SOMERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Fayette County school district must close two elementary schools and build a new one in Somerville under a consent order approved in federal court to desegregate the system.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee approved the order on Tuesday. It was negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice with the Fayette County Board of Education and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Among other things, the order requires the district to implement a program for three other elementary schools that will help them achieve desegregated enrollments.
According to a news release from the Justice Department, enforcing Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in school districts is a top priority of the department's Civil Rights Division.
