Olson v. Board of Education
Olson v. Board of Education
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Wayne Olson, at the time this suit was instituted, was a student in the fifth grade at the Lindner Place School of the Union Free School District No. 12 of the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, N. Y. (the “Málveme” School District). His father, Arthur Olson, brought this proceeding to contest an order of the Commissioner of Education of the State of New York which rezoned the District and thereby effected the shifting of his child, and many others, to the Woodfield Road School.
The Málveme School District operates one Senior High School (grades 9-12),
In 1962 parents of Negro children appealed to the Commissioner of Education to reverse the local Board of Education’s refusal to allow the transfer of their children from the Woodfield School to one of the two other elementary schools. The Commissioner referred this request to a three-man committee
The Commissioner’s decision was unsuccessfully attacked in the New York State Courts,
We need not consider all the arguments advanced by the parties, for we find one is dispositive of this appeal. In June 1966, Wayne Olson graduated from the fifth grade, and in September 1966 he entered the sixth grade (Junior High School). Since the Commissioner’s order which Olson attacks did not alter the arrangements for pupils in the sixth through twelfth grades, he can no longer claim that he is adversely affected by the Commissioner’s action. “Obviously no decision we could render now would protect any rights * * * [he] may once have had, and this Court does not sit to decide arguments after events have put them to rest.” Doremus v. Board of Education, 342 U.S. 429, at 432-433, 72 S.Ct. 394, 396, 96 L.Ed. 475 (1952). The appeal must therefore be dismissed as moot.
. Figures are for 1965.
. The committee consisted of John H. Fischer of Columbia University, chairman; Rabbi Judah Cahn; and Kenneth B. Clark, now a member of the Board of Regents.
. Vetere v. Allen, 41 Misc.2d 200, 245 N.Y.S.2d 682 (1963), reversed in part Vetere v. Mitchell, 21 A.D.2d 561, 251 N.Y.S.2d 480 (1964), aff’d 15 N.Y.2d 259, 258 N.Y.S.2d 77, 206 N.E.2d 174 (1965).
. 382 U.S. 825, 86 S.Ct. 60, 15 L.Ed.2d 71 (1965).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wayne OLSON, a Minor, by Arthur Olson, his Parent and Next Friend v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 12, MALVERNE, NEW YORK, Luis Bejarano, President, Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 12, Malverne, New York, Luis Bejarano, Fred Hook, Thomas Hanrahan, Paul A. Stone and William H. Moody, Members of the Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 12, Malverne, New York, and James E. Allen, Jr., Commissioner of Education of the State of New York
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published