FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
James D. Herbert, PhD
Media Relations
Lower Merion Voices United for Equity in Education (LMVUE)
610-405-6248
media@lmvue.org
www.lmvue.org

Lower Merion School District Sued by Residents of South Ardmore

ARDMORE, PA, May 14, 2009. Today several residents of South Ardmore filed suit in
the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the
Lower Merion School District over a recently adopted redistricting plan. The plaintiffs,
all racial minorities who have children in elementary or middle schools in the District,
allege that Lower Merion illegally discriminated against them in its recent redistricting
process.

On January 12, 2009, the Lower Merion School District adopted a controversial
redistricting plan under which residents from the historically African American
neighborhood of South Ardmore will be bused several miles away to Harriton High
School, despite the fact that they can currently walk to Lower Merion High School in
Ardmore. Under the redistricting plan, approximately half of the children in South
Ardmore are given a choice of which high school to attend, whereas the other half are
mandated to be bused to Harriton.

The South Ardmore families contend that there is overwhelming evidence that the
redistricting plan was motivated by the school district’s desire to increase the number of
minority students at Harriton High School. The families hold that targeting children for
redistricting based on their race violates federal civil rights laws, including the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution and the U.S. Civil Rights Act. The families
are requesting that the court restore their choice to attend Lower Merion High School, the
only school in their neighborhood.

Dr. James Herbert, spokesperson for the plaintiffs, states that the evidence will
demonstrate that the District’s actions are clearly illegal. “Not only does this redistricting
scheme unfairly burden the minority community relative to the rest of the district, but it
specifically targets black families for redistricting solely because of their race,” said
Herbert. “We support these efforts totally” says the Reverend Albert G. Davis, Jr.,
President of the Main Line Chapter of the NAACP. “We thank the community at large
for their support of all the children and families who have been affected by this District’s
decisions.”

The law suit comes on the heels of investigations by two governmental agencies into the
redistricting process. On March 25th, Lower Merion School District was notified that the
United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights had opened an official
investigation of the District’s actions. Two days later, the District was notified of a class-
action investigation of these same activities by the Pennsylvania Human Relations
Commission. Both agencies agreed to investigate whether ethnic minority students were
unfairly discriminated against by the District when they drew new attendance zones for
the high schools. These investigations are ongoing.

LMVUE fully supports those in Lower Merion who are courageously asserting their
legal rights and the rights of their children to fair and equal treatment as afforded to them
under the US Constitution as well as Federal and State Law.

For more information, contact Dr. James Herbert at 610-405-6248, media@lmvue.org or

visit www.lmvue.org

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