ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — It was one of the last remaining fights from the civil rights era and it ended Tuesday night as Orange County school leaders reached a settlement in a desegregation case that's almost 50 years old.
Since 1962 Orange County has been under federal oversight to make sure the school system was not discriminating. The lawsuit was first filed by eight black families. They sued for equal access to the white-dominated school district after one girl was denied the right to attend Boone High School.
Pam Woodley was 11 years-old when her mother added her to the lawsuit. She says the settlement is a step closer to what her mother wanted, 48 years ago. "What my mother wanted was for every child to have equal access," said Woodley.
The settlement outlines steps to be taken to make sure all students are treated equally. It includes ensuring school construction is done in a proper and timely manner at four schools this year, that have been neglected in the past. Those schools are: Evans High School, Oak Ridge High School, Lee Middle School, and Orange Center Elementary School. It also includes projects for 13 other schools by 2016.
The settlement also calls for equal use of school facilities and extra curricular activities, and calls for diversity in faculty recruitment.
The district has been under the jurisdiction of the federal court since the lawsuit was filed.
"We have eliminated the vestiges of discrimination regarding African American students and teachers," Orange County Public Schools attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said.
If a judge approves of the district's settlement, the district be would be free from the cloud of the past racial discrimination.
Parents say it's a long time coming.
"I do know everyone is equal, you know, whether white, black, they have the same rights," parent Pierre Nicholas said.
A lot has changed in Orange County since the lawsuit was first filed. In the 1960-61 school year, court records show 83 percent of the district's students were white. The rest were black.
Today, the student body in the nation's 10th largest public school system has no majority race. It's 32 percent Hispanic, 31 percent white and 28 percent black.
WFTV
