Graves v. Walton County Board of Education

300 F. Supp. 188
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedJuly 30, 1968
DocketCiv. A. 681
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 300 F. Supp. 188 (Graves v. Walton County Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Graves v. Walton County Board of Education, 300 F. Supp. 188 (M.D. Ga. 1968).

Opinion

BOOTLE, Chief Judge:

The plaintiffs, suing for themselves and two classes, (1) Negro parents and pupils of the public schools of Walton County, Georgia who are similarly affected and injured by the action of the defendants in maintaining and operating a racially segregated school system, and (2) teachers in the public schools of said County similarly affected by alleged action of the defendants in penalizing and suspending them and threatening so to do because of attempts to petition the defendants about the conditions within their racially segregated school system, bring their complaint against Walton County Board of Education (County Board); Dr. Garfield Wilson, Superintendent of the Walton County Public Schools, suing him individually and in his official capacity; Social Circle Board of Education (Circle Board); S. W. Causey, individually and as Superintendent of Schools of Social Circle, Georgia; and J. L. Shepard, Chief of Police of Social Circle, Georgia, individually and as Chief of Police. The complaint against County Board, Wilson, Circle Board and Causey is that they are operating schools on a racially segregated basis. A further complaint against County Board and Wilson is that they have suspended three teachers. The complaint against Shepard, Chief of Police, is that he is threatening parents of children in attendance at the Social Circle Training School with the loss of welfare benefits and the burning of their homes if said parents continue to organize and speak out about conditions in their school and that he makes threats *192 to said parents due to their attempting to petition responsible Government officials for redress of their grievances.

The original complaint prayed for injunctive relief: (1) preventing the suspension or firing of teachers Hill and Norris; (2) preventing any interference with the rights of plaintiffs to speak freely, petitioning their Government, or seeking equal educational opportunities for their children, (3) preventing any interference with the right of minor plaintiffs to attend schools not racially segregated and which are equal with schools attended by the white race, and more particularly as a beginning in compliance and accordance with the decree set forth in United States v. Jefferson County Board of Education, 372 F.2d 836 (5th Cir. 1966).

By an amendment the plaintiffs pray further that teachers Hill and Norris recover the balance due them since January 25, 1968 under their agreement to teach at the rate of $425.00 per month or $5100.00 for twelve months.

The defendants answered denying the material allegations of the complaint and the County Board and Wilson filed a counterclaim alleging in substance that the plaintiffs under the guise of demonstrating have combined and conspired to prevent the defendants from the peaceful and lawful operation of Walton County Schools, particularly the Social Circle Training School, and that in furtherance of the conspiracy they blocked the streets, thoroughfares, and roads leading to said school, placing themselves in the paths of school busses going to and from school disrupting the transportation of students to and from school, and that they initiated a boycott of said school by encouraging, counseling, aiding, persuading, and harassing Negro parents and students not to attend school and violate the compulsory school attendance laws of Georgia, to wit: Title 32, Georgia Code Annotated, §§ 2104 and 9914, thereby decreasing the average daily attendance down to 30%, when the normal average daily attendance was 90%, thus resulting in a substantial loss of state allotted funds, which funds are allotted on the basis of average daily attendance. The County Board and Wilson in said counterclaim pray for appropriate injunctive relief against plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs then answered said counterclaim and filed their motion to strike and dismiss the same.

Circle Board, Causey, and Shepard filed their motion for summary judgment based upon the evidence adduced at the evidentiary hearings held by this court on February 21 and 28, 1968 upon plaintiffs’ prayers for a preliminary injunction.

The motion to dismiss the counterclaim is hereby overruled. It is preferable to dispose of the same upon the merits.

The motion for summary judgment is overruled as it is better to decide the case as to movants upon the merits, the evidence having already been heard.

At said hearings on February 21 and 28, 1968, while considerable evidence was heard with respect to the amount of progress being made or not made as to desegregation of the public schools in Walton County, the main focus seemed to be upon all types of alleged grievances at the Social Circle Training School, including the type of food served, the inadequacy of janitorial service, the use of students to work in the cafeteria, et cetera, and particularly upon the suspension of three teachers, one of whom was later fired, and upon the type, nature, and extent of demonstrations indulged in and sponsored by plaintiffs to evidence their discontent.

It does appear that the County Board adopted a plan of desegregation on August 18, 1965 and is operating under guidelines issued by HEW; that federal funds have not been cut off; that a recent letter from HEW indicates that there is probably noncompliance in some areas; that on February 1, 1968 HEW requested that “an adequate desegregation plan” be submitted within 30 days, and that there is now in operation a mandatory freedom of choice plan under *193 forms recommended by HEW. It appeared further that the County Board had requested of HEW an extension of the 30 day period above indicated because of the pendency of this case in this court.

Presently this court is not ruling upon the desegregation plan heretofore approved by HEW and apparently now questioned by HEW. Obviously, the matter should not be left in limbo, however, and either HEW or this court should act to whatever extent, if any, action is necessary. If either side thinks that further action in this regard by this court is necessary, either by way of approval or disapproval or modification of the desegregation plan which has been in operation for the past two years, they may apply to this court for a hearing in that regard.

The main grievance of the plaintiffs seems to relate to their dissatisfaction with the Negro principal of the Social Circle Training School, conditions in the cafeteria, as above referred to, and the suspension of teachers Hill and Norris, both Negroes, and teacher Nesbit, white. The complaint did not ask this court to require any of the defendants to discharge the principal nor do they ask any relief with respect to teacher Nesbit, but they do ask for injunctive relief against the suspension of teachers Hill and Norris. The demonstrations were aimed equally at causing the resignation of the principal and the suspension of teachers Hill and Norris. The facts as to the suspension are briefly as follows: On January 23, 1968 Wilson suspended the three teachers for non-performance of their duties in that the teachers were not in the classrooms with their pupils, and the teachers positively refused to return to their classrooms after Wilson had directly instructed them to do so.

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Related

Stastny v. Board of Trustees of Central Washington University
647 P.2d 496 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1982)
Graves v. Walton County Board of Education
91 F.R.D. 457 (M.D. Georgia, 1981)
Berry v. Sch. Dist. of City of Benton Harbor
515 F. Supp. 344 (W.D. Michigan, 1981)
Milliken v. Bradley
433 U.S. 267 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Brenden v. Independent School District 742
477 F.2d 1292 (Eighth Circuit, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
300 F. Supp. 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/graves-v-walton-county-board-of-education-gamd-1968.