Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 16—OCTOBER, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
FLORIDA
OK
U. S. Reported Considering Its Own Impact-Area Schools s
E !
MIAMI
' scambia County school offi
cials are studying the effect
of an announcement by the U.S.
Department of Health, Education
and Welfare that desegregated
on-hase schools for children of
military personnel are being con
sidered for next year.
HEW notified the school board a
parent-pupil survey is under way as
a basis for “necessary decisions in ad
ministration of the program of school
assistance to federally impacted areas.”
The federal government reportedly
is unhappy over the progress of de
segregation in Escambia County, which
is under orders to speed up the process.
But there has been no official word to
that effect.
The concern is caused by the pros
pect that Escambia might lose about
$700,000 it is receiving from the fed
eral government this year. The money
represents $180 for each pupil from a
family living on a government installa
tion.
Other Counties
Whether Escambia County is the only
one affected by the new government
move could not be established. Nine
other Florida counties receive substan
tial federal assistance to help educate
children of government dependents.
Only three of these counties have even
token desegregation.
The counties and their federal grants
for the current year are Brevard, $1,-
209,054; Duval, $1,073,421; Hillsborough,
$198,355; Monroe, $318,799; Okaloosa,
$599,330; Orange, $354,647; Santa Rosa,
$121,619; and Bay, $240,876.
Monroe County accepted some de
segregation this year under pressure
from the federal government. The Jus
tice Department announced it would
file suit to force the issue unless the
county complied voluntarily.
Some 60 Negroes are attending
schools with white children now. Fed
eral officials said the situation will be
reviewed before the beginning of the
next term.
★ ★ ★
Three Additional Schools
In Dade Desegregated
Three more schools have been de
segregated in Dade County, raising the
number now operating with mixed
classes to 17.
The latest group of assignments sent
five Negroes to the newly opened
North County Elementary School, two
to Little River Elementary School and
one to Robert E. Lee Junior High.
Eight more were assigned to schools
already desegregated.
At latest count, the school board said,
773 of the estimated 20,000 Negroes in
Dade County schools are attending
mixed classes.
Some Negro families and groups are
dissatisfied with the pace of desegre
gation.
Nine Negro mothers staked a “sit in”
on the lawn of the Fulford Elementary
School because their children were not
allowed to attend.
Mrs. Henry Crawford, a leader of
the group, said most live within a few
blocks of the school, which already
has three Negro pupils. But their chil
dren are transported to a school almost
12 miles away.
The delegation camped on the school
lawn after conferences with school offi
cials on their complaints. They were
told their children were not eligible
for the school under the state assign
ment law.
The discussion became heated and
some of the women followed W. W.
Matthews, assistant school superinten
dent, when he left the room to break
off the talks.
A school board spokesman explained
that about 10,000 Dade children attend
schools some distance from their homes,
although other schools are nearer.
Reasons given included overcrowding
or other conditions beyond school board
control.
“It is a matter of procedure,”
Matthews told the aggrieved parents.
“If you people had made application
when the assignment notices were sent
out last May they would have been
considered on the same basis as all
the others.”
★ ★ ★
303 Negroes in Broward
Attend Biracial Classes
Broward County continues to assign
Negroes to classes with white children
and school officials reported that 303
Negroes are now attending mixed
classes at five schools.
• Rock Island Elementary School,
which successfully began the program
last year, has 218 Negroes in the stu
dent body. Everglades Junior High,
also in its second year, has 19.
Other schools desegregated for the
first time are Fort Lauderdale High,
with 14 Negroes; Deerfield Beach Jun
ior High, 9; and Stranahan High, one.
There has been no interruption of
normal routine at any of these schools,
reports Supt. Myron L. Ashmore. Like
some other Florida counties, Broward
gained many more pupils than were
expected. Latest enrollment figures at
the county’s 95 schools totalled 71,251,
4,800 over last year’s peak. The num
ber will increase as the season ad
vances.
★ ★ ★
Three Negroes Admitted
To Schools in Volusia
The Volusia County school board,
under court orders to submit by Oct.
30 a plan for total desegregation, has
admitted three more Negroes to white
schools.
Mrs. William McMillan, whose two
daughters were the first Volusia Ne
groes in mixed classes, was accepted
as a student at the Daytona Beach
Junior College.
At the same time the school board
assigned two Negro boys to white
classes—one to the Volusia Avenue
school where Mrs. McMillan’s daugh
ters are enrolled, and the other to
Mainland Junior High.
Three other applications for trans
fer were denied and appeals are under
study by the school board.
★ ★ ★
Tallahassee Parochial
School Desegregated
A Negro girl has been attending the
Blessed Sacrament parochial school at
Tallahassee along with about 400 white
children.
There was no prior announcement,
and the desegregation was not known
publicly until several white families
withdrew their children from the
school.
The Rev. Fr. Patrick Madden, pastor
of the parish, declined to comment on
the situation. The school is connected
with a parish that has been desegre
gated for some time.
The disclosure at Tallahassee led to
reports that other parochial schools
were desegregated this year in the 41-
county North Florida diocese. Spokes
men at St. Augustine, where Arch
bishop Joseph Hurley has his residence,
had no comment
★ ★ ★
60 Palm Beach Negroes
In Classes with Whites
Latest figures in Palm Beach County
show approximately 60 Negroes attend
ing mixed classes. The school board
said 21 have been admitted to Boynton
Junior High, 11 at Riviera Beach High,
nine at Central High, five at Lake
Worth Junior High and Palm Beach
High, four at Seacrest and three at
Lake Worth High.
About 80 transfer applications were
denied, most of them on grounds of
scholastic attainment.
The court order under which Palm
Beach County desegregated applies
only to junior and senior high schools.
In the Colleges
Florida Highlights
A development in Escambia Coun
ty seemed to indicate the federal
government is considering on-base
desegregated schools under its su
pervision in impacted counties that
do not end their segregated systems.
The Department of Health, Edu
cation and Welfare is conducting a
parent-pupil survey on military in
stallations in that area as a basis
for “necessary decisions.”
If this becomes a policy, nine
Florida counties face the possible
loss of substantial federal aid.
Every county with desegregated
schools assigned additional Negro
children to white classes but the
number of desegregated systems re
mained unchanged.
Three counties ordered to file a
complete desegregation plan, includ
ing teaching personnel, by Oct. 30
asked for an amended rule to clari
fy the original decision.
A federal court ruling in the Leon
County case apparently eases the
way for Negro plaintiffs to get a
hearing without going through
lengthy administrative procedure
under state law.
The University of Miami awarded
degrees to two Negro students, the
first in its history.
High School Desegregated
In Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County desegregated its
first high school with the assignment of
a Negro boy to the junior class at
Tampa’s Jefferson High. Supt. J. C.
Farnell said the transfer was made by
administrative decision and must be
ratified by the school board.
Legal Action
Three Counties
Ask U. S. Judge
To Clarify Order
All three Florida counties under fed
eral court orders to submit plans for
total school desegregation by Oct. 30
have made delaying moves.
Attorneys for Hillsborough, Volusia
and Duval school boards asked District
Judge Bryan Simpson to clarify his
sweeping order which applied to pu
pils, teaching and administrative per
sonnel and the use of funds for opera
tion and construction.
Warren E. Hall, special Volusia
County counsel, commented:
“We feel there are certain things the
judge might have overlooked in pre
paring his order that would be in our
favor and we’re asking him to include
them.”
Specifically Hall asked Judge Simp
son to include these things:
• That the school board admitted one
Negro child to a white school almost
a year before the decision.
• That letters were sent to all parents
New Enrollment Figures Indicate
Most Higher Education Biracial
That desegregation is the rule in
higher education throughout Florida
was shown as most of the public and
private institutions announced their
enrollment figures.
There are some mixed classes at
every branch of the university system
except at Florida A. & M. University
for Negroes. FAMU has, however, ac
cepted in the past the applications of
two white students for special courses
and adheres to the board of Control’s
official desegregation policy.
Florida State University has one
Negro freshman and two graduate stu
dents this year. They are the first to
attend regular courses in the Talla
hassee institution’s history.
The University of Florida has en
rolled seven Negro undergraduates,
the largest number since desegregation
began three years ago.
At the new University of South
Florida, the student body includes
three Negroes in regular classes and
about 20 receiving part-time instruc
tion.
Among the private institutions, the
University of Miami has an estimated
25 Negro students enrolled this year.
The university, which announced the
end of segregation only last year,
granted degrees to its first Negro stu
dents this month.
Benny L. O’Berry, a Miami business
man, was awarded the degree of bache
lor of science and Mrs. Evadney C.
Jacobs, a junior college professor, re
ceived a bachelor of arts in history and
sociology.
Dean Hugh McEniry of Stetson Uni
versity at Deland said the applications
of two Negro students are being con
sidered. They are the first to offer as
regular students although several
Negoes have taken summer courses.
of school-age children explaining their
rights under the assignment law.
• That all children in the Volusia
County system “are afforded a reason
able and conscious opportunity to apply
for admission to any county public
school without regard to race or color,
and have that choice fairly considered
by the school board.”
Protect Appeal Rights
School officials indicated the move
would protect future appeal rights.
Hillsborough County plans have not
yet been announced, but Duval County
school officials said they will appeal
Judge Simpson’s order and continue
the fight as long as possible.
★ ★ ★
Sarasota County Plan
Called A ‘Subterfuge’
Negro plaintiffs seeking to speed up
desegregation in Sarasota County testi
fied before a federal judge that one
school listed as having mixed classes
is actually a subterfuge.
The Nokomis school is in reality two
schools about two miles apart, admin
istered by the same white principal.
Under questioning by Francisco
Rodriguez, NAACP attorney from
Tampa, Richard Tesar, school board
chairman, testified: “The school is in
tegrated, but the classrooms are not.”
The suit was brought by a group of
Negro parents who charged that Sara
sota County maintains a segregated
system both as to pupils and teachers.
Desegregation Policy
Five board members declared an of
ficial desegregation policy was estab
lished this summer. The county was
divided into 13 school districts and all
pupils assigned under criteria in the
assignment law.
Two schools—Nokomis and Bay
Haven Elementary—were officially de
segregated in September. Between 30
and 38 children are attending mixed
classes. Two white teachers are as
signed to a Negro school, but no Negro
teachers have white pupils.
Dr. Russell Wiley, school superinten
dent, testified the board’s desegregation
policy was “worked out on the frame
work that our federal and our state
laws must be obeyed.”
Expansion Planned
The plan, he said, calls for expan
sion of desegregation next year to in
clude the secondary schools.
Rodriguez told the court the issues
in the suit were whether Sarasota
County schools are in fact segregated,
and whether the board has any plan
for compliance with the U.S. Supreme
Court rule.
After two days of testimony and
argument, Judge George C. Young
granted each side 20 days in which to
file briefs.
★ ★ ★
Ruling in Leon County
Case May Set Precedent
A legal precedent in school suits may
have been set in a ruling by Federal
Judge G. Harrold Carswell in a case
brought by a group of Leon County
Negroes.
Denying a motion to dismiss by the
school board attorneys, Judge Cars
well held that it
CARSWELL
was not necessary
for the plaintiffs
to prove they had
been turned down
after seeking to
enter a specific
segregated school.
All that is
needed to estab
lish standing in
court, ruled the
judge, is for
plaintiffs to show
they personally were denied constitu
tional rights by being unable to attend
certain schools because of their race.
Attorneys experienced in school cases
said this may open the way for class
suits without the necessity for lengthy
administrative procedures under state
laws.
Judge Carswell did grant a defense
motion to strike a portion of the peti
tion which charged Negroes are being
discriminated against on the theory that
they are inferior to white students.
This point has not been raised in
other school suits. William O’Bryant,
school board attorney, said it repre
sented an effort to develop new prece
dent in integration cases.
Judge Carswell announced he will
proceed with testimony relating to the
segregation of pupils, but will not hear
witnesses on the question of desegre
gating teaching personnel.
Palm Beach County Case
Back With New Issue
As
01
The durable Palm Beach County
school suit, known as the Holland case
was back in court on an entirely dif. fptj]
ferent issue. I
This time William Holland Sr., the, ^
West Palm Beach attorney who filed T j.
the suit seven years ago in behalf of sU1
his son, contended Negro students art = roe:
being denied equal educational oppor. pnvf
tunities in Palm Beach Junior College ^
Four Negro girls who sought to take ^ rau
nurse training at the college were re- tr0
jected
the co
because the school board said w ^ re
was available at Roosevelt ac lif !
The
Junior College for Negroes and that .
the applicants lived nearer this institu- ® ? .
, • IR0D61
tion. . .
educe
Holland contended that residence ;nat ; r
was not a factor in attending juniot spec j;
colleges. The board’s refusal to accept ^
the applicants, he declared, violated the g oaTI
federal court order in his case.
Cour
Judge Emett C. Choate reopened the schec
case and set a hearing for Nov. 8. It to b
doing so he commented that “equal op. Luthi
portunity for quality education might trial,
be decisive in deciding the new issue,’
# # t
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(Continued From Page 9)
none of the plaintiffs had children it tome
the school. ma ^ e
Aaron Kravitch, representing the
plaintiffs, said Georgia courts have no:
and apparently will never acede to the defer
U. S. Supreme Court decision on school deprj
desegregation, so his clients have nt m ser
remedy except in the federal courts.
But Scarlett said, “This is a staff
gro
Th
scho<
matter. It is your board of education ^
They have decided one way. The ap- p ,
1 3: . rnu „ 4-Uaee rdrK
peal is pending. The rights of thesf ^
people are vested with you all.”
Kravitch said he planned to appeal
to a higher federal court.
Meanwhile, the school opened for the petit
term with Negro pupils attending un- ing t
der an agreement by both sides.
In the Colleges
University System
Opens With Three
Units Desegregated
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The University System of Georgia _
opened with three units desegregated law
When final figures are in, it is expected 1962
that 35,000 students—2,000 more the'
last term—will be enrolled in pubB
schools of higher education in the state
for the 1962-63 term.
The three units desegregated are the
largest in the system. The University
Georgia at Athens is expected to ha"
some 9,250 students. Georgia Tech h
Atlanta will have about 6,000 a®“
Georgia State in Atlanta will ha' !
about 3,800.
The Athens campus was desegregate
in January, 1961, when two Negro"
were admitted. This fall, four mo"
Negroes are attending University *
Georgia classes with Charlayne Hunt"
and Hamilton E. Holmes, who are no*
seniors. The other four Negroes—thr"*
girls and a boy—are freshmen.
Mary Francis Early, 26, a
major from Atlanta, became the tbit®
Negro to attend the university in ®
summer of 1961. Later, eight otb"
Negroes were enrolled with her in
graduate school.
Negro Gets Degree
ived
In September, Mrs. Early re° e1 '
her master’s degree in music educat"*;
the first Negro to be awarded a degm
in the university’s history. She is D °
teaching in Atlanta. |
Georgia Tech, which voluntarily
e»-
mitted three Negroes a year ago,
if®*
rolled three more Negroes this
They are Nathan Black and Artb
Simmons, both freshmen, and an m
identified transfer student from M® .
house College (Negro) of Atlanta. T ,
authorities refused to reveal the m”
student’s name.
Another Negro student, Bruce i
gram, was admitted to Georgia T j
but officials said he decided to att
another college. ^
Georgia State College was atten
by a Negro who graduated this s
3 tb® :
mer and it was announced Oct. ^
another Negro student is attending f
fall. # *
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