Redrawing Attendance Boundaries to Promote Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Elementary Schools

Most U.S. school districts draw attendance boundaries to define catchment areas that assign students to schools near their homes, often recapitulating neighborhood demographic segregation in schools. Focusing on elementary schools, we ask: How much might we reduce school segregation by redrawing attendance boundaries? Combining parent preference data with methods from combinatorial optimization, we simulate alternative boundaries for 98 U.S. school districts serving over 3 million elementary-age students, minimizing White/non-White segregation while mitigating changes to travel times and school sizes. Across districts, we observe a median 14% relative decrease in segregation, which we estimate would require approximately 20% of students to switch schools and, surprisingly, a slight reduction in travel times. We release a public dashboard depicting these alternative boundaries and invite both school boards and their constituents to evaluate their viability. Our results show the possibility of greater integration without significant disruptions for families.

Automated summary

Most U.S. school districts have attendance boundaries that lead to demographic segregation in schools. To examine the potential reduction in school segregation, we analyze 98 school districts in the U.S. and propose alternative boundaries that minimize segregation while considering travel times and school sizes. Our simulations show a median decrease of 14% in segregation across districts, with approximately 20% of students needing to switch schools, and surprisingly, a slight reduction in travel times. We provide a public dashboard for evaluation and demonstrate the possibility of greater integration without significant disruptions for families.