A controversial plan that would reduce elementary schools’ overcrowding will be discussed at a public forum next month. The Natchez-Adams School District will hold a forum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, on the plan which poses a challenge for a court-ordered desegregation ruling.

The meeting is in response to a proposal by the district to reduce the student populations at Morgantown Elementary and McLaurin Elementary, said Superintendent Dr. Carl Davis.

Under the proposal, the district would convert Morgantown and McLaurin Elementary schools from second- through sixth-grade schools to kindergarten through sixth-grade. West Primary and Frazier Primary would also switch to K-6 schools.

Braden School, used now as the district’s administrative office, would be reopened as a K-6 school.

Because the Natchez-Adams School District is under a court desegregation order, it cannot make any changes to its configuration without court approval.

In the late 1980s, a group of Natchez residents petitioned the federal court arguing Natchez schools were not properly integrated.

The court ordered the district to close certain schools and only operate the ones which are now open.

David said he has received a lot of calls and concerns about the plan to reorganize schools, so district officials decided to set up the Feb. 3 meeting.

The meeting will take place at the old Natchez Convention Center on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive.

The public meeting is for &uot;as many people as possible who want to come out and hear how the plans were drawn up,&uot;&160;Davis said.

A representative from the State Department of Education and Dr. Reuben Dilworth of PREPS, a group of educational consultants that helped the district draw up the plan, will speak to the community.

District officials believe if Morgantown and McLaurin had smaller populations the schools could better educate the children.

If the schools were smaller, principals and teachers would get to know each child better, and the students would have a stronger attachment to the school, Davis said.

Students could then perform better in school and perform better on standardized tests, he said.

Even though many educators believe 500 to 600 students is a good size for an elementary school,

To reduce the size of the schools, the district is open to looking into other ideas.

Those could include opening a different school or building a new school, Davis said.