Federal Aid For School Rejected

A federal' grant to the Children's Community school has been rejected by the parents and staff of the school. The $11,250 grant was arranged for the experimental school directly by the U. S. Office of Education after the Washtenaw C o u n t y Citizens Committee for Economía Opportunity last June refusea to act as transfer agent for the) funds because of criticism oíf the school. The statement of the parentsl and staff of the Children's Com-I munity is that "it was impossi-l ble for them to accept a federal grant of $11,250 because of requirements and stipulations I of the grant which have just recently been made clear. "The grant would require recruiting a group of 15 fiveyear olds, all satisfying the strict guidelines for low income families, and half coming out of compensatory pre-school programs," according to the statement. ''The school has never recruited parents because it is important that parents b e active and feel philosophically close to the school. It is much more difficult to achieve this with parents who have been recruited for the purpose of meeting certain requirements not necessarily relevant to the philosophy of the Children's Community," according to the statement. The large group of kindergarten children would "unbalance the school in age, race and family income," according to the statement. In addition, the school people were "reluctant to give a blanket approval'' to federal evaluation procedures required but unspecified." The school will open in the fall "in a very difficult financial position," and no facilities for next year have been found, accordng to the statement. It will continue to run on private donations and fund-raising events by parents and staff. It will have 18 to 20 children in the kindergarten through fourth grade, according to the statement. The federal grant would have provided medical and social services, materials and some i salaries.