Claremont : Segregation Rule Altered

School district trustees voted last week to expand the definition of a “racially segregated school” to include schools with too few minorities as well as schools with excessively large minority populations.

Previously, the district’s desegregation policy specified that minority enrollment at individual elementary schools should not exceed the average of all eight elementary schools by more than 15%. Under the new policy, schools with minority enrollments lower than 15% below the average will be considered segregated.

With a districtwide elementary minority enrollment of 29.7%, three schools are classified as segregated: Vista del Valle with 56.8% minorities, Mountain View with 46.2% minorities and, now, Chaparral with 13.7% minorities.

A 13-member advisory committee, which includes parents and students, is studying ways to implement the new policy.