Superintendent Dr. William Henry Shaw[2] testified that segregation was a "long and universal custom" and that abandoning it would "injure the feelings and physical well-being of the children."

When the federal court case U. S. v. Jefferson County Board of Education ruled that teaching staffs must also be integrated, the district agreed to assign at least two teachers who would be in the racial minority at every school.

Both teachers and students considered the goal of this time period to be more focused on survival than on education.

By 1970, under the freedom of choice plan, 27 of 67 schools in the district remained completely segregated.

Pictures of George Washington Carver were removed to soothe white students.