Tampa Bay Area Schools Beginning to Resegregate

Hundreds of black parents or grandparents have chosen to send their children to neighborhood schools, opting against having them far from home in more integrated settings. After 33 years of busing, this was the first time many Hillsborough families had that option.The result? In the first year of a voluntary desegregation plan called controlled choice, schools have begun to resegregate. Sam Horton, president of the Hillsborough NAACP, called the movement predictable. "This is back to the future," said Horton, a critic of the choice plan, which replaced busing for integration and cost at least $4.6-million to launch. "It's a very expensive boondoggle." Sheehy and four other schools that opened as traditional elementary and middle schools in largely black neighborhoods this year have African-American enrollments of more than 80 percent.In turn, the countywide number of racially identifiable schools - those with more than a 40 percent black enrollment - has increased from 27 last year to 33 this year. [more ]