The Indian River School District says it is not dumping students as punishment into the George Washington Carver Academy.
The district is responding to an amended lawsuit by a group that promotes educational opportunities for minorities.
The Wilmington News Journal reports that the original suit was filed on behalf of five students who said their rights were being violated under the 14th amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It has since added two more students to the suit.
The district has countered that too much time has passed since the original incidents and that they there has been no constitutional violations.
In addition, it claims that some of the student are not mentally competent to bring forward the claims.
It is has asked that the suit be dismissed with prejudice.
The paper reports that nearly 43 percent of the Academy’s student population is African American while in the district it is only 3.3 percent.
The suit also alleges abuse from staff and that the school has a prison like quality.
The Coalition for Education Reform notes that the building the Academy occupies was once used as a segregated school during the 1920’s and 1930’s.
