Final forum's emphatic point: Neighborhood schools!

A procession of parents declare they want no part of a post-lawsuit lottery plan to pick where their kids attend.

By KELLY RYAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2000

LARGO -- If it wasn't already, the message became patently clear Thursday: Parents want neighborhood schools.

Thursday night was the last of seven community meetings the Pinellas School District has held since Feb. 3 to gauge reaction to a new student assignment plan that will replace court-ordered busing for desegregation.

The meeting at the district office in Largo drew a hearty crowd of 130 people, in part because it was held in conjunction with a previously scheduled session of the Pinellas County Council of PTAs.

Buoyed by frequent applause, nearly all of the 28 speakers demanded that their children be allowed -- even guaranteed -- to go to school close to home. They said it is not fair to be forced into a "choice plan." "We can stand in our yards and look at the school we want our child to attend," said Holly Chalcraft, who has a son at Bauder Elementary School in Seminole. "Yet you tell us no. That is just not right."

Since 1971, the district has been under federal court supervision, required to bus students cross-county to integrate schools. Black students have borne the brunt, some riding 14 miles from home.

In December, the School Board and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund reached a settlement to end the 1964 lawsuit that led to the court order. The settlement, which still must be approved by a federal judge, includes an outline for the new student assignment plan.

Between 2003 and 2007, students will not be assigned to schools based solely on their home address. The county will be divided into four or fewer areas, and students will select schools in their area through a lottery.

Each of the zones can have a black student population of no more than 39 percent or less than 7 percent. Black student enrollment at each school would be capped, though the limit would rise from 37 to 42 percent.

The School Board can give preference to students who live close to a school, who have relatives already enrolled or have special needs. The board has not decided how to weigh those preferences.

The message Thursday was similar to the one delivered at Countryside and Palm Harbor University high schools earlier this month. One parent, stoked by the support of other speakers, announced his cell phone number so he can organize opposition to the choice plan.

Parents in north Pinellas, many who have not been affected by the court order, said their property values and volunteer hours will decline if their children can't go to school close to home. Some said flat-out that north Pinellas schools are better than the ones in south Pinellas.

"We have made a choice," said parent Cindy Rice. "We made it when we chose where to live."

But parent Diane Stephens didn't buy those arguments. She attended all-black schools growing up in Clearwater and said she's only concerned about her daughter getting a good education. If the best program is not close to home, Stephens will find a way to be involved anyway.

"If we can get to the dog track, if we can get to the grocery, if we can get to the Bucs game," she said, "we can get to that school."

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