Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-24
New Rule
Would Limit
School Use
Plan Is Studied
To Bar Private
Fund.Raising
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON, Jr.


A new rule drastically limiting the
use of school buildings for fund
raising purposes is now before the
Rules Committee OF the Board OF
Education.
The regulation, one of several IN
a new code for community use OF
buildings approved by the Recrea-
ton Board Subcommittee, states:
1.-The use of school facilities will
not be granted to any organization
for commercial uses, for private
profit or money raising purposes.
This rule shall not preclude public
school and its pupil alumni or
parent-teacher organizations from
raising funds for school purposes
nor shall it preclude the Community
Center and Fairgrounds Depart
ment from raising funds for pay
ment of necessary expenses OF COM
munity activities and recreation
programs which the department or
ganizes, and directs as an integral
part of its general program"
Gives Form to Policy.
The other proposed new rules con-
tain few if any changes over the
present, in some cases placing as
proposed formal rule what is now
an unwritten policy. They have
been developed largely to meet the
change in the recreation set-up by
which control is now vested jointly
g. ~ ice orad tho pna ri
of Education.
Glaring need for clear definition
of the commercial use of school
buildings developed in the famous
Marian Anderson case, where 1t
was shown that school buildings
had been frequently used for COM
mercial purposes.
The rule then in effect and now
in the School Board books states:
The use of school facilities will
not be granted to any organization
for purposes which will result in
financial profit accruing to the or
ganization to which such school
facilities have been granted"
While this language might appear
definite, the diff1culty lay in the
Interpretation of the words 'finan-
cial profit" by the Community Gen.
/ ter Department. The department
apparently felt it was complying
with the rules when a financial
statement showed no surplus. Co
ordinator of Recreation Lewis r.
Barrett, however, has taken the at
titude that any money made over
and above the actual expense OF
staging the event was profit, :"
whether it showed up as profit in
the actual financial statement or
not.
No Exceptions Allowed.
Mr.. Barrett said the new proposed
rule, with its specified exceptions,
was meant to be exclusive-that is,
no exceptions except those men
toned.
One other temporary exception
has been proposed which would en-
able the athletic teams of George
Washington University, Georgetown
University and GonZaga to use the
athletic gymnasiums of the schools
until the armory is completed.
These schools have been using the
public school facilities for some
years under the old Interpretation.
A brand-new suggestion is incor-
porated in another suggested regu-
lation dealing with the money which
the Recreation Department itself
takes IN to finance some of its pro-
grams. The rule would have the
accounts - which are considered
as trust fund accounts separate
from appropriated public funds
audited periodically by the District
auditor. The present board rules
provide only for a uniform method
of records and accounting for all
! funds"
Property Designations.
The new rules permit the designa-
ton by the co-ordinator of recrea-
ton of certain buildings and
grounds for use as recreation areas
in accordance with the National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission plan for the District. Some
of these would be designated white
and others colored recreation areas.
They also put into the record the
policy hitherto unwritten that
school and recreation use of the
buildings and grounds take prece-
dence over civic organization meet
ings.
Mr.. Barrett indicated that efforts
are being made toward some con-
solidation of activities IN the after
school use of buildings both as to
recreation and civic use. He point
ed out that hitherto whole buildings
were opened up for single affairs
all over the city, whereas these
activities might have been concen-
trated in fewer buildings in the area.
This, he argued, is not only more
economical but better from the point