Evening star., 1921-11-13
100000 NEEDED
| L. ::'>F0R NEW SCHOOLS
-
Or. BalIou Reports S2,000,.
II;
10 I 600 Should Be Expended
uI
& e yearly for Next 5 Years.
must PLAN FOR INCREASE
Building Program Should Take in
: Account Normal Growth as
:. Well as Shortage.

: Immediate action to relieve the con-
gested conditions in the District pub
lic schools is necessary If irrepar-
! able educational damage is to be-
] avoided" DIR. Frank w. Ballou, super
intendent of schools. pointed out in
the second installment Of his annual
~report. which was made public last
: night. The second section of the
| report deals entirely with school,
: house accommodations. and describes
| II detail the GveEcrowded conditions
F.: in the schools and the proposed meth
! ods of relief.
Belief was expressed by DR.. Ballou
a: in the report that it will take an ap-
preparation of more than $4,000, 900
! annually for period of five years
>or. more before the children of the
public schools will be housed ade-
quately.
sShortaGe Blamed On Past Failures.
! THE present shortage of classrooms
I: in both elementary and high schools"
sad ths rep9rf pc an as
/: year to provide for the additional
! classrooms necessary to take care of
. increases in enrolment and to pro-
; vide the educational facilities neces-
] sars IN e. growing and progressive
accumulation of classroom needs the
SErchool authorities at this time find
themselves unable to provide proper
accommodations for large numbers Of
1 pupils enrolled in the public schools.
I Rented quarters. large classes, base
! ment rooms. part-ttme classes and the
I use of temporary portable school
houses are continuing impediments
to reasonable educational progress"
Adoption of a new policy of reha-
! bilitating the school system on the
housing side is one of the salient rec
S.ommendations of the superintendent
Ills plan is for the board of education,
in dra fting future school estimates
10 aim lo Guild additional classrooms
each year in sufficient number. so that
inside of d fire-year period the school
system Will ae free from part time
classes. rented buildings. portable
! use. cummings ~" l."
Must Pr0sBde fer Expansion.
Such policy" said DR.. Ballou.
must take into consideration not
only the abandonment from year to
year of certain dilapidated buildings
but the regular increase in enroll
ment, which would require In the ele-
mentary schools twenty-five or thirty
'-additional rooms each year.
second. to build additions to pres
ant buildings in accordance with the
policy OF the past in order to reduce
me number of small buildings and to
schools, as far as practicable. to six
teen rooms or more. This, of course,
cannot be done in all cases. especially
where the small dilapidated buildings
! must be abandoned or replaced, It
can be done in large proportion of
cases
Third. to build assembly rooms
and; nd;sNmnasiunis with every element
ary school building of sixteen. rooms
or more. The superintendent urges
mat assembly halls be added at the
earliest possible moment to those Six
1een-roorH buildings which have
heretofore been constructed without
them.
Fourth, to provide adequate play
space for elementary schools and
make provision for the eQuipment
upkeep and supervision of those play-
grounds aftsr school hours and dur
ing vacation. This, of course, means
adding materially to the play space
now provided at many of our schools,
as well as selecting sites large enough
for play purposes when new Locations
. are selected for new buildings"
Reviews School Housing.
major portion of the report is
taken up with review Of the school
:, AousIng problem from 1882 to 1920
men Dr. Balion made a survey of
the school system. This survey
ah9wed the serious overcrowded con-
ditlons In the schools and the re-
al oSudtant need of remedying them.
The situation in 1882. as seen by
"a congressional commission, was un-
satisfactory because of insufficient
appropriations with which to keep
up with the increased enroIlment ana
to reduce the number of rented Quar-
ters. said the report. Rented quar-
tiers at that time represented over
~ per cent of the classrooms in use
We're poorly ventilated, were not
adapted to school use and were cost
~ IN rentals. Funds for upkeep and
repairs were insufficient In general
there was great demand for addi-
tional school buildings" A similar
situation. the report showed, existed
in 1908 and 1920.
1t was pointed ont that tho ochoo,
mouse commission in 1908 recommend
ed the abandonment of the Potomac,
McCormick, Thomas. John F. Cook.
Ihrelkeld. High Street, Hillsdale,
Bunker Hill and Garfield schools and
The annex to the johnson School. Two
of these schools-the John F. Cook
and the Threlkeld-are stin in use
The superintendent emphasiaed the
fact that most of the other buildings
recommended for abandonment were
continued in use for several years.
Schools Still i'm Use.
DR.. Baliou also pointed out that the
commission in 1908 recommended the
early abandonment of the following
6cheols: Webster. Abbot, Berrett.
40eoln, Force, Adams, Bradley and
Jenerson. TT should be noted" said
his report, that each of these build
tngs is still after period Of thirteen
t@ears. being used to full capacitf as
except thu Berret: that no
extensive alterations have been made
To these buildings to make them any
more serviceable for school purposes
than they were when the Commission
recommended them for early aban-
donment.
;sThe s5,oo0.ooO building program
'kSshteloped last year by the Board Of
EAucation did not contemplate the
abandonment of single one OF
these buildings which were recom-
HIsnded for abandonment thirteen
!. years ago. An adequate. comprehen-
Alve policy of schoolhouse construc-
fion will provide for the comnlete
abandonment of some Of these build
inf1gs each year until the children
Fnow in them have been provided for
IN up-to-date modern schoolhouses,
To replace these buildings at present
prices. exclusive of sites, would cost
ever $2.000,000."
Urges Gymnasium.
=. In stresaing the need Of gym
naSiumS and assembly roon1s in the
schools, the report said: mo ele-
mentary schools in the District are
provided with Eymnasiuma OBJ
vfously there should be q consistent
policy regarding assembly rooms and
gymnasiums The superintendent