Evening star., 1952-08-23
Builders Here
Racing 10 Finish
7 New Schools
Officials Are Worried
Douglass Junior High
Won't Be Ready
A-24 THE EVENING STAR
By james 6. Deone

BY james 9. Deone
School officials are worried thar
a new Southeast junior higl
school won't be ready to open a.
scheduled September IS.
The school is Douglass Junior
High, for Negroes.
Builders are racing to finish
both Douglass and the new Ter.
rell Junior High, also for Negroes
in the Northwest. They say Ter.
rell will be ready, but they aren't
sure about Douglass. A schoo
official said Douglass will bt
touch and 60"
Delay in the Douglass opening
would seriously disrupt Southeast
back-to-school plans. Even if il
does open, some inconvenience is
expected, because only some OF
the classrooms are expected to be
finished, at best.
Parts of the school won't be
completed for several months.
Both Are Needed Badly.
Douglass is at Stanton road and
Douglas street Sc. Terrell is al
First and Pierce streets NV. Both
are badly needed to meet serious
overcrowding elsewhere.
Elementary schools also are in
volved. The old Birney School
which has been housing Douglass
students. is scheduled to reopen
as a grade school. The old Terrell
is slated to do the same.
A delayed opening would force
school officials to make different
arrangements, temporarily. It
might mean part time classes.
Delayed building materials are
one cause of the Douglass situa-
ton. No blackboards or glass
panes for classroom doors have
arrived. The recent steel strike
also was a factor, builders said.
Delays Developed Recently.
Both new schools actually are
ahead of schedule. Contracts don't
call for completion until January.
But work went faster than ex-
pected and the contractors offered
to get the jobs done sooner, Off
cials explained. The delays de-
Veloped recently.
At Douglass, tile flooring and
classroom electrical fixtures are
not yet in, and plastering and
painting aren't done. Lockers
haven't been installed. Even win
dow glass isn't yet in the gym,
cafeteria and auditorium wings,
but builders aren't trying to fin
lSh these now.
Supt. Hobart M. Corning and
Archie Hutson, the Districts di-
rector of construction, inspected
the building yesterday. Neither
would promise it will be ready for
students on opening day.
Mr.. Hutson said he is trying to
get all contractors to agree to an
emergency speed-up, however. The
commissioners may be asked to
approve overtime work, at double
pay, if it tappears advisable, he
said.
Extra Men Put to Work.
Extra men already have been
put to work, but no overtime has
been ordered yet. The District
must pay the difference between
straight pay and overtime pay.
Funds are available, Mr.. Hutson
said.
The construction chief said he
hopes the first and second floors
will be in shape to open on time
Basement classrooms probably
won't be, he said.
Temporary lighting fixtures may
have to be installed in the class
rooms, he added.
Francis A. Gregory, assistant
superintendent in charge OF Negro
junior highs, said 728 children are
supposed to enter the School-al-
most full capacity. If they can't
be squeezed into the two floors it
may mean part-time classes for
a while, he said. Or Birney Annex,
another building used last year
by Douglass students, might be
used temporarily.
The annex has been stripped of
furniture and shop equipment,
however, Mr.. Gregory said.
No Furniture Moved Yet.
No furniture has yet been moved
to Douglass
If Douglass can't open at all
on opening day, last years build
ings-Old Birney and Birney An
nex-could be used. But this
would shut out 361 elementary
pupils scheduled to transfer to old
Birney from three other crowded
schools-new Birney, Garfield and
Turner.
Complicating this picture is a
current controversy over old Bir-
ney. A citizens group doesn't want
Garfield and Turner students
moved there.
Terrell is in much better shape
Classrooms practically are fin.
niShed and furniture is stacked
In the auditorium, ready for dis.
tribution. The school is slatee
to get 970 pupils-79 over ratee
capacity.
John M. Riecks, associate super
intendent in charge of building
and grounds, said Terrell's cafe
terra and gym won't be operating
till a month or two after tn
opening. But he expressed con
fldence students will move in OF
time. Mr.. Hutson said the build
ing should be ready by Septem
Der 10.
Mr.. Riecks also said he is con
fident part of Douglass will b
ready. too.
Spingarn High School, q
Twenty-fourth street and Bennin
road NE. also for Negroes,
the other new school slated
open next month. It is alread