Judge approves school integration plan in Indy - Indianapolis Public Schools system - Brief Article

Jet, March 15, 1993

A federal judge recently allowed the Indianapolis Public Schools system (IPS) to continue with its Select Schools plan which gives most of the district's parents a limited choice in selecting their children's schools next year.

In a written ruling issued by U.S. District Judge S. Hugh Dillin, the judge agreed with IPS officials that his 1981 desegregation order is not working. The method of student assignments in accordance with the Selects Schools plan "is found to be an improvement over the (current) plan," Dillin wrote.

The court victory is being seen as a triumph for IPS Superintendent Shirl E. Gilbert II, who originally introduced the plan more than 18 months ago.

Gilbert, who is Black, is in charge of a system whose students are about 65 percent Black and 35 percent White. With the Select School plan, he is hoping to get a 50-50 balance.