Parents Allege Forced Transfers, Sue Malvern School District
Last updated Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:03 PM CDT in News
By THE MORNING NEWS
LITTLE ROCK -- A lawsuit challenging the state's school choice law was filed in federal court Wednesday by parents in four west-central Arkansas school districts, claiming their children are being forced to attend school in Malvern.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court at Hot Springs, asks that a judge return the students to their former schools, and that race be removed as a factor in school admission under the School Choice Act of 1989.
The Malvern School District recently notified parents of more than 100 students who live in the Malvern district but attend schools in neighboring districts that the students are attending school illegally and must enroll in the Malvern district.
The district "is potentially losing hundreds of thousands of dollars due to this problem," said Little Rock attorney Mary Carole Crane, who represents the district, in letters to the parents.
Hot Springs attorney Andie Davis said she filed the lawsuit on behalf of about 20 parents of students who live within the Malvern district boundaries but attend school in either the Glen Rose, Magnet Cove, Ouachita or Poyen school districts.
The students were enrolled elsewhere because Malvern has been on academic probation and there have been reports of disciplinary problems within the district, Davis said.
Malvern Superintendent Brian Golden did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.
The lawsuit argues the school choice law is unconstitutional because it makes race the sole factor in determining whether a student can transfer.
The Malvern district has a 35 percent minority enrollment, while the surrounding districts have much lower percentages of minority students.
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