Plaintiffs Exhibit Proposals for School Integration and Desegregation

    7?

PROPOSALS
<Lo>ŝS

The Department of Intergroup Relations recommends consideration
^ ^ " ‘fSrMncreasing th^ifati^itW racial raix*of^following alternative'pi sens forVincreasing 

our students at various grade levels throughout the total district*

A basic consideration in the drawing of such plans is tne history of the 
requirement for travel, to school-, of students over a period of years 
prior to the expansion of the number of senior high schools. These facts
are pertinent.

1. Cody, Ford, Mumford, Osborn, Finney, Kettering, King and Murray 
high schools have been constructed in the past 25 years and were 
built to provide for increased enrollments rather than convenience. 
As each of these schools was built, district boundaries, for schools 
in the general area were altered and students changed the direction 
and distance that they traveled to attend school.

2. The distances some students currently travel to attend Finney or 
Southwestern schools is equal to or greater than students in our 
other schools.

3. Junior high schools have been constructed in order to provide
seats for students that have resulted in considerable diminution^ 
of the distances students have had to travel, as compared to their 
predecessors.

The first recommendation from the department would reinstate the April 7 
boundary changes. Although changes in racial percentages have occurred 
during the past year, the relationship of the paired schools in that plan 
are still, relatively, the same. That is, Redford, Cody, Osborn, Denby,^ 
Western and Ford have a significant majority of white students. Mackenzie, 
Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance 
of black students. Therefore, we recommend:x

1. That, the boundary and junior high school feeder pattern changes 
as defined on April 7 be implemented for the spring semester.

2. That, an immediate change for incoming 10th grade students and 
for all students currently in the 10th and 11th grades be made.

3. If, the April 7 plan is compared to the current 8-region organi­
zation, it is apparent that all facets of that plan may be 
initiated within the current organization, except Denby-Kettering. 
The fact of a violation of region boundaries as a requirement^to 
re-institute April 7 should not be a major deterrent to carrying 
out the plan. Precedent exists currently in the Post-Cooley, 
Burroughs-Kettering, and the Verhor-Vandenberg-Ford combinations 
for student attendance areas which do not fit adult voting areas.



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In the effort to maximize the amount of integration, we recommend that 
junior high schools be paired in such a manner as in the following examples:

1. The pattern of alternate grades attending each school be 
instituted in the following schools:

Richard-Von Steuben-Burroughs, Goodale-Joy, Farwell-Grant, 
Earhart-Pelham, Condon-Wilson, Drew-Brooks-Ruddiman,
Etoerson-Winship, Nolan, Farwell1', Grant and further that 
additional schools be added, if possible to this list.

A third alternative would be to close, as regular junior or senior high schools, 
those schools with seriously declining enrollments, and reorganize them as 
specialized'trade schools or as experimental "open” schools with a city-wide 
enrollment. Some of these school plants might be:

Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, Northeastern, Murray,
Chadsey and Northern.

In each case cited, the neighboring schools have capacity to share or absorb 
entirely the enrollment of the school to be closed. Each of these schools 
has availability to public transportation which would allow them to function 
a6 a magnet school. For instance, the relationship with Michigan Bell Telephone 
Company and Northern High School might be better exploited by the school's role 
as a magnet school with a city-wide draw. The existence of such schools with a 
free and open transfer policy would act as a pressure relief for those parents 
and students now in serious disagreement with the program of the "comprehensive” 
high school.

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Some principles of the magnet school concept are as follows:

1. The school program must be so planned that it will receive 
recognition as one of real strength and special value to students, 
cleanly superior in one or more vital respects to the neighborhood 
high school.

2. Such schools would utilize innovative and sound patterns of organi­
zation, curriculum, student government, personnel, housing and other 
areas of school life.

• * • • a*

3. The name of the school should be changed, so it is no longer identified 
as an old neighborhood school, and it is viewed as a new school identified 
with a new and most promising specialized program.

k. Attention should be directed to the lines of transportation, to insure 
that students and parents would consider these among the best and most 
desirable.

5. The student and staff membership must be well integrated racially.

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6m The school should be advertised as open to suburbanites. There may well 
be some objections, however, the advantages derived would clearly out­
weigh the objections. The enrollment of a number of suburbanites would 
do wonders for the schools image and reputation.

7. The school would have a free and open transfer policy, crossing 
regional and even district lines.

8. These schools could be given some special prestigious label, such as 
"the metropolitan schools."

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In response to the NAACP appeal to the court for a structured student ratio 
reflective of the city enrollment as a whole, the Department of Intergroup 
Relations recommends the practices below:

1. One approach might be a bussing structure as demonstrated in 
Berkeley, California, a cross-bussing of grades with a series 
of planned steps as detailed in the many reviews of that plan.
This plan would require considerable logistical preparation, 
community preparation and professional staff orientation. 
Appropriate descriptions of the Berkeley plan may be found in the 
attached articles.

2m Some principles which ought to apply to such a plan are as follows!
%

— schools with up to bO% of either race would not be involved
in the pairing program

— all schools to be paired should involve all of the children 
in order to build identification with the program.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. School Management
November, 19^^ •*
"When the Buses Began to Roll" by Don Wegars

2. Phi Delta Kappan 
March, 1968
"Should Administrators Seek Racial Balance in the Schools?" by Neil Sullivan,

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Phi Delta Kappan 
May, 19^9
"A Landmark in School Racial Integration: Berkeley, California” by Mike M.
Milstein and Dean E. Hoch

Nation’s Schools 
September, 19^7
"These Integration Approaches Work— Sometimes" by Robert J. Havighurst

CTA Journal 
January, 1969
"The Black Tree That Grows in Berkeley" by Harold J . Maves

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The Instructor 
January, 19 69
"Follow Through in Berkeley" by Louise C. Brown



November 2, 1970^ c {aA ^

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PBOPOSALS IN THE HATTER OF SCHOOL INTEGRATION
Submitted by

DIVISION OF SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

w>^.*V

The Department of Intergroup Relations offers for consideration the 
following alternative proposals for increasing the degree of racial 
desegregation at various grade levels throughout the total district. 
Certain fundamentals must be taken into account in planning alternatives: 
(l) the amount of racial mix of students and (2) the degree to which 
regional boundaries are held inviolate so that parents can vote and help 
to determine policies of the schools which their children attend. The 
following five (5) proposals are offered for consideration.

Proposal 1:

Implementation of April 7 plan as originally conceived as of 
February, 1971* Although changes in racial percentages have 
occurred during the past year, the relationship of the paired 
schools in that plan are still, relatively, the same. That is, 
Bedford, Cody, Osborn, Denby, Western and Ford have a significant 
majority of white students. Mackenzie, Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, 
Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance of black students.

Advantages:

1.

2.

Minimizes violence to decentralization. Only Denby-KAtterixig 
fail to fit within the regional boundaries as presently drawn.

A greater racial mix will occur than presently exists at the 
high school level.

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I ■ *Disadvantages:

1. No steps are planned in this proposal for increasing integration 
at the junior high school and elementary school levels.

...., ... , jjf2. Adequate planning time for implementation of this proposal is
missing. If the proposal is to be successful, in-service training V *
programs to develop the instructional curricular and attitudinal 
changes must be instituted. Involvement of the affected communities 
in all of the preparatory steps would also be of crucial importance
and this, too, would lengthen the planning process.

Proposal 2 :

Implement April 7 plan with the following additions:

a . That, an immediate change for incoming 10» grade students and 
for all students currently in the 10U> and life grades be made.

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School Integration Proposals
Page 2

b. If, the April 7 plan is compared to the current 8-region 
organization, it is apparent that all facets of that plan 
nay be initiated within the current organization, except 
Denby-Kettering. The fact of a violation of region boundaries 
as a requirement to re-institute April 7 should not be a major 
deterrent to carrying out the plan. Precedent exists currently
in the Post-Cooley, Burroughs-Kettering, and the Vernor-Vandenberg- 
Ford combinations for student attendance areas which do not fit 
adult voting areas.

c. It is obvious that there is room for debate as to the extent
that the 8-region organization may be abridged. Citizen discontent 
has been expressed with the several discontinuous areas noted 
in Item b above. The court will be hearing the NAACP case after 
the region boards have been elected.

Unfortunately the boundaries for Regions 6, 7 and 8 are such as 
to cut the Kettering constellation in two major parts, and also 

, to leave the Denby area without an adjacent area from which to 
draw black students. If, region boundaries cannot be altered, 
and if the high school plan is altered as a consequence, then 
integration in the April 7^ concept, cannot be carried out, on 
the east side, in any manner equal to that on the west side. 
Therefore, exploration of the possibility of court-ordered changes 
in t.h« ef"5 ryp boundaries ought tc be explored in order to make the 
April 7^ plan feasible.

Advantages:

1. A greater integrated student population than currently exists 
or that would exist by the implementation of the April 7^ 
boundary changes only.

2. A continuum of disfunction between school attendance and 
region authority exists between Proposal #1 and #2. This 
same disfunction occurs in varying degrees in each proposal.

3. laess busing would be required under this proposal, than Proposal 1. 
Therefore, money and student travel time would be required.

Proposal 3 «
Pairing of elementary and junior high schools.
In the effort to maximize the amount of integration, we recommend that 
schools be paired in such a manner as in the following examples:



School Integration Proposals
P»«e 3

1. The pattern of alternate grades attending each school be 
instituted in the following schools:

Richard-Von Steuben-Burroughs, Goodale-Joy, Earhart-Pelham, 
Condon-Wilson, Drew-Brooks-Ruddiman, Emerson-Winship, and 
further that additional schools be added, if possible, to 
this list.

2. Pairing of the schools which have less than 5# of either 
white or black students can move towards the NAACP position. 
Thirty-nine elementary schools have less than 5% black students 
and 94 schools have less than 5% white students.

Similarly, a bussing program might bring together the following:

Junior Highs

Taft
Beaubien
Arthur-Richard
Foch

Lessenger
Webber

Elementary
All White

White

970
13

464-672
74

943
1

Black

7
1,255

10-23
1,564

86 (bussed, now) 
1,385

All Black
Cooke 996 Angell 1,282
Gompers 461 Brady 1,125
Healy 298 Glazer 753
McLean 214 Sanders 669

Proposal 4:

Magnet School

A third alternative would be to close, as regular junior or senior 
high schools, those schools with seriously declining enrollments, 
and reorganize them as specialized trade schools or as experimental 
"open" schools with a city-wide enrollment. Some of these school 
plants might be:

Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, Northeastern, Murray, 
Chadsey and Northern.

Some principles of the magnet school concept which should be applied 
include the following:



School Integration Proposals 
Page k

x. The school program must be so planned that it will receive 
recognition as one of real strength and special value to 
students, clearly superior in one or more vital respects to 
the neighborhood high school*

2* Such schools would utilize innovative and sound patterns 
of organization, curriculum, student government, personnel, 
housing and other areas of school life*

3* ' The name of the school should be changed, so it is no longer 
identified as an old neighborhood school, and it is viewed 
as a new school identified with a new and most promising 
specialized program*

Jf* Attention should be directed to the lines of transportation, - 
to insure that students and parents would consider these among 
the best and most desirable*

5* The student and staff membership must be well integrated racially*

6* The school should be advertised as open to suburbanites* There 
may Well be some objections; however, the advantages derived would 
clearly outweigh the objections* The enrollment of a number of 
suburbanites would do wonders for the school's image and reputation*

7* The school would have a free and open transfer policy, crossing 
regional and even district lines.

8. These schools could be given some special prestigious label, 
such as "the metropolitan schools*"

’ Advantages:
In each case cited, the neighboring schools have capacity to share 
or absorb entirely the enrollment of the school to be closed* Each 
of these schools has availability to public transportation which 
would allow them to function as a magnet school. For instance, 
the relationship with Michigan Bell Telephone Company and Northern 
High School might be better exploited by the school's role as a 
magnet school with a city-wide draw. The existence of such schools 
with a free and open transfer policy would act as a pressure relief 
for those parents and students now in serious disagreement with 
the program of the "comprehensive" high school.



School Integration Proposals
Page 5

Disadvantage s:

1* Jeopardy to principle of decentralization,

2, Under Proposal b integration of students probably will not
immediately result from the magnet school concept. The city-wide 
attraction to both white and black parents is a function of 
sufficient time to '‘prove" to the community the educational 
strength and the merit of the specialized magnet schools,

. ' ’ • ..1Proposal 5:
NAACP Plan.

• ’ ...

In response to the NAACP appeal to the court for a structured student
ratio reflective of the city enrollment as a whole, the Department of
Intergroup Relations recommends the practices below:

1. One approach might be a bussing structure as demonstrated in 
Berkeley, California, a cross-bussing of grades with a series 
of planned steps as detailed in the many reviews of that plan. 
This plan would require considerable logistical preparation, 
community preparation and professional staff orientation. 
Appropriate descriptions of the Berkeley plan may be found in 
the attached articles,

2, Some observations which might be made about such a plan are 
as follows:

— schools with up to bO% of either race would not be involved 
in the program.

— all schools should involve all of the children in order to 
build identification with the program,

• - : ■**
— Cody, Ford, Mumford, Osborn, Finney, Kettering, King and

Hurray high schools have been constructed in the past 25 years 
and were built to provide for increased enrollments rather than 
.convenience. As each of these schools was built, district 
boundaries for schools in the general area were altered and 
students changed the direction and distance that they traveled 
to attend school.

— the distances some students currently travel to attend Finney 
or Southwestern schools is equal to or greater than students 
would probably be asked to travel.



School Integration Proposals
Page 6

— Junior high schools have been constructed in order to provide 
seats for students that have resulted in considerable diminuti 
of the distances students have had to travel, as compared to their 
predecessors*

The maximum racial mix in Detroit Public Schools would occur by < * * * £ • *  
students in each public school in the racial proportions t^atexist 
the svstem as a whole. The current student enrollment as of October, 1970, 
Sdicates a racial proportion of 62* black, 38* white. Therefore, students 
iSuid be assigned i f a  manner that the enrollment In
be 62* black and 38* white. This has been done inEerkeiey, cal;forn . 
Description of the Berkeley plan may be found in the attached articles.

Advantages:
1. A completely integrated student population to the degree allowable 

based on the total number of black and white students.

Disadvantage s:

Funds
1. The sheer size of Detroit indicates that such a proposal would 

necessitate a massive busing program.

SUMMARY

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£ £  " s ^ T g i v e s  maximum"planned^considerŝ  i o ^  for° the* i n t e ^ ^ i o n o f
element^ y SShool students. Reposals 2 and 3 predominantly deal with the 
racial rate at the junior and senior high school levels.

For more than a year our school system has been d e e p l y P*anS 
for decentralization. The five proposals presentedaisoconstitute a 
continuum in terms of difficulties encountered by the 8-region plan as 
prescribed by the legislature.
The Division of School-Community Relations urges that any of the above£s?*rsr ssa-ssraa « «M d  orientation of students, community and staff so that the prognosis 
for success of the adopted plan is maximized.

We would urge that as of January, 1971, regional boards be dir®oJ®dclosely, the possibilities of increasing integration within their 
Individual boundaries. The central board should reserve, through the 
adoption of guidelines, the authority to mandate movement toward integration
of the entire district.



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. . School Integration Proposals 
Page 7

A final word of concern is directed specifically to the critical need, 
as we see it at this time, to balance satisfactorily both the aims and 
implementation of integration goals on the one hand and decentralization 

, goals on the other.
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November 9> 1970

PPOPOS/L FOR SCHOOL DESEGREGATION

The staff task force of Detroit Public Schools, after considering 
various alternative proposals submitted by the Division of School- 
Community Relations, offers for consideration the following recom­
mendation for increasing the degree of racial desegregation at 
various grade levels in the school district. Certain fundamentals 
must be taken into account in considering this proposal: (1) the
amount of racial mix of students, and (2) the degree to which 
regional boundaries are held inviolate so that parents can vote 
and help to determine policies of the schools which their children 
attend.

1.

2 .

The School Board should adopt a High School Desegregation 
Plan, and change high school attendance boundaries as defined 
by School Board action on April 7> 1970, to take effect for 
all students entering the affected schools in February, 1971. 
Although changes in racial percentages have occurred during 
the past year, the relationship of the paired schools in that 
plan are still, relatively, the same. That Is, Redford, Cody, 
Osborn, Denby, Western and Ford have a significant majority 
of white students. Mackenzie, Cooley, Mumford, Pershing, 
Kettering and Southwestern have a preponderance of black 
students. It should be noted that all boundary changes occur 
within the established eight regions, with the exception of 
the Denby-Kettering areas.

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NOTE: This part of the plan will include approximately 800
to 1,000 students in February and'another 3>200 In
September. ! -

As part of a long-range plan to provide further desegregation * 
we also propose a reorganization of the schools to include 
adjustment of grade level organization. The reasons for edu­
cational groupings In the past have varied, but have rarely 
included the basic purpose of desegregation. With desegregation 
as a basic aim, it is possible to reorganize a number of 
schools in pursuit of this objective. This reorganization also 
requires redrawing of school attendance areas.
It Is proposed In this movement towards reorganization that we 
direct our efforts towards implementation of the following:

, , ^ V ^1. A modification of a h-h—h school concept.
2. Refinement and expansion of a magnet school 

approach.



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It should be noted that the l»-l|̂l* plan is receiving national 
acceptance of its educational validity and in line with this, 
previous Board of Education action has resulted in the adoption 
of the 4-year high school. Modifications of this plan will, 
of course, be necessary to take into account the unique housing 
and boundary situations of individual school communities.

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The magnet school plan would close, as regular junior or 
senior high schools, those schools with seriously declining 
enrollments, and reorganize them as specialized schools or as 
experimental nopen!' schools with a city-wide enrollment.
Some of these school plants might be:

Durfee, Longfellow, McMichael, Hutchins, 
Northwestern, Murray, Chadsey and Northern

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Some principles of the magnet school concept which should be 
applied include the following:

! ■ ■: t' 6
1. The school program must be so planned that it 

will receive recognition as one of real strength 
and special value to students, clearly superior 
in one or more vital respects to the neighbor­
hood high school.

2. Such schools would utilize innovative and sound
patterns of organization, curriculum, student L
government, personnel, housing and other areas 
of school life. - * m

3.
■' T̂v .

The name of the school should be changed, so 
it is no longer identified as an old neighbor­
hood school, and it is viewed as a new school 
identified with a new and most promising 
specialized program.
Attention should be directed to the lines of. .____  „ J--a kf4. U  W  vy  A i  V  A  --------  ■ ..

transportation, to insure that students andU  X a i i o p w i  U U U  J . W U  * -*-***-' ~  "   
parents would consider these among the best

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5.

6 .

The student and staff membership must be well 
integrated racially.

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The school should be advertised as open to 
suburbanites.



7. The school would have a free and open transfer 
policy, crossing regional and even district 
lines.

8. These schools could be given some special 
prestigious label, such as Mthe metropolitan 
schools.”

NOTE: This part of the plan may well include as many as
25,000 in the portion and the magnet plan could
well involve several thousand more.

SUMMARY

The success of this plan of action is dependent upon clear policy 
commitment and in-service training programs to develop the 
Instructional, curricular and attitudinal changes. Involvement 
of the affected communities In all of the preparatory steps would 
also be of crucial importance.
The strength of this proposal Is that a greater degree of racial 
desegregation is achieved within the currently established regions. 
This reinforces the processes of integration and decentralization.
The high school desegregation component extends the continuing 
effort tovrard desegregation as a major goal of the Detroit Public 
Schools. The modified middle school component extends that effort 
within established regional boundaries, including all grade levels, 
and will require in many instances the busing of students.
Although the magnet school encompasses the total district, it 
encourages voluntary integration by attracting Interested students 
to its specialized programs.
We recommend that as of January, 1971, regional boards be directed 
to examine closely, the possibilities of increasing integration 
within their boundaries. The central board should reserve, through 
the adoption of guidelines, the authority to mandate movement 
toward integration of the entire district.