History of Lauderdale County School District | Page 258

Additional Information:

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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No. 92-7501
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THE LAUDERDALE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, By and Through Its Board of Education, JOHN L. KNIGHT, WANDA McPHAIL, and
ARNOLD M. TREAT,
Plaintiffs-Appellees Cross-Appellants,
VERSUS ENTERPRISE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT,
by and Through Its Board of Education, Defendant-Appellant Cross-Appellee.
QUITMAN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT,
Plaintiff-Appellant Cross-Appellee,
VERSUS
ENTERPRISE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT,
Defendant-Appellee Cross-Appellant.
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Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Mississippi
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June 16, 1992

1

Before WOOD,1 SMITH, DUHÉ, Circuit Judges. JERRY E. SMITH,
Circuit Judge:
This is a consolidated case involving three Mississippi school districts: the Lauderdale County School District ("Lauderdale"), the
Enterprise School District ("Enterprise"), and the Quitman School District ("Quitman"). The magistrate judge ordered the transfer of certain
students from Enterprise to Lauderdale and from Quitman to Enterprise. We reverse these transfers, but we affirm the other portions of the
judgment, regarding inter-district payments and the annexation of the Stonewall area by Quitman.
Facts.
In 1953, the Mississippi legislature passed a law reorganizing the state school system in order to provide separate but equal education
for white and black students. 1953 Miss. Laws, Extraordinary Session, ch. 12. All of the school districts in Mississippi were reorganized by July
1, 1957. The three school districts that are parties to this case are Lauderdale, which encompasses all of Lauderdale County
except for the City of Meridian; Enterprise, which encompasses the northern third of Clarke County; and Quitman, encompassing the southern
two-thirds of Clarke County. Lauderdale County borders Clarke County on the north.
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