# Redrawing attendance boundaries to promote racial and ethnic diversity in elementary schools

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.07603 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.07603/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 97 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Mar 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Fairmandering: A column generation heuristic for fairness-optimized political districting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.11469/) (2021)
- [Redistricting Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.09504/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [AI4OPT: AI Institute for Advances in Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.02671/) (2023)
- [Merging public elementary schools to reduce racial/ethnic segregation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.10193/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Most US school districts draw "attendance boundaries" to define catchment areas that assign students to schools near their homes, often recapitulating neighborhood demographic segregation in schools. Focusing on elementary schools, we ask: how much might we reduce school segregation by redrawing attendance boundaries? Combining parent preference data with methods from combinatorial optimization, we simulate alternative boundaries for 98 US school districts serving over 3 million elementary-aged students, minimizing White/non-White segregation while mitigating changes to travel times and school sizes. Across districts, we observe a median 14% relative decrease in segregation, which we estimate would require approximately 20% of students to switch schools and, surprisingly, a slight reduction in travel times. We release a public dashboard depicting these alternative boundaries (https://www.schooldiversity.org/) and invite both school boards and their constituents to evaluate their viability. Our results show the possibility of greater integration without significant disruptions for families.