USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > Town annual report of Braintree, Massachusetts for the year 1927 > Part 6
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The usual table (II) showing the composition of the 1927 tax levy follows; and a detailed statement of all appropriations and expenditure of the same is to be. found in the full and clear re-capitulation in the re -- port of the Town Accountant.
We append also a table (III) showing the appro- priations, valuation, tax rate, etc., for a period of five years, which we consider worthy of your close atten- tion before coming into the next March meeting. We wish to remind the tax payers that their vote is the sole.
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factor governing the tax levy ; we are simply the agents designated to apportion the collection of the same, and we hope public interest in this question will be fully as keen in March of 1928 as it has been since the 1927 tax rate was promulgated.
TABLE I
RE-VALUATION WORK
1927
Appropriation
$ 3,000.00
Expended
2,995.85
Unexpended balance
4.15
Equipment :
$ 723.50
Typewriter
82.25
Cases
113.75
Cases
527.50
Engineer
1,011.78
Pay Roll-Re-Valuation Work
593.16
Clerk
206.00
Maps
60.21
Printing Supplies, Printing
199.50
Express
1.00
Auto Hire
32.00
Lunches
8.70
Clerical Work
10.00
Cards Typewritten
150.00
Total
$2,995.85.
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TABLE II
Town Appropriations
$758.827.94
State Tax
30,240.00
Metropolitan System, etc.
21,613.01
County Tax
25,219.11
Overlay 1927
9,054.97
$844,955.03.
Estimated Receipts
Income Tax
$44,999.41
Corporation Tax
29,589.61
Bank Tax
899.78
Licenses
1,780.19
Fines
875.90
General Government
1,904.64
Protection, Persons
and Property
2,238.46
Health and Sanitation
761.56
Highways
8,915.84
Charities
8,356.94
Schools
3,501.32
Libraries
237.12
Recreation
9.93
Cemeteries
145.00
Interest on Deposits
3,957.94
Interest on Taxes, etc.
5,634.06
All other
4,461.41
118,269.11
Net amount to be raised on polls and property
$726,685.92:
Moth Tax
790.70
Total
$727,476.62:
TABLE III
Year
Total Tax Levy
Overlay*
Valuation
Rate $34.40
Houses
Polls
Dogs
1927
$726,685.92
$ 9,055.00
$20,891,800.00
3,280
4,004
716
1926
613,219.54
21,532.00
18,475,352.00
32.80
3,080
3,614
526
1925
480,218.40
6,900.00
16,674,250.00
28.80
2,853
3,487
471
1924
430,601.29
6,935.00
15,269,550.00
28.20
2,643
3,403
481
1923
400,016.57
5,733.00
13,423,375.00
29.80
2,513
3,275
388
*"Overlay" is for cases of poverty, infirmity, error, etc., under the law.
Five Years' Increase
Tax Levy
81 %
Valuation
55%
Rate
15%
Polls
25 %
Houses
26 %
Yours sincerely,
CHARLES S. HANNAFORD, Chairman.
WALTER B. SKINNER, Clerk.
JAMES E. FOLSOM.
Board of Asessors.
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Report of Police Department
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :
Gentlemen :
I herewith submit my report of the Police Depart- ment for the year 1927.
Whole number of arrests
201
Residents 94
Non-Resident
106
Male
179
Female
21
Offences for which arrests were made :
Res. Non-Res. Male Female Total
Assault and Battery
7
2
6
3 9
Attempt to Rape
2
1
3
3
Bastardy
1
1
1
Breaking and Entering
1
2
3
3
Default
1
3
1
Desertion
1
1
1
Disturbing the Peace
1
1
1
Drunkenness
49
47
94
2 96
Attempt to Extort Money
1
1
1
False Fire Alarms
4
2
4
2
6
Forgery
1
1
1
Hunting Without License
1
1
1
Insane
6
2
4
6
Interfering with Officer
1
1
1
Larceny
2
9
10
1
11
Neglect of Family
3
3
3
Non-Support
1
1
1
Receiving Stolen Property
1
1
1
Highway Robbery
4
4
4
Stubborn Child
1
1
1
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Tramp
0
1
1
0
1
Trespass
1
1
1
1
2.
Receiving money under False
Pretenses
1
1
1.
Malicious Mischief
2
4
5
1
6
Violation of Probation
2
2
2
Violation of Auto Laws
8
24
30
2
32:
Violation of Liquor Laws
3
1
3
1
4
Violation of Town By-Laws
1
1
1
94
107
180
21
201
Ambulance and wagogn trips (including hospital
and accident cases)
80
Complaints Ivestigated
January
80
February
107
March
118
April
122
May
159.
June
162:
July
182
August
170
September
165
October
189
November
137
December
119
Total
1716
Auto Accidents Investigated
January
8:
February
3.
March
7
April
10
127
May
9
June
12
July
22
August
16
September
19
October
20
November
12
December
13
Total
151
I recommend that five patrolmen be added to the force for traffic work. I also recommend the purchase of a new car, and that changes be made on the present Police wagon so that it will be suitable for ambulance work.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN J. HEANEY,
Chief of Police.
129
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
School Department
OF THE
TOWN OF BRAINTREE
FROM
Dec. 31, 1926 to Dec. 31, 1927
Printed by Order of the Town
BRA
TRE
TO
1640
SSA
Printed by H. W. BAILEY PRESS South Braintree, Mass.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Mr. C. Frederick Tarbox, Chairman, 27 Willard Street, East Braintree. ~
Mrs. Alida N. Stevens, Recording Secretary, 75 Tre- mont Street, South Braintree.
Dr. Franklin H. Merriam, 1000 Washington Street, South Braintree.
Mrs. Harriet B. Kimball, 137 Shaw Street, East
Braintree.
Mr. Henry D. Higgins, 490 Washington Street,
Braintree.
Mr.Ralph B. Woodsum, 45 Hollis Avenue, Braintree.
Superintendent of Schools
Mr. C. Edward Fisher, 39 Oak Street, Braintree. Office Telephone 0782.
Office Hours :
On school days from four to five p. m. except on Tuesday.
Secretary
Mrs. Emily Lawley, 101 Brook Street, Wollaston.
Office Hours :
Eight to twelve, one to five, on days when schools are in session.
Meetings of the School Committee
Second Monday evening of each month at eight o'clock in the Town House, Washington Street, South Braintree.
131
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
January 3, 1928.
To the Citizens of the Town of Braintree :
Your School Committee begs to submit herewith its report for the year just closed, and in so doing it also submits the report of the Superintendent of Schools, together with those of the several department heads.
Matters from an educational standpoint are of course contained in the department reports, and your Committee will confine its report to matters of a finan- cial nature.
As our schools continue to grow, the cost neces- sarily increases, and in order to maintain a proper standard and obtain efficient results your Committee feels that it would be very unwise to attempt any meas- ures tending to curtailment in any of the departments, as the results would not be at all beneficial, but rather of a detrimental nature. When we closed our high school in June we did so with 398 pupils, and to date we have in our high school 534, having gained 136 pupils, and in computing our educational costs per pupil in the high school the figure today is $124.43, so one can readily note that as our schools grow the amount of money ncessary to maintain them is neces- sarily increased.
In the grade schools we closed in June with 2265 pupils, and to date we have 2496, representing an in- crease of 231. For every child who attends the grade schools it costs us $73.25, so here again you have the same problem as mentioned in the high school, and
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we see nothing to indicate a receding in the number of pupils, but rather a continued increase.
In going over our budget for this year we have gvien it very careful consideration, having in mind that all of the moneys appropriated for schools must necessarily come from taxation, and therefore it effects the pocketbook of every taxpayer, so the budget pres- ented this year is based on a sum which we think is conservative and necessary to maintain our schools on an efficient basis.
For General Control, which is really the overhead of the department, and includes the Superintendent's salary and the salary of the Secretary, the Attendance Officer's salary, telephones, printing, postage, etc., we ask for $7,830.00.
The next heading is the Teachers' Salary Account, and here we have carefully considered the salary . schedule, and feel that we should have $186,760.00 to carry on our present contracts and also to allow for new teachers which it appears very likely we will have to have at the opening of school next year-two in the high school and four in the grade schools.
For expenses of instruction, such as textbooks and supplies, we ought to have $13,000.00 to cover the pur- chase of textbooks and the various supplies. We might state here that there are any number of textbooks which are fast becoming depleted and which need re- placement, and the Committee strongly recommends that replacement should be made to a certain extent every year in order to keep our textbooks in a clean and proper condition. Textbooks receive severe usage.
For the Janitorial service in and about our build- ings the high school will require $4,800.00-$3,300.00 for janitors, and $1,500.00 for additional services
133
in cleaning and caring for the building. The balance of the janitorial force will require $10,900.00, to which sum should be added $150.00 to care for sick leave, making a total for janitors' service of $15,850.00.
For Fuel-up to the time this report is written, on account of the mild weather, some saving has been effected in the use of fuel, and we may not be obliged to contract for so large a quantity as we have usually done on account of this condition. However, we esti- mate that there should be set aside for fuel the sum of $9,800.00
For Miscellaneous Operating Expenses, covering high, elementary and continuation schools we ask for $4,000.00. This covers the purchase of janitors' sup- plies and all material such as they use in the proper care of the buildings.
Under Maintenance we have asked for $12,000.00. We might now state that the condition of the public schools in Braintree is very good, but every year there are many things which need attention, and some new features introduced, and while we might readily state that we could get along with less than $12,000.00, this might well be deferred until the School Board has completed its series of meetings with the Finance Committee and a program agreed upon under this heading. It is possible that we may be obliged to move one of the portable buildings to the Watson school. We have also mentioned in our maintenance program grading and proper fencing of the ground areas about the Watson and Monatiquot schools, also fencing about
134
the Perkins school; the introduction of a Standard Electric Clock System with fire alarm attachment in. the Perkins school; interior painting of the Watson; and a program attachment to the clock system in the: Noah Torrey school; also the installation of a tack. board over the slate blackboards in the Noah Torrey" grammar school and the same at the Watson school. and Perkins school. We will all admit that our public. school buildings are subject to considerable wear and. tear, and there are always a great many matters of a. minor nature which are continually being brought to the Committee's attention, and such matters as these: for the preservation of the property should be cared for, and the expense is included in the $12,000.00 asked for.
Under Auxiliary, which covers health, transpor -- tation, tuition and miscellaneous expenses for high and elementary schools, the Committee might state that. under health we ask for $2,600.00. This covers salary of three physicians, salary of the school nurse, and $100.00 set aside for medical supplies for the health. department. Under transportation we ask for- $10,200.00. $9,400.00 is made up in contracts for school busses-$2,350.00 apiece-and $800.00 set aside for- car tickets to cover transportation of such pupils as- ride in the cars, and also to pay pupils' transportation. to the dental clinic. Under tuition we ask for $3,000.00. We never know to a certainty as to whether this sum. will be sufficient, as it all depends on the charges which we receive from other communities for tuition charges: which we must pay, and in return we are reimbursed
135
50% by the State. Miscellaneous expenses for the high and elementary schools are placed at $2,000.00, covering expenses for the high school clerk, and grad- uation expenses for the high and elementary schools.
Under Outlay we request $5,000.00. We have always had a customary $2,000.00 to take care of our outlay situation, but this year we find it necessary to purchase additional laboratory supplies for the high school as well as other items of equipment and furni- ture for the new high school due to the increase in the number of pupils coming in. A detailed statement of these items is being presented to the Finance Com- mittee.
This, in a general way, covers the School Depart- ment budget, although to go into detail in each and every item would require the printing of a large amount of material in order to thoroughly explain each item. The School Department, however, stands ready and willing always to explain to the citizens of the town matters pertaining to its budget in the most minor de- tail. Any request for information regarding the bud- get will be gladly entertained and proper answers given.
The budget outlined in the above report totals $272,040.00, and while it seemingly is a material in- crease over the figure for last year, yet as stated in the foremost part of this report, as the schools continue to grow in numbers the educating of our children can not be done at less money. The School Department must have the funds to carry out the work in the proper manner.
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The Committee wishes to thank the Superinten- dent of Schools, the Principal of the high school, and the various department heads for their loyal support and good work put forward in the past year, and if any of our citizens have any problems which they would wish to bring before the Committee we will be only too glad to see them on our Committee meeting nights.
Respectfully submitted,
C. FREDERICK TARBOX, Chairman. ALIDA N. STEVENS, Recording Secretary .. HARRIET B. KIMBALL. - DR. FRANKLIN H. MERRIAM. RALPH B. WOODSUM. HENRY D. HIGGINS.
School Committee.
137
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
January 3, 1928.
To the School Committee :-
It is with pleasure and much satisfaction that I pres- ent this, my seventh report of the School Department.
The High School opened with numbers in excess of the anticipated enrolment, but there was practically no delay in effectively beginning the work because of the time, care, and attention given by the Prinicpal, Mr. James L. Jordan, to organization and good judg- ment exercised in anticipating during the summer va- cation months conditions which were likely to be met. Our grade schools opened with no delay or confusion in spite of the re-organization necessitated by the re- modeling of the Monatiquot School to adapt it to grade school use. This required a consideration of assign- ments involving over one thousand children, transport- ation, and the organizing of a complete grade school teaching corps, with its problem of the transfer of some teachers. The addition to the Penniman School under construction during the last year is now, I be- liev, about to be turned over to the School Department, and this, too, introduced some problems, but by far the greater part of this work had been thought of and pro- vided for in the previous year. Here is a build- ing which when completed will be filled in all but the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The Town is build- ing its units too small. The Thomas A. Watson School which was first used only four years ago this month, is now seriously over-crowded. It was found necessary with the opening of school in September to make two
138
groups of first grade children, and this necessitated placing the special teacher with her class in the hall, and placing a second teacher of first grade children in the room designed for special work. The size of the kindergarten group this year would indicate that next year also there will necessarily be two groups of first grade children, and this with two second grades, this year's first grades, will create a serious housing prob .... lem. At the Abraham Lincoln School it was necessary this year to have the Principal handle a mixed room of fifth and sixth grade children, because these sixth grade children could not be cared for at the Jonas- Perkins and Thomas A. Watson Schools as, has been done in; years past. East Braintree with its three build- ings, Jonas Perkins, Thomas A. Watson and Abraham Lincoln, has three fifth grade rooms, but for grades above the fifth there are only two rooms provided for each grade, and the number, of children, in the fifth. grades is now so large that it is impossible to crowd the three rooms of fifth grade children into two rooms of sixth grade children. It would seem at first sight necessary to build an addition to each The Thomas A. Watson and Abraham Lincoln Schools, but a fur- ther investigation of conditions will, I am confident, re. veal a more economical and even more desirable sol- ution of the problem, for it is a problem and one, in my .. judgment, considering the time probably necessary to obtain increased housing accomodations, requiring im- mediate action. ,I would recommend no addition to the to the Thomas A. Watson School, but a. much larger addition that, at first sight might seem necessary, to the Abraham Lincoln School, and require all children who attend the Thomas A. Watson School, and reside west of Quincy Avenue to attend the Abraham Lincoln School. : This action would not only relieve the Thomas A. Watson" School from present overcrowded condi-
i. . .
14.
139
tions, but it would also eliminate the traffic hazard to one hundred and forty-one grade school children now attending the Thomas A. Watson School. Furthermore, there are children attending the Penniman School who could almost as conveneitnly attend the Abraham Lin- coln School, and the addition here would provide relief for crowded conditions at the Penniman School which are likely to be sufficiently serious in three or four .years, or less time, to require relief
Upon opening the Monatiquot School, numbers were found to be greater than anticipated, and some re-assignment of children between this building and the Hollis and Noah Torrey Schools may be necessary this fall, but a grade school building in the Braintree Highlands would not only relieve the Monatiquot School, but at the same time it would eliminate a great deal of transportation which is an item worthy of at- tention. Bearing in mind these two housing problems as above indicated. and considering the growth of Braintree with the probable future growth should, I believe, emphasize the desirability of annually taking steps to meet present situations, and anticipate as effec- tively as possible future conditions, and not allow the demands occasioned by growth to accumulate, making an enormous burden to be faced all at once, but rather distribute the load over a period of succeeding years. This Town, it is true, has practically all at once had to enlarge the Penniman School, re-model the Monati- quot School, build the Noah Torrey Primary School, and build a High School, which is a tremendous bur- den, and I would most earnestly recommend that ac- tion be taken to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation in the future, but a recurrence cannot be avoided with an annual increase of approximately two hundred children in the schools unless something is done practically every year.
140
School Department Budgets are increasing an- nually, and I am heartily in sympathy with the desire of the public to keep them down, but the size is con- stantly increasing, and, therefore, with more children to be cared for there must be more rooms, more teach- ers, more text books, more supplies, in fact, more of everything. Someone calls attention to the per pupil costs, feeling that this shows clearly that for some rea- son or other it is costing more to educate a child today than formerly, and it does, but there is much more be- ing done for the child than formerly, and it is the pub- lic either directly or indirectly, which is demanding that it be done : school physicians, school nurses, phys- ical education, dental clinics, etc, all legislative meas- ures. If one will consider the economic conditions to- day and compare them with those of ten years ago, bearing in mind the purchasing power of the dollar, you are spending no more today, but you are getting more for your dollar.
There are two questions in the study of school statistics relating to costs and only two, the answers to which should satisfy one as to whether appropria- tions for a school department are unreasonably ex- cessive or not. First, "How does our expenditure per pupil compare with others?" and second, "Can we af- ford it?" The second of these two questions is not a simple question, in fact it is far from simple, and it would require more time and space than properly can be given to it here, but I will state a few facts which are taken from the reports of the State Department of Education, and from which one may draw his own conclusions.
There are three hundred and fifty-five school sys- tems in the State, and these are divided into four groups, Braintree being in Group Two, which is made
141
up Towns of over five thousand population, of which there are seventy-nine in number. Braintree, accord- ing to the census of 1925, is the nineteenth in size, but according to our expenditure per pupil for the support of our schools, we are in forty-third place in Group Two, and two hundred and fifty-fifth place in the whole State, which means that there are forty-two out of the seventy-nine school systems in Group Two which are paying more per pupil, and thirty-six paying less, but in the whole State, where we are fifty-eighth largest, there are two hundred fifty-four paying more, and one hun- dred paying less per pupil.
Our valuation per pupil, $6,829.00, places us di- rectly in the middle of Group Two, fortieth place, and our expenditure per thousand dollars of valuation, $10.74, gives us exactly the same relative position in Group Two, fortieth. In 1920, spending $9.99 per one thousand dollars of valuation, there were but twenty- three towns in Group Two spending more, whereas now there are thirty-nine towns in Group Two spend- ing more. Braintree in 1920 spent $1.78 per one thou- sand dollars of valuation more than the average for Group Two, and now we are spending but $1.68 more than the average. The average valuation per pupil for Group Two is 21.7% more than Braintree's, whereas our expenditure is but 18.5% more than the average expenditure per one thousand dollars of valuation for Group Two. If the cost per pupil in the last two years had increased at the same rate as the average for the State, we would have spent last year $$2.20 instead of $80.53 as we did, while the average per pupil cost for Group Two was $85.13, which is $4.60 more than Braintree.
While the average membership in schools in the State has in the last ten years increased 26% , in Brain-
142
tree the increase has been 421/2 %. Average increase in population in the State has been 12%, whereas in Braintree it has been over 41%. In the last five years the average membership in the grade schools of Brain- tree has increased a little more than 18%, while the High School has increased almost 35%, and the present school year will probably show almost a 25% increase over last year in the High School alone.
From the above and other statistical figures which might be presented, I feel fully justified in making the assertions, first, "that Braintree is not doing more than it can afford to do," and second, "that Braintree is not doing more than is fair to expect from a public school system today, nor more than public opinion demands," and third, "that Braintree is constantly improving, rel- atively, its expenditures for education."
The School Department for two or three years has been quite fortunate in regard to the permanency of its personnel, but although there have been compara- tively few resignations, yet the growth has necessitated securing quite a number of new teachers. With but fourteen resignations it was never-the-less necessary to secure twenty-four new membrs to the teaching force because of the increased membership in the High School and the Thomas A. Watson School, and the opening of the Monatiquot School as a grade school building. There are today one hundred and thirteen teachers, and the personnel of the Department is com- posed of one hundred forty-six persons, with a school enrolment in round figures of three thousand. An ex- amination of tables at the end of this report shows the distribution of the school membership. Two hundred eighy-five sixth grade children, one hundred ninety- four eighth grade children, and a graduation eighth grade last June numbering one hundred eighty, with
143
a freshman class in the High School this fall of one hundred eighty-one, must show, if one will stop to con- sider just a bit, the rather startling future prospects for an overcrowded High School in a future much near- er than a majority could see when it voted to build a. High School.
The School Department has, as may be seen from! the tables, an exceptionally experienced corps of teach -. ers, and the work being accomplished is good, and of. more than average standard. Our special teachers are! doing most valuable work, and it is to be hoped that it may seem best in the near future to incur the neces- sary expense to avoid having these teachers scattering their energies between three buildings, in other words have a special teacher at each building. The work of our teachers of special subjects is most effective, and their reports which follow are worthy of your attention. In connection with the reports of our continuation school teachers, attention should be called to the fact that during the calendar year of 1927 there were but one hundred fifty-six boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years employed in the Town, which is a material reduction, and should there be less than two hundred during the year of 1928 it would be possible for this Department to discontinue the contin- uation. school beginning September 1929. Whether this would be a wise policy is questionable since should at any time in the future the numbers, increase to the two hundred mark again in any one calendar year, the fol- lowing September it would be necessary to. re-establish these schools ..
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