Opinion ID: 465182
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Proposed Plan

Text: 21 On February 2, 1983, the Norfolk school board adopted the Proposal For a Voluntary Stably Desegregated School System by a vote of 5-2. 4 Under the plan, cross-town busing of elementary school students was eliminated. 5 All of the elementary schools became single attendance zone schools (neighborhood schools). Those single attendance zones were gerrymandered so as to achieve maximum racial integration. 6 Students attending any certain elementary school were fed into a certain one of eight junior high schools. Under this feeder plan, all the junior high schools were fully integrated racially. The maximum black/white ratio was 72/28, and the minimum 56/44. 22 Under the plan, twelve of Norfolk's thirty-six elementary schools will be 70% or more black, compared to four under the busing plan presently in effect. Of those twelve schools, ten will be 95% or more black. Six schools will become 70% or more white. 7 23 The plan contains a majority-minority transfer option, described in Swann, 402 U.S. p. 26, 91 S.Ct. p. 1281, as a useful part of every desegregation plan. Under this option, any student assigned to attend a school at which his race constitutes 70% or more of the student body can transfer to a school where his race constitutes less than 50% of the students. The plan provides for free transportation for those students choosing such a transfer. The school board estimates that 10-15% of eligible students would take advantage of the M/M transfer the first years. Five year projections show as many as 40% of the students may opt for M/M transfers. If 20% of those eligible black students opt for M/M transfer, only one school would remain more than 70% white. Some of the ten schools with 95% or more black pupils would have smaller percentages of black students but all would yet be above 95%. 24 The plan also provides for multi-cultural programs to expose students in racially isolated elementary schools to students of other races. A parental involvement program is also included. 25 A Plan II was drawn up by Dr. John Foster which reduced the length of bus rides for elementary students but increased the number of students that would be bused. No school would have been less than 25% of any one race. Plan II would have required the redrawing of all of the attendance zones in the school system. That plan was also presented at the public hearings. No support was expressed for Plan II at those hearings, and the plan was not adopted by the board. Plaintiffs do not here seek an adoption of Plan II in lieu of the plan adopted; they seek a return to the original busing plan.