USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1931 > Part 5
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247 Children have received Immunization which was given by R. P. MacKnight, M. D., the district health officer assisted by Dr. Thompson and the district school nurses.
On November 5th the Schick test was given to 545 children of which 27 was positive. This work is greatly appreciated by the parents and the Board feel that it should be continued.
GARBAGE COLLECTION
The Garbage has been collected very satisfactorily as in the past three years.
We greatly appreciate the help R. P. MacKnight, M. D., the State District Health Officer has given us during the year. We also wish to thank the community nursing association and the school nurse for their valuable assistance.
Respectfully submitted,
BOARD OF HEALTH.
Report of the Inspector of Animals
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :
Following is the report of the Animal Inspector for the year ending December 31, 1931.
During the general inspection I visited 100 places, in- spected 1,104 animals, 700 dairy cows, 187 swine, 192 young stock, 23 bulls, 2 goats. I found 3 poor drainage, 5 poor ventilation, 3 barns unclean, 3 places stock unclean, 4 cows quarantined for tuberculosis were slaughtered were found badly affected, 25 dogs were quarantined, one positive case of rabies. (this dog had bitten no person). There is every indication of area tuberculin test to be applied to all cows in Fairhaven in the near future, possibly by March or April. A petition has been sent to Division of Animal In- dustry with the required amount of signers, 75 per cent of the cow owners in Fairhaven.
Respectfully submitted,
ALBERT L. AUSTIN,
Inspector.
Report of the Board of Sewer Commissioners
ORGANIZATION : G. W. Valentine, Chariman; John M. Reilly, Frank W. Morse, Clerk.
SEWER CONSTRUCTION: By vote of the Annual Town Meeting, held on February 14, 1931, a sewer was constructed in Adams Street north from Ash to Maple Streets, a distance of approximately 392 feet.
SEWER CONNECTIONS: During the year 1931 six connections were repaired and six new connections made, making a total of 1,418 connections now in use.
We respectfully ask for an appropriation of $9,300 for the year 1932, apportioned as follows: Maintenance $8,500, Salaries $600, Office Expense $200.
Respectfully submitted,
G. W. VALENTINE, JOHN M. REILLY, FRANK W. MORSE,
Sewer Commissioners.
Report of the Inspector of Shellfish
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :
The third annual report of the Inspector of Shellfish in Fairhaven is herewith respectfully submitted.
147 Quahog Permits issued $ 735.00
223 Scallop Permits
1,115.00
101 Assisting Scallop Permits
50.50
8 Fish Trap Permits
40.00
3 Dealers' Permits
75.00
2 Power Boat Permits
20.00
2 Grant Permits 104.00
Total to town Treasury $2,139.50
There were 12 arrests and convictions.
During the season when the contaminated areas were opened for the digging of quahogs there were approximately 7,000 barrels of the clams dug and planted at the Silver Shellfish Grant at Sconticut Neck for purification.
There were approximately 8,000 barrels of clean quahogs dug in Fairhaven waters also. Fairhaven had a poor scallop season this year, although there were 8,000 gallons dredged.
About 600 bushels of seed scallops and 25 bushels of seed oysters which had been brought ashore by the winds and tides, were picked up from the beaches and thrown back into deep waters.
The Town of Fairhaven purchased 14 barrels of seed quahogs which were planted in Fairhaven's clean waters.
Respectfully submitted,
LAWRENCE LIVESEY, JOSEPH C. SYLVIA, Inspector of Shellfish,
Report of Fairhaven Committee on Street and Highway Safety
Only two meetings were held during 1931. Due to cir- cumstances over which this Committee had no control, fur- ther meetings during 1931 were held to be inadvisable but we hope to work with renewed vigor in 1932.
Your Town has been entered in the National Traffic Safety Contest and we hope to carry away the honors in our class.
May we have your fullest co-operation in making Fair- haven free from accidents during 1932?
There were no expenditures during 1931.
We are asking for one hundred dollars which is the amount asked for last year.
Respectfully submitted,
THOMAS W. WHITFIELD, WALTER FRANCIS, RAYMOND BABBITT, HOWARD ODIORNE, E. PHILLIP OSBERG, WARREN C. DAVIS, Secretary, VICTOR O. B. SLATER, Chairman.
State Auditor's Report
June 20, 1931.
To the Board of Selectmen Mr. Isaac N. Babbitt, Chairman, Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Gentlemen :
I submit herewith my report of an audit of the accounts of the town of Fairhaven for the year ending December 31, 1930 made in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 44, General Laws. This report is in the form of a report made to me by Mr. Edward H. Fenton, Chief Accountant of this. Division.
Very truly yours, THEODORE N. WADDELL, Director of Accounts
TNW :CAB
Mr. Theodore N. Waddell, Director of Accounts, Department of Corporations and Taxation, State House, Boston.
Sir :
As directed by you, I have made an audit of the books and accounts of the town of Fairhaven for the year ending December 31, 1930, and submit the following report thereon :
The financial transactions of the town as recorded on the books of the several departments receiving or disbursing
114
money for the town were examined and reconciled with the records of the accounting officer.
The accounting officer's books and accounts were ex- amined in detail. The records of receipts were checked with the departmental reports to the accounting officer and with the treasurer's books, and the recorded disbursements were checked with the treasury warrants and with the records of payments in the treasurer's office.
The appropriation accounts were checked with the town clerk's records of town meetings, the ledger accounts were analyzed, the necessary correcting and adjusting entries were made, a trial balance was taken off, and a balance sheet, which is appended to this report, were prepared showing the finan- cial condition of the town on December 31, 1930.
The original vouchers and pay-rolls were examined and checked with the classification book and with the accounting officer's appropriation accounts.
The books and accounts of the town treasurer were examined and checked, the records of receipts being com- pared with the records of the several departments collecting money for the town, with the other sources from which money was paid into the town treasury, and with the records of the accounting officer. The payments were checked with the warrants authorizing the treasurer to disburse town funds and with the accounting officer's ledger accounts.
The cash balance was verified by a reconciliation with statements furnished by the several banks.
The savings bank books and securities, representing the investment of the various trust funds in the custody of the town treasurer, were examined and listed. The income was proved and the withdrawals and transactions were checked.
On examining the bank books, it was found that a bequest of $500 was invested without being reported by the treasurer in his general receipts. Receipts of all bequests should be recorded by the treasurer and reported to the ac-
115
counting officer ; and the investment of such bequests should be made only on a warrant by the selectmen.
It was further noted that an item of $526.42 represent- ing a savings bank dividend of the H. H. Rogers Elementary School Fund was paid to the treasurer on December 16, 1930, but was not entered on the treasurer's cash book until Janu- ary 10, 1931.
The income from the Henry H. Rogers High School Fund, as entered on the treasurer's books, was verified with a statement by the City Bank Farmer's Trust Company of New York, Trustees.
Appended to this report is a table showing a reconcilia- tion of the treasurer's cash, together with tables showing the transactions and condition of the several trust funds.
The books and accounts of the tax collector were ex- amined and checked. The commitments of taxes and assess- ments for 1930 and of motor vehicle excise taxes of 1930 were analayzed and verified with the warrants issued to the collector by the assessors. The cash books were footed, the recorded collections on all levies were checked with the com- mitment books, and the payments to the treasurer were com- pared with the records in the treasurer's office and with the accounting officer's books.
The abatements on account of taxes were checked and verified by a comparison with the records of abatements granted by the assessors, and the outstanding accounts were listed and proved.
A further verification of the outstanding accounts was made by mailing notices to a number of persons whose names appeared on the books as owing money to the town, the replies received thereto indicating that the accounts, as listed, are correct.
The collector's cash balance was verified by an actual count of the cash in the office and by a reconciliation of the bank account with a statement furnished by the National Bank of Fairhaven.
116
The records of tax titles held by the town were checked with the deeds on file. Attention is called to the recom- mendations made in previous audit reports to the effect that action, based on the results of an investigation begun in 1929 relative to the validity of tax titles on hand, should be taken toward an adjustment to the tax titles accounts.
The records of departmental accounts receivable were examined and checked, and the outstanding accounts were listed and compared with the amounts as shown on the ac- counting officer's books.
The records of the town clerk for dog and hunting and fishing licenses were examined and checked. The pay- ments to the county and state treasurers, respectively, were compared with the receipts on file, and the cash on hand was verified.
The records of the selectmen for licenses and permits granted, for town hall rentals, and for rentals and wharfage of Union Wharf were examined, and the payments to the treasurer were verified by a comparison with the treasurer's books.
The records of receipts of the building inspector, the sealer of weights and measures, and of the health and fire departments were examined, and the payments to the treas- urer were verified by a comparison with the treasurer's records.
The surety bonds of the treasurer, collector of taxes, assistant collector of taxes, and town clerk for the faithful performance of their duties were examined and found to be in proper form.
For the courtesies extended and the assistance rendered during the progress of the audit, I wish, on behalf of my assistants and for myself, to express appreciation.
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD H. FENTON,
Chief Accountant.
EHF:CAB
SCHOOL REPORT
OF THE
TOWN OF FAIRHAVEN
MASSACHUSETTS
FAIRH
EN
TO
ASS
INCORPO
TOWN HALL
22-1812.
TED
FEB
FOR THE
YEAR 1931
FAIRHAVEN STAR
School Committee
WILLIAM B. GARDNER
GEORGE F. BRALEY
MISS SARA B. CLARKE
MRS. ELLA H. BLOSSOM ORRIN B. CARPENTER
JAMES A. STETSON
Term expires 1932 Term expires 1932
Term expires 1933
Term expires 1933
Term expires 1934 Term expires 1934
Chairman WILLIAM B. GARDNER, 39 Union Street
Secretary and Superintendent of Schools CHARLES F. PRIOR, 30 Green Street
School Department Clerk MARION E. ROOS, 23 Bellevue Street
SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE HOURS
Town Hall
8:15-9:00 A. M .- Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
4:00-5:00 P. M .- Every school day unless absent on special business.
Open by appointment- Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:00.
The Superintendent's office is open with a clerk in charge daily from 9:00-12:00 and 1:30-5:00, except Saturdays, when it is open only in the forenoon.
Telephone call at Town Hall, Fairhaven-Clifford 3891. Telephone call at residence, 30 Green St.,-
Clifford 6714-W
School Calendar
1932
Monday, January 4
Monday, February 22
Schools re-open Washington's Birthday, (Holiday)
Friday, April 1
Schools close
Monday, April 11
Schools re-open
Tuesday, April 19
Patriot's Day (Holiday)
Monday, May 30
Memorial Day (Holiday)
Friday, June 24
Schools close
SUMMER VACATION
Monday, September 12
Wednesday, October 12
Friday, November 11
Wednesday noon, Nov. 23
Thanksgiving recess
Schools close
(Christmas vacation)
1933
Tuesday, January 3
Schools re-open
The signal at 7:15 A. M. indicates no forenoon session for any of the eight grades of the elementary schools.
The signal at 12 :45 noon indicates no afternoon session for any of the eight grades of the elementary schools.
The no-school signals do not apply to the High School.
Friday, December 23
Schools re-open
Columbus Day. (Holiday ) Armistice Day (Holiday)
Report of the School Committee
To the Citizens of Fairhaven :
The Annual Report of the School Committee for the year ending December 31, 1931 is presented herewith.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
(Elementary Schools)
RECEIPTS
Town Appropriation, 1931
$105,000.00
H. H. Rogers Trust Fund
4,631.04
Edmund Anthony, Jr., Trust Fund
455.06
Pease Fund
343.92
County Dog Fund
1,641.68
Incidentals ,
.90
$112,072.60
EXPENDITURES
General Control
$5,431.14
Superintendent's Salary
$3,949.92
Office Clerk
864.00
Atendance Officer
280.00
School Census
125.00
Miscellaneous
212.22
Instruction
$82,095.06
Teachers' Salaries
$76,947.78
Text Books
2,041.63
Supplies
3,105.65
5
Operation and Maintenance
$15,779.83
Janitors' Salaries
$7,163.92
Fuel
2,872.05
Building Supplies
2,793.80
Repairs
2,235.09
New Equipment
714.97
Other Agencies
$7,577.00
Transportation
$4,755.00
Health
1,964.40
Tuition
31.25
Insurance
826.35
Miscellaneous
$633.83
$111,516.86
Balance
$ 555.74
$112,072.60
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
(High School)
RECEIPTS
Town Appropriation
$28,100.00
H. H. Rogers Trust Fund Incidentals
27,085.83
.73
$55,186.56
6
EXPENDITURES
Instruction
$41,374.77
Teachers' Salaries
$37,269.32
Text Books
1,788.14
Supplies
2,317.31
Operation and Maintenance
$10,835.81
Janitors' Salaries
$5,712.42
Fuel
1,568.12
Building Supplies
1,801.84
Repairs
848.68
New Equipment
904.75
Other Agencies
$700.00
Health
$325.00
Insurance
375.00
Miscellaneous
$844.46
$53,755.04
Balance
$ 1,431.52
$55,186.56
REPAIRS
The following is a partial list of the many repairs made during the year :
HIGH SCHOOL
Re-newing and repairing window shades throughout the building.
Installation of radiator in room formerly used for printing.
7
Tinting and varnishing walls of the same to prepare it for use as a recitation room. Forty chairs were also purchased for this purpose.
Re-painting window seats as needed in the building.
Repairing toilets.
Repairing boilers and straightening up piping in the lunch- room.
Repairing electric clock system.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Re-painting exterior of two portable schools and of the Oxford and Anthony Schools.
Setting of over $100.00 worth of glass at Oxford, Anthony and Rogers Schools. This was almost entirely broken through use of playgrounds when the schools were not in session.
Re-placing three outside doors and repairing others at Job C. Tripp School.
Repairing boiler at Tripp School as per directions of Boiler Inspector.
Making new netted window frames and re-placing decayed window sills on east side of Anthony School.
Repairing leaks in toilets, faucets, and bubblers at same school.
Re-grading and draining yard at Oxford School.
Purchase of fan and re-arrangement of piping of toilets at Oxford School. This was done by order of State Building Inspector.
Under directions from the same source, an additional door was cut through to the boys' toilet at East Fairhaven ;
8
rails were placed on lower stairways at the Rogers School; wiring was changed at Rogers and Washington St. Schools.
New steps and platform at Oxford School.
Sanding and shellacking 160 seats and desks at Washing- ton St. School.
Changing over and repairing piping at East Fairhaven.
Repairing chairs at Anthony, Job C. Tripp and Washing- ton St. Schools.
Repairing plastering of two rooms at Tripp School. In this connection your Committee wishes to state that a condition exists that may become such as to require rather radicals changes. The floors, doors, and plaster- ing of the Tripp School indicate that the building is settling. Excavation for the foundation was apparently not deep enough in certain places to reach a hard bottom when the building was erected. How to remedy this may become a difficult problem.
THE NEW BUILDING
The outstanding event of the year has been, of course, the erection and opening of the new building. The School Com- mittee feels that excellent value has been received for the money invested in this by the town. It realizes, also, more strongly than ever the wisdom of having built at this time. In the preliminary study made before the Committee asked the town for the addition, it was predicted that in September 1931 there would be 475 pupils in the high school. The actual membership became 501 before the end of the first school month of the current year. With the eighth grade, there were then 654 pupils. The graduates in June 1932 will number 75, the present eighth grade has in it 153, and the seventh grades now number 208. It is practically certain, therefore, that the five year high school, as the new organiz- ation is called, will number more than 700 pupils next
9
September. It is probable that this may be the peak of membership for several years as the graduating classes from the high school will from now on tend to become larger. However, enrollment in the sixth and fifth grades indicates that even if the town does not grow there will be no material reduction in number of pupils for several years. The first grade membership this year, in common with that the country over, shows a small decrease, but the 1931 census of children in Fairhaven taken in October shows an increase of 150 between the ages of five and fifteen as compared with the registration last year. The total is greater than in any other year since the annual census was required. How much of this increase is due to the exceptionally thorough way in which the census was taken is impossible to determine.
FINANCES
By economizing in various directions your Committee is returning to the town nearly $2,000.00 of the appropriation for schools. Part of this saving was effected because the number of illiterate minors between sixteen and twenty-one decreased to the point where the law did not compel the maintenance of an evening school this year. This usually costs about $350.00. Furthermore, there was received from the H. H. Rogers Trust Fund for the high school, $900.00 more than usual. It is not expected that this increase will continue. It was thought possible to do fairly efficient work by the employment of only two more teachers at the high school, thus saving the salary of a third for four months. Three additional teachers had been provided for in the bud- get. The Committee has made the repairs partially listed above and purchased considerable new equipment made necessary by the change in organization of the schools. It feels fortunate, therefore, to have been able to live within its means and to return so much to the general treasury.
In making out the budget for next year the Committee is asking for the same appropriation as for the year just
10
closed. We feel that an increase in this sum would be highly desirable if business conditions warranted it, and that a decrease would mean a serious impairment of efficiency. School costs in Fairhaven have been for many years com- paratively low. Teachers' salaries which are a large item of the total have not been raised here to equal the average for the state nor the average for towns and cities of the same size. The salaries of principals and supervisors in- creased per pupil expenditure throughout the state during the ten years from 1920-21 to 1930-31, thirty-three percent. They increased in Fairhaven barely eighteen percent and they were very low previously.
A careful examination of the table of comparative ex- penditures found in the report of the Superintendent of Schools will, we believe, lead to the conviction that our schools are being run as economically as is consistent with a fairly high standard of achievement and that we are getting fully the value of what we should expect.
BUDGET FOR 1932 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Estimated for 1932
Expended in 1931 $ 5,431.14
General Control
$ 5,522.00
Instruction
82,400.00
82,095.06
Operation and Maintenance
16,253.00
15,779.83
Other Agencies
7,275.00
7,577.00
Sundries
600.00
633.83
$112,050.00
$111,516.86
Unexpended
555.74
112,072.60
From outside sources
7,050.00
7,072.60
Appropriation required
$105,000.00
$105,000.00
11
BUDGET FOR 1932 HIGH SCHOOL
Estimated
for 1932
Instruction
$42,380.00
Expended in 1931 $41,374.77 10,835.81
Operation and Maintenance
10,520.00
Other Agencies Sundries
700.00
700.00
800.00
844.46
$54,400.00
$53,755.04
From H. H. Rogers Trust Fund $26,300.00
$27,085.83
Appropriation required
28,100.00
28,100.00
Until this year the members of your Committee have re- ceived annually twenty-five dollars each for services rendered. A recent interpretation of the law makes it illegal for a town in Fairhaven's class to authorize any pay for its Com- mittee. During the year eleven regular and three special meetings have been held in addition to numerous meetings of the Building Committee. Individual members have given also considerable time to the investigation of needs for re- pairs in various buildings. Careful consideration has been given by your Committee to many problems involving the care of school property, the expenditure of the town's money and the welfare of the children. The compensation for such service has always been so small as to be almost negligible. There is, however, a certain satisfaction in serving the in- terests of the children, the education of whom is the town's most important industry.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM B. GARDNER, Chairman, JAMES A. STETSON, MISS SARA B. CLARKE, MRS. ELLA H. BLOSSOM, ORRIN B. CARPENTER, GEORGE F. BRALEY,
Fairhaven School Committee.
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee of Fairhaven :
Herewith is submitted the twentieth annual report of the present Superintendent of Schools :
ATTENDANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
The total membership for the year ending June 1931 was 2,152; the average membership 2,097; the average attend- ance 1,982; the percentage of attendance 94.5.
The actual membership of the schools on December 1st, 1931 was 2,180 as compared with 2,110 of the same date last year.
The school census taken in October resulted in the registration of 2,510 children between the ages of five and sixteen. This is an increase of 150 over the number found in 1930 and is the largest number since the annual census was required to be taken in October.
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
2441
2482
2345
2320
2360
2510
13
COMPARATIVE COST OF FAIRHAVEN SCHOOLS
The public is always interested in the financial aspect of education and today more than ever. There is need of genuine economy everywhere. It is a time, therefore, when taxpayers are scrutinizing critically every expenditure for public service. They are justified in doing so. Inasmuch as the appropriation for schools is the largest single item for the annual budget, it is natural to question whether money can be saved in this direction. This is entirely proper and, if it can be saved, school departments should cooperate by preventing waste. In any proposed program of reducing costs it should be remembered, however, that "education is no benevolence and no charity. It is the only tax-supported instrument society has to perpetuate and to improve the democracy to which we are devoted." With this point of view the taxpayer will not advocate reduction of the appro- priation merely because some other community has made one. He will seek to know whether in his own town costs have unduly increased ; whether economy is being practiced, and whether the results which schools are maintained to secure will be seriously impaired by spending less in this direction. With these things in mind citizens are asked to consider the facts in the following tables. Similar ones have been pre- sented in previous reports. These are for the school year ending June 30, 1931, the last complete year for which statistics are available.
Your attention is called to the following explanations :
The per pupil costs include both elementary and high school and all expenditures from funds as well as from taxation.
Group Two refers to all towns in the state with a population of five thousand or over.
14
Comparative Cost of Schools (Year ending June, 1931)
Fair-
State Group II haven Average Average 1930-31
Per pupil cost of General Control, in- cluding salaries and expenses of School Committee and Supt.
$3.84
$3.35
$2.65
Per pupil cost of salaries of supervisors, principals and teachers
69.92
64.50
55.35
Per pupil cost of text books
1.59
1.90
1.42
Per pupil cost of other expenses of instruction
3.10
3.08
1.47
Per pupil cost of operation of school plant, including janitor service, fuel, etc ....
10.85
10.87
9.69
Per pupil cost of repairs, replacement and upkeep
5.08
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