Archival article — originally published in The Paper, April 1971. By Jim Hitchcock.
Archival date note: only the issue month or season is established. The first-of-month date used for chronological indexing is not a verified publication day.
Citizen efforts to alleviate overcrowded conditions at Hamilton School are presently centered on the possibility of renting space at Delmar Baptist Church, Skinker and Washington, according to Mrs. Virgil Wright, spokesman for a group which has had contact with school officials over the past few months.
Slightly more than 500 pupils from the Hamilton district are now bused out to other schools. Mrs. Wright's group, which has fifteen to twenty active members, hopes to eliminate the need for bussing by getting the School Board to open another Hamilton branch.
Early this month the district superintendent, Robert Brasfield, inspected the Delmar Baptist facilities. Mrs. Wright said there have been informal indications that the church might be willing to rent part of its school building, which includes a kitchen and gymnasium.
“We hope to get a really integrated branch school; there are a number of whites and blacks in the area who are not Catholic yet hesitate to send their children to Hamilton because of overcrowded conditions,” Mrs. Wright said. There are also reported to be a large number of permissive transfers out of Hamilton district to other schools, although exact figures are not available. Permissive transfers to Dewey School, 6746 Clayton Avenue, are being stopped because of crowding at Dewey, Mrs. Wright said.
The citizens' group has been negotiating with school officials for about four months, with no tangible progress to date. Mrs. Wright said the group hopes to involve more Hamilton parents in its campaign. It is also inviting candidates for the School Board to speak to a neighborhood meeting which will probably be held at Grace Methodist.
Enrollment figures for the district are as follows: Hamilton School, 5819 Westminster Place, 1040; Hamilton Branch No. 1, 5858 Clemens Avenue, 257; Hamilton Branch No. 2, 5859 Clemens, 107; Hamilton Branch No. 3 (the “rooms of 20” for special learning), 450 DesPeres Avenue, 158. About 225 pupils each are bussed daily to Wheatley School, 4239 Papin Street, and Mitchell School, 955 Arcade Avenue. An additional 59 are bussed to Cook School, 5935 Horton Place. About 80 students from the district are enrolled at Enright Middle School, 5351 Enright Avenue.
The latest negotiations with school officials are part of a long series dating back at least five years, which have generally left residents frustrated and with little sense of accomplishment. Overcrowding at Hamilton began about ten years ago, when the district boundaries were redrawn to include an area north of Delmar. However, at present because of a recent boundary reduction, only about 19 students attend from north of Delmar.
James L'Ecuyer, former executive secretary of the Skinker-DeBaliviere Association, said he was part of a group which met with school officials during a period 1966-68. At that time children were being walked south across Delmar each day to Hamilton, while children in the 5700 blocks near Hamilton were being bussed out. The School Board refused to take any action despite repeated requests.
L'Ecuyer said his group did have some related successes. They persuaded the board to put Hamilton Branch 3 at its present location instead of the 5900 block of Pershing, which would have required the destruction of houses. They obtained the use of school facilities for an evening adult education program.
However, after 1968 the group gave up in frustration, and no further efforts were made to influence district authorities until recently.
Read the original newspaper issue: Archive reader · Direct PDF fallback. Originally published in The Paper, April 1971, pages 2.
