Opinion ID: 481732
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Summer School.

Text: 47 Another factor mentioned to support a substantial interest is the fact that the county maintains a summer school system, while the city does not. The attendance figures presented by the court below, however, are somewhat misleading. Fifty-one of the 88 students (in 1984) who attended one summer school run by the county were from the city. Dist.Ct.Op. at 4. This ignores, however, the fact that the county runs more than one summer school, and that city residents attend only the school closest to the city. Record, Vol. 2, at 26-28. The record does not reflect the total number of summer students in schools run by the county. Thus, it is impossible to know what percentage of the summer school students the 51 city residents comprise. Of course, the county board of education, elected in part by the city residents, controls and operates the county's entire summer program, not just the one school attended by city residents.4. Vocational Center. 48 Pursuant to a joint venture agreement, the county and city share a vocational center. Numerically speaking, this program represents the city's largest group of students who crossover to attend county classes. Over the five years preceding the district court's ruling, an annual average of 83 city residents attended classes at the center, representing about 43% of the total enrollment at the center. 49 5. Overall. 50 Forty-four students, or less than 1% of the county's total enrollment, simply does not suggest a substantial interest of the city in the county schools. Even including all of the special programs, the city crossover is less than 4% of the county's enrollment. Yet, as discussed in the following section, the special programs are conducted pursuant to voluntary agreement between the city and the county; these agreements are of the type explicitly discussed in the Creel opinion as rendering electoral participation in the selection of county school board members by residents of the city school districts unnecessary. 531 F.2d at 289 (emphasis in original). Whether or not the special programs are considered in assessing student crossover, the small numbers seen here do not begin to create the substantial interest needed to uphold the challenged voting scheme. 51 If the crossover of 44 students is held to be sufficient to create a substantial interest by the city in the county schools, the effect of the court's ruling today may be to encourage Escambia County, and counties across Alabama, to close their open doors. If an open door policy and some neighborly cooperation on special programs gives rise to a loss of voting control by the non-city residents of a county, this court is creating a strong impetus against such cooperation. 52