They ignore it because their parents are boycotting the board of education. because their fathers and mothers believe that the children on the mounta:s have been deprived of proper schooling for years.

They ignore it and trek instead to a white building about 50 yards farther up the slope.

On Sundays, this building is the Church of the Living God. But on weekdays, it is the Coon Branch Consolidated Elementary School.

The children bounce up the two steps onto the porch, past the small American flag, and stream inside to take their seats and wait for Don and Ellen Elmes to call the class to order.

Don and Ellen Elmes are both 23. They earned their bachelor's degrees from Western Maryland College at Westminster, Md., and taught last year at Panther Elementary School.

But this year they're out of a job. The board of education didn't rehire them. Elmes thinks part of the reason might be that he told the school officials that be had applied for conscientious objector status with the Selective Service Board. The couple aren't paid for teaching on Coon Branch Mountain. They're donating their time. They will, however, be paid for the gas they use driving from their home at Panther to the school and back.

"We're not dividing the children into grades right now," Ellen said. "We're teaching them more or less in blocks, like primary, intermediate and so on.” When lunch time rolls around, the children get a free hot meal which is prepared in an adjacent building, the church kitchen.

The food is either donated or is bought with contributions. The school has received a $100 grant from the Childrens Foundation of Washington, D.C. to help pay for lunches.

The superintendent of the school, which opened Thursday, is J. Bobby Daugherty of High Knob. He says the school will be operated as long as the money holds out, or as long as it's needed.

Daugherty mailed a letter Thursday to Dr. Daniel B. Taylor, state superintendent of schools, which said in part:

"It has been three very long weeks for us here on the mountain and it has been three weeks that our children should have been attending a school where they would have a chance for a decent education.

"The time has come for us to begin to educate our children-the responsibility for which is delegated to the McDowell County Board of Education.

"You are familiar with our problem as we have come to you twice to discuss the matter. However, it seems that you have failed to be of any help to us. "We understand why the local officials refuse because they have refused us for many years. But, Dr. Taylor, we put our trust in you and we are deeply disappointed in the way you have let us down.

"Sure, investigations have been made and the reports have been filed. There might even have been a phone call or two. And yet, this morning we are in the same place that we were in the first day that we asked for help with our problems.

"There have been many mis-truths, half-truths and un-truths circulated (thanks to the local press and local school officials) about our actions these past three weeks. Let me now educate you as to what we are fighting for: We want our children (all the children eligible to attend public school-including vocktional classes and special education classes) to be transported off this moun tain to attend schools where they will have access to be instructional and noneducational programs that all children are titled to.

"We want the board of education to transport them over the shortest and the safest route to these schools. We want the roads to be made safe and kett in good condition. The route we are asking for is Coon Branch-not Beartow We do not want a temporary road because we know we will never see the permsnent one. We want the education and safety of our children to come before the dollar sign."

The Coon Branch route Daugherty wrote about is the shortest road of the mountan to Jaeger, where the children would be going to school if the boar bused them into the valley.

The Beartown route is about 14 miles longer, and according to Daugherty, stretches through an area with a smaller population than Coon Mountain

The catch is, Daugherty continued, that the Beartown route would be exte venient for mining operations in the area.

"We don't want this road built for the coal company," he said.

School and road officials have offered the Beartown route as a possible solution, Daugherty added.

The activity on Coon Branch Mountain is an example of the spirit of cooperation growing in the area.

People in the Sandy River Magisterial District have formed a Committee for Better Education. The chairman is Frank D. Church of Jolo.

"This is what I would call a three-phase program," Church said. "Phase one is complete, being that we went to the board of education and did our best to get our problems solved . . . We couldn't do that, so we went on to Charleston, to the State Board of Education and the department of highways." They had no luck in Charleston, either, Church said.

The organization of the community school is part of phase two, Church continued, and is "only the beginning."

The purpose of the school, he explained, "is to emphasize to the board of education and department of highways the need for children to be transported..." off the mountain.

Phase III: "I can forsee in the near future concerned responsible citizens taking over the county board of education and operating it impartially for every child within this county until a special election will take place and good responsible board members are elected. . . ."

Church said "taking over" meant court action, perhaps even impeachment "if possible."

There used to be two schools on Coon Branch Mountain operated by the board of education. High Knob, with grades one through six, and Grapevine, with grades one through eight.

Grapevine school burned to the ground early this month just before it was to be closed. The school board says arson probably was the cause, and is offering a $1,000 reward.

-Staff Phot

SUPERINTENDENT BOBBY DAUGHERTY TAKES A REST Sign Says: "When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going!"