As expected, the Shelby County school system board of education and other parties have asked for a delay in the appointment of a “special master” to oversee compliance with a federal desegregation order.
A joint motion was filed this week to extend the 30-day deadline set by U.S. District Judge Bernice Donald in her order of July 26th, 2007. The special master is supposed to be someone who is a neutral expert in school desegregation. Donald said county schools should not be racially identifiable and should strive to reflect the overall racial makeup of the district, plus or minus 15 percent.
The county school board has appealed Donald’s order to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The motion asks that the special master appointment be delayed until 10 days following the board’s motion for a stay — or in other words, a delay while the appeals court decides whether to take the case.
Joining in the motion were attorneys representing the NAACP and the U.S. Department of Justice.