Huntsville City Schools to seek partial unitary status for faculty, facilities and extracurriculars

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Counsel for Huntsville City Schools told a community meeting that the district plans to ask a federal court for partial unitary status for three desegregation “green factors” — faculty and staff, facilities and extracurricular activities — saying the district has satisfied the consent order requirements for those areas.

The filing would ask the court “to be released from the court’s oversight,” counsel Chris Pape said, describing the motion as recognition that the district has eliminated the vestiges of de jure segregation in those three areas. Pape said the district will seek board authorization to file the motion after a public comment period closes and that the earliest date the board would consider authorizing filing is March 25.

If the court grants partial unitary status for the three green factors, Pape said, that will narrow the remaining subject areas under federal supervision but will not end the overall desegregation case. He listed student assignment, equitable access to course offerings and student discipline as the three remaining green factors that would still be under court oversight if the motion is…