The "Agreement for Declaration of Unitary Status" is a legal document
signed in April 2003 by the Fulton County Board of Education and
named plaintiffs (representing African American children attending
or eligible to attend school in Fulton County , and their parents
and guardians). This agreement, which was approved by the
U.S. District Court in June 2003, settled the long-running Hightower
v. West school desegregation case and declares that the
Fulton County School System (FCSS) has attained "unitary status."
By
declaring Fulton to have unitary status, the courts affirmed that
FCSS is a school system in which the segregative practices of
the former dual system are no longer evident and no longer affect
current operations.
Court
declarations ofunitary status have been taking place in school
districts throughout the nation, including Georgia - Savannah-Chatham
in 1994, Coffee County in 1995, DeKalb County in 1996 and Muscogee
County in 1997.
In
Fulton, unitary status means we are no longer under court-ordered
desegregation that had been in place since 1970. In addition,
FCS is responsible for carrying out a number of tasks detailed
in the agreement, including the following.
Phase
out the M-to-M (majority-to-minority) student transfer program
by 2011-12
Establish
an M-to-M Alternative Task Force to develop non-binding recommendations
to present to the Board on cost-effective, race neutral alternatives
to M-to-M that would enable students living in south county
to attend school in north county
Continue
to comply with federal employment discrimination laws
Make
a "good faith effort" to provide faculty diversity in each school,
within the bounds of the law and to the extent feasible
For
at least three years beginning in 2003-04, conduct an annual
proportionality analysis for each school of advanced placement
and foreign language courses offered and the enrollment in such
courses, and enrollment in TAG (talented and gifted) programs
Notify
parents and students about the opportunity to take AP and foreign
language courses, and to participate in TAG programs, and train
teachers, counselors and administrators on this notification
Maintain
the current curriculum hardship transfers policy at least through
2005-06
Establish
a Discipline Review Committee to review and analyze FCS discipline
policies and practices for fairness and equity, and present
its finding to the Board
Publish
on the district web site and make available in all FCS schools
the annual proportionality
analyses (#5 above) and the Discipline Review Committee findings
(#8 above).
For
more information about specific components of Unitary Status in
Fulton, click on the links below.
