Appellants applications were denied on the basis of the adverse affect on desegregation. Ms. Stout lives in Des Moines, as a single parent. Her ex-husband resides in Des Moines as well. Matthew and his younger brother have attended daycare in West Des Moines and the parents would like to have them continue to do so. Matthew's application for open enrollment was filed on April 22, 1998, and was denied due to the adverse effect on the District's desegregation plan. Both boys are attending counseling and the District agreed to speak to their psychiatrist after the hearing to determine if this appeal qualified as a "hardship" case.

Ms. Ennis applied for open enrollment for her three children to the Urbandale District on May 9, 1998. The District denied the application for Brady due to the desegregation plan and the applications for Jared and Stephanie for being filed late without good cause.

Mr. and Mrs. Jurgensen applied for open enrollment to the West Des Moines District for their son, Erik, on April 23, 1998. The District denied their application pursuant to the desegregation plan at its May 5, 1998, meeting.

The District has a formally-adopted open enrollment/desegrega-tion policy and plan, Policy Code 639. This policy does contain a "hardship" exception. The District's practice of denying open enrollment applications under the composite ratio portion of its open enrollment/desegregation plan was upheld by Polk County District Court Judge Bergeson in his ruling on Petition for Judicial Review, filed in 1995 (Des Moines Ind. Sch. Dist. v. IDOE, AA2332).

Mrs. Jurgensen raised the issue of reverse discrimination. Judge Bergeson addressed this issue in his ruling, and upheld the District's policy. The policy imposes race-conscious remedies to further its desegregation efforts. "The District is justified in implementing a desegregation plan given its history and its present inability to meet state nondiscrimination guidelines. The policy does not prefer one race over another. While the policy may have differing impacts, depending on the number of race of students applying for open enrollment, it does not prefer or advance one race over another."

We saw no error in the decisions of the District. The decisions were consistent with state law and the rules of the Iowa Department of Education. Therefore, there are no grounds to justify reversing the Board's denials.