The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-03-22

across the city as soon as they have
completed the sixth grade. In other
words, child on the west side will
not need to come to the senior high
school until he has completed the
ninth grade instead of, as now, COM
ing across town as soon as he has
completed the sixth grade.
Central School Impractical
1.-THE members of the board of edu-
cation have carefully considered the
fact that there are some advantages
in building the central school at
Twelfth and A streets and that there
are some disa dvantages in the two
school plan. Some of the advantages
of building a central school at Twelfth
and A are that the school board now
owns the site and that three buildings
have been torn down to enlarge this
site. Furthermore, the loca ton is
central and one to which the COM
munity at large is accustomed There
are, however, plans under considera-
ton which will make use of the Gar
field building in the future and the
board felt that the advantages of the
central building, just mentioned, are
offset by the very much greater ad-
vantage that will result from a larger
building space, adequate Fairgrounds
and, most important of all, the adop-
ton of plan looking toward the
future rather than one providing for
the immediate present.
The disadvantages in the two school
plan are that it will cost slightly
more to build the Junior high school
when it is divided into two buildings
than to build it all as one. 1t will
also cost somewhat more in operating
expenses to operate two small schools
rather than one large central school.
Both of these factors of extra cost,
however, will steadily decrease rela-
lively as the schools grow and expand
to their normal size. Again the board
thought that these disadvantages were
eut-weighed by the advantage result
ing from plan that will bring inn
mediate benefit to the west side chill
dren and that would provide for the
future growth of the Richmond
schools
Problem Carefully Considered
The whole problem has been given
the very careful consideration of the
board ever since the armistice was
signed and many possible solutions
have been proposed and discussed.
and one which appeared in the news
papers, was that the board should uti-
lie the present Senior High school
building for Junior High school and
build new Senior High school at
the edge of town where land can be
obtained This is not feasible
as the present Senior High school
building is overcrowded with an en-
rollment of little more than 500
pupils while the new Junior High
school would easily have an enroll
ment of about 900 pupils to begin
with so that the present Senior High
school could not begin to accommo-
date the new Junior school. This plan
also would have the disadvantage OF
centralizing the Junior High school
and not looking forward to the growth
Of the city in the next ten or fifteen
years.
THE arguments in favor of the two
school plan are:
"First-Plenty of playground.
Second-Plenty of building space
so that the architect will not be ham
pered in planning the best kind CT
building possible and so that the build
ing can have its proper setting.
'Third-Junior High school advan-
tages brought closer to the homes of
the children entering it, particularly
the children of the West Side.
'Fourth-Provision for the later
growth of the schools during the next
ten or fifteen years.
'The board feels that the advan-
tages of the present location and the
central school are only temporary and
will disappear as the years go by and
that in adopting the two school plan
it is planning wisely both for the pres
ent and for the future of the Richmond
schools"