(CNN) The black valedictorian of a Mississippi high school was forced to share her graduating class’s top honor with a white student who had a lower grade-point average, the woman’s mother says in a federal lawsuit.
The allegation comes months after the Cleveland School District settled a 52-year-old lawsuit demanding that it desegregate its schools.
Views on desegregation not so black and white
Sherry Shepard noted the settlement in the lawsuit filed last week, which alleges that her daughter, Jasmine, had to unfairly share the 2016 Cleveland High School valedictorian honors.
She further claims that Jasmine Shepard was the first black valedictorian in Cleveland High’s 110-year history. The other 109 were white, Sherry Shepard alleged.
