This week was a busy time for some parents as they scrambled to get their children placed back in school.

Coweta County School System spokesperson Dean Jackson said that 140 students had been removed from the school system this week because proper documentation was not filed with the school system proving the students lived in the county.

The residency documentation is being required because the Coweta County School System entered into a mutual Consent Decree that provides an opportunity to resolve the 1973 court order which governs the system’s desegregation attempts. The decree was issued in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, on November 9, and followed more than a year of discussions and negotiations with representatives of the United States Justice Department, Civil Rights Division.

The original deadline for filing the affidavit was Jan.19, but the school system decided to extend the date multiple times, after more than 5,800 affidavits were still outstanding.

Jackson said that nine schools had 100 percent compliance with the requirements, and the high schools had the greatest numbers of students removed.

“There were 25 students at Newnan High School and 14 at East Coweta that were removed,” he said.

Of the 140 students no longer in the school system, Jackson said the system is still trying to determine how many were out of county students who were attending Coweta County schools.

“We did hear from some parents who said they used to live here, but moved. We had to inform them that it’s state law that your children go to school in the county they live,” Jackson added.

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