Hoover School Officials, Lawyers Seek Feedback on Discrimination for Ongoing Case
The Hoover school system wants to end federal oversight over its school district. The court supervision stems from a decades-old settlement in Jefferson County’s school desegregation case.
Tonight, Hoover school officials and lawyers representing black students in the system want to get community feedback on plans that would show policies and practices are not discriminatory. Officials would examine several things in Hoover, including programs, facilities, attendance zones, and hiring practices. Hoover is under court supervision because at the time of the 1965 lawsuit, students in the Hoover area were part of the Jefferson County school system.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Trace Crossings Elementary School.
U.W. Clemon, the lawyer representing black students and their parents, says the Hoover system still has a long way to go, especially after a controversial video recently surfaced online in which high school students in Hoover used racist and anti-Semitic slurs.
“Some attitudes have to change on the part of a lot of people before we get into the mindset of a unitary system – one in which there are no traces of racial discrimination,” Clemon says.
Hoover has increased the percentage of black teachers in the system in recent years, Clemon says. But while about a quarter of Hoover students are black, less than a tenth of teachers are black, according to federal records.
Clemon says the low percentage of black faculty, along with the school system’s lukewarm response to the video, is a problem.
“The administration, as far as many of the parents are concerned, has not been as forthright as it should have been in denouncing racists acts,” Clemon says.
The federal judge supervising the desegregation case will consider the feedback and decide what’s next.
Photo by Sporksrock120
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Breaking down Alabama’s CHOOSE Act
It’s been a year since Alabama legislators passed the CHOOSE Act allowing families to apply for state funds to use towards homeschool expenses and tuition for participating private schools. The Alabama Daily News’ education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been diving into how the funds are being used. WBHM’s Andrew Gelderman sat down with her to talk about what we’re seeing so far.
