Hartford Public Schools Background and Discussion Paper on School Racial/Ethnic Balance: Update

    HARTFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

APRIL 1990 

 
 

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION PAPER ON SCHOOL RACIAL/ETHNIC BALANCE: Update 

 
 

 



  

HARTFORD BOARD OF EDUCATION 

William E. Meagher 

President 

Ruthie B. Mathews 

Vice President 

Carmen M. Rodriguez 

Secretary 

Ted Carroll 
Thelma E. Dickerson 

Salvatore F. DiMartino III 

HES ot oH 

HERNAN LAFONTAINE 
Superintendent 

ALICE M. DICKENS DINO A. GALIANO 

Assistant Superintendent Assistant Superintendent 

School Division A Instructional Support Services 

EU 2 444 dd 

Prepared by 

Jeffrey L. Forman 

Senior Assistant to the Superintendent 

Addendum: April 1990 

  

Courtney W. Gardner 

Pedro Ramos 
Allan B. Taylor 

CHARLES SENTEIO 

Deputy Superintendent 

JOHN P. SHEA 

Assistant Superintendent 
School Division B



  

HARTFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

Hartford, Connecticut 

SR2RODIELCTIOXN 
  

In April 1988, The Hartford Public Schools issued a report entitled 

Background and Discussion Paper on School Racial/Ethnic Balance. Since October 
1986, the statistics regarding the number of Caucasian and minority students in 

the Hartford region have changed. In response, this addendum updates our four 
hypothetical solutions for achieving numerical balance. Therefore, pages 11-13 
and Tables I, II, and III have been revised with Fall, 1988 data. 

  

Of particular note is that the population of minority youngsters in the 
region has gone from 29,269 in 1986 to 30,526 in 1988, or 29.7% to 33.8%. In 
the contiguous and adjacent school districts, the population has gone from 5,586 
(7.8%) in 1986 to 6,410 (10.1%) in 1988. 

Additionally, this document refers to the expansion of interdistrict 
cooperative programs with schools in contiguous or adjacent communities to 

Hartford and Bloomfield. To date, the most significant projects are: 

0 Project Concern, a program by which Hartford Students attend suburban 
schools. : 

0 The Greater Hartford Academy of Performing Arts. 

o} The Planning to Advance Quality Integrated Education (PAQIE) Committee 

whose purpose is to promote and plan for integrated education in the 
Greater Hartford ares. 

0 EQUAL, an integrated summer school program sponsored by PAQIE at the 
Quirk Middle School in Hartford. 

0 An interdistrict Montessori preschool program sponsored by the Hartford 
and West Hartford School Districts. 

0 A cooperative foreign language education project between Hartford and 
Wethersfield schools. 

0 The Hall High School/Bulkeley High School Videolink project sponsored 
by SNET which allows classes in these two schools to learn 
cooperatively. 

° An Interdistrict Foreign Language Magnet Immersion Program initiated by 

Hartford, West Hartford and Glastonbury Schools. 

o Sister schools. A number of Hartford public schools have initiated the 

"Sister School” concept with one or more schools from contiguous or 
adjacent towns. 

In combination with the original April, 1988 document, one can review the 

issues involved with desegregation of the students in the Greater Hartford area 
as well as consider the current options for the inter-enrollment and busing of 
students. 

 



  

III. 

ng 

HARTFORD'S STATUS 
  

On October 1, 1988, 91.3% of Hartford's 24,404 students 
and 73.9% of Bloomfield's 2,490 students were minority pupils, 
resulting in an average of 89.7% for the two cities. These 
figures alone indicate the numerical impossibility of achieving 

any form of racial/ethnic balance. If all of Hartford and 
Bloomfield's minority pupils were evenly distributed throughout 
the combined area of the two cities, every Hartford and 
Bloomfield school would have 89.7% minority enrollment. On the 
other hand, if the percentage of minority pupils continues to 
increase, total racial isolation in almost every Hartford and 
Bloomfield school is a real possibility in the not too distant 
future.’ 

Commissioner Tirozzi's report urges the development of 

voluntary programs between urban centers and their contiguous 

and adjacent school districts that would provide shared 
educational experiences for minority and Caucasian pupils. For 
many people, this translates into inter-district enrollment and 
the busing of pupils. However, if the enrollment data for the 
suburban districts shown in the Tirozzi report (See Table I) 
are compared to Hartford and Bloomfield's, further difficulties 
in achieving numerical balance become evident even if pupils 

were to be moved on an interdistrict basis. A few hypothetical 
scenarios demonstrate the problems. 

SCENARIO I   

If a 50% numerical balance is assumed to be 

an ideal balance, Hartford and Bloomfield, with 

24,116 minority and 2,778 Caucasian pupils in 
1988, could achieve that desired ratio in three 

possible ways: 

A. Transfer 21,338 minority pupils to contiguous 
and adjacent districts leaving Hartford and 

Bloomfield with a balanced enrollment of 5,556 

pupils. : 

B. Transfer the 21,338 Caucasian pupils into 
Hartford and Bloomfield bringing total enrollment 

to 48,232 pupils. 

Cc. Exchange 10,669 minority pupils from Hartford 
and Bloomfield with an equal number of 
non-minority pupils from contiguous and adjacent 
districts, thus evenly balancing Hartford and 
Bloomfield's current enrollment. 

 



  

«iD. 

Option (A) and (B) do not currently appear to 
be feasible. To effect option (C) with the 9 
districts contiguous to Hartford and Bloomfield, 

35% of the total Caucasian enrollment in those 

districts would have to exchange with 44% of 
Hartford and Bloomfield's minority enrollment. If 
11 additional adjacent districts were included, 

23% of the total Caucasian enrollment would be 
replaced. 

~ Table II shows the effect of exchanging 

10,669 pupils upon the ethnic distribution of 20 
contiguous and adjacent districts if the minority 

pupils were assigned in equal proportion (16.8%) 
to the district enrollments. The table shows (a) 
the current number and percentage of minority 

pupils in each district, and (b) the number of 
pupils that would be exchanged with each district, 
and (c) the resulting number and percentage of 
minority pupils. 

Regardless of the method of distribution or 
the number of towns involved, the exchange of 

10,669 pupils in both directions would require a 
minimum of 376 fifty-four passenger buses at an 

estimated annual cost of $10,549,000 for 
transportation alone. 

SCENARIO II 
  

Various means could be devised to bring about 

a more equitable distribution of minority pupils 
on a regional basis. A second scenario might 

presume to exchange pupils so that every district 

acquires the average percentage of minority pupils 
as in the region as a whole. According to the 
Tirozzi  'veport, the Hartford area with © 
contiguous and 11 adjacent districts has a total 

enrollment of 90,215 pupils, 33.8% of whom 
(30,526) are minority. In order to raise all 
twenty surrounding districts to a 33.8% minority 
enrollment, a total of 30,030 pupils would have to 
be reassigned and bused. Table III demonstrates 

the current and resulting totals. This approach 
would require 556 buses at an estimated annual 

cost of $14,815,000. 

 



  

wie 

SCENARIO III 
  

A third possible means of redistricting 
pupils might be to assign the 30,526 minority 
pupils in the region to the 22 school districts in 
proportion to their 1988 enrollments and hold 
enrollments constant by transferring the same 
number of Caucasian pupils into Hartford and 
Bloomfield. The end result, however, is identical 
to Scenario II. 

SCENARIO IV 
  

On a lesser scale, the racial imbalance of 
the Hartford schools might be addressed by 
increasing the number of minority pupils bused to 
suburban towns under Project Concern or by 
exchanging minority for Caucasian pupils on a 
voluntary basis. 

For every 1000 minority pupils added to 
Project Concern, Hartford and Bloomfield's 
minority percentage would decrease by less than 
one-half of one percentage point, assuming that 
Hartford and Bloomfield's Caucasian enrollment 
remained constant. For every 1000 pupils 
exchanged with other towns, the minority 
population would decrease by 3.7 percentage 
points. In other words, in order to reduce 
Hartford's minority percentage from 90% to 70%, 
some 5400 pupils would have to exchange with 
pupils in suburban towns. 

 



TABLE 1 

HARTFORD AND BLOOMFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICTS WITH 
CONTIGUOUS AND ADJACENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS, 1988 

      a2, 

TRG ev      
   

CCRT RE: - i    

   Ero 

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

    
    

EST. MANCHEST ER 

i154 1501) ii # 

PETMAN 
py ey 

Py 2 bod a 

3 GLASTONBURY 

ROCKY HAL 

CAUCASIAN | MINORITY TOTAL 

SCHOOL DISTRICT TYPE i STUDENTS | STUDENTS 

HARTFORD CORE 127 277 24404 
BLOOMFIELD CORE 651 1839 2490 

AVON CONTIGUOUS 1854 73 2027 
EAST GRANBY CONTIGUOUS i 646 21 667 
EAST HARTFORD CONTIGUOUS 4462 1342 5804 
NEWINGTON CONTIGUOUS 3458 211 69 
SIMSBURY CONTIGUOUS 37 169 3871 
SOUTH WINDSOR CONTIGUOUS 3348 284 3632 
WEST HARTFORD CONTIGUOUS 6260 855 7125 
WETHERSFIELD CONTIGUOUS 2854 126 2080 
WINDSOR CONTIGUOUS 2886 1323 4209 

BURLINGTON ADJACENT . . ’ 
CANTON ADJACENT 175 26 1201 

EAST WINDSOR ADJACENT 1133 121 1254 
ELLINGTON ADJACENT 1838 4a 1881 
FARMINGTON ADJACENT 2443 143 2586 
GLASTONBURY ADJACENT 4351 269 4820 
GRANBY ADJACENT 1426 28 1454 
MANCHESTER ADJACENT Loop 809 6808 
ROCKY HILL ADJACENT 173 103 1835 
SUFFIELD ADJACENT 1740 5% 1796 
VERNON ADJACENT 3957 315 4272 
WINDSOR LOCKS ADJACENT 1547 83 1630 

TOTAL - REGIONAL 50689 30526 9215        



  TABLE Il - HYPOTHETICAL REDISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS TO ACHIEVE 50% RACIAL BALANCE 

| | [ ] 
OCTOBER 1, 1988 PROJECTED ENROLLMENTS 

  

  

—SCHOOL DISTRICT _ 
  

CAUCASIAN MINORITY CAUCASIAN MINORITY 
  

% %e 
  sone Alec %e 

  

  

  

HARTFORD 91.3% 
  

BLOOMFIELD 73.9% 
  

TOTAL-CORE 89.7% 
  

  

AVON 3.6% 
  

EAST GRANBY 3.1% 
  

EAST HARTFORD 23.1% 
  

NEWINGTON 5.8% 
  

SIMSBURY 4.4% 
  

SOUTH WINDSOR 7.8% 
  

WEST HARTFORD 12.1% 
  

WETHERSFIELD 4.2% 
  

WINDSOR 31.4% 
  

TOTAL - CONTIGUOUS 13.0% 
  

  

CANTON ADJACENT 2.2% 
  

EAST WINDSOR ADJACENT 9.6% 
  

ELLINGTON ADJACENT 2.3% 
  

FARMINGTON ADJACENT 5.5% 
  

GLASTONBURY ADJACENT 5.8% 
  

GRANBY ADJACENT 1.9% 
  

MANCHESTER ADJACENT 11.9% 
  

ROCKY HILL ADJACENT 5.6% 
  

SUFFIELD ADJACENT 3.1% 
  

VERNON ADJACENT 7.4% 
  

WINDSOR LOCKS ADJACENT 5.1% 
  

TOTAL - ADJACENT 6.8% 
  

  

TOTAL CONT + ADJ. 10.1% 
    TOTAL - REGIONAL             33.8%                



  

  

  

  

  

  

    

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

                        

TABLE Ill - HYPOTHETICAL pie OF Hs TO ACHIEVE UNIFORM es PAA al 3 

SCHOOL DISTRICT | LOCATION _ OCTOBER 1, 1988 JOTAL | _EXCHD PROJECTED ENROLLMENTS 

CAUCASIAN MINORITY CAUCASIAN MINORITY 

# % # % t % ¥ %o 

HARTFORD CORE 2127 8.7% 22277 91.3% 24404 14019 16146] 66.2% 8258 33.8% 

BLOOMFIELD CORE 651 26.1% 1839 73.9% 2490 996 1647] 66.2% 843 33.8% 3 

TOTAL-CORE 2778 10.3% 24116 89.7% 26894 15015 17793] 66.2% 9101 33.8% 

AVON CONTIGUOUS 1954 96.4% 73 3.6% 2027 613 1341] 66.2% 686 33.8% 

EAST GRANBY CONTIGUOUS 646 96.9% 21 3.1% 667 204 4421 66.2% 225 33.8% 

EAST HARTFORD CONTIGUOUS 4462 76.9% 1342 23.1% 5804 622 3840{ 66.2% 1964 33.8% 

NEWINGTON CONTIGUOUS 3458 94.2% 211 5.8% 3669 1030 2428] 66.2% 1241 33.8% 

SIMSBURY CONTIGUOUS 3702 95.6% 169 4.4% 3871 1141 2561] 66.2% 1310 33.8% 

SOUTH WINDSOR CONTIGUOUS 3348 92.2% 284 7.8% 3632 945 2403] 66.2% 1229 33.8% 

WEST HARTFORD CONTIGUOUS 6260 87.9% 865 12.1% 7125 1546 4714] 66.2% 2411 33.8% 

WETHERSFIELD CONTIGUOUS 2854 95.8% 126 4.2% 2980 882 1972{ 66.2% 1008 33.8% 

WINDSOR CONTIGUOUS 2886 68.6% 1323 31.4% 4209 101 2785{ 66.2% 1424 33.8% 

TOTAL - CONTIGUOUS 29570 87.0% 4414 13.0% 33984 7084 22486] 66.2% 11498 33.8% 

CANTON ADJACENT 1175 97.8% 26 2.2% 1201 380 795] 66.2% 406 33.8% 

EAST WINDSOR ADJACENT 1133 90.4% 121 9.6% 1254 303 830{ 66.2% 424 33.8% 

ELLINGTON ADJACENT 1838 97.7% 43 2.3% 1881 593 1245] 66.2% 636 33.8% 

FARMINGTON ADJACENT 2443 94.5% 143 5.5% 2586 732 1711} 66.2% 875 33.8% 

GLASTONBURY ADJACENT 4351 94.2% 269 5.8% 4620 1294 3057{ 66.2% 1563 33.8% 

GRANBY ADJACENT 1426 98.1% 28 1.9% 1454 464 962{ 66.2% 492 33.8% 

MANCHESTER ADJACENT 5999 88.1% 809 11.9% 6808 1495 4504] 66.2% 2304 33.8% 

ROCKY HILL ADJACENT 1732 94.4% 103 5.6% 1835 518 1214] 66.2% 621 33.8% 

SUFFIELD ADJACENT 1740 96.9% 56 3.1% 1796 552 1188{ 66.2% 608 33.8% 

VERNON ADJACENT 3957 92.6% 315 7.4% 4272 1131 2826] 66.2% 1446 33.8% 

WINDSOR LOCKS ADJACENT 1547 94.9% 83 5.1% 1630 469 1078} 66.2% 552 33.8% 

TOTAL - ADJACENT 27341 93.2% 1996 6.8% 29337 7931 19410{ 66.2% 9927 33.8% 

TOTAL CONT + ADJ. 56911 89.9% 6410 10.1% 63321 15015 41896{ 66.2% 21425 33.8% 

TOTAL - REGIONAL 59689 66.2% 30526 33.8% 90215 30030 59689] 66.2% 30526 33.8%