CAMILLA - Four parents and a grandparent have sued the Mitchell County School Board, claiming the board's racial quota for a charter school creates a segregated admissions system. <br>
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The suit alleges that the board's March resolution, which limited enrollment at the Baconton school to 240, 35 of whom must be minorities, ``creates a segregated admissions system in which seats are reserved for certain favored races and whites need not apply for those seats.'' <br>
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Atlanta attorney Lee Parks, who filed the suit this week, said the 3-year-old school has drawn students from the local private school, and board members created the cap and quota under political pressure from influential community members whose children attend the private school. <br>
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``In its first three years of operation, the test scores have shot out the roof. It's successful,'' said Parks, who successfully sued the University of Georgia two years ago in a reverse discrimination suit that forced the school to scrap its consideration of race in admissions. <br>
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Board members Tommy Hilliard, James Keaton, Robert McDaniel, Randy Rigsby and Charlie James Williams could not immediately be reached to respond to Parks' claim. <br>
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If 35 minority students are not enrolled, the resolution limits enrollment to no more than 205 white students, which Parks said is illegal. <br>
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State law requires oversubscribed charter schools to use a lottery system. <br>
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Baconton Community Charter School, which has an enrollment of 210, had asked the school board for money to add 150 students for the next school year. <br>
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Baconton resident Timothy Robinson has a 5-year-old granddaughter on the honor roll at the school and now wants two more grandchildren to attend the school next year. <br>
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``From what I've seen, what the kids are learning, to me it's better for them,'' Robinson said. ``If I can get them all in there, I'll get them all in there.'' <br>
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Robinson and his daughter, Tara Robinson, both black, are joined by white parents Ricky and Tammy Brown and Cheryl Beall as plaintiffs in the suit. The suit names the Mitchell board and Superintendent Dan McIntyre as defendants. <br>
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County Attorney Frank Vann declined to comment, citing pending litigation. <br>
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Randy Rigsby, a school board member, told The Albany Herald that he supported the charter school, but now ``it looks like they're trying to set the agenda.'' <br>
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Charter schools operate under a charter granted by the state board of education, using primarily state money funneled through the local school system. Charter schools select their curriculum and rules, but still must meet state educational standards.
