| Muscogee County School District | |
| Streetaddress: | 2960 Macon Road |
| Zipcode: | 31906 |
| Country: | USA |
| Coordinates: | [1] |
| Superintendent: | David Lewis |
| Faculty: | 2,006.00 (FTE)[2] |
| Grades: | Pre-kindergarten – 12 |
| Enrollment: | 29,818 (2022–23) |
| Ratio: | 14.86 |
| Free Label: | Telephone |
| Free Text: | (706) 748-2000 |
The Muscogee County School District (MCSD) is the county government agency which operates the public schools in Muscogee County, Georgia.
The district serves as the designated school district all parts of the county, except Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), for grades K-12. Fort Moore children are zoned to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for grades K-8.[3] However high school students attend the public high schools in the respective counties they are located in.[4] Any Fort Moore pupil, however, may attend Muscogee County schools if their parents wish, as per House Bill 224. The district does not give transportation to HB224 transfers.[5]
In 1963, the district formed a special committee on desegregation. In September of that year, the school board approved a freedom of choice plan which would integrate one grade each year. In January 1964, the NAACP filed a lawsuit Lockett v. the Board of Education of Muscogee School District asserting that even with the choice plan, the district maintained an inferior school system for negroes. Superintendent Dr. William Henry Shaw testified that segregation was a "long and universal custom" and that abandoning it would "injure the feelings and physical well-being of the children." Nevertheless, in September 1968, the MCSD ruled that all grades were to be integrated through Freedom of Choice. When the federal court case U. S. v. Jefferson County Board of Education ruled that teaching staffs must also be integrated, the district agreed to assign at least two teachers who would be in the racial minority to the faculty of every school. Both teachers and students considered the goal of this time period to be more focused on survival than on education. By 1970, under the freedom of choice plan, 27 of 67 schools in the district remained completely segregated. At this time, while most of the white schools employed only the mandated two black teachers, but some of the black schools employed more white teachers. Under the threat of a cutoff of $1.8 million in federal funds, the school district integrated the schools in 1971, resulting in a 70% white student population at each school. Various changes were made to appease the different groups: for example, pictures of George Washington Carver were removed from Carver High School to soothe white students. In 1997 federal jurisdiction over the school district ended.[6]
The Muscogee County Board of Education is the school district's elected governing body, and consists of nine members elected to staggered four-year terms. Eight of the members are elected from districts; one is elected at large. The Board of Education meets on the second and third Monday of each month unless the schedule is interrupted for a holiday.
Term ends 12-31-2024
Term ends 12-31- 2026
Term ends 12-31-2024
Term ends 12-31-2026
Term ends 12-31-2024
Term ends 12-31-2026
Term ends 12-31-2024
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Term ends 12-31-2026