Group Files Lawsuit Against Wake School Board

From A group of Wake County citizens has filed a lawsuit against the Wake County School Board. The plaintiffs are being represented by the ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, NC NAACP, UNC Center for Civil Rights, NC Justice Center and multiple private lawyers.

A group of Wake County citizens has filed a lawsuit against the Wake County School Board. The plaintiffs are being represented by the ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, NC NAACP, UNC Center for Civil Rights, NC Justice Center and multiple private lawyers.

Group Files Lawsuit Against Wake School Board
By myNC.com
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. –
A group of Wake County citizens has filed a lawsuit against the Wake County School Board.
The suit, which was filed Thursday morning, references a March 23 meeting where the Wake County School Board passed a resolution opposing the diversity policy in favor of so-called “neighborhood schools.”
The plaintiffs are being represented by the ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, NC NAACP, UNC Center for Civil Rights, NC Justice Center and multiple private lawyers.
According to the suit, the plaintiffs argue that the school board made no effort to make it possible for everyone to attend that diversity policy meeting, despite the overwhleming public interest. Many of the plaintiffs in the suit allege that they were barred from the meeting, violating state law and undermining the democratic process.
“The school board has made it clear that they have an agenda to follow,” said Woody Barlow in a written statement. Barlow is a plaintiff in the lawsuit and a junior at Enloe High School. “I feel cheated that they would skirt procedure just to have their way, and regardless of what people think of the policies of the board, everyone should feel threatened by their disregard of the democratic process.”
Manypeople were barred from attending due to limited space. Some news organizations offered to pay to move the meeting to a larger venue. But the offer came too last minute, and the school board then issued a ticket policy for the meeting.
The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the actions taken on March 23 based on violations of the Open Meetings Law.
“The suit does not ask for any money in compensatory damages. It is purely a good government lawsuit,” said Irv Joyner said in a written statement. Joyner is an attorney with the NC NAACP.
The plaintiffs also ask the court to order the school board to eliminate policies and practices adopted since the March 23 meeting that have restricted public access to the board. The suit asks the court to require new, clear and consistent procedures put in place to ensure that all members of the public who want to attend meetings are allowed to do so and to effectively participate in the process.

Source: MyNC

From http://wake.mync.com/site/wake/news%7CSports%7CLifestyles/story/51258/group-files-lawsuit-against-wake-school-board