Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-03-25

accused the board OF yielding
to a small but vocal minority,
and a former school superin-
tendent said board members
had become political pawns,"
taking orders from county SUI
pervisors.
Ever since the school board
revealed six weeks ago it plan
ned to shift several thousand
students into three new schools
when they opened next fall,
members have been hearing vo-
ciferous protests from parents
who want their children left in
their present schools.
Emotional Crisis Seen
In an attempt to satisfy
them, the board decided on
Tuesday to keep large numbers
Of students where they are,
though it will mean badly
overcrowded situations in a
number of schools.
The action quoted the for
mer protests, but it set off an
uproar among other parents
whose children will lbe affected
by the overcrowding.
School board members Mer-
rift F. Ruhlen and DR.. Parsons
asked that the whole matter be
reconsidered. Theodore Heriot,
chairman Of the school board.
said he would not give q deci-
sion until emotions have set
tied down."
The school board announced
in February it was considering
a new redistricting plan, mas
much as three new high schools
were scheduled to open in Sep
TENDER.
At hearings in Annandale,
Mclean and Groveton, hun
dreds Of parents turned out to
object to any transfer Of their
children.
Mclean Parents Protest
Some Annandale parents
complained that the plan would
cut their community in half,
sending some students to one
school and some to another.
Similar objections were raised
in Mclean. Parents there Bit
terly assailed the plan because
it would send some students
past the Mclean High School
on their way to the new one
at Tyson'S Corner.
They protested also that
theirs was a closely-knit, COM
pact community and charged
that the plan ignored this in
sending children to a school
outside its boundaries.
Last Tuesday, the board vir-
tually strapped the redistricting
proposal. and left most students
IN their present schools. AS a |
result. two Of the new schools
will be only partly filled when
they open in September.
The third new school-the
George Marshall High School
at Tyson's Corner-won't be
ready in September. Instead,
school officials said the aca-
demic section would probably
be ready about Thanksgiving,
and other sections, such as the
cafeteria and gymnasium, would
open later.
Nobody Is Pleased
To make full use of the
school. board members said,
they would have to send stu
dents from both Mclean and
Marshall to Mclean where they
would be on double shifts for
at least six months.
Mclean parents objected
again. Such a move, Give
DuVal, I'd, president Of the
Mclean Citizens Association,
said later, would mean sending
3,100 students to Mclean on
double shifts and moving 1,4OO
Of them out when Marshall
opened.
The board decided to leave
Marshall closed and send 2,34O
to Mclean, though its capacity
is only 1925.
The action would mean that |
students from Madison High
School in Vienna and from Falls
Church High School cannot
attend Marshall, and both
schools would become over
loaded.
Board member Berge Thorn
asian said afterwards that the
board was faced with two poor
choices, and we took the least
evil of the two"