FERRIDAY &8212; Justin Conner and other local members of the NAACP have called a community meeting tonight to discuss the way Concordia Parish schools are abiding by a 1970 desegregation court order.

Conner said last week that he thinks the schools are not obeying the order and have regressed since it was issued.

&8220;It was brought to our attention that a lot of supervisory positions &8212; since this superintendent has been here &8212; once held by blacks, and applied for by blacks are being overlooked,&8221; Conner said.

He also pointed out that the school board &8212; six whites and three blacks &8212; consistently votes along racial lines.

&8220;We&8217;ve got a problem there,&8221; he said. &8220;Either minorities are not being heard or they are not given the opportunity to be heard.&8221;

The court order sets guidelines for the number of black and white principals, supervisors and teachers that should be hired in the district. Conner said he has a problem with hiring in all three slots in recent years.

&8220;(The board) has continually come down on the Ferriday schools,&8221; Conner said. &8220;And (the superintendent) has said teachers hired for the school system don&8217;t want to come to the Ferriday schools. But when you hire them, they have no choice of where they teach. They are being employed by the Concordia Parish School Board, they don&8217;t get to say where they aren&8217;t going.&8221;

Conner sent a letter to Superintendent Kerry Laster last week asking for an explanation on hiring procedures, how the court order is being followed, teacher and principal statistics for 10 years and the reasoning behind recent principal changes.

Laster said she did receive the letter, but was not invited to tonight&8217;s meeting. She said the information Conner requested that falls under public records laws is available to him and others if they contact the school board office and pay for copying costs.

And Laster said the district is following the court order.

The breakdown of principal and teacher hires aren&8217;t exactly as outlined in the court order, Laster said, because the district has changed. Then, 13 schools existed. Now, it&8217;s 11. The district adjusted percentages accordingly and is following them with administrative hires, she said.

Laster said few districts can hire the required number of black teachers.

&8220;We can&8217;t meet the guidelines the way it&8217;s written, because we don&8217;t have (enough teachers).&8221;

Laster has consistently said the district faces a teacher shortage and struggles to attract qualified applicants to the area.

During last month&8217;s school board meeting the board met in executive session with their attorney to discuss the court order. Laster said the conversation was the result of questions from board member Mary Campbell, who is black. But Laster said those questions were resolved that night.

The NAACP meeting will be at 6 p.m. today at Ferriday&8217;s Mount Olive Baptist Church on Sixth Street.