DAYTON, Ohio — A federal judge on Monday lifted a desegregation order, a move that will end more than 25 years of cross-town busing designed to achieve racial balance in the city's public schools.

        The school district of 20,800 students was the only system in Ohio still operating under a desegregation order.

        “The busing orders are dissolved,” U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice said at a hearing attended by officials from Dayton public schools, the Ohio Department of Education and the NAACP. Judge Rice lifted the order after the parties reached a settlement over the weekend that prevented the case from going to trial on Monday.

        Under the agreement, the city will spend $30 million to $35 million over the next five years on programs to improve academic achievement. The NAACP originally wanted nearly $100 million for academics.

        “We're pleased that we've reached a settlement agreement,” said Steve Puckett, assistant superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education. “It's time to move on from the remedies of the past — such as busing — and focus on improving academic achievement of all students in all schools.”

        Because Judge Rice has ordered busing to end, the district will receive $32.3 million that the state promised to pay in settlement.

        The state, a co-defendant in the original 1972 NAACP lawsuit, paid Dayton annually to help defray the cost of busing.

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