History Is Made
Wichita Board of Education votes unanimously to eliminate busing for desegregation based on race effective in the 2008-09 school year, provide expanded choices for district families
In a move described as "history making," the Wichita Board of Education approved 7-0 on Jan. 28, 2008, to end busing for desegregation in the Wichita Public Schools. The plan, originally presented by Wichita Superintendent Winston Brooks on Dec. 18, 2007, discontinues the decades-old practice of busing students based on race for the purpose of desegregation in the Wichita district.
The plan adopted by the BOE is based on two years of study, review and dialogue with the community, staff and students. The 10-point plan would expand choices for Wichita families
, specifically those students from the Assigned Attendance Area (AAA); maintain the strength of the district's magnet program; define the neighborhood boundary for the new Gordon Parks K-8 Academy which will open in August 2008; and eliminate the annual birthday lottery.
"I believe that what we're doing is historic and monumental," said BOE member-at-large Rev. Kevass Harding. "None of us are free until all of us are free. I so believe that what we're doing is the right thing."
The approved plan was modified from the document originally presented to the BOE on Dec. 18. The adopted plan adds a provision for a Busing Oversight Transition Committee to, as BOE President Connie Dietz suggested, serve as a "watchdog group" to monitor implementation of the plan and make recommendations for future changes.
Superintendent Winston Brooks suggested that this Busing Oversight Transition Committee is just one way that the district will work to ensure that high expectations for all students are maintained, and that the Wichita district will not see a wide-spread return of "separate but unequal" schools.
"Not only will we have this new oversight committee, but you will also have the BOE policy discussion that will follow in March as well as the community's demands for accountability," said Superintendent Brooks.
Added BOE vice president Lynn Rogers, "the community must be diligent in holding its Board of Education accountable for student achievement...period! That's what we're all about, and that's what we must remain focused on"
Highlights of Community Feedback
"Our district's families and the community at large have told us loud and clear that they place a high value on diverse schools, that is a real strength of our district," said Superintendent Winston Brooks. "Additionally, families want and value choices in order to best meet the educational needs of their children. This proposal upholds both values and supports our continued focus on high-quality academic options for all Wichita students."
The most significant elements of the plan that the community expressed support for include:
- Expanded choices
- The high quality of the plan
- Support for diversity
- Focus on equity
- Opportunity for increased parental and student involvement
The most significant elements of the plan over which the community voiced concern include:
- Diversity and whether the district would return to segregated schools
- Capacity and the ability to accommodate students in the schools to which they choose to return
- Busing and the impact of the 2.5 mile transportation restrictions from the State
- The plan, specifically the need for an oversight committee
- Magnets and their future role in the Wichita district
- Impact on student achievement
- Teacher quality and the ability to recruit and retain highly-qualified teachers
- Impact on middle and high schools that would be most directly affected by this change
- Gordon Parks Academy, specifically the application procedures, curriculum expectations and the recruitment of a diverse student body