USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1917 > Part 11
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of estimated
receipts .
5,590 78
Overdrawn Accounts :
Fire Department Horses .
$5 So
Town By-Laws
371 37
Soldiers' Exemptions
6 53
383 70
Loans authorized
41,500 00
$478,239 82
305,265 45
93
BUREAU OF STATISTICS REPORT.
1917]
TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT.
Balance Sheet-June 30, 1917.
General Accounts.
LIABILITIES.
Temporary Loans :
In Anticipation of Revenue, 1917 ·
$200,000 00
Sale of Cemetery Lots-to be transferred to
Perpetual Care Fund
551 88
Income of Trust Funds .
3 00
Costs of Property held for Taxes
70 52
Public Library Bequests . .
2,000 00
Special Assessments paid in Advance of Com- mitment :
Sidewalk, 1917 .
37 61
Premiums on Notes and Bonds
213 03
Appropriation Balances :
General
. $110,682 83
Special
103,782 42
Interest
12,353 89
Debt .
27,500 00
Water
2,430 00
256,749 14
Overlay Reserved for Abatements :
Levy of 1915 .
3,028 89
Water Revenue :
Reserved when collected for Water Dept.
13,521 36
Surplus Revenue :
Supplementary Taxes .
$520 46
Excess and Deficiency .
3,271 93
$3,792 39
Less Abatements in excess of Overlay, 1916
$1,379 65
Abatements of Special Assess- ments .
. 348 35
1,728 00
2,064 39
$478,239 82
94
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT.
June 30, 1917.
Deferred Revenue Accounts.
ASSETS.
Apportioned Assessments, not due
$2,278 80
$2.278 80
Debt Accounts.
Water Loan Sinking Fund
· $79,645 63
Net Funded or Fixed Debt .
.
·
. 728,454 37
-
$808,100 00
$808,100 00
Trust and Investment Accounts.
Trust and Investment Funds (Securities) .
$16,212 37
$16,212 37
95
BUREAU OF STATISTICS REPORT.
1917]
TOWN OF SWAMPSCOTT.
June 30, 1917.
Deferred Revenue Accounts.
LIABILITIES.
Apportioned Sewer Assessments :
Due in 1917
$309 59
Due in 1918
294 75
Due in 1919
276 69
Due in 1920
261 99
Due in 1921
160 17
Due in 1922
155 83
Due in 1923
152 15
Due in 1924
143 00
Due in 1925
134 20
$1,888 37
Apportioned Sidewalk Assessments :
Due in 1917
$113 46
Due in 1918
113 46
Due in 1919
93 47
Due in 1920
70 04
$390 43
$2,278 80
Debt Accounts.
Permanent Improvement Notes .
· $315,100 00
Sewer Bonds (Serial)
245,000 00 .
Water Bonds (Serial)
98,000 00
Water Bonds (Sinking Funds) .
.
150,000 00
$808,100 00
$808,100 00
Trust and Investment Accounts.
Phillips School Medal Fund
$1,660 15
Johanna Morse Library Fund
6,966767
A. F. Nesbitt Cemetery Fund (Private)
224 92
A. F. Nesbitt Cemetery Fund (General)
256 12
Cemetery Lots Perpetual Care Fund .
7,104 51
$16,212 37
$16,212 37
96
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1917.
REV. EDWARD TILLOTSON, Chairman . . 60 Monument avenue Telephone, 2481.
ARTHUR W. STUBBS, Secretary Telephone, 4344-R.
74 Paradise road
ROBERT F. KIMBALL
70 Atlantic avenue Telephone, 4950.
Regular meeting, first Tuesday of each month at 8 o'clock P. M.
Superintendent of Schools. WILLARD M. WHITMAN, 9 Fuller Terrace ; Telephone, 1928.
Office of Superintendent of Schools, Hadley School ; Telephone, 2067. The Superintendent's Office is open on school days from 8.30 to 11.30 and from 1.30 to 5.
The Superintendent's office hours on school days are from 8 to 9 A. M. and from 3.30 to 4.30 P. M. every day except Thursday.
Clerk to Superintendent : Cleo Leawood, 38 Thomas Road.
School Calendar.
Winter Term closes on Thursday, February 21, 1918. Spring Term begins on Monday, March 4, 1918. Spring Term closes on Friday, April 26, 1918. Summer Term begins on Monday, May 6, 1918. High School Graduation, Monday, June 24, 1918. Fall term begins on Monday, September 9, 1918.
Legal Holidays.
The words "legal holiday" shall include the twenty-second day of February, the nineteenth day of April, the thirtieth day of May, the fourth day of July, the first Monday of September, the twelfth day of October, Thanksgiving day and Christmas day, or the day following, when any of the four days first mentioned, the twelfth day of October or Christmas day occurs on Sunday ; and the public offices shall be closed on all of said days .- Chapter 136, Acts of 1911.
97
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1917]
Observance of Flag Day.
Resolved, That the Governor shall annually set apart the fourteenth day of June as Flag Day, the date being the anniversary of the adoption of the national flag by the Continental Congress in the year seventeen hun- dred and twenty-seven ; and shall issue his proclamation recommending that the day be observed by the people of the Commonwealth in the dis- play of the flag and in such other ways as will be in harmony with the general character of the day .- Chapter 5, Resolves of 1911.
No School Signals.
Two double strokes of the fire alarm, 2-2.
7.20 A. M. No school in the Junior or Senior High Schools.
7.50 A. M. No morning session in grades I to VI inclusive.
12.50 P. M. No afternoon session in grades I to VI inclusive.
Important. If the signal does not ring at 7.20 but rings at 7.50, sessions of school will be held in the Junior and Senior High Schools and no school in grades I to VI inclusive.
7
98
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
Report of the School Committee.
To the Citizens of the Town of Swampscott :
Necessarily affecting the affairs of nation, state and municipality, the breaking out of war between the United States and Germany has forced itself upon the consideration of every public department in determining the policies it should pursue. Swampscott, no less than other towns and cities, has had to recognize the changed conditions and direct its affairs in conformity with a strict regard to the exigencies of the national situa- tion. It is generally recognized that public improvements of a nature capable of postponement should not be seriously considered until the war has ended. On the other hand, there is unanimous agreement among educators that public economies should not be carried to an extent to interfere or interrupt in the development of education among the genera- tion that is to later assume the burdens and solve the problems to follow the end of the war.
The conservation of education is as important as the conservation of any of the elements which enter into a successful promotion of the war. France realized it at the beginning and stubbornly resisted any efforts to obstruct the school program. England had a slight relapse, but soon came to a realization of its mistake and more than made compensation for its failures. To restrict in the slightest the educational advantages offered by the public schools would be tantamount to indorsing a propo- sition that brains are not to be needed in the reconstruction period to follow the war. Rather it must be the aim of the people to lend their aid and support to a careful preparation of our children for the problems that are to confront them.
There are certain physical aspects of the school condition that in many cases may be overlooked until the close of the war. Old buildings need not necessarily be abandoned if health and safety are not jeopardized. Reasonable rearrangements may be made in the distribution of children in order to avoid the erection of additional buildings. The usefulness of books may be prolonged to a point beyond which they would not be ordi- narily used. Unusual economies may be practiced in the consumption of paper and other materials. But the actual cultivation of the child's mind to the fullest possible advantage and the provision of whatever is needed to completely accomplish this purpose should not be restricted. It is as essential to the development and establishment of world democracy as the continuance of the war itself.
It has been with a due consideration of the war situtation that your school committee has conducted the affairs of the Swampscott schools in the past year. Eliminating unessentials and economizing whenever possible, the work of the schools has been maintained at a high standard.
Long before the entrance of this country into the war it was proposed
99
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1917]
to abandon the old Machon school and build a more modern and larger structure. Unfortunately this project did not fully materialize until war had become imminent. Heavy advances in material and labor made the propo- sition an expensive one, and the town decided to postpone building until a future time. This disposition of the problem of providing more room in the Machon school district left the school committee without adequate room for the children of the locality. Available space here and there, however, enabled the superintendent to redistribute a certain portion of the pupils, with the result that seats were provided for all.
Before the war state authorities had imposed certain conditions under which the Machon school building could be used. These involved the expenditure of several thousands of dollars and comprised an important reason for abandonment of the old structure and the erection of a new building. Under war conditions, however, the state building authorities took a more liberal view of the situation and allowed the school committee continued use of the building with a few slight alterations.
Because of the necessity of economizing wherever economy can be practiced without detriment to education the school committee and super- intendent will do their utmost to make present housing facilities take care of the increasing attendance until later. Plans are being made to make it possible to open in the fall without additional rooms, but another year may find the limit reached. In such an event the erection of a new building or the hiring of temporary quarters would become a necessity.
Development of the Junior High School and abandonment of double promotions have been important features of the past year. Under the direct supervision of the superintendent the Junior High School movement has proved a success and is holding the interest of the pupils in a surprising degree.
It is a pleasure to report to the town that the work of the school depart- ment, throughout the entire force, has been conducted without the slightest friction. Through every branch of the service the utmost loyalty and good-will have been displayed. It is only by such co-ordinated effort that the best results can be obtained. When the machinery of the schools proceeds smoothly the results are bound to be satisfactory. No problem, however small, has arisen that has not been given careful con- sideration and its solution found with a due regard for all the interests involved. The school committee has been a unit in maintaining a policy that the schools are for all the children of the town, and has allowed no factional or political elements to enter into the settlement of any questions.
Notwithstanding the fact that the appropriation for the schools was some- what cut at the regular town meeting, following a recommendation of the Ways and Means Committee, the department finished the year with a small balance on hand. No small amount of credit must be given to the super- intendent, whose recommendations for purchases were conservatively made and carefully consummated. The school committee has sought to ask funds only for its actual needs and to live within its appropriations.
During the past year a number of changes in the teaching staff were made necessary by resignations. In each instance extreme care was taken to fill the vacancies with the highest grade of teachers obtainable for the salaries paid. The policy of personal visits upon candidates at their work has been pursued by the superintendent for a number of years, with the
100
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
result of a constantly increasing standard in the teaching staff, the effects of which must be noted by the parents. It is believed that the most im- portant element in the schools is the sympathetic, capable teacher.
Your committee desires to thank the parents for the co-operation they have extended in meeting necessary requirements for promotion of the work and sustaining the school authorities in maintaining the disci- pline of the schools. It has been a pleasure to note an increasing inter- est on the part of the parents in the problems of educating the children. Frequent visits to the schools and consultations with the teachers are urged. In closing, the school committee desires to thank the superin- tendent and teachers for their assistance and co-operation in carrying out the policies of the school department. Thanking you for your attention, we are,
EDWARD TILLOTSON, Chairman, ARTHUR W. STUBBS, ROBERT F. KIMBALL.
IOI
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1917]
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
To the Members of the Swampscott School Committee :
In accordance with the system established by the State Board of Educa- tion a careful record of the expenditures of the School Department has been kept during the past year. All the bills on hand were paid and a statement of conditions on December 31, follows :
GENERAL EXPENSES.
General
High
Elementary
School Committee
$605 07
Superintendent .
3,174 20
EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION.
Supervision
5,198 05
$2,249 96
$2,970 00
Salaries-Teachers
11,939 90
21,949 II
Text books
473 14
770 33
Supplies
764 59
1,313 32
EXPENSES OF OPERATION.
Janitors
1,114 00
2,930 00
Fuel
1,193 87
2,467 65
Miscellaneous operating expenses
659 32
1,124 06
EXPENSES OF MAINTENANCE.
Repairs
501 71
845 37
AUXILIARY AGENCIES.
Libraries
57 26
Health
250 00
Transportation
330 00
MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES.
' Tuition
64 08
Sundries
477 18
EXPENSES OF OUTLAY.
Equipment .
895 24
Totals
$11,051 08
$18,896 49 $34,369 84
School appropriation .
. $64,340 00
School expenditures
· 64,317 41
Balance, December 31, 1917
$22 59
Palmer Portable School Appropriation
$2,400 00
Expenditures
2,361 99
Balance, December 31, 1917
$38 0I
.
Salaries-Principals
102
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of the Town of Swampscott :
GENTLEMEN,-If I were to pursue the same course that I have followed in recent reports, I should consider a number of educational problems and policies from the standpoint of expediency and economic possibility. But in these hours of local, national and international stress, a new point of view is forced upon us. Every activity and recommendation must be measured by its necessity and its contribution to a nation which must grow more and more efficient.
The call of the hour is not that education should be curtailed or that the financial support for it be withdrawn in the slightest degree, but that the facilities for education shall be more than ever directed toward individual and national efficiency, and that they be well administered at the least possible expense. In the following letter the Commissioner of Education of our State indicates the responsibility that rests upon both school officials and tax payers :
To the Members of the School Committee :
January 2, 1918.
With the approach of the annual town meetings, when the question of appropriation is to be taken up, our people should give thoughtful atten- tion to the unusual conditions confronting the schools. Increased costs in every direction bring the towns and cities face to face with the neces- sity of increasing school appropriations for the coming year. The schools have never before required more thoughtful attention to their needs, and it will not be safe to handicap them with a policy of retrenchment.
It is worthy the attention of the American people that, in spite of enormous expenditures for war purposes, France is giving unprecedented attention to her public schools, and England, for the current year, increased her expenditures for public education 30 per cent over that for any preceding year.
In the school year 1915-16, Massachusetts expended approximately $27,000,000 for public education. This amount was increased to $28,500,000 for the school year 1916-17. This increase of approximately 6 per cent shows the serious intention of our people to maintain a vigorous educational policy. In view of the present situation, Massachusetts cannot afford to relax in any degree her efforts to carry on her schools at highest efficiency.
Education is a long-time investment. Its purpose is to protect democ- racy through the right training of the youth. Even temporary interfer- ence with this purpose, through inadequate financial support, may seriously impair the quality of our future citizenship. In the present crisis, it is imperative that towns and cities give careful consideration to the needs of the schools.
Sincerely yours, PAYSON SMITH,
Commissioner of Education.
IO3
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1917]
As to the obligations on the part of the taxpayers, I believe that we have but to state our case and they will continue to give education in Swampscott adequate support. There remains for the Committee, the Superintendent and his associates, the all important task of so conducting our schools that expenditures shall be restricted to the phases of work that stand the test of the demands of these times.
Accordingly, in the light of this additional consideration, I shall review some of the most important problems and policies of our department. Chief among these are school accommodations, the development of the Junior High School and the relative standing of our unit costs.
School Accommodations.
This problem is particularly affected by present conditions. The ques- tion to ask as to school accommodations this year, is not what would be desirable and important for relieving the situation, but rather, what is absolutely necessary as a measure to provide sittings for all the children of the town.
The only problem in accommodations at present is that of the Machon school, and this I shall attempt to consider in the spirit of the preceding paragraph.
Three factors have already operated to remove the Machon District problem from the category of those things which are absolutely neces- sary. They are :
I. The repairs made in the interest of safety called for by the District Police.
2. The opening of the Palmer Portable School.
3. The absence of the usual ratio of increase in the schools.
One of the principal considerations in former plans for this District has been the rather extreme demands of the various inspectors of the District Police. A status of contradictory requests lasting for three years was finally cleared by a decision which called for much less than any of the previous demands. This work was completed during the fall, thus satisfying at least the legal demand for safe and healthful quarters.
The opening of the Palmer portable building also relieved the situation. Sittings for forty pupils were thereby provided. This gave more room at the Hadley School, and whenever there is room there, congestion in other quarters seeks its own level by flowing thereto from the Clarke and Machon Schools.
The other factor referred to above is the absence of the usual increase in membership in the whole system. It would be beside the point to try to analyze the cause of this. It is sufficient to say that decreases in school population have been general throughout the state, particularly where strikes have driven families away, or where unusual industrial opportuni- ties have drawn children prematurely from school.
It must not be concluded from the foregoing mitigating circumstances that the problem for accommodations does not continue to be serious. It is serious, but the point is that there are many serious matters that must be endured in these days. The following is the condition as the result of not securing additional quarters during the past year :
I. The first five grades in most districts are overcrowded.
2. The first grades in all districts are seriously overcrowded.
104
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
This latter fact is worthy of consideration because it has the most effect upon our plans and recommendations for the year. The membership in the first grades on December 21 was distributed as follows : Hadley, 47; Clarke, 49 ; Machon, 51 ; Palmer, 30.
This distribution is the result, after transferring about fifteen pupils from the Machon school, who properly belong in that district. In view of the fact that from 35 to 40 pupils comprise a good-sized first grade for educa- tional results, these figures show a serious condition. This in itself should not give us cause to worry, for we have managed, somehow. It is the bearing that the situation has on our needs for next fall, that compels us here to consider ways and means.
It is probable, that in such overcrowded first grades, the teachers will not be able to prepare more than two-thirds of their classes for the second grade. The remaining third, together with the number who enter next fall (even if the number be 20 per cent less than a year ago) will constitute first grades in three schools which we cannot accommodate with our pres- ent facilities.
Looking forward to the handling of this situation it is out of the ques- tion to advocate new buildings. There is, however, the less expensive proposition of buying another portable school building. To meet our needs it would be necessary to secure a two-room portable. Judging from the costs of the Palmer portable, this proposition would mean increasing the bonded indebtedness by $4,000 this year and adding $1,000 to our budget for the last four months of 1918.
I should consider the recommendation of this venture as necessary, did I not see a way out that will not only save this expense to the town, but will be of educational advantage. I have in mind the reduction of the number of pupils entering next fall by a slight raise of the entering age.
For some years past the School Committee of Swampscott has admitted children to the first grade in September who would have reached their fifth birthday before the first day of October following. Under this ruling the entrance figures last fall were as follows : Under 5 years, 8; 5 to 5₺ years, 50; 52 to 6 years, 53 ; over 6 years, 44.
If the entering age be raised to 52 years, there will be approximately sixty pupils less for our first grades next fall. By the elastic distribution of pupils such as we have been compelled always to make, we would eliminate the need for these two extra rooms. I recommend that begin- ning in September, 1918, the entrance age be set at five years and six months.
I believe that in the face of the town conditions as presented to you by the Finance Committee, it is necessary to try to avoid this expense of $5,000, if it can be done without injuring permanently or even temporarily the process of education in our community. This recommendation I make, not only for its financial advantages, but also for its educational value. For without a kindergarten or sub-primary grade in our system, I believe that the entrance age should be six years. This is the usual age for admission to school, for the reason that educators have found it to be the best age from the standpoint of learning at which the great majority of children might most profitably take up the work of a real first grade. And this educational point of view is the only proper one for the com- mittee or parents to consider. Great care must be taken in this instance
105
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1917]
not to confuse the proper function and duty of the schools with those of the home in being responsible for what the children may be doing.
The Junior High School.
In my last report I discussed the Junior High School at length. I gave therein an explanation of the valuable place that this division of a school system should hold, and pointed out a great many advantages to be derived from its installation in Swampscott. It is hardly necessary to review this matter at present. A great many of the fundamental features of such a school have been inaugurated in what we call the Junior High School in the Hadley School building. I shall state briefly the important features of organization in this school.
It consists of three years, comprising what was the old 7th and 8th grades and the first year of the High School.
In the 7th year the teaching is on the departmental plan. That is, one teacher teaching one subject or related subjects in different classes. At the present time no election of subjects is allowed in the 7th year.
In the eighth year the departmental plan of teaching is used and election is allowed the pupils in Manual Training, Domestic Science and French.
In the third year a greater election is allowed. All pupils are required to take English, Community Civics and Music. The electives are Latin, Arithmetic, Geography, Penman- ship, Algebra, Science, Drawing, Manual Training and Domestic Science.
During the coming year I hope to see the organization of this school perfected and its work made of more value.
In making this statement I am mindful of the position which I took in the opening part of this report, that any educational program this year must be held up to the test of absolute necessity and its contribution to national efficiency. There are a number of things about the Junior High School ideals and work which give its development a high place as a result of the application of the above test.
One of the main ideals in such a school is to provide through the course of study for individual differences. This breaks away from lock-step education, wherein all are supposed to have the same needs, interests and abilities, and are compelled to undergo the same training. The result is familiar to you all. Many do not fit in to such a scheme and are forced to leave school.
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