Tripped Up by Ethnic Imbalance : Newport-Mesa Schools Did Well to Reverse Boundary Ruling

School board members must balance many requirements when deciding where to put schools and where to draw the boundaries for those who can attend them. Convenience is a major factor, especially for elementary schools. There is nothing like being able to walk to and from school, avoiding a bus ride.

But another major factor should be racial and ethnic balance. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the doctrine of “separate but equal” educational facilities established in the 1896 case Plessy vs. Ferguson. Since then, government agencies and the courts have monitored the creation of school boundaries to ensure that lines were not drawn to keep one group in and another one out.

This month, the U.S. Education Department found that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board discriminated against Latino students last year when it changed the boundaries determining which children attend Adams Elementary in Costa Mesa.

Only days after receiving the ruling, district trustees wisely reversed their decision.

A number of parents were upset when the boundaries were redrawn last year. Rightly realizing their children would benefit from being in class with all types of students, they protested the change. One mother aptly said that exposing her children “to another culture and another socioeconomic class” would help them grow up to be “more well-rounded individuals.”

When the board reopened Adams several years ago, its boundaries included children who had been going to Wilson Elementary from the largely Latino area along Joann Street. Adams’ student body was 51% Latino and 41% white.

But when 90 students from the Joann Street neighborhood were sent to Wilson last year, it boosted Wilson’s mix to around 90% Latino.

District Supt. Mac Bernd properly warned the trustees that redrawing the boundaries might be viewed as discrimination and open the district to a court fight. But the trustees said they needed more room at Adams for students living closer to the school--an argument that was disputed by some parents.

Board members said they were not discriminating against any group. But they were right not to battle the Education Department. They will need to be sure they keep racial and ethnic mix in mind each time they decide which students should attend what schools.