Judge Tells Mississippi Schools To Stop The Segregation

The Justice Department accused the rural Mississippi Walthall County School District of permitting over 300 students to transfer to a school outside of their residential area. Most of the students were white. So, this shifted the racial makeup of each school system. Administrators at three other Mississippi schools were also accused of grouping white students in classrooms and black students in other classrooms in various grade levels. 

This has been a battle between several Mississippi school districts and the Justice Dept since the early 90’s.
In fact, the Justice Dept says despite lawsuits seeking reform, these school districts have become even more segregated over the last 20 years. The Walthall Co. School Board rejected a settlement in 2009 that would have overhauled the district's transfer policy and prevented students being assigned to classrooms based on race.

So, on April 13th 2010, Mississippi U.S. District Judge Tom Lee ordered the school district to significantly limit transfers and  to stop assigning students to classrooms that resulted in segregation. A software program to randomly assign students to classrooms was demanded.




See the full story at Reuters