Cross-parish Busing
As a veteran federal judge, Scott rendered many decisions in a variety of issue areas, but he will be most remembered for his implementation of a longstanding lawsuit seeking full desegregation of Rapides Parish schools. Scott approved the establishment of Bi-Racial Committee in various cities struggling with desegregation issues. He also directed that the meetings of such committees be closed to the public and the media. "We're talking about sensitive problems and each side must be giving concessions. You can't have a negotiative meeting with all the elements that are not always dedicated to its success looking over your shoulder."
In 1980, Scott authorized a massive cross-parish busing plan. Few blacks at the time lived in the northern Wards 10 and 11 of Rapides Parish. To achieve integration, some black students were bused into the two wards, and certain whites were ordered into predominantly black areas of Alexandria. The plan was strongly opposed by many whites in the affected rural areas but hailed by black lawyers representing the minority community.
Scott's decision had a U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Swann v. Mecklenburg Independent School District (1971), a case from Charlotte, North Carolina, which required busing across geographic boundaries, such as ward-to-ward or city-to-county, to increase racial balance in public schools. Swann, however, ran counter to the original 1954 desegregation ruling, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Brown had forbidden segregation in public schools but had not required racial balancing.
Scott's decision spurred angry protests, court battles and ultimate changes that led to a restructuring of the Rapides Parish school district. According to the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, in 1980, at least nine Rapides Parish schools were still more than 93 percent black. The desegregation lawsuit, still open from 1961, had been filed by the Reverend Sylvester Valley, who wanted his daughter to attend a desegregated school.
Some desegregation, especially at the high school level, occurred in 1969. In an effort to remedy a perceived situation of de facto racial inequity, Scott revived the lawsuit and directed massive school zone changes, cross-parish busing, school closures, and reassignment of principals. Critics said that the judge in reality had taken over the duties of the school board, which had been the only public office that Scott had ever sought in an election.
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