Evening star., 1939-03-16
Board 10 Seek $22,S90
For Personnel for
New C|assrooms
initiates Move for
Refund on Cafeteria
Employees

The Board of Education will seek
an appropriation of $22.89O in the
next deficiency bill to cover person.
mel needed for new classrooms now
under construction by P. w. A. funds.
The new rooms are a part of the
$l,030,000 P. w. A. allotment to the
District schools last summer. Unani-
nous approval was accorded the de-
ficiency request at meeting of the
board yesterday.
At the same time the members
launched steps to try to recover
money paid by principals OF junior
and senior high schools to the Dis
trict Unemployment Compensation
Board for employees of the school
cafeterias. The money was paid un-
der protest on the ground that the
cafeterias did not come within the
scope Of the compensation board.
Seven Teachers Included.
The $22,890 which the Commits
sioners will be asked to include in
the deficiency bill will provide for
one teaching principal, seven teach
ers, seven vocational instructors and
10 custodial workers. The principal
and seven teachers will be for the
eight classrooms to be added to the
Smothers Elementary School by
next October. The vocational teach
ers will be for the new classrooms
to be finished by next February at
the Margaret Murray Washington
Vocational School, Both of these
are colored schools.
The custodial workers will be
needed at the new Bunker Hill
School, the Bancroft, Whittier and
Kingsman Schools as well as the
Smothers and Washington.
Recovery of the cafeteria funds is
being sought under a ruling of the
appeals examiner of the compensa-
ton board that employees of the
school cafeterias are ineligible for
benefits under the act. In the case
OF Mrs. Alice Draper, former man
ager of the cafeteria at Hine Junior
High School. who filed claim for
benefit based on her employment
there, the ruling was that she was
employed by a fund" and hence
specifically excepted under the Com
pensation Act. Such employees are
not employees of the District, it was
stated.
Refund Provision Lacking.
However, Supt. Frank w. Ballou
told the board he has been advised
there is no provision in existing
legislation for obtaining refund Of
the money paid under protest. The
members referred the matter to the
Legislation Committee.
The board referred to its Com
munity Use of Buildings Committee
report from DR.. Ballou on the ap-
plications since the last board meet
ing for use of school facilities.
Mrs. Henry Grattan Doyle, board
president, requested c. Melvin
Sharpe, committee chairman, to give
the reports careful consideration
and also to review the various prac-
tices that> have grown up In past
years with view of possible modi-
fications of the procedure of use Of
buildings.
Anderson Case Brought Up.
Col. West A Hamilton asked Mrs.
Doyle what the status of the Marian
Anderson affair was in view of let
ters presented to the board by the
Marian Anderson Committee and
the Howard University Concert
Series Committee. Mrs. Doyle said
the matter was now in the hands of
the administrative officials to carry
out the decision Of the board in the
case.
The letters accepted the use Of
Central High School Auditorium for
the concert by the famed colored
contralto but refused to accept the
conditions of the board that this be
not considered a precedent and that
a similar request not be pressed upon
the board in future.