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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE, 1965—PAGE 13
TENNESSEE
School Commissioner Expects
All Districts To Qualify For Funds
Tennessee Highlights
: NASHVILLE
tate Education Commis
sioner J. Howard Warf said
i on June 1 he had received assur
ances from federal officials that
Tennessee’s 152 public-school sys
tems will lose no federal funds
1 for the current fiscal year.
Release of the federal allocations,
Warf said, is contingent upon a state
ment by local school officials certifying
' that their boards of education have
authorized them to file a plan of de
segregation by June 15.
According to an announcement last
: month by the U. S. Department of
Health. Education and Welfare, about
$3 million in federal funds for 40 Ten
nessee school systems had been held
' up pending adequate plans for com
pliance with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
School systems included those serv
ing children of military or federal ci-
i vilian personnel.
Processing Statements
Warf said his office was processing
the statements necessary to assure that
, all school districts received their allo
cation of federal funds for the current
year and that they would be forwarded
to federal authorities within the next
few days.
“As far as I can determine,” the com
missioner continued, “all systems will
receive all of the funds to which they
are entitled for the current fiscal year.”
The State Education Department’s
newly created office of equal oppor
tunity also is studying desegregation
plans from local school districts for the
1965-66 year.
Following a May 11 deadline which
had been set by Warf for presentation
of the plans, state officials said most
systems had indicated they would com
ply with the federal requirements.
‘Every Effort’
Robert K. Sharp, director of the
equal opportunity office, said:
“Generally speaking, the superin
tendents are making every effort to
comply. So far, there has been no out
right refusal.”
Sharp explained that some time
Would be required to study the de
tailed plans submitted by local school
officials. These, too, will be forwarded
to the U. S. Office of Education when
the State Education Department deter
mines if all of them meet federal
guidelines disclosed last month.
All of Tennessee districts had signed
Assurances of Compliance or presented
court orders and desegregation plans
prior to the new guidelines, which call
for at least four grades to be desegre
gated by the opening of school this fall.
Warf however, has encouraged sys
tems to drop racial barriers in all 12
grades when schools reopen in Sep
tember.
22 Acceptances
The commissioner said federal of-
ficials had accepted desegregation plans
offered by 22 Tennessee systems, and
mat the remainder were pending.
While the U. S Office of Education re
quested additional information in “sev
eral” instances, the commissioner said
none had been refused as unacceptable.
Because the federal guidelines had
not been released at the time the As
surances of Compliance were submit-
ed. Warf said he doubted that some
of the systems had taken adequate ac
tion. He then called upon all districts
to present specific plans under the
timetable prescribed by federal au-
thontjes.
The U. S. Office of Education on May
5 save approval of the State Board of
Ednca+’on’s plans for desegregation of
six colleges and universities, 15 voca
tional and technical schools, four spe
cial schools, the State Library and
Archives and the Educational Tele-
Vision program.
This action released about $10 mil-
on in federal funds for the various
mstitut* ons.
Our public institutions would not
have been eligible for their share if
the board’s Assurance of Compliance
had not been accepted,” Warf said.
New System
Many of the vocational and technical
schools, part of a new statewide sys
tem, will begin operation this year.
Also released at the same time were
*22 million in funds under the Higher
Education Facilities Act and $1.2 mil-
on in federal funds toward construc
tion of three junior colleges and a state
regional technical institute, which is
«nder way at Chattanooga.
At the public-school level, several
systems were reported to have taken
action to meet the new requirements.
The Tipton County Board of Educa
tion and the Covington Board of Edu
cation adopted a “free-choice” plan,
under which students may attend any
school they wish next fall. Students
were asked to notify school officials by
June 5 if they wished to transfer to
schools other than the ones they have
been attending.
‘Total Desegregation’
At Decatur, the Meigs County Board
of Education adopted a plan calling
for “total desegregation, including
strict zoning regulations, desegregation
of school facilities, staff and all trans
portation facilities.”
Noting that the schools could not be
operated without federal and state
funds, the plan specified that “vacan
cies that occur among all school per
sonnel shall be filled on the basis of
qualifications without regard to race,
color or creed.”
The Giles County and Morristown
school boards also reportedly took ac
tion to meet the new federal desegre
gation guidelines.
At Lebanon, the Wilson County
school board voted to transfer five
white teachers to Negro schools and to
move five Negro teachers to predomi
nantly white schools this fall. Spokes
men said the white teachers would be
assigned to West Elementary School
and the Wilson County High School,
while the Negro teachers will be trans
ferred to Watertown High School, Leb
anon High School and Mount Juliet
School.
The Wilson County district was one
of the seven Tennessee districts re
porting teacher desegregation during
the past year.
Negro School Closings
Warf said several systems had indi
cated plans to close all of their Negro
schools at the beginning of the next
school year, transferring both students
and teachers to biracial classes.
In other action during the month, a
complaint of racial discrimination at
the University of Tennessee Hospital in
Knoxville was withdrawn.
James Quigley, assistant secretary of
HEW, advised Tennessee congressmen
of the action and supplied them with
copies of correspondence.
Mrs. Ruby Bishop, a white Knoxville
woman who filed the complaint, said
Dr. Andrew D. Holt, IJT president, had
given instructions in her presence that
the institution would comply with the
Civil Rights Act in the operation of the
hospital.
“This compliance is what I was seek
ing,” Mrs. Bishop wrote Quigley.
“Therefore I withdrew my complaint.”
Mrs. Bishop had complained of seg
regation of Negro patients, lack of de
segregation in the nursing school
teaching staff, employment of Negroes
only in housekeeping jobs and of Ne
gro girls meeting difficulty in admis
sion to the nursing school.
In the Colleges
Forty-four Tennessee colleges and
universities have agreed to meet pro
visions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,
the U. S. Office of Education said on
May 20.
Seven of the institutions are state-
supported. Their plans for desegrega
tion have been approved by the fed
eral agency. They include the Univer
sity of Tennessee, Middle Tennessee
State University at Murfreesboro,
Memphis State University, East Ten
nessee State University at Johnson
City, Tennessee Technological Univer
sity at Cookeville, A&I State Univer
sity at Nashville and Austin Peay State
College at Clarksville.
Others listed by the federal agency
included:
Belmont College, David Lipscomb
College, Fisk University, Vanderbilt
University, George Peabody College for
Teachers, Meharry Medical College,
Trevecca Nazarene College, all at
Nashville; Christian Brothers, Le
Moyne and Siena Colleges, Southwest
ern at Memphis, Southwestern College
of Optometry and Owen Junior Col
lege, all of Memphis; Covenant and
Tennessee Temple Colleges and Uni-
Legal Action
Court To Hear
More Arguments
U. S. District Judge Bailey Brown
was to hear additional arguments June
4 in the Jackson school desegregation
case.
During a one-day hearing at Mem
phis on May 28, witnesses for the Jack-
son school board and for Negro
plaintiffs offered conflicting testimony
concerning boundary lines for eight
elementary and three junior high
school zones.
Two witnesses for the National As
sociation for the Advancement of Col
ored People produced charts they said
showed that Jackson school zone lines
follow racial patterns. The witnesses
were Roger W. Bardwell of Arlington
Heights, Ill., head of the Elk Grove, Ill.,
school system, and Dr. Merrell Her
man, assistant superintendent of Villa
Park, Ill., schools.
Nashville attorney Avon N. Williams
Jr., on behalf of Negro plaintiffs,
charged that the school board had ger
rymandered school zone boundaries to
preserve racial segregation.
Supt. C. J. Huckaba told the court
that boundaries were drawn on the ba
sis of “the size of the school and the
location of the residents.” On cross-
examination, Huckaba agreed with
Williams that one Negro school zone
has no white students residing within
its area.
Gerrymandering Issue
The Jackson case is one of the first
Tennessee lawsuits cases in which Ne
gro plaintiffs have gone into court to
contest alleged gerrymandering of
school zones.
In addition to the controversy over
school zones, the NAACP also is seek
ing court-ordered faculty desegregation
and a ruling that the school board
must pay attorney fees for the plain
tiffs.
Attorney Russell Rice, counsel for
the Jackson City Commission (which
also serves as the board of education),
questioned Bardwell about his role in
the hearing. Bardwell said he had been
asked by the NAACP’s Legal Defense
Fund to study the Jackson zones.
Brown overruled Williams’ objections
to questions about how Bardwell will
be paid. “My expenses have been paid,”
Bardwell told the court.
The Jackson district, which volun
tarily began desegregation in 1962, was
ordered by Judge Brown in 1963 to
place a gradual desegregation plan into
effect. (Monroe et al v. Board of Com
missioners of the City of Jackson et al.)
Under the previously approved
schedule, racial barriers were dropped
through the sixth grade last fall with
the seventh and eighth grades to be
grades in 1966 and 11th and 12th grades
in 1967. About 125 Negro students at
tended biracial classes in the district
during the past year.
versity of Chattanooga, all of Chatta
nooga; Lambuth and Lane colleges and
Union University of Jackson; Knox
ville College, Knoxville; Bethel Col
lege, McKenzie; Carson-Newman Col
lege, Jefferson City; Cumberland Col
lege, Lebanon; Freed-Hardeman Junior
College, Henderson; Hiwassee College,
Madisonville; Lee College, Cleveland;
Lincoln Memorial University, Harro
gate; Martin Junior College, Pulaski;
Maryville College at Maryville; South
ern Missionary College, Collegedale;
Tennessee Wesleyan, Athens; Tuscu-
lum College, Greeneville; University of
the South, Sewanee; William J. Bryan
College, Dayton; Steed College and
King College, Bristol; and Morristown
College at Morristown.
The Office of Education said the col
leges and universities, which this year
will receive about $15 million in fed
eral funds, had signed Assurance of
Compliance forms, committing them to
policies of nondiscrimination in all
phases of admission and treatment of
students.
★ ★ ★
The statewide National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple organization has announced a cam-
None of Tennessee’s 152 public-
school districts is expected to lose
federal funds payable during the
current fiscal year, according to
State Education Commissioner J.
Howard Warf.
Additional arguments in the Jack-
son school desegregation case were
set for June 4 before Judge Bailey
Brown.
The Madison County Board of
Education denied charges that Ne
groes were not given sufficient time
to register for the 1965-66 school
year.
U. S. District Court was asked by
the Obion County Board of Educa
tion to close its school desegregation
case.
Franklin County’s desegregation
Madison Board Denies
Time Was Insufficient
The Madison County Board of Edu
cation filed a brief in U. S. District
Court on May 11, denying charges by
plaintiffs that Negroes were not given
sufficient time to register for the
1965-66 school year.
Jack Manheim, county attorney, said
in the brief that 68 Negro students reg
istered for biracial elementary schools
and 24 others enrolled in predominantly
white high school classes.
Manheim, replying to a motion by
Negro plaintiffs for “further relief,”
said that an additional half-day had
been allocated to the registration period
this year and that notices to parents
had been distributed on March 31.
The plaintiffs protested the registra
tion on April 14, two days before the
registration began. U. S. District Judge
Bailey Brown made no immediate rul
ing on the motion and the registration
was conducted as scheduled.
Time for Selection
Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended
the registration allowed “an insufficient
amount of time” for Negro parents to
select a school.
Brown set June 25 for further argu
ments in the case.
Manheim noted in his brief there had
been no desegregation of teaching staffs
but contended this factor did not ad
versely affect the constitutional rights
of the plaintiffs. He also denied charges
of racial discrimination in the routing
of school buses, in activities related to
faculty training and in other phases of
the school system’s operation.
Madison County, which operates
schools surrounding Jackson, is under
a federal court order to desegregate its
classes. Sixty-eight Negroes attended
biracial classes in the first eight grades
during the past year. Under the court-
approved plan, high-school grades will
be desegregated this fall.
★ ★ ★
Obion County Board
Asks End of Lawsuit
Attorneys for the Obion County
Board of Education on May 14 asked
U. S. District Court to close the school
desegregation case which has been
pending since 1962.
paign to establish NAACP chapters on
all college campuses.
The Rev. Frank Gordon of Knoxville,
state chapter president, said the de
cision was made at a conference at
tended by representatives of 20 chap
ters in Nashville on May 22.
In other action, the group also ad
vised parents against signing freedom-
of-choice plans advanced by local
school boards. The Rev. Mr. Gordon
called such plans “a devious way set
up ... to maintain present patterns of
segregation unless Negro parents and
pupils are willing to enter into a com
plex transfer procedure . . . and suffer
the attendant economic and physical
pressures.”
★ ★ ★
Dr. Stephen J. Wright, president of
Fisk University at Nashville, has been
named president-elect of a division of
the National Education Association.
Dr. Wright was chosen on May 4 as
the first Negro to head the Association
for Higher Education. He will serve as
president during 1966-67.
President of Fisk since 1957, Dr.
Wright was elected to the post during
a meeting of the association in Wash
ington, D. C.
plan was approved by U. S. District
Judge Charles G. Neese.
The U. S. Office of Education
listed 44 Tennessee colleges and uni
versities among those which have
agreed to revise entrance require
ments in keeping with the 1964 Civil
Rights Act.
A campaign to establish chapters
on all college campuses was
launched by the NAACP.
Chancellor Alexander Heard of
Vanderbilt University said the end
of racial discrimination will not re
move socio-economic differences be
tween the races.
NAACP executive director Roy
Wilkins urged Memphis Negroes to
“keep up the pressure” for desegre
gation.
In reply to a motion for further re
lief filed by Negro plaintiffs, the board
declared in a brief that it had “honestly
and sincerely endeavored to carry out
the court order in letter and in spirit.”
The board said it was “gratified that
integration . . . has been harmonious
and without incident.”
Filing of the brief came one week
after Negro plaintiffs charged in a pe
tition that the school district practices
racial discrimination in athletics, school
organizations and in other school-re
lated activities.
Charges Humiliation’
Nashville attorney Avon N. Williams
Jr., counsel for the plaintiffs, alleged
in the petition that teachers “frequently
expose Negro students to . . . the hu
miliation of being called such nick
names as ‘chiggers’ and ‘blacks.’ ”
The board’s answer specifically de
nied this charge.
Supt. C. D. Parr said: “We’ve done
the best we can with this thing. It’s a
shame that charges like these have to
be leveled.”
Parr said he had received no com
plaints from Negro parents but that
some white parents felt their children
were not being treated as well as Ne
gro students.
“This may be true, to some extent,”
he continued, “I am sure some teach
ers, in their desire to make sure that
Negro students are not treated un
fairly, sometimes may go overboard
slightly to comply . . .”
As to Personnel
The board acknowledged that it had
taken “no steps to integrate the teach
ing and other sustaining and operating
personnel in the schools” but pointed
out it had not been ordered to do so
by the court.
The question of whether teaching,
supervisory and supporting personnel
should be desegregated, the brief
stated, “is not a matter which can be
properly determined in this type suit.”
U. S. District Judge Bailey Brown,
who set June 18 as the date for hear
ing arguments on the plaintiffs’ mo
tion, ordered desegregation of all 12
grades in the Obion County district ef
fective in September, 1962. (Vick v.
Obion County Board of Education.) An
estimated 120 Negro students attended
biracial classes in the Northwest Ten
nessee district during the past year.
★ ★ ★
Court Approves Plan
For Franklin County
U. S. District Judge Charles G. Neese
on May 5 approved an amended plan
for desegregation of schools in Frank
lin County.
Under the plan, all elementary
schools will be desegregated this fall
under a freedom-of-choice method. All
high schools would be desegregated in
the fall of 1966.
Neese overruled objections of plain
tiffs, which include both white and Ne
gro parents, and said there was no need
for further hearings at the present. But
he said the court would resume juris
diction if school officials fail to carry
out the court-approved steps.
Racial barriers were lowered under
court order last year with the admis
sion of Negroes to two previously all-
white schools. (Hill et al v. Franklin
County Board of Education.)
On June 23, 1964, Neese approved a
revised plan submitted by the board,
but the case remained in litigation be
cause of objections raised by the plain
tiffs.
Neese on Dec. 29, 1964, accepted what
was called a “compromise” plan, ac
celerating the pace of desegregation
compared with the previous plans un
der consideration. His latest order ap
proved the two-step desegregation plan
(See VANDERBILT, Page 14)
44 Colleges Sign Compliance Forms