Significant events in the history of Pinellas County's school desegregation case.
By Times news researcher Kitty Bennett from Times files
Published May 21, 2003
1954: U.S. Supreme Court outlaws segregation in public schools.
1961: The first desegregation of Pinellas schools occurs when black students are admitted to St. Petersburg Junior College, then operated by the Pinellas School Board.
1964: A group of black parents, along with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, files suit against the School Board. They note that only 200 of the county's 10,000 black students are attending schools with white students, and demand an end to segregated education.
1965: U.S. District Judge Joseph P. Lieb orders the desegregation of Pinellas County schools.
1971: The Pinellas School Board votes 5-2 to desegregate schools countywide. Judge Lieb accepts the School Board plan and orders that no school be allowed to have a student population more than 30 percent black. By then, a Bi-Racial Advisory Committee had been created to help monitor progress toward desegregation.
1989: The court authorizes the creation of the first magnet school programs to encourage voluntary integration.
1998: After several years of making modifications to race ratios and overseeing nearly every aspect of pupil assignment, the court directs the School Board to identify areas in which the district has achieved the goal of providing equal opportunities to minority students. NAACP Legal Defense Fund agrees that Pinellas has complied with the court order in the areas of transportation and opportunities for administrative staff, but disagrees that the district treats blacks the same as whites in other areas. School Board and Legal Defense Fund attorneys agree to a nine-year plan to end court-ordered busing.
1999: U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday refuses to approve the agreement between the parties. He criticizes the plan for being too vague and appoints a mediator to move the parties toward a more concrete agreement. Merryday agrees that Pinellas has achieved "unitary status" by treating blacks and whites alike in the areas of facilities and resources, transportation and administrative staff assignment. The School Board approves an agreement with the Legal Defense Fund on all other outstanding issues, including student assignment.
Jan. 31, 2000: The parties seek dismissal of the lawsuit.
Aug. 10, 2000: Merryday accepts the settlement agreement providing an end to court-ordered busing and dismisses the lawsuit.
Oct. 25, 2000: The School Board approves a choice plan that will end traditional school zoning in the 2003-04 school year. It votes to split the county into four areas for elementary schools, three areas for middle schools and one for high schools. Students will apply to attend a school in their area.
Sept. 16, 2002: The school choice application period begins. Parents have three months to decide whether to keep their children in their current schools, seek spots in countywide magnet or fundamental programs or apply for a school in their area of the county.
Feb. 20, 2003: A computer program matches students with their chosen schools, and nine out of 10 receive their first pick of schools for the 2003-04 year.
Feb. 25, 2003: School officials acknowledge that during the first year of school choice, hundreds of African-American children in St. Petersburg will be bused out of their neighborhoods, leaving behind new schools that are only two-thirds full.
