Evening star., 1941-06-27
School Repairs
AreFar Behind;
Remedy Sought
Education Officials
To Meet Tomorrow
With Commissioners

School officials will go before the
Commissioners tomorrow in an effort
to remedy a situation by which the
District Repair Shop is 1000 jobs
behind on repairs to school buildings
and grounds.
Mrs. Philip Sidney Smith, chair
man of the Board of Education'S
Committee on Buildings and
Grounds; School Supt. Frank w.
Ballou and Assistant Supt. in Charge
of Buildings and Grounds j. j. Crane
are scheduled to meet with the city
heads at GAS am.
The school repair problems and
suggested changes in procedure were
discussed by Mrs. Smiths committee
at the School Board Offices yeSter-
day, when it was brought out that
under the present system, the repair
shop is 1000 jobs behind" 1t also
was stated that 90 per cent of the
repair work is on the school plant.
Lack of Funds Cited.
Lack of funds was decided as the
principal source of the difficulties,
school officials insisting they were
not criticizing the administration OF
w. H. Draper, head of the repair
shop. Mr.. Draper, it was said, has
less money and more buildings to
service than he had some years ago,
and the financial problem has been
increased in recent years by proVl-
sion for paid annual and sick leave
for repair shop employees without
additional funds being granted.
Repair to school buildings and
grounds has for years been a sore
spot with the city's civic organiza-
tions, which meet in the school
buildings and whose members chill
dren attend them. Civic leaders are
constantly coming before school au-
thorities and requesting repairs
which lack of funds will not permit
school officers to grant.
One change which may be sought
of the Commissioners at tomorroW'S
conference may be more authority
for Mr.. Crane in determining just
which school repairs will be MADE,
and for the repair shop to provide
frequent progress reports. Under
the present situation, Mr.. Crane
submits to Mr.. Draper repair items
marked emergency" urgent" or
desirable" from which Mr.. Draper
can establish his own priority list.
Transfer Considered.
Because of the large part which
school repairs play in repair shop
operations, some discussion arose
yesterday as to whether the Board
of Education should seek transfer of
the repair shop to its jurisdiction.
Committee members and school ottl-
cials, however, decided against the
plan in the belief that with addi-
tional funds and a few changes in
procedure, the major difficulties may
be ironed out. Repair shop opera
tions are now governed by Com
missioners' order of 1926 which, in
some Of its provisions, is said to be
out of date.
About $46O,0OO was allotted in the
1941 District budget for the school
repair item. Last fall, the Board of
Education asked S75O,O0O for the
fiscal year beginning Tuesday, but
this was cut to $4,000 by the Bu-
reau of the Budget and was further
slashed to S500000 by the House.
S500,00O Minimum Urged.
Mr.. Crane told the committee yes
terday the minimum appropriation
ought to be S5O0,O0O. not including
certain major repairs for which
funds are now earmarked in the
present repair item, such as boiler
replacement, A complicating factor
in recent years was said to have been
a ruling by the late auditor, Daniel
j. Donovan, that no major repairs
could be made out of the repair
fund unless specifically appropriated
for. This, according to school Off
cials, has resulted in inability to
correct many important defections,
such as the roof at Western High
School, at Macfarland Junior High
and at Francis Junior High.
Strong agitation over the condi-
ton at Western resulted, after sew
eral years during which earmarked
items were thrown out of the regular
budget, in partial repair job this
spring. Funds to improve the con-
dition at Francis were carried in
the 1912 budget as passed by the
House.
Those attending yesterdays COM
mittee conference included Mrs.
Smith, DR.. Ballou and Mr. Crane,
c. Melvin Sharpe and DR.. James A.
Cannon, members of the board.