Opinion ID: 481732
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Regular School Attendance.

Text: 40 Forty-four city residents attend the county schools. Majority Op. at 773; Dist.Ct.Op. at 4. What is left unsaid by the district court is that the county schools have over 5,700 students, and thus the 44 city residents comprise less than 1% of the students in the county school system. Because (in part) of these 44 city students in the county schools, the defendants argue that the City of Brewton residents have a substantial interest in the operation of the county schools. Forty-four students out of 5,700, however, seems much closer to the situation in Phillips v. Andress, where the few crossovers did not create a significant interest in the county schools. 634 F.2d at 950. 41 Both the majority and district court opinions note that the crossover in the other direction, from county to city, is 330 students. Thus, of the 1,500 students in the city schools, over 20% of them reside outside of the city. Contrary to the arguments of the defendants in this case, this would suggest that if any group has an interest in the other's schools, it would be the county residents who have an interest in the city schools. County residents, however, are not permitted to vote to elect the Brewton City Council, which appoints the city board of education. 42 Viewed from an angle somewhat more favorable to the defendants in this case, the 44 city residents attending county schools represent about 3.4% of all school-age city residents. Thus, a small but not completely insignificant percentage of city children are being educated in the county. Nevertheless, this percentage, and the small absolute number it represents, does not, for me, rise to the level of creating a substantial interest. 43 Perhaps even more important than the small crossover involved is the applicability of the concept, drawn from another area of the law, that school officials are under no duty to adjust for the purely private acts of those who chose to vote with their feet. Davis v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, 721 F.2d 1425, 1435 (5th Cir.1983). It is my view that the parents of the 44 city residents who attend county schools have voted with their feet. For whatever reason, those parents have chosen to send their children to the county schools rather than the city schools over which they rightly have voting influence. The voluntary choice of this small group does not provide a sufficient justification to allow the 6,600 Brewton residents voting influence in the county school system. 3 44