Originally when this 1969 desegregation case was brought against the state of Georgia , there were 81 school systems in the state that unlawfully regulated “a racially dual system of public education in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.”

By 1973, Decatur was one of only three school systems (Newton and Rome county were the others) left in the state that hadn’t made significant progress towards reaching unitary status. As a result, Decatur and the other two counties remained active parties on the suit, up until today.

Due in no small part to the city’s 2003 consolidation of schools, last week the court ruled that Decatur “has fully and satisfactorily complied with the Court’s desegregation orders.” It went on to conclude that the school system “has met the legal obligations for a declaration of unitary status.”

Read the complete U.S. District Court Order here.

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