The Cleveland School District (CSD) is a public
school district
A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations.
North America United States
In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
based in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
(
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
).
In addition to Cleveland, the district also serves the towns of
Boyle,
Renova, and
Merigold.
History
In the post-''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'' era, the district received its desegregation lawsuit in 1965, filed by black parents,
[Lerner, Sharon.]
A School District That Was Never Desegregated
(). ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
''. February 5, 2015. Retrieved on May 18, 2016. on behalf of 131 children protesting racial segregation in the district.
[Berlinger, Joshua and Eliott C. McLaughlin.]
62 years after Brown v. BOE, court orders schools to desegregate
" CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
. May 17, 2016. Retrieved on May 18, 2016. The case took over 62 years to resolve,
[ and unlike many Southern school districts, the Cleveland School District never consolidated its white and black schools, which until then were actually segregated by law. In 1969 Cleveland High School, historically a White school, opened admission to black students. About 1,000 white people protested at the time Black students were legally allowed to enroll in White schools.][
Up to 2016 there were racial demographic differences remaining in the district's schools, with those west of the former railroad tracks having a whiter student body.][ The district had two sets of secondary schools: a middle school and a high school that were historically white, and a middle school and a high school that were all-black. Margaret Green Junior High School and Cleveland High were historically White,][Gates, Jimmie E.]
Cleveland schools must desegregate
Archive
. ''The Clarion-Ledger
''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...
''. May 16, 2016. Retrieved on May 17, 2016. and by 2015 had populations evenly divided between Black and White students.[ D.M. Smith Middle School and East Side High School had all black student populations.][ Sharon Lerner of '']The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' wrote that "As a result, Cleveland has some of the most integrated —and some of the most segregated—public schools in the region."[ Beginning in 1990 the district made many failed attempts, including a freedom of choice enrollment program allowing any student to enroll in any school with his/her grade level, ]International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
programs, and magnet programs, to encourage White students to enroll in almost all-black schools, but these plans did not work.[
The ]U.S. Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...
, in 2011, argued that the Cleveland School District had failed to properly integrate the system, reviving the discrimination suit from a dormant state. Until the conclusion of the desegregation case the school district had been proposing to continue operating the two sets of secondary schools with "Freedom of Choice" and magnet programs, although one of its two desegregation programs did advocate merging the middle schools. The U.S. Department of Justice advocated consolidating the schools, arguing that the voluntary programs were not effective and that the black schools were disadvantaged.[ Part of the resistance against consolidation stemmed from fear that the integrated schools would suffer from ]white flight
White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...
if consolidation happened. Jim Tims, a former member of the Cleveland School Board, stated that by consolidating the schools the single high school would be about 30% white, and that since White people do not wish to be "a small minority" they would engage in white flight
White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...
and enroll in nearby majority white private schools. The school district also argued that more spaces would be available for extracurricular activities if two high schools remained open in Cleveland.[
In May 2016 the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi ordered the school district to consolidate the schools in order to achieve racial integration.][Brown, Emma.]
Judge orders Mississippi school district to desegregate, 62 years after Brown v. Board of Education
" ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. May 16, 2016. Retrieved on May 17, 2016. Cleveland High School will house all high school students, while the former East Side High School will house all middle school students. In 2017 the consolidations occurred. Also, all elementary schools will go until the 6th grade.[Home]
(). Cleveland School District. Retrieved on July 2, 2017.
Schools
Secondary schools:
* Cleveland Central High School – Formed in mid-2017 by the consolidation of Cleveland High School and East Side High School, occupying the former Cleveland High School and Margaret Green Junior High School.[
*Cleveland Central Middle School – Formed in mid-2017 by the consolidation of D.M. Smith Middle School and Margaret Green Junior High School, located at the former East Side High School campus.][
Elementary schools:
*Grades 1-6
**D. M. Smith Elementary School (formerly Cypress Park Elementary School) – Its original campus had an "open concept" layout. In 2017 the school moved to the former D. M. Smith Middle School and changed its name.Home]
Cleveland School District. Retrieved on August 1, 2017. "Additionally, we have returned all sixth grade students to the elementary schools and transferred Cypress Park Elementary from the “open concept” facility into the former DM Smith Middle School campus with the new name, DM Smith Elementary."
*Grades K-6
**Parks Elementary School
**Pearman Accelerated School
*Grades PreK-6
**B.L. Bell Academy for Math, Science and Health Education ( Boyle)
**Hayes Cooper Center ( Merigold)
**Nailor Elementary School
Other Campuses:
*Cleveland Career Development and Technology Center
*Walter C. Robinson Achievement Center
Demographics
As of spring 2016 the district had 3,700 students. 66% were black, 30% were white, and 4% were Hispanic and/or Asian.[
As of 2016, Margaret Green Middle School had more than 496_students,_with_51%_of_them_being_black_and_43%_of_them_being_white._Cleveland_High,_the_historically_white_high_school,_was_47%_black_and_45%_white._As_of_2016,_99.6%_of_the_248_students_at_D.M._Smith_Middle_School_were_black,_and_East_Side_High,_the_high_school_serving_the_black_area,_was_100%_black._In_addition_to_D.M._Smith_and_East_Side_High,_Cypress_Park_and_Nailor_elementary_schools,_also_located_in_eastern_Cleveland,_had_enrollments_over_95%_black._The_United_States_Department_of_Justice.html" "title="ompared to D.M. Smith--> students, with 51% of them being black and 43% of them being white.][ Cleveland High, the historically white high school,][ was 47% black and 45% white. As of 2016, 99.6% of the 248 students at D.M. Smith Middle School were black,][ and East Side High, the high school serving the black area,][ was 100% black.][ In addition to D.M. Smith and East Side High, Cypress Park and Nailor elementary schools, also located in eastern Cleveland, had enrollments over 95% black.][ The United States Department of Justice">U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...]
hired an investigator who stated in 2009 that the conditions of the almost all-black schools were inferior to the other schools.