Miami Labor Citizen

Pinewood Park P-TA Seeks New School

The community is up in arms over the failure of the Board of Education to provide the community with a permanent school building to replace the antiquated portables which have housed school children of the community for the last 14 years.

Mrs. Charles Taylor, 776 N, the Pinewood Elementary P.-T.A., announces a community rally to be held at 9575 N. W. 7th Ave. on Sept. 18 at 7:30 p. m. to arouse the attention of the community to the needs of school children in the area.

Incentive for a community rally was engendered at a meeting of the P.-T.A., and others interested in the situation, held in the cafeteria in Pinewood Park school at 96th St and N W 7th Ave.

On Tuesday Sept. 11, more than 100 parents and interested visitors discussed the matter of a new school building and voted to hold the rally meeting on Sept. 18.

There will be a meeting of the Board of Education on the day following the rally, which everyone will be urged to attend.

Pinewood Park (Continued from Page 1)

The Lions Club of Pinewood Park is backing the project as are also residents of Miami Shores who are interested in the Pinewood Park school situation because their own schools are becoming overcrowded with children who cannot be accommodated in the portables at Pinewood Park.

The clergy of the community are also interested and plan to talk on the subject in their churches on Sunday.

The indignation of the community, says Mrs. Taylor, stems from the fact that in 1949 out of the $12,000,000 bond issue authorized by the voters to be used for schools, $400,000 of it was allocated to Pinewood Park Elementary School for a new permanent school building.

Appeals have been made time after time to the Board of Education to have the new school built but there was no action from the board. Now the temper of the people has reached the boiling point and they insist on getting their school.

Conditions in the 14 year old portables are so bad that the PTA will tolerate them no longer.

There are no teachers' rooms, no first aid room, double sessions for the first grade are necessary, there are inadequate toilet facilities and 485 pupils are required to get their drinking water from only four water fountains.

For 14 years Pinewood Park has been promised a new permanent school building to replace the "temporary" portables. Four hundred thousand dollars has been allocated to build it.

What parents intend to find out at the rally and the subsequent visit with the Board of Education the next day is: Why?