FARMERVILLE, La. -- The board of a north Louisiana charter school will meet next week to decide its next move after a federal judge's ruling that the school cannot open on Aug. 18.

The board of the D'Arbonne Woods Charter School could decide to appeal U.S. District Judge Robbie James' ruling when it meets on July 31. However, even an expedited appeal would not allow the school to open this school year.

James' ruling said the school was too near the predominantly white Rocky Branch community and that the school had a low minority population, failing to meet the requirements of a federal desegregation order.

State charter schools director Ken Campbell said the school will have to develop more strategies for recruiting minority students and teachers to gain federal court approval.

"I'd like to see them reach out a little bit more to meet the judge's satisfaction," Campbell said. "The commitment has always been there; sometimes it's just a matter of being better able to implement it."

"I don't look for this to be the end of the line for D'Arbonne Woods Charter School," director Corie Williams said Monday. "But what the next step will be, I don't know. The board will decide that on July 31."

State Sen. Mike Walsworth said he doesn't believe the school is attempting to get around desegregation laws. "I think that it is sad that past history still rings out in Union Parish and northeast Louisiana and that we can't let go of the past and look toward the future," he said.

James' ruling was the latest in a long string of hurdles for the school in more than two years. Initially, D'Arbonne Woods went to the Union Parish School Board for approval but was denied. Next, the application went to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and was also denied. The school then went back to Union but was denied again.

Upon a second application to the state, BESE granted the school a charter with a stipulation that it meet requirements of the federal desegregation order.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)