WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Former school board chair testifies in federal court

Former school board chair testifies in federal court

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – According to the former head of the Metro School Board, there's never a good time to close schools; it's always hard and it's always political.

Marsha Warden testified Wednesday in a federal court lawsuit against the city's school system over its rezoning plan.

The lawsuit claims the rezoning plan re-segregates Nashville's schools.

At the core of the dispute are inner city students who had been bused to Hillwood High School in the suburbs and are now rezoned to Pearl Cohn High School in north Nashville.

Warden told the court she was never approached by anyone in the community about moving African American students out of Hillwood and a community task force designed the rezoning plan.

She said that panel was doing something the school board wouldn't do, look at school capacity and shift students to make better use of the buildings.

As board chair, Warden said she told other board members to "let [the task force] make those decisions.  Let them bring the plan to us.  We needed to back away, as it were."

She went on to say she asked "every board member to be sure they did not influence the task force."

Warden testified that during her four years on the Metro School Board, two different Nashville mayors told the board during budget hearings that it needed to make better use of school buildings.

"In a school district of 70,000 plus students you're going to have empty seats but there were 15,000 empty seats at that time," she said.

The parents suing the city, the school board and the school system are asking the court to throw out the student reassignment plan.

Wednesday was the tenth day of testimony in the case before federal court Judge John Nixon.

Metro could wrap up its defense by the end of the week.

Previous Stories:

• Nov. 13, 2009: School Board members explain vote for rezoning
• Nov. 10, 2009: School board member defends rezoning plan
• Nov. 9, 2009: NAACP officials testify in rezoning lawsuit
• Nov. 4, 2009: Experts testify in rezoning lawsuit
• Nov. 3, 2009: Arguments begin in Nashville school rezoning case
• Sept. 23, 2009: Enrollment shows more diversity in Metro schools
• Sept. 16, 2009: Metro zoning legal battle continues
• Sept. 9, 2009: School officials say textbook shortage not unusual
• Sept. 4, 2009: Additional families could be added to lawsuit against Metro schools
• Sept. 1, 2009: Federal judge rules against Metro Schools
• August 31, 2009: Metro Schools sued over rezoning plan
• August 20, 2009: NAACP meets about filing desegregation lawsuit
• August 14, 2009: Wharton Elementary will call Brookmeade home for first year
• July 21, 2009: Crews work to relocate teachers, staff in Metro
• May 21, 2009: 4 Metro schools close for good
• Jan. 26, 2009: Parent upset over rezoning files complaint with Dept. of Education
• Nov. 7, 2008: Rezoning letters sent to Metro parents
• Sept. 24, 2008: Rezoning plan revisited at board meeting
• August 4, 2008: NAACP urges board to reverse rezoning
• July 15, 2008: NAACP speaks out against controversial rezoning plan
• July 15, 2008: School board member criticized for voting to rezone
• July 9, 2008: Metro says they'll help parents understand rezoning
• July 8, 2008: Metro school board approves rezoning, 5 to 4
• July 4, 2008: School rezoning plan heads to Metro School Board