Northpinellas: School choice plan is altered

LARGO -- Superintendent Howard Hinesley and NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers have reached an agreement on the most controversial provision in a plan to let parents choose their children's schools.

The two sides on Monday finalized an altered definition of "extended grandfathering," which would allow Pinellas students to opt out of the new choice system and finish the elementary, middle and high schools they were zoned to attend.

Supporters hope the compromise will avoid a possible return to federal court and give the appearance of a unified front when they approach the School Board for tonight's meeting. But the compromise has left a bitter taste with some community leaders, who say it is not a deal that benefits black students.

Under Hinesley's new recommendation, the only students eligible for this privilege would be those enrolled as of today's School Board vote on the choice plan. All students enrolled by the first day of school in 2002-2003, the year before choice begins, would have been eligible under his previous recommendation. Hinesley also dropped a provision that would have allowed younger siblings, born on or before the first day of school in 2002-2003, to qualify for extended grandfathering.

In its place, Hinesley recommended a new rule: When choice starts, all students will be allowed to complete the school they attend. Those who don't qualify for extended grandfathering will have to enter the choice program when they move to a new school level.

"It provides the stability for parents whose children are in school now," Hinesley said. "It still gives parents who want to enter into the choice plan the opportunity to do so if they would like."

But some of the Legal Defense Fund's top community advisers still strongly object to extended grandfathering. Garnelle Jenkins, president of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP, said she will consider taking the district back to court to prove the provision is discriminatory.

"Grandfathering is no good for black children," Jenkins said. "They have never had a school that's their home school. They've always been bused."

The district's transition to choice is part of a settlement to a 1964 court case filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund that accused the School Board of running inferior schools for blacks. The lawsuit led to a 1971 court order requiring race ratios in schools and cross-county busing for desegregation.

After months of negotiating, the two sides agreed that choice offered the best hope for integrated schools after ratios end in 2007. The hope is that, in a county where most black and white families live apart, parents will learn to choose schools far from home because of the specialty programs they offer. That's why the Legal Defense Fund objected to extended grandfathering. Lawyers said it limited choice by preserving the status quo.

School Board members asked the lawyers to meet again to try to find common ground on grandfathering. A compromise was reached over the weekend and finalized in writing late Monday.

Enrique Escarraz, lead local attorney for the Legal Defense Fund, prefers the eligibility date in the new definition because it will prevent families from spending the next two years moving near "desirable" schools. It also is better, he said, because it maintains stability while speeding the onset of full choice for all students.

Before the compromise was reached, Escarraz had raised the possibility of taking the district back to court to resolve the dispute. Before endorsing this agreement, he consulted his local co-counsel and a Legal Defense Fund attorney in New York. All agreed it was the best available option.

"Obviously, if we could win totally, that would be one thing," Escarraz said. "But there is the danger of losing totally if we take it back to court."

Jenkins was frustrated Monday that Escarraz did not consult her or other community leaders before telling Hinesley the two sides had a deal. Escarraz said the lawyers had made up their minds that the deal was a good one before they approached Jenkins. He thought Jenkins "was going to go along with our judgment."

But Jenkins and Marsha Carter, an NAACP member, disagree. Carter, who also serves as chairwoman of a community group monitoring the district's desegregation efforts, said extended grandfathering was written to appease white, north-county parents. Carter said she communicated that point of view to Escarraz.

"They have to do whatever they feel is best for their case, what they feel . . . they can win," Carter said. "We have to advocate what we think is best for the children."

School Board members did not see the new version of extended grandfathering until 5 p.m. Monday. Carter and Jenkins said the board should delay the vote because the public has not had time to thoroughly study it.

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