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page 14—SEPTEMBER 1958—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
TEXAS
Second District Referendum Approves
Desegregation; Total Now Stands At 124
AUSTIN, Texas
A nother Texas school district,
Bloomington, voted to deseg
regate, bringing the state total to
124 integrated districts. (See
“School Boards and Schoolmen.”)
Boerne voters rejected a pro
posal to admit two Negroes to their
white schools. (See “School
Boards and Schoolmen.”)
The Dallas school board contended in
a state court the new referendum law
does not apply to that district because it
was involved in litigation over integra
tion when the act was passed. (See “Le
gal Action.”)
Bryant W. Bowles Jr., a segregation
agitator, was sentenced to life imprison
ment for killing his brother-in-law. (See
“Legal Action.”)
ENROLLMENT CLIMBS
Higher enrollment in all Texas state
colleges is predicted for this fall, includ
ing segregated colleges for Negroes. (See
“In the Colleges.”)
A labor group complained about a do
nation by Robert G. Storey, vice chair
man of the U. S. Civil Rights Commis
sion, to the unsuccessful campaign of
William A. Blakley for the U. S. Sen
ate in Texas. (See “Political Activity.”)
The Dallas police department took
steps to prevent recurrence of clashes
between Negroes and police, both de
scribed as “minor”. (See “Miscellan
eous.”)
TWO MORE DISTRICTS
Integration of Texas schools will be
increased slightly in September, over the
situation a year ago.
Two districts have voted to integrate
under a new state law requiring such
approval for future desegregation, with
loss of state funds as one penalty for
violation. These are Bloomington, newly
desegregated, and Pleasanton, whose
election was held last November.
While there is no official list, a tally
by Southern School News shows 124
Texas districts now have abolished seg
regation as official policy. About 600
other districts maintain segregation.
Many of the desegregated districts give
Negroes a choice of attending integrated
or segregated schools.
OVER HALF MILLION PUPILS
By current estimates, about 575,000
white and 25,000 Negroes will be en
rolled in desegregated Texas districts
this fall. About 325,000 whites and 3,750
Negroes will attend mixed classes.
Public schools expect an enrollment of
1,692,615 white and 262,810 Negro pupils
in September, an increase of 58,059
whites and 9,016 Negroes.
The Bloomington school district in
southeast Texas, near Victoria, became
the newest district to desegregate. It is
in an area where integration was gen
eral, although far from complete, before
Texas legislators in 1957 passed a law
requiring voter approval before such
action could be taken without loss of
state funds.
In an election held Aug. 2, almost
without publicity, the district voted 128
to 44 to abolish its dual high school sys
tem.
The Bloomington board later adopted
unanimously an order to admit the 16
Negro high school students in the dis
trict to classes with 160 white pupils.
The Negroes had been attending a school
in Victoria, 13 miles away. The Victoria
board advised Bloomington officials they
would be unable to accept the students
this fall “due to crowded conditions.”
Victoria desegregated its schools three
years ago, starting in the elementary
grades and progressing one grade a year
until segregation is abolished at all lev
els. Separate high schools are still main
tained at Victoria for whites and Ne
groes.
ELECTION UNEVENTFUL
Supt. Claude B. Mullins of Bloom
ington said there was “no friction over
the integration election and very little
interest in it.” The school district has
754 white and 68 Negro students. Sep
arate schools will be retained on the ele
mentary level.
Mullins said the Bloomington board
viewed its choice as integrating the high
school or losing accredited standing for
the whole system for failing to provide
adequately for its Negro pupils. Under
similar circumstances, the Pleasanton
district integrated by referendum last
year.
Boerne (Kendall County), the only
district to vote against integration under
the new election requirement set up by
the legislature, still is uncertain what
to do with its two Negro students.
The district recently voted against ad
mitting the two to classes with 800 white
students. Last year the district employed
one Negro teacher for the two Negroes
but her contract was not renewed.
SEEK STATE FUNDS
Supt. Roy E. Liesman of Boerne said
the local board, which supported inte
gration, now is asking the county
board to request state funds for a Negro
teacher in the upcoming school year. In
special cases, the state provides a teacher
for fewer than 15 students—which is the
usual minimum.
Boerne’s two Negro pupils, a brother
and sister—are in the third and fifth
grades. Two years ago the district had
eight Negro pupils, but the Negro pop
ulation there has been dwindling.
If the state fails to employ a Negro
teacher for the two pupils, Liesman said
the district would have to pay the sal
ary out of local funds unless it could
transfer the Negroes to another district.
San Antonio, 30 miles away, operates
unsegregated schools.
Austin public schools added the ninth
grade to those desegregated in Septem
ber, but officials did not anticipate it
would increase the number of Negroes
attending mixed schools, compared to
last year.
There were 36 Negroes enrolled last
year in three high schools with ap
proximately 4,000 white students. Ad
vance registrations indicate the number
of Negroes to these schools will be
smaller this fall.
One Negro enrolled with white pupils
in the ninth grade of a junior high
school.
About 600 Negroes are eligible to at
tend mixed high schools in Austin and
about 100 are eligible to attend mixed
junior high schools. Most of these by
preference are continuing to attend all-
Negro schools.
Validity of the referendum law may
be tested by the Dallas district, which
is under a federal court order to abolish
segregation.
In its present state court case filed
against the Texas Education Agency, the
Dallas board contends the election
law does not apply to Dallas be
cause the act was passed after an inte
gration suit had been filed against the
district (Dallas ISD v. Edgar).
STATE FUNDS IN BALANCE
If the courts decide the act does ap
ply to Dallas, the district then may at
tack its validity. As it now stands, Dallas
would lose more than $1,500,000 a year
in state funds if it desegregated without
approval of a majority of the district’s
voters.
Houston, the nation’s largest segre
gated school district, also is under a
federal court order to desegregate but
without any specified time. The Houston
board has let Dallas take the lead in
charting a legal course on its racial prob
lems.
HOUSTON PROPOSES BONDS
Enrollment in Houston in September
is predicted to be 257,584. The district,
which has been beset by administrative
troubles (See SSN August 1958 and pre
vious), is asking voter approval of a plan
WEST VIRGINIA
Educators, Lawmakers Get Together on Broad Plan
CHARLESTON, W. Va.
EW STEPS TOWARD total School
desegregation in West Vir
ginia appeared likely at the fall
term opening of public schools.
This is the second year that all
bi-racial school districts have
complied with the U. S. Supreme
Court’s 1954 desegregation direc
tive.
Twenty-five counties are fully deseg
regated. Twelve districts have no Ne
groes, but four of them have desegre
gation policies, and 18 are partially de
segregated. (See “Under Survey.”)
One of two federal court actions
brought by Negro teachers who claim
they were discriminated against in job
placement will go to trial in mid-Sep
tember. The National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
also is planning a revival of court ac
tion against what it describes as five
laggard counties. (See “Legal Action.”)
RACE PROGRAM STUDY
In Charleston, where school desegre
gation is the most complete in the state,
Mayor John T. Copenhaver has offered
to appoint a Committee on Human Re
lations for a general study of local ra
cial problems. (See “Community Ac
tion.”)
State School Supt. R. Virgil Rohr-
bough and other educators met in late
August with legislative leaders to
sketch plans for next year’s public
school program. An agreed legislative
program is their aim. (See “School
Boards and Schoolmen.”)
West Virginia Colleges, all desegre
gated except two or three private ones,
anticipate their largest total enrollment
in history this fall—29,000 students.
(See “In the Colleges.”)
A Southern School News survey in
dicates virtually all partially desegre
gated counties will experience an in
crease in white-Negro enrollments this
year. For the most part, these counties
have put voluntary programs into ef
fect. One—Wyoming—will move ahead
with its several-stage plan.
This far-south coal mining county
desegregated first grade students in
1955, second grade students in 1956,
third grade students in 1957, and in
tends to extend the program to the
fourth grade this fall. Supt. Jesse W.
Morgan has said desegregation would
be accelerated if public opinion permits.
RELUCTANT TO CHANGE
One apparent result of the volun
tary program seems to be that there
is little inclination on the part of Ne
gro children to make the change to
white schools. In Logan, for instance,
the NAACP has found opposition even
among Negro teacher groups.
In the Eastern Panhandle, where in
1957 Jefferson, Hampshire, and Hardy
counties became the last to open their
white schools to Negroes, little change
is expected this term.
A. Clinton Loy, Hampshire superin
tendent, says where there were three
Negroes in Romney High School, four
in one and one in another elementary
school last fall, he anticipates no marked
change this year.
The remaining 15 Negro children in
the county, all living in Romney, will
attend a one-room all-Negro school
there for another year.
Loy said overcrowding at the white
elementary school in Romney prevents
making the program complete, because
Hampshire County voted down a
building program two years ago.
THREATS RECEIVED
When Hampshire desegregated last
fall, several threatening letters were
written to the board of education. Loy
called in the FBI, made it known that
he was doing so, and no more protests
were heard.
In Jefferson County, where eight Ne
gro children applied for admission to
white schools last year, a slight in
crease in such applications was noted
this fall.
The total Negro school population in
Jefferson County runs to roughly 700,
but little interest has been shown in
the desegregation program. Supt. T. A..
Lowery will not hazard even a guess as
to how many years it will take to make
it complete.
CHANGES IN HARDY
Hardy County will reopen the for
merly all-Negro consolidated school in
Moorefield this month as an elementary
school. Negro high school students for
the second year will attend Moorefield
High.
Supt. R. S Dispanet has said that the
plans are to close the elementary school
in another year or so. It was previously
used as an elementary school for Hardy
County children and high school for
children from six counties in the area
with small Negro populations.
When desegregation was ordered by
the Supreme Court, the several sur
rounding counties began pulling their
children back home, and it has passed
its time of usefulness as a consolidated
school. Hardy has a Negro school popu
lation of about 90 children.
Other counties answering the SSN
questionnaire said the white schools
will be open to any and all Negroes
wanting to use them. A number of su
perintendents said they would have a
better picture of the desegregation sit
uation after the school opening.
Mrs. Edith Goode of Hinton last
month brought injunction proceedings
against the Summers County school
board (Goode v. Summers County
Board of Education) charging discrim
ination against Negro teachers. Her suit
will be tried in the Southern West Vir
ginia District Federal Court at Beckley
September 11.
She alleged the board refused to hire
her for the 1957-58 term “solely be
cause of the fact that she was a mem
ber of the Negro race” and hired other
teachers with less teaching qualifica
tions.
She also alleged that the Summers
County board “is attempting an admin
istrative order . . . where Negro teach
ers will be excluded from employment
in any school except those schools in
which the pupils are wholly Negro.”
(Summers is partially desegregated.)
This is the second such action
brought in West Virginia since 1954.
The other suit is Anna Starling v.
the Mingo County Board of Education.
It alleged roughly the same thing.
TEACHERS REHIRED
Both Mrs. Goode and Mrs. Starling
have been rehired for the term begin
ning this month, but their lawyer,
Willard Brown of Charleston, says they
are continuing the suits in the hope of
recovering their 1957-58 salaries. The
Starling case hasn’t been docketed.
Brown, chief counsel for the NAACP
in West Virginia, says plans are being
made to “further accelerate cases for
teachers who haven’t been integrated
along with the children.”
He noted that even though the 1954
Supreme Court decision did not deal
with the question of teacher desegre
gation, his group feels “the same prin
ciple relative to the pupils can be ap
plied to teachers where it can be shown
that they are being discriminated
against solely because of race.”
OTHER COUNTIES THREATENED
Brown charged that Raleigh, Mercer,
McDowell, Mingo, and Logan counties
“have been dragging their feet on inte
gration” and new court action will be
instituted against them by the NAACP.
All five counties previously have
been cited in suits filed in federal court
by the NAACP and have been directed
to desegregate on a voluntary basis. Lit
tle if any progress is being made, said
Brown.
In answer to an editorial in the
Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette, calling at
tention to several racial problems that
demand community-wide attention,
Mayor John T. Copenhaver of Charles
ton announced Aug. 28:
“I am willing to undertake the cre
ation of such a [citizens’] committee
upon the condition that men and wom
en peculiarly fitted to represent society
in this regard will agree to serve.”
However, he warned, the movement
will not be undertaken until he has
whereby it can issue more bonds. If this
extra source of money for construction
becomes available, teachers are prom
ised a $400-a-year raise.
A spokesman reported 50 vacancies for
white teachers in Houston two weeks
before classes were scheduled to start.
Over the protest of some patrons, in
cluding picketing, a Negro administra
tor, William S. Holland, was transferred
from Yates High School in Houston to
Ryan Junior High. Supt. John W. Mc
Farland said the change was not a de
motion for Holland.
STATE COURT STUDIES DALLAS
The court test of the status of Dallas
schools was filed with state District
Judge W. L. (Jack) Thornton. Federal
courts previously had refused to rule
upon the application of new state laws to
a federal court order for the district to
desegregate “with deliberate speed”.
(Borders v. Rippy.)
Validity of the state laws is not chal
lenged by the Dallas district in its latest
suit. It contends only that the laws do
not apply, since the district was involved
in its federal court desegregation con
test before the Texas Legislature acted.
(See SSN June 1957.)
The case filed by Andrew J. Thuss,
school board attorney, notes the passage
of HB 65, requiring a referendum ap
proval before any Texas district inte
grates in the future, and HB 231, a pupil
assignment act never used in the state.
VALIDITY QUESTIONED
The Dallas board said the two acts
“may be valid in their general applica
tion.” But it added the question is raised
on whether the Legislature “has the
power to set aside judicial acts by retro
active law.”
The U.S. court’s order for Dallas to de
segregate came in July 1957. The state
laws, although passed three months ear
lier, did not go into effect until Aug. 23,
1957.
Because of this, the Dallas board said
Texas Commissioner of Education J. W.
Edgar would be exceeding his authority
if he withheld funds or accreditation
under the state law.
The brief added “accreditation is
something earned by students and
should not . . be withheld from them
irrespective of what the school district
may do.”
(Continued On Next Page)
For Schools
consulted with persons who have a
clear understanding of the problems to
be considered and hold a desire for
their solution.
The editorial said Charleston can be
proud of its already excellent record in
race relations, especially in the public
schools. But it pointed out other as
pects of the racial problem need action.
Top educators met with legislative
leaders Aug. 26 for the first of a series
of meetings on a school program for
the session of the Legislature beginning
in January, and for the first time in
years the state Department of Educa
tion and the West Virginia Education
Association were in agreement.
State School Supt. R. Virgil Rohr-
bough and WVEA Executive Secretary
Phares Reeder issued a joint announce
ment they will endorse a single pro
gram.
ASK MORE MONEY
In their meeting with the lawmakers
Rohrbough and Reeder asked that $6
million in new money for teachers’ sal
aries be made a part of the foundation
school program. It is likely that Rohr-
bough’s “incentive program,” which
didn’t get through the Legislature this
years, will be re-introduced in modi
fied form.
In past years the WVEA and state
department have submitted separate
programs to the Legislature.
The Kanawha County school board,
which administers the biggest school
district in West Virginia (56,000 chil
dren), announced a tentative policy
aimed at curbing extra-curricular ac
tivities and outside distractions.
Coming under the possible ban will
be: holidays to celebrate athletic vic
tories, band and sport practice sessions
during school hours, and paid assem
bly programs (dog shows, touring ma
gicians, etc.).
The Feaster report on deficiencies in
the West Virginia school program, made
public last year, frowned on such ac
tivities. The report said the average
West Virginia school child is two years
(Continued On Page 16)