Evening star., 1954-06-03
Board Orders End :
OF Segregation Here
In Fifteen Months
CONTINUED From First Page.)

WAAAVC, AAA OA0OA W AC1AOFO OVOA
crowding. This is the first step
proposed by DR.. Corning.
Wesley S. Williams led yester-
days unsuccessful Negro effort
to obtain complete pupil deSeg-
regation next September. His
move was seconded by DR.. Mar
garet j. Butcher.
Mr.. Williams, soon after the
session opened. asked the board
in a formal motion to set up new
boundaries by June Is and order
the complete desegregation of all
schools in the system by the
opening of schools in September.
He also asked for September
merger of Mckinley and Arm
strong High Schools and deSeg-
regation of the teacher colleges,
as well as closing Of the colored
Military Road Elementary
School.
"Let's Face the Issue"
Mr.. Williams, in a lengthy
statement, asserted that crowd
ing had nothing to do with the
problem facing the board, add
ing that "the immediate problem
is how to implement the decisions
Of the Supreme Court"
Stating he was mot too con-
cerned" about the teacher and
administrative staff at this time,
Mr.. Williams asserted that school
officials could prepare new pupil
boundaries in two weeks, and
he urged:
Lets face the issue squarely.
We're confronted with it. It's
not anything difficult"
Walter N. Tobringer, white
member, gave the Williams move
partial support, calling tor adop-
ton of new boundaries in Sep
tember but proposing that 9Th,
9th and 18th graders be allowed
to remain in present schools if
they wished to.
Mr.. Tobriner, however, said he
would not push this proposal II
administrative difficulties made
1t unworkable.
Mr.. Tobriner also proposed
sending a QUESTIONABLE to all
pupils before schools close June
II, asking whether they would
want to remain in present
schools if they had a choice.
During a subsequent round of
board members, Robert r. Faulk-
ner fatty indorsed DR.. Corning's
plan, and Mrs. Frank S. Phillips
also indorsed it generally, al
though stating she had some
questions about details. Miss
Mary H. Parker, without ex-
pressing a fiat viewpoint, speci-
f1cally Endorsed a Corning state
ment that desegregation should
be orderly and that artificial
and immediate reassignments of
large numbers of pupils, teach
ers and officers would be disrup-
tive and will be avoided"
Warns of Hasty Action.
DR.. Rowland F. Kinks cau-
toned his colleagues, not to act
hastily, declaring:
II urge in accomplishing these
deliberations we give due appre-
citation to the fact that what We
do will have perpetual influence
on the educational system here.
I recommend we be cautious
rather than impetuouS."
DR.. Kinks said it was his posi-
ton that the board should not
interfere in administrative re-
Sponsibilities, declaring:
II hope the board will not be-
come enmeShed in administra-
tive details and by implication
create the impression that on
each step the administration has
to deal with us first"
He also declared he did not
feel DR.. Corning and his aides
had yet had enough time to
work out details, adding that by
the time of the June % meeting
the school administration could
come back land if we feel not
as much progress has been made
as could have been made we can
resolve that matter when it ar
riveS.
Il believe it would be injudi-
ciouS at this time to try to fix,
for intermediate steps, phase
lines with a specific date on
them" he said.
Corning Defends Plans
West A. Hamilton. the third
Negro member. stated he did not
feel the entire Corning plan
should be scrapped. But he as
serted he wanted to see the
board end segregation "as
quickly as possible"
After the board members had
expressed these views DR.. Corn
ing was called on. and he read a
lengthy statement in which he
strongly defended his own plans
and opposed any speed-up. In
substance, DR.. Corning declared
that Mr.. Williams proposal for
immediate desegregation was ad-
miniStratively impossible to carry
out without too much disruption
of the school system and its
pupils.
When the Williams motion
came to vote, Col. Hamilton
sided with Mr.. Williams and
DR.. Butcher, but the white ma
jority voted as a bloc against
it. President c. Melvin Sharpe
did not vote.
Mr.. Faulkner then moved i'm
mediate approval of DR.. Cor
ning's plan. At the suggestion
of DR.. Kinks, the board recessed
for 10 minutes and members
went into a cloSed-door confer
ence. Immediately thereafter
the nine members voted unani-
mously for the following motion,
worded by DR.. Kinks:
That the Superintendent'S re-
port be accepted and filed and
that the SUPERINTENDENT be di-