Three years ago, a group of parents from the Columbia neighborhood of Clemens Crossing pooled their money to hire buses that would transport more than 100 kids from older, more diverse Wilde Lake Middle School to the newer Lime Kiln Middle in Fulton.

That unusual decision sparked an angry response from many in Columbia who thought the parents were taking advantage of Howard County's open enrollment policy to run away from the educational and social problems that came with diversity.

The parents responded with passion -- defending their right to do what they believed to be in the best interests of their children.

That public fight over school equity and open enrollment led to a larger debate that has produced a significant change in Howard school policies. Now, open enrollment is gone, and school leaders say they are committed to pursuing equal performance by county students, regardless of the school they attend.

Last night -- in a touching ceremony -- the last of the bused pupils left Lime Kiln Middle School to move on to high school. The busing has ended but for many the defensiveness, hurt feelings and tears remain.

At the same time, Lime Kiln parents and school officials share a determination to play down the busing issue and allow the children at the center of it to live normal lives.

At yesterday's eighth-grade recognition ceremony (middle schools don't call them graduations), the determination was clear.

Lime Kiln Principal Stephen Gibson told the eighth-graders that he was proud of how well they handled themselves, despite the angry beginnings.

"I celebrate you most of all because you have been the class that, no matter whatever happened, you have been resilient," he said.

PTSA President Dave Vidmar said last night's event was "an exciting time for the kids that have made it through all three years," not a time to bring up old arguments.

At least a few parents who sent their children to Lime Kiln instead of Wilde Lake said that in hindsight the busing might not have been worth all the fuss.

"It was a tough call," said George Rozanski, whose daughter Emily, 13, sang the closing song last night. "She had friends going to both schools."

Rozanski said Emily's three years have been "super" at Lime Kiln, but others in his Clemens Crossing neighborhood who stayed at Wilde Lake have said the same.

"Everything I've heard ... they had a good experience there," he said. "They got a new principal, and I've heard some positive things have happened at that school."

Other parents chose not to discuss their decisions, saying the issue was "behind us."

School board members also have tried to avoid talking about the busing situation, privately calling it "unfortunate" and "unhealthy."

But some school leaders agreed that the busing served as an impetus for change.

"I'm sorry it took those steps to get a school straightened out," said board Chairwoman Jane B. Schuchardt. "I would have preferred to see Wilde Lake get worked out without having parents have to get a bus and take their kids out of there."

After the busing began, the school system and county government mobilized to take a hard look at equity in the schools.

At least two committees were formed, and volumes of research compiled. One report -- "No Child Left Behind," completed in March 2000 -- was the basis for changes that loom large in the system, such as the ban on open enrollment and the push for a countywide redistricting.

Wilde Lake Middle School has been overhauled by Principal Brenda Thomas, who can take credit for the many recent awards, achievements and high parent-satisfaction quotients the school has received.

"I'm not sure I approve of all the reasons why they ran," Schuchardt said of the parents who chose to bus. "But they've stopped running. Sometimes you've got to do something drastic to bring about the change. I don't think it's a problem anymore, and I don't think we'll see that happen again."

Vice Chairwoman Sandra H. French was more defensive when reflecting on those fall days when a rented school bus seemed to symbolize the board's failure to equalize learning in all the county's schools.

"At the time of all that, we were already putting a quarter of a million dollars into some of those schools" that critics called inferior, such as Wilde Lake, French said. "Those inequities, maybe they could have been addressed a lot sooner if we had had enough funding, and I don't want to get into that because we have a very cooperative County Council now. But we had eight years that we were told to make do."

"We have moved ahead, moved forward," Vidmar said.