Inequity alleged in school cuts

A longtime critic of the Eugene School District’s alternative schools has filed a federal complaint alleging intentional discrimination by the district as a result of Superintendent George Russell’s recommendation to close five neighborhood elementary schools over the next two years while leaving the district’s six alternative elementary schools untouched.

Russell’s recommendations dis-criminate against disadvantaged minority students and students with special education needs, the critic, Nancy Willard, asserts in the complaint that she has filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in Seattle.

“They know, and they have known for over a decade, that there are problems with a two-tiered inequitable system of schools,” Willard said Monday in reference to school district officials and board members.

Willard said there is precedence for the federal office to investigate such complaints.

The civil rights office is investigating complaints in North Carolina alleging that the closing of eight schools that serve mostly black, Hispanic and low-income students in the Charlotte-Mecklen­burg district discriminates against minority students, according to a Dec. 15 story in The Charlotte Observer.

Because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, no one from the Department of Education’s office in Seattle could be reached for comment Monday.

The school district also was closed Monday for the holiday. District spokeswoman Kerry Delf said the district generally does not respond to such complaints.

Willard e-mailed a copy of her complaint to school board members last week. School board Chairman Craig Smith said Monday that he has received it but not read it yet and had no comment.

Board member Jim Torrey said Willard’s assertion that closing neighborhood schools but not any alternative schools is intentionally discriminatory “would be a stretch.”

Torrey said he agrees with some of Willard’s views when it comes to inequity in the district’s school choice system, but he is skeptical that filing a complaint with a federal agency is the way to bring about change.

“I personally feel we should be more concerned about the equitable distribution (of disadvantaged students) across the district,” Torrey said.

To deal with an unprecedented budget shortfall of between $22 million and $28 million, Russell is proposing several cutbacks that include employee layoffs and increased class sizes. He’s also proposing the closure of four elementary schools with small enrollments — Crest Drive, Parker, Meadowlark and Coburg — next fall, and another one, Twin Oaks Elementary School, before the 2012-13 school year.

That plan would merge Meadow­lark students with those at Willagillespie Elementary School but leave the alternative Buena Vista Spanish immersion school in the Meadowlark building. The plan also would relocate the alternative Charlemagne Fox Hollow French immersion school to the Parker campus.

Russell had originally proposed closing one alternative school, the K-8 Family School, but he took that off the table in December.

The district’s other alternative schools include Corridor, Arts and Technology Academy, and Yujin Gakuen, a Japanese language immersion school.

Parents within district boundaries can apply for their children to attend any district school, including alternative schools that offer specialized programs. Applications are granted by an annual lottery system.

Willard’s complaint comes at a time when debate about school closures is high. The school board has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Churchill High School, where parents and others can weigh in on Russell’s recommendations. The board expects to take final action on Russell’s proposals on Feb. 2.

Willard, who has two children in the district, said she agrees that some elementary schools must close and others be consolidated for the district to balance its budget. But to leave open six “segregated” alternative schools while proposing to close five “integrated” neighborhood schools — “that’s intentional,” she said.

With the exception of Buena Vista, the district’s alternative elementary schools have fewer disadvantaged minority students, Willard asserts in her complaint.

Most have a lower percentage of students with special education needs, and all six have a lower percentage of students in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program compared to neighborhood schools, she claims.