200 Magnolia Terrace
Mertin Hursey Note to Teachers
In 1949, a State Survey recommended the consolidation of rural schools. In July of 1952, Chesterfield County’s 39 school districts were reduced to four school districts. A 1952 State Survey recommended the elimination of one-teacher and two-teacher schools. The next major focus on consolidation came about because of desegregation. The Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision was handed down in 1953. Chesterfield County adopted a “Freedom of Choice” desegregation plan in 1965. In the fall of 1967, Ruby schools were featured in Life magazine as an example of total integration. A plan for total integration was offered in 1968 when school started but reverted to a “Freedom of Choice” plan after hostile feelings erupted. The black students boycotted but eventually returned to school, and by the 1970-71 school year Chesterfield County had eliminated the dual schools system. In 1965, an effort began to locate a technical school in Chesterfield County. Fifty-nine acres of land were donated, and in 1977 a law creating the Chesterfield-Marlboro Technical Commission was signed by Governor Robert McNair. In 1969, the first facility was completed, and 346 students attended the tech school. In 1974, the name was changed to Chesterfield-Marlboro Technical College. In 1975, the college broke ground for a new and larger facility. A second name change was made in 2002 when the name Northeastern Technical College was approved.
In 1968, the County School System consolidated into a single county unit with Mr. R. C. Campbell as the first superintendent. With this change the position of County Superintendent of Education was eliminated, and the duties of both organizations were combined.
James W. Jenkins: In reading about Chesterfield schools, it is sometimes difficult to know if the writer is referring to the town school or the county school system. Most readers of local papers would know from the time of the printing of the paper to which school the writer is referring. Reading newspaper accounts fifty or more years old makes it difficult to know with certainty to what the writer is making reference. It becomes even more complex when trying to distinguish between the Town and County Superintendent of Schools. County Superintendents were responsible for financial matters more than instructional matters, while building or area superintendents were responsible for the day-to-day operation of the schools, including instruction.
Copied: The quality of education in many rural schools in Chesterfield County was suspect based on the following information: 1909--Rural white children attended school 55 days per year. Only 49.5% of the white children attended school for an average of 21.4 days. $8.08 per child was spent on white children. Black children attended school 25 days per year. 39.6% of black children attended school for an average of 11.6 days. $1.48 per child was spent on black children. 1920--Rural white children attended school 60.5 days per year. 59.8% attended for an average of 36.2 days per year. $39. 57 per child was spent on white children. Rural black children attended school for 37 days. 64.6 % attended for an average of 23 days per year. $5.04 per child was spent on black children. 1921--There were 58 white schools: 15 one-teacher schools in Chesterfield County, 21 two-teacher schools, 10 three-teacher schools and 12 with more than three teachers. Men teachers made $860.70 per year, and women were paid $567.57 per year. A newspaper account states that SC had the second highest illiteracy rate in the nation and that Chesterfield County was the most ignorant in the state.