Friday, June 13, 2003

Settlement reached in BOE case

On June 6, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Vining issued a written order approving a settlement agreement between the Fulton County Board of Education and the plaintiffs in the long-running Hightower v. Westschool desegregation case.

With the settlement, the Fulton County School System has now been granted unitary status. A unitary school system is one in which the segregative practices of the former dual system are no longer evident and no longer affect current operations.

"We are pleased that this case has been resolved," said Board President Katie Reeves. "Our ability to reach an agreement reflects that we truly do operate a unitary school system where improving achievement for all students is our top priority."

The decision by the Court brings an end to the school desegregation order that has been in place in the Fulton County School System since 1970. The desegregation order was one of many federal court orders issued in the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which required the desegregation of public schools throughout the nation.

Terms of the settlement include phasing out the district's majority-to-minority (M-to-M) program over the next nine years, with the end coming at the close of the 2011-12 school year.

The program allows students to transfer, with free transportation provided, from a school in which their race is in the majority to a school in which their race is in the minority. In Fulton County and elsewhere, M-to-M programs have been used primarily by black students attending predominantly black schools to transfer to predominantly white schools. As of the 2005-06 school year, new students would not have the right to enroll in the program. The settlement also calls for a task force to study race-neutral alternatives to the M-to-M program.

Other terms of the settlement call for the district to analyze enrollment and other data relating to advanced placement and foreign language courses for the next three years and to take steps aimed at increasing enrollment in these courses in south Fulton schools. Student discipline practices and data also will be examined.