Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-23
School Boards
Want Voice in
Any Indignation
Northern Virginia
Officials Explain
Meeting Sentiment

ern virginia want to have
voice in deciding how integra-
ton is carried out, if the State
abandons or modifies its school
segregation policy after the SUI
preme Court DEGREES are handed
down.
The court is to hear arguments
in December on how its historic
decision should be put into effect.
Meantime, Virginia is retain
ing segregation in it's schools
and Gov. Stanley has appointed
a special legislative committee to
study ways to keep them that
way.
School board and administra-
ton officials from IL Northern
Virginia cities and counties who
met at Warrenton Tuesday night
agreed that their organization,
the Northern Virginia Regional
School Boards Association and
individual school boards, would
not want to deviate from the
ultimate Indignation plan adopt
ed for the State as q whole.
Speed Not Favored.
Education leaders from near
by areas who attended the meet
ing said that there was little
sentiment expressed in favor of
moving ahead rapidly toward
integration.
A story in The Star yesterday
on the Warrenton meeting said
that the Members of Northern
Virginia school boards last night |
expressed themselves generally
in favor of moving ahead as
rapidly as possible toward racial
indignation in schools"
b. This conclusion was in error,
according to Fred w. Robinson,
chairman of the regional asso-
citation and member of the Fair
fax County School Board; John
A. johnson, chairman of the
Falls Church School Board. and
Richard L. Saintsing, member
of the Falls Church School
Board.
Summarizes Views.
Mr.. Robinson said he would
summarize the views expressed
at the meeting this way: That
II integration happened to come,
local school boards should have
a voice in how it is to be done.
The Fairfax board member said
a statement attributed to him in
yesterdays story regarding the
effect of Indignation on Negro
children failed to report his
viewpoint accurately.
Mr.. Robinson said today that
his view is that Negro children
are not prepared to go to school
with white children. If integra-
ton went into effect, he said,
there would be a question
whether to lower curriculum
standards to help the Negro chill
dren or to. leave the standards
as they are, perhaps discourage
ing these students from staying
in school.
Mr.. johnson also agreed that
the meeting failed to bring out
sentiment in favor of speeding
indignation. He said the domi-
nant feeling he had heard ex-
pressed at the meeting was that
the problem should be explored
by localities as well as on a
State level.
Explains Letter to Stanley.
The Falls Church chairman
said the report yesterday that he
had written a letter to Gov.
Stanley about the matter ap-
parently referred to a statement
he made at the meeting that the
president of the Virginia School
Board Association had written to
the Governor. Mr.. johnson, who ;
Is member of the executive
committee of this group, said he
did not know whether the presi-
dent, DR.. Robert Smart of Rich
mond, had received reply.
Mr.. Saintsing. referring to the :
conclusion that speed in integra- {
ton was favored, said yesterday, $
1T was extremely irritating to |
me to have this view represented
as the view Of the School ,
Boards" He said "a small mi
nority may have expressed this {
view"
Mr.. Saintsing recalled that the {
Falls Church School Board was {
On record 5 to / against i'm !
mediate Indignation. He Said he
believes there was agreement at 8
Warrenton that, eff and when
ntegration is required in the j
State of Virginia, that then 1t
should be matter to be deter
mined on the basis of local con-