The information on this page was gleaned from the Ohio Department of Education Report Cards for Hilliard City Schools. I was looking particularly for differences between the racial and economic demographics of the two high schools. Here are a couple of charts which summarize the data (please click on each chart to enlarge it):

	This chart shows the racial/cultural distribution for each elementary school. Please take note that nearly all African-American and Hispanic students are at Alton-Darby, Avery, Beacon, Darby Creek, Hilliard Crossing, Hilliard Horizon, and JW Reason, while the other elementary schools have few if any kids in these ethnic groups.
	This chart also shows elementary school statistics, this time the number of students at each school who are Economically Disadvantaged, have Limited English Proficiency, or are Disabled.

It is clear from these data that the elementary schools have very different profiles of students. Elementary schools have relatively small attendance areas, so it is not unexpected that the elementary school demographics will match the neighborhoods around them. But what happens when the kids move up in grade levels -- is there a better balance in the demographics?

	There charts show the middle school demographics. The ethnic distribution looks more balanced across the schools, but notice that Heritage has a much lower number of Economically Disadvantaged students.
	And this is the High School data. While the distribution between the two schools may seem proportional (the African-American population at Darby only 3% higher than at Davidson), because Darby also has 356 more students than Davidson, the absolute difference is double. At Davidson, there are 76 kids who are identified as African-American, while at Darby, there are 153.

So one question that has been on my mind is this: When the third high school is built, what then might the demographics looks like?  The following charts are one possible scenario:

This projection show what the high school demographics might look if the current elementary school populations are allocated as follows: Davidson: Britton, Hoffman Trails, Norwich, Ridgewood (and Ballantrae) Darby: Avery, Beacon, Hilliard Crossing, JW Reason, Scioto Darby Walker: Alton-Darby, Brown, Darby Creek, Hilliard Horizon

Please inspect these charts carefully: The consequence of this example allocation is that Davidson High School has no significant population of African-American or Hispanic students.

Also notice that Davidson would have less than half as many Economically Disadvantaged students than Walker, and one-third the number projected for Darby.

In other words, Davidson becomes richer and whiter while the other two high schools absorb most of the poor kids, and those of color.

It doesn't have to be this way, but it could happen if we allow attendance areas for the high schools to be set by "natural" boundaries. There is in fact nothing "natural" about neighborhood boundaries. We Americans might not discriminate by race, creed, color, or sexual orientation, but we most certainly discriminate by wealth. Our neighborhoods in Hilliard might not be as diverse as we would like, but we must not allow our public schools to foster this kind of implicit segregation.

Before anyone labels me as a racist or bigot, please note that I am privileged to be a member of the Board of Directors of the National Black Programming Consortium, serving currently as Secretary. If anything, that experience helps me be more attuned to potential discrimination.

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Last modified: 08/04/10