USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1954 > Part 21
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3. The Central Filmstrip Library has been expanded to more than 1,300 titles. New materials are constantly being previewed by several teacher-committees representing all subject areas and grade levels. All purchases are made following committee recommendations.
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4. In-service training of teachers and coordinators has been con- ducted at all levels on both an individual or class basis as the need has been indicated or requested.
5. Principals and/or audio-visual coordinators are functioning as classroom supervisors in the selection and use of instructional materials in all buildings. The appointment of a high school coordinator in Septem- ber 1954 has already aided in the development of a more effective program in that building. Each building maintains its own file of basic information and has ready access to a complete audio-visual reference library in the audio-visual office.
6. Continuance of a regular inter-school delivery service on a Monday and Friday basis has been largely responsible for the increased use of instructional materials. However, transportation and communication between schools continues to be one of the serious problems in the audio- visual program.
The increasing interest, knowledge, and enthusiasm of new teachers and recent graduates of teacher-training institutions where audio-visual courses are now required has been most gratifying. These teachers are increasingly alert to the audio-visual facilities available to their grades and subjects.
6. HANDWRITING
In the initial handwriting tests administered in September 1942 to Grades 1-3, 19.7% of your pupils received a grade of "A" (Excellent) ; 17.5% received a grade of "B" (Good); and 62.8% were grades less than "B" In the tests administered in June 1954 to Grades 1-6, 88.8% of your pupils received a grade of "A"; 8.5% were grades "B"; and 2.7% scored less than "B." Handwriting certificates were awarded to 82% of your sixth grade ('A'' pupils.
During the last year we graded approximately 42,000 formal and approximately 42,000 informal samples of handwriting. A formal test was administered at four teaching-week intervals and a report was sent to each teacher giving a careful diagnosis of the handwriting of each pupil in the room. A teachers' meeting was held at four-week teaching intervals for all new teachers. We furnished teachers' outlines, pupil folder out- lines, room motivation certificates. term and monthly envelopes, handed- ness tests, individual handwriting certificates for pupils who qualified, seals, etc.
Our representatives made special visits to each of the classrooms in the first six grades during the month of September for demonstration teaching; during the month of January for diagnosis and motivation of the writing in everyday classroom activities; in May for another diagnosis of everyday writing as well as a checkup on the rhythm and rate at which the writing was accomplished; and in June to award the final stars and seals for the year. In each of these classroom visitations special attention was given to the special problem of left-handed writers.
7. HEALTH
In the 1951 Edition of "Health in Schools" published by the American Association of School Administrators, it is stated that the health pro- gram of the modern school includes six areas. They are as follows:
a. Healthful environment
b. A broad and functional program of health education
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c. A modified program for the exceptional child
d. Adequate health appraisal and health counseling
e. Care for emergency health conditions
f. Health education for adults
Areas C, D, and E are especially considered under Health Service and are the school nurses' main responsibilities. Each of these subjects need some clarification in order to point out the changes in the program which are necessary if the School Health Department is to progress in a modern manner.
The State Department of Public Health has established rules and regulations regarding the physical examination of school children and recommends the performance of the health appraisal be done by the family physician whenever possible.
It should be understood by the parents that if a defect is found by the school physician no treatment may be suggested or ordered. The only requirement is that the parent be notified and requested that the family physician be consulted. The notice may be sent by the teacher, physician or nurse but it has been common practice for the school nurse to send this notice. Following this notice telephone calls and home visits are frequently necessary before the parent will have the family physician see the child.
The State Department of Health recommends that whenever possible the health examination which in the past has been given by the school physician be given by the family physician. This year letters were sent to parents suggesting that children be taken to their family physician for examination and a few complied.
In April, 1954, school authorities were notified that the Department of Public Health, after consultation with the Department of Education and the medical profession, recommended that vision and hearing tests be given annually. With the present personnel of the health department in the schools it has been almost impossible to complete these tests every second year as has been the practice. With the fast growing school population and the methods now approved by the State Department for making these tests, it will be a physical impossibility to comply with these regulations until additional personnel is provided.
Recommendations:
1. That a program be established which will receive the endorsement of the School Committee, and the cooperation of the administration for the purpose of persuading parents of school children to have the routine physical examinations (every three or four years) made by the family physician as recommended by the Department of Public Health. This procedure would eliminate the time lost in planning correction of defects and many hours of the school nurses' time could be used for more important professional duties.
2. That a technician be employed for the purpose of giving the screening tests for vision and hearing as suggested by the Department of Public Health. All failures would then be reported to the school nurse who would follow through with each case until a remediable defect is corrected. It would take one technician an entire school year to complete the required vision and hearing tests using the approved method.
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3. That some time during school hours be provided in which each school nurse can make home visits which are absolutely essential to a good school health program and which have had to be made after school hours this past year. Home visits are necessary to arrange for correction of physical defects. If a school nurse is used to the extent of her capabilites she also works with teachers and guidance directors who often request that home visits be made. Authorities claim that good mental and emotional health is an important as good physical heatlh.
8. HOME INSTRUCTION FOR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Twenty-eight children were members of the class from January through December, 1954. Three were full-time pupils, six for a few weeks only, and nineteen from two to six months.
The disabilities represented were:
10 rheumatic fever; four of these had chorea, two with liver in- fection
6 surgical cases; two leg fractures, 2 back injuries, a neck operation, and a congenital hip operation
3 kidney infection
2 muscular dystrophy
1 of each: polio, bone deficiency, neurosis, spinal meningitis, hemo- philia
Eight of the class of ten in June were promoted, one conditioned in reading and one incomplete in algebra. Seven returned to school in Septem- ber.
In beds, braces, casts and wheel chairs these handicapped children with the help of their parents and the three periods of teacher supervision do a surprising amount of work. It seems a great deal to them to be able to keep up with their classmates and do their own grade work when they return to school.
9. DRIVER EDUCATION
High School driver education is rapidly approaching the status of a required subject as a result of new insurance laws aimed at rewarding trained drivers in the 16 to 25-year-old group. The 1955 insurance rate reduction will be further increased for this group from 15 per cent to 30 per cent. Such worthwhile financial benefits are a positive indication of the value of the Driver Education Program. This record of our trained drivers offers the brightest ray of hope for the future control of our number one social killer-the automobile.
To meet the increased enrolment in the Driver Education Program this year, one additional instructor was added for part-time work and a second driver training car has been furnished. However, these additions will not be adequate to the needs of the present and anticipated 1955 enrolment for behind-the-wheel instruction.
A brief summary of the activities of the program follows:
1. Miles of behind-the-wheel instruction 5,000
2. Pupils enrolled in driver education classes 302
3. Pupils completing classwork only 205
(High School-170; Vocational School-35)
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112
4. Licenses issued at school (number of students certified in both classwork and driver training (High School-97; Vocational School-15)
5. Amount of instructional time devoted to driver education:
a. Mr. Swan and Mr. Pratt (started in September, 1954) : 15 periods each per week (average of one period per week after school in addition)
b. Mr. Mahn-15 periods per week
Since driver training is an individual effort requiring as minimums six clock hours behind the wheel and an equal time in observation, there is a very apparent need for an additional vehicle and personnel or pro - vision for extended after-school training in order to satisfy the enrolment needs of the program at present.
It is gratifying to report that the records speak for themselves: "Trained drivers are safe drivers."
10. AGRICULTURE
The opening of school in September 1953 showed a total enrolment of 41 students divided according to classes as follows:
Seniors 5
Sophomores 13
Juniors 9
Freshmen 14
The 41 students may be geographically located as follows:
South Weymouth
11
Quincy
3
East Weymouth
7
Hull
1
Weymouth
7
Braintree
1
Hingham
5
Rockland 1
North Weymouth
4
Hanover 1
The following table will show the amount of labor and the value re- ceived for the work done the past year, 1953-1954:
Hours of Labor
Value Received
Boys Reporting
Total
Average per boy 11391/2
Total
Average per boy
37*
42,165
$25,280.56
$683.25
The 37 boys mentioned above (*) worked on 9 farms or agricultural enterprises in Weymouth, 6 in Hingham, 6 in Vermont, 4 in Quincy, 3 in Abington, and one in each of the following: Braintree, Holbrook, Hanover, Norwell, Harvard, Whitman, Granby, New Hampshire, and Nebraska. These farms and agricultural enterprises included 9 greenhouses, 7 dairy farms, 5 poultry farms, 4 nurseries, 3 landscape concerns, 2 dairy plants, 2 dairy-and- poultry farms, and one each of the following: dairy goat farm, turkey farm, turkey and poultry farm, garden sales and tree work, and beef, cattle and hogs.
11. SCHOOL LIBRARIES
Weymouth High School Library
Our newly redecorated library room has a most pleasant and attrac- tive atmosphere. The vocational school cabinetmaking class has con- structed two trophy cases and this class is completing four cupboards to be located between the new unit ventilators.
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Books reports and poetry notebooks from the English classes were ex- hibited during the year. The Audio-Visual Aids Department provides an exhibit from the Children's Museum which is changed at the end of each two-week period.
The library is used for various social and informal meetings during the year. This year the events included: the Weymouth Teachers' Asso- ciation reception for new teachers, a reception for the guests following the annual Sports Forum, the Moral and Spiritual Values Committee, the high school faculty, etc.
Girls who serve as library assistants this year are: Susan Allen, Roberta Pannier, Theresa Demoranville, Maxine Martin, Betty Wright, Anne Mc- Donald, Mary Virgona.
Statistics:
Books in the library: 5,186
Circulation :
Fiction
4,837
Non-fiction
4,278
Periodicals
1,392
Grand total
10,507
Fines collected
$134.67
South Junior High School Library
In the year that has just closed, the South Junior High School Li- brary has had a large increase in the circulation over the previous year. Its total circulation of books was 13,625 volumes, a gain of 2,503 over the previous year. A large percentage of this increase has been realized since September.
Number of books in the Library 2,720
Fiction
763
Non-fiction 1,957
Books added in 1954
692
Books borrowed from Tufts Library 472
Total circulation
13,625
Certificate reading and instruction in the use of the library was car- ried on in the seventh and eighth grades. Thirty-four honor certificates were awarded and 1,855 book reports given.
May 27th the members of the Library Staff entertained their mothers at a library tea. Miss Barbara Pearson, Librarian for the United States Air Force from 1948-1953, gave an illustrated talk on organizing and set- ting up libraries for that branch of the armed services.
12. EVENING SCROOLS
Our Evening School, like those in other communities, showed a very healthy growth in 1954. Registrations were higher than ever before, classes were held for the first time at Bicknell Junior High School; and as a re- sult more people were placed in classes than in any previous year. We have a waiting list in Beginning Clothing only, and this despite operation of five such classes.
Exhibitions of work done in evening classes were held as usual. At South Junior High, it took place in the gymnasium on March 29. At the High School, it was held for the first time in the cafeteria, which proved
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to be an excellent location, on March 30th. As in recent years, these ex- hibitions were attended by the ever-growing number of people interested in work done by practical arts classes. Style shows by members of the Clothing classes again featured the exhibitions.
Registration for the classes starting in October came the evening of Tuesday, September 21, 1954 at Weymouth High School. A total of 751 people registered then or later. As planned a year earlier, three classes were added to the existing program, one in Woodworking and two in Be- ginning Clothing, all at Bicknell Junior High School.
After all who had registered previously had been placed in classes, a drawing was held to determine who would be placed in Beginning Clothing classes - our only registration problem - and who would be placed on the waiting list. This list amounts to 55.
This year, we have a class in Adult Civic Education with Mrs. Edna Gloster as the instructor. In recent years, only four or five people inter- ested in such a class have registered and we have sent them to Quincy. Now there are thirteen people from several countries who are studying to become citizens of the United States.
Interest was shown in Millinery by 11 who made a note on the regis- tration blank. A list of 10 people desiring to enroll in a class of Upholstery has been received. It is planned to establish classes in these two new sub- jects if there is sufficient registration in September. An Upholstery class can be conducted only where there is sufficient storage space for a num- ber of large pieces of furniture. We have no such available space now but we expect to have it at Central Junior High School next fall. This new school will provide also for additional Clothing classes as well as for Millinery.
Assignments to classes are as follows:
WEYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
Beginning Shorthand 34, Typewriting 83, Office Machines 38, Begin- ning Clothing 50, Advanced Clothing 50, Foods 20, Rug Hooking 40, Tray Painting 36, Fabric Painting 24, Wookworking 20, Wood Refinishing 26, Advanced Shorthand 7, Adult Civic Education 13.
SOUTH JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Beginning Clothing 25, Advanced Clothing 26, Rug Hooking 22, Tray Painting 26, Fabric Painting 12, Woodworking 23, Wood Refinishing 24
BICKNELL JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Beginning Clothing 50, Woodworking 20
The Evening Vocational School includes two classes which meet both Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are 22 in the Carpentry Related Appren- tice Course and 23 in the Diversified Related Apprentice Course.
A Doubled School System
When our schools open in September the enrolment will have doubled . since the end of World War II. The approximately 9,000 pupils will be housed in thirteen of the fourteen buildings existing in 1945 and in thir- teen new buildings and additions. So it can truly be called a doubled school
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system or, expressed in another way, it can well be said that a second school system, equal in size to the old one, has been created in ten years. Actually most of the growth in enrolment and the construction of new buildings has occurred in the last six years.
In some of the newer parts of our country a few school systems have tripled or more in the same period. But in staid New England, if we re- call the pronouncements of the pre-war years that we had arrived at a mature and static economy, such a rapid growth, if predicted ten years ago, would have staggered the imagination.
The creation of this second school system in this short span of years has meant a lot of planning, a lot of money, and a lot of work for a great many people. The job was made easier by the existence of an excellent school system from which to start building the new one. The real task has been to maintain the high standards and to keep improving our curriculum and program to meet the needs of a rapidly changing civilization. The public schools have made the phenominal growth of the United States of America possible and better schools are needed if the country is to achieve the great growth in national income that President Eisenhower recently predicted.
If September 1955 could mark the end of our growth in enrolment and the need for additional schools, and the need for staffing these schools with capable, well qualified, enthusiastic teachers, everyone concerned would be happy and relieved, from taxpayers, Town Meeting Members, School Committee, administrative staff, and teachers, to parents with children on double sessions. But as we all know too well, the continued building of new homes in Weymouth plus the more important factor that the birth rate continues high means that more school facilities will be needed each year, probably until at least 1962 or 1963.
A great deal of publicity in the last few months has been given to the need for and the possiblity of building cheaper school buildings. Re- cent School Building Committees have seriously considered the problems, but after studying and visiting schools of various designs and costs they have decided that substantial, fire resisting buildings were the best long range investment for the Town. The cost of school construction should not be lowered by eliminating needed facilities and reducing the size of class- rooms. But if the citizens of the Town are convinced, and express this conviction through the votes of Town Meeting Members, that costs need to be reduced, adequate one story schools of light construction can be built at substantial savings. Buildings of this type will not be fire resisting and they will cost more to maintain over a long period of years, but they can provide children and teachers with good educational facilities. Considerable savings could be made if the State would modify its requirements for ven- tilation and the amount of toilet facilities. A bill to authorize changes in the State building code is now under consideration by the Legislature and should be passed.
The annual cost of financing the thirteen projects undertaken to date is summarized in the table below. The total bond issues for these schools of $6,963,000 is a big sum of money to most of us who are accustomed to think in terms of hundreds or at the most thousands of dollars. But when the cost of paying for the schools is translated into annual costs and the effect of the expenditures of $375,000 in one year on the tax rate is com- puted, the result is not so disturbing.
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Annual Cost of Bond Issues ($6,963,000) 1949-1954
Annual Pay-
ments on Principal
Annual Interest Cost
Total Pay- ments Prin- cipal and Interest
State Reimburse- ments
to to Raise Town Net Cost
Year
of Bonds
1949
$35,000
$5,863
$40,863
$40,863
$ .64
1950
40,000
5,687
45,687
$10,032
35,655
.50
1951
100,000
25,368
125,368
10,032
115,336
1.51
1952
134,000
30,662
164,662
10,032
154,630
1.83
1953
196,000
44,109
240,109
89,527
150,582
1.66
1954
346,000
104,105
450,105
73,818
376,287
3.82
1955
394,000
112,129
506,129
137,230*
368,899
3.65
1956
389,000
104,969
493,969
124,702*
369,267
3.60
1957
384,000
97,897
481,897
124,702*
357,195
3.45
1958
379,000
90,887
469,887
124,702*
345,185
3.30
1959
349,000
83,977
432,977
124,702*
308,275
2.95
* Includes estimates for three schools now under construction, as grant is on final approved costs. The drop in State reimbursements from 1955 to 1956 will be due to the receipt of three payments on the Humphrey School addition in 1955 and only one payment in 1956. See Tables on pages 295 and 296.
The amount of the annual payments will remain at about the 1959 rate until 1966, when the Johnson School bonds and the second issue of the South Junior High School will be paid. In 1970 a decrease of $60,000 will occur with the final payment of the first South Junior High School issue. In 1973 will come the last payments for the Central Junior High School and the Johnson School addition in the amount of $115,000. The final payments will be made in 1974 in the amount of $50,000 for the Aca- demy Avenue and Ralph Talbot Street bonds. Interest payments will de- crease about $7,000 a year until 1966, and then about $5,800 per year.
In the last column in the table above the effect on the tax rate each year has been computed on the actual assessed valuation for each year 1949 through 1954. The estimated valuation used for 1955 is $101,000,000, for 1956 $102,500,000, for 1957 $104,000,000,and for 1958 and 1959 $105,000.000.
Additional Needs
The following new buildings and additions will undoubtedly be needed in the next three or four years: Washington School, Center School, and Shaw School replacements; a small neighborhood school in North Wey- mouth and additions to the Vocational School, the South Junior High School, the Homestead School, the Academy Avenue School, and the Ralph Talbot Street School. Depending on the type of construction and the size of these new schools and additions the cost for the nine projects can be estimated at from $2,000,000 to $2,700,000. The annual payments on 20-year serial bonds will add from $100,000 to $125,000 per year, with annual interest payments in the early years of some $40,000.
The total annual financing cost, less State reimbursement, of the thirteen projects now built or under construction plus the nine projects listed above should not exceed $450,000 in the peak year. If cheaper
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Neces- Annual sary Tax Net Cost Rate
construction is used, the annual net cost could be reduced by $30,000 to $40,000.
The elementary school projects listed above should provide for our elementary needs in the foreseeable future. In the early 1960's, however, additional high school facilities will be needed. These can be provided either by adding to the High School and the Central Junior High School or by building a second Senior High School and a fourth Junior High School.
1955 Budget
The estimates for the 1955 School Budget will be found on pages 246 to 249 following the report of the School Committee.
On December 14th the School Committee adopted a revised teachers' salary schedule increasing the salaries on the first and second steps by $200.00 and salaries at the other eleven steps by $250.00. This increase is less than requested by the Teachers' Association and it is barely sufficient to keep us abreast of surrounding towns and cities, as salary increases have been voted in most communities this year. The shortage in the teacher supply continues, and the competition met in recruiting competent, qualified teachers is still keen. The revised salary schedule will be found on page 279.
The appropriation required is 11 per cent larger than the 1954 appro- priation. The increase in enrolment for this school year is over 10 per cent greater than last year, and it is estimated that the enrolment for the next school year will be nearly 10 per cent higher than in September, 1954. Thus ten-elevenths or about 90 per cent of the budgetary increase of $214,298 could be explained by the need to provide for additional pupils and the opening of three new schools in the fall. Inasmuch as the general salary increase for teachers and other school employees will cost $64,260.00, the amount provided in the budget for the expansion of the school system is about $150,000 or only 70 per cent of the increase, rather than the 90 per cent that could well be justified.
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