Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-30
PUPILS SIGHT AND
SP|NES MENACEO
IN LOCAL SCHOOLS
Conditions in Elliott Street as
Bad as Those in Morton
Street School.
SEATS TOO LOW OR TOO
HIGH; EYES UNPROTECTED
Teacher and Children Buy Own
Awning-Board Refuses
to Refund.

That the school children in every
part of the city suffer from the ar
rangement of seats and the poor light,
as stated by DR.. George Holmes, head
physician of the Board of Education,
was proved yesterday afternoon. when
the Elliott Street School, of which
Charles Grant Shaffer is principal, was
visited by the Evening STAR reporter.
Here, as in Morton Street School, there
are not enough adjustable seats and
desks. the kind advocated by the school
physicians, and the only kind, accord
ing to them, that will prevent the chill
dren from becoming subject to stomach
troubles and possibly curvature of the
spine. Not only are there not enough
adjustable seats in the Elliott Etreet
School, but the arrangement OF the
windows Is so bad that one teacher
had to pay SIG for an awning to save
her eyesight.
In another classroom the children
were forced to hold a chocolate sale
to provide the money for the purchase
of an awning. The Board of Education
refused to supply the awnings and re-
fused to reimburse the teacher after it
found out that she paid for the awning
herself.
It was at first thought that only the
schools in the foreign" or ghetto, dis
tricts, are in need OF more adjustable
seats. 1t was said that only in these
schools do the heights of the children
p.E -. thai TIM
foreign children, larger and older than
those born here, are forced TO be put
into low classes. because of their fg-
a of the English language, and
sit with children much younger and
smaller than themselves. This condi-
ton was found TO be true in Morton
street School.
same Where M Foreigners Attend.
Therefore. to discover if the seating
arrangement was satisfactory in the
schools where there are no foreigners,
and where the children of the weather.
class go, the Elliott Street School was
visited. With Principal Shaffer, the
reporter inspected several ciass-rooms
In the new building, consisting of
eleven rooms. there is one row of adj
Unstable seats to each five Of the 9TH
ers. In the old building, where there
are eleven rooms, there are 10 adjust
able seats.
In a classroom where there is a row
of these improved seats il was noticed
that Il large boy could not get his knees
under the desk. He was asked why.
Because the desk is not high enough"
he said. Then the principal asked all
the children who found the seats too
small to raise their hands. Five hands
shot up. Then those that found the
seats too large were asked to raise their
hands. One little boy was the only
complainant. His feet dangled. This
meant six uncomfortable children out Of
a class of about forty.
The teacher in this room explained
that the adjustable seats were not
really adjustable because. although the
seats were lowered as far as possible,
and the desks raised to the limit, the
child still suffered.
Mr.. Shaffer was asked by the reporter
II one row of seats in each classroom
is enough. He said:
mo. Decidedly not. ! think there
ought to be at least two rows in this
school. 1 know that in the Morton
Street School, or some of the schools in
that section of the city, all the seats, or
at least half, ought to be adjustable,
but here, where nearly all the children
are of the same height, an extra row
win be sufficient.
ut is wrong TO make O single child
uncomfortable when 1t is possible to
make each one happy. If l had my way
there would be an extra row of these
seats in each of my class-rooms
hoard Refused Awnings.
Il also wish to call your attention
to the light in the rooms that face tho
south and west. In two of the rooms
that have a southern exposure 1t has
been necessary to have awnings on the
windows to protect the eyes of the chill
dren. The awnings were paid for by
the teacher and the pupils. At one
time. some years ago, l asked the board
for awnings. but did not get them. I
know hat the board will not supply
one school with things it does not give
another school.
when a committee visited this school
| told them about the awnings and
told them that the teacher paid for one
of them. The committee thought it
was too bad that she had to do SO, but