Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY, 1965—PAGE 13
ARKANSAS
More Districts Comply With Act
(Continued from Page 12)
throughout the community during the
past several months. Open meetings for
discussion of the question have been
held at all schools and with many of
the civic organizations. According to
the provisions of Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act, compliance is mandatory.
The board members found a very co
operative attitude among all groups,
•, of both races, throughout the com
munity.”
NEWARK — Newark, which now
sends its four Negro students to Bates-
ville schools, has filed a statement with
the state Department of Education that
it intends to comply with the Civil
Rights Act.
HAMPTON—The district has two
schools, one for Negroes of all 12 grades
which had an average daily attendance
of 243 in 1963-64 and one for whites of
all 12 grades with an average daily
attendance of 436 in 1963-64. The board
voted April 12 to adopt a freedom-of-
choice plan beginning in September for
all 12 grades.
GRAPEVINE in Grant County—Supt.
Bobby Daniel said desegregation would
begin in September. The plan has not
been announced.
DIERKS—The district announced
April 24 that it would comply. No plan
has been announced.
WILMAR—Supt. Luther C. Owen
said his district would comply but had
not adopted a plan.
SELMA—School Supervisor Fred
Greeson of Drew County said Selma
would comply but did not have a plan
ready.
EUDORA—The board joined other
Southeast Arkansas districts in an
nouncing its intentions but did not re
lease its plan.
BEEBE and BALD KNOB — The
plans of these two adjoining districts
in White County, which call for total
desegregation in September, have been
approved by the U.S. Office of Educa
tion, the first in Arkansas. The approval
was announced April 19. Both districts
had been sending their Negro students
to the White County Training School
at Searcy.
Supt. Herman Lubker of Bald Knob
said, “We were not trying to be first
in any sense. I think it’s more or less
arbitrary.” Supt. A. S. Erwin of Beebe
said, “I think we can obey the federal
law without a lot of trouble.”
There are 11 districts in White
' County and Lubker said that all of
them had essentially the same plans
for complying.
Eight more biracial districts and 105
' all-white or all-Negro districts re
ceived approved of their plans April
30. The eight were Bertonville, Van
Buren, Gosvell and Havana, all pre-
( viously desegregated, and Walker,
Jefferson County, Melbourne and Al-
read.
HOPE—The board announced April
19 that it would desegregate the first
six grades this fall and the other six
grades in the next two years.
CADDO GAP—Two days after the
1 Beebe and Bald Knob approvals came
through, two more Arkansas districts
received federal approval. One was
Hoxie which has been desegregated
since 1955 and now has one Negro stu
dent. The other was Caddo Gap in
Montgomery County which has three
Negro students and will move them
into white classes next fall.
★ ★ ★
To the surprise of the state Depart-
1 ment of Education, the deadline for
complying with the Civil Rights Act
as far as school lunch and milk pro
grams is concerned was in April.
1 Miss Ruth Powell, director of the
school lunch program in the depart
ment, said she had no idea that the
deadline was so early until she re
ceived a letter, dated April 14, from
the southwest area office of the Con
sumer and Marketing Service of the
Department of Agriculture, at Dallas.
It was a reminder that not all of the
districts had sent in their assurances,
mid it mentioned that their claims for
reimbursement of expenses during
' April could not be met until the as
surance was in hand. Miss Powell
rushed the word out to all districts.
This part of the act does not require
desegregation; the assurance is that
w hite and Negro children will be treat-
^ equally as far as price, opportunity
mrd quality of food is concerned.
★ ★ ★
Three districts in Cross County may
jrave to consolidate, at least in the
high-school grades, in order for two
of them to be able to comply with the
Civil Rights Act, according to the state
education department.
Cherry Valley has 151 white and 13
Negro students in high school, Vann-
dale has 228 white and 69 Negro and
Hickory has 143 whites. Vanndale has
a high school for its Negro students.
Cherry Valley sends its Negroes to
Parkin and its whites to Harrisburg on
a tuition basis.
In a study of the three districts, the
department said: “It is noted here that
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 poses
serious problems for the Cherry Valley
and Vanndale school districts. The
question is raised as to the ability of
either district to work out a plan which
can be approved by the U.S. Commis
sioner of Education under existing
conditions.”
It is said, “It is clearly indicated that
the program for Negro children en
rolled in the high school unit of the
Vanndale District are not receiving a
comparable opportunity with the chil
dren attending the white high school.
In like manner, it is quite evident that
the Negro high school children being
sent to Parkin on a tuition basis are
not receiving a comparable educa
tional opportunity with the children
attending the white high school. In like
manner, it is quite evident that the
Negro high school children being sent
to Parkin on a tuition basis are not
receiving a comparable educational op
portunity with the white children being
sent to Harrisburg on a tuition basis
from the Cherry Valley District.” The
Parkin Negro school is not accredited.
The state agency suggested that the
three districts work out one adminis
trative unit for the high-school level
or send their high-school students to
neighboring districts that have accred
ited schools.
★ ★ ★
Pine Street High School, for Negroes,
in Conway lost its accreditation from
the North Central Association April 22,
and the state NCA chairman suggested
that Conway put all its high-school
students in one school instead of two.
Curtis B. Swaim, assistant state edu
cation commissioner and NCA com
mittee chairman, said this would be
both economically and educationally
sound.
Conway is planning to build a new
high school and Negro patrons have
already asked if it will be open to their
children. The board has not answered.
★ ★ ★
The Pulaski County (rural) School
District board was told April 13 by
Supt. E. F. Dunn that part of its re
quirement for meeting the Civil Rights
Act was to abandon two small Negro
elementary schools—Alexander with
nine pupils and Mt. Zion with 52—and
send their pupils to the nearest white
schools.
After long discussion, the board
voted 4-2 not to do it, but Dunn said
a few days later that he had talked to
the members individually and that the
consensus was to abandon the two
schools.
Both are almost 50 years old. Alex
ander is a one-room one-teacher
school, Mt. Zion has a one-room build
ing for the first three grades and
another one-room building for the next
three grades. The schools have outdoor
toilets and lack modem facilities and
equipment. They are about ten miles
southwest of Little Rock.
★ ★ ★
The 1964 school enumeration (chil
dren in each district aged 6 through
17), released during April, showed that
there are 220 biracial districts in the
state, instead of 212.
★ ★ ★
North Little Rock Board
Announces Second Stage
The North Little Rock School Board
announced April 15 that the second
stage of its voluntary desegregation
plan would desegregate the third
through the seventh grades in Septem
ber. In 1966, the eighth, ninth and 10th
grades will be desegregated, and the
11th and 12th grades in 1967.
The board admitted eight Negro chil
dren in the first and second grades to
two white schools last September to
get its plan started. It has been under
constant pressure from the Negro com
munity to desegregate in the junior-
and senior-high grades, mostly because
the Jones Junior-Senior High School,
for Negroes, is so crowded.
The plan will make use of the free
dom-of-choice method, with each stu
dent allowed to pick the school he will
attend, as far as space will permit. Last
year the board used the pupil assign
ment law in making its first desegre
gated assignments.
John W. Smith, contractor and
leader of the Negro community, said
the plan was “not what we wanted but
I think it will be acceptable.”
★ ★ ★
Pine Bluff Plan Rejected;
Faster One Is Adopted
Pine Bluffs voluntary desegregation
plan, started in 1963, has been rejected
by the U.S. Office of Education and the
board adopted a faster one at its meet
ing April 13. The new plan, besides
speeding the process, drops the use of
the pupil assignment law in favor of
the freedom-of-choice system, and
also provides for desegregation of the
faculty, staff and school buses.
The original Pine Bluff plan was to
desegregate two grades at a time, and
it now covers the first four grades.
Eleven Negro children were admitted
last September to three white schools
but three have moved out of the dis
trict and only eight still are attending
those schools.
Under the new version, in September
all students entering grades one
through seven and grade 10 will have
a choice of which school to attend.
Thereafter only pupils entering the
first, seventh and 10th grades—the
initial grades at the elementary,
junior-high and senior-high levels—
will have a choice. Grades eight, nine,
II and 12 will be desegregated as bi
racial classes are promoted to those
levels.
Paul B. Young, a lawyer and vice
president of the board, said the original
two-grade-a-year plan had been re
jected as not complying with the Civil
Rights Act in several particulars. He
did not explain.
In the Colleges
20 Colleges File
Compliance Pledge
Of the 22 colleges in Arkansas, 20
have filed assurances of compliance
with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. One of
the other two, Arkansas Baptist College
(Continued from Page 6)
The Alachua County plan approved
by District Judge G. Harrold Carswell
of Tallahassee is also a freedom-of-
choice for all grades. Judge Carswell
in his order said that “it goes as far
as, if not beyond, any plan proposed
by a school board in the entire nation.
I must assume that if the board’s plan
is approved by court decree it will be
administered and followed in good
faith.
“If it is not, the courthouse door
remains open and the court will con
sider any complaint.”
NAACP Attorney Earl Johnson of
Jacksonville objected to Judge Cars
well’s ruling. “We feel that the plan is
pregnant with opportunity for eco
nomic reprisals and other pressures,”
Johnson said. “It could prolong rather
than accelerate desegregation. My
clients do not feel that the plan com
plies with the needs of Alachua
County. The board first should undo
the segregation that has existed from
time immemorial.”
In the Colleges
Segregation Wanes
In Junior Colleges
Economic pressures as well as civil
rights legislation are steadily working
for the elimination of separate junior
colleges for Negroes in Florida.
A survey by state school officials
disclosed that separate facilities for
Negroes have been abandoned in Dade,
Putnam and Brevard counties. Pinellas
County has decided to phase-out Gibbs
Junior College as a separate institution
for Negroes while continuing it as a
of Little Rock, is a Negro institution
and had overlooked the filing but does
intend to comply. The 22nd is Cen
tral Baptist College of Conway which
does not accept federal aid in any form
and therefore is ignoring the act.
The state Commission on Co-ordina
tion of Higher Educational Finance is
in charge of handling federal funds for
colleges, both public and private, under
the Higher Education Facilities Act. E.
L. Angell, director of the commission,
furnished the information on the col
lege compliance status.
The 20 colleges are:
State-supported—University of Ar
kansas at Fayetteville, Arkansas AM&N
at Pine Bluff, Arkansas A&M at Monti-
cello, Arkansas Tech at Russellville,
Arkansas State at Jonesboro, Arkansas
State Teachers at Conway, Henderson
State Teachers at Arkadelphia, and
Southern State at Magnolia.
Private—Arkansas College at Bates-
ville, the College of the Ozarks at
Clarksville, Fort Smith Junior College
at Fort Smith, Harding College at
Searcy, Hendrix College at Conway,
John Brown University at Siloam
Springs, Little Rock University at Little
Rock, Ouachita Baptist University at
Arkadelphia, Philander Smith College
at Little Rock, Shorter College at North
Little Rock, Southern Baptist College
at Walnut Ridge and Crowley Ridge
College at Paragould.
second desegregated campus. Lee
County (Fort Myers) closed a small
branch of Edison Junior College and
transferred students and faculty.
A recommendation that the predom
inantly Negro Johnson Junior College
be merged with the larger Lake-Sum-
ter Junior College July 1 is expected
to be adopted.
This will leave only eight predom
inantly Negro junior colleges in the
Florida system. Spokesmen for the
state department said the goal is to
have only one junior college in any
county and predicted that the long-
range savings will be in the millions.
What They Say
Educators Predict
Drop in Standards
Speaking at a symposium on human
relations at Florida Atlantic Univer
sity, Boca Raton, two members of the
faculty declared standards of educa
tion will be lowered when desegrega
tion begins on a large scale in Sep
tember.
Dr. John Upgrove, chairman of the
Department of Government and Poli
tics, said the problems, however, were
not insoluble if teaching staffs were
upgraded.
Dr. Sam Portney, chairman of the
Department of History, said that histor
ically in the South training of Negro
teachers has not been equal to that of
whites. This has been reflected in the
training of Negro children in segre
gated schools, he said.
With the mixing that is inevitable
under the new laws, said Dr. Portney,
“we will have to take half a step
Miscellaneous
Shots Enter Home
Of Negro Leader
Five shots were fired into the home
of the Rev. W. T. Keys of El Dorado,
president of the El Dorado Branch of
the NAACP, at about 1:30 am. April
20. No one was hurt.
About 10 a.m. that day, Keys received
by mail a letter which said, “Thousands
of Klansmen watching, waiting. Ku
Klux Klan. Don’t me mislead. Let your
conscience be your guide.” The El
Dorado police and FBI were investigat
ing.
★ ★ ★
When the motion picture academy
awards were handed out April 5, at
Santa Monica, Cal., the top prize for
the best documentary went to a 29-
minute film produced for the U. S. In
formation Agency, called “Nine From
Little Rock.”
Designed for showing overseas, it is
an account of what has happened to the
nine Negro children who went to Little
Rock Central High School in 1957-58
with the protection of Army para
troopers.
★ ★ ★
The Nevada News, weekly newspaper
at Prescott, has published the complete
text of George W. Foster’s document,
“Guidelines for Southern School De
segregation.”
backward in order to take three steps
forward.”
Mrs. Florence Nelson, a Negro, vice
president of the Palm Beach chapter
of the Florida Council on Human Re
lations, agreed with the professors.
“The chickens have come home to
roost,” said Mrs. Nelson, adding that
white children will not have to suffer
from poorer education nearly as long
as generations of Negroes.
Legislative Action
Legislature Adopts
Control Petition
For the first time in six years, school
desegregation became an issue in the
Florida Legislature.
After a brief but sharp debate on
April 15, the House of Representatives
passed a memorial to Congress asking
that sole control of school systems be
vested in the states.
This would require an amendment to
the Constitution which would in effect
reverse the Supreme Court decision
of 1954.
The petition was introduced by Rep-
George Stallings of Duval County
(Jacksonville). Opposing the measure,
Rep. Robert Mann of Hillsborough
(Tampa) said, “I hope Florida has
progressed beyond the stage at which
we are aligned with the states of
Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama.”
Other opponents contended that pas
sage might jeopardize large amounts
of federal aid to education.
Final vote for passage was 62-48 but
a move for reconsideration delayed its
dispatch to Washington.
FLORIDA
10 Districts Approved for Funds