Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-22
BY MARY LOU WERNER
star stan Writer

Ry MANI NV w IAsANGAs
star stan Writer
When former Gov. Stanley
officially unveiled massive re-
sistance In Virginia, he said
"there should be no reason to
close any school under this
legislation"
This was his message to the
General Assembly that con-
vened in August, 1856. to pass
legislation coping with the SUI
preme Courts desegregation
decision.
Today, three public schools
are shut down under the anti
indignation laws that came out
of that assembly. More closings
are in the offing.
Warren County's l,044 white
high school students have been
out Of class since last Monday.
Never Even Opened
Lane High and Venable Ele-
mentary Schools in Charlottes-
vile were added to the closed
list Thursday. They never even
opened for the fall term. Nearly
100 students are affected.
In Norfolk, the opening of
all junior and senior high
schools has been put of until
September 20 while the city
tries desperately to get an in
tegration stay it has faint hope
of winning. Failing this, all
three Of the city's white high
schools and three out Of four
white junior highs are due to
close, leaving 10000 students
without classes.
Arlington has won an unex-
pected reprieve from the school
closing crisis, but is due to
feel its effect in February un-
less there is a shift Of State
policy before then.
Change Gradual
The change from a i've
don't-really intend to close
schools attitude has been so
gradual, so subtle, it is hard
to tell where or when it all
started.
Nevertheless, the actuality Of
closed schools has arrived and
SO far the public has not raised
a firm voice to reopen them.
The climate was different two
years ago when "a legislators
expressed concern about paying
tuition grants for private
schooling. lest the public school
system be weakened. They
wanted the payment of tuition
grants conditioned on the
maintenance of a public school
system. Their movement did
not succeed, but "a represented
a strong sentiment at the time
that public education should be
preserved.
The tuition grant law that
finally emerged from the Gen.
eral Assembly makes the grants
available where public schools
are closed, or where students
otherwise would have to attend
integrated public schools. Pay
ment of grants now is tied up
by State litigation, however.
That was about the mildest
law that came out of the 1856
special session of the General
Assembly, which Matched mas
sive resistance.
Initial Proposal
Gov. Stanley's initial pro-
posal concerned only the fund
cut of law, which withholds
State school funds from any
locality that attempS to operate
integrated classes.
His com m ent that there
should be no need to close
schools applied to the fund cut
off law. To be strictly accurate,
it should be noted that he
qualified his remark by adding
"if any school is closed, it will
be because a person. or persons.
of one race seeks to force his
way into a school in which the
opposite race is taught"
But the general theme that
schools would be kept open and
segregated was what most peo-
pie seemed to hear-even when
the automatic school closing
law came along.
1t seems ironic today, but the
school closing law cropped up
in the guise of a compromise
move to pacify those who
thought the fund cut-off was
too severe a penalty to impose
on localities that might be
forced by court order to inte-
CRATE. The school closing law,
it was explained, would give
the governor a chance to re-
organize a school on a segre-
gated basis and prevent a local
ity from being hit by the fund
cutoff unless that locality
chose to reopen schools with
racially mixed classes.
Legislators who participated
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.