After 50 years of litigation over the desegregation of the Cleveland School District, students there are making plans for unified schools. As MPB's Mark Rigsby reports, there are now three possible names for a new junior high and high school.
Bolivar Central Braves, Cleveland Central Wolves or Wolfpack, and Cleveland Trojans are on the list of new names and mascots. A committee comprised of student government representatives came up with the list. Over the summer, U.S. District Judge Debra Brown ordered the desegregation of the school district through consolidation. Cleveland School Board attorney Jamie Jacks.
"The actual student bodies of the 6th through 12th graders will vote on these names."
Jacks says students will vote by using Bolivar County's voting machines after they come back from Christmas break.
"The students will actually vote on the voting machines. So, there will be no questions about the numbers. And they'll vote at their schools. And check in kind of like, it will be an exercise in democracy. They will pick the name of the school."
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs, the Department of Justice, and the school district have been engaged in settlement negotiations over the best way to achieve the desegreation of the school system. They must give an update to the judge by today.
