According to the 1960 Census, the population of New Haven was 152,000 with blacks comprising about 15 percent of the residents. In the 1963-1964 school year there were nearly 21,000 students in the public schools with 62 percent white, 38 percent minority (35.4 percent black, 2.4 percent Puerto Rican, and 0.2 percent of other racial background). The disproportionate number of minority students in the public schools reflected the relatively young minority population and the considerable number of white children enrolled in private schools. In 1960, 24 percent of the New Haven children were in private schools. Of those in private schools, almost all were white children.
A special population enumeration for New Haven, conducted in January 1963, showed just over 40,000 children eighteen years or younger of whom 77 percent were white. Racial proportions differed among age groups: children of high school age (16-18) were 87 percent white, junior high school age children (13-15) were 82 percent white, elementary school children (6-12) were 77 percent white, and pre-school children were 73 percent white.
In the 1963-1964 academic year, the public school system included four junior high schools serving students from 9 neighborhoods (elementary school districts). Exhibit 1 shows the racial composition of the junior high schools in November 1963. Total minority enrollment in these schools was 38 percent. Minority distribution among the four schools was, however, highly imbalanced: Bassett was almost all minority (91 percent), Troup was mixed (55 percent), while Fair Haven and Sheridan were almost all white (13 and 17 percent minority, respectively).
Table 6: Exhibit 1. Status of Schools Prior to Integration