Evening star., 1921-04-26

There are only three vacant rooms
in the elementary public schools 10
Gated in the thickly populated sec.
tions of Washington. statistics COM
piled today by school authorities re
veal. One is in the Seaton School, at
ID and I streets. and the other two Ia
the Cleveland School, at Sth and T
but the latter is situated in a coiorcd
district. and its small enrolment is
understood by officials of the schools.
In the schools in the suburban and
sparsely inhabited communities there
are twenty unoccupied rooms, making
a total of twenty three in the entire
school system. Fourteen of these va
cant rooms are in white schools and
the remaining nine in the colorcd.
Only Vague Conception.
These figures, it is pointed out give
but a vague conception of the serious
ness of the overcrowded conditions in
the school system. but they will be
used by school officials in their argu-
ments before Congress urging its ap-
nroyal of the orr ginal $5.000.t0o build
ing program, which is designed to re-
lieye only the present eXigencies in
the schools.
In a number of the schools with
large enrollments, it is cited. two
classes are utilizing the same room.
For instance. kindergarten class
will use a room during the morning
and the first grade will occupy 1t IN
the afternoon. Also, in schools. "here
the two-shift system is in operation
two different classes use the same
room
Handicap to Teachers.
Such condition, it is said, is a
handicap to the teachers as well az
the children. In most instances the
furniture and equipment in rooms oc-
cupied by two different classes are
unsuited for pupils in one or the other
of the classes. This is particularly
true in rooms used by kindargartens
and first grade classes.
In a special report on SchoolhouSe
accommodations which will be sent to
new members of Congress who are
unfamiliar with the conditions in the
District public schools, Superihtend.
ent of Schools Frank w. Ballou states
that "one feature of the congestion
on which the public is probably not
fully informed is the number of very
large classes which have been formed
to take care of the increased number
or pupils, for whom there are no
classrooms. The rules of the board of
education provide for a maximum of
forty pupils in a class in the elemen-
tary schools
Too Many in Classes.
I'm the judgment of the superin-
tendent of schools, suitable educa-
tion cannot be adequately provided
in a class of more than forty pupils
Furthermore. no teacher however
competent, should be asked to shoul-
der an educational responsibility
greater than that required by a class
of forty pupils.
I'm order to take care of pupils
who have applied for admission to
our elementary schools it has. new
ertheless. been necessary to put more
than forty pupils into a class. On
basis of accurate computation it
would take fifty-seven additional
classrooms to accommodate the pu-
pills. who are now in excess of the
standard of forty pupils in a class
in our elementary schools"
Necessary to Shorten Day.
Another result of the oyercrovd
ing was the institution of the two
shlft system in the schools, which
caused the organization of part time
GLASSES. Discussing this phase of
the situation. DIR. Ballou says:
Ihe congestion in some of our
schools is so great that it has been
necessary to shorten the day for Ger
tam classes in order that one class