Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-09
KINDERGARTEN SYSTEM OF D. c..
LITTLE MOLESTED BY NEW PLAN
Will Not Drop Classes Where
Attendance Is Below
Twenty-Five.
Plan Is Adopted for Free
Text Books in Night
Schools.

| and Senate whose views were outlined
| during stormy hearings last Spring and
| in subsequent trail of correspondence
which dates back to the week the cur
rent appropriation measure was enacted,
! Washington school officials have been
| overzealous and it now appears that,
save for elimination of underage kinder
gartens and transfer of comparatively
small number Of kindergarten teachers
to elementary grades, these classes will
be molested no further.
Material Released.
This was indicated late yesterday
IN the disclosure of letters which passed
between Representative Robert G.. Sim
mons. chairman of the House Subcom-
mittee on District Appropriations and
instigator of the kindergarten reorgan-
| ization; Senator Hiram Bingham, chair
man of the Senate Appropriations Com
| mittee, and DR.. Frank w. Ballou, super
intendent OF schools These letters to-
gether with an assembly of other data,
including review of the School Boards
actions on the kindergartens since the
close OF school last year, were made
public by the School Board after lively
debate on the ACCESSIBILITY Of releasing
the material.
Definite assurance that kindergartens
which fail to show an average daily
attendance by October IA will not be
eliminated, as 1t was understood by
school officials a month ago that the
Congress conferees desired, was con-
tanned in a letter from Representative
Simmons to DR.. Ballou on October 4. In
that letter Mr.. Simmons quotes from
an earlier letter of DR.. Ballou in which
the superintendent had declared that
unless We hear from you to the con-
| trary' the "one-teacher kindergartens
already established need not be aban-
doned, even If the average daily at
tendance falls below the standard of
rs pupils set up by the conferees."
Rules Were Outlined.
This is distinctly what my under
standing of the agreement with the
conferees," Mr.. Simmons wrote. "Of
course. If the attendance at kinder
garten school Is so low that 1t would
have been closed without regard to the
| action taken by the committee last
year, 1t should be closed now"
The correspondence on the school adj
ministration began July 4, when Mr..
Simmons wrote his views on the vari-
Gus agreements between the House and
Senate conferees and the District
school heads, in a letter to Senator
Bingham. Simmons requested that If
the Senator's views conceded with his,
the letter was to be forwarded to DR..
Ballou. In that first statement Of Mr..
Simmons, 1t was pointed out that
where school buildings permitted,
kindergarten classes should be con-
Quoted in the mornings as heretofore;
that there should not be to exceed one
teacher for an average daily attend
snce of rs pupils; there should be no
classes for children under years of
age doing away with what is known
as the prekindergarten classes, and that
as vacancies occurred in the first four
grades, qualified kindergarten teachers
should be transferred and no positions
In the teacher staff filled so long as
qualified kindergarten teachers were
available for transfer"
Specific Orders Asked.
This statement which Senator Bing-
ham agreed to, resulted in DR.. Balou's
request on July IS for much more spe-
cific directions. Ballou wanted TO
know, for instance, whether the stand
ard of an average daily attendance of
IS pupils" was to be applied to each
class or to division or building. In
the reply which Senator Bingham made
| following an exchange of further letters
with Mr.. Simmons he specified the at
tendance standard referred to each
class.
AS a result of the detailed replies to
his queries, DR.. Ballou made specific
| recommendations to the School Board
at its first meeting this Fall ON Sep
TENDER 10. These included elimination
of underage kindergartens and continu-
alton until October IA Of all regular
kindergartens which were in operation
| at the close of the last school year.
Ballou recommended that by october
II at will be determined whether the
/ to- Vxya mtg
| tinuation of the kindergarten" THESE
recommendations were approved with
1 the exception of the underage kinder
garten at the Webster Americanization
| School. which was allowed to continue
in service.
Letter Follows Publication.
Meanwhile, it was made known at the
Franklin Administration Building that
| classes which failed to show an average
| daily attendance of Is by october IA,
would be closed. Publication Of this
proposal, exclusively in The Star,
| brought another letter from Mr..
| Simmons, this time, directly to DR..
| Ballou.
| ington star of Sunday September II,
| 1880. regarding the reorganization OF the
kindergarten system in Washington"
Simmons letter stated.
| ct am not at all surprised at the con-
| tinued effort to misrepresent the posi-
ton of Congress and the House and
Senate conferees in this matter. I do
| not of course. know who is responsible
| for this article. However, do note this
| statement:
| "'Under the policy adopted by the
| school officers every kindergarten which
was in existence at the close of school
| in June, will be reopened tomorrow to
| continue until October IA. If by that
date any class cannot show an average
daily attendance of 25 pupils, it is to
be eliminated and its teacher trans
ferred to elementary vacancies
| Authority Not Known.
ST do not know where the authority
for the statement comes from that
classes with less than 25 average daily
attendance should be eliminated. l
thought the conferees made 1t plain
that where the average daily attendance
was under IS. the second teacher should
be eliminated and one teacher handle
the class. / know of no proposal by
any one that would call for the elm
ination of a kindergarten class under
those circumstances except under cir
cumstances where school authorities
would be closing the class in any event
because Of reduced attendance.
II assume that this statement is not
a correct one, in so far as the Board Of
Education Is concerned"
In his reply to this letter, DR.. Bal
lou denied that school authorities were
attempting to "misrepresent Congress, .
but that, to the contrary, they were
endeavoring to effect a reorganization
which would carry out desires of Con-
gress as expressed in the legislative pro-
, vision in the appropriation act and in
the agreements reached in conference
with the conferees DR.. Ballou also
, | niI0tas his annrnvad rac0YnFnen tj0r