Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-05
Much Ado About Portables.


The Board of Education held its first
Fall meeting yesterday without taking
UP what the public has been led to be-
lieve Is one of the important problems
of the current school year-policy in the
use Of portables. A special meeting OF
the board is to be held next week. II
there is no discussion then, the ques-
ton will be left hanging in the air
until Wednesday preceding the opening
Of the school term. September %.
Perhaps the portable schools now IN
use are not as black as they have been
painted. There is apparently no way
Of knowing. Interest centers in the
method of handling what, to all in
tents and purposes, appeared In June
70 be delicate issue.
Under date of June 26 last DR.. Bal
lou submitted to the Board of Educa-
ton q letter In which he recalled dam
age to portable schools from wind and
storm and the narrow escapes of the
pupils attending classes In those port
ables. He also emphasized the fact
collectively" by the school officials and
the members of the Board Of Educa-
ton to obtain appropriations which by
this time would have dispensed with
the use of all or nearly all portables,
such efforts had failed and the port
ables were still in use. He said
Each Summer witnesses the transfer
OF portables from one section OF the
city where they are no longer needed
because of the opening of permanent
school buildings to some other section
of the city where congestion has become
acute. During the coming Summer there
will be a few portables for such transfer
and q still larger number will be re-
1ieved from further use where now To-
Gated by January or February, 1880.
The superintendent would be
glad to be advised by the board as to
whether the past practice Of transfer
ring and setting up of portableS to re-
lieve such congestion shall be contin-
ued, or whether the use of said portables
shall be abandoned and the children in
congested schools placed on part time.
The superintendent recommended
that the municipal architect be request
ed to inspect thoroughly the seventy
i've portables now in Use and to report
to the Board of Education "in writing
on the safety and suitability of each
portable for continued classroom USE"
The board adopted the recommends
ton, and some time later with a great
clicking Of cameras and scratching of
reporters pencils, the investigation was
begun.
Before that investigation was COM
pleted the District Repair Shop began
the work Of transferring seven port
ables to new locations, and by the time
the report Of the inspecting architects
was typed and made public the moving
was well under way. The report recited
In detail a technical description Of the
condition of each portable. But it care
fully avoided stating positively whether
any portable was safe or unsafe, and
its strongest recommendation was that
before any portable is moved, careful
examination should be made of its con-
dition, or words to that effect. BY this |
time the transfer of seven portables |
has been completed. Others have I'M
dergone the routine Summer repairs. |
The committee on buildings, grounds |
and equipment of the Board of Educa-
ton has never met to study the archi- |
tects' report, and If DR.. Ballou knows |
any more now than he knew last June |
about what policy he should pursue in |
the use of portables, and what port
ables are safe or unsafe, his informa-
ton has been conveyed to him through
occult channels and not from the Board |
Of Education, or the municipal archi-
tects ONCE.
Are the portables transferred during
the Summer safe or unsafe? Are the !
other portables fit to be used again this
Winter, or should they be abandoned
now? If the subject was important |
last June, 1t is doubly important now.
The questions raised In DR.. Ballou's
mind should be answered, and so posi-
lively that no doubts are left in any |
mothers mind concerning the safety of |
her child during the coming school |
term.