Evening star., 1934-04-12
NURSERY SCHOOL
OPERATION UNTIL
MAY 1915 SOUGHT
Plan Depends on Teachers
Serving Part Time With.
out Salary.
U. S. RELIEF OFFICIALS
CONFER ON PROBLEM
Employees Are Put on 15-Hour
Week at an Average
Wage Of $12.

With activities Of the Districts
nursery and adult vocational training
schools facing curtailment because Of
inadequate relief funds, it was learned
today the Board of Education expects
to work out a plan in the next few
days whereby these schools can be
kept in operation until May IS.
This plan, it was said, depends
upon the willingness of the approx
imately 80 teachers and other en-
ployes volunteering to serve part Of
the time without pay. Because Of
this necessity. school officials will have
to put the plan up to the employees II
the nursery and training schools are
to continue operating.
Conference Held Today.
This was announced by school off,
cials after an informal conference
this morning with Federal Emergency
Relief Administration officials. As
sistant Superintendents F. E. Kramer
and r. L. Haycock discussed the sit.
uation generally with Dr. L. r. Alder.
man, director of the educational di-
vision of the F. E. R. A; DR.. George
Stoddard, in charge of emergency
nursery schools, and Sidney Williams,
another official of the F. E. r. A
j. M. Schaffer, president of the
Southwest Citizens Association, which
has taken the lead in obtaining relief
funds for the schools, also attended
the conference.
District school officials had been
informed they could expect no more
relief funds for the nursery schools,
and, because of this situation, it was
agreed to utilize remaining funds in
hand to keep the schools in opera
ton. Yesterday, the 80 employees in
the nursery schools and the so or
more in the vocational schools were
put on half-time. They had been
employed heretofore on a 30-hour-
week basis at 30 cents an hour. They
must now work about Is hours, which
means their pay has been reduced to
an average of s12 a week.
Given $1,000 a Month.
Under the old C. w. A. the local
nursery and vocational schools had
been receiving $4,000 a month since
| January. This amount cannot be
! continued under the new E. w. A. set
: up until later, when relief plans can
be worked out on a strict cash basis.
DR.. Kramer said after the confer
ence that the Board of Education
would work out a plan in the next
few days with view to keeping the
schools open until May IS, when
other arrangements can be made.
They will utilize funds now on
hand to pay the teachers and other
employees half-time and call upon
them to volunteer extra working
hours so the schools can be operated
on the former basis. There Is no
guarantee, of course, that this plan
will be accepted by the workers, al
though the school officials are count
ing upon their loyalty and interest to
cooperate.
Dr.. Kramer said that some plan
would have to be worked out deal
ing with each employe separately,
taking into account individual needs
for relief work.
Work to Be Apportioned.
Meanwhile Maj. Daniel ]. Donovan,
District auditor, declared that relief
work would be apportioned to ft the
100000 Federal Emergency Relief
grant for April and that he felt all
necessary relief needs could be taken
care of with this.
Doubt expressed by other inter-
ested municipal officials as to whether
the sum would be sufficient was dis
counted by the auditor.
Maj. Donovan declared that while
greater sum could be expended
this month If funds were available,
the fact that the program viii be
kept within the Federal grant would
not mean that any one would 60
hungry. He emphasized that while
Leroy A. Halbert, emergency relief
director, had requisitioned S150,000
for direct relief needs during the
first two weeks of this month, this
rate of expenditure should be re-
duced as more and more relief re-
cipients are assigned to work under
the emergency works program.
The District E. W. A. has not
abandoned a number of construction
projects started under the now ended
civil works program, but they have
been set aside for the time being
because Of an insufficient number of
skilled mechanics on the relief rolls,
Capt. Howard F. Clark, executive Of
the E. w. A., said.
Work on Pools Halted.
Among projects so halted are the
swimming pools at the Banneker Rec
reation Center, near Howard Univer-
sity, and at the Takoma Recreation
Center. Most of the skilled workers
engaged under the E. w. A. program
already have worked the number of
days allowed under their budgets and
will not be assigned again until next
Monday, Clark said.
Priority in assignment Of skilled
workmen was given TO the project for
completion Of the second-story rooms
at the Murch School and the project
for building a small dormitory for
District Workhouse employees, at
Ninth and Water streets southwest.
Capt. Clark said a detail Of eight
transients had been assigned today
to eradicate rats from the garden sites
on the fats bordering Anacostia River
To he develOned for the benefit nf