Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-28
NEW SCHOOL BOARD
Appointments Announced by Com
missioners This Afternoon.
A STATEMENT BY Mr.. MACFARLAND
Neither Social Nor Political lnfIu-
ence Considered
DUTIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

ing persons as members OF the DOard oI
education. which board. pursuant to the
provision of the District appropriation act
approved June 6, 1900. succeeds. July 1,
the board of trustees of public schools:
Charles ]. Bell, ]. Holdsworth Gordon.
DIR. Richard kngsman. George H. Harries.
Mrs. Henry Litchfield West James F.
Bundy and Mrs. j. r. Francis, the two last
named being the colored members Of the
board.
AS will be observed Mr.. George H. Har
ries and Mrs. J. R. Francis are the only
members of the old school board to be re-
appointed. the former being secretary of the
board of trade and vice president of the
Washington Traction Company. while Mrs.
Francis is the wife of one of the best
known colored physicians in the District.
Mr.. Chas. j. Bell is one of the best and
most widely known men of the national
capital He Is the president of the Ameri-
can Security and Trust Company, and is
man who has heretofore declined to accept
public office. In accepting an appointment
as member of the board of education, it
is said that Mr.. Bell only did so at the
urgent request of those who desired that the
board should be composed of persons Of his
character and attachments.
Mr.. J. Holdsworth Gordon Is a member
larity. one of the prominent lawyers of
the District and twice declined appoint
ment member of the old school board
DR.. Richard kingsman is a practicing
physician, who has, it Is said, made spe-
cialty of the treatment of children. Mrs.
West is the wife of Mr.. Henry Litchfield
West of the Washington Post, a woman
whose children attend the public schools
of the District, and who possesses a wide
acquaintance with educational matters.
Mr. James F. Bundy is also lawyer and
Is secretary and treasurer of the Howard
University Law School, and was in no
sense an applicant for appointment.
Every Section Represented.
The members of the board of education
were appointed upon the nomination of
Commissioner Macfarland, who has imme-
diate supervision of the public schools, and
were approved by the board of Commis-
sioners. AS heretofore stated in The Star,
Mr.. Macfarland desired to obtain as mem
bers of the board those men and women
who seemed best qualified and whose ap-
pointment would give the greatest satis-
faction to the people of the whole District.
He desired, therefore, to select persons
who would represent the whole District,
and while the different members of the
board may by some be considered as repre-
sentng the sections of the city or District
in which they reside. there was no inten-
tion on the part of Mr.. Macfarland to
such a thing. AS 1t turned out,
however, about every section Of the Dis
trict Is represented, Mr. Gordon being
resident of Georgetown, DR.. Kingsman Of
Capitol Hill, Mrs. West of Columbia
Heights, while the other members of the
board reside in the northwest section Of
the city.
MIR. Macfarland's Statement.
81 feel sure" said Mr.. Macfarland. that
the board of education Will command the
confidence and the support of the commu-
nity for Its members are representative and
citizens who meet all the re-
qurements of the law and the circum-
stances They deserve the thanks Of the
community for undertaking this very i'm
portant public service at a personal sacrifice
which, in some cases, is SO great that they
were naturally reluctant to make 1t. The
fact that the law required the appointees to
be both residents and taxpayers for five
years Immediately preceding the appoint
ment, narrowed the choice among those
who were otherwise eligible. and so did the
abroad, or elsewhere. for the summer or
had made plans for doing which they
could not or would not break to remain
here and work during the heat. 1t was
only the public-spirtted who, keenly ap-
preciated the fact that our school system
has reached crisis. and that the new board
is to make its future in the interest Of the
10000 public school pupils and their success
sors, and, therefore, In the interest Of the
city, who were willing to undertake such
arduous duties in midsummer. AS the
board was to come into being on the 1St Of
July, and must appoint the superintendent
and the assistant superintendents and the
other officials and instructors in time to
make preparation for the opening Of the
schools in September, the work could not,
Of course, wait. The city is to be congratu-
lated that men and women were to be
found who could and would do 1t under all
the conditions.
Neither Political Nor Social influence.
'In the selection Of the members Of the
board of education, neither political nor So
cial influence was allowed to interfere, and
the only desire and purpose was to get the
best people possible unnder the circum-
stances. 1t was recognized that they could
not all be taken from one section Of the
city, but that 1t was equally impracticable
to make sectional board Of 1t by trying to
put a representative of every section upon
it. The board is to represent the whole
city, and to administer the whole school
system, and 1t Is to work as a whole, and
not to split up into representatives of school
1t is to be the executive authort-
ty, and every member of it is to be an ad-
of every part Of the school sys-
tenn. Its members must be free to go at
any time to any school during Its session, or
to hold meeting at any hour Of the day.
This fact ruled out of consideration men
and women holding Office under the govern
ment or under the District and others who
were not masters Of their own time with
pensation. At the same time, idlers were
not wanted, but busy men and women who
had shown success in their own affairs. be-
cause they always do best in such public
Qualifications and Duties.
The qualifications Of the members of the
board Of education are thus stated in the
act of June 9. 1900: Bona fide residents
and taxpayers Of the District of Columbia,
and who have been such for five years i'm
preceding their appointment"
= The terms Of members of the board are
seven years, except that the terms of the
persons first appointed shall terminate as
One each year, to be determined
by lot among the seven members Of the
board first appointed. "The compensation Of
the members of the board is SO each for
personal attendance at each meeting, but
shall not exceed for any member $500 per
annum. The board is given by the bill
complete jurisdiction over all admfnistra-
tive matters connected with the public
schools of the District of Columbia.
except that all expenditures of public funds
for such school purposes shall be made and
accounted for as now provided by law under
the direction and control of the Commis-
sioners of the District
The board ia authorized and required to