Four plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, alleging that the board’s recently approved redistricting maps split precincts in violation of Louisiana law.
Residents Adeline Rene Singleton, Christopher Kees Sr., Tania Nyman and Dr. James C. Finney filed the lawsuit against the school board May 16 in the 19th Judicial District Court after the board approved what is called Plan 22. That plan offers a map of nine districts from which voters would elect board members.
But the lawsuit contends that because the maps do not contain whole precincts for all nine board election districts, school board members violated state law.
“The boundaries of any election district for a new apportionment plan from which members of a school board are elected shall contain whole precincts established by the parish governing authority,” the Louisiana statute states.
The lawsuit notes that the school district also considered an alternative proposal called Plan 1, which would have provided for 11 school board election districts based on whole precincts for all 11 districts.
“The school board had the ability to select a reapportionment plan that complied with applicable law regarding the use of whole districts but made the choice not to do so,” the lawsuit states.
At the heart of redistricting issues debated by elected officials and voters in the school district was whether the elected board should better reflect changing demographics by providing more Black majority districts. Such voting-rights issues, however, were not directly brought up in the lawsuit.
“The lawsuit relates to how the precincts are split, but hopefully the effect of litigation would be to have six majority Black districts,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Brian Blackwell, told the Louisiana Record. “The legal challenge is one thing, and the effect of the legal challenge is something else.”
The school district’s general counsel said the district does not comment on pending litigation, but a hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the district moving forward with any election based on Plan 22 has been scheduled for June 13.