City won’t appeal blocked school split in desegregation case

GARDENDALE, Ala. – A mostly white Alabama city that a federal appeals court ruled cannot separate from a heavily black county school system has stopped its efforts to form its own educational district.

AL.com reports Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland and City Schools Board of Education President Michael Hogue said in a letter Wednesday to the Jefferson County Board of Education that it won’t appeal the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision.

A panel of the 11th Circuit on Feb. 13 said U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Haikala abused her discretion in creating her own remedy rather than denying the Birmingham suburb’s split from county schools based on her ruling that it was racially biased.

Gardendale officials denied the attempted split had racial motives.

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Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews