Equal Opportunity in the Fort Wayne Community Schools: A ...

Appendix FUrban League Alternative to Segments of Superintendent Griie'sReorganization PlanFACSIMILEA RESPONSE AND ALTERNATIVE TO THEFWCS' ADMINISTRATION PLAN, FORTWAYNE URBAN LEAGUE, INC.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:The Proposed Plan for the Fort Wayne CommunitySchools 1977-1983 presented on Monday,January 24th, falls far short of the Board ofTrustees resolutions. In 1974 the School Board ofTrustees resolved to look for ways to eliminatesegregation in the elementary schools. Consideringa relatively successful secondary plan andthousands of dollars spent to develop ways todesegregate the elementary level, we are very disappointedin the results. Furthermore, we do notconsider the Administration's plan to be a plan ofdesegregation.Again, the inner-city community is bearing themajor brunt and the school system will be accomplishingless. The schools closely bordering innercityare experiencing some desegregation now. Ithas been clearly documented that totally excludingsuburban schools forces rapid re-segregation. ThePeabody Study reported that "a strategy aimed athaving elementary school children attend schoolsno more than one school removed from theirhomes must be judged unworkable. The enrollmentdata demonstrates that any permanentdesegregation action must go beyond the nineschool zones which encircle the inner-city zones."Six of the schools from the nine school zones arepart of the Administration's Plan. Regarding theschools slated for closing—Hanna, Harmar,Hoagland and Hillcrest—with the possible exceptionof Harmar, the Administration's plan is onlyfostering re-segregation. In other words theproposed plan is providing band-aid approaches.This community should try to avoid repeating thislong and costly process in the near future. Wehave an excellent opportunity to demonstrate goodfaith now.The Enrichment Center suggested for McCullochand Ward seems very shortsighted. There is evensome question as to whether they are feasible asplanned. It is practically impossible to accomplishthe stated objectives, in only one week persemester. The Enrichment Centers would be anexcellent idea as a supportive program to adesegregation plan. Presently, it's an admission ofaccepting noncompliance, because it suggests thatwe are doing nothing in the elementary schoolstoday and have no plans for the remaining weeksin home-based schools. The Administration planacknowledges a need for human relations andpreparation of fourth and fifth grade pupils for juniorhigh school and later years. Yet it proposes aplan that will barely scratch the surface. It hasbeen illustrated that this age group has most likelydeveloped racial biases, and are influenced bystereotypes and myths. Therefore, it's doubtfulthat much can be accomplished in only two weeksper school year. The short, rather staged experiencecould easily enhance feelings of differenceand raise more problems than it can alleviate.The Urban League recognizes the possible needfor a new high school as a result of the grade reorganization.However, we oppose the suggested siteto be in the north quadrant of the city. A new highschool in St. Joseph or Washington Townshipagain puts the burden of long distance traveling oninner-city students. Furthermore, it completelyoverlooks the opportunity for Central City andInner-City redevelopment efforts. The growth andrevitalization of the Central City could be greatlyenhanced with a new high school in the nearvicinity. It appears the school administration embracesthe neighborhood concept for suburbancommunities and completely ignores the wishes ofinner and central city residents.The proposed grade reorganization, moving 6thgrade into middle school can only be considered afirst step minimum effort. We endorse the four (4)year high school.The Urban League would like to propose the followingalternatives. We believe it can be accom-42