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SCHOOLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 Schools consolidated with rival school system, Covington City Schools Commission.

The Covington school system was organized in 1889. The school system took over the Georgia Methodist Female College in Covington in 1894. In 1896, the building was deemed unusable, so it was torn down and a new school called Covington Public School was built in its place. Covington Public School served as an elementary school and then a high school until 1954.

After the two school systems consolidated, the county school board agreed to furnish 22 teachers at the Covington High School. The board also agreed to sell the land for a new high school to be built on Speedway Drive — what’s known as Newton Drive today. Homer F. Sharp was elected supervising principal for the Newton County High School, which was opened for white students in 1950 and started the beginning of the county’s 12-grade program.

R.L. Cousins School and East Newton School were each built and opened for the 1955-56 school year for Black students after the consolidation of 30 Black schools, led by Cassie M. Robinson, was approved. R. L. Cousins held grades one through 12, while East Newton held grades one through eight.

Integration of schools in Newton County slowly began in 1954 after the U.S. Supreme Court case Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. The court ruled racial segregation was a violation of the 14th Amendment. This led to the voluntary integration of only four out of 197 school districts across Georgia by 1964.

After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Newton County Schools were finally integrated by 1970.

During the district’s integration, it was determined there would only be one high school — Newton County High School — that offered grades 10-12. R.L. Cousins High School was lowered to a junior high school, offering grades eight and nine. Leaving elementary schools with only grades 1-7. Each school had two principals — one Black and one white. Teaching staffs were also integrated.

On the first day of school, Sept. 3, 1970, Superintendent Whitlow Richardson said, “All of us are extremely pleased with the smoothness with which our transition to a unitary school system has taken place.”

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Newton County saw a strong population increase, which led to changes.

“This was a time of tremendous student growth,” said former Superintendent Wendell Clamp, who served from 1992 to 2005. “If my memory serves me correctly, when I went to the Newton

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