THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210488
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ACCOMAC LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
If you listened closely, beneath the muted ``amens'' of the black ministers who attended the Accomack County School Board meeting on Tuesday, you could hear it: echoes of the 1960s civil rights movement.
``We're bleeding to death and we want somebody to plug up the wound,'' said the Rev. James Israel Boyd, of the 450-member First Baptist Church in Mappsville.
Boyd came with about 20 other ministers to protest what they consider to be gross inequities in the Accomack school system's minority hiring practices.
``We don't plan to run, and we don't plan to leave until something is done,'' said Boyd. He said 73 percent of Accomack's students are black, but fewer than 5 percent of the system's teachers are African-American.
Official school figures contradict Boyd's numbers. Rick Bull, acting superintendent, said that in March, 51.3 percent of the system's 5,350 students were black, and 20.4 percent of its teachers were members of racial minorities - a disparity that Bull acknowledges and hopes to correct.
``We're looking to work with this organization and meet their desires,'' said Bull in an interview Wednesday. By lunchtime on Wednesday he had called one of the ministers to work on solutions to teacher recruiting problems.
Bull said that Accomack had sent recruiters to more minority colleges this year than it did to predominantly white ones. But, he said, there is an acute shortage of black teachers nationwide, and few of them want to move to a low-paying rural area where good housing and entertainment are scarce.
Tuesday's protest was the ministers' first attempt to bring the issue before the School Board. Boyd said they had met with other school officials over the past seven years. The clergymen were told that Accomack was doing everything it could to recruit qualified black teachers.
``It does not matter whether or not you tried to do it. The job has not been done,'' said Boyd to the School Board.
The atmosphere at Tuesday's meeting was cordial. Those who spoke were polite, insisting that they came not as enemies, but in an effort to work toward a solution. But the ministers' list of concerns hinted at powerful emotions simmering in the community.
The Rev. Linda Stevens said that several black administrators had been demoted in recent years, while whites rarely lose administrative jobs. Boyd said that too many young black men were being expelled, and that students were being questioned about legal matters without their parents' consent. He asked why so many black employees were overlooked for advancement, and why one teacher was permitted to display a Confederate flag in school.
The ministers objected to the psychological damage they feel being done to African-American children surrounded by powerful whites.
``Our students today are being exposed to a large number of white authority figures,'' said Boyd. ``They have no peers to look up to.''
Ronda Hall, the African-American principal of Accomac Elementary School, said in an interview Wednesday that she had never heard of some of the problems voiced at the meeting. No parents had come to her with these concerns, she said. Of the 25 teachers in her school, five are minorities.
``I would like to see a balance. The students need more role models,'' said Hall. ``But along with that, I want qualified, energetic, innovative teachers. That's the bottom line.''
At Tuesday's meeting, Fred Tolbert, chairman of the School Board, offered to meet with the ministers and talk about the issue. But Boyd turned down the request.
``We've had so much talk, we're talked out,'' said Boyd. He said the group would prefer to present its position in writing within the next 45 days, then look for action by the board. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photos by BILL TIERNAN
``We're looking to work with this organization and meet their
desires.''
Rick Bull, Accomack County schools acting superintendent
``Our students today are being exposed to a large number of white
authority figures. they have no peers to look up to.''
The Rev. James Israel Boyd
Color Chart
Accomack Schools
For copy of chart, see microfilm
Staff map
Accomack County
For copy of map, see microfilm
by CNB