“These kids, these taxpayers (in north Webster Groves), why should they be subjected to early wake-up calls and longer commutes for fill-in-the-blank diversity?” Fields said. He added that his team is well equipped to serve whatever population is zoned to attend Givens.

One survey comment echoed those thoughts on token diversity in a district where 14% of students overall qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches.

“I don’t want to distribute one black kid into every classroom just so the white people can feel diverse.”

Fields added that African American families are not a monolith, saying some in the north Webster area want to stay in their current schools.

“My African American daughter has had an excellent experience and transition to Edgar Road and I do not think it will be in her best interest to move elementary schools again,” said one survey response.

Property values were another heated topic in the survey.

“Our neighborhood has a huge amount of new construction that was banking on being a part of the Bristol community. Why would someone now buy my home if they could spend 300k less and go to the same school!?”