Update: DOJ weighs in on admin swaps
Monroe City Schools has shifted principals and administrators at four schools this week to meet federal consent decree requirements.
Board President Rodney McFarland said since talks with the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, Superintendent Brent Vidrine moved staff at Neville High School, Carroll High School, Carroll Junior High and Sallie Humble Elementary.
In response to multiple local news reports on the changes, the Department of Justice attorneys Michaele N. Turnage Young and Kelly D. Gardner sent a letter to school board attorney Doug Lawrence on Wednesday. The federal attorneys stated that Vidrine and McFarland had made statements misrepresenting the U.S. department's role in recent changes.
The letter states: "Although the district is under an obligation to desegregate its faculty to comply with federal law and cure its noncompliance with the operative consent decree, the district has always had the discretion to determine what specific personnel changes it would make to accomplish that end. The Department of Justice did not mandate the specific personnel changes and played no part in the district’s decision to “swap” the principals and assistant principals at four schools. In fact, when the district advised the department of its intent to make those specific swaps, the department conveyed to the board’s counsel and the superintendent that it had significant concerns about use of such transfers to achieve compliance with the terms of the consent decree."
Vidrine said Wednesday that the district has not yet received an official response from the Department of Justice regarding the most recent changes.
McFarland said the consent decree required changes to meet racial criteria, but Vidrine decided what changes would be made. (An earlier version of this story said the Department of Justice required the position changes. That statement was corrected before The News-Star received the Department of Justice's letter.)
McFarland said the swaps at Neville, Sallie Humble and Carroll High School involved switching the principal and assistant principal within the same schools.
Vidrine said all the administrators' contracts for the year will be honored, and the former principals will not lose pay. All the new principals, he said, are qualified. In Louisiana, when an educator is certified to be an assistant principal, they also are certified to become a principal.
At Neville, Christella Dawson was made principal. Whitney Martin, who was the principal, is now the assistant principal.
At Carroll High School, Lyneta Coats is the new principal, and Patrick Taylor, who was the principal, is an assistant principal.
At Sallie Humble, Kendrick January, the former vice principal, is the new principal. Lissa Dumas, who was the principal, is the assistant principal.
At Carroll Junior High School, Robert Rash, who had been working at Sherrouse, is now the principal. Marquette Marshall, who was the principal, is now an assistant principal.
School board contempt hearing is Oct. 12
McFarland said the principals were in place Monday, and teachers went to their new schools Tuesday.
"All of the moves ... made were pretty much mandated," McFarland said of the consent decree. "We had to do it. We had no choice."
The board president said each member could be assessed a $5,000 fine for each day the district is noncompliant with the order, though Vidrine makes the staffing decisions. McFarland said the majority of the board supports the superintendent's moves.
The letter reads: "Further, although the superintendent implied to news media that the Department of Justice is responsible for the timing of the reassignment of teachers and administrators, the district has long been aware of its legal obligations under the consent decree. Indeed, the timing is a direct result of the superintendent’s failure to discharge his obligations prior to the start of the school year."
The administration changes were made so late in the year, Vidrine said, because the district requested and was denied relief regarding administrative shifts at a July 6 status conference with the Department of Justice.
"For the past nine months, we strived to be in compliance with the consent decree," Vidrine said. "We felt we could request some relief in administrative transfers for our district.
A letter from the board attorney followed up on the request Aug. 15, and the district, he said, received a letter Sept. 7 stating the request was denied. After that, he said, he began to process the transfers needed to be in compliance.
McFarland names MCSB committee assignments
A hearing to determine whether the board and Vidrine should be held in contempt of court is scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 12. The hearing was scheduled for Monday but was postponed after more than two-hours of closed-door discussions.
On Monday, Vidrine said he is under the impression that the Department of Justice is content with class offerings, the structure of school web pages and the medical magnet program at Carroll High School. He said those areas are not declared unitary until U.S. District Judge Robbie James approves them.
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