DATE: Thursday, November 20, 1997           TAG: 9711200461

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   68 lines

ACTIVISTS QUIT MEETING ABOUT ALL-BLACK SCHOOL AND THREATEN TO SUE THEY'RE SEEKING TO RECLAIM THE LAND AND TURN IT INTO A HISTORIC SITE.

A meeting between activists who want to reclaim the site of the county's only all-black high school and a School Board subcommittee ended abruptly late last week when the activists walked out, calling proposals to recognize the site ``unacceptable.''

The Friday meeting between representatives of the Princess Anne County School Association and some members of the board's Diversity Awareness Committee ended with the training association group threatening to pursue legal action to reclaim the 4-acre plot of land and building which originally housed the school.

Despite the disagreement, a Diversity Awareness subcommittee, led by board members Delceno C. Miles and Neil Rose, is continuing work on draft proposals to recognize the school.

The School Board may take up final recommendations on the matter next month.

African-American parents bought the original land more than 70 years ago when the county refused to provide black students with a high school. Now, some activists have stepped forward to reclaim the property and make it a historic site. They've invoked a clause from the 60-year-old deed that would return the property to the association if it ever ceased to be a high school.

However, the property has been developed over the years by the school division. It is now a part of a 30-acre complex of buildings and it houses district offices.

School officials say they want to recognize the school, but no longer have a legal obligation to return the land. The subcommittee's suggestions have included placing a historical marker, designating a room for museum-type recreation or having alumni spread the school's history to current school children.

``We're still moving forward with our plan,'' said Miles. ``My parents went to Union Kempsville and I'm a beneficiary because I attended integrated schools. We don't dispute that (historical significance). But we can't turn over a building because a couple of people ask us to.''

Edna Hendrix, a local historian and representative of the training school association, has been a driving force behind the effort to reclaim the school site. She called the suggested recognitions a ``slap in the face'' that doesn't fully recognize what went into the school.

``We were angered by it. Totally,'' she said. Hendrix said the division has made no commitment to preserving the original building into the future. Without that guarantee ``there's no need to discuss anything. One room and a marker are not enough.''

Miles clearly was frustrated after Friday's session.

``We're trying very hard to work with Ms. Hendrix and her group, but it's been difficult,'' she said.

Before walking out on the meeting, the training school group refused to allow members of the NAACP to attend the meeting and sought to discuss legal matters, an area outside the subcommittee's purview, Miles and Rose said.

Hendrix said the NAACP was asked to leave the meeting because the group had sided with the school division.

Sandra Smith-Jones, president of the Beach NAACP, said her group was there to gather information.

``When they say we've taken one side, we only know what the school district has shared with us,'' she said. ``The School Board has been very courteous in coming to us and working with us.''

Smith-Jones said she understands the emotion behind the issue, but worries that the window of opportunity which currently exists may be lost if middle ground is not reached soon.

``We all have to work together. It's not just one group's school,'' she said. KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOL BOARD

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu