Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-03-01
SCHOOLS
No EARLY Relief Seen
For Overcrowdinq
SCHOOLS
Continued From Page A.

Continued From Page AL
the schools will find themselves
behind the pace Of enrolment
increases by 1870.
For instance, he pointed out
a total of 40 substandard build.
ings would remain after COM
pletion of such a program BY
1868. an admittedly slim posi-
bility.
insufficient Space
mo matter what standard oil
measurement one uses, the con.
clusion is the same-the Dis.
trict Of Columbia public school,
system does not have suffi-
Gent space Of good quality OF
bad at the present time" the
report said.
What is more, mo plans
heretofore In contemplation
will remedy this situation by
the end Of the present decade, I"
the report added.
One reason is that forecasts
predict regular school enroll
ment will Jump from 1871, 00O
this year to 1863. 10000 in 1868.
In citing what it termed an
utter insufficiency" of space,
particularly in elementary and
junior high schools, the report
pointed out that of the 13l, 900
pupils this year, 76 per cent
are housed in buildings crowd
ed beyond official capacity.
One quarter of these are
housed in buildings overcrowd-
ed by rs per cent or more.
The report noted that aver
ages treating the whole school
system as a unit are deceptive,
because they do not indicate
conditions in seriously over
crowded areas like the far
Northeast in which building
enrolment figures and pupil
teacher ratios are drastically
out of line.
The averages are bad enough,
however, and the figures with
few exceptions reflect a wors-
ening situation, the report as
serted. It warned that:
Among an enrolment of 85,-
600, three out Of four elemen-
tary school children ARE in
buildings taxed beyond their
efficient capacity, and one out
Of four Of these is in buildings
burdened beyond the limits Of
any reasonable demands upon
their space and facilities"
OF 1851 junior high school
pupils, 81 per cent are in build
ings more than IS per cent over
capacity. About three out Of
eight are in schools "intoler-
ably overloaded" Housed in
senior high schools are 1890
more junior high pupils In space
which will soon become unavail-
able.
Twelve per cent Of 1900
students in high schools are
faced with IS per cent build
ing overloads.
This year, the October wait
ing list for kindergarten
youngsters applying for an i'm
portant year before first grade
stood at 794. But the report
pointed out that this figure
does not reflect parents whit
turned away from schools il
disbursement, without listing
their children or never shovel
UP at all because word goi
around the children could moi
get In because of lack of space
and teaching staff.
2,64S Part-Timers
The space problem contrib
uted to forcing part-time in
struction upon 2,648 pupils, an
increase over the previous year.
Unless the school admins
tration gets the junior high
schools it has asked for, Off
Gals may soon have to put
into effect plans for double
shifts, for the first time since
l947. Without temporary high
school space, "the entire pop
ulations Of Banneker, Eliot,
Mcfarland, Sousa, Taft and
Woodson-9.193 pupils-would
be on double shifts"
Among elementary schools,
at least one Of which dates