Medley v. School Board of City of Danville, Virginia, Civ. A. No. 71-C-44-D.
| Decision Date | 20 October 1972 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 71-C-44-D. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia |
| Parties | Charlie L. MEDLEY et al., Plaintiffs, v. The SCHOOL BOARD OF the CITY OF DANVILLE, VIRGINIA, et al., Defendants. |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
S. W. Tucker, Henry L. Marsh, III, Richmond, Va., Jack Greenberg, James M. Nabrit, II, Norman Chachkin, New York City, J. L. Williams, Danville, Va., Charles M. L. Mangum, Lynchburg, Va., for plaintiffs.
Earle Garrett, Danville, Va., G. Kenneth Miller, Richmond, Va., for defendants.
This is a school desegregation case following in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954), as interpreted by other cases but particularly including Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, infra, and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, infra. It is Danville's first time in court, its desegregation having been accomplished by voluntary compliance. Plaintiffs, Negro parents of children attending public schools in the City of Danville, insist that only the mathematical precision of the racial ratio of school population, or its near equivalent, reflected in each public school, may meet the constitutional mandate. Defendants with equal fervor take the position that geographic attendance zones which are racially non-discriminatory comply with the equal protection clause regardless of the racial makeup of the schools which may result. Between the two antithetical positions as annunciated above, both logically defensible, or in accord with one of them, the court must make its delicate choice.
The case was submitted on answers to interrogatories, exhibits, stipulations, data, and briefs. Both sides declined to submit expert or other oral testimony.
Danville's population as shown in the 1970 Census is 46,391. It is 77.02% white and 22.98% black. Census figures from 1900 to 1970 show the ratio of Negroes to total population has decreased, Danville having been 39.45% Negro in 1900, 32.64% in 1910, 26.37% in 1920, 24.83% in 1930, 31.05% in 1940, 30.18% in 1950, and 24.73% in 1960. Pittsylvania County, in which Danville is situated, has a total population of 19,774. The Census from 1900 to 1970 for Pittsylvania County shows that its percentage of Negroes has also rather steadily decreased. The county was 45.39% black in 1900, 39.77% in 1910, 35.41% in 1920, 34.28% in 1930, 30.77% in 1940, 30.89% in 1950, 34.24% in 1960, and 33.63% in 1970. Obviously, there has been no white flight from Danville with which city expension has not kept pace.
The population profile of the public schools presents only a slightly different picture. Total school population is 31.25% Negro. The city's only high school, George Washington, which is located on the south side of the Dan River, is 30.6% Negro. Of course, plaintiffs make no complaint about the high school. Not taking into consideration the high school, which is attended by students residing on the north and south sides of the river, the schools on the north side of the river are 17.01% black and the schools on the south are 45.76% black. At present, all students, except those in high school, are assigned to schools on the basis of attendance zones. The Dan River divides the city into two sectors, and no one attendance zone includes students living on both sides of the river. As these figures show, the Negro population of Danville is not evenly dispersed throughout the city, but is more numerous on the south side of town below the Dan River.
As the chart below shows, during the 1971-1972 school year, Danville operated three junior high schools. One of them, Bonner, is located on the north side of town. It was 19.27% Negro. The two junior highs on the south side, Langston and Lee, together had a 44.17% Negro population. The following chart shows the junior high school enrollment by race for the 1971-1972 school year:
SIDE OF %
SCHOOL RIVER GRADES CAPACITY ENROLLMENT WHITE NEGRO NEGRO
Bonner N 7-9 1200 1240 1001 239 19.27
R.E. Lee S 7-9 815 712 370 342 48.03
Langston S 7-9 800 568 349 219 38.55
____ ____ ___ _____
TOTALS 2520 1720 800 31.74
A6348
The school board has advised the court of its intention to alter the attendance zones of Langston and Lee, the two junior high schools on the south side of the river, for the 1972-1973 school year. It stated that if a change were not made, each of these schools would be less representative of the Negro population for the 1972-1973 school year. The 1972-1973 proposed plan will change the feeder schools into these two junior highs so as to more precisely reflect the racial ratios south of the Dan River. The school board has recognized that a desirable and practical way of achieving desegregation is by controlling the source of students for the junior high schools. This also has the advantage, recognized by educators, of keeping the students together through as many years of school as possible. With the alteration, Lee, 48.85% Negro in 1971-1972, will be 46.61% Negro, and Langston, 38.68% Negro in 1971-1972, will be 41.89% Negro. The total junior high population on the south is 44.44% black, and the total junior high and elementary student population on the south is 45.76% black.1
During the 1971-1972 school year, Danville operated fourteen elementary schools, seven on the north side of town and seven on the south side. The elementary school population was 15.86% Negro on the north side of town and 46.59% Negro on the south. Data for each of the elementary schools operated during the 1971-1972 school year follows:
1971-1972
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
SIDE OF %
SCHOOL RIVER GRADES CAPACITY ENROLLMENT WHITE NEGRO NEGRO
Bellevue N 1-6 375 276 175 101 36.59
G.L.H
Johnson N 1-4 665 498 457 41 8.23
I.W
Taylor N 5-6 540 262 247 16 6.10
Park Ave. N 1-6 330 309 261 48 15.53
Stonewall
Jackson N 1-6 480 310 253 57 18.38
Woodberry
Hills N 1-6 480 436 404 32 7.33
Woodrow
Wilson N 1-6 600 342 251 91 26.60
SUBTOTAL N 1-6 3470 2433 2047 386 15.86
________________________________________________________________________
Cedarbrook S 1-6 425 412 392 20 4.85
E.A
Gibson S 3-6 960 394 83 311 78.93
Forest
Hills S 1-6 360 254 192 62 24.40
Grove
Park S 1-2 300 267 54 213 79.77
J.L
Berkeley S 1-3 330 296 65 231 78.04
Schoolfield S 1-6 680 500 438 62 12.40
Westmoreland S 4-6 950 326 84 242 74.23
SUBTOTAL S 1-6 4005 2449 1308 1141 46.59
________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL N+S 1-6 7475 4882 3355 1527 31.27
A6349
For the 1972-1973 school year, the school board has established a kindergarten program. This program is not required by any Virginia Statute, and no child is required to attend. As this program was not in operation during the 1971-1972 school year, the chart showing the attendance at the various elementary schools for the last school year does not reflect any kindergarten students. In an affidavit, filed August 9, 1972, the Superintendent of schools stated that 441 children have registered for the program, although he did not know at that date exactly how many children will actually participate. On the south side, the kindergarten grades will be located at Cedarbrook, Schoolfield, Forest Hills, Grove Park, and Berkeley, and all children will be assigned to schools on the basis of the elementary attendance zones, as if they were entering the first grade. On the north side of the river, the kindergarten grades will be located at Bellevue, Woodrow Wilson, Stonewall Jackson, and G. L. H. Johnson. All children will be assigned to schools according to the elementary attendance zones, except that, because of the anticipated near full-capacity enrollments in the non-kindergarten grades at Woodberry Hills and Park Avenue, kindergarten students who would normally attend those schools will attend G. L. H. Johnson.
No issue is made of the summer school program or of the Head Start program, plaintiffs having conceded that each of these programs is operated in a fully desegregated manner. Plaintiffs have not complained of the operation of the extracurricular activities in any of the schools. Similarly, as plaintiffs admit that the faculties are realistically desegregated, no complaint is made concerning the assignments of teachers. The chart, which follows, shows that the teachers have been assigned on an almost completely mathematically precise basis:
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