USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Randolph > Randolph town reports 1938-1943 > Part 31
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For the cooperation extended by the various town officials during the progress of the audit, I wish, on behalf of my assistants and for myself, to express appreciation.
Respectfully submitted,
HERMAN B. DINE, Assistant Director of Accounts.
HBD:FC
151
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
Report of the Highway Surveyor
January 24, 1941
To the Citizens of Randolph :
I respectfully submit the following report for the year ending December 31, 1940.
During the year of 1940 many improvements have been made on streets, sidewalks and drainage construc- tion.
GENERAL
Maintenance work consisted of the following:
Sweeping and cleaning streets, catch basins, gutters, drainage outlets and brooks.
Patching, gravelling, shoulder repairs, painting and repairing fences, gravelling and grading dirt roads and tar treatment on streets where necessary.
CHAPTER 90
Chapter 90 maintenance work includes the following streets :
Union, Warren, Canton and Pond Streets.
Type of work consisted of cleaning basins, brush cutting, patching, asphalt resurfacing, colprovia honing treatment and fence repairs and painting.
EMPLOYMENT FUND
The Highway Department completed much useful work through the assistance of the employment fund and I wish to thank the Board of Selectmen for their co- operation.
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TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
W. P. A. CONSTRUCTION
Highways, sidewalks and drainage construction were completed with satisfactory results and a great many improvements were made.
Due to winter weather conditions State W. P. A. officials have temporarily suspended operations on side- walk and street construction.
At the present time the W. P. A. drainage project is in operation on Liberty Street. This project is town- wide and includes surface drainage on many other streets in the town and will continue to operate until all work has been completed.
SNOW REMOVAL
During the early part of 1941 we had more snow removal work than any year in the history of the Town due to the severe northeast storms. As a result of these extreme storms a great amount of plowing, shoveling, hauling and sanding was necessary.
I wish to thank the citizens and workers of the Town of Randolph for the splendid co-operation I received in overcoming these most unexpected heavy snow storms during the year 1940.
CHAPTER 90 NEW CONSTRUCTION 1941
At a conference held by the County Commissioners, Norfolk County, Dedham, Mass., which included Select- men, Highway Department Heads and State Public Works Commissioner, a program for the year 1941 was planned.
A recommendation was made to rebuild Liberty Street with a permanent construction. This work will be under the supervision of the Department of Public Works.
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
During the month of October, 1889, the relocation of Liberty Street was made by Frederick Endicott and as a result of this survey we are able to construct Liberty Street (Subject to a vote of the people at the annual town meeting) under the Chapter 90 program.
I wish to thank the Town Officials and the citizens for their co-operation and assistance during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN A. FREDERICKSON, Highway Surveyor.
154
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
Report of the Sealer of Weights and Measures
Randolph, Mass., January 6, 1941.
To the Board of Selectmen, Randolph, Mass.
Gentlemen:
During the year 1940 I have sealed:
Scales
120
Weights
110
Liquid Measures
81
Gasolene Pumps
73
Kerosene Pumps
10
Grease Pumps
15
Oil Measuring Pumps
65
Yard Sticks
15
Taxi Meters
7
Oil jars
15
Resealed and tested gasolene pumps
25
Resealed and tested scales
15
Inspections made :
Pedlar's licenses
10
Pedlar's scales
5
Fees collected and turned over to the Town
Treasurer
$94.87
Salary of Sealer
$150.00
Transporting of weights
50.76
Purchase of equipment
9.24
$210.00
Appropriation
$210.00
Respectfully submitted,
DANIEL P. LYONS, Sealer of Weights and Measures.
155
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
Report of School Committee
The school committee herewith submits its annual report for the year 1940. We recommend that you read the report of the Superintendent of Schools, together with the reports of the various departments which are ap- pended hereto and which are a part of this report.
At the annual Town Meeting in March 1940 this committee received a special appropriation of money to repair and make safe the roof construction and the piers and girders in the basement of the Prescott School. During the summer vacation the basement was completely renovated, new steel girders, columns and lighting fix- tures were installed. It became necessary, however, for this committee to carry the work much farther than had been anticipated, because of the unsafe condition dis- covered in the process. A thorough and permanent re- pair job was affected, however, both as to the roof con- struction and the girders and piers in the basement, at considerable additional expense.
In the basement of this building a much needed as- sembly room has been added to the usable floor area of the building, accommodating lunch room, assembly hall, special class and 4-H work shop. This room has become a most necessary adjunct to the school building.
The school committee this year sponsors an article in the Town Warrant calling for an appropriation of money to provide fire-proof stairs and stair hall at the Prescott School building. We sincerely hope that favor- able action will be taken on this article so that the Pres- cott School building may be modernized and made safe in progressive stages.
156
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
The overcrowded and generally unsatisfactory con- dition at the Stetson High School still exists as reported to you last year. This situation presents a serious prob- lem, the solution of which requires integration of several points of view all in the best interests of the town as a whole.
Looking at the problem solely from the point of view of the school system the ideal solution is, of course, a com- plete new High School building, built to provide for the present and predictable future educational requirements of the town, and embodying the best and most modern ideas. Such a building should be constructed in such a manner as to assure the best teaching facilities, the most economical operation and to provide adequately for the social, recreational, athletic and civic activities of the town. Such a building is excellent as an ideal, and should be cherished as such. Certainly not at present, and prob- ably not in the near future, can the town hope to be able to afford the attainment of this ideal.
That Plan recommended to you last year and which called for a complete renovation of the present building, with addition to the present plant, so as to provide for further enlargement of the assembly room and the lunch room, with additional class rooms was advocated as a compromise, dictated by the need for economy. Your school committee still sincerely believes that this program, integrated with definite plans for future expansion and development,-while making use of our present plant,- and building according to our needs, from time to time, is the best practicable solution.
Looked at solely from the point of view of economy of operation, it would be of advantage to the town to have the plumbing system and electrical installation and most particularly the heating system completely renovated. The only proper manner to accomplish this demands the removal of the present systems and replacement with
157
AIRPLANE VIEW
SCALE LINCR - 40 FELT
HIGHLAND AVENUE
a
-ATHLETIC FIELD-
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
HIGH SCHOOL INVESTIGATING COM-
5
JUNIOK BASEBALL AND SOFTKALL ICE HOCKEY
CHMAN JOHN E. KELLEY
CHMAN LESLIE A. CLAFF
JOHN E. KELLEY
GEORGE H. CHASE
DE GEORGE V. HIGGINS
GEORGE H CHASE
SUMMER
WINTER
HAKOLD W. MACAULEY WALTER J.FLANAGAN CAKL F. REICHERT WILLIAM G. BILLINGHAM MARTIN E. YOUNG KALPH HUTCHINSON
SUN TIME : |
HUBERT F. GILGAN PRINCIPAL STETSON H.S. - A. O. CHRISTIANSEN SUFT. OF SCHOOLS-
. LONG-TIME IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE ANDTHE STETSON HIGH SCHOOL INVESTIGATING COM. AD. FROM THE OFFICE OF JOHN EDMUND KELLEY ARCHITECT 38 CHAUNCY ST, BOSTON
1940
MAIN STREET.
HINO
SPRING - FALL
") ENNIS COUKTS WALTER J. FLANAGAN WILLIAM G. BILLINGHAM KALPH H.HUTCHINSON HANDBALL COURTS BASEBALL WITH BLEACHERS FOOTBALL AND FIELD HOCKEY WITH BLEACHEKS ONE QUARTER-MILE TRACK PARKING SPACE AND BAND STAND LEO H. CONNORS AND WILLIAM J. LYNCH ENGINEERS -+
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
modern, adequate and efficient equipment throughout. Were this to be done, the annual saving in operation cost, including presently excessive maintenance and repair, would return more than an adequate dividend on the cap- ital investment.
However, these are not normal times and those individual citizens of your town, whom you have honored with election to your school committee regretfully, but forcefully recommend that at the present time no capital expenditures be made, other than for absolute necessities. The times call for sacrifice. The school system can operate without the above recommendations being effect- uated. To postpone the attainment of these ideals is a sacrifice, but a sacrifice which we believe advisable in the national interest.
In support of the recommendations of this commit- tee we ask you to read the report of the committee ap- pointed by the town to investigate conditions at the Stetson High School, known as the "Stetson High School Investigating Committee".
Early in the year of 1940 a group of citizens gathered at the Stetson High School to discuss the possibility of securing a suitable athletic playground for the citizens of the town.
Under the leadership of Theodore S. Luddington at that time serving as W. P. A. Coordinator and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen an article was placed in the Town Warrant asking for an apppropriation of money to be used for this purpose. The sum of $7,000 was raised and appropriated to be used for materials and equipment in co-operation with a W. P. A. grant to compensate for labor. This being intended as a beginning of the develop- ment of the Stetson High School Athletic Field.
The plans for this field, as will be seen by the sketch printed in this report calls for the levelling, drainage and
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
grading of about 13 acres of land. When completed this recreational plant will include a football gridiron, base- ball field, Junior baseball diamond which may be used for softball, bandstand, handball courts, tennis courts and a hockey rink. This field will afford the citizens of Randolph, both young and old, a suitable place for recre- ation and exercise all the year around.
Your committee is sponsoring an article in the Warrant for the Annal Town meeting asking for the continuance of this work and for an appropriation of money therefor. We sincerely hope for favorable action.
We hereby submit the annual Budget of the School Department for the year 1941.
COST OF INSTRUCTION
Salaries Expense Total
Salaries of teachers, principals and
supervisors
$89,450.00
Less Dean Fund
970.81
$88,479.19
Books and supplies and miscellaneous
$6,235.00 $94,714.19
COST OF OPERATING SCHOOL PLANT
Janitors' salaries
$8,083.00
Janitors' supplies, telephones and other expense
$1,640.00
Fuel
3,800.00
Light and Power
1,500.00
Total
$8,083.00
$6,940.00
15,023.00
AUXILIARY AGENCIES
School Nurse
$1,400.00
School Physician
700.00
Transportation
3,825.00
Trade School
$2,000.00
Medical supplies and emergencies
200.00
Total
$5,925.00
$2,200.00
8,125.00
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TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
COST OF MAINTAINING SCHOOL PLANT
Equipment
$720.00
Repairs, replacements and renewals Insurance
4,782.50
272.83
Total
5,775.33
GENERAL CONTROL
Superintendent
Clerks
$1,604.44 604.66
Attendance Officer
250.00
School committee expense
100.00
Miscellaneous office expense
50.00
Superintendent's expense
175.00
Total
$2,459.10
$325.00
2,784.10
Total salaries
$104,946.29
Total expense
$21,475.33
Less Coddington Fund
$52.60
Less Dog Tax
957.70
1,010.30
Total appropriation required $104,946.29 $20,465.03 $125,411.32
RECEIPTS FROM STATE AND OTHER SOURCES
General School Fund
$20,416.80
Tuition, State Wards
2,328.10
Tuition, City Wards
2,770.39
Continuation School
Cash
12.57
Reimbursement High School supplies
231.84 $25,759.70
Total costs of schools from Local Taxation $99,651.62
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN E. KELLEY, RALPH H. HUTCHINSON, GEORGE H. CHASE, WILLIAM G. BILLINGHAM, WALTER J. FLANAGAN,
161
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
Report of the Investigating Committee for Stetson High School
Upon Motion duly made and seconded, it was VOTED :
That the Investigating Committee for Stetson High School although recognizing the continuance of the same overcrowded and otherwise unsatisfactory conditions at the High School, and although recommending same solu- tion proposed to the Town Meeting of 1940 under normal conditions, nevertheless now recommends that no further capital investment be made during the present year, due to the national emergency.
LESLIE A. CLAFF, Chairman HAROLD W. MACAULEY, GEORGE V. HIGGINS, MARTIN E. YOUNG, CARL E. REICHERT, WALTER J. FLANAGAN, GEORGE M. CHASE, JOHN E. KELLEY, RALPH H. HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM G. BILLINGHAM, Investigating Committee for Stetson High School.
January 15, 1941
162
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
Report of the Trustees of Stetson School Fund
THE TRUSTEES IN ACCOUNT WITH STETSON SCHOOL FUND
INCOME 1940
Balance brought forward
$69.68
Receipts :
Randolph C-ooperative Bank, Int.
70.00
Randolph Trust Co., Int.
178.20
Hall Rent
70.00
Withdrawal Randolph Trust Co. 1,497.00
Boston & Albany Bond, Int.
42.50
$1,927.38
PAID OUT
James Cotter
$18.07
Winer's Hardware Co.
14.83
Randolph Trust Co.
3.30
F. J. Curran
265.08
William Mahoney
22.00
D. H. MacDonald
74.50
Makepiece, Inc.
1.37
Weymouth Light & Power Co.
34.10
John Murphy
9.00
Herbert Bussey
62.50
Boston Ceiling Co.
35.00
Rupert Reid
33.50
Charles Blakely
264.90
S. C. Cossaboom
18.00
The Brewer Tetchener Co.
125.10
Walter Flanagan
12.50
Jeffrey Service Co.
5.00
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
Walsh Spencer Co.
9.60
Barnett Brothers
173.60
D. S. Schneider
14.00
Brockton Gas Light Co.
43.98
Taunton Lumber Co.
12.42
Railway Express
.50
Andrew Dutton
11.75
Crystal Concrete Co.
3.15
Service Electric Co.
152.55
Broadway Grinding Co.
3.00
Trustees and Secretary, 1939-1940
42.00
Frank Diauto
244.90
William Leslie
217.00
$1,927.20
Balance January 16, 1941
$ .18
January 16, 1941
THE STETSON SCHOOL FUND IS INVESTED AS FOLLOWS ..
10 share Randolph Co-operative
$2,000.00
1 Boston & Albany R. R. Bond 1,000.00
Deposit in Randolph Trust Company
6,644.58
Deposit in Randolph Savings Bank
864.08
$10,508.66
Also a deposit of $1,077.28 in Randolph Savings Bank to credit of Turner Medal Fund.
GEORGE V. HIGGINS, M. D., Treasurer WALTER J. FLANAGAN, Chairman JOHN E. KELLEY RALPH HUTCHINSON
164
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee, Randolph.
Mr. Chairman and Members :
I submit herewith my annual report for your exam- ination and approval.
Our national defense program with its impending problems has had its effect on our school work. It is natural that it should do so. Our public schools consti- tute a very definite part of the government itself and therefore recognize the obligation. They are deeply con- cerned in the welfare of the youth in all their activities, citizenship, loyalty, work and faith in the American way of life. No better words can express this thought than the tribute paid to teachers by the National Commander of the American Legion, Raymond J. Kelly, who said, "Much of the job falls to the schools - to the unsung men and women patriots who are on the firing line of the teaching profession."
Public school education has progressed but not fast enough to meet the demands of our day. Countless teachers today are on educational firing lines but find themselves inadequately equipped to cope with the new order of things. The analogy is much the same whether it is for war or for peace. The fact still remains that our youths are being taught much that belongs in a pre- machine age and not in what may be called a mass-pro- ductive period of today with its challenging social and economic problems.
165
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
What education does during the next few years will depend upon the faith and trust we place in it for the common good. Its estimated value is not challenged but its cost will be greater. In fairness to local taxpayers this burden of cost should and undoubtedly will be shared by State and Federal resources. Our State Department of Education is well aware of the school's need, and, is at present endeavoring to expand and enrich the program for vocational training so greatly needed throughout the state.
Our immediate task is to do our work well. Our vocational guidance program has been of help to our students but there is need of a special counselor who can talk the language of the business world in terms of the student job-seeker. The task, however, does not end at that point. The adolescent needs opportunities for work, constructive handling of tools, and materials in order to be better fitted for adult life. Such a work-pro- gram would do much in the way of solving some of the most urgent problems confronting our youth today.
The various 4-H Clubs have long been a source of inspiration and help to our boys and girls. It is the only training in our schools - save the girls' Household Arts course in the high school - that approaches the practical or vocational education. Under the skilled and sympa- thetic supervision of Miss Florence Cook and Mr. Huron Smith, agents of the Norfolk County 4-H Clubs, this work has long been an outstanding feature of real value to our pupils.
Under their direction the following leaders have volunteered their services :
Miss Phyllis Daly
Miss Bernice Francis
Miss Elizabeth Riley
Mrs. Marie Cormey
Miss Mary Dunphy
Mrs. Ethel Chatfield Miss Veronica Gaynor Miss Martha Parshley Junior Leader
Miss Barbara Wells,
166
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
The improvements made in the basement of the Prescott school are commendable. Mr. Dillon reports that he now uses the room for assembly purposes, lunch periods, club work, game tournaments and handicraft classes of various kinds.
Our reading program will need further study. Al- though children vary widely in their reading abilities, it is most helpful to know to what degree they vary and where their difficulties lie. As the power to read is fun- damentally the basic tool in all educational procedure, it is of the utmost importance that children shall be taught how to read and what they read. Failure in reading means discouragement and despair. It is a singular fact that as the academic achievement is, so is the degree or ability to read. A better reading program, therefore, is our objective. One built a little closer around the child's needs to enable him to read with assur- ance and enjoyment, both orally and silently, the many delightful stories of life which he so earnestly craves.
The new report cards, approved and accepted by you, were introduced this year. They differ from the old ones in that they do not emphasize mere "smartness" in academic subjects but a more composite picture of the pupil's real effort and worth. They recognize two pri- mary features, first, that scholarship,-though greatly desired,-is not the only quality for character and citizen- ship but honesty, courtesy, industry, thrift, self-reli- ance, dependability and cooperation as well, and, secondly, the value of Religious Education given outside of school hours in the pupil's own church. This commendable study and training is not obligatory but when reported satisfactorily to the school by a church official, credit is given the child. It is most encouraging to report that these cards have been well received. They were intro-
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
duced in the interst of and for the child; to be used with discretion, sympathy and cooperation as a help to the child in his achievement and formation of good habits and attitudes and not as a critical, meaningless analysis of them.
The reports of the high school principal, supervisors, school physician and nurse are given below. They are worthy of our study and approval.
Although our national defense program will have much to do with our general activities, I cannot refrain from making an appeal to correct the accommodation facilities in the high school. The study and recommenda- tions which you made were ideal but the town chose to postpone the construction. Nevertheless this condition and the construction of fire-proof stairs and entrances in the Prescott school should be given further study.
We lost by death this year, Ellen E. Mclaughlin, a teacher for more than forty years in the local school system. Miss Mclaughlin was a teacher of sterling character, kind disposition and always interested in the welfare and progress of her pupils. Her many pupils, friends and the teaching staff will miss her but the quality of her work and her devotion to public service will serve as a lasting inspiration to us all.
IN MEMORIAM ELLEN E. MCLAUGHLIN Appointed teacher, 1900. Died August 31, 1940.
By resignations we lost Miss Mary L. Leahy, music supervisor of the local schools; Mrs. Esther Grant and Eileen M. Sheehan, principal and teacher of the McNeill
168
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
and Tower Hill schools respectively. These teachers have given years of creditable service in public school educa- tion, many of which were spent in the local schools.
In this cooperative business of public school educa- tion I acknowledge with thanks the united effort and work of the teaching staff, student body, parents and the gifts of loyalty and devotion of the Stetson High School Scholarship Fund Committee and the American Legion Post.
The cooperation and many valuable suggestions of the School Committee are acknowledged with genuine appreciation.
Respectfully submitted,
A. O. CHRISTIANSEN, Superintendent of Schools.
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT
STETSON HIGH SCHOOL HUBERT F. GILGAN, Principal
The enrollment of this school on October 1, 1940 was 506, but this figure is not permanent for the year, as enrollment figures will change from time to time, often as many as ten to twenty. Of the pupils who were mem- bers of this school last year some twenty-six did not return, fifteen of these moved out of town, one transferred to a parochial school, one to Norfolk County Agricultural School, one to Boston Trade School and the rest have gone to work. Of those who graduated from the junior high school in June, 1940, and were expected to register at the High School, thirty-two did not appear. Over half of these moved out of town and the rest are divided among parochial schools, trade schools, etc. To offset this transfer, only eight new registrations were made by pupils coming from other schools.
Stetson High School has received its regular com- munication from the New England College Entrance Certificate Board with the information that this school has been placed on the Board's approved list for four years more. This Board receives, examines and acts upon all applications of schools in New England that ask for the privilege of certification to colleges belonging to the Board. Its list of approved schools includes only those that send satisfactory students to the colleges on the Board. This year Stetson has sent its usual quota of graduates to college and other schools of higher learning.
We have our usual crowded conditions again this year and, if anything, the situation is worse now than it has been, due to the necessity of program changes. It was thought essential to give more time for chemistry and physics laboratory work, and, to provide the space, the drawing classes were removed to the town hall. All pupils in the physics and chemistry classes now have two
170
TOWN OF RANDOLPH, MASS.
laboratory periods per week and more, if needed. Music classes, which were held in the assembly hall, were also sent to the town hall to make room for more physical education classes. This arrangement is particularly bad in cold or stormy weather, and the traffic hazard is dan- gerous as the pupils have to cross a heavily travelled road to and from the town hall. All of the crowded conditions reported in the 1939 report still exist and should be remedied.
For the June 1940 Graduation at the high school, a new type of program was presented. We became dis- satisfied with the tiresome, routine type of program that had habitually been presented and felt it was time to pump some vitality into this important school activity. Accordingly, the "Commencement Congress" was pre- sented by the graduates of 1940 and we feel sure that the innovation was found to be interesting and instructive. We hope to continue with this type of program in the future.
We have during the past year introduced the new report card and found it to be extremely helpful in relaying certain types of information to the parents which was not possible on the old cards. As you know, we now give school credit to all students who attend and satisfactorily complete the year's work of their respec- tive Sunday schools. For some time it has been felt that there should be a definite tie binding the home to the church and the school to the church because all three agencies are working toward the same end and therefore, the school should give some recognition to the efforts of these other groups. We hope that this plan will be given sufficient trial to prove its worth.
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