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The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
VOLUME LXV1I1 NO. 4 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA S5 PER YEAR THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1975
Around
Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
Tuesday night, May 20, I attended
the Senior Ail-Star Banquet at the
Gibson Gymnasium at Hoke County
High School. This banquet is
sponsored each year by the
administration and faculty of the
school. Hie banquet was well attended
and enjoyed by all.
Members of the Sernior Class are
selected to attend this banquet by the
faculty for showing outstanding
leadership or participating in other
activities at the school. This year 82
members of the class were invited to
the banquet. Also invited are the
parents of these seniors.
After the meal, Principal Allen
Edwards gave a short talk, which
pointed out to those attending, the
courses in life open for them.
? The affair was short but to the
point.
The Quewhiffle Community will
sponsor a yard sale for the benefit of
the Hoke County Library Fund,
Saturday, May 31, from 10:00 ajn. to
4:00 pjn. beside Junior Huffs Exxon
Station. Everyone is encouraged to
donate items for the sale. Mrs. D.R.
Huff, Jr., asks that items be brought to
the station before 10 o'clock Saturday
morning, or to call 944-1127 by
Friday, May 30, for items to be picked
up.
This is for a worthy cause that is
nesting a successful finish, so if you
are in the Quewhiffle Community
pitch in and help the cause.
School ends next week for the
1974-75 term, and it certainly doesn't
seem like it has been nine months
since the opening day. Of course, to
most of the students, it seems longer
than a year.
Anyway, all of us should keep in
mind that school is out and that the
streets will have children on them
during the summer months. So, please
drive carefully and may the school
u year for 1975-76 begin with all
students ready for the bell.
It was a surprise to me last Sunday
afternoon to hear the announcer of
the Danny Thomas Golf Tournament
say that the crowd broke the
attendance record for a golf match.
There were over 47,000 at the
tournament, and that is a crowd for a
golf tournament. Maybe times are
better than most of us realize.
The following letter is
self-explanatory:
Dear Sam:
Since I started the dress code at
Hoke County High School, with the
backing of the late Superintendent
W.T. Gibson, Jr., and the Hoke
County Board of Education, I feel
justified in expounding on its demise
for a few minutes.
The long hair was really never the
issue behind a dress code, although in
all honesty I never liked it. The real
issue was my way of teaching young
people to accept authority. 1 could
make a young man get a haircut and a
young woman wear decent dresses
without physically, morally, or
mentally harming them in any way.
I challenge any historian or the
greatest of liberals to show me a
nation that has survived without
discipline. I challenge any educator,
parent, or student, to show me a
school that takes pride in itself, that
?the youngsters can walk the campus in
peace, and the, teachers teach with
complete freedom, without discipline.
I have no quarrel with protecting
the rights of any individual as long as
it doesn't destroy the rights of others.
When the courts got into the business
of running the schools they took the
rights of school boards, administrators,
and teachers, away from them.
I am equally sure that in some cases
the rights of students have been
abused, but a right should be earned,
not given freely. Unfortunately,
without any .regard of the
consequences of a ruling, the courts
have exercised powers that have been a
sacred right of a people to govern and
operate their own schools.
Discipline can be administered in a
hundred different ways, a dress code is
only one of them. Now we will have to
look at different methods and it will
take work on the part of all of our
citizens. Not only In supporting our
schools, but in working to accomplirft
our ultimate goal of providing the best
education for our children.
Sin oe rely,
Raz Autry
New Dress Code Is Considered
As Ruling Alters Student Styles
Clean-Up
Leaders
Named
Section leaders for county clean-up
day Saturday were announced by Raz
Autry, Hoke chairman of Keep North
Carolina Beautiful.
Autry divided the county into 28
sections and named a leader for each
area.
Heading the clean-up drive will be
Louis Oxendine, Robert Taylor,
George Wood, Allen Edwards, Leslie
Frahm, Milton Williams, Autry,
Haywood Artis, Don Steed, Ernest
Sutton, Mike Lassiter, Willett Bissett,
Glen Langdon, Earl Oxendine, Marion
Hollingsworth, Joe Soles, John Pecora,
John McAllister, W.K. Morgan, Jimmy
James, J.K. McNeill, Wayne Mills,
Charles Hottel, Steve Topp, Howard
Smith, Audry Long and Hank
Richards.
In addition to the clean-up day, the
Keep N.C. Beautiful committee is
working on plans to improve the
appearance of the downtown area, and
are asking for suggestions from the
public.
Budget
Waits
Inspection
A proposed budget of $1,409,707
for the coming fiscal year will be
presented at a public hearing set for
June 9, although officials are doubtful
the budget will be approved without
some trimming.
The 1975-76 budget reflects a net
increase in expenditures over last year
by $171,122, according to figures
released by County Manager T.B.
Lester. Most of the increases are due
to salary increases, additional
employees, rising utility costs,
acquisition of new building, and the
sale of the school bonds.
The tentative tax rate, based on the
expenditures in the general fund, is
listed as 90.56 cents per $100 of
assessed valuation.
Appropriations for the schools are
set at $708,274.
The only change in this year's
budget which was termed significant in
Lester's report is the adoption of the
single tax levy, which will centralize all
revenue into the General Fund.
Under the new system, school
appropriations will be paid out of the
General Fund directly, instead of a
special fund. Centralizing all of the tax
levy into the General Fund increased
revenue by $1,066,563, and shows
new contributions to other funds of
$720,707, Lester said.
Of this, $ 18,226 is allocated to the
governing body, up from $16,090 this
year. Travel increases and rising dues
are cited.
Elections budget is set at $17,670,
including pay increases for poll
holders, the purchase of new ballot
boxes, and a part-time janitor. This
year $14,030 was allotted.
$32,792 is set for the Finance
Office, up from this year's $29,417.
Tax listings, $33,740, up from this
year's $31,895.
$28,950 is recommended for the
Tax Collectors department, a boost
from the $27,750 requested. $24,106
was budgeted this year.
Legal services are budgeted at
$1,200, remaining unchanged.
Register of Deeds, $19,515, up
from $18,266 this year, reflecting the
full amount requested.
Public buildings, $57,541 is
recommended, an increase over this
year's $39,730; Sheriffs Department,
$172,167, a boost in the $171,280
requested, and sharply rising from this
year's $ 148,680 budgeted;
Public safety, $17,600, as
See BUDGET, page 13
Hoke Saleg Taxes
Local on* cent sales and use taxes
collected in Hoke County in April
amounted to $17,922.81, according to
state revenue officials.
FEELING GOOD - Freshman Allen Roberts was wearing an eye-catching shirt
with the message 'If it feels good, do it! Asked about the dress code, Roberts
said "I'm glad it's over. I reckon my friends feel the same way. "A haircut is not
in his plans for feeling good.
Officials Reply
The board of education has called for continued interest in the schools
and has promised that order will be maintained.
The five-member board and superintendenl, in an open letter to Hoke
Countians, said:
As you know by now, portions of the dress code for the Hoke County
High School were declared unconstitutional. This in no way will lessen our
interest and desires for our students.
We will not allow our schools to become disorderly because some of our
undisciplined students might interpret this court order to be a signal for
them to do their thing. You can rest assured that we will do everything
humanly possible to provide the best education for our children.
Disruption in the school will not be tolerated. Our principals and our
teachers can rest assured that we will back them to the limit.
We only ask our citizens to continue to work for the betterment of all
as they always have, and we will become stronger for it.
D.R. Huff, Jr.
R.L. Gibson
A.W. Wood, Jr.
R.M. Jordan
W.L. Howell, Jr.
Raz Autry
Judge Dismisses Suit
Against Harrington
A federal judge dismissed a state
prisoner's $300,000 lawsuit against
Sheriff DM. Barrington and three
others after ruling the court had no
jurisdiction in the subject at this time.
U.S. District Judge Frank T.
Dupree, Jr., granted the motion for
dismissal on the grounds the plaintiff,
William Franklin White, is seeking
damages based on claims of illegal
confinement, and any such illegalities
must be decided in lower courts.
White, who was convicted in his
petition his constitutional rights were
violated when Barrington kidnapped
him at gunpoint across the county
line, .searched and arrested him
without a warrant, and failed to advise
him of his legal rights, in addition to
other allegations.
White is appealing his conviction in
state court. Barrington's attorney.
Palmer WiUcox, said a ruling is
expected sometime later this year.
If White's conviction is overturned,
his suit for damages could be
reintroduced, according to Dupree's
order.
White was also suing former District
Attorney Jack Thompson, Superior
Judge Donnie Smith, and defense
attorney Doran Berry, and
presumably was seeking $300,000
from each.
SPEAKER ? David Flaherty, secretary
of the Department of Human
Resources, will be guest speaker at a
Lions Cub meeting open to the public
on June 9 at 7:15 at the civic center.
School officials plan to decide next week whether to draft a new
dress code in the wake of a superior court judge's order last Thursday
overruling dress regulations at the high school.
Meanwhile, students at Hoke High are still expected to come to
school looking "neat, clean and wearing clothing which the parents
so desire," Principal Allen Edwards said.
Superintendent Raz Autry said the dress code would be
considered at the regular board of education meeting Monday night.
"If we think it would serve no useful purpose, then we won't draft
a new code," Autry said. "But, if we think it will be a problem with
things like see-through blouses and halters and so forth, then well
have to attack it from that aspect."
Autry and Edwards were named as defendants along with the
Hoke board of education and teacher Donald Steed in a lawsuit
brought by Hoke High eleventh grader, Joe Thompson, Jr.
After a preliminary hearing last Thursday in Fayetteville, Superior
Court Judge James H. Pou Bailey ruled that the dress code at the
high school was unconstitutional and granted an injunction
prohibiting the enforcement of portions of regulations until a final
hearing of the case.
Bailey ruled that the suit was a class action and therefore his
decision forbids the enforcement of the regulations against any
student at the high school.
School officials have a right to regulate dress with rules that
reasonably relate to the educational process and that are reasonably
calculated to preserve discipline, Bailey said.
While the lawsuit only attacked the portions regulating boys'
haircuts and banning pictorial markings on clothing, Bailey warned
that any new code could not discriminate among students, either by
sex, age or race.
He rejected Autry's contention that the requirement for short hair
was "a way to teach young men to accept authority without harming
them, either physically, mentally or emotionally."
Attorney for the school board, William Moses, argued that the
community supported the dress code and that the regulations were
part of the methods by which school authorities have maintained
discipline.
The members of the school board, with a composite service of
more than 60 years, have each been elected at least five times, Moses
told the court. Stressing the community support, he also cited the
fact that Hoke County is one of the few school districts to pass a
school bond issue recently.
Since the hearing, a few incidences of disorder were reported at
the high school Friday, when Edwards said that seven students were
suspended for rule violations.
"They were not suspended because of their appearance, but
because they wouldn't go to class or follow rules," Edwards said.
School was back to normal by Monday, Edwards said, although
some students were taking advantage of the relaxed clothing rules.
Edwards estimated that all but three per cent of the students met
the old dress regulations Monday, but he conceded that that
percentage would change during the remaining days of school.
One student estimated that 85 per cent of the boys would let their
hair grow, at least until school is out.
Edwards stressed that, while school officials were accepting the
changes, that the administration and faculty would continue to
control the school.
"The sad part about this is now we are having to use methods that
at times will hurt the young people, like suspensions," Edwards said.
No student was ever suspended over violations of the dress code,
Edwards said.
Thompson alleged in his suit that he was suspended "several
times" and his grades suffered because he was given zeros for the
work missed during suspensions. Edwards said that Thompson, a
good student, was never suspended from school and that during the
year he received eight zeros in class, each given because he did not do
the assignment or was asleep in class.
Edwards said that Hoke High students will continue to look neat
and orderly when they are representing the high school.
He asked, "now, more than ever," for the cooperation of parents.
"The school has and will continue to assume their responsibility
and 1 challenge parents to do likewise," Edwards said.
The court ruling had been expected.
"1 always knew if we went to court, we'd lose," Autry said. Earlier
this year, another student threatened to sue over the hair cut rules
and Autry said he had been advised then by Moses that the dress
code would not stand a court test.
Any new regulations will be drawn by an attorney, Autry said.
The hearing last week, set in Fayetteville since superior court was
not in session here at the time, was held strictly on the request for an
injunction to prevent enforcing the code until a final settlement on
the case is made. The civil suit is still pending and, should it go to
trial, will presumably be heard in Raeford. Thompson is asking for
$6,000 in damages from each defendant.
The preliminary hearing last Thursday was attended by Autry,
Edwards, Steed and school board members William Howell, Bobby
Gibson, D.R. Huff, and Wilton Wood. Dr. Riley Jordan, also a board
member, was excused.
Only Autry and Edwards were questioned by Fayetteville
Attorney Kenneth Glusman.
Autry, taking the stand first, was asked about the provisions
banning clothing with any pictorial markings.
The attorney, picking out school board member Bobby Gibson,
pointed to his tie and asked if the design was a pictorial marking
under the dress code.
Autry First said it was not, but Bailey spoke up: "1 can see them
from here. They're little ducks."
"Little ducks would be pictorial markings," Autry conceded.
"If a male student came to school wearing that tie, he could be
suspended foe three days then?" Glusman asked.
"Yes," Autry answered.
Autry explained that the ban on pictorial markings was intended
to prevent students from wearing clothing on which obscene material
was printed.
"There is nothing in the dress code that proscribes a shirt with an
obscene word written on it," Glusman pressed.
"No, not as it is written," Autry answered.
See DRF.SS CODE, page 13