USC Part 4

in effect

20 U.S.C. § 1712 Formulating remedies; applicability

In formulating a remedy for a denial of equal educational opportunity or a denial of the equal protection of the laws, a court, department, or agency of the United States shall seek or impose only such remedies as are essential to correct particular denials of equal educational opportunity or equal protection of the laws.

20 U.S.C. § 1713 Priority of remedies

In formulating a remedy for a denial of equal educational opportunity or a denial of the equal protection of the laws, which may involve directly or indirectly the transportation of students, a court, department, or agency of the United States shall consider and make specific findings on the efficacy in correcting such denial of the following remedies and shall require implementation of the first of the remedies set out below, or of the first combination thereof which would remedy such denial: (a) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account school capacities and natural physical barriers; (b) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account only school capacities; (c) permitting students to transfer from a school in which a majority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin to a school in which a minority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin; (d) the creation or revision of attendance zones or grade structures without requiring transportation beyond that described in section 1714 of this title; (e) the construction of new schools or the closing of inferior schools; (f) the construction or establishment of magnet schools; or (g) the development and implementation of any other plan which is educationally sound and administratively feasible, subject to the provisions of sections 1714 and 1715 of this title.

20 U.S.C. § 1714 Transportation of students

(a) Limitation to school closest or next closest to place of residenceNo court, department, or agency of the United States shall, pursuant to section 1713 of this title, order the implementation of a plan that would require the transportation of any student to a school other than the school closest or next closest to his place of residence which provides the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student. (b) Health risks; impingement on educational processNo court, department, or agency of the United States shall require directly or indirectly the transportation of any student if such transportation poses a risk to the health of such student or constitutes a significant impingement on the educational process with respect to such student. (c) School population changes resulting from population changesWhen a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a school system is desegregated, or that it meets the constitutional requirements, or that it is a unitary system, or that it has no vestiges of a dual system, and thereafter residential shifts in population occur which result in school population changes in any school within such a desegregated school system, no educational agency because of such shifts shall be required by any court, department, or agency of the United States to formulate, or implement any new desegregation plan, or modify or implement any modification of the court approved desegregation plan, which would require transportation of students to compensate wholly or in part for such shifts in school population so occurring.

20 U.S.C. § 1715 District lines

In the formulation of remedies under section 1712 or 1713 of this title the lines drawn by a State, subdividing its territory into separate school districts, shall not be ignored or altered except where it is established that the lines were drawn for the purpose, and had the effect, of segregating children among public schools on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin.

20 U.S.C. § 1716 Voluntary adoption of remedies

Nothing in this subchapter prohibits an educational agency from proposing, adopting, requiring, or implementing any plan of desegregation, otherwise lawful, that is at variance with the standards set out in this subchapter nor shall any court, department, or agency of the United States be prohibited from approving implementation of a plan which goes beyond what can be required under this subchapter, if such plan is voluntarily proposed by the appropriate educational agency.

20 U.S.C. § 1717 Reopening proceedings

A parent or guardian of a child, or parents or guardians of children similarly situated, transported to a public school in accordance with a court order, or an educational agency subject to a court order or a desegregation plan under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.] in effect on August 21, 1974, and intended to end segregation of students on the basis of race, color, or national origin, may seek to reopen or intervene in the further implementation of such court order, currently in effect, if the time or distance of travel is so great as to risk the health of the student or significantly impinge on his or her educational process.

20 U.S.C. § 1718 Limitation on court orders; termination of orders conditioned upon compliance with fifth and fourteenth amendments; statement of basis for termination orders; stay of termination orders

Any court order requiring, directly or indirectly, the transportation of students for the purpose of remedying a denial of the equal protection of the laws may, to the extent of such transportation, be terminated if the court finds the defendant educational agency has satisfied the requirements of the fifth or fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, whichever is applicable, and will continue to be in compliance with the requirements thereof. The court of initial jurisdiction shall state in its order the basis for any decision to terminate an order pursuant to this section, and the termination of any order pursuant to this section shall be stayed pending a final appeal or, in the event no appeal is taken, until the time for any such appeal has expired. No additional order requiring such educational agency to transport students for such purpose shall be entered unless such agency is found not to have satisfied the requirements of the fifth or fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, whichever is applicable.