Santamaria v. Dallas Independent School District, No. 06-692 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 16, 2006)

A Texas federal district court has ruled that the principal of a Dallas Independent School District (DISD) elementary school unconstitutionally and intentionally segregated Hispanic and African-American students from white students. However, the court concluded that the principal was not liable under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The court also ruled that DISD, school board members, and other DISD officials were not liable. The suit, brought by the parent of three Hispanic students attending Preston Hollow Elementary School (PHES) and Organizacion Para El Futuro de los Estudiantes (OFE), an organization of Hispanic parents whose children attend PHES, alleged that PHES Principal Teresa Parker intentionally segregated in classroom assignments in order to prevent "white flight" from the public school by creating an all white school within the school. Specifically, they alleged, Hispanic and African-American students were assigned to English as a second language (ESL) classrooms even if they were as proficient in English as their white peers.

Addressing the equal protection claim, the court concluded that the facts evidenced intentional discrimination by demonstrating "a clear pattern of segregation, unexplainable on grounds other than race" or national origin. The court found that the "primary objective of fairly educating students was lost and substituted in its place was an effort to prevent white flight from [PHES]." It rejected the defendants’ argument that "no constitutional violation is taking place, since non-LEP minority students in ESL classes are receiving an equal educational opportunity as non-LEP Anglo students in General Education classrooms, because all classes at [PHES] follow DISD’s mandated curriculum, and the same scope and sequence" as essentially a baffling "separate but equal" argument "in this day and age." After poring over the evidence and law in hope of not finding that the student assignments demonstrated intentional discrimination, the court concluded that "Principal Parker denied [students] equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Regarding imposition of municipal liability on DISD, the superintendent, and school board, the district court concluded that while "there is no legal basis for finding Defendants DISD, the Board of Trustees, or Superintendent Hinojosa and Principal Parker in their respective official capacities liable … for violating the Fourteenth Amendment, for the record, the court does not believe that classroom segregation of minorities at Preston Hollow occurred in a vacuum. The court, however, does not have the requisite evidence that DISD trustees had actual or constructive knowledge of the unconstitutional practices at the school," which is a legal prerequisite to liability. It went on to characterize the case as one "where Plaintiffs simply failed to meet the stringent test for imposing governmental liability," not one "where DISD took affirmative steps to ensure that illegal discrimination and segregation did not take place." Turning to the Title VI claim, the district found the individual defendants are not entities receiving federal funds and therefore could not properly be defendants, and DISD could not be held liable because the under U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case law, "[l]iability will not be imputed to the school district absent direct involvement by the school district." The plaintiffs had failed to produce any evidence showing DISD had any involvement, much less direct involvement, in the classroom assignments of PHES students.

[Editor’s Note: The Dallas Morning News reports below that some disagree with the court’s decision and take issue with its factual conclusions. According to Kaky Wakefield, vice president of PHES’s PTA, white parents choose PHES because they want a diverse learning environment for their children. "I've been at Preston Hollow for five years, and I've never, never, never been in an all-white classroom," she says. "It simply doesn't exist. I don't want my children growing up in a bubble." On a broader scale, a Nebraska state court recently blocked implementation of a new Nebraska law that would divide Omaha’s public school system into three racially identifiable school districts. For background on that case, see the second link.]