Judge orders Tangi school district to hire more blacks

A judge has ordered the Tangipahoa Parish School Board to increase its hiring of black educators for administrative positions.

Under the order by U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, the Hammond-based public school district must hire qualified blacks until 40 percent of school board positions are held by blacks.

The NAACP pushed to reactivate a desegregation suit two years ago partially because the group contended the school board had violated a 1975 order requiring hiring of qualified blacks.

The order covers principals and central office administrators.

School board attorney Charles Patin Junior says the district may ask the judge to reconsider his decision.