COMMENTARY: 26 Years Later, School Fight Continues

By LENORA MITCHELL

August 21, 2013

Looking through some old files recently, I reflected on how much time I had spent being a community servant, running up and down Highway 13 attending board and committee meetings in Northampton and Accomack counties. And then I found a file that documented the demise of the Cape Charles school system 26 years ago.

I was appointed to the Cape Charles School Board in 1982. As I looked at documents from the United States Justice Department Civil Rights Division, Northampton County School Board, the county superintendent, Cape Charles School Board, the town superintendent, the State Board of Education, and numerous letters from attorneys involved in the case, including from the Department of Justice, I remembered how long and intensive the battle was to retain the independent school system in Cape Charles, along with ownership of the building.

The battle started civilly, but then it turned into a major war. The Town was divided and there were heated exchanges wherever you went, especially at the Town Council meetings.

The Cape Charles School Board accused the Northampton County School System of violating a consent decree by allowing Cape Charles students to attend their schools.

The Town Council charged the School Board with malfeasance or misfeasance and demanded an investigation by the State Police.

Meanwhile, the Cape Charles School Board charged the Town with siphoning off funds earmarked for the school. These were just a few of the allegations and charges being thrown around during that time.

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The case against the Northampton County School System ended up in federal court in Norfolk. The courtroom was filled with Northampton County and Cape Charles residents, and neither group spoke or made any contact with each other, whether  family or friend. We were foes those days in court.

The final judgment issued by Judge Hoffman was that the schools be consolidated; however, before this decision, the Town Council had already sealed the fate of the school by not approving the 1987-88 school budget.

Neither communications from the attorney representing the School Board citing state codes that mandated the approval of the budget, or the Council’s obligations and responsibilities to the community had any effect on their decision. The last sheet of paper in the file was dated July 14, 1987, signed by Francis E. Wendell (Sr.), chairman of the Cape Charles School Board. It simply said:

“Effective Tuesday, July 14, 1987 at 4:00 P.M. I am resigning as a member of the Cape Charles School Board. In searching for a statement to make at this time, I find no better one than that made by Patrick Henry in his fight to include the Bill of Rights in the Constitution at the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1787. ‘If I shall be in the minority, I shall have those painful sensations which arise from a conviction of being overpowered in a good cause. Yet I will be a peaceful citizen. My head, my hand, and my heart shall be at liberty to retrieve the loss of liberty, and remove the defects of that system in a constitutional way.’ After serving on the Cape Charles School Board for almost 40 years, I feel that I have given enough blood, sweat, and tears.”

Over a quarter of a century later, the fight to save the Cape Charles School continues. The torch has been passed to Old School Cape Charles.

Submissions to COMMENTARY are welcome on any subject relevant to Cape Charles. Opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of this publication.