For some parents, choice means taking what the school district offers
By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published August 3, 2003
[Times photo: Bill Serne]
Diana Dallas did not get any of the five schools she selected for her granddaughter, LaShawn Michaels, who lives in Dallas' custody.
ST PETERSBURG - Like many African-Americans, Diana Dallas had high hopes for Pinellas County's new choice plan.
She saw it as a historic opportunity to send her granddaughter to a school near her home in St. Petersburg. It didn't turn out the way.
"I didn't get any of my choices," said Dallas, who has custody of her granddaughter, 5-year-old kindergartner LaShawn McMichaels.
Dallas filled out the application, picking five schools near her home. But the schools - including Sanderlin, Maximo and Lakewood elementaries - were among those most chosen by African-American families.
Dallas' disappointment is perhaps the most troubling aspect of choice. While the system worked well for the vast majority of Pinellas families who stayed at their school, it did not work for many black families who thought they had the most to gain. After three decades of court-ordered busing, they hoped to return to neighborhood schools.
But the county still limits the percentage of black students at each school, so not all families could send their kids to schools near home.
"I told them, "This is my choice,' " Dallas said. "It's supposed to be parent's choice, right?"
The school district sent Dallas a list of schools where there was room for her granddaughter. Dallas sent a letter back to the district.
"I told them I wasn't going anywhere north of 13th Avenue North," Dallas said. She was offered a spot at Bear Creek Elementary.
"I didn't even know where that school was," Dallas said.
She soon learned a few things about Bear Creek. She liked what she learned. It's small, and only 10 to 15 minutes from her home.
Though she still doesn't like the idea that she didn't get one of her choices, Dallas is ready to give Bear Creek a chance.
"I have to make the best of what I got," she said.
