Evening star., 1932-01-07
SCHOOL FACILITIES
ASSA|LED IN TWO
NORTHWEST AREAS
Board Asked to Complete
Items in Annex to Powell
Junior High.
WEST END CITIZENS SEEK
ERECTION OF NEW UNIT
S. J. McCathran, Jr., and Mrs. Belle
Cutler Parker Present
Petitions.

Petitions for relief from unsatisfac-
tory school conditions were placed be-
fore the Board of Education by repre-
sentatives of two Northwest commun1-
ties at the boards meeting in the
Franklin School Administration Build
ing late yesterday.
Citing the uncompleted items in the
recently constructed addition to the
Powell Junior High School, S. Jay Nc
Cathran, jr., delegate of that schools
Parent Teacher Association, asked the
board for adequate toilet facilities, g
boys gymnasium and half dozer
lesser improvements to take the Schoo
out of the tenement" class.
Pointing to the construction OF new
apartment residences in the Potomac
Park section and the lack of junior
high school for the territory, Mrs. Belle
Cutler Parker, chairman OF the School,
Committee of the West End Citizens
Association, petitioned for new build
ing to replace the old Grant Schoo
at TWenty-second and G streets anc
the establishment of Junior high
school unit.
Briefs Also Submitted.
Both Mr.. McCathran and Mrs.
Parker submitted lengthy briefs which
they augmented with verbal pleas.
Mr.. McCathran said the Powell
School is without a boys gymnasium
because original plans to construct a
double gym over the assembly hall
went awry when engineers discovered
the existing walls of the structure in
adequate to carry the additional weight
Consequently, gymnasium was con-
structed as a wing to the main build
ing. While the original plans called
for a large gymnasium" with a fold
ing partition to make boys and girls
sections, the available space under the
new plan made such floor area i'm
practicable and the municipal archi-
tect undertook to construct two Sepa-
rate units. This was vetoed, however
by District government officials, who
ruled the appropriation was for "a
gymnasium" and that the second plan
represented two gymnasiums. Hence
M. McCathran told the board, total
of $93980 out of the original appro-
priation was left over.
Mr.. McCathran asked that the board
give its ''wholehearted cooperation In
securing the completion of the gym
nasium as originally intended for the
school,"
New Toilets Requested.
The Powell Junior High School Par
ent- Teacher Associations petition also
included an appeal for the installation
of modern toilets to replace the "old
autiquated type" now in use. The asso-
Ciation declared the old facilities have
been condemned by the Health De-
partment.
Another complaint Of the Powell
School group was that water pipes lead
ing to the addition" which is in the
form of another story on the original
building, run exposed along the cell
ing of the school library. The noise
of running water, it was asserted
causes distraction which makes the
library virtually useless for study pur-
poses. The lack of coal bins, which
the association urged be provided, now
results in danger, if not actual dam
age, to various items of school shop
equipment in the basement.
The board took the petition under
advisement, but informed Mr.. McCath-
ran that school officers were working
for the correction Of most of the evils
listed by the association. DR.. Frank
w. Ballou, superintendent of schools
suggested the association carry its plea
Cites Population Gain.
In her plea for new school to re-
place the 50year-old Grant structure
Mrs. Parker declared that not only is
she Potomac Park section without junior
high school accommodations, but the
elementary school facilities at the
Grant School are antiquated and made
quate. The construction of many new
apartment houses, she said, is bringing
about rapid increase in the population
of the section served by the school.
Specific complaint was registered
against the old toilet facilities in the
Grant building. Mrs. Parker'S brief
contended II toilets for girls and a
similar number for boys was entirely
inadequate for a roll of 500 studentsH
The specific appeal of the West End
Citizens Association was:
1--WE therefore urge the acquisition OF
sufficient property adjoining Grant
School and the erection of new school
with junior high school unit. We
ask that such an item be included in
TIE 1882 budget"