Editing Gould, Arkansas (section)

==Education== 
Prior to the advent of court-mandated integration, separate schools were maintained for White and Black students. When courts ordered the schools to integrate, Gould established a "freedom of choice plan". In 1968, the US Supreme court declared that Gould's plan was unacceptable, and ordered Gould to integrate the schools without further delay. When the newly integrated schools opened September 2, most White students did not attend, instead waiting until October 1 to enroll in Southeast Academy, a hastily-organized, unaccredited<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114200380/private-schools-become-accredited-in-197/ | title=Private schools become accredited in 1971 | newspaper=The Commercial Appeal | date=May 2, 1971 | page=98 }}</ref> [[segregation academy]].<ref name="Winona">{{cite news |title=Whites stay out of class in Arkansas |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114199794/whites-stay-out-of-class-in-arkansas/ |publisher=Winona Daily News |date=September 20, 1968}}</ref><ref name="CCCT">{{cite news|title=Integrated School Shunned|publisher=[[The Corpus Christi Caller-Times]]|date=September 20, 1968}}</ref><ref name="EofA Private School Movement">{{cite web |title=Private School Movement |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/private-school-movement-9384/ |access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Basements">{{cite news |title=Dixie private schools spring up all over - even in basements |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114240450/dixie-private-schools-spring-up-all-over/ |access-date=December 7, 2022 |publisher=Kansas City Times}}</ref> Some White parents proposed reducing the property tax rate in order to defund the public schools and free up funds to support the segregation academy.<ref name="Millage">{{cite news |title=A town loses interest in segregated schools |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114241337/johnson-has-plan-for-gould-school/ |publisher=Hope Star |date=September 25, 1969}}</ref> In the fall of 1975 less than 70 students showed up for registration at Southeast Academy, and the school closed down.<ref name="Lancaster">{{cite news |last1=Lancaster |first1=Bill |title=A town loses interest in segregated schools |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114240657/a-town-loses-interest-in-segregated-scho/ |access-date=December 7, 2022 |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=April 27, 1976}}</ref>

Many White students transferred to districts that were more predominantly White; between 1982 and 1986 at least 115 children transferred to either Star City or Dumas. The result of the students transferring cost the school district around $100,000 per year in state funding, and left the district's ability to meet state standards in doubt. Of the 148 students who attended the integrated high school on opening day in 1986, only one was White.<ref name="Hofheimer">{{cite news |last1=Hofheimer |first1=John |title=White flight leaves Gould district with fewer students, mostly black |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114240532/white-flight-leaves-gould-district-with/ |access-date=December 7, 2022 |publisher=Pine Bluff Commercial |date=November 4, 1986}}</ref>

In 2004, the [[Gould School District]] was incorporated into the [[Dumas Public School District]]<ref name="School districts">"{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100924075952/http://arkansased.org/about/excel/consolidaton_annexation_070110.xls Consolidation/Annexations of LEA's (1983-2010)]}}." [[Arkansas Department of Education]]. Retrieved on March 6, 2011.</ref> in accordance with a law passed by the [[Arkansas Legislature]] that eliminated school districts with fewer than 350 students.<ref name="DumasgetsGoulddef">"[http://arkansasnews.com/2005/05/11/dumas-inherits-gould-districts-deficit/ Dumas inherits Gould district's deficit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707163238/http://arkansasnews.com/2005/05/11/dumas-inherits-gould-districts-deficit/ |date=2011-07-07 }}." [[Arkansas News]]. May 11, 2005. Retrieved on March 7, 2011.</ref><ref name="School districts"/> In the fall of 2005 the Dumas district planned to move all Gould students in grades 7-12 to the Dumas schools, and considered doing the same to the elementary school students from Gould.<ref name="DumasgetsGoulddef"/>