Evening star., 1945-10-02
Industrial School
improvements Is
Short Of Needs
S20, 900 Required
For Major Repairs,
Ahern Declares

fhtSt' >SStAfS
Scrubbed and painted since The
Star reported the conditions there
last March, the Industrial Home
School still needs $4,000 worth of
major repairs, its superintendent
estimates.
Floors shine First and second
story halls have been painted an
attractive green. Bed linen is clean.
The girls have new furniture.
Reaches and rats have disappeared.
But-the ceiling still leaks in five
places. There are cracks and holes
in the plaster Fire hazards con-
tinue to exist. Eight-year- -olds still
mingle with problem cases of 16
because there are no funds for a
separate dormitory on another
floor.
Daniel Ahern, the superintendent,
said 100000 could easily be spent
on the ancient institution at 2453
Wisconsin avenue. For $4,000 it
will be possible to make it serve
until a proposed Children's Center
at Laurel, Md, can replace it, he
said.
Mr.. Ahern has asked the Board
of Welfare. for the money. Ray L.
Huff, director of welfare, said the
board is reviewing maintenance
items now and will act by October
Is. Then the request goes to the
Commissioners and to Congress.
Congress Reduced Budget.
Although evils at the school were
reported last March, Congress in
May reduced an already low budget,
Mr.. Ahern said. The appropriation
for the year beginning July, 1914,
was $126,578 This years budget was
cut $21 ,658 before it got to Congress,
and Congress slashed another $4,000
from it.
II told Congress conditions were
horrible" Mr.. Ahern asserted. THE
only result of such publicity has
been to upset parents and cause
staff members to threaten to leave
because they didn't want to be con-
nected with a horrible" place"
There still are seven vacancies on
the staff of 40, compared to II in
March. Following a public campaign
for improving the personnel, the
Board Of Welfare prepared a plan
for reclassifcation designed to raise
low salaries. This has been before
the District Personnel Board since
September 10.
The Personnel Board must review
II or II cases before it can get to
the school, Richard Townsend,
assistant secretary, reported. The
board has been held up by the
Inauguration of the 40-hour week
and the necessity for reviewing work
weeks in excess of 40 hours, he said,
but it hopes to get to the school
within a month.
The recommendations of the Per-
sonnel Board are sent to the Com
missioners and then to the Civil
Service Commission.
School Needs Infirmary.
The school has obtained one nurse,
but it needs two and also an in
firmary for sick children, Mr.. Ahern
said He would like to convert a
staff sitting room into an infirmary,
but that will call for partitions, beds
and sanitary facilities.
Yesterday a sick girl was lying
alone in an alcove off the dormitory.
Because there were no extra beds.
her bed had to be moved to the
alcove.
On stove that would not be con-
sidered large for family of four,
the girls prepare all the meals for
81 persons. They have no gym.
There is a basement room that could
be used for the purpose if the glass
windows were protected and the floor
lowered.
All the boys now are quartered on
the third floor of building that is
not fireproof. Mr.. Ahern would
like to convert second floor play
room into small boys domitory,
adding sanitary facilities A new
playroom could be made by knock
ing out partitions of isolation cells
which no longer are used.
PlayroOm Is Damp.
The boys have painted their base
ment three times, but the white
paint still rubs off the gray walls
and dampness seeps through. Many
of the jobs cannot be done by the
boys, and the school has only one
maintenance man, Mr.. Ahern noted
Only expert repairmen can patch
the roof, replaster the ceilings and
fill the hole in the pantry wall, he
said
A new teacher has increased the
staff to three. One teacher still
must teach the girls in all eight
grades. Shop equipment lies idle
because the school has no vocational
teacher.
A new educational plan has been
prepared, Mr. Ahern said, and it
can be put into effect with one more
teacher. But he has little hope of
getting one until reclassification
raises the salary for the position.
The Board of Welfare also has
made provision for a social case
worker in it's 1947 budget.
All we need now is the money"
Mr.. Ahern commented.