Opinion ID: 351523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the principal reassignment case

Text: 16 In the principal reassignment case, the government has brought forth statistics from which one could infer that the principal assignments were based upon the race of the individuals involved. The school district of course denies this inference. The district court apparently treated either the government's motion or the defendant's response to it as a motion for summary judgment, and, without a hearing, denied the government's motion. 17 We feel compelled to reverse the entry of the summary judgment, but, in so doing, we recognize that the assignment of principals alone is not necessarily the important factor but rather one must look at the racial composition of a school district's entire staff. We are not ready to hold that each particular level of employment in a school system must have a particular racial composition. At the same time, however, we also recognize that in a community individuals might attach a certain degree of importance to the position of principal, and that it would be unconstitutional for a school district to assign principalships based upon the race of the individuals involved. In Singleton v. Jackson Municipal Separate School Dist., 419 F.2d 1211 (5th Cir. 1970), this court explained: 18 Staff members who work directly with children, and professional staff who work on the administrative level will be hired, assigned, promoted, paid, demoted, dismissed, and otherwise treated without regard to race, color, or national origin. 19 Id. at 1218 (emphasis added). 20 We are not presently in a position to find that the SPISD is assigning principals in a manner violative of the constitution, but we do feel it is necessary to reverse the entry of the summary judgment. The district court's order lacks the necessary findings of facts justifying what would facially appear to be the unconstitutional assignment of principals based upon race. We remand the case to the district court for specific findings of facts, if such exist, supporting the court's conclusion that the reassignment of principals was done without regard to the race of the individuals involved.