SOCSD Asks For More Time To Work On Desegregation Order

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – The U.S. Justice Department and the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District are asking a federal court for more time to work out a permanent desegregation order.

The Daily News (http://bit.ly/1Qg1PG1 ) reports that the joint filing Friday says they’ve been negotiating in recent weeks.

A new order is required to govern the consolidated district because both the Oktibbeha County School District and the Starkville School District were under desegregation orders before they merged.

Monday’s the deadline for them to submit a proposal for a permanent desegregation order. The request Friday asked Judge Michael Mills for an extension to March 4.

The judge approved a temporary order last summer.

The districts are among many around Mississippi put under federal desegregation orders in the late 1960s and ’70s.

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