unable to secure directories
 

When I try to set core directories (config, templates, javascript) to anything less than 777 such as 655, I get the "Fatal Error: Could not locate your configuration file." message.

I understand that after upgrades these directories should not be writable. Any idea what's going on? Thanks.

Using phpWebSite 1.6.3 and core 1.9.7 on apache server.