USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Merrimac > Town Annual Report of the Officers of the Town of Merrimac 1904 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
TOWN OF MERRIMAC,
- FOR THE
ERR
AC
OF
NMOL
MASS.
INC
1876.
R
ATE
D
Year Ending January 31,
1904.
MERRIMAC, MASS., PRINTED BY THE MERRIMAC BUDGET, CLIFTON B. HEATII, MANAGER. 1904.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Selectmen, Town Officers and School Committee OF
The Town of Merrimac,
FOR THE
Year Ending January 31,
I 904.
MERRIMAC, MASS., PRINTED BY THE MERRIMAC BUDGET, CLIFTON B. HEATHI, MANAGER. 1904.
APPROPRIATIONS.
For the Year Ending January 31, 1904.
General School purposes,
$8,525 00
Superintendent of Schools,
375 00
Conveyance of pupils,
200 00
Highways,
1,500 00
Support of Poor,
2,100 00
Sidewalks and Crossings,
200 00
Soldiers Relief,
500 00
Fire Department,
1,500 00
Town Officers,
1,600 00
Street Lights,
700 00
Public Library,
500 00
Interest,
350 00
Discount,
700 00
Sprinkling,
100 00
Miscellaneous,
600 00
Memorial Day,
75 00
Furnace for Library,
57 96
Finding Supply of Water,
500 00
Appropriation, Sept. 30, to make pumping test,
1500 00
$21,582 96
TOWN OFFICERS.
SELECTMEN, ASSESSORS AND OVERSEERS OF POOR. EVERETT D. GEORGE, ALFRED M. COLBY, RALPH H. SARGENT.
CLERK. BAILEY SARGENT.
TREASURER. CLIFTON B. HEATH.
COLLECTOR OF TAXES. JOHN S. CLEMENT.
SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS. GILBERT G. DAVIS.
REGISTRARS OF VOTERS.
FRANK F. PHILBRICK, JAMES T. LOCKE,
CHARLES E. ROWELL, BAILEY SARGENT.
ENGINEERS OF FIRE DEPARTMENT. ANGUS McINNIS, JOHN WM. BRADY, LORENZO B. BLAISDELL.
CONSTABLES. ATWOOD S. NIXON, OLIVER W. JORDAN, WILLIAM S. TUCKWELL.
4
TOWN OFFICERS.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
FRED E. SWEETSIR, Term expires March 1904
SAMUEL D. ASIILEY,
66
1905
CHARLES A. LANCASTER, 66
1906
TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC LIBRARY.
THOMAS H. HOYT,
Term expires March 1904
WILLIAM B. SARGENT,
66
66
1904
JAMES F. PEASE,
66
66
1905
CHARLES W. SAWYER,
66
1905
HERBERT O. DELANO,
66
1906
GEORGE E. RICKER,
66
66
1906
TRUSTEES OF CEMETERYS.
CHARLES A. LANCASTER, Term expires March
1904
GEORGE G. LARKIN,
66
66
1905
CHARLES E. ROWELL, 66
60 66
1906
SURVEYORS OF LUMBER AND MEASURERS OF WOOD
AND BARK.
EDGAR P. SARGENT, JOHN J. WOODMAN.
FENCE VIEWER. EDGAR P. SARGENT.
TREE WARDEN. GILBERT G. DAVIS.
AUDITOR. FREDERICK C. GRANT,
5
TOWN OFFICERS.
POLICE.
ATWOOD S. NIXON, CHIEF AND NIGHT WATCHMAN,
DANIEL C. BUNKER, DANA F. TIBBETTS,
FRED O. BAILEY, CLARENCE O. LIBBY,
THOMAS PARKIN, SPECIALS.
INSPECTOR OF CATTLE. JOHN J. WOODMAN.
FISH AND GAME WARDENS.
CLARENCE O. LIBBY, GEORGE F. MASON.
FIRE WARDENS.
EDGAR P. SARGENT, WILLARD B. KELLEY.
SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. EDWARD WYMAN.
BURIAL AGENT.
CHARLES A. BRIDGES.
SCHOOL REPORT.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
F. E. SWEETSIR, Chairman,
Term expires 1904
S. D. ASHLEY, Secretary,
66
1905
C. A. LANCASTER,
16
66
1 906
CHAS. W. CUTTS, SUPERINTENDENT up to Sept. 1903 G. E. CHICKERING, SUPERINTENDENT since Sept. 1903
TEACIIERS.
CHARLES W. CUTTS, Principal High School
MITTIE A. Dow,
First Assistant High School
MARION WOODWARD, -
SUSANNA SAYRE,
Second Assistant High School
H. M. VAUGIIAN, -
E. J. WHITTIMORE,
LILLA M. PHELPS,
Second Grammar
MARY H. HEAD,
Third Grammar
L. PEARL FRENCHI,
ANNA F. DODGE, 1 MARION W. SMITH, S
Principal Centre First Grammar
Centre First Intermediate
Prospect St. Second Intermediate
SCHOOL REPORT. 7
ETTA H. COLBY, HATTIE A. BAXTER,
Centre First Primary
MARY L. BROWN, S. C. HASKINS, EMMA M. RAMSEY, MAE MAGOON,
Prospect St. Second Primary
SARA S. ALLEY, 1
S. BLANCHE CUNNINGHAM,
Middle St. Second Primary
MARION W. SMITHI, -
MYRTLE B. COLSON, S
Merrimacport
HATTIE A. BAXTER, GERTRUDE A. HAMLIN,
Bear Hill
NETTIE J. SPOFFORD, ANNIE L. HOSFORD,
Birch Meadow
M. EVA ROBINSON, Supervisor of Music Supervisor of Drawing Substitute
MAUD H. ROSE, M. A. SAWYER, MRS. E. S. LANE, Substitute Substitute
JUDITHI ROWELL,
TRUANT OFFICER. S. SCOFIELD.
MERRIMAC HIGH SCHOOL.
GRADUATES, 1903.
ROLAND MARSHALL CARROLL, College Preparatory Course WM. SYLVESTER LENNARD, College Preparatory Course
CARRIE NOYES PEASE, College Preparatory Course LAVINA MILLETT BARTLETT, Classical Course Classical Course
MARION CUSHMAN FLAGG,
FLORENCE ADELAIDE GREEN, Classical Course
LINDA HARRIETT KELLY,
Classical Course
GRACE FOLLANSBEE MORSE, ESTHER MORSE MERRILL,
Classical Course
Scientific Course
SARAH BLACKINTON TITCOMB,
Scientific Course
ELLEN FRANCES HANDLEY, English Course English Course
HORACE EDWIN MOSER,
Twenty=eighth Annual Report of the
School Committee.
We hereby submit the annual report of the School Com- mittee for the present year together with that of the Superin- tendent which has been adopted.
At the March meeting Charles A. Lancaster was elected to the Committee in the place of T. H. Hoyt, resigned.
The Board was at once organized with F. E. Sweetsir chosen chairman and purchasing agent and S. D. Ashley, secretary.
Negotiations were at once begun with different towns to employ a District Superintendent in accordance with the statutes.
We naturally turned to Amesbury as the most desirable union we could have. After some correspondence a joint meeting was held with the Amesbury School Committee. We found that in order to form a union with them that their Superintendent, with whom they were well satisfied, demand- ed a salary which would cost the town about double the amount it has ever cost it for a Superintendent, and even at this cost we were to have but a day and a half per week instead of two and a half days as in the past. This we felt was unwarranted.
The other most available union was with North Andover. A joint meeting of the two School Boards was held at North Andover in April and a union was made. By this union we
IO
SCHOOL REPORT.
were able to once more obtain the services of George E. Chickering as Superintendent for the year.
Mr. Chickering served the town in a like capacity in a satisfactory manner two years ago, but because of the failure of the town to appropriate an average amount of money for the three preceding years, the requirements of the statutes were not lived up to and Merrimac lost her right to the six hundred and twenty-five dollars payable by the State to help. pay the Superintendent.
In order to clear the law, the arrangement was made with Mr. Cutts to keep the High School one session and in this way to give him the afternoons to attend to Superinten- dent's duties at a small increase of salary.
Had it not been for this, or a similar arrangement, it would have cost the town $750 for a Superintendent from September, 1902, to September, 1903.
The one session system has been continued for the High School as it has been satisfactory to pupils and parents gener- ally.
During the summer many much needed repairs were made. The Plains school house was painted outside. At the Center building Miss French's and Miss Colby's rooms were painted. The Superintendent's room was renovated and put into a more suitable place for an office. A chimney was partially relaid.
At this building it became necessary to buy four new stoves, as the old ones had passed their usefulness and were beyond repair. The result has been, that even through the severe cold weather, the rooms have been properly heated without trouble, while last winter the schools in this building had to be dismissed several days, because it was impossible to heat them to a safe temperature with the old heating apparatus.
II
SCHOOL REPORT.
At the High school new desks have been put in to the recitation rooms as suggested in the report of Mr. Cutts last year. At this building a new cellar drain has been laid as in the Spring there has been much water in the cellar.
Bear Hill school house has been thoroughly painted out- side and in the halls, and has also been shingled.
The school house at the Port demands painting to pre- serve the building, and this should be done this spring. The front wall of the underpinning should also be relaid.
The increased cost of coal has again decidedly increased the cost of heating the schools compared with former years.
The report of the School Board is always a report of ex- pense, but in this connection it is a pleasure for your Com- mittee to inform you that on and after this year the money which the town receives from the Massachusetts School Fund will be decidedly increased in amount. Instead of between three and four hundred dollars it will be between six and seven hundred dollars.
In order that the citizens may know about this fund, and just how this money must be expended by your School Com- mittee, we will print the notice which we received together with the statutes quoted.
This fund was established by the Legislative Acts of 1834, Chap. 169, providing that " all moneys in the treasury derived from the sale of lands in the State of Maine, and from the claims of the State on the Government of the United States for military services, and not otherwise appropriated, together with fifty per centum of all moneys thereafter to be received from the sale of lands in Maine, shall be appropriated to constitute a permanent fund for the aid and encouragement of common schools, provided that said fund shall not exceed one million dollars."
In 1854 (chapter 300) an important act was passed, pro-
I 2
SCHOOL REPORT.
viding for the increase of the fund by the transfer "of such a number of shares held by the Commonwealth in the Western Railroad Corporation, as will, at the rate of one hundred dol- lars a share, increase the principal of said fund to the amount of one million five hundred dollars."
Again, by chapter 154 of the Acts of 1859, it was pro- vided in section 3, that "all the avails of the moiety of the sales of public lands which by the provisions of the seven- teenth chapter of the resolves of the year one thousand eight hundred and fiffy-seven inure immediately to the use of the Commonwealth, and the use of which is not otherwise pro- vided for in this act, shall be added to the principal of the Massachusetts School Fund.
This fund has increased to nearly $4,000,000 at the present time.
We recommend that the town appropriate for the coming year the sum of $9,000.00, for a Superintendent, conveyance of pupils and general school purposes. This is the minimum amount we believe which the town should appropriate in or- der to obtain the state money for a Superintendent.
F. E. SWEETSIR, S. D. ASHLEY, School C. A. LANCASTER, Committee.
13
SCHOOL REPORT.
Important Change in the Method of Distributing
the Annual Income of the School Fund.
Boston, July 15, 1903.
The Legislature has unanimously passed a law which distributes the entire annual income of the school fund (in- stead of one-half the income as heretofore) to the towns having a valuation not exceeding $2,500,000, in the following manner (chapter 456, Acts of 1903) :-
I. Every town which complies with all laws relative to the distribution of said income and whose valuation of real and personal property, as shown by the last preceding assessors' valuation thereof, does not exceed one-half million dollars shall annually receive five hundred dollars ; but if its rate of taxation for any year shall be eighteen dollars or more on a thousand dollars it shall receive seventy-five dollars addi- tional; every such town whose valuation is more than one- half million dollars and does not exceed one million dollars shall receive three hundred dollars; and every such town whose valuation is more than one million dollars and does not exceed two million dollars shall receive one hundred and fifty dollars ; and every town whose valuation is more than two million dollars and does not exceed two and one-half. million dollars shall receive seventy-five dollars. The remain- der of said income shall be distributed to towns whose valuation does not exceed two and one-half million dollars, and whose annual tax for the support of public schools is not
I4
SCHOOL REPORT.
less than one-sixth of their whole tax for the year, as follows : -Every town whose school tax is not less than one-third of its whole tax shall receive a proportion of said remainder ex- pressed by one-third ; every town whose school tax is not less than one-fourth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion ex- pressed by one-fourth ; every town whose school tax is not less than one-fifth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion ex- pressed by one-fifth ; and every town whose school tax is not less than one-sixth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-sixth.
2. The income of said fund which has accrued on the thirty-first day of December in each year shall be apportioned by the commissioners of the Massachusetts School Fund in the manner provided for by section one of this act, and paid to the several towns on the twenty-fifth day of January there- after.
3. The sums received by any town under the provisions of this act shall be held by the town treasurer and shall be ex- pended only for expenses in maintenance of the public schools authorized by the school committee, in accordance with ex- isting laws ; and it shall be the duty of the treasurer to keep a separate account of all sums so received and expended, and the school committee shall make an annual report to the state board of education, in such form as may be prescribed by said board, of the amount received during each year, the amount expended from such receipts, the purpose for which such expenditures have been made, in detail, and the balance, if any, remaining unexpended. And whenever it appears that, in the opinion of the state board of education, . the sums paid to any town have not been used in whole or in part in accordance with the provisions of this section, or that they have not been held and accounted for separately, or that the report thereof herein required has not been made, the com-
.
15
SCHOOL REPORT.
missioners of the school fund are hereby authorized to with- hold, as they may deem advisable, the whole or any part of the future allowances otherwise falling to such town under the provisions of this act.
4. The previous law relative to the distribution of the income of the school fund (Revised Laws, chapter 41, 'sec- tions 4 and 5), all laws which provided for the payment of other expenses from the income of the school fund, and the law for the payment of two dollars per week to the teachers of exceptional ability (Revised Laws, chapter 42, section 30) are repealed.
PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY.
I. The entire income of the school fund is distributed to the towns whose valuations do not exceed $2,500,000.
2. This will give to towns which raise an amount by taxation for schools not less than that heretofore raised, ap- proximately double the amount they have previously received.
3. While the payment by the State of two dollars a week extra to teachers of exceptional ability is discontinued after the close of the present term, the additional amount these towns receive will enable them to continue the increase, and the agents of the Board will continue, upon the requests of the school committees or superintendents, to give advice as to teachers worthy to receive such increase. The excellent results of the past warrant the continuance of this incentive to good teachers.
4. A detailed account of the expenditure of the amounts received from the school fund must be made to the Board of Education ; the failure of any town to do this will imperil its receipt of any portion of the income.
5. The intent of the law is to improve the schools, not to lessen local taxation, and the towns that devote to school
16
SCHOOL REPORT.
purposes the largest proportion of their tax will receive the largest proportionate amount of aid.
6. The following provision of the Revised Laws (chap- ter 41, section 6) should be borne in mind :-
No such apportionment and distribution shall be made to a town which has not maintained a school as required by sec- tion one of chapter forty-two; or which, if containing the number of families or householders required by section two of said chapter, has not maintained, for at least thirty-six weeks during the year, exclusive of vacations, a high school such as is mentioned therein ; or which has not made the returns re- quired by sections five and six of chapter forty-three, and complied with the laws relative to truancy ; or which has not raised by taxation for the support of public schools which are authorized or required by law, including the wages of teach- ers, the transportation of school children, fuel, the care of fires, school rooms and school premises, supervision, text- books and supplies, and school sundries or incidentals during the school year embraced in the last annual returns, an amount not less than three dollars for each person between the ages of five and fifteen years resident in such town on the first day of September of said school year.
17
SCHOOL REPORT.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
Appropriated by town on account of Superintendent, $375 00
For Conveyance of Pupils, 200 00
For General School Purposes, 8,525 00
Received April 2, from State, Super- intendent money, 625 00
66 June 29, from D. W. Gould, on division fence, 9 36
66 from Horatio Evans, for ap- ples in 1902, 2 00
66 from State, account of State children, ISI 00
66 Jan. 26, 1904, Mass. School fund, 779 86
66 from dog tax, 107 51
66 from Fire Department, for
wood burned at Thomp- son's fire, Birch Meadow, 2 25
$10,806 98
Expended on account of Schools, $9,705 61
Unexpended, $321 51
Mass. School Fund, 779 86
1,IOI 37
$10,806 98
It will be noticed that the Massachusetts School Fund was received just as the books were about to be closed, there- fore we have this left entire. This will be held by the Town Treasurer subject to the order of the School Committee in ac- cordance with the provisions of Chapter 456, Acts of 1903.
IS
SCHOOL REPORT.
SCHOOL CALENDAR.
HIGH SCHOOL.
1904.
March 25 -- Winter term closes.
April 4-Spring term begins.
June 24 -Spring term closes.
Sept. 6-Fall term begins.
Dec. 23-Fall term closes. 1905. Jan. 2-Winter term begins. SESSIONS-Every day, except Saturday from 8 a. m. to 1.10 p. m.
LOWER SCHOOLS.
1904.
March 25 -Winter term closes.
April 11-Spring term begins.
June 25-Spring term closes.
Sept. 6-Fall term begins.
Dec. 23-Fall term closes. 1905.
Jan. 9-Winter term begins.
SESSIONS-Every week day, except Saturday from S.45 to 11.45 a. m., and 1.30 to 3.30 p. m.
HOLIDAYS-For all schools. Thanksgiving Day and the day following, Washington's Birthday, Patriots' Day and Memorial Day.
NO SESSION SIGNAL.
Two blasts repeated twice at 7.30 a. m. means no session in the forenoon.
Two blasts repeated twice at 12.30 p. m. means no session in the afternoon.
SCHOOL REPORT. 19
STATISTICS.
Population of town, census of 1900, 210I
Number of schools in town, Sept. 1902 to June 26, 1903, 12
Number of teachers employed including special teach- er's, 19
Number of different teachers employed including spec- ials and substitutes, 23
Number of children in town Sept. 1, 1902, between 5 and 15 years of age, per census, 360
Number of children in town Sept. 1, between 7 and 14 years of age, per census, 257
Whole number of pupils enrolled during the school year, 425
Average membership for the year, 386
Average attendance for the year, 357
Per cent. of attendance for the year, 92+
1
TABLE OF ATTENDANCE, ETC., FOR FALL TERM ENDING DECEMBER 18, 1903.
GRADE.
SCHOOL.
TEACHERS.
Total
Membership.
Membership Average
Average
Attendance
Per Cent. of
Attendance.
Teachers'Salaries Per Month.
High
Charles W. Cutts, Principal,
63
60.95
58.93
98.90
120.00
Mittie A. Dow, Ist Assistant,
45.00
Susanna Sayre, 2d Assistant,
40.00
VIII-IX
Centre
50
49.50
46.54
91.41
50.00
VII VIII
Centre
43
42.80
41.42
96.19
45.00
III
Centre
Hattie A. Baxter,
31
28.69
27.28
95.69
40.00
IV-V
Prospect St.
Marion W. Smith,
49
46.06
43.69
94.85
40.00
I-II
Prospect St.
Sara S. Alley,
36
33.93
30.69
90.51
40.00
I-II
Middle St.
44
35.25
32.16
91.23
40.00
I-VII
Port
Myrtle B. Colson,
23
22.81
20.59
90.27
32.00
I-VII
Bear Hill
Gertrude A. Hamlin,
30
27.72
25.41
91.67
35.00
I-VI
Birch Meadow
Annie L. Hosford,
13
13.00
12.16
93.54
30.00
V-VI
Centre
Mary H. Head,
43
39.50
37.81
95.72
45.00
E. J. Whittemore, Principal,
Lilla M. Phelps,
S. Blanche Cunningham,
TABLE OF ATTENDANCE, ETC., FOR SCHOOL YEAR, From September, 1902 to June 26, 1903.
GRADE.
SCHOOL.
TEACHERS.
Total
Membership
Membership Average
Average
Attendance
Per Cent. of
Attendance
Teachers'Salaries per Month.
High
Charles W. Cutts, Principal,
65
58.73
55.89
95.13
120.00
Mittie A. Dow, Ist Assistant,
42.50
Marion Woodward, 2d Assistant,
40.00
VIII-IX
Centre
H. M. Vaughan,
48
43.57
39.13
89.SI
50.00
VII VIII
Centre
Lilla M. Phelps,
48
46.46
43.09
92.74
45.00
VI
Centre
Mary H. Head,
30
29.00
27.53
95.26
40.00
V
Centre
L. Pearl French,
24
22.13
21.39
96.65
40.00
III
Centre
31
29.00
27.28
94.00
40.00
IV
Prospect St.
31
28.42
26.55
93.40
40.00
I-II
Prospect St.
Mary L. Brown,
36
32.49
29.49
90.76
40.00
I-II
Middle St.
S. Blanche Cunningham,
42
36.60
32.81
SS.36
40.00
I-VII
Port
Marion W. Smith,
29
27.84
25.57
92.20
35.00
I-VI
Bear Hill
20
19.64
17.20
87.62
35.00
I-VI
Birch Meadow
Nettie J. Spofford,
21
12.41
11.30
91.05
30.00
425
386.29
357.23
92 plus
-
1
Etta H. Colby,
Annie F. Dodge,
Hattie A. Baxter,
22
SCHOOL REPORT.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. I
To the School Committee :
The following report of the public schools of Merrimac is respectfully submitted :
In taking up the work of supervising the schools a second time, after an absence of a year, it was a pleasure to find that so few changes had been made in the work. The statement of Mr. Cutts, in his report for last year, that the work had been "continued in the same channels," I found to be literal- ly true, and I fully agree with him in his opinion that it has been attended "with a good degree of success." It was for- tunate that such was the case, for continuity of work is one of the main elements of success. Too often a change in super- vising officers is productive of changes in methods and courses which, however good such changes may be, are likely to re- sult in confusion and temporary demoralization. I am satis- fied that the teachers have been very faithful.
While there has been little change in the work, the con- trary is true as regards the corps of teachers. Miss L. Pearl French and Miss Mary L. Brown had secured more lucrative positions elsewhere, and Miss Etta H. Colby had withdrawn
23
SCHOOL REPORT.
temporarily on account of illness. All of these teachers had been identified with the Merrimac schools for many years. Mr. Vaughan had resigned, and Miss Nettie J. Spofford had left the Birch Meadow school to assume her professional duties elsewhere. Miss Marion Woodward had resigned from the High school at the end of one year's service. Shortly af- ter the opening of the term in September Miss Annie F. Dodge resigned to accept a position elsewhere. Her place was filled by the transfer of Miss Marion W. Smith from the Port, and Miss Myrtle B. Colson, a new teacher, was assigned to the latter position. Miss S. C. Haskins, who had succeeded Miss Brown, resigned in May. She was succeeded by Miss Emma M. Ramsey who resigned at the end of the first month of the fall term, and Miss Mae Magoon was appointed to her place. She, too, resigned after less than two months' service and Miss Sara S. Alley succeeded her. Miss Susanna Sayre and Miss Annie L. Hosford were elected, the former to the High school and the latter to the Birch Meadow school. Miss Gertrude A. Hamlin was assigned to the Bear Hill school and Miss Baxter placed temporarily in Miss Colby's room. Mr. E. J. Whittemore succeeded Mr. Vaughan. For a small corps of teachers this comes pretty near being a radical change. Only six of those in service in 1902 now remain.
As will be readily seen a corps of teachers subject to such changes can not be supervised in exactly the same way as those in a city where permanency of service is the rule. The limited number forbids grade meetings.
Up to this date my own work has been governed by the apparent needs of each school, and has been mainly of an in- dividual character. This method I have found much more effective than the "hit or miss" plan of a general assembly.
The resignation of Miss French suggested the propriety of consolidating the 4th, 5th and 6th grades in the interest of
24
SCHOOL REPORT.
economy, and it was accordingly done, one-half of the fifth being assigned to Miss Head at the Centre, the other half to Miss Smith at Prospect street. The consolidation has worked well, and there is no reason why it should not be continued, provided the number, in each room remain as they are. There are some advantages in having two grades in one room, which in rooms of one grade are gained by dividing the class into two divisions. The only objections to the present ar- rangement is the necessary division of the fifth grade between two teachers and the resulting large number of pupils in each room. The latter objection is more serious than the former.
TEXT-BOOKS.
The music, grammar and language books which had been in use in the grammar grades for five or more years have been exchanged for one publication better adapted to pupils of these schools. I hope we may be able to complete the change the coming year with the elementary books in the in- termediate grades. Music books have been purchased for use in the High school, a need that has been felt for a long time. Many of the text books now on hand are badly worn and should be replaced with new ones. The economy that has been practiced for the past two years in the purchase of books is plainly manifest in the condition of these necessary supplies. I find on referring to such bills as I have a record of that the expense for the past year for text books and sup- plies will not exceed up to Jan. Ist $1. 13 per pupil. This is 38 cents less per pupil than the customary average annual cost throughout the state.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.