Evening star., 1949-09-25
Maintains All Room At Central
Is Used Now Without Waste
To the Editor Of The Star:

~ AT~AsoA Va
After hearing the Rev. r. w. Brooks of
the Interdenominational Ministers Lodge,
in his debate on the Central- Cardoza ques-
ton over Station WQQW last Sunday, it
is only fair to him and to the listening
public that he should be corrected in his
belief that some Of the space and facilities
in the Central High School building, which
now houses both Junior and senior high
school, are not being used.
Every single room in the building Is being
used, except one laboratory filled with OBJ
Solete furniture and materials This room
is to be fitted out as projection room for
the visual education program just as soon
as repairs are made.
AS Mr.. Brooks stated, Central is more
than 80 years old and badly in need of
renovation. Cardoza covets it only as an
emergency measure and would expect many
changes and costly improvements before it
met the particular needs of Cardoza High
School. But Central students love their old
building and with the improvisations that
have been made throughout the years will
be content to have it serve them for many
years to come. 1t is obvious that Mr. Brooks
is unfamiliar with the interior of the building
which he discussed with such apparent au-
thorlty and was speaking of the home
room capacity Of the building as it originally
was built Indeed there are six rooms
being used as home rooms to accommodate
the present enrolment: Rooms not origin
ally intended as section rooms at all. In an
attempt to offer Central students and fac
ulty some of the advantages enjoyed by
those In the more modern high schools.
improvisations have been made to sub
stitute for needs that were not originally
provided.
Parents Resist Pressure.
rrhz
only building that can serve both the senior
and Junior high school needs of more than
1900 children of the white taxpayers Of
large section of central and northwest Wash
ington and these parents do not propose to
have taken away from them needlessly by
any pressure group building which Is
day school, evening school, and evening
recreation center for such q large area Of
the city.
There is no necessity for destroying
thriving school which soon should be ex-
tended to serve the post graduate needs
of students through the thirteenth and four
teenth years, such as already are being
served in one colored high school. Two
intelligent and workable plans have been
suggested to relieve the temporary con-
gestion at Cardoza High School through
the use of the Wilson Teachers College
building and the Miner Teachers College
building. II the hardShipS now existing at
Cardoza are truly as dire as Mr.. Brooks
maintains that they are. surely the relief
offered is better than none.
When the white high schools were grap-
pling with overcrowded conditions not too
many years ago there was no relief OF any
description at hand. and none offered. until
the building program finally caught up
with the demand. Langley Junior High
School students marched all the way to old
Mckinley to use its auditorium. Admins
stration was extremely difficult and the
wait was long, especially so for Business and
old Mckinley with Central and Eastern
burdened with overcrowded extra shifts.
But the situation was handled philosophically
and cheerfully. It would seem that the
colored schools might show the same forti-