Portland Observer, December 17, 1981 Page 3
METROPOLITAN
'Fenwick plan' proposes school boundary change
D r. James Fenwick submitted his
annual report on racial balance to
the School Board M o n d ay night.
The report, required by the Board
each year, responds to the state re
quirement that each school district
report on problems and progress in
racial desegregation.
Schools that are over 30 per cent
m inority enrollm ent and D r. Fen
wick’s recommendations follow:
•B a ll— W ith 290 students, Ball is
53.4 per cent minority. Fenwick rec
ommended boundary changes with
in the Roosevelt cluster that would
reduce percentages o f minority stu
dents at Ball, Clarendon and Ports
mouth. He advised that the district
continue to work with the Housing
A u th o rity o f Portland to address
Housing problems.
•Boise— W ith 499 students, 87.4
m inority, o f which 120 are South
east Asian. An assessment is being
conducted o f (he Basic program to
determ ine the effect o f the new
Early Childhood Education Center
and the magnet program on racial
balance; student achievement; meet
ing o f curricular goals; the presence
o f “ elements essential for effective
schools.”
Fenwick advises that Boise can
not be desegregated w ith o u t in
volving other schools— possibly
Chapm an and B uckm an. A m ong
the options arc to close Boise, use
the building for Tubm an or a new
middle school, establish a Pre-K-5
program , use it as a non-resident
magnet school.
•H u m b o ld t— W ith 573 students,
including 240 transfer studtns, 75.4
m in o rity , H u m b o ld t was trans
form ed in to an E a rly C h ild h o od
Education Center w ith white pre
school children bussed in for pur
poses o f desegregation. The desegre
gation plan replaced grades 4 and 5,
adding to the number o f students
enrolled. As in past years, the whole
transfer students continue through
grade 2 or 3, then return to their
own schools leaving the upper
grades virtually all Black.
Because o f the return o f neigh
borhood children to Hum boldt the
school is overcrowded. The parents
com mittee has recommended that
space be added to accommodate the
children.
Fenwick recommended that the
western portion o f the H um boldt
area be transferred to Beach and
that to compensate for the influx of
Black students in to Beach, an
EC E C be established there to draw
white children.
• E lio t, Irvin g to n , K ing, Sabin,
W oodlawn and Vernon— Fenwick
recommends an upgrading o f the
3rd and 5th grades to prepare stu
dents for middle school and to hold
white students. “ Target schools’ *
should be established w ith c u rri
cula designed to draw minority stu
dents out o f the neighborhood
schools; “ fully implement the more
aggressive and powerful marketing
programs designed by s ta ff last
spring" to entice m inority children
to other schools; hire satisfied par
ents to recruit parents and children
to out-of-neighborhood schools.
•T u b m a n M id d le School— 488
students, 64.8 per cent m in o rity .
Fenwick advised that the permanent
site be chosen; a “ carefu lly m an
aged and constantly m ain tain ed
public relations focus” be de
veloped; a year-long focus on “ mar
keting” ; a more comprehensive sci
ence program.
•Je fferso n H igh School— 1359
students, 64.5 per cent m in o rity .
The percentage o f minority students
at Jefferson was over 50 per cent
this fa ll, follow ing the closure o f
Adams and W a s h in g to n /M o n ro e
and the transfer o f many o f those
students to Jefferson.
Fenwick recommended an assess
ment o f educational needs, com
m unity attitudes and program e f
fectiveness.
•R ice school is over 50 per cent
Southeast Asian and 40 per cent are
in English as a Second Language
(ESL) classes. ESL classes receive 40
minutes o f English instruction. Par
ents recommend that non-English-
speaking children be lim ited to 25
per cent or that guidelines be estab
lished.
Fenwick recommended boundary
changes that would transfer Asian
children to other near by schools,
and that staff be added to Rice.
The School Board will discuss the
report and the issue o f desegrega
tion in greater depth in the Spring.
L
F
Lanita Duka, aditor of "Graaaroot News N.W "
and raportar for the Observer. talks with Boise stu
dent« Da Norval Bilbraw. Tad Hart. Candaca
Ewall, Bao Thou, Chou Vang, Nicky Applegate,
and librarian Bath Nanca. Tha diacussion and a
—
_ .--as
talk to tha atudant assembly by Ma. Duka and
Kanny Adair of Emanual Hospital, ware part of a
series featuring succeasful Boise graduates.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Demo party responds to 'racist' charge
Joe Smith, Chairman o f the Dem
ocratic Party o f Oregon, responded
to charges o f racism by Calvin O.
Henry, President o f the Oregon As
sembly for Black Affairs.
H enry charged that the State
Democratic Party joined with the
Multnomah County Labor Council
to boycott the O A B A “ S u m m it”
held in O ctober. H en ry said the
Democratic Party discontinued ad
vertising the event in its newsletter
because it was to be held at the
Thunderbird Jantzen Beach, which
is on labor’s official unfair list.
Smith said Henry had talked with
him last summer about publicizing
the visit o f M ayor M aynard Jack-
son, who is a member o f the Demo
cratic Party N atio n al C om m ittee.
“ I had thought the Party would be
asked to p articip ate, but I never
heard from him again.”
When the state office received a
flier in the m ail, he placed the an
nouncement in the Executive Re
porter.
“ At the time I did not realize the
meeting was being held in a place on
(he ’ unfair list,* “ Smith explained.
“ When this was brought to my a t
tention I removed the announce
ment from the Executive Report. I
had not been asked to publicize it in
the first place.”
Smith explained that he had to re
spond to an issue that is so import
ant to many members o f the Demo
cratic P a rty . " I t is sim ilar to the
type o f situation where if a white or
ganization were holding an event in
an Elks Club and a Black organiza
tion objected, we would have to re
spond.”
Smith added that he had not dis
couraged anyone from attending. In
fact, he had asked Louise Beau-
dreau, vice chair, to attend the con
ference that the $50 banquet. Mrs.
Beaudreau was surprised that she
was not acknowledged or in tro
duced, especially "in light o f the ex
tensive and obvious outreach” the
O A B A made to leader o f the Re
publican Party, including inviting
them to address the assembly.
Smith states that the Democratic
Party seeks participation o f Blacks.
Three Black people— B ill M cC o y,
N ick Barnett and M a rv in Reve,
serve on the State Central C om m it
tee and Carl Braxton is an alternate.
“ The State Party has zero control
over the selection o f members to the
Central Com m ittee,” he explained.
They are elected by the county
organizations and are people who
are active in the party and seek the
position.
REMINGTON®!
“ The most im portant influence
members o f m in o rity groups can
have is at the biennial convention
where there is an o p p o rtu n ity to
participate in discussion o f the is
sues— building the p la tfo rm . The
delegates arc chosen by the coun
ties.” Smith introduced a resolution
that would have allow ed him to
appoint 25 delegates at large— an
opportunity to ensure that m inorit
ies are represented.
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Cal Henry, he reported, opposed
that resolution, both signing a peti
tion against the rule change and rec-
com m ending in a sub-com m ittee
meeting that it not be adopted. “ I
would have thought that as presi
dent o f an organization that talks
about getting Blacks into the politi
cal process, he would have favored
the resolution.”
•
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'Fenwick plan' shows board division
(Continued from page I col. 6)
the Black United Front, expressed
his opposition to the notion o f racial
balance and the way it is addressed.
“ Much better time could be spent to
discuss programs to bring about
quality. It is insulting to hear o ur
selves referred to as racially isolated
when our children arc in schools in
large numbers.” He particularly ob
jected to the commission to study
Boise again, “ better propaganda
techniques,’ ’ and the aggressive re
cruiting program designed to entice
Black children out o f their schools.
The 25 per cent that Blanchard
considered to be the “ tipping
point” has risen its head again, he
explained. This time it is for Asian
children. ” 1 feel sorry for their par
ents; they can’t come here to speak
about what they want for their chil
dren; you shouldn’t have to guess at
what they w a n t .. .is scares m e ."
Herndon compared the attitud e
tow ard Asians w ith that tow ard
Blacks— that they are scalttered and
moved around. “ You should de
velop programs that meet their
needs; I should think that more time
would be spent teaching them Eng
lish.”
School Board member Herb Caw-
thorne pointed to “ the confusion
and disjointed n atu re” o f the
Board’ s policies. Due to disagree
ments within (he Board and frustra
tion in working on the desegregation
plan, there was no thorough discus
sion o f the former numerical mea
surements o f integration.
“ What is the educational ju s tifi
cation o f any percentage measure
ment o f integratin? Indeed, the
comprehensive plan attem pted to
place this district on record in stat
ing that the Board of Education was
more interested in education and
less interested in percentages—
which was the forerunner o f an
achievement policy that promotes
the fact that all children can learn
and it is the district’s responsibility
to see to it that such learning occurs.
This is the essence o f the mission of
the school d istrict— achievement.
And the continued ill-defined focus
on percentages— as though within
them there is some inherent measure
o f the potential for achievement— is
misleading.. . .
"T h e confusion is ours. And our
confusion reflects in the disjointed,
inconsistent, and inequitable solu
tion o f the administration.”
He gave two examples: In the de
segregation plan the 4th and 5th
grades were added to Humboldt and
children told they could attend their
neighborhood school. T w o years
later, because the school is o ver
crowded, the proposal is to move
many o f them to Beach. When
Adams and W as h in g to n /M o n ro e
were closed the board was aware
that they were placing more students
in the Jefferson area than the build
ing can accom m odate and that a
large percentage are Black. Now
that Jefferson is over 50 per cent mi
nority, they are concerned.
Board member Steve Buel said
them most racially isolated schools
are those with nearly all white stu-
detns, yet this is no, seen as a prob
lem. “ I don’ t see why we keep get
ting reports that don’, include those
schools— I thought we had agreed to
th a t." C alling the report “ subver
sive at b est,” he said the Board
should get up and say if there is a
difference in a school , ha, is 90 per
cent Black and one that is 90 per
cent white. " W e should quit pitty-
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patting about the race issue— not
come forth w ith reports that few
people read.”
Regarding a quota for Southeast
Asian child ren — or non-E nglish-
speaking child ren — he said every
teacher knows it is extremely hard to
teach a class in which there are sev
eral children who don’, speak Eng
lish, or who arc disruptive, or who
have learning problems. However,
there has never been any suggestion
that disruptive children should be
transferred to other schools. The
suggestion to move non-E nglish-
speaking children is “ because the
district is not willing to deal with the
problem. Why is that so?”
He advised that the district pro
vide the resources and program nec
essary to provide for the children's
education.
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