Area students tromping back to classrooms in coming weeks will return to schools far more diverse than those attended by their parents, but under the watch of school systems pouring resources into minimizing predictable effects.

Numbers released Monday by the Associated Press using the most recent federal data show that in 2005, white students made up 57 percent of public school students, Hispanics made up 20 percent, blacks made up 17 percent, and all other races made up 6 percent. In 1972, the landscape was far more homogenous: 78 percent white, 15 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic and 1 percent “other.”