USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > Town annual reports of Acton, Massachusetts 1911-1915 > Part 20
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Feb. 19. Washington exercises, one hour.
April 16. Patriots' Day exercises, one hour.
May 28. Memorial Day exercises, one hour.
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, Thanks- giving 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.
Arbor Day occurs on the last Saturday in April, and is not a legal holiday.
Flag Day occurs on June 14, and is not a legal holiday. It should be observed by any school then in session.
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SCHOOL OFFICERS AND TEACHERS
School Committee
Edwin A. Phalen, Chairman
Term expires 1914
Samuel A. Christie Term expires 1915
Bertram E. Hall, Secretary
Term expires 1916
Superintendent
Frank H. Hill, Residence, Littleton, Mass. Telephone No. 36-3 Littleton
Attendance Officers
Robert Randall, Address, South Acton Thomas Scanlon, Address, West Acton Asaph Parlin, Address, Acton Center.
Janitors
Fred S. Glines, Address, South Acton Thomas Scanlon, Address, West Acton Asaph Parlin, Address, Acton Center.
Teachers in Service February 1, 1914
Name
Martha Smith Ella Miller Minnie Gamble Elizabeth Hinckley Julia McCarthy Jennie Stowell Bertha B. McLean Harriet H. Gardner Agnes C. Greenhalge
Eula S. Taylor Alice M. Genthner Marion C. Taylor
Position
Center Primary
Center Intermediate
Center Grammar
South Lower Primary
South Upper Primary
South Intermediate
1907
Fitchburg Normal
South Grammar West Primary
West Intermediate
West Grammar
Supervisor of Music
1910
Supervisor of Drawing 1912
Appointed Educated
1902
Lowell Normal
1899 Framingham Normal
1905 Woburn Training
1909 Hyannis Normal
1906 Fitchburg Normal
1910 Eastern College, Va. 1889 Ayer, Mass. 1912 Fitchburg Normal
1909 Mt. Holyoke College N. E. Con. of Music Mass. Normal Art
Home Address
Acton, Mass. North Acton, Mass. Woburn, Mass. Hyannis, Mass. South Acton, Mass. South Acton, Mass. Graniteville, Vt. West Acton, Mass. Maynard, Mass. South Acton, Mass. Foxcroft, Me. Acton, Mass.
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STANDING RULES
*Rule 1. Children under five years shall not be admitted to the public schools.
Rule 2. Pupils shall be promoted from grade to grade and school to school, according to merit. Thorough and satisfactory work will be required of pupils in a lower grade or school before entering a higher grade or school.
Rule 3. Children who have not previously attended any school shall be admitted to the public schools only at the beginning of the fall term.
Rule 4. Pupils shall be held responsible for books loaned to them until returned to the teacher.
Rule 5. No repairs shall be made upon the public , property in the care of the school committee, except by their authorized agents.
Rule 6. There shall be no signal for "no school" on stormy or other inclement days, but parents shall determine in their individual cases whether it is expedient to send their children to, school or not.
*When the birthday of a child falls on or before the 15th day of the month it is reckoned as falling upon the first day of that month.
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GENERAL REPORT
On April 5th, 1913, the committee met and organized. Mr. E. A. Phalen was chosen chairman, and B. E. Hall, secretary.
The committee voted to hold monthly meetings and this plan was carried out through the year. Superintendent of Schools Frank H. Hill has been present at all of our meet- ings and has given us valuable assistance.
During the summer vacation, water systems were installed in the West and Center schools. It was the opinion of the committeeman from South Acton that this expense was not necessary for the South school this year.
Pursuant to a vote at the last town meeting, the com- mittee has taken up with the Avon Home the matter of reimbursement for out-of-town scholars attending our schools. A bill has been rendered and a satisfactory settlement is expected.
At the meeting on June 6th, 1913, Superintendent Hill reported that of the twenty-six pupils who would enter high school in the fall, only six had chosen the college pre- paratory or scientific courses. The committee deemed it inadvisable to continue the expense of a local high school for six pupils and it was therefore voted to send all high school scholars to Concord.
Since our last report, the town of Concord has increased the price of tuition from $55.00 to $70.00 per pupil; this,
8
together with the increase in the number of pupils and the cost of transportation, has raised the total cost of high school instruction to the very large amount of approximately $7,000.00 for the year.
Superintendent Hill in his report, has entered into the high school situation at some length. The committee unani- mously endorse his views of the matter and feel that some definite action should be taken towards the establishment of a high school in Acton.
Following is a detailed report of the receipts and disbursements from February 1st, 1913, to March 1st, 1914 (13 months), and an estimate of the expenses for the ensuing year.
2
9
ESTIMATES FOR THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1914-1915
For general expenses :
Salaries and other expenses of the committee $125.00
Salaries and other expenses of the superintendent and truant officers 250.00
For expenses of instruction :
Tuition of pupils attending Con- cord 6,000.00
Salaries of elementary school teachers 5,500.00
For textbooks :
For elementary schools it is antici- pated that the amount to be received from dog tax will cover this.
For stationery and supplies :
Common schools 350.00
For expenses of operating school plants :
Wages of janitors, fuel and mis- cellaneous expenses 1,950.00
Maintenance and repairs
250.00
For auxiliary agencies :
Health 50.00
For transportation :
High school scholars 2,000.00
Elementary scholars 1,775.00
Total
$18,250.00
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RECEIPTS ON ACCOUNT OF SCHOOLS FOR FISCAL
YEAR 1913-1914
Appropriations
For general expenses :
Salaries and other expenses of the committee $125.00
Salaries and other expenses of the superintendent and truant officers 250.00
For expenses of instruction :
Salaries of high school teachers including tuition of pupils at- tending Concord 6,000.00
Salaries of elementary school For textbooks :
teachers 5,000.00
High school-(It is anticipated that the amount to be re- ceived from dog tax will cover this item) nothing
Elementary schools-(It is anti- cipated that the amount to be received from dog tax will cover this item) nothing
For stationery and supplies :
High school 25.00
Elementary schools 350.00
11
For expenses of operating school plants : Wages of janitors, fuel, miscella- neous expenses 1,925.00
Maintenance and repairs upon school buildings and grounds, 250.00
For auxiliary agencies :
Health 50.00
For transportation of scholars :
High school
1,750.00
Elementary 1,775.00
Special appropriation for water $250.00: Amount used 247.70
Outside sources :
Tuition 109.70
From state for supervision 343.75
Income Mass. school fund
1,238.35
Income Mass. school fund, balance 1913 1,014.96
Dog tax
301.65
Town of Concord, return tuition,
28.80
B. & M. R. R. Co., rebate on scholar's ticket 1.74
Total receipts $20,786.65
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DISBURSEMENTS
General Expenses
School Committee
Salaries : Paid A. B. Parker, balance due $12.50
B. E. Hall, secretary 50.00
$62.50
Miscellaneous :
Paid Wright & Potter Printing Co.,
stationery 1.25
A. B. Parker, telephone .65
$1.90
Superintendent of Schools and Enforcement of Law
Salaries :
Paid Frank H. Hill, superintendent. . $595.79
Robert L. Randall, truant officer, 18.00
Asaph Parlin, truant officer . 6.50
Marion C. Taylor, taking census, 15.00
$635.29
Miscellaneous : Paid Frank H. Hill, telephone, postage and stationery $15.55
J. L. Hammett Co., stationery. . . 3.24
$18.79
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Expense of Instruction
Salaries-High School :
Paid Town of Concord, tuition of high
school scholars $4,905.50
City of Lowell tuition of indus- trial school 200.00
Alice N. MacIntyre
285.00
Marion C. Taylor
9.08
Alice M. Genthner
8.52
$5.408.10
Elementary Schools :
Paid Harriet H. Gardner $634.50
E. Sophia Taylor
567.00
Agnes C. Greenhalgh 528.00
Bertha B. McLean
588.00
Jennie E. Stowell
567.00
Julia L. McCarthy
567.00
Elizabeth A. Hinckley
567.00
Martha F. Smith 567.00
Ella L. Miller
561.60
Minnie Gamble
561.60
Alice M. Genthner
212.58
Marion C. Taylor
210.92
$6,132.20
Text Books
High School :
Paid Boston School Supply Co. $15.63
Edward E. Babb & Co. 7.50
$23.13
14
Elementary Schools :
Paid Edward E. Babb & Co. $122.60
J. L. Hammett Co. 62.48
Boston School Supply Co. 36.77
American Book Co. 10.00
Ginn & Co. 24.28
Silver, Burdett & Co.
8.13
The A. M. Palmer Co.
37.60
Johnson, Bladgen & McTurnan, Inc. 1.95
Fred S. Glines
.70
$304.51
Stationery and Supplies
High School :
Paid Boston School Supply Co. . 14
J. L. Hammett Co. 4.34
C. C. Birchard & Co. 4.42
Fred S. Glines .25
$9.15
Elementary Schools :
Paid Edward E. Babb & Co. $59.59
J. L. Hammett Co. 264.97
C. L. Chase & Son
12.00
Silver. Burdett & Co.
.88
American Book Co.
.77
C. C. Birchard & Co.
.17
Ginn & Co.
5.33
Oliver Ditson Co.
3.54
Boston School Supply Co.
17.92
Henry C. Doughty
39.50
Curtis Standard Tests
4.73
A. N. Palmer Co.
8.00
Fred S. Glines
9.90
Thomas Scanlon
1.90
Bertha B. McLean
.76
Martha F. Smith
.30
$430.26
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Expenses of Operating School Plants
Wages of Janitors
High School :
Paid Thomas Scanlon
$16.00 $16.00
Elementary Schools :
Paid Fred S. Glines
$430.00
Thomas Scanlon 248.00
Asaph Parlin
301.00
$979.00
Fuel-Elementary :
Paid Geo. H. Reed
$578.31
So. Acton Coal & Lumber Co 45.52
Thomas E. Downie
17.25
Town of Acton, overseer of poor,
22.50
Wm. H. Kingsley
9.00
L. W. Richardson
6.00
A. H. Perkins
5.00
$683.58
Miscellaneous-High : Paid West and So. Acton Water Sup-
ply District
$1.50
Thomas Scanlon 3.25
Fred S. Glines . 64
O. E. Houghton
. 62
Geo. B. Robbins Dis. Co.
.18
$6.19
Elementary : Paid West and So. Acton Water Sup- ply District
$33.50
American Woolen Co. 13.65
Tuttle & Newton 12.37
M. E. Taylor & Co.
17.88
16
G. E. Greenough 6.00
O. E. Houghton
6.18
· Geo. B. Robbins Dis. Co. 1.82
Thomas Scanlon
39.35
Asaph Parlin
44.33
Fred S. Glines
78.45
$253.53
Maintenance
Repairs
High :
Paid Thomas Scanlon
$.75 $.75
Elementary :
Paid Thomas Scanlon
$12.75
Asaph Parlin
1.00
E. T. Rice
20.50
S. A. Coal & Lumber Co.
3.51
Penn. Metal Co.
75.00
Hall Bros. Co.
4.31
E. A. Phalen
27.75
Davis King Co.
4.00
Andrew Dutton Co.
7.00
John S. Hoar
1.00
E. Z. Stanley
12.85
Chas. H. Persons
4.00
West and So. Acton Water Sup-
pły District
28.18
Auxiliary Agencies
$201.85
Health
Paid Geo. B. Robbins Disinfecting Co. $62.00
Thomas Scanlon
2.25
$64.25
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Transportation
High School :
Paid Boston & Maine R. R. Co. .
$1,437.40
N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. Co. 358.70
T. E. Hardy 6.30
Hazel White
12.30
Frank A. Merriam
14.90
M. J. Foley 13.88
Walter E. Hayward 6.85
Herbert W. Merriam 7.00
Helen Hardy
7.50
Willis H. Daisey
9.00
Geo. Hodgen 7.00
E. H. Carey
11.00
Marion H. Gibbs
13.00
Michael Ennergess
9.00
Arthur S. Lowden
9.00
Hazel Hoit
14.63
Dora Fletcher
13.50
Patrick Foley
9.00
H. F. Robbins
127.00
$2,086.96
Lowell Industrial :
Paid Boston & Maine R. R. Co.
$4.00
N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. Co. 76.75
Kate W. Sawyer
9.46
$90.21
Elementary :
Paid Jens Mekkelsen $560.00
W. M. French
300.00
Chas. Edwards
554.00
A. Christoffenson
288.00
$1,702.00
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Outlays
New Equipment :
Paid S. A. Coal & Lumber Co.
$9.88
E. Z. Stanley 124.17
Patrick O'Neil
4.50
A. H. Perkins
19.35
E. T. Rice
89.80
$247.70
$19,357.85
Total receipts
$20,786.65
Total disbursements
19,357.85
Balance unexpended
$1,428.80
Respectfully submitted,
EDWIN A. PHALEN, SAMUEL A. CHRISTIE, BERTRAM E. HALL,
Acton, March 10, 1914.
Committee.
19
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
Members of the Committee :
Following is my fourth report, it being the twenty- second in the series of such annual reports.
My purpose is to make this report of informational value, through statistics and an enumeration of the differ- ent lines of activity that have made the present year an exceedingly busy one for superintendent. teachers and pupils.
AIMS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
1. To place in the hands of each teacher in the grades at more or less regular intervals definite instructions as to the work to be done and the manner of doing it. Also, to check up this work according as having been done well, poorly, or not at all. He has sent out four such outlines to each grade below the seventh, and two to the seventh and eighth grades, since September. He has carefully checked the work twice. The result has been to put him in possession of definite information as to the progress of the work and to stimulate the teacher to more painstaking ef- forts along the lines he believes to be essential.
2. To bring about a balanced programme wherein the moral, patriotic, physical, social, mental (intellectual and aesthetic) qualities of the children shall be developed in proper proportions and in harmony with modern ideals. To this end memory gems, patriotic exercises, physical exer- cises, inspection for cleanliness, instruction in hygiene. pic- ture study, directed outside reading, local history, study of the weather map, fire drills, etc., have been made an es- sential part of all the outlines.
3. To emphasize the essentials. Daily drills are re-
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quired in the four fundamental processes in arithmetic, and, to secure uniform thoroughness, Thompson's Minimum Essentials have been provided for all the schools. Through the same medium drills in language fix the proper use of words and expressions so often mutilated by the children, in and out of school. Palmer Method drills in writing are required daily, and this system will soon begin to demon- strate its value, as it has already done in the towns under my supervision where it has been used longer. It was put into the schools here at the opening of the fall term of this school year.
4. To visit no school without a definite purpose, re- garding inspection as incidental, relating to the work of the school or to some problem affecting its welfare. These purposes are too numerous to classify. Only occasionally, I am happy to state, have they been required to settle dif- feronces between teachers and parents.
5. To know as much as possible about those depart- ments of the schools not directly under his care. I give here a few important facts collected from ten barge drivers in this superintendency district. The average cost of trans- portation per pupil is 75 cents. The highest cost in any barge is $1.00. The lowest cost is 45 cents. One barge driver reports that his barge has been delayed by pupils detained after school, or children on his route have been compelled to walk home by reason of such detention, 25 times. The aggregate of all other cases reported is seven. The average distance from the school to the point where barges are not required to take on pupils is one and one- half miles. Two take on children one-half mile from the school-house, and two report this distance as more than two miles. The average time of the barges on the road after beginning to take on pupils is 53.5 minutes. The shortest time is 35 minutes, the longest, 90 minutes.
6. To keep such records as may be necessary to en- able him to do the work without waste of time and energy. In accomplishment, this is the least satisfactory of his en- deavors this year. There should be available in his office a
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complete record of every pupil from the time he enters school until he arrives at the age of 21 years, showing the kind of work he does after leaving school, and the compen- . sation, when possible. Out of such a record as this might well grow a complete reorganization of the school system adapted to the needs of the community. Any reorganiza- tion not based on such information is likely to be theoreti- cal and useless.
7. To keep his correspondence up to date. He has re- ceived 91 communications from the State Board of Educa- tion, 54 from the Department of the Interior and public in- stitutions of Massachusetts, besides uncounted letters from teachers and other sources. Many of these communications have asked for information that has taken hours to collect, classify and forward. He has written 1023 letters in the performance of this work alone.
8. To know with some degree of accuracy what is being done in other school systems. through conventions, visitations, town reports, professional reading, etc. He has attended six conventions or conferences, and visited three school systems since September.
9. To visit the schools often enough to keep in sympa- thetic touch with the progress of the work. In the school vear ending February 1, he has visited the 40 rooms in this district an aggregate of 978 times, and the 11 rooms in Acton an aggregate of 279 times. The schools visited oftenest throughout the district receive the shortest time per visit. In most schools a half-hour would be a fair aver- age. In many, requiring special help, he has stayed as long as two hours.
A COURSE OF STUDY
The direct result of the aim first enumerated will be a course of study which I hope to have ready for the approval of the committees in April. There will then be no further necessity to pursue this line of work, except so much of it as relates to checking results. In checking. my method has
22
been, not to ask the teacher what has been done, but to let individual pupils demonstrate it. We have worked for the essentials, and to give power in expressing and doing. We have accomplished much, and failed in part. Failures are as convincing as successes and I am sure the course of study will get benefit from both.
VISITS BY PARENTS.
It would be an inspiration to our schools if more parents visited them. I wish they would do so, and ask to see the work in oral arithmetic, oral language, reading, writing and spelling. Children like to show what they can do. They like an audience, though that audience be only one person. A visitor quickens a teachers' perception of her own faults. He will not see perfection, or near-perfection, but he will see earnest striving and some attainment.
THE TEACHERS
We are fortunate to retain our teachers for so long a time that their service reaches its highest value to the schools. They do not have to learn what we are trying to do, but the best way to do it. I commend our teachers for faithful, loyal and efficient work.
SCHOOL SAVINGS
Elsewhere in this report is an account of the school savings system recently instituted in South and West Acton. As soon as a practicable way of getting the funds from the school to the bank has been devised, it is expected that the school savings plan will be started in Acton Center. It is not the amount of collections that we are striving for, but rather to extend the habit of saving to as large a per- centage of the pupils as possible.
THE HIGH SCHOOL PROBLEM
In round numbers the cost of providing the high school
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pupils of Acton a single year's education in Concord is $7000. The two items of expense are tuition at $70 per pupil and transportation. Two first-class assistants or a very good principal could be secured for the cost of trans- portation alone. In the following tables I shall show some facts concerning towns that are in the same class with Acton that ought to be considered in determining the policy of this town in the final disposition of this problem.
I.
Town
Population
No. Cost, Valuation Pupils Support
Douglas
2.152
$1,378.758
30
$1.881
Per Pupil $63.00
Holden
2,147
1,781,958
61
3,587
59.00
Shirley
2,139
1,254.941
37
2,224
60.00
ACTON
2,136
2,425.330
85
7,000
83.00
Williamsburg
2,132
1.080,869
61
2,176
36.00
Harwich
2,115
1,487,644
58
4,184
72.00
II.
Town
Valuation
No. Pupils
Cost. Support $2.000
Per Pupil
Deerfield
$2.349,851
103
$19.00
Shrewsbury
2,401,257
52
3.607
69.00
Marshfield
2.661,386
49
2,872
58.00
ACTON
2,425,330
85
7,000
83.00
III.
State
Number Pupils in High School
71,583
Acton 85
Cost-Support in High School
$4.292.395.00
$7.000.00
Cost-Per Pupil in High School
59.00
83.00
The first table groups six towns of practically the same population. The second groups four towns of practically the same valuation. The third table compares Acton with the state as a whole. In each table it appears that the per capita cost is considerably larger than that required in other towns for the support of high school advantages.
Acton has about 300 pupils in the elementary schools. or nearly four times as many as in the high school. The total cost of the support of these elementary schools is about $12.000, or less than twice the cost of supporting one-fourth the number of pupils in the high school. The average cost
24
per pupil in the elementary schools of Acton is $40.00. The average in the state is $38.91. The average cost in the towns of Group I. is $30.48. In the towns of Group II., it is $33.16. It will thus be seen that Acton is extremely liberal in its support of the elementary schools. Is there not some reason for the feeling in some quarters that in the support of the high school membership Acton is not only liberal, but rather, extravagant ?
The courses decided upon by the pupils about to enter the high school last fall seem to justify the committee in closing the high school in West Acton. A glance at the table of pupils in Concord high school-those to graduate in 1917-will show this conclusively.
I do not yield to any one in my loyalty to the high school as an institution. It is the crowning effort of a town's people to endow their children with all the advantages that shall make for a larger, broader, happier life, and equip them with the qualities and the resources that will enable them to meet successfully the severe competition that they are sure to encounter when they go out to win their way in the world of men and machines. But I urge upon you and the people of Acton the value of a high school within the town, and my firm belief that a first-class institution of this kind could be maintained within Acton at a cost much less than you are now meeting without the town. I hope the matter will not be lost sight of in the coming town meeting. and that a thorough and impartial investigation of the cost of building and maintaining such a school as will meet all necessary modern requirements will be authorized without delay.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion I wish to extend my thanks to the teach- ers who have been so loyal and efficient, and to the com- mittee who have been so ready to assist in all propositions looking to the good of the schools.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANK H. HILL,
Acton, March 7, 1914. Superintendent of Schools.
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REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
To the Superintendent of Schools, Acton, Mass .:
I herewith submit my fourth annual report on music in the public schools of Acton, Mass.
In the primary grades, the outline of work is practically the same as last year varied by new songs.
Our first aim in Grade 1 is to develop in the child the ability to hear and imitate tones correctly, teaching phrase by phrase, the rote songs that are within their understand- ing.
When they are able to follow correctly, we begin with tones of the scale, placing a picture of the same in notes on the staff. Next comes the development of time, taught by first-time motion or "one tone to a beat, slow and steady," and represented by the quarter-note, then the quarter-rest and two-beat note.
By mid-year the first grades are able to sing diatonic exercises from the board. For work in Grades 1 and 2 a carefully selected list of exercises containing certain inter- vals in different keys (from Introductory Sight Singing Melodies) is placed in the hands of the teacher.
At the beginning of the third year, First Readers are given the children; a few songs and many exercises in the first nine keys are studied from Part 1 and later on, from Part 2 are introduced, second-time motion and the two in- termediates, sharp four and flat seven.
The Intermediate Grades are required to cover more ground than any others. We study during the 4th, 5th and 6th years: third and fourth time motions or types in dif- ferent combinations, all the intermediate tones or names of
26
sharps and flats, beside a continual review of keys and the introduction of two-part music from Second Reader.
Thus far this year we have been able to accomplish more, where the grouping of grades was the same, than last year at this time.
The grammar grades are taking three-part work from Fourth Readers, spending the latter half of the year in the study of formations of relative minor keys, learning to distinguish major from minor, when sung or played.
These grades are also required to study bass clef so that the boys may be able to sing more readily on entering a high school chorus.
Since the Acton high school has been discontinued, I have divided some of the octavo music used by the chorus last year among the seventh and eighth grades of the three schools and these selections add to the interest of the classes.
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