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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)