Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8—MARCH, 1965—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
FLORIDA
School Districts Hasten to Meet
Act’s Requirements
MIAMI
I n a last-minute rush to meet
requirements of the Civil
Rights Act, Florida school boards
put finishing touches on desegre
gation plans to become effective
at the beginning of the next school
term.
Notifications of these steps were ar
riving at the State Board of Education’s
new compliance division with almost
every mail and numbered 53, according
to tabulation available as the deadline
arrived for submission of Form 441.
But school officials said there was
evidence of substantial compliance and
no report that any of Florida’s 67
school boards, or any institution of
higher learning, would refuse to give
the necessary assurance of abiding by
the law.
At the state level the Cabinet Board
of Education, composed of the governor
and elected state officials, pledged that
there will be no racial discrimination in
administration of federal funds chan
neled through the state to local school
systems.
Policy Announced
The policy was announced after a
brief discussion at the Cabinet’s Feb.
10 meeting.
“We have no choice,” said Thomas D.
Bailey, state school superintendent. “No
county would get any money unless
we sign the pledge.”
The state’s official stand does not
guarantee desegregation throughout the
Florida schools, Bailey said. “It means
that we agree not to discriminate in this
department,” he added. Individual
school boards must still be responsible
for their own decisions.
At least 53 counties made public an
nouncement of plans to begin desegre
gation next September. Most of these
were similar. For the most part they
called for completion of the process in
three or four years. Each one included
some form of freedom of choice among
available schools.
The other 13 counties were expected
to agree to comply also.
Evidence of Dissatisfaction
There was some evidence of dissatis
faction in the Negro communities on
two counts. In Monroe, Brevard, Martin
and Polk counties, formal protests were
filed against the proposals. Negro
groups, speaking on their own or
through the state NAACP, complained
the plans do not go far or fast enough.
In some counties Negro groups pro
tested against phasing out Negro schools
if this resulted in loss of jobs by Negro
teachers or embarrassment to Negro
pupils unable to meet higher standards
at desegregated schools.
That these questions may became
more serious as desegregation prog
resses was a probability raised at an
institute on compliance with the Civil
Eights Act, conducted at the University
of Miami under auspices of the U. S.
Office of Education.
Dr. James Campbell, the State De
partment of Education co-ordinator for
compliance, told a Feb. 28 meeting of
school superintendents and the Florida
School Board Association, in Orlando,
that every county in Florida would
desegregate.
The Orlando Sentinel quoted Dr.
Campbell as saying, “There will be just
enough desegregation to qualify for
federal funds—and no more.”
The 53 districts that had agreed to
comply, reported through the first week
of March, were:
Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Brevard,
Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, Clay,
Collier, Columbia, Dade, Dixie, Duval,
Escambia, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Hardee,
Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hills
borough, Holmes, Indian River,
Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee,
Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee,
Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Oke-
chobee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas,
Polk, Putnam, St. Lucie, St. Johns,
Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, Su
wannee, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wash
ington, Waukulla.
A county-by-county breakdown of
developments follows:
Dade County
A group of Negro leaders went be
fore the Dade County school board Feb.
18 to question steps planned to make
the school system completely desegre
gated.
Speaking, they said, for a large num
ber of Negro citizens living in and
around Miami, they asked the school
board to slow down on phasing out
all but two Negro high schools in the
next three years. They said they feared
desegregation would eliminate Negroes
now holding teaching and administra
tive jobs.
Supt. Thomas D. Bailey
‘We have no choice.’
Among those attending the meeting
were the Rev. Theodore R. Gibson,
Dade NAACP chairman and plaintiff in
Florida’s first school suit, the Rev. Ed
ward T. Graham, long-time civil rights
leader, and Mrs. Atgalie Range, club
woman who acted as spokesman.
Mrs. Range said their appearance was
not evidence of distrust but a frank
attempt to arrange a private meeting to
talk out their fears.
“Lot of Unrest’
“There’s a lot of unrest among our
citizens over the rapid and drastic
changes being made,” Mrs. Range said.
The group also objected to a new
school in a suburban area to be at
tended by pupils of both races. Instead
they asked that the money be used for
a school in a Negro residential area
some distance away.
When school administrators pointed
out that this would become, by nature
of the neighborhood, a segregated Ne
gro school, final action was postponed
until further discussions could be held.
Negro leaders said the private session
with the school board would explore
the question of qualifications for Negro
teachers to serve in desegregated classes
and the psychological impact on Negro
children assigned to white schools
staffed by white teachers.
At the second meeting on Feb. 23,
an expanded group of Negro leaders
took part in a two-and-a-half-hour
discussion with the school board. The
questions discussed at the earlier session
were renewed.
Newspaper Account
A newspaper account of the meeting
which both sides accepted as a fair
summary said:
“It was a remarkable meeting, punc
tuated on the one hand by good humor,
and on the other by evidence of mis
trust among Negroes, resentment among
the whites and misunderstanding in
both groups.
“Clearly, it marked a significant turn
ing point in racial relations in Dade
County, where school desegregation be
gan five years ago and has made rapid
strides over the past two or three years.
“More than in any of the specific
questions asked or answered, the meet
ing’s importance lay in the fact that
from now on the Negro leadership wants
to be consulted about desegregation
plans—and will be.”
The Dade school board agreed to con
sider establishing a permanent advisory
committee composed of Negro leaders.
It will also continue these probing dis
cussions with leadership groups from
the Negro community.
Tours of white, Negro and desegre
gated schools will be arranged for
Negro groups, so that they may com
pare results for themselves.
Brevard County
Brevard County, site of the nation’s
space center at Cape Kennedy, was
notified Feb. 9 that its desegregation
plan had been officially approved by the
federal government and large federal
grants under the impacted area pro
gram will continue.
Woodrow J. Darden, school superin
tendent, said that as far as he knew,
Brevard was the first school system in
the country to receive this assurance.
The plan, submitted in response to a
school suit, calls for desegregation in a
three-year period that began last Sep
tember, when some 100 Negroes began
to attend white schools.
In sending in its certificate of com
pliance required by the civil rights
law, the Brevard school officials cited
this court-approved plan.
Strong Protest
Official approval was received de
spite a strong protest by the NAACP
chapter at Melbourne. Thomas K. Don
nell, chairman, said the three-year
proposal was “much too late and is
much too slow for this area.” In a
letter to Supt. Darden, Donnell said the
NAACP might take its campaign for
a speedup directly to the White House
unless its demands were met.
Donnell called on Negro parents em
ployed at Cape Kennedy to refuse to
sign forms necessary for approval of
impact funds. He also suggested that
the Negroes refuse to attend schools
they consider not fully desegregated.
The letter drew comment from the
school authorities. “In order to be fair
to everyone,” Supt. Darden said in re
sponse, “we went to the court looking
for an equitable integration plan which
was approved by the court last July 30.
“In some cases we have gone beyond
this plan and we are in compliance not
only with the words but with the spirit
of the court-announced plan.”
Brevard’s school system is among the
fastest growing in the nation as em
ployment at Cape Kennedy and the
supporting complex of space industries
continues to expand. In addition to the
subsidy it has been receiving for the
past several years, the county is asking
federal funds this year to construct four
new junior high schools.
Monroe County
Monroe County (Key West), which
formally declared last year that its
schools were fully desegregated, an
nounced new plans Feb. 10 to meet
pressure for “total and immediate in
tegration.”
This is sought in a suit (Majors et al
v. Board of Public Instruction of Mon
roe County), which is pending in fed
eral court although its principal signers
said it was filed without their consent.
The new plan redraws school attend
ance lines to eliminate the possibility
of any school district with members
of only one race. It also calls for elimi
nating a Key West high school now at
tended by Negro students, and absorb
ing them into white schools. The school
will be continued for elementary and
junior-high pupils of both races.
Board members said they were op
timistic that the plan would meet ap-
Florida Highlights
Rushing to meet provisions of the
Civil Rights Act by the March 4
deadline, 53 of Florida’s 67 counties
announced desegregation plans or ex
tensions of existing ones.
Others indicated they would make
some plans to remain eligible for
federal funds. There was no indica
tion that any school system would
refuse to take some action toward
desegregation this year.
The Florida Cabinet Board of Ed
ucation pledged there would be no
discrimination in the use of any
federal school funds channelled
through the state.
A Negro teacher accused of en
couraging his pupils to take part in
a protest against school conditions
in Jacksonville last December was
fired.
Teachers and school administrators
from Florida and South Georgia re
ceived tips on desegregation prob
lems at a government-sponsored semi
nar in Miami.
For the first time in six years,
crosses were burned in Dade County
in connection with school desegrega
tion.
proval of federal authorities who deal
out some $600,000 annually to the
county schools. The money helps pay
for education of children of service
personnel assigned to the extensive
Navy installations at Key West and
elsewhere in the county.
Showed Concern
The Negro community showed con
cern over the stepped-up desegregation
program after Supt. Harold Campbell
said it would result in dismissal of
some Negro teachers who would be un
able to meet standards in a desegre
gated school.
This was pointed out at a conference
called to present the plan.
“Actually,” he said, “this isn’t some
thing that everybody likes. We would
have preferred to go more slowly.”
From now on, he said, teachers will
be appointed on qualification without
regard to color. “We must have one
guiding principle—that everyone is en
titled to the best education possible.
And there’s no use kidding ourselves—
that hasn’t always been true in Key
West.”
Collier County
A policy of full desegregation was
approved Feb. 9 by the Collier County
(Naples) school board. Action was taken
without discussion but followed two
sessions of the board at which the
subject had been discussed in detail.
Jim Adams, school board attorney,
said the policy would apply immedi
ately to all new students entering the
schools and to all who begin their
schooling in September.
Students may request transfer from
schools they are now attending at the
beginning of the next term and will
receive consideration on the basis of
residence and school load factors.
Adams said there had been no de
mand for desegregation in Collier
County. But desegregation must be
adopted as a policy, he said, if the
county continues to receive some $70,-
000 to $100,000 annually in federal funds.
School Desegregation Seminar Held
Teachers and school administrators
from many Florida and some South
Georgia counties attended a three-day
forum at the University of Miami Feb.
24-26 to hear the problems of desegre
gation discussed.
The seminar was financed by a grant
from the U. S. Office of Education
under the Civil Rights Act and was
the first in the country under these
auspices.
In his keynote address Dr. Dan W.
Dodson, director of the New York Uni
versity’s Center of Human Relations,
said desegregation will be successful if
there is “sincerity of commitment” on
the part of school personnel.
Dr. Dodson said the “days of racial
flagwaving such as at Little Rock are
about over.”
A series of tips were offered by the
keynoter to make desegregation a re
ality in the classroom:
• Don’t allow every difficulty that
develops in a desegregated class to be
placed in a racial context.
• Adopt a firm policy of implemen
tation of the Civil Rights Act and stick
to it.
• Don’t ask the community if it
“wants to mix.” The rights protected by
the act are not negotiable.
• Plan with the minority group and
not for it.
Discussion by those attending the in
stitute established that the most serious
problem is what to do about Negro
teachers when Negro schools are phased
out and the teachers are not qualified
to compete.
Lower Standards
Several school superintendents said
heavy influxes of Negro students into
white schools will result in lower
standards. This must be met by rais
ing standards of teachers and training
them to handle this special situation,
the group decided.
The visiting officials heard case
stories of successful desegregation de
scribed by administrators, classroom
teachers and board members.
★ ★ ★
The University of Miami announced
it has received another federal grant
for a training institute for school per
sonnel in “multi-culture” schools in
South Florida.
“It will provide additional learning
experiences for those people who are
already competent in their professional
fields,” the announcement said, “to en
able them more successfully to meet
the special needs of disadvantaged chil
dren. Participants will be chosen from
those applicants who display the high
est potential for making an outstand
ing contribution in the multi-cultural
school settings.”
Those attending the 15 Saturday ses
sions that began Feb. 13 will receive
$15 a day plus mileage to and from
their homes. Credit of six hours in the
Graduate School of the University of
Miami will be given on successful com
pletion of the course.
The course is financed by a $40,000
grant of federal funds.
“We could chop our cotton and raise
our own money,’ said Adams, “but that
argument is fallacious.
“Collier County is now desegregated
as a matter of law.”
Manatee County
Manatee County (Bradenton) p ut
final touches on a desegregation
which was submitted to the federal
court at Tampa on Feb. 19.
It calls for a start toward full de
segregation next September when all
children, regardless of race, will a t_
tend the school nearest their homes
They will, however, have the option
of continuing at the school they are
presently attending if they prefer, even
if another is closer.
School Supt. J. Hartley Blackburn,
who worked out details, said the plan
must be approved by the courts. A suit
by Negro parents was filed against
the Manatee school board but the plan
was drawn before hearings could be
held.
Indian River County
An end to school segregation was
voted by the Indian River (Vero Beach)
school board on Feb. 10. A detailed plan
for gradual desegregation was approved
for the coming school year.
This will begin in the first two
grades. The board resolution stated that
“every public school child shall have
the right to enroll in the school near
est his residence, or in one wherein
members of his race are numerically
predominant, based upon attendance
for the school year 1964.”
By the conditions laid down in the
resolution, about 10 per cent of the
Negro pupils would be eligible to at
tend predominantly white schools if
they wished. The board ordered en
rollment for the next school year to
be held in March, with assignments to
be made before June 1.
Marshall O. Mitchell, school board
attorney, notified the federal district
court in Miami on Feb. 15 that the
proposal would be filed formally in
March. A suit against the school board
(Idlette v. Board of Public Instruction
of Indian River County) is pending.
To Ask Dismissal
Mitchell said he will ask dismissal
of his motions attacking the suit and
seek a settlement on the basis of the
board’s desegregation plan. He sug
gested that the court supply “guide
lines” in putting final touches on the
plan.
District Judge David W. Dyer said
that, in line with decisions of other
courts, the minimum requirement
would be that “integration be accom
plished in the first three grades of the
grade school and in the senior high
school as rapidly as possible,” prefer
ably by next September and that fun
desegregation be attained by 1968.
The situation, said Judge Dyer, h
so foreclosed and so clear that it should
no longer be necessary to litigate sucn
matters.”
Okeechobee County
The Okeechobee County (Okeecho
bee) school board invited representa
tives of all civic clubs in the county 0
assist in planning for desegregation-
Supt. Carl Durrance said letters we
sent out to club presidents asking
one or more members be named to^
working advisory group. Citizens ot
small middle-Florida county were as»^
to submit suggestions to the sc
board. , xgs
After studying suggestions and P ^
in effect in other counties, school .j
cials announced desegregation ,
start in September at the high-s
level. Time is needed to expand f ^
ties before it can be accomplish
lower levels. c u pt
Total desegregation now, said
Durrance, would overcrowd som®
cilities while leaving others empty -
Nassau County
A three-year desegregation pi® 0 ^.
adopted by unanimous vote
sau County (Femandina Beach)
board on Feb. 12. $
The first six grades will be
all pupils regardless of race at
ginning of the September terTn ' re gf.!'’ ;
junior-high grades will be deseg ^
in 1966 and the senior highs P 1 ^
Attendance at all schools ^
based on residence, with f re j®
choice for all who seek transfe
Martin County
chooi
Martin County (Stuart) sc y"
M that all r
cials predicted Feb. 2
barriers will be dropped in - , _
schools by September. The sc go 5-
adopted a policy declaration o
(See EDUCATION, Page 9)
1
c
f
I
1
a
C
c
ii
n
*
li
(
k
/
n
P
o
E
o
a.
s
P
C
1<
a:
si
b
a
e
0
b
s<
d
T
0
n
6
?
f<
a
c
c<
Cl
9)
M.
a
V,
St
U
s<
le
d
n