MCSB contempt matter to be ruled on
A request for the Monroe City School Board to be held in contempt of court regarding a federal desegregation case will be ruled on at a later date, U.S. Judge Robbie James said Wednesday morning.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the hearing to determine the facts of the complaint was ongoing. Lawyers for all parties were in a closed session following hours of testimony from principals, assistant principals and Phedra Brantley, director of human resources for the district.
In June, the U.S. Department of Justice requested that James hold the board in contempt. The DOJ, counsel for the board and counsel for Superintendent Brent Vidrine were set to meet to try to determine a resolution. Barring that, James will rule on the motion.
Vidrine asks judge to dismiss relief claim
James said he will take a motion from Vidrine's attorney that requests Vidrine will not be held personally responsible for sanctions under advisement but not rule on the issue until the facts have been heard.
Update: DOJ weighs in on admin swaps
Carroll High School Principal Lyneta Coats, Sallie Humble Elementary Principal Kendrick January, Neville High School Principal Christella Dawson and Carroll Junior High School Principal Robert Rash testified about when they took on their roles as principals and the timeline of when they learned about the the need to shift to the news roles. In mid-September, administration changes were made at four schools.
All of the new principals said now they are the main decision-makers at their schools.
All four were offered one-year contracts in September and asked to sign addendums to their contracts that extended the term to two years Monday after the district realized two-year contracts are required for principals.
Whitney Martin, assistant principal at Neville; Patrick Taylor, assistant principal at Carroll High School; Lissa Dumas, assistant principal at Sallie Humble; and Marquette Marshall, assistant principal at Carroll Junior High, testified in the afternoon. All four were principals of their schools who were demoted to assistant principal as part of the district's attempts to meet consent decree standards.
All four said they were not coerced to make the swap, and their pay was not changed. Three of the four said they don't plan to file any kind of complaint or grievance. Taylor said he couldn't honestly say either way at this time.
Taylor said he didn't volunteer for the demotion but he wanted to do what was right for the students.
Marshall said the hardest part, for him, has been addressing students, his daughter and questions from the community because there's an assumption that when someone gets demoted they did something wrong. That's not the case for him. He said he was under the impression the changes were made to meet consent decree requirements set forth by the DOJ.
Dumas said she hopes to be principal of Sallie Humble again one day. She said she's under the impression that the changes are in place at least until the district is declared unitary.
MCSB President Rodney McFarland said some of the testimony he heard was surprising and did not elaborate further.
The district, he said, has been working hard to meet the consent decree standards.
"I just wish they would tell us what we need to do ... to fulfill the consent decree," McFarland said.
He said the district has done its best and the board is in no way fighting the requirements. He said they expect to get updates from counsel once the hearing is complete.
Brantley's testimony was given in closed court because it involved information that identified employees.
Follow Bonnie Bolden on Twitter @Bonnie_Bolden_ and on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/1RtsEEP.