Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408080060
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WEDOWEE, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
The fire gutted all of the Randolph County High School classrooms only hours before marchers planned to form ranks for new protests targeting Principal Hulond Humphries.
Investigators were ``99 percent sure it's arson,'' Sheriff Larry Colley said - though no one could say who may have set it or why.
The fire did not reach the adjoining elementary school, lunchroom and main offices in a newer structure where school records are kept. But as the smell of smoke hung over the rural, hilly community, the fire brought new anguish only two weeks before the new school year begins.
Blacks seeking the ouster of Humphries, who is white, called off a protest march as tensions mounted and Ku Klux Klan members arrived in the east Alabama town.
``The danger is too great,'' said a protest leader, the Rev. Emmett Johnson of Wedowee.
``We've never failed to march because of what the Klan might do,'' said the Rev. Henry Sterling of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But he said march leaders agreed with state troopers ``that Wedowee needed a cooling-off period.''
Nathan Thomaston, a Klan leader from Georgia's Heard County, about 30 miles away, said he came to Wedowee after being asked by a high-ranking city official to have members of his group monitor the SCLC's actions. He would not name the official.
Humphries' status has divided the rural community, mostly along racial lines, since he told juniors and seniors in a Feb. 24 assembly that the April prom would not be held because some students planned to attend with dates of other races.
Humphries, who relented the next day, said later that he was concerned about violence at the prom and was frustrated by unruly students when he spoke to the assembly.
Revonda Bowen, a junior who has a white father and black mother, also sued the school board and the principal, accusing him of telling her that her parents made ``a mistake'' in having her.
In a settlement, the school officials admitted no wrongdoing but the board agreed to have its insurer pay Ms. Bowen $25,000 for her college education.
As protests led by local civil rights leaders continued, the Justice Department filed a complaint alleging racial discrimination in the school system. It cited Humphries' prom remarks in part and asked for a preliminary order removing him, pending trial.
Humphries, 55, has been principal for 25 years at the 680-student school, which is 38 percent black. The school board reinstated him after a two-week suspension in March. Protesters claim he has a long history of bigotry, while his supporters say he's a firm, fair educator.
A lawyer for the school board, George Beck, said the board believes ``chaos would result should Mr. Humphries be removed this close to the beginning of the school year.''
A hearing on the principal's status is scheduled for Thursday in federal court in Montgomery, if a settlement is not reached before then. No date for new settlement talks has been announced.
Attorneys for the board met with Justice Department lawyers on Friday in Montgomery to try to settle the case. Neither side would comment at the close of talks Friday night.
A federal court trial is scheduled for Oct. 11 if no settlement is reached.
by CNB