Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1935, 1934
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When the findings of the State Commission finally were released, condemning all Santa Monica schools as unsafe, late Mayor William H. Carter, then commissioner of public works in Santa Monica, ordered the schools closed. This news, released on March 13, 1934, was received with mixed emotions: the children gave it joyous acclaim, but their parents and the Board of Education were plunged into a state of mind bordering consternation. The report of the State Commission had dashed any hopes they may have had that the report of Jeffers and Erick perhaps presented a too pessimistic view concerning the physical condition of the schools. [14. Board Minutes, Mar. 13, 1934.]
Superintendent Davis, anticipating these reports had already ordered the erection of tents on the school grounds the purpose being to use them for classrooms until such time as a more permanent solution to the school housing problem could be found. In the elementary district the amount expended for such equipment did not exceed $26,000, and an even smaller sum was required to make the high school safe for occupancy until more complete changes could be made. [15. Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 8, 1950, p. 70.]
The rehabilitation of the schools proceeded on funds appropriated from the districts, and on money borrowed from the county unappropriated fund. [16. Board Minutes, April 23, 1934.] The work was organized as projects of the State Emergency Relief Administration, a dozen or more in number, including the demolition of the old Roosevelt, Washington, and Grant elementary schools and the old Garfield building, then occupied by the Santa Monica Junior College. But even before these projects were completed, it was rumored that Federal funds were to be made available for school reconstruction. Accordingly Morton Anderson, President of the Board of Education, was sent at once to Washington to represent Santa Monica and make a personal appeal for the needs of the district. He was the first of such representatives to arrive at the national capitol.
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In cooperation with the University of California, Los Angeles, a demonstration school was established at Garfield in 1934, [now located on 16th St.] under the direction of Professor Junius L. Meriam of the University's School of Education. It was used for teacher-training and observation; but the project was discontinued after only two years because of community pressure. In commenting on the demonstration school, Miss O'Leary stated that the parents of the children felt the program of the school discriminated against them and that the children were not taught as they were in other schools in the district. They were right. The school did have a special program and was adapted to the needs and abilities of the children. The "discrimination' was intended to provide more favorable learning situations for the pupils, although the parents could not see it. During the two years of operation, however, and through Professor Meriam's expert guidance, many techniques and methods were developed that remained as part of the curriculum after the discontinuance of the demonstration school. And, according to Miss O'Leary, Professor Meriam's interest in the school continued even though it was on an unofficial basis.
In spite of the parent's lack of enthusiasm for the demonstration school, many values resulted. The special classes were in charge of teachers who had made a study of the particular type of work dealing with the special needs of the Garfield pupils. Real guidance activities were a part of the program associated with the work and included medical and dental assistance and attention to adequate provisions for food and clothing for many underprivileged children. Such efforts, of necessity, remain a part of the work of the school today.