Opinion ID: 58409
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Good faith compliance with the district court's orders

Text: A school district seeking the termination of federal court supervision must first show that it has consistently complied with a court decree in good faith. Hull, 1 F.3d at 1454; see also Freeman, 503 U.S. at 498, 112 S.Ct. 1430 (A history of good-faith compliance is evidence that any current racial imbalance is not the product of a new de jure violation....). To meet this obligation, [for at least three years, the school board must report to the district court. Monteith v. St. Landry Parish Sch. Bd., 848 F.2d 625, 629 (5th Cir.1988). Further, the district in question must have for several years operated as a unitary system. Lemon v. Bossier Parish Sch. Bd., 444 F.2d 1400, 1401 (5th Cir.1971). Appellants make two related arguments concerning this prong. First, Appellants assert that the MCSD has not complied in good faith with the district court's orders, as evidenced by the MCSD's alleged failure to, inter alia, adequately support the magnet program and facilities at VJHS, construct an adequate music facility at Northeast Madison Middle School (NMMS), and to monitor minority hiring throughout the district. Second, Appellants argue that the district court erred in finding the MCSD unitary without first finding that it had been in compliance with desegregation orders for at least three years. According to Appellants, at the time the district court issued its Order, the MCSD had not yet completed several facilities projects, and had only recently completed others, indicating that the MCSD had not been in compliance for a reasonable amount of time. Appellants correctly observe that the district court did not expressly state that the MCSD had been in compliance with its desegregation orders for at least three years. However, following its thorough review of the evidence, the district court found that the MCSD worked in good faith to comply with the 2000 consent order since its adoption in April 2000. The district court's finding that the MCSD has complied in good faith with the 2000 consent decree is plausible in light of the record viewed in its entirety. See Price, 945 F.2d at 1312 (internal quotation marks omitted). For example, the MCSD's good faith compliance is illustrated by the fact it has devoted a considerable amount of resources to renovating VJHS and implementing a new magnet program there. It has also implemented procedures to recruit minority teachers, established a biracial advisory committee, and fulfilled its reporting obligation to the district court. Further, the MCSD's compliance with the 2000 consent order since its adoption constitutes compliance for a reasonable amount of time. See Lemon, 444 F.2d at 1401. Thus, we find no error in the district court's analysis of the first prong.