A Voluntary Desegregation Plan for Longview Schools

LONGVIEW – Longview ISD has developed a plan to ensure equitable access to education opportunities. The action follows the lifting of a 1970 federal desegregation earlier this year. During Monday night’s school board meeting, school trustees unanimously adopted a Voluntary Desegregation Plan for magnet school programs in accordance with the United States Department of Education Magnet Schools Assistance Program Grant. Under the federal desegregation order, the district was required to submit reports and documentation to the Justice Department, and any changes to school attendance zones or campuses required court approval. According to a news release on the district’s web site, School Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox explained that, while Longview ISD is no longer under the direct federal oversight, the district “will continue to ensure all of Longview’s students have fair and equitable access to our best educational opportunities.”

Wilcox said the voluntary desegregation plan is designed to support the district’s efforts to:
• Provide instruction and experiences that foster understanding and that further integrate students of different backgrounds together.
• Remedy the separation of minority students in one or more schools within the district;
• Prevent, reduce and/or eliminate social, racial, ethnic or economic isolation;
• Ensure equal educational opportunity and access for all students; and
• Cultivate student integration and diversity.

You can go to http://w3.lisd.org/news/article/08132018-board-meet.html to get more details on the plan.