Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE, 1964—PAGE 13 rjORTH CAROLINA Hendersonville Schools May Desegregate all WINSTON-SALEM ■ft "NDERSONVILLE schools may be jj. fully desegregated during the 1964-65 school year. The Hen dersonville City School Board on May 5 approved the reassignment * 0 f 56 Negro children to currently 3]l-white schools in the system. These children turned in requests for reassignment by April 30. Negro chil dren will be assigned to grades 1 j through 12 in the system under this rcrion- The Hendersonville school board action was the result of agreements made bv the nla-nHffs and defendants in the case of WiVima et al v. Hender- sonnlle City School Board. The case was originally filed bv Ne- irn olaintiffs in behalf of Rhonda K. ' ff'llians and others Oct. 11, 1003. in the US. D ; strict Court in Asheville Th“ court approved a settlement April l J984. This action mav mean the closing of the all-Negro Ninth Avenue School. s which mav not enroll the minimum inn sMents next school vear as renumed 1 bv state law School offici-ds sa’d thev j r>av close the school if this hanoens. Then all Nearo child-en will be as- si?"od to nreviouslv all-white schools Ninth Avenue S-hool alreadv has IfK* sOldert+a r’^nritv because of legal action. (Conley v. j Transylvania County Board of Educa- j tionj ★ ★ ★ Mere than half of the 110 schools in the rh a -)otte- 1 ' ,r eck1eoh U T-q Countv school avstem 58. wll be covered bv the desegregation program of the Missouri (Continued from Page 12) in desecrating jts sc hools among states whinfi formerly maintained sep arate facilities. . The commissioners pointed out that shortly after th e Suoreme Court de mon, the designation of race was off all forms used bv the State , enartment of Education. Because of is, exa^t figures as to the extent of Ration are not available. Wheeler sa’d desegregation has come •** °' tbe state’s school districts *i hout much fanfare. Onlv in a few “Ranees has additional court action Ne<Jr needed t0 get a district to accept Ole such court case led to the de- . e ® t * on of the Pemiscot County "°1 districts last fall. , " E - n;rf!s to indicate whether desegre- un IOn * s more than token also are Uj'*e in Missouri. Charleston, in County - was one of the first schiv,i W . ^ issouri to desegregate its facto S ’ . but the . result was not satis- \ /J to city’s Negro community, forth er j** court recently ruled that er desegregation was required. Teachers’ Jobs been Missouri has on occasio rl * ^° r ^ activity in desegregat ' ® som SSr<>0mS ' tbcre has been concer ;rig ink q ^ arters that progress in find seen r, S ™ r Negro teachers has nc Th rapid ' foshtl ^ iSS ° Uri Commission on Huma "foie Jh C ° nductin S a study to deter Heat n e . er ihe state’s fair employ the s fo w is being followed i °°1 systems throughout th for o{ T fU Robertson, executive direc Hissj 0n l corm nission, said the com foliplaint ^ received m anv inform; ieseg-p S * ba ^ when classrooms ai :< >na et .]^ at ® d ’ tbe Negro teachers wh fofo eith tau ^ t i n all-Negro schoo ^ased n , , 6r discharged or graduall He ° f u their jobs. ^foplovm that oUhough the state la: ?r ivat e 6nt P ract ice law applies * *° f ke r < ; en ?f l0yers with more than the state Pi "Hit covers all governmen ^ e re ?ardless of size, fog tV)oi, COmm ' ss 'o n has always tak ^ lat even without the la "a-J in ? rted agencies should take t "foifoiat^ lrbl = persons on a nond: Robert ry basis ” he said. ffohibitT 0 ?. noted also that the It J, ; teachc tscrimination in placeme p °ytnen t S ' Ne said that the fair er j^foatir, P ! actlce j aw prohibits a 'Sfo'atirm f ° r a j° b t0 inclu The s t? of race. ’"'red t ? te f °r several years has r , ari &s a Negro teachers recei -"her* «£ arable to those paid wh ^Withf^ 161 - recalled that 1 -fo U foea s t »?. d state funds from o t**ths lm 7u Ss . our i district for sevei “foegro 1 ^ increased salaries teachers. school board, it was announced May 14. Dr. A. Craig Phillips, superintendent of schools, announced that 350 addi tional Neg'-o students will be assigned to currently white schools and 50 white students will be assigned to currently Negro schools for the 1964-65 school year. Under the geographical plan, started two years ago with the merger of the Charlotte city and Mecklenburg Coun ty schools, the desegregated system in cludes 15 schools this year. Under this setup, 80 Negro children are enrolled in 10 predominantly white schools, and 10 white students attend the predomi nantly Negro Bethune School. Next Year For next year, 37 elementary schools and six junior high schools have been added to the desegregation program. For this year, no high schools or iunior high schools are included in desegregation. Next year, high schools may be added to the 58 schools. Th 5 s may result from the elimination of the high-school programs of three all- Negro schools in the rural area with grades 1-12. Children in grades 10-12 have the option of attending all-Negro York Road High School or all-white South Mecklenburg High School. This action will involve 100 students at Sterling School. A second Negro school, Billingsville ; n the city, may send its ninth-graders going into 10th grade to their choice of Second Ward Negro High School or white Myers Park High. This involves 50 pupils. Parents of the Negro children in volved as well as whites will receive option forms for making their choice of schools by June 5, Phillios said. In the elementary schools, pupils may at tend their present school or the newly assigned desegregated school. ★ ★ ★ Harnett County Board Closing Indian School Schools for Indians, started in 1924, will be no more in Harnett County a c - ter the current school year, the Board of Education voted May 5. Glenn Prof- fit, school suoerintendent, announced that the 38 students now enrolled in the Maple Grove Indian School near Dunn will be assigned to the predominantly white Dunn School. Proffit did not announce plans for the three Indian teachers employed at the school. Their contracts expire at the end of the current school year. The Indian school was opened 40 years ago when Indian citizens who objected to sending their children to either white or Negro schools asked for a school of their own. In 1960, how ever, the Indians held a sit-in in the white Dunn School. The school board assigned 20 Indians to previously white schools the following year. Currently 31 are enrolled in predominantly white schools. ★ ★ ★ Geographical Policy On Assignments Asked The education subcommittee of the Mayor’s Goodwill Committee of Wins ton-Salem asked the Winston-Salem- Forsyth County Board of Education May 26 to establish a geographical policy of assigning children to schools. The school board in turn referred the request to its policy committee which will study the school board’s assignment policy. Carver School, an all-Negro consolidated school that en rolls more than 1,000 students from rural Forsyth County in grades 1-12, will be affected if the proposed policy goes into effect. Under present school policy, students at Carver may request transfer to schools (all-white) nearest their homes and get bus transportation. The board has stated in the past that these re quests would be granted. So far no children have requested reassignment. Mrs. David R. Wilson, a Negro, made the request in behalf of the mayor’s committee. Three Negro members of the school board, Carl H. Russell, also an alderman of the city; Richard C. Erwin and Dr. Lillian B. Lewis, sup ported the request for a new policy. The new policy, Russell said, “takes the initiative away from the parent and places it where it belongs — with the school board.” He said, “If the board decides to assign children nearer their homes it would take the pressure off the parents.” Russell said some Negro parents fear economic reprisals, publicity and other effects resulting from application for transfers. Marvin Ward, school superintendent, North Carolina Highlights Hendersonville city schools will start desegregation in all 12 grades this fall. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County an nounced plans to assign an additional 350 Negro children to predominantly white schools and 50 white pupils to predominantly Negro schools during 1964-65. Negro plaintiffs and the Lexington Board of Education agreed, with U.S. court approval, on a plan for desegregation of schools this year. Western Carolina College enrolled two Negro athletes as freshmen be ginning this fall, desegregating var sity sports. L. Richardson Preyer and Dan K. Moore are Democratic runoff candi dates for governor after eliminating avowed segregationist Dr. I. Beverly Lake in the first primary. A Winston- Salem Negro clergyman won Demo cratic nomination for a seat in the legislature—the first member of his race to be nominated for that office in North Carolina since Reconstruc tion. said children will be reassigned under present policy until a change is made. ★ ★ ★ Negro Personnel Reported Receiving More Training Negro school personnel had more training than white school personnel during the 1962-63 school year, it was reported in the April issue of State School Facts. According to the index set for scho larship by certificate held, Negro per sonnel rated a higher index figure than white personnel in every category. The 31,493 white personnel showed a index of 808.7 for 1962-63 with 94.9 per cent having “A” certificates or graduate study, compared to 28,470 with 93.5 per cent and an 806.5 index in 1959-60. For Negro personnel totaling 12,118 in 1962-63, there were 99.0 per cent with “A” certificates or graduate certi ficates with an index of 826.1, compared to 10,849 persons with an 825.9 index with 99.4 per cent with “A” certificates and graduate study three years before. Three charts indicate that North Carolina has increased its total teaching personnel extensively for both white and Negro schools. The teachers in turn have improved their training dur ing that time. ★ ★ ★ The Dunn-Hamett branch of the Na tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked the Lillington and Harnett County school boards to create a plan for systematic desegrega tion of public schools. The NAACP included this request in a letter to officials of Harnett County May 18. Legal Action Court Approves Plan as Agreed For Lexington Judge Edwin M. Stanley of the U.S. Middle District Court in Greensboro approved an agreement between Negro plaintiffs and the Lexington City Board of Education May 14, permitting Negro children to request transfer to the schools of their choice during the 1964- 65 school year. The agreement was made in a pre trial conference and signed by Judge Stanley. The two groups will meet Feb. 15, 1965, to review the approved policy and to revise it if necessary and formulate a permanent policy in the future. This case, Sowers et al v. Lexington City Board of Education, was filed by parents of nine Negro children March 4. It requested desegregation of the school system in the assignment of teachers and pupils. Lexington operates six white schools and three Negro schools. Under the current procedure, each pupil will be notified of his assignment for the new school year. Each child will also be notified of his right to request reassignment to a school of his choice, or of his second choice if the first school is overcrowded. The re assignment form must be given to the school superintendent 10 days after the original assignment has been made. ★ ★ ★ A plan for desegregating schools in Durham will be reviewed by U.S. Dis trict Judge Edward M. Stanley in June, it was announced May 10. The plan was submitted to the U.S. Middle District Court April 20 in con nection with Wheeler v. Durham City Board of Education and Spaulding v. Durham City Board of Education, now in its fourth year of litigation. Durham is currently under a “free- choice” setup. Its previous plans for desegregation were not approved by the court. The new proposal calls for a free- choice plan with two requirements: • Written applications for reassign ment must be turned in to the school board. • Requests will be granted if space is available in accordance with accredi tation standards of the Southern Asso ciation of Colleges and Schools, maxi mum of 30 students for each class in grades 1-3 and 35 in fourth grade and above. ★ ★ ★ Parents of 11 Negro children filed suit March 14 against the Statesville City Board of Education in behalf of Harriett D. Nesbitt and others, charg ing that the school system was operated on a racially segregated basis. Negroes are seeking a court-ap proved plan for desegregation, nonracial assignment of students, teachers and school personnel, and the operation of Political Action Preyer, Moore in Runoff; L. Richardson Preyer and Dan K. Moore are runoff candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor of North Carolina. In the state party orimary May 30, they defeated Dr. I. Beverly Lake, an avowed segregation ist. Preyer was described as the most “liberal” of the gubernatorial aspirants and Moore has been rated “middle-of- the road” on race and related issues. The runoff vote will be held June 27. Election returns indicated that Ne groes generally supported Preyer in the first primary, and there were indica tions that past supporters of Lake would tend to cast their ballots for Moore in the second balloting. Preyer’s Position Preyer has made this statement as to civil rights: “North Carolina must meet racial problems, not sit back and let them overwhelm us. If we can do that, there will be no excuse for the federal gov ernment or anyone else to come in and try to impose solutions upon us. “I pledge my administration to keep ing peace in our state and order in our streets, through the wise and careful use of the governor’s powers.” Moore has been quoted on civil rights as follows: “No one or group is legally justified to block traffic, damage property or prohibit free trade in privately owned business establishments. “As governor I will give considera tion to any measures which offer great er opportunity for any person or group, so long as the measures are within the laws of this state.” Both Moore and Preyer are declared opponents of federal civil-rights laws, but neither expressed the idea of defi ance of such laws that may be passed. Charles Gavin, the Republican nomi nee for governor, has made no state ment on the civil-rights issue. ★ ★ ★ Negro Clergyman Wins Nomination for Assembly A Negro, the Rev. William R. Craw ford of Winston-Salem, on May 30 became the first member of his race to be nominated for the North Carolina General Assembly since Reconstruction days. 12 Grades extra-curricular activities on a non racial basis. They also are seeking to prevent the building of new school facilities on a racial basis. The case was filed in a U.S. District Court office in Statesville. In the Colleges Western Carolina Signs Two Negroes For Varsity Sports Western Carolina College in Cullow- hee became the first state-supported college in North Carolina to begin a program of biracial varsity sports by signing up two athletes from the all- Negro Stephens-Lee High School of Asheville. They were Henry Logan and Her bert Moore, both basketball players. Logan also is a football player, having rated all-state in both sports among Negro high schools, and will receive an athletic scholarship. Moore did not receive a grant but will try out for the basketball team. Coach Jim Gudger announced the signing May 7. He said: “The only consideration I gave the recruiting of Logan and Moore was their athletic ability. The fact that they happen to be the first Negro athletes in the Carolina Conference can be attributed to that and no other factor.” Western Carolina has been admit ting Negro students since 1957 on a voluntary basis. Logan made history March 26 when he became the first Negro to play in the Blue-White bas ketball game in Asheville and was named the game’s most valuable play er. (SSN April.) ★ ★ ★ Wake Forest College of Winston- Salem, a Baptist-supported school, awarded a grant-in-aid to a third Negro football player May 6, Coach Bill Tate announced. He is Robert Grant of Jacksonville, N.C. The other two players are Kenneth Henry of Dudley High School in Greensboro, N.C. and William Smith of Greenville, S.C. ★ ★ ★ Davidson College enrolled its first American Negroes, Dr. D. Grier Mar tin, president of the college, an nounced May 4. Davidson, a Presby terian school, has two Negro students currently enolled, but both are Con golese students from Africa. The new students are Leslie Brown of Trenton, N.C. and Wayne Crumwell of Chesapeake, Va., both honor stu dents at their high schools. The Agricultural and Technical Col lege of North Carolina in Greensboro awarded degrees to white students for the first time Saturday, May 30 at its 73rd commencement. The two white students were graduate students from out of state. Several white students are enrolled in undergraduate study. Lake Loses Crawford, who ran third among six Democratic Primary candidates for Forsyth County’s three seats in the state House of Representati v e s, was the only one of several Negro candidates in the state to win nom ination for a major post in either the Demo cratic or Republi can primary. He and two incumb ents will run crawford against three Re- pubicans in November. Crawford, a former Winston-Salem city councilman for 10 years and a member of the board of education when city schools were desegregated voluntarily in 1957, received an esti mated 61 per cent of his votes on “single-shot” ballots cast in predomi nantly Negro precincts. A former vice- chairman of the Forsyth County Dem ocratic Party, he lost by a narrow margin when he sought nomination for the legislature two years ago.