NEWS RELEASE
News from Orange County Public Schools
For more information, contact: |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Dylan Thomas/407.317.3368 |
March 5, 2007 |
Schools will not be merged or closed in unitary status solution
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Ronald Blocker revealed today that he will not recommend the school board merge or close any schools in order to satisfy a federal court-imposed desegregation order.
Blocker said, “This was an exercise staff took up with its expert legal counsel and presented to the school board – in the sunshine - back in October. We wanted to see if merging small schools could facilitate our filing for unitary status.” It was determined that there would be no significant contribution to the district’s unitary status standing.
Twenty-one schools with small enrollments in low-growth areas of Orange County were considered as part of the analysis. The district examined multiple scenarios to merge the small schools into slightly larger schools and facilitate its filing for unitary status.
“We could not find any combinations of small schools that, if merged, would significantly improve their diversity, more specifically, a mix of African American and white students as required by the court order,” said Superintendent Blocker. “I also want to emphasize that, going forward, we will continue to analyze all schools in the building program to see what efficiencies can be achieved.”
To achieve unitary status Orange County must demonstrate the absence of discrimination in six critical areas:
- Student assignment;
- Faculty;
- Transportation;
- Facilities;
- Extracurricular activities and
- Educational programs.
The superintendent will make his recommendation to the school board at a work session Tuesday afternoon, March 6. With expert legal counsel, they will consider next steps in the approach to resolving the desegregation order.
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