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)
