MCSB, Vidrine oppose request for special master

The Monroe City School Board and Superintendent Brent Vidrine, in separate motions filed Thursday, opposed the U.S. Department of Justice's request for the court to appoint a special master to oversee the district's ongoing consent decree.

In his motion representing Vidrine, attorney Scott Wolleson argues that the Department of Justice's actions show complicity in an effort to remove Vidrine from his position.

"The United States appeared to assist in this effort by filing a motion for contempt against the MCSB and the Superintendent two days before his performance review and contract renewal were on the June MCSB agenda. The district’s compliance with the consent decree was a factor to be considered in the Superintendent’s performance evaluation according to the consent decree. The timing of the filing and unprecedented nature of the motion supports the conclusion that the United States attempted to influence the decisions to be made at the June MCSB meeting," Wolleson stated.

The district, Wolleson argues, has made substantial progress to meet the demands of the consent decree in the past year and is poised on the brink of compliance for the first time in 50 years. The majority of the complaints offered by the department, he said, have been rendered moot. The primary obstacle remaining is completion of facility repairs for the Carroll High School medical magnet program, which are ongoing.

Read more: DOJ requests special master in consent decree | DOJ: Board should force compliance | DOJ, MCSB resolve some staffing questions | Monroe schools contempt argument continues | District provides consent decree data​

As of Oct. 14, Wolleson argued, all schools in the district but one were in compliance with staffing requirements "and that school is off by only three teachers, a margin of error of only .54% over the entire district."

Wolleson argues that the district has lost qualified teachers who were angry about the race-based placements required by the consent decree. The effort to maintain qualified staff and meet those requirements have been difficult to balance. Appointment of a special master, he said, could harm teacher recruiting and retention if the district must cede its responsibilities to the court.

He also argues that all schools are compliant with principal assignments and all parties are working for the benefit of their students in the new roles.

The Department of Justice, Wolleson argues, does not agree with how the district reached compliance. The nature of the request to appoint a special master, he said, seems punitive rather than solution-based.

In a motion filed on behalf of MCSB, board attorney Doug Lawrence argues that the court should not set a special master because the case fails to meet one of three requirements: There is no exceptional condition.There is no need to perform and accounting or resolve computation of damages, and there is no need for a third party to address pretrial and post-trial matter that cannot be timely or effectively dealt with by the judge or a magistrate judge.

Further, Lawrence stated, the board does not consent to the appointment of a special master, which would be an unnecessary step. The district has been declared unitary in five of six areas initially cited as problems by the court and is 83 percent compliatn. Teacher and staffing assignments and compliance with a March 2010 consent decree are still being addressed.

Lawrence argues that, compared to September 2015, there has been forward movement on the staffing issues on all campuses.

"Given the narrow purview of this court’s supervision of the remaining desegregation obligations that must be met by the Monroe City School District, ample resources exist at present, without the need for the appointment of a master by the court, to complete the remaining steps needed to achieve unitary status. The remaining steps are clear and readily achievable without the need for the assistance of a court-appointed master. The appointment of a master now would create an increased level of entanglement likely to prolong the process, adding both time and expense under circumstances where the remaining issues are clear and straightforward," Lawrence argued.

Should the court decided that the Department of Justice has provided compelling reason to appoint a special master, Lawrence requested that a formal evidentiary hearing be held in open court.

U.S. District Judge Robbie James set a status conference call for 2 p.m. Friday. As of 5:15 p.m. Friday, no information was available in the court records system.

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