Racial Make-up of Shelby County Schools

SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. - All white, rich and suburban: this is a common misconception of the Shelby County School district, according to its leaders.

But the truth is the school system has become one of the most diverse in the state. Ten years ago, Shelby County Schools fit the stereotype.

Let's look at two very different families, both in the Shelby County School District.

The Morgan's are an African American family from Raleigh. Jessica Morgan just graduated from Shadowlawn Middle School.

Deeyar Itayem just graduated from Germantown High School where the rest of her siblings still attend. The Itayem's are from Palestine and when they came to Germantown ten years ago, they said the mostly white and black families in the district didn't know what to think.

"We were considered brown," said Samira Jubran, Deeyar's mother. "So here in the middle of both, we had culture shock."

Jubran strives to keep her worldly customs and cooking alive for her children, but still wanted to feel American. She said adjusting to the Shelby County School system was hard at first. The family settled here just a year before 9/11. She said ten years ago, the Shelby County School system was no where near as diverse as it is now.

"The school system was so different than what we were used to," said Jubran. "And with 9/11, we were Arab American. So if we traveled overseas we were American, when we're here, we're Arab. So either way we're blamed for 9/11."

But the family decided to get involved and work on bringing awareness to the importance of diversity. Itayem, who as valedictorian spoke to the incoming Germantown freshman, said she's noticed a difference in student body make-up and tolerance over the last few years.

"Its not just different races, its different languages, different customs," said Itayem. "Everybody's from different parts of the world, speaking different languages. It makes it such a worldly campus."

According to Shelby County Schools, ten years ago, the students were 76% white and 24% minority. Last year the system was 54% white and 46% minority. It's a statistic that surprises many, said Shelby County School Board President David Pickler.

"They say, you look out there in the suburbs and you see Shelby County Schools and they're all rich and all white and the reality is it's farther than the truth it could be," said Pickler.

Superintendent John Aitken said Shelby County Schools is one of the most diverse systems in the state. And, of the districts that earned straight A's on the state report card, Shelby County Schools is the most diverse, with the greatest number of economically disadvantaged students.

"In 2000 our report card actually had some B's on it and the last four years, as our cultures have changed as our demographics have changed, as the economically disadvantaged population has grown, we've managed to make four years of straight A's on achievement in Tennessee," said Aitken.

But while the district itself has a racial make-up at nearly 50-50, there are many schools within the system, not so diverse.

For example, Collierville High School is almost all white, while Southwind High School is almost all black. Roughly one third of Shelby County Schools are 80% white or 80% minority.

Aitken said that's a side effect of a neighborhood system.

"It would be impossible to have a neighborhood school concept without drastically changing bus routes and moving people and busing across town lines," said Aitken.

Jessica Morgan and her friends just graduated from Shadowlawn, a school where white kids are the minority at 25 percent of the student body. Jessica said at times the school did not feel diverse.

"Most classes I had they didn't have assigned seats, so you could see white people on one section, black people like that," said Morgan.

She said she has even felt pressure to not mingle outside her race.

"My black friends ask me, why are you cool with her and stuff like that," said Morgan.

The girls say they think attitudes will be different at their respective high schools. Both Bolton and Bartlett are pretty evenly spilt.

And as a recent graduate of a diverse high school, Itayem said it has prepared her for college and the working world.

"I think that's the extra edge some jobs are looking for, people who are used to being around people from all over the world," said Itayem.

"It's just much healthier," said Jubran. "Imagine eating rice all week, or eating rice without spices, it's just better to have ethnically diverse people. It just spices the schools up. And the kids learn so much by seeing other people."