About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1963)
PAGE 12—JULY, 1963—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS VIRGINIA State Board Assigns 1,200 Negroes to Biracial Classes RICHMOND he State Pupil Placement Board, in a series of meetings during June, assigned approxi mately 1,200 Negro children to white or predominantly white schools in Virginia. This is about the same number of Negroes as now are attending desegre gated schools in the state. Several hundred additional Negro children will attend desegregated schools for the first time this fall as the result of court orders and assign ments in Northern Virginia localities which do not come under the jurisdic tion of the State Pupil Placement Board. Seventeen school districts will be de segregated for the first time, bringing the total to 49 of the state’s 130 dis tricts. At least 50 schools will have biracial classes for the first time in September. Counties in which the first desegre gation is scheduled ot occur are Albe marle, Charles City, Culpeper, Dinwid- die, Fauquier, Frederick, Greene, Han over, Henrico, King and Queen, Mid dlesex, Powhatan, Spotsylvania and Surry. Cities which will experience their initial school desegregation are Dan ville, Martinsville and Staunton. In considering Negroes’ applications in previous years, the placement board took into account academic qualifica tions and residence. A Negro child was not assigned to a white or predominantly white school unless his scores on standardized tests equaled the median at the school he wished to attend. In previous years, the practice also was to deny a Negro’s application if he lived closer to an all-Negro school than to a white or desegregated school. This year, according to board chair man E. J. Oglesby, academic qualifica tions and residence were not taken into account in making assignments. Recent courts orders have outlawed such cri teria. ★ ★ ★ Two Negroes Enrolled At Hopewell For Summer The city of Hopewell experienced its first school desegregation June 14 when two Negro students enrolled at the summer session of Hopewell High School. They had been assigned by the State Pupil Placement Board. Hopewell’s regular school program has not yet been desegregated. A hear ing was held in federal district court at Richmond June 10 in a suit brought by nine Negro pupils and their parents Tennessee (Continued From Page 11) istered for graduate programs. An ad ditional 644 white students registered for undergraduate studies. All of the Negroes reside in the Chat tanooga area. What They Say Governor To Name Relations Group Gov. Frank G. Clement told a news conference on June 28 that he plans to name a biracial human relations com mission for Tennessee. Clement declined to say when he ex pects to take the action. At the same press conference, the governor said he has no plans to issue an executive order to end racial dis crimination by businesses and profes sions licensed by the state. His answer came in reply to questions on whether he planned to take action similar to that announced by Kentucky Gov. Bert Combs. ★ ★ ★ Faubus Calls Statements By Kennedy ‘Ridiculous’ Speaking in Memphis June 13, Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas termed “ridiculous” statements by President Kennedy in his plea to eliminate segre gation. Faubus said: “No race or creed will ever be accepted unless they can first accept responsibility. Negroes have every opportunity; it is up to them to take advantage of it.” seeking th children’s admission to white schools in Hopewell. (Gilliam v. Hope- well School Board.) Judge John D. Butzner Jr. took the case under advise ment. ★ ★ ★ 66 Negroes Assigned In Powhatan, Danville From a statewide standpoint, pupil placement board assignments of great est interest were those involving Pow hatan County and the city of Danville. Fifty-six Negroes were assigned to Powhatan’s only white school. The as signments were made on June 24, three days following a public hearing at which supporters of public schools clashed verbally with supporters of private schools. The hearing, conducted before the board of supervisors, was on the pro posed budget for the new fiscal year. The question at issue was whether funds for public schools would be cut below previous years’ appropriations. Private school advocates urged sharply increased appropriations for tuition grants, on the grounds that many Pow hatan white children will not attend desegregated schools. The private Huguenot Academy has announced it will expand from its present four-grade system to a full 12-year school in the fall. It has a current enrollment of 104. Public school advocates in Powhatan expressed fear that if any substantial number of the white children withdrew from the public school, the educational program of the school will be seriously affected. (For another development re lating to Powhatan County, see Legal Action.) The Danville assignments were made June 19 following a series of demon strations by Negroes for desegregation of various aspects of community life. Scores of arrests were made and some violence occurred. Danville is located in the Southside Virginia “Black Belt” and has a large Negro population. Ten Negroes were assigned to four white schools. The Danville Register said editorially June 20 that while some citizens will dislike desegregation, “it will be accepted by a large number of people, white and Negro, who consider Prince Edward County Prince Edward County’s closed public school system figured prominently last month in litigation, the governor’s press conferences and county politics, and was the subject of a conversation with the President of the United States. The Virginia Supreme Court on June 12 rejected the state’s request for an early hearing on issues involving the closing of Prince Edward schools. (Prince Edward County School Board v. Griffin.) The state had asked for a hearing in June, but the court placed the suit on the docket for the session beginning Oct. 7. This means that no decision is likely to be forthcoming from this court until next January on such constitu tional issues as whether the closing of schools violates the rights of Negro children. In a hearing June 3, Assistant Vir ginia Attorney General Robert D. Mc- Ilwaine told the justices that early action would enable the court to hand down a decision before the 1963-64 school session opens in September. “Why do you want to run a race with the Fourth (U.S.) Circuit Court of Ap peals?” Chief Justice John W. Eggles ton asked Mcllwaine. The attorney replied that since there are similar issues pending before both courts, an interpretation of the Virginia constitutional and statutory questions by the state’s highest tribunal would be “final” and “would be of value to the Fourth Circuit Court.” On June 12 the court announced it would docket the case for the October session. Reporter Allan Jones, writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, said, “There has been speculation that the federal appellate court might be withholding its decision pending a ruling by the State Supreme Court. Whether the fed eral tribunal will defer until January remains to be seen.” A tax rate providing insufficient funds for operation of public schools was for mally and finally approved by the Virginia Highlights The number of Negro children at tending desegregated schools in Vir ginia will more than double during the coming school year as a result of assignments and court orders. In a decision potentially applicable to other localities receiving “im pacted area” school aid, a federal district court ruled that the United States government could bring suit to require desegregated schooling of children of federal personnel at Ft. Lee in Prince George County. A series of developments kept at- tion focused on Prince Edward Coun ty, amid uncertainty as to whether public schools there would be forced by court order to open in September. it as marking the end of one phase and the beginning of another in public edu cation.” ★ ★ ★ Assignment Policy Based On Residence Set In Arlington The Arlington County School Board voted June 20 for automatic assignment of children, regardless of race, to schools in areas in which they live. The Nothem Virginia Sun said the new policy will result in the assignment of 11 white students to predominantly Negro schools. Automatically desegregated by the action will be eight additional schools. About half of the county’s 48 schools will then be desegregated. In a ruling on June 6, the Arlington School Board ordered that all refer ences to race be removed from job ap plication forms for both teachers and other school personnel. The Arlington Chamber of Commerce announced opposition to the School Board’s plan to close the Negro Hoff- Prince Edward Board of Supervisors June 18. This was said to indicate that the supervisors do not plan to finance school operation during the 1963-64 year. They have not provided public school funds since 1959. In a public hearing June 7, six speak ers—four white and two Negro—urged the supervisors to provide money for schools. Among them were a professor at Longwood College (state-supported), a white clergyman and a Negro clergy man. The dean of Longwood College also urged school re-opening in a let ter read to the board. Re-Opening Campaign Issue E. M. Pairet on June 19 became the first candidate for the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors to advocate re opening of the schools. Pairet told the Farmville Business and Professional Women’s Club that the private segregated school system, which most of the whites attend, needs state- local tuition grants, and that these grants have been outlawed in Prince Edward for as long as the public schools remain closed. He also said the county lost one prospective industry because of the school situation. The other two candidates from the Farmville District—C. H. Lafoon and John C. Steck, the incumbent—said they opposed re-opening of the schools. Pairet, a partner in an electrical ap pliance company, said he is “not an integrationist” but that he feels the county has “a moral obligation to open public schools.” He said that of more than 1,140 white voters’ homes in which he has visited, from 900 to 1,000 indi cated “it is time to make some conces sions.” Both Lafoon and Steck said that even if public schools were re-opened, there was no assurance that the private school system could accept tuition grant money and remain segregated. They said the courts might hold that accept ance of the grants made the schools man-Boston High School and to send its students to the three predominantly white high schools. In a resolution, the chamber said white schools already are overcrowded. The resolution also said that Wash ington’s “forced integration” has caused a “disintegration” of its schools and neighborhoods and that similar situa tions could develop in Arlington. Ar lington is just across the Potomac River from Washington, and thousands of persons who work in the capital live in Arlington. ★ ★ ★ Albemarle Board Keeps Resolution Banning Activities The Albemarle County School Board, by a 4-2 vote on June 13, refused to rescind its resolution of last July which would prohibit all athletics and social activities in county schools if desegre gation occurs. Albemarle is slated to experience its first desegregation in September, as the result of assignments by the State Pupil Placement Board. The request that the policy be re scinded was made by members of the board of supervisors, who met with the school board. On June 20 the super visors adopted a resolution agreeing with banning of school-sponsored social events but disagreeing with the ban on athletics. Legal Action Judge Rules U.S. May Bring Suit In Ft. Lee Case U.S. District Judge John D. Butzner Jr. ruled June 23 that the United States may bring suit to secure desegregated schooling for children of civilian and military personnel at Ft. Lee in Prince George County. (U.S.A. v. Prince George School Board.) The decision was based on the con tract between the county and the fed eral government under which the public and that therefore Negroes would have to be admitted. Lafoon is a real estate broker. Steck is managing editor of the county’s semi weekly newspaper, the Farmville Her ald. Gov. Albertis Harrison told reporters on several occasions, as well as others who discussed the Prince Edward sit uation with him, that he feels there is nothing he can do until courts settle legal issues involved. On June 25, 14 white and Negro rep resentatives of seven Virginia organiza tions asked the governor to take cer tain steps to help solve the racial prob lems of the state. One of the requests was that Harrison do everything pos sible to re-open Prince Edward schools. President Kennedy was asked per sonally on June 19 to expedite the gov ernment’s plan to provide remedial in struction to the Negro children of Prince Edward County. The request was made by Dr. J. Rupert Picott of Richmond, executive secretary of the Virginia Teachers As sociation, in the Rose Garden of the White House following a civil rights meeting attended by about 250 educa tion leaders. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare is awaiting specific data from a study on the educational needs of the children before develop ing plans for a remedial instruction program. ‘Teaching Mission’ Thirty New York City teachers will join about 30 Queens College students in conducting a “teaching mission” in Prince Edward this summer. The “crash remedial program” will continue for eight weeks. Richard Par rish, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the pro gram will emphasize reading, mathe matics and other fundamentals. Most Negro children of Prince Ed ward have been without formal school ing since 1959, when the county closed its public schools to avoid desegrega tion. Court Rejects Early Hearing Plea county has received federal school con struction aid under the so-called “im pacted area” program. Under the contract, according to Judge Butzner, the county agreed that its school facilities would be available to the federally- connected c h i 1 - dren on the same terms in accord ance with state laws that such fa cilities are avail able to other chil dren in the coun ty. When the agree ment was first made in 1951, Vir ginia law provid ed for segregation in the schools. But the state now says it does not use race as a criteria in assigning pupils, so Negro ch’ldren at Ft. Lee cannot be assigned because of race, Judge Butz ner ruled. The district judge agreed with the county and the pupil placement board that the federal government cannot bring suit to secure desegregation for individual children. He pointed out that Congress had specifically refused to give the Justice Department such au thority. But the government can bring suit to enforce a contract to which it is a party, he declared. Government Allegations The government also contended that segregation of Negro children at Ft. Lee had damaged the morale and effective ness of Negro personnel and that, therefore, the countv had “unlawfully burdened the United States in the ex ercise of its war powers under the Con stitution.” Judge Butzner rejected that conten tion. He said that while morale has been adversely affected, the evidence “does not establish that this has im pinged upon the war powers of the United States.” Ft. Lee has about 5,000 military per sonnel, of whom 694 are Negroes. There are about 2,000 civilian workers, ot whom 350 are Negroes. The Negro soldiers have 159 school- age dependents, and the Negro civilian workers have 426. Up to the present, most of the Negro children have been sent to Negro schools in the nearby city of Peters burg, under an arrangement between the city and the county. However, the city has announced that it cannot enroll the children any longer. Since 1951, Prince George County has received $1,150,596 in federal school funds. Other Legal Developments Among other legal developments re lating to school desegregation: • Judge Butzner on June 27 ordered the King George County School Board to admit 38 Negroes to white or pr 6 ' dominantly white schools in the count> at the beginning of the fall term. (Be • ton v. King George County Schoo Board.) . • The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court ot Appeals on July 1 upheld a distnc court order enjoining the Powhatan County School Board from taking atb action to close the county’s P a schools. But the appeals tribunal threw out that part of the district co order which attempted to apply closing injunction to the county s b of supervisors. The circuit court ^ the supervisors were not a party to original suit and thus could no enjoined in the case. The effect o ^ decision was to leave the question ^ closing schools up to the supervisors, which could close sc if it wished to do so, by failing ° propriate funds for school P u 7l o0 | (Bell v. Powhatan County ird.) - 0 f The U.S. Fourth Circuit Counv ^ peals, in another decision, 1*. :cted the city of Lynchburg s gn ear desegregation plan, wlu jj-trict n approved by a federal n t rt. The circuit judges cited an*^ . Supreme Court decision ^ nphis recreational facilities agct. ch the court had said, m t “deliberate speed” does, n0 . eftnite delay. “We hold, jgji :uit court, “the grade-a-ye® mulgated by the Lynchburg ird for initial implementa ^e' rs after the first . . ■ school • ;, ^ on cannot now be featn^ :uit court also rejected tha ^ :he Lynchburg plan allowing to transfer from a school ^ 0 n ir race is in the minority. ,ynchburg School Board.) e fqse“ The U.S. Supreme Coni . ^ June 17 to review an appe (See VIRGINIA, Page 13)
