Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-02
BUILDINGS MUST Be SAFE
RULE TO BE ENFORCED BY
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Approval of District Health Officer
and Chief of Fire Depart
ment Required.

The board of education will insist that
new school buildings or additions to old
ones receive the approval of the District
health officer and the fire chief before
they are used for school purposes.
The board recently wrote letter to the
District Commissioners asking them to
turn over with the new buildings this
fall reports showing their safety both
from a sanitary and a fire-danSer stand
point.
This move on the part of the board OF
education, says Capt. James L. oyster,
its president, resulted from two recent
incidents.
First, the Commissioners, he says. fall
ed to carry out recommendations OF
Health Officer Woodward to make the
new Ketcham School sanitary.
Secondly. the basement Of the new ad-
dition to the Langdon School, just nm
ished. was recently found full of water
because of defective drainage.
Capt. Oyster pointed out recently, "heh
talking of this matter, that when the
fire chief declared a building unsafe IN
the event Of a fire his recommendations
Tere followed to the letter and the
schools made safe before being used
again for school sessions. In the same
way he added, the recommendations OF
the health officer should be followed. be-
cause the lives of children are in as much
danger from insanitary conditions as
from fire-trap conditions.
These Reports Necessary.
Therefore. he added, the reports Of the
fire chief and the health officer on school
buildings are necessary to properly pro-
tect the lives of the thousands Of school
children. and he thinks a new building
should not be used until those two Off
Gals pronounce it to be safe
The conditions in the new Ketcham
building have been the subject of much
CORRESPONDENCE between the school board
and the District Commissioners. he said
When the structure was finished last VIII
ter the room was needed at once, and SC
the building was occupied Immediately
Then Il was discovered that 1t had some
objectionable features. An inspection was
made by a health Office inspector, and
he recommended. among other things, a
change in the ventilating system. Teach
ers In the school complained that the ven
tilation was very poor. Ihls chanse was
asked by the board of education. its pres
ident maintains. and recently the Com
missioners informed the board that they
could not agree with the health depart
ment that the change was needed In
that way. Capt. Oyster maintains, they re-
fused TO make the alterations recon-
mended by the health officer.
But as the building had been accepted
for school uses before the discovery of the
insanitary condition, it is declared, it was
like locking the barn after the horse has
been stolen. And to prevent the Iecur-
renee of such a thing the board of edu-
cation decided to get the report of the
health officer on other new buildings be-
fore they are accepted by the school au-
thorities.
empha sized the president of the board
maintains. by the discovery of water in
the basement of the Langdon school ad-
dition, which is just about finished Capt.
Oyster regards such a condition as dan
gerous to the health of pupils that use
the school and thinks the basement drain
age should be so regulated as to prevent a
recurrence of such flood.