Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice have rejected a plan to shift attendance boundaries for more than 600 Shelby County, Tenn., middle school students because it would further racially segregate children. In response, Shelby County district officials intend to tweak the plan by taking 180 students out of the equation. The aim of the proposed boundary shift is to fill a newly constructed middle school in Bartlett, set to open in 2008-09.
Click here to read The Memphis Commercial Appeal article.
FROM JULY 2007: Once confident a decades-old desegregation lawsuit was about to be dismissed, Shelby County, Tenn., school officials now are confronted with a judge's ruling that threatens to shake up the suburban school system. The ruling said more needed to be done to achieve racial parity in the areas of extracurricular activities, faculty integration and student assignment. The biggest concern for the school system is student assignment, which aims to create more racially balanced schools. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
EARLIER: Both sides in a 44-year-old school desegregation lawsuit in the Shelby County, Tenn., district want the case dismissed, but a federal judge says the request is premature and that the district has more work to do. In a 62-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald says the county has achieved "unitary systems" for staff, transportation and facilities, which are no longer racially identifiable, but that more needs to be done in areas of extracurricular activities, student assignment and faculty integration. (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
