USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1920 > Part 5
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$198.36
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The cost of grade schools has increased one hundred sixty-three per cent. in the last eight years. The following table indicates the number of pupils, number of teachers, classified and total expenditures, and the percentage of in- crease in each direction :
COMPARATIVE EXPENDITURES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN 1912 AND 1920
Per Cent. of Increase Total Due to
Per Cent. Higher
1912
1920
Increase Costs
Number of grade pupils ....
726
1,177
62.1
Number of grade teachers ..
20
33
65
Salaries of teachers
$12,517.20
$36,252.97
189
124
Cost of supplies
457.47
1,307.28
185
123
Cost of books
260.61
1,607.56
516.8
150
Cost of repairs and new
equipment
691.66
2,391.53
207.8
125
Cost of transportation.
1,583.50
2,549.00
60.9
25
Cost of fuel ..
1,116.32
3,039.87
172.3
150
Cost of janitors
1,715.00
3,257.15
89.9
50
Cost of supervision.
1,480,09
2,067.78
39.7
39.7
Cost of miscellaneous items
985.30
2,605.37
164.4
100
Totals.
$20,807.15
$55,075,51
163
Note :- In 1912 such items as clerk's salary, attendance officer, build- ing supplies, light, water, were classified "miscellaneous." For compara- tive purpose these are so classified for 1920.
Some of the increase in cost of schools is due to growth in number of pupils; some to higher cost for similar service, supplies and equipment. In the third column of the above table is given the per cent of increase due to the latter cause. This has been found in various ways, the result in some cases
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being quite accurate and in others approximate. Effort is made to determine the natural increase due to employment of more teachers, to purchase of supplies and books for more children, to cost of repairs and equipment for more school rooms, to payment of transportation of more children, to heating of more rooms, etc .; and to indicate what portion of the remaining increase is due to the "high cost of living" as it affects schools.
Estimates for 1921
REQUIREMENTS.
General Control $3,200.00
(Supt., Clerk, Census, Office Expenses, Truancy)
Teachers' Salaries
43,500.00
Text Books
1,600.00
Supplies
1,600.00
Janitors' Salaries
3,700.00
Fuel
3,500.00
Building Supplies
1,200.00
Repairs
1,600.00
New Equipment.
1,500.00
Transportation
3,200.60
Health
225.00
Sundries
550.00
$65,375.00
Estimated Income
State General School Fund
$9,050.00
Balance from 1920
198.00
Pease Fund, 1920.
343.00
Fdmund Anthony, Jr., School Fund
455.00
H. H. Rogers Fund, 1920.
4,624.00
County Dog Tax.
750.00
$15,420.00
Appropriation required
50,000.00
$65,420.00
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Teachers' Salaries.
In view of the fact that the equivalent of ninety per cent of the money that Fairhaven raises by taxation for schools goes to pay teachers' salaries, and that sixty-five per cent of the whole expenditure is for that purpose, it is pertinent to know how the town compares in this respect with others of the same size.
The following towns of approximately the same popu- lation as Fairhaven paid in October, 1920, grade salaries as given in the table. Salaries of principals, and teachers doing departmental work are not included.
Population
Minimum Salary of Grade Teachers
Maximum Salary of Grade Teachers
Average of the Salaries actually paid Grade Teachers
Town
Andover
7489
$750
$1350
$1235
Ludlow
7478
750
1200
1062
Reading
7439
1150
1150
1150
Marblehead
7324
1000
1280
1189
Fairhaven
7291
850
1250
1133
Whitman
7147
1000
1200
1191
Maynard
7086
950
1100
1012
Needham
7012
1000
1250
1136
Stoughton
6865
950
1100
1043
Average
$933.33
$1208.88
$1127.88
The above towns are representative in paying ability, being neither distinctively wealthy nor poor.
The average minimum salary for twenty-five towns in the state, ranging from 5945 to 8101 in population is $943.00 the average maximum, $1257.00; the average of salaries act- ually paid, $1140.00.
Fairhaven with a minmum of $850.00, a maximum of $1250.00, an average of $1133.00, is paying practically the same as other towns of its size. Is this enough ? It will en- able the town to maintain an average school system. It will not stabilize the teaching corps. The cities are paying con- siderably higher salaries. They will continue to take our best teachers.
It is often suggested that with the decline of wages in other occupations salaries of teachers must decrease. This
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is not probable in the near future, if at all. The United States Commissioner of Education reported in October, 1920, two months ago, that there was a shortage of 90,000 teachers and that there were many untrained teachers in service. The report of special commission on teachers' salaries appointed by Governor Coolidge, rendered in August, says: "One of the most disturbing conditions which the Commission has found in the course of its investigations is the decreasing en- rollment in the state normal schools." Since 1917 there has been a marked decrease, amounting to 37 per cent in the number of men and 27 per cent in the number of women." The present enrollment shows an increase but teachers now beginning training will not be available until 1922 or later. Massachusetts has in the past drawn quite heavily on other states for its teacher supply. Salaries in these states have materially advanced and this source of supply has been much diminished. The law of supply and demand alone will cer- tainly operate to keep salaries up for two years more and perhaps longer.
Apart from the law of supply and demand there are sound reasons for paying teachers more than is paid in many other occupations. The report above mentioned says: "The tangible rewards of teaching have been too low. The salar- ies paid have not afforded adequate recognition of invest- ments in time and money which teachers make to secure the necessary preparation for teaching. After completing the secondary school, the typical elementary school teacher de- votes two years to further study, and the typical high school teacher four years. The expenses incidental to this special preparation, plus the income that might have been derived from employment during this period, constitute a substan- tial sum. In addition to these initial expenses for prepara- tion the ambitious teacher continues during her teaching car- eer to make substancial outlays for professional reading and professional improvement courses. in appraising the ade- quacy of the teachers' wage as compared with the wages earned in other employments, it is necessary to take into con- sideration these special investments which the teacher makes
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for professional preparation and improvement in service."
"The commission is convinced that if Massachusetts is to realize the largest returns from its investments in educa- tion, salaries of teachers in the public schools must continue to increase, so as to accomplish the following purposes: first, to attract into the teaching profession capable young men and women in sufficient numbers to supply all vacancies with well-qualified teachers; second, to retain efficient teachers now in service; third, to guarantee that communities of low valuation as well as those of high valuation shall be able to secure and retain well-qualified teachers; and fourth, to en- able all teachers to provide from salary earnings the neces- saries of life, and savings and insurance against disability and old age, as well as to make those investments that result in continued growth in professional efficiency."
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High School Finances.
The financial statement of the high school follows: EXPENDITURES AND RECEIPTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1920.
RECEIPTS.
Net balance from income of last year. $ 290.61
Regular income from Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. 20811.75
From Mrs. Broughton in lieu of Farmers' L'n & Tr. Co 3600.00
Town of Acushnet-Tuition 1051.89
Town of Rochester-Tutition 600.00
Town of Mattapoisett
2300.00
From Lunch Department
500.00
From State General School Fund
2600.00
From Incidentals
15.00
From Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. Income of 1921 1765.37
Total
$33534.62
EXPENDITURES.
Instruction:
Teachers' Salaries
$20372.33
Text Books
813.95
Supplies
1244.33
Operation and Maintenance:
Janitors' Salaries 5058.85
Fuel
1286.83
Building Supplies
1779.56
Repairs
629.40
Other Agencies:
Health
124.50
Miscellaneous:
Sundries
651.32
Total $31961.07
Balance in hands of Town Treasurer.
1573.55
Expended in excess of 1920 income. 191.82
Overdraw of 1920 income $ 1765.37
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It has been for some time very difficult to maintain the high standard of work in the high school with the funds available. It will be impossible to do so next year without more revenue. In 1912 the membership of the school was 167, and expenditures were $21,616.64. The present mem- bership is 253, with an average for the fiscal year of about 240. Expenditures have been $31,961.00. The membership has increased 43 per cent in eight years and the cost of main- tenance only 48 per cent. These figures speak for them- selves.
Additional revenue is needed in two directions. viz.,-to employ two more teachers and to retain the teachers now in service.
In regard to the first need, it may be said that there are only two more teachers than in 1912. The limit in size and number of classes per teacher has been reached. In the commercial course there are at present 120 pupils; it is safe to say there will be 150 or more next year. There will be at least fifteen classes a day for the teachers of this department. With only two teachers, the work cannot possibly be done in a six period day. In the academic department, there are at present nine divisions having more than thirty pupils, five of these having from thirty-five to forty and four from thirty to thirty-five. Next year it is certain there will be more large classes. Educational authorities state, and experience demonstrates, that divisions ought not to have more than twenty-five pupils. If they do it is impossible to expect much individual work, and considerable of this is necessary to as- sure the success of the slower but not less worthy pupils. Another teacher in the academic department is imperative if high grade work is to be done.
For eight years after its establishment, the high school had a nearly permanent corps of strong teachers. During the last six years the situation has radically changed. Only three teachers remain of the old corps and these for other reasons than salary. Some of the positions have been filled several times. Five changes have occurred since the last re- port. Such a condition necessarily handicaps the progress of the school. If the school is to maintain its present high
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standard an appropriation of $6000 is necessary. This as- sumes that all of the General School Fund will be used by the grade schools.
The high school building with its unusual equipment is a constant source of pride to Fairhaven people. The quality of school maintained therein is also a matter that concerns them greatly. It cannot maintain the standing of the past without financial aid.
Attendance.
The total enrollment for the year ending in June 1920 was 1405; the average membership 1257, and average attend- ance only 1024. The epidemic of scarlet fever was responsi- ble for the low attendance. The present actual membership is 1455. It is less by over 50 than in October, indicating the effect of the business depression.
Building Needs.
At the annual town meeting, held in February, 1920, a vote was passed directing the School Committee "to in- vestigate the prospective needs of the schools in respect to school buildings, with reference to location of sites for the same, and to submit a report at the next annual meeting." In accordance with the wishes of the committee, the follow- ing statement of present and future building needs is pre- sented.
Building Needs-Present
The problem of housing has been unexpectedly easy thus far this year. There is congestion in certain grades but no children are on part time. The average number of pupils per teacher in the grade schools is over 40. Business de- pression has caused loss of population and by its lessening of demand for tenements has kept practically empty the fif- ty-six double houses just completed by the Fairhaven Mills in Oxford. If these houses were filled, at least two hundred children would now be on part time.
No one can say with certainty when the depression will
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pass but it is reasonable to expect there will be a revival by next fall. The school department should be prepared by that time to take care of not less than 200 more children. The one hundred vacant tenements when filled will furnish at least that number.
The location of a new building in Oxford should be determined by the availability of a suitable site and the prob- able center of school population. A well drained lot, large enough for a good playground and a nine or ten room build- ing, not on a street made dangerous by automobile traffic, placed somewhere near the future center of school popula- tion, is desirable. The only site of approximately this de- scription thus far found is on North street, adjoining the old Oxford School, now the Oxford Chapel When Cooke Street is extended it will be bounded by that on the north. It may be questioned whether this is a probable center of school population at the north end. There are now 206 children attending the Oxford school who live north of it, and 116 between the school and North street. There are also in the latter locality 44 pupils who have been transfer- red to the Job C. Tripp school. Between North street and
Huttleston avenue are about 75 children. The present Ox- ford school has a maximum capacity of 350 pupils. It will not accommodate therefore, all who live north of the school when the new houses are occupied. On the other hand, there is likely to be considerable increase in the population south of the school in the near future. In the next few years it is probable there will be more building there than northward. It might easily happen in a year or two that pupils south of Oxford school would have to pass it on their way to school if a building was erected north of it. The dis- tance would not be prohibitive in either direction, in fact, would not be so great as the majority of pupils in the city have to walk. As the town grows, unless the policy of erect- ing small buildings is adopted, there will be many children who will have to walk one-half mile or more to school. Small buildings with two or three grades to the room are expensive in administration and do not enable the best re- sults educationally.
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It has been suggested that in place of a new building the present Oxford school be enlarged. This is not feasible. The building was not planned for future additions. To do so and conform to state laws relating to lighting, heating, ventilation and fire safety, would be so expensive as to be impracticable. Furthermore the housing of more children at a point so dangerous because of traffic conditions is very objectionable.
The suitability for school purposes of the North street site, the probabilities of growth in this vicinity, and the ab- sence of a desirable site north of the Oxford school are sound reasons for recommending that the new building be placed on North street.
Building Needs-Future
An eight or ten room building on North street should take care of the normal growth of Oxford for two or three years. It will lessen the attendance at the Job C. Tripp school. There are at present in that school 167 children who come from between North and Spring streets, in addi- tion to the 44 from north of North street. Approximately 150 of these will attend the new school thus leaving four rooms to relieve congestion in the Washington Street and Rogers schools. These need relief even now. The two seventh grades at the Rogers school have a present member- ship of 106; the two eighths of 79. Next year there is a cer- tainty of at least a 25 per cent increase. With no increase in the population the operation of new school laws tends to make the upper grades much larger than formerly. The Washington Street school is now housing 240, within ten pupils of the maximum allowed by law. This is more by at least forty than sound judgement should permit to be there. There is also, an overflow school of 25 in the Town Hall. Accomodations at the Center may perhaps be suf- ficient for another year without a new building but they are not likely to be for longer than that.
Where should a new building at the Center be located ? The pupils of the Washington Street and Rogers schools
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and of the town hall room are distributed territorially as follows :
From East Fairhaven 128
From Sconticut Neck 55
From between Huttleston Ave. and the Railroad 231
From south of the Railroad 113
From Oxford (seventh and eighth grades) 54
From unclassified localities 25
Total
606
It is probable that the best location will be in the vicin- ity of the Rogers school. It might be feasible to use a por- tion of the unusually large play ground there for the purpose. If this is not done, a lot slightly further north or south- preferably the former-is desirable.
Good sites at the Center are now scarce and one should be decided upon soon.
It is premature to discuss now the type of building that should be erected at the Center. It is pertinent, however, to suggest that the character of this and other buildings needs to be determined by the educational policies to he realized. Assuming that the present plan of segregating the seventh and eighth grades is to be continued, and eventually a more complete junior high school be evolved, a building for the purpose will be required. The Job C. Tripp school with its assembly hall and nearness to the manual training and domestic science departments of the high school, might well serve the purpose for a few years. It will not perma- nently. In a relatively short time it will not house the upper grades, neither will the high school have the room in its manual training and domestic science departments to care for these pupils. When a new building is erected at the Center it should therefore recognize these conditions.
There are several ways in which this can be done. The Rogers school can be used exclusively by the lower grades and a junior high school building be erected, or the Rogers school can be used by upper grades and a new primary school
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be built. In either case the present Washington Street school could be fitted up to serve as quarters for the grade manual training and domestic science. It was thus used in former days.
No building program which did not include early aban- donment of the Washington Street building for regular school use would be generally satisfactory. For years it has been the target of criticism. In the minds of many it is a source of ill health and a fire trap for all who attend it. Some complaints are made, of course, by people not cog- nizant of conditions, and others are not justified by the facts. Admitting this, however, it is perfectly obvious that the build- ing is below modern standards of hygiene and safety and that it is highly desirable to provide better quarters for the children now housed there.
The Rogers school with its large well lighted rooms and its spacious play ground would make an excellent primary school. Its use for this purpose or the erection of a new primary school should be considered seriously in the near future.
The need of a building in East Fairhaven is rather too remote at present to require the selection of a site. To erect a building there would save transportation expense but this would be more than offset by the increased cost of ad- ministration, janitor service, etc. Furthermore the children in that section are so scattered that a building centrally lo- cated would be much less convenient for them to reach than the car line. Again, it would not make for the best educational opportunity to have two or three grades in a room, which would be necessary in a small building.
Washington Street School.
The school committee has never been indifferent to complaints regarding the Washington Street school. Some years ago it made a determined effort to secure adequate ventilation and expended considerable money in installing the present system. This meets state requirements and is fairly satisfactory when rooms are not over crowded. The following extract from a letter from the state building inspec- tor, dated December 6th, 1920, is self explanatory :
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"I have received a complaint from one of your towns- men whose children are pupils in the Washington Street school, that the ventilation in the class rooms during the winter months is exceedingly poor-and the complainant claims that an unhealthful condition exists."
"According to my report of inspection this school build- ing is equipped with a supply fan forcing air through the two furnaces, thence into the class rooms; and in the attic is located an exhaust fan connected with class rooms by venti- ducts. This system it would seem should provide the neces- sary fresh air and remove the cool vitiated air thus keeping the class rooms in satisfactory condition."
The letter closed with the suggestion that if the system was in operation it would ventilate satisfactorily. The sys- tem is and has been in full operation.
In regard to fire safety, the committee made alterations several years ago so that the building conforms to legal re- quirements and is certified to have "egress and means of escape from fire sufficient for two hundred-fifty persons." Fire drills are conducted here, as in all buildings, with regu- larity and efficiency.
Job C. Tripp School.
The completion of this school gives the town a seven room building and an essembly hall. The rooms are of standard size and will seat comfortably two hundred eighty pupils. The building has a present membership of two hundred seventy-eight.
The grounds have been graded, with the exception of the play ground on the east side, and the appearance of the building is much improved thereby.
A comparison of the cost of this building with other school house construction in this vicinity and the state indi- cates clearly that the town has received unusually good value for money expended.
Teachers.
Thirteen grade teachers resigned in June. Of these eight secured higher salaries elsewhere and two preferred to be at home. The others left for various reasons. Without
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the increase in salaries made possible by the special appro- priation, it is certain that practically all the force would have gone. The teacher shortage would have made it impossible to have filled the vacancies with even fair material. A year of inferior schools following a school year cut short by an epidemic would have been a serious loss to the children. With the increase, it has been possible to retain twelve teachers who would otherwise have left, to pay a more ade- quate salary to five who for personal reasons have remained in our service several years, and to fill vacancies with promis- ing teachers, even though more of them than usual are inex- perienced. I am glad to report that there is a larger propor- tion of highly desirable teachers in the force today than at any time in my period of service. The spirit shown toward their work is unusually good.
School Work.
The children resumed school in September after an absence of seventeen weeks. Time lost is irreparable of course but proof of the excellence of your teachers is found in the nearly normal progress that has been made.
During the summer the course of study was revised. Important changes were made in English and History and entirely new outlines in Arithmetic, Civics and Geography were arranged. The whole was re-written and in the hands of the teachers in September.
A special effort is being made for better results in arith- metic. The author of the method manual in use was one of the speakers at an institute held by the teachers in Febru- ary and he has since addressed them and conducted demon- stration classes. Indications point to marked improvement of the results in this subject.
The State Law now requires that the subject of civics be taken in the elementary school. Our course of study introduces it in the fifth grade. During this and the ensuing grade such topics as community health, protection of life and property, public hygiene, public recreation, public education, care of dependents and public utilities are studied. In the seventh and eighth grades more attention is given to the machinery of government, The aim throughout is not only
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to teach formally how we are governed and what the rights and duties of citizens are but-what is more important- to develop in pupils the characteristics of good citizens and the spirit of good citizenship. As an aid in this direction, Fairhaven Junior Improvement Associations have been formed in all grades above the fourth. The object of these, as stated in their constitution, "shall be to help keep our bodies healthy, clean and strong and our school, neighbor- hood and town beautiful, clean and healthful." All pupils are eligible to membership, but "members who present evi- dence of having done not less than ten hours of civic service shall be entitled to wear a membership button." Civic ser- vice means service for school, neighborhood, community or state without compensation. Each member is required to take the following pledge:
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