member of * the Board of Education; Dr. * John P. Mahoney, a member of * the Board of Education; * Marybeth McBryan, a member of * the Board of Education; * Thomas M. Nolan, a member of *

### 2

the Board of Education; * William Purdy, a member of * the Board of Education; * Robbyn G. Stewart, a member of * the Board of Education; Madye * Henson Whithead; a member of * the Board of Education; Rufus * Young, Jr.; Julius C. Dix; * David J. Mahan, Interim * Superintendent of Schools; * Ronald Leggett, St. Louis * Collector of Revenue; * State of Missouri; Mel * Carnahan, Governor of the * State of Missouri; Jeremiah W. * (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General; * Bob Holden, Treasurer; Richard * A. Hanson, Commissioner of * Administration; Robert E. * Bartman, Commissioner of * Education; Missouri State * Board of Education and its * members; Thomas R. Davis; * Gary M. Cunningham; Sharon M. * Williams; Peter F. Herschend; * Jacqueline D. Wellington; * Betty E. Preston; Russell V. * Thompson; Susan B. Finke; * Rice Pete Burns; Raymond * McCallister; Special School * District of St. Louis County; * Affton Board of Education; * Bayless Board of Education; * Brentwood Board of Education; * Clayton Board of Education; * Ferguson-Florissant Board of * Education; Hancock Place Board * of Education; Hazelwood Board * of Education; Jennings Board of * Education; Kirkwood Board of * Education; LaDue Board of * Education; Lindbergh Board of * Education; Maplewood-Richmond * Heights Board of Education; * Mehlville Board of Education; * Normandy Board of Education; * Parkway Board of Education; * Pattonville Board of Education; * Ritenour Board of Education; * Riverview Gardens Board of * Education; *
*

### 3 Defendants; *
* Rockwood Board of Education; *
* Defendant-Appellee; *
* University City Board of * Education; Valley Park Board of * Education; Webster Groves Board * of Education; Wellston Board of * Education; St. Louis County; * Buzz Westfall, County * Executive; James Baker, * Director of Administration, * St. Louis County, Missouri; * Robert H. Peterson, Collector * of St. Louis County "Contract * Account," St. Louis County, * Missouri; *
* Defendants, *
* St. Louis Teachers' Union, * Local 420, AFT, AFL-CIO. *
* Intervenor. *

No. 96-1198

Michael C. Liddell, a minor, * by Minnie Liddell, his mother * and next friend; Kendra * Liddell, a minor, by Minnie * Liddell, her mother and next * friend; Minnie Liddell; * Roderick D. LeGrand, a minor, * by Lois LeGrand, his mother * and next friend; Lois LeGrand; * Clodis Yarber, a minor, by * Samuel Yarber, his father and * next friend; Samuel Yarber; *
* Plaintiffs; *
* Earline Caldwell; Lillie * Caldwell; *
* Plaintiffs-Appellants; *
*

### 4

Gwendolyn Daniels; *
* Plaintiff; *
* National Association for the * Advancement of Colored People; *
* Plaintiff-Appellant; *
* United States of America; City * of St. Louis; *
* Plaintiffs; * *
v. * * Board of Education of the * City of St. Louis; * Rev. Earl E. Nance, Jr., * President, Board of * Education of the City of St. * Louis; Renni B. Shuter, a * member of the Board of Educa- * tion; Paula V. Smith, a member * of the Board of Education; * Dr. Albert D. Bender, Sr., a * member of the Board of Educa- * tion; Eddie G. Davis, a member * of the Board of Education; * Hattie R. Jackson, a member of * the Board of Education; Dr. * John P. Mahoney, a member of * the Board of Education; * Marybeth McBryan, a member of * the Board of Education; * Thomas M. Nolan, a member of * the Board of Education; * William Purdy, a member of * the Board of Education; * Robbyn G. Stewart, a member of * the Board of Education; Madye * Henson Whithead; a member of * the Board of Education; Rufus * Young, Jr.; Julius C. Dix; * David J. Mahan, Interim * Superintendent of Schools; * Ronald Leggett, St. Louis * Collector of Revenue; * State of Missouri; Mel * Carnahan, Governor of the * State of Missouri; Jeremiah W. * (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General; *

### 5

Bob Holden, Treasurer; Richard * A. Hanson, Commissioner of * Administration; Robert E. * Bartman, Commissioner of * Education; Missouri State * Board of Education and its * members; Thomas R. Davis; * Gary M. Cunningham; Sharon M. * Williams; Peter F. Herschend; * Jacqueline D. Wellington; * Betty E. Preston; Russell V. * Thompson; Susan B. Finke; * Rice Pete Burns; Raymond * McCallister; Special School * District of St. Louis County; * Affton Board of Education ;
* Bayless Board of Education; * Brentwood Board of Education; * Clayton Board of Education; * Ferguson-Florissant Board of * Education; Hancock Place Board * of Education; Hazelwood Board * of Education; Jennings Board of * Education; Kirkwood Board of * Education; LaDue Board of * Education; Lindbergh Board of * Education; Maplewood-Richmond * Heights Board of Education; * Mehlville Board of Education; * Normandy Board of Education; * Parkway Board of Education; * Pattonville Board of Education; * Ritenour Board of Education; * Riverview Gardens Board of * Education; *
* Defendants; *
* Rockwood Board of Education; *
* Defendant-Appellee; *
* University City Board of * Education; Valley Park Board of * Education; Webster Groves Board * of Education; Wellston Board of * Education; St. Louis County; * Buzz Westfall, County * Executive; James Baker, * Director of Administration, * St. Louis County, Missouri; * Robert H. Peterson, Collector *

### 6

of St. Louis County "Contract * Account," St. Louis County, * Missouri; *
* Defendants, *
* St. Louis Teachers' Union, * Local 420, AFT, AFL-CIO. *
* Intervenor. *

Submitted: September 12, 1996
Filed: September 25, 1996

Before MCMILLIAN, HEANEY and FAGG, Circuit Judges.

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

OnMarch 30, 1983, the Rockwood School District (Rockwood), alon g with other suburban school districts in St. Loui s County, Missouri, signed

a settlem ent agreement, under the terms of which it agreed to accept a s

man yblack transfer students as would constitute fifteen percent of th e tot al student population in the district. It also agreed to accept a continuing obligationto attain a black student enrollment of twenty-five percent. Pursuant to the terms of this agreement, Rockwood accepted the followingnumbers of black transfer students from the St. Louis publi c schools:

### 7 School Year VTS Students Enrolled Percent Black

1984-85 507 6.00
1985-86 821 8.20
1986-87 1162 10.70
1987-88 1370 11.90
1988-89 1652 12.92
1989-90 1866 13.94
1990-91 2242 14.73
1991-92 2304 15.18
1992-93 2520 15.79
1993-94 2598 15.60
1994-95 2662 15.04
1995-96 2648 14.87

(Appellee's Br. at 25.)

The settlement agreement specifically provides:

When a distr ict reaches its plan ratio within five years
or anyextension of time mutually agreed to by th e parti es, it is entitled to a final judgment declarin g tha t it has satisfied its interdistrict pupi l deseg regationobligations. A district shall also b e entitled to a final judgment if within five years it has enrolled 90% of the additional black st udents required to satisf yits plan ratio calculated pursuant to Sectio n II.A.3 so long as the total number of additional blac k students att ending schools in districts with plan ratios (all d istricts listed in Section II.A.2.b.) equals o r exceeds the number of such black students who would have atten dedsuch schools had all such districts met suc h plan ratio. In making this latter calculation, resident students in excess of the plan goal sha ll not be included and interdistrict transfer students in excess of the plan goal s hall be included. The plaintiffs shall not see k any further interdistrict pupil desegregation relie f through litigation.

### 8

(Appellants' Jt. App. at 106-07 (footnote omitted).) Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which was approved by the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and this court in two en banc opin ions, Adams v. United States , 620 F.2d 1277 (8th Cir. 1980), an d Liddell v. State of Missouri , 731 F.2d 1294 (8th Cir.) ( Liddell VII ), cert

. den ied , 469 U.S. 816 (1984), the State of Missouri, as the primar y constitutional violator, was ordered to pay the full cost of city-to-subur b black student transfers.

On Octobe r 3, 1995, Rockwood filed an appropriate motion in th e distri ct court for final judgment pursuant to the settlement agreement

. The Caldwell plaintiffs, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Board of Education of the City of St. Loui s opposedRockwood's motion. By memorandum and order dated November 25 , 1995, the district court granted Rockwood's motion. It stated:

This m atter is before the Court on Rockwood Schoo l Dis trict's motion, G(1778)95 and G(1779)95, for fina l judgme nt pursuant to Section XII.D. of the Settlemen t Agreement. Rockwood sets forth facts s howing that in the 1991-92 scho ol year, the requirements entitling Rockwood to fi nal judgment were met: Rockwood's enrollment o f volunta rytransfer students (VTS) was within 10% of it s plan r atio, and the total number of VTS in th e participating county districts exceeded what that number would have been had all districts been precisely at their plan ratios.

(Appellants' Jt. App. at 206.) The Caldwell plaintiffs, the NAACP, and th e Board of Education of the City of St. Louis appeal. We affirm the judgmen t of the district court.

Both this court and the Supreme Court have consistently held that a federal district court has broad discretionary powers in schoo l desegr egationcases. See , e.g. , Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. o f Educ. , 402 U.S. 1, 16 (1971); Liddell VII , 731 F.2d 1794 (8th Cir. 1984); Liddell v. Board of Educ. , 822 F.2d 1446

### 9

(8th Cir. 1987). We believe the district court appropriately exercised it s discretion in this case. The final judgment is consistent with the purpos e of the settlement agreement in that it provides the black transfer student s fromthe City of St. Louis and the suburban students with an integrate d education; in the process, it also substantially reduces segregation in th e St. Louis public schools.

The signi ficance of the district court and this court approving the final judgment is cle ar from the terms of the settlement agreement, which specif icallyprovides that after a school district receives an orde r granting it final judgment, it has a continuing obligation to:

cooperate in the recruitment and promotion of transfer s under S ections 4a, c, f and h of the agreement i n principle as implemented by Sections II and IX hereof, to accept transfer students under Section 1 of the agreement in principleas implemented by Section II hereof, and to par ticipate in the magnet program established unde r Section 2 of the agreement in principleas implemented by Sectio nIII hereof in order to reach and maintain th e plan goal (25 percent).

(Appellants' Jt. App. at 108 (emphasis added).) This settlement agreement ,
as we have previously stated, has been approved by this court en banc

. Thus, Roc kwood has a continuing obligation to abide by the terms of th e settlement agreement, the State of Missouri has a continuing obligation to fundthe transfers of black students from St. Louis to Rockwood, and the district court has an obligation to actively supervise the interdistrict obligations of Rockwood until November 25, 1997.

On Apri l 23, 1996, the district court referred the question of th e State's continuing obligation to fund various components of th e desegregationremedy, including the interdistrict transfer component, to

asettlement coordinator, Dr. William H. Danforth. Dr. Danforth has yet to submit his report and recommendations to

### 10

the district court. Until this is done and the report is either accepted, rejected, or modifiedby the district court and until a decision has been made by the parties with respect to whether they will or will not appeal
to this court from the final decision of the district court, we will not anticipate our decision on the matter. Accordingly, we affirm the decisio n of the district court as it grants Rockwood a final judgment and affirm th e continuing obligation of the parties as stated above.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.