Tyrone, GA (Peachtree City, Duluth, Forest Park: house, neighborhoods, middle school)

[diverseFam]

Just curious... Tyrone, GA is 58.9% white, based off of the data here: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok

The 2010 Census data showcase these numbers (white = 67.45%):
Tyrone, GA Population - Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts - CensusViewer

Yet all the schools that are designated for Tyrone are majority black.... The elementary school has an extremely high population of Hispanic children, but by middle and high school those numbers drop drastically. Does anyone know why this is? Are white parents sending their children to private schools in the area? Are they receiving opportunities to send their children to the other Fayette County Schools (Whitewater and Peachtree City Schools)?

Not looking to cause a racial debate (This question may), just curious on how a city that is majority white, has schools that are not dominated by the majority group. I understand the demographics have shifted since 2000. But did it shift that much?

[Clayton white guy]

Very simple: Tyrone is VERY stable. Many residents have lived there for decades. Their children have grown up and many are empty nesters. At the same time, the younger families with school aged children are a diverse group seeking the excellent Fayette County Schools. There you have it, an overwhelmingly White town with overwhelmingly non-white schools. No foul "white flight" from the schools or anything else unseemly.

I have seen this phenomenon before: We call them "OWP's" for "Old White People". For instance, if you look at the demographics for Forest Park, Lake City, Morrow, and even Hapeville you will see that these towns are fairly racially balanced (1/3 White, 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic/Asian etc) but their schools are not; "OWP's" again.

As far as "white avoidance" of the public schools, I would point to Avondale Estates, the lovely, upper middle class, liberal enclave in Dekalb County that is overwhelmingly White, but whose zoned public schools are not. That would be the example of "White flight to private schools, etc." that the poster wonders about more so than the Tyrone scenario.

[diverseFam]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

Very simple: Tyrone is VERY stable. Many residents have lived there for decades. Their children have grown up and many are empty nesters. At the same time, the younger families with school aged children are a diverse group seeking the excellent Fayette County Schools. There you have it, an overwhelmingly White town with overwhelmingly non-white schools. No foul "white flight" from the schools or anything else unseemly.

I have seen this phenomenon before: We call them "OWP's" for "Old White People". For instance, if you look at the demographics for Forest Park, Lake City, Morrow, and even Hapeville you will see that these towns are fairly racially balanced (1/3 White, 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic/Asian etc) but their schools are not; "OWP's" again.

As far as "white avoidance" of the public schools, I would point to Avondale Estates, the lovely, upper middle class, liberal enclave in Dekalb County that is overwhelmingly White, but whose zoned public schools are not. That would be the example of "White flight to private schools, etc." that the poster wonders about more so than the Tyrone scenario.

Thanks for the response Clayton White Guy. OWPs... LOL! You have helped me add a new acronym to my lexicon.

[ATLTJL]

For instance, if you look at the demographics for Forest Park, Lake City, Morrow, and even Hapeville you will see that these towns are fairly racially balanced (1/3 White, 1/3 Black, 1/3 Hispanic/Asian etc) but their schools are not;

Interesting.

That must be whey when you go out in Hapeville, it's easy to assume virtually no white people live there. But I bet if you go to bingo parlors and American Legions, you'd think you were in Wyoming!

PS - I've noticed the same thing in my neck of the woods. On a day to day basis, you can really see the huge diversity all over in Duluth. But a few times, I've gone to some of the pricier restaurants downtown and certain events on the town green and been like, "Where did all these white people come from? Where's everybody else?"

[Clayton white guy]

If you eat at the old "meat and threes" (Barbecue Kitchen on Virginia Avenue in College Park, Anne and Bill's on Main Street) or the original Dwarf House on Central Avenue in downtown Hapeville you would think yourself in North Dakota! OWP's strike again! ;0)

[aries4118]

ohmygodlovetyrone...

[PTC Dad]

I think Clayton White Guy is right. I do think a lot of the "OWP's" in the area have kid's that have aged out of the school system. Remember, most of Tyrone used to be rural until the late 90's and early 2000's when John Weiland and a few other developers started building a few high density developments. In the 2000's a lot of upper income minority families started moving into these new John Weiland neighborhoods in Tyrone. This began to rapidly transform the schools in the area. Also, they closed Tyrone elementary school about 4 years ago, and I think it was over 80% white. Most of the kids at Tyrone were rezoned to Crabapple elementary school in Peachtree City. These same kids are zoned to Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek, but a lot of the white families in this attendance zone now want to keep their kids in Peachtree City, so they either move or send their kids to private school once they hit middle school. Fayette County will not let you send your kid to a school you're not zoned to unless you have recently moved within Fayette County. In that case, they will let you finish out the school year. There are case by case examples where parents receive special permission to attend a school out of their attendance zone, but that's rare, and usually for special education or disability reasons.

This recent pattern has created very segregated schools in Fayette. Sandy Creek and Fayette County are now majority black and the white student enrollment at both continue to decline. In contrast, Starr's Mill and McIntosh have a black enrollment that is usually less than 10%. One solution would be to rezone northern Peachtree City into Sandy Creek. There are over 1700+ kids at McIntosh and growing, and less than 1200 at Sandy Creek and it's declining. However, this will never happen, because the parents at McIntosh would raise hell that their little Sally and Johnny can no longer drive their golf cart to school.

The only wildcard is Pinewood Forest. Will it attract a diverse group of families that will support the local schools? Who knows, but with the opening of a new private school at Pinewood, I doubt it.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by diverseFam

Just curious... Tyrone, GA is 58.9% white, based off of the data here: Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok

The 2010 Census data showcase these numbers (white = 67.45%):
Tyrone, GA Population - Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts - CensusViewer

Yet all the schools that are designated for Tyrone are majority black.... The elementary school has an extremely high population of Hispanic children, but by middle and high school those numbers drop drastically. Does anyone know why this is? Are white parents sending their children to private schools in the area? Are they receiving opportunities to send their children to the other Fayette County Schools (Whitewater and Peachtree City Schools)?

Not looking to cause a racial debate (This question may), just curious on how a city that is majority white, has schools that are not dominated by the majority group. I understand the demographics have shifted since 2000. But did it shift that much?

Some interesting observations from the numbers you posted are that:

> The proportion of non-Hispanic white residents in Tyrone's population appeared to drop from 67.45% in 2010 down to 58.9% in 2016...

> The proportion of Hispanic residents in Tyrone's population appeared to nearly triple from 3.58% in 2010 to 9.5% in 2016...

> The proportion of black residents in Tyrone's population appeared to increase only relatively modestly from 25.31% in 2010 up to 26.4% in 2016.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by PTC Dad

I think Clayton White Guy is right. I do think a lot of the "OWP's" in the area have kid's that have aged out of the school system. Remember, most of Tyrone used to be rural until the late 90's and early 2000's when John Weiland and a few other developers started building a few high density developments. In the 2000's a lot of upper income minority families started moving into these new John Weiland neighborhoods in Tyrone. This began to rapidly transform the schools in the area. Also, they closed Tyrone elementary school about 4 years ago, and I think it was over 80% white. Most of the kids at Tyrone were rezoned to Crabapple elementary school in Peachtree City. These same kids are zoned to Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek, but a lot of the white families in this attendance zone now want to keep their kids in Peachtree City, so they either move or send their kids to private school once they hit middle school. Fayette County will not let you send your kid to a school you're not zoned to unless you have recently moved within Fayette County. In that case, they will let you finish out the school year. There are case by case examples where parents receive special permission to attend a school out of their attendance zone, but that's rare, and usually for special education or disability reasons.

This recent pattern has created very segregated schools in Fayette. Sandy Creek and Fayette County are now majority black and the white student enrollment at both continue to decline. In contrast, Starr's Mill and McIntosh have a black enrollment that is usually less than 10%. One solution would be to rezone northern Peachtree City into Sandy Creek. There are over 1700+ kids at McIntosh and growing, and less than 1200 at Sandy Creek and it's declining. However, this will never happen, because the parents at McIntosh would raise hell that their little Sally and Johnny can no longer drive their golf cart to school.

The only wildcard is Pinewood Forest. Will it attract a diverse group of families that will support the local schools? Who knows, but with the opening of a new private school at Pinewood, I doubt it.

They're building a new private school at Pinewood?

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by diverseFam

Not looking to cause a racial debate (This question may), just curious on how a city that is majority white, has schools that are not dominated by the majority group.

This isn't a hard question to answer at all. Segregation.