A motion has been filed that could see certain federal oversight over Garland ISD’s desegregation policies dating back to the 1970s.

GARLAND, Texas — A motion has been filed that could see certain federal oversight over Garland ISD’s desegregation policies dating back to the 1970s end.

“Garland ISD eliminated its system of formal segregation many years ago, including by doing away with the former segregated Carver school, and the demographic composition of its schools today — with no school having a percentage of white students greater than 36%, according to the district’s latest report — indicates that there are also no remaining vestiges of any former discriminatory policies,” the motion filed by U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, which was filed in December, said. “The fact that district-wide white enrollment is now approximately 13% highlights the outdated nature of any “ethnicity band” requiring each individual school to have a white population no more than 20m percentage points below or above this figure.”

The motion further argues that federal supervision of local school systems was intended as “a temporary measure to remedy past discrimination” and “not intended to operate in perpetuity.”

Garland ISD’s court order, which has been in place since 1970, required that the district operate “a unitary, non-discriminatory school system.”

A Multi-Ethnic Committee in Garland ISD consisting of two Asian Pacific Islander members, three Black members, three Hispanic members and three white members, is tasked with reporting to a federal judge on district demographics in compliance with the order, among other anti-discrimination initiatives. 

The motion that could lift Garland ISD’s federal oversight is part of a larger national push. 

On Monday, ABC reported The Trump administration and Louisiana officials lifted a decades-old school desegregation order on a school district in Louisiana. It’s reportedly the second dismissal of such an order since the Justice Department began moving toward unwinding school desegregation policies that go back to the Civil Rights Movement. 

Garland ISD said in a statement that it’s aware of the motion and is set to vote on the issue during a meeting on Jan. 20. 

“Regardless of the court’s decision, Garland ISD will continue to work collaboratively with the NAACP and its community partners and remains committed to systems and practices grounded in its belief that all means all,” a Garland ISD spokesperson said in a statement.