Thirty-five years after racial segregation ended in Evanston schools, the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board is gearing to study the effects that integration using a busing system has on student achievement and bilingual education.

The district will research the effects of the 60-percent racial guideline, which mandates that no racial or ethnic group can exceed 60 percent of a school’s population. The board instructed the district Monday night to present their findings this fall regarding the effects of busing, wherein students are in some cases put into schools farther from their home in order to meet the racial quotas.

“It’s not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the 60-percent guideline,” board member Jonathan Baum said. “If we end the guideline, we would have a different districting plan. This is a decision with major consequences.”

After the district presents its findings in a series of meetings in the fall, the board will seek community input before taking action.

“There is a feeling in the community that the board makes decisions in a vacuum,” board member Julie Chernoff said. “I need to hear what people in the community are saying.”

Board members agreed a decision to continue, end or modify the guideline had to be taken before the district would study magnet schools or find a permanent home for the district’s bilingual program.

“The 60 percent guideline drives so many other things and has never been questioned,” board member Bob Eder said.

If the board waits for the study’s results to make a decision on the 60-percent guideline, the district would have to hold off on assigning the bilingual-education program a permanent home for a second consecutive year.

For community members advocating a change in the guideline, finalizing the district’s future demographics is crucial to addressing minority-student achievement.

Evanston resident Bennett Johnson said busing has a negative impact on minority students.

“The problem is that the system we have is grossly unfair,” Johnson said. “Black children stand out in the sun, rain and snow to take a bus. Thirty-five years later, it is still unfair.”