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PAGE 16—JUNE. 1965—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS NORTH CAROLINA Federal Agency Approves Plans Of State Board, Eight Districts Student Officers in Winston-Salem Elected to the student government of predominantly white Wiley Junior High School: (from left) Harold Kennedy III, secretary; Jane Ferrell Clay, vice-president; Fred Butner, president. (See Miscellaneous.) WINSTON-SALEM ith the 1964-65 school year approaching its close, de segregation plans of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and of eight school systems in North Carolina had been approved as acceptable un der the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Of the state’s 170 school systems, 152 had submitted plans for desegregation; 27 had promised to send plans by June 15, and one apparently had not sent a plan. Among the plans submitted, 26 had been returned for revision in light of guidelines set up by the U.S. Office of Education. The U.S. Office of Education had approved plans of Craven, Cumber land, Dare, Mitchell, Lenoir and Ons low county systems and Fayetteville and Raleigh city systems. All eight systems except Dare and Mitchell counties operate desegregated schools. A state study of desegregation in school systems, completed Dec. 1, 1964, indicated that Mitchell County lists no Negroes in its school system, and Dare County lists 99 Negro chil dren. Not Rejected The 26 returned plans have not been rejected, the U.S. Office of Education reported. They are to be revised in the light of recently announced guidelines. No action has been taken on other submitted plans. One county, Currituck, was reported to have refused originally to desegre gate its school. The Currituck County Board of Education, however, voted May 5 to rescind its earlier action. It voted to work out a plan of compli ance with the Civil Rights Act. The county lost federal funds uti lized for vocational education, lunch room supplies and for children of government-employed personnel at tending schools. School districts with plans returned for revision were: Anson, Duplin, Guilford, Halifax, Henderson, Hertford, Hoke, Iradell, Johnston, Moore, Orange, Polk, Rowan, Sampson, Union, Warren, Watauga and Wayne counties and Asheboro, Chapel Hill, Freemont, Glen Alpine, Kings Mountain, Lumberton, Shelby and Whiteville cities. Promising Plans Districts promising to send plans were: Alexander, Anson, Bertie, Camden, Caswell, Chatham, Cherokee, Cleve land, Columbus, Davidson, Davie, Dup lin, Durham, Edgecombe counties and Asheville, Concord, Greensboro, Hick- ory, High Point, Kannapolis, Lexington, Morganton, Newton-Conover and Wadesboro cities and Winton-Salem/ Forsyth County system. Most state plans offered freedom of choice by parents of children. Second most popular appeared to be geographi cal. Among plans publicly announced were the following: Washington city system—Freedom of choice with whole system one district and children assigned to schools with out regard to race “on the basis of a free choice to be expressed by the parents of children presently enrolled or to be enrolled.” During the past year, seven Negroes were enrolled in three predominantly white schools. Fayetteville city—This plan, which has been approved, calls for geographic assignment of pupils. Alamance County — Students in grades one, four, nine and 12 will have freedom of choice for attending schools in 1965-66. A lack of classroom space was cited as the reason for not permit ting freedom of choice in all 12 grades. Children in these grades may “attend any school in the Alamance County school system, regardless of race, color or national origin, and enjoy the bene fits of all services and facilities avail able at said school.” Lenoir County—Already approved, this plan permits freedom of choice and erases the previous racially drawn dis tricts. Chapel Hill city—All but 44 of the system’s 4,600 students have been given their first choice in a freedom of choice system. The system is further planning to build one high school to replace the present predominantly white Chapel Hill High School and predominantly Negro Lincoln High School. On its assignment policy, the board said: North Carolina Highlights North Carolina’s state desegrega tion plans and eight civil rights compliance statements by school sys tems have been approved as accept able under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was reported at the end of the school year. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the North Carolina Teachers Asso ciation reported that more than 500 Negroes had lost their jobs as teach ers because of school desegregation, but Dr. Charles Carroll, superintend ent of the State Department of Public Instruction, said he knew of no such action against Negro teachers. The U. S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Durham City Board of Education to revise its as signment policy, calling some phases of the plan objectionable. Desegregation of colleges, public and private, is increasing in North Carolina, although the amount of bi- racial attendance is small, a study revealed. “The only criteria concerned are: (1) available classroom space, (2) main tenance of reasonable equality of class room size at the grade levels involved, (3) continuity of educational pro grams.” On the assignment of teachers, the school board told the Lincoln Parent- Teacher Association, “When consolida tion of schools takes place, such con solidation, in and of itself, would not constitute cause for failure to reappoint a teacher.” Under the Chapel Hill plan, an addi tional 87 Negroes have been assigned to desegregated schools. Granville County—A freedom-of- choice plan has been adopted. The county has no desegregated schools. Harnett County—Freedom of choice is permitted children of first, second and ninth grades for 1965-66 school year. ★ ★ ★ The Raleigh city system’s freedom- of-choice plan has been approved by the U.S. Office of Education as com plying with the Civil Rights Act, but Negroes do not fully approve. The school board announced May 10 that all assignments for 1965-66 had been made, but gave no figures on the number of mixed schools. Figures were promised in the future. In the Colleges Desegregation in the 60 colleges of North Carolina, both predominantly Negro and predominantly white, nearly doubled in the past school year, but the total figures are small. The state has 48 predominantly white colleges, including 13 state-supported (10 senior and three junior or com munity) and 35 private (20 senior and 15 junior), and 12 predominantly Negro colleges, including five state-supported senior and seven private (six senior and one junior). All tax-supported senior and com munity colleges are open to qualified students without regard to race. Only one of these institutions had no Negro students enrolled in the fall of 1964. There were 404 Negro students en rolled in 10 tax-supported white senior colleges and 85 enrolled in three tax- supported junior colleges for a total of 489. This was an increase of 234 or 91.7 per cent over the 255 enrolled a year ago. Other Colleges Negro students are enrolled in 14 of the 20 white private or church-related senior colleges. Four of the other six colleges reported an open admission policy. Three have enrolled Negroes in past years, and the other two stated “no policy of exclusion” based on race. There were 72 Negro students en rolled in these 14 colleges in the fall of 1964, compared with 38 a year earlier, an increase of 90 per cent. Four of the 15 white private junior In the meantime, the Raleigh chapter of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People expressed its dissatisfaction with the city plan by submitting a petition to the school board, asking it to “adopt a realistic program of integration of public schools.” Mrs. Millie Dunn Veasey, chapter president, called the plan “an attempt to circumvent the Civil Rights Act.” “The school board should make the assignments,” she said. Under the Raleigh plan, parents select the schools for their children, subject to such con ditions as overcrowding. ★ ★ ★ Various school systems have per mitted large numbers of Negro pupils to transfer to previously all-white schools under freedom-of-choice plans offered. These include the following: Robeson County—401 of 676 reassign ment requests were granted. Racial sta tistics were not announced. Robeson County has schools for four racial groups. Hertford County—378 of 382 Negro requests for transfers to all 12 grades in 11 previously all-white schools ap proved. Beaufort County—121 Negro children assigned to seven previously white schools at a joint meeting of the two school boards. Madison-Mayodan city—60 reauests for transfer granted desegregating all grades but the sixth in the system. This total may involve some white children attending all-Negro schools. The system has had no desegregation in the past. Cherryville city—Six Negroes as signed to two previously all-white schools. No desegregation in the past. Gates County—No requests for trans fers reported. There is no desegregation in this county with 1,592 Negro children and 922 white children attending its six schools. ★ ★ ★ In several cities and counties, school boards had signed statements of com pliance with the Civil Rights Act, but had not acted on requests for assign ment under freedom of choice. These included: Lexington City—141 Negro students, living in both the city and Davidson County, requested transfers to pre viously white or desegregated schools in the city and county. In the meantime the Lexington City School Board an nounced that it will not accept any non-city students (with the exception of 327 Negro students in agreement with the county) in its schools. Salisbury city—89 Negroes sought to enter previously all white or predomi nantly white schools. colleges enrolled 29 Negroes, an in crease of two over the previous year. Seven of these 11 remaining schools offer open admissions, and four re ported no policy. In summary, 29 of the 35 white pri vate colleges have open admissions policy, and 18 enrolled 101 Negro stu dents, an increase of 65 or 55.4 per cent over the preceding year. Negro Colleges All 12 Negro colleges, including five public, six private senior and one pri vate junior, have open enrollment policies. The five state colleges enrolled 11 white students in 1964 and 12 in September, 1963. The private schools accepted 11 in 1964 compared with three in 1963. The total enrollment of Negroes in white colleges is 590 of a total popula tion of 78,714 in the state’s 48 pre dominantly white colleges. There are . 23 white students enrolled among 13,428 students in the state’s 12 predominantly Negro colleges. An unpublished report said: “It is fair to say that opportunities for higher education are increasingly being made available in North Carolina to all students without regard to race who qualify for admission to colleges and universities in the state. As these policies are progressively implemented, better utilization of the state’s human and material resources will inevitably result.” Bertie County—260 Negroes request ed transfer to previously white schools. Teachers were elected for the whole system rather than for individual schools as in the past. ★ ★ ★ The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system received a $75,000 grant to set up a center for students, 15-21, with learning disabilities, it was an nounced May 25. Designed for 130 pupils with physical artd mental disabilities, the center will be set up at Central School. It will be operated by the local special education department in co-operation with the North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The new program will begin in the fall. The federal grant includes funds for renovation of 14 classrooms for the center. The school will diagnose and evaluate disabilities, train and place the disabled, provide remedial education, improve trainability and develop new information on vocational rehabilita tion. ★ ★ ★ Negro Teachers’ Status Becomes Statewide Issue Rumors and reports that possibly 500 Negro teachers will lose their jobs be cause of desegregation of schools in ★ ★ ★ Predominantly white colleges appear to be seeking more Negro athletes. Duke University may get one through the National Achievement ScholEirships for outstanding Negro students. Three Negro student wall enroll at Duke through the scholarship program, and one is an outstanding basketball player, Claudius B. Claiborne, 18, 6-2 of Langston High School in Danville, Va. Colleges signing Negro athletes to grants-in-aid include Catawba and High Point for the first time. High Point signed two Negroes and Catawba has signed one. ★ ★ ★ The North Carolina Memorial Hos pital of the University of North Caro lina in Chapel Hill will take immediate steps to desegregate and comply with the Civil Rights Act, Chancellor Paul F. Sharp of the university announced May 4. The hospital was among 17 an nounced as not complying with the act. Sharp said: “It is the university’s intention to comply with the law. We had thought that we were in accord with the law in our hospital practices.” Complaints had been made against the hospital’s policy of not integrating patients. The hospital policy was to assign patients of different races to the same room “if the arrangement is re quested by both parties and if their type of illness will safely permit it.” North Carolina raised a statewide de bate with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the predominantly Negro North Carolina Teachers Association on one side and the State Department of Pub lic Instruction and state school systems on the other. The issue became a public problem May 23 when the Asheboro city school system announced that 12 Negro teachers will not be rehired for the 1965-66 school year, with desegregation of schools listed as a cause by Guy B. Teachey, superintendent of Asheboro schools. “We are perhaps undergoing the greatest social revolution of all times and in any revolution someone is al ways hurt,” Teachey said. “In this instance, perhaps the Negro school teachers will suffer the greatest hardships as they compete for positions in our educational systems, not only with people of their own race, but with teachers with degrees from some of our most renowned colleges and universi ties.” 10 of 24 Rehired He said Asheboro has rehired 10 of its 24 Negro teachers. Two, including, the principal of the all-Negro Central High School, which will not be re opened, have resigned. Asheboro, he said, will close its Cen tral High, operated jointly with Ran dolph County, which included 200 Ne groes not within the city limits. They will have to attend county schools. The city also will not accept students who live outside the city school district These factors. Teachey said, caused the dismissal of the 12 Negro teachers. Lacv Presnell Jr., Randolph County superintendent, said his system may employ some of the discharged Ashe- boro teachers, but he made no specify statement. , Kelly Alexander, state president o the NAACP, and Jack Greenberg New York City, director-counsel of m e NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said the NAACP will investigate reported firM of Negro teachers. Greenberg’s state ment that 500 North Carolina Negro teachers had lost their jobs started the controversy in the state. All of Randolph County will be i”" vestigated, Alexander said. Legal Action Taken The NAACP took its first legal actio” in the teacher situation May 27 in Ne Bern. Julius Chambers of Charlotte. NAACP lawyer, filed suit in a U- District Court in behalf of Mrs. J. Moore, 44, a Negro teacher in Pitts County system. He sought a liminary injunction to prevent the County Board of Education from missing her. The NAACP charged that ^ Moore, a teacher in the system 12 had been advised that she will no ^ rehired next year because there may a decrease in the Grifton Elemen ^ School where she has taught. This ^ crease in enrollment was said to caused by the transfer of Negro ® ^ dents from Grifton to previously w schools. . Mrs. Moore’s case was to be n June 10 in Trenton by U.S. Comm”’ sioner Eleanor G. Howard. j. The North Carolina Teachers A-ss^ ation through its executive secre E. B. Palmer, said: (See NORTH CAROLINA, Page l7) Biracial Enrollment About Double