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PAGE 4—DECEMBER, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
LOUISIANA
Record Enrollment Reported;
Three Districts Desegregated
NEW ORLEANS
ith three of its 67 biracial
school districts operating
under court-ordered desegrega
tion plans, Louisiana’s public
school system this fall enrolled a
record high 810,000 students, ac
cording to State Department of
Education estimates.
The total anticipated enrollment,
based upon 1963-64 figures now being
compiled, includes 489,000 white pupils
and 321,000 Negroes, or 39.6 per cent
Negro. This compares with the 460,589
white and 301,433 Negro pupils recorded
at the end of the 1962-3 school year, the
last for which complete tabulation is
available.
Desegregation in Louisiana is con
fined to the school districts of Orleans,
East Baton Rouge and St. Helena par
ishes. One other district, Iberville Par
ish, has submitted to a federal district
court a plan to begin grade-a-year de
segregation next fall, and still another,
St. John the Baptist, is under order of
a federal district court to submit a plan.
Orleans Parish, the largest school dis
trict in the state and the first desegre
gated, currently enrolled 38,923 white
pupils and 63,270 Negroes. This repre
sents an increase of 2.1 per cent in
white enrollment and 4.2 per cent in
Negro enrollment.
Nonracial Zones
The Orleans system operates on the
basis of single, nonracial attendance
zones for grades kindergarten through
the third, and on that basis, 30 ele
mentary schools have received both
white and Negro pupils. Some of the
Negro students are as high as the fifth
grade, having entered the formerly all-
white schools in 1960 before the grade-
a-year nonracial attendance zone provi
sion was inaugurated. There are also
nine Negro pupils enrolled in the Ben
jamin Franklin High School for su
perior students. Two white pupils en
rolled at formerly all-Negro schools
this fall.
Thus, the Orleans Parish school dis
trict this year has 12,843 white pupils
and 3,520 Negroes attending biracial
schools.
East Baton Rouge Parish, site of the
Louisiana state capital and third largest
(after Caddo Parish) school district in
the state—was the second district to
desegregate. For the current school
year, it has approximately 21,950 white
pupils and 21,110 Negroes. This repre
sents an increase of about 1.5 per cent
in white enrollment and less than one
per cent in Negro enrollment in com
parison with last fall.
Four high schools in the system this
year received a total of 58 Negro 11th-
and 12th-grade students into their stu
dent bodies totaling 5,270. Last year,
first year of the grade-a-year desegre
gation, 28 Negro 12th-graders attended
the same four high schools among
5,380 whites. There are 53 schools in the
East Baton Rouge system. It embraces
both the city of Baton Rouge and sur
rounding rural areas which include
several small towns.
Most Recent
Most recent desegregation in Louisi
ana occurred in St. Helena Parish, fifth
smallest of the state’s 67 districts, which
enrolled a total of 1,012 white and
1,868 Negroes for the current school
year, approximately the same as last
year.
Three Negro pupils were enrolled
under court order at the Greenburg
High School. They attend classes with
161 white secondary students. The
school also houses 354 elementary pu
pils, though elementary grades are not
desegregated.
State Department of Education fig
ures indicate there will be a total of
approximately 31,000 teachers in the
public schools this year, including 19,-
987 whites and 11,213 Negroes. All
teaching faculties remain segregated
including those in the desegregating
school districts.
★ ★ ★
More Students Enrolled
Under Grants Program
While public school enrollments in
Louisiana increased in comparison with
last year, so did enrollments in private
schools under Louisiana’s tuition grant
program.
According to a report from the New
Orleans office of the Louisiana Finan
cial Assistance Commission, checks
totaling $444,862.50 went to 10,519 pu
pils in 63 private nonsectarian schools
during October. Under the state-
Louisiana Highlights
Louisiana’s public schools enrolled
a record high number of students this
fall, estimated at 810,000, in the 67
biracial school districts of the state
of which three have begun desegrega
tion.
Sixty-three private nonsectarian
schools in four parishes (counties)
of Louisiana enrolled 10,519 pupils
whose tuition was paid in whole or in
part by grants from the state, rep
resenting an expenditure of $444,862
in October.
School Supt. Lloyd Lindsey, who
headed the East Baton Rouge Parish
School District during the inaugura
tion of its desegregation program,
was granted a paid leave of absence
in settlement of his dispute with
some members of the 11-member
parish school board.
The Calcasieu Parish School
Board was told by its attorney that a
federal district court may order the
public schools there to desegregate
next September.
Louisiana’s public colleges and
universities enrolled a record high
number of students, with a record
number of Negroes also enrolling in
six of the state’s 10 predominantly
white institutions.
Legislation enacted during the
1962 school segregation controversy
may play a part in resolving the cur
rent teacher pay raise controversy.
financed program, students attending
such schools may receive as much as
$360 a year to help cover the cost of
tuition.
Some 10,300 students last year drew a
total of $3,593,888.79. Though the num
ber of recipients varies from month to
month, at the rate of disbursement re
corded in October, the program will
expend $5,338,350 in 1964.
Most in Orleans
Bulk of the tuition grants were made
in Orleans Parish, largest public school
district in the state, where public
schools were desegregated in 1960 and
Catholic schools the following year. A
total of 9,608 private school pupils en
rolled at 52 private schools received
$411,731 of the October disbursement,
according to commission records.
In Baton Rouge, 262 students attend
ing three private schools received $10,-
880 under the grant program.
In Shreveport, 566 students at seven
schools received grants totaling $19,-
219.50 during October. Shreveport is in
Caddo Parish, second largest public
school district in the state. No public
school desegregation has occurred
there.
Eighty-three students at one school
in Lake Charles also participated ifi
In the Colleges
The record increase in enrollment in
Louisiana’s institutions of higher learn
ing was paralleled by a record high
number of Negro students attending
formerly all-white colleges.
Total enrollment at the 10 predomi
nantly white institutions as of Oct. 13
was 52,284, up 17.3 per cent over last
fall. At the same time, Negro enroll
ment in six of those schools was 1,178,
an increase of about 40 per cent over
the 848 enrolled in five institutions last
year.
Meanwhile, the first of Louisiana’s
Negro institutions, which also recorded
record enrollments, received a white
matriculant. It is Southern University,
New Orleans, a branch of Southern
University at Scotlandville which is the
state’s largest Negro institution of high
er learning. Enrollment at the three
Negro schools totaled 10,972, up 15 per
cent over the 9,528 enrolled in 1963.
The current year also saw the first
desegregation at Northeast Louisiana
State College at Monroe which, under
court order, enrolled nine Negro stu
dents among its 4,229 matriculants.
In addition, Louisiana State Uni
versity at Baton Rouge received some
40 Negro undergraduates. LSU at Baton
Rouge has enrolled Negro graduate stu
dents since 1950, and for several years
has had about 60 on campus each
semester, including the current one.
the grant-in-aid program during Oc
tober, receiving $3,022. Lake Charles
constitutes an independent school dis
trict and is not now desegregated.
However, both the Lake Charles city
school system and the Calcasieu Parish
School District surrounding it are fac
ing court suits to require desegrega
tion. (See below.)
★ ★ ★
Superintendent Granted
Leave After Long Dispute
Lloyd J. Lindsey, who guided the 1
East Baton Rouge school system
through its initial steps toward deseg
regation, climaxed a long period of dis
pute with the parish school board Nov.
5 when he requested, and was granted,
a six-month leave of absence with pay.
The leave will begin Jan. 1, 1965, and
will extend until June 30, which is the
expiration date of Lindsey’s current
four-year contract with the board.
Controversy between the superinten
dent and some members of the 11-
member board over school policies has
extended over many months and has
included requests for his resignation.
However, the dispute was settled amic
ably when the board agreed to Lind
sey’s leave request and promised to
retain him in some position next year
to permit him to round out a full 30
years of service under the teacher re
tirement program. Lindsey has indi
cated he would like to return to teach
ing.
Board President Ben Peabody com
mended Lindsey for his achievements
as superintendent, including the task of
peaceful desegregation of the schools
under court order. Board member John
S. White Jr. in a letter to Lindsey
lauded his service during what was
“probably the most difficult period in
(the school system’s) history.”
Assistant Supt. Robert Aertker was
appointed acting superintendent for the
remainder of Lindsey’s term.
Boycott Rescinded
At its meeting of Nov. 12, the East
Baton Rouge board, by a 6-5 vote,
rescinded its 1961 boycott against prod
ucts of the Bell and Howell Co., manu
facturer of audio-visual equipment. The
decision to avoid purchase of the com
pany’s equipment was taken after the
company sponsored a television show
on racial matters. East Baton Rouge
Parish School Board was one of several
around the state to take such action. All
but the Caddo Parish and the Ouachita
Parish boards have rescinded it.
“What possible good can come from
this boycott?” asked board member
Mrs. John E. Coxe, who voted to
rescind. “How does the school system
benefit from it?”
“The boycott would discourage spon
sorship of programs advocating racial
hatred,” replied board member John S.
White Jr., who voted to retain the boy
cott.
But until the summer of 1964, the uni
versity had successfully resisted moves
to admit Negro undergraduates.
The approximately 100 Negro stu
dents on the main campus are among a
student body totaling 15,131. The uni
versity also operates a medical school
and nursing division in New Orleans
with 629 students and an agriculture
division at Alexandria with 618 stu
dents. Both remain all-white.
Rapid Growth
At New Orleans, LSU’s branch insti
tution has rapidly become one of the
state’s larger and fastest growing insti
tutions. Enrollment on Oct. 13 was re
ported at 5,764 students in graduate and
undergraduate divisions, including 518
Negroes.
This represents an increase of 28.4 per
cent in total enrollment over last fall
and an increase in Negro enrollments of
52 per cent. Negroes this year consti
tute about nine per cent of the total
LSUNO enrollment, up slightly from
last year.
Southern University, New Orleans,
had one white student in its student
body of 1,300. SUNO’s total enrollment
showed an increase of 20.5 per cent
over 1963.
At McNeese State College in Lake
Charles, enrollment this year was up
to 3,360 as compared to 2,827 last year,
Negroes With Whites Up
Southern School News
Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by Southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate, unbiased
!nfo r mation to school administrators, public officials and interested lay citizens
on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme Court opinion of
May 17, 1954, declaring compulsory segregation in the public schools unconsti
tutional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation no r anti-segregation
but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state-by-state.
Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th Ave.,
S., Nashville, Tennessee.
Second class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee.
OFFICERS
C. A. McKnight Chairman
Alexander Heard Vice-Chairman
Reed Sarratt Executive Director
Tom Fla Ice, Director of Publications
Jim Leeson, Director of Information and Research
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Luther H. Foster, President, Tuslcegee
Institute, Tuslcegee Institute' Ala.
Alexander Heard, Chancellor, Vander
bilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
C. A. McKnight, Editor, Charlotte Ob
server, Charlotte, N.C.
Charles Moss. Executive Editor, Nash
ville Banner, Nashville. Tenn.
John N. Pcpham, General Managing
Editor, Chattanooga Times, Chatta
nooga, Tenn.
Felix C. Robb, President, George Pea
body College, Nashville. Tenn.
Reed Sarratt. Executive Director,
Southern Education Reporting Serv
ice, Nashville, Tenn.
John Seigenthaler, Editor, Nashville
Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.
Don Shoemaker, Editor, Miami Herald,
Miami, Fla.
Bert Struby, General Manager, Macon
Telegraph and News, Macon, Ga.
Thomas R. Waring, Editor, The News
and Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Henry I. Willett. Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond, Va.
Stephen J. Wright, President, Fisk Uni
versity, Nashville, Tenn.
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA
William H. McDonald, Chief Editor
ial Writer, Alabama Journal, Mont
gomery.
ARKANSAS
William T. Shelton. City Editor, Ar
kansas Gazette, Little Rock
FLORIDA
Bert Collier, Editorial Writer, Miami
Herald
GEORGIA
Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The Macon
News
LOUISIANA
Patrick E. McCauley, Editorial
Writer, New Orleans Times-Picayune
MISSISSIPPI
William Peart, Staff Writer, Jackson
Daily News
NORTH CAROLINA
Luix Overbea, Staff Writer, The
Journal-Sentinel, Winston-Salem
SOUTH CAROLINA
William E. Rone, Jr., City Editor,
The State, Columbia
TENNESSEE
Ken Morrell, Staff Writer, Nashville
Banner
TEXAS
Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bu
reau. Dallas News
VIRGINIA
Overton Jones, Associate Editor,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Erwin Knoll, Washington Bureau,
Newhouse Newspapers
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P.O. Box 5156, Nashville,'Tennessee 37212
Calcasieu Parish Board
Told of Court Action
Calcasieu Parish public schools may
be required to desegregate by next
September, parish District Attorney
Frank Salter told the school board Nov.
2.
Reporting to the board on the status
of a suit (Booker v. Calcasieu Parish
School Board) filed last Feb. 3, Salter
said a pre-trial conference had been
held Oct. 26 and the board had been
given until Nov. 16 to file an answer.
The board unanimously adopted a
resolution directing the attorney to
“take every legal means to fight this
integration suit.”
40 Per Cent
and Negro enrollment there rose from
163 to 198.
The University of Southwestern
Louisiana at Lafayette this fall had
6,912 students on campus, including 256
Negroes. Total enrollment last fall was
6,020 of which 236 were Negroes.
And at Hammond, Southeastern
Louisiana College enrolled 4,073, an in
crease of 15.4 per cent. Thirty-four
Negroes were in that number as com
pared to 29 last year.
Largest percentage increase experi
enced in any state college was at
Francis T. Nicholls College in Thi-
bodaux. There total enrollment rose by
29.9 per cent to 2,060, including 63
Negroes. The school began desegrega
tion last fall with the enrollment of 21
Negro students under court order.
Other state colleges, with enrollments
of one race only, were as follows:
Louisiana Polytechnic Institute at Rus-
ton, 5,238, up 19.6 per cent; Northeast
Louisiana State College at Nachitoches,
4,270, up 15.1 per cent; Grambling Col
lege at Grambling, La., 3,634 (Negroes),
up 12.7 per cent, and Southern Uni
versity at Scotlandville, 6,039 (Ne
groes), up 15.6 per cent.
Total enrollment in all institutions of
higher learning, as of Oct. 13, 1964, was
63,257, an increase of 17.3 per cent as
compared with last fall’s enrollment of
53,920.
Salter reviewed for the board the
legal trends of the past 10 years and
said, “I believe in putting everything
out on the board for the board and the
public. These are the facts of life and
we’ve got to deal with them whether
we like it or not.”
The Calcasieu Parish case is in the
federal district court of Judge Edwin
P. Hunter. There also is before the
court a companion suit filed about the
same time (Conley v. Lake Charles City
School Board) against the independen
city school district which lies within
Calcasieu Parish.
Legislative Action
Legislature Holds
Special Session
The Louisiana legislature com
Nov. 16 for its first special ses *j° n \ en !
the hectic days of 1960 and 1961
the governor called the lawmakers I
to Baton Rouge on five occasions.^
An education matter was
pal reason for the current call, ^
time, school segregation-desegreg^^
was only obliquely involved. iana ’s
this year is the demand of Louis for
teachers and other school perso
sizeable increases in wages. the j
The Senate on Nov. 23
House on Nov. 25 adopted a res tiona l
calling for a federal constituu
amendment to vest authority o
lie schools solely in the states- g^.
The resolution, introduced
Harold Montgomery of Loss ^ 0 ne
Webster parishes, is sin fw r „ a jegis-
adopted recently by the Ala Qgorg e '
lature at the urging of Gov.
Wallace.
Article 10 ^ ^
Seeking to amend Article J', ^.jth
3. Constitution, which d^ &
ivers reserved to
uisiana resolution says in P the
Among the rights resen. sole an<j
tes shall be the right s choo
ilusive jurisdiction of P ^nd ah
items in the separate °‘
hts, privileges, and nu™ 33 th e -'
zens of the separate® gducah 0 ”
ate to the public school