Judge approves new desegregation order

U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills has approved a permanent desegregation order for the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, a Thursday filing in federal court shows.
Mills’ approval solidifies the desegregation order, which contains the school district’s proposal to send all students currently zoned for East Elementary School to elementary schools in Starkville beginning next school year. That proposal came after the U.S. Department of Justice showed concern over the racial makeup of East Elementary, which has a student population that is 98 percent African American as of December.
The approved desegregation order states that the school district shall, for the 2016-17 school year, “offer open faculty and staff positions to qualified personnel who were employed at East Oktibbeha Elementary School, in the 2015-16 school year.” It also calls for the reassignment of current East Elementary principal Joseph Stone as an assistant principal in another school in the consolidated district.
The desegregation order includes the shuffling of Starkville elementary schools. Beginning in August, all kindergartners and first graders currently zoned for Sudduth and East Elementary will attend Sudduth. All second through fourth graders in that same zone will attend Henderson Ward Stewart. All fifth graders will attend Overstreet Elementary on Jackson Street. Kindergarten through fifth grade students zoned for West Elementary will not be affected by the changes, nor will current sixth through 12th grade students in the consolidated district. The alternative school, currently located at Overstreet, will be moved to the East Elementary building.
The desegregation order calls for the school district to review transportation routes prior to the 2016-17 school year and “where practicable, modify routes to minimize transportation burdens and duration.” Transportation has been in an issue in the first year of the consolidated district, with parents speaking out regarding long bus rides and the school district dealing with a bus driver shortage.
An appendix to the desegregation order outlines annual reporting requirements for the school district. By June 30 of each year, SOCSD will provide data on students assigned to schools, individual classroom assignments, data on the racial makeup of school faculty and staffs, copies of a yearbook for each school that produces one, and the members of the district’s Biracial Advisory Committee, which was established last year.
For this year only, SOCSD is required to provide a list of all administrators, faculty and staff employed at East Elementary in the 2015-16 school and their position for the 2016-17 school year. If any East Elementary staff members are not retained, the district must provide an explanation for why the employee was not retained.
The desegregation order will govern SOCSD until the school district is declared unitary. If any disputes arise between the Justice Department and the school district moving forward, they will attempt to resolve them “informally and in good faith.” The order adds that either party can seek the assistance of the court if the dispute cannot be resolved within a reasonable period of time.