USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Harwich > Town annual reports of the selectmen and overseers of the poor of the town of Harwich 1945 > Part 6
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Article 96. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money to be used with whatever State and County funds are available under Chapter 90 Road Construction and act fully thereon.
Article 97. To see if the Town will vote to raise and
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appropriate a sum of money to be used to renovate the heat- ing system in the Exchange Building and act fully thereon.
Hereof, fail not and make returns of this Warrant with your doings thereon at the time and place of said meeting.
Given under our hands the 3rd day of January, 1946. CHARLES D. HOLMES. CHARLES T. CHASE, HOWARD C. CAHOON, Selectmen of Harwich.
A true copy : ATTEST :
....... ... ..... Constable.
,
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
AND THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Town of Harwich MASSACHUSETTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1945
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ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEAR 1945
School Committee
Norman E. Holmes, Chairman
Wilbur H. Crowell J. Howard Doane
Term Expires 1947 Term Expires 1948
Term Expires 1946
Superintendent of Schools Charles HI. Pratt, A. M.
School Physicians John P. Nickerson, M. D. Arthur J. D'Elia, M. D.
School Nurse Adelyn J. Peabody, R. N.
Supervisor of Attendance
Charles S. Smith
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FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Expended in 1945
Needed
in 1946
General Control: School Committee
Superintendent of Schools
Enforcement of Law-Salaries
$2,332.22
Office Expenses
359.64
$2,691.86
$2,620.00
Instruction :
Supervisors
1,729.84
Principals and Teachers
30,293.70
Textbooks
977.12
Supplies
751.48
33,752.14
36,192.00
Operation:
Janitors
4,870.72
Fuel
3,045.76
Electricity, Water, Gas
and Janitor's Supplies
1,602.37
9,518.85
9,808.00
Maintenance:
Repairs, Replacement and Upkeep
1,356.50
1,356.50
1,200.00
Auxiliary Agencies:
Libraries
81.75
Health
352.44
Transportation
4,800.00
Athletics, Graduation, Lunch
Supplies and Cooks, Senior Class Service, Phone,
Films, etc.
11,971.61
17,205.80
17,680.00
Outlay : New Grounds and Buildings
New Equipment
3,000.00
Total
$64,525.15
$70,500.00
Appropriated for 1945
$63.050.00
Refunds
3.40
$63,053.40
Expended in 1945
$64.525.15
Appropriation
63.053.40
Deficit
$1,471.75
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NET COST OF SCHOOLS
$64,525.15
Received in 1945:
Mass. General School
Fund Part I
$3,610.00
City of Boston:
Tuition
$1,090.08
Transportation
129.30
1,219.38
Commonwealth of Mass. Tuition
142.58
Town of Chatham: Telephone
27.19
Town of Eastham:
Telephone
10.08
Town of Orleans:
45.60
Sales of Lunches - High
4,304.27
Sales of Lunches - Elem.
$4,080.88
Federal Subsidy - Elem.
1,127.37
City of Boston
Paid for lunches
108.00
Salvation Army
73.80
5,390.05
Rent of H. S. Auditorium
10.00
Sale of old furniture
116.00
Damaged Property
18.00
Shop Supplies Sold
13.11
Telephone Toll Calls:
Superintendent's Office
$5.20
High School
2.02
7.22
14,913.48
Net Cost of Schools in 1945
$49,611.67
Vocational Education
1945 Budget Expended
$500.00
318.00
Unexpended balance
$182.00
Paid for lunches
Expenditures for 1945
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REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Charles H. Pratt, A. M.
To the School Committee of Harwich :
The following is submitted as the Annual School Report for the year 1945 :
Comparison of the school membership October 1, 1945 shows an increase of twenty-two over last year. Reference to the Tabular Statement by Grades on another page of this report shows that two hundred and twenty enrollment of the first six grades compared with an enrollment of one hundred and forty-seven in grades seven to twelve inclusive, forecasts a larger membership in the high school as these grades annually progress. The cessation of hostilities and return of military personnel to civilian life should increase the time that youth will remain in school. It is with a con- siderable degree of confidence that we feel able to forecast future increase of school attendance and plan for a. construc- tive school program adapted to the need.
The basic requirement is to secure and retain the best teachers that can be found. The comparison of salaries paid to teachers as shown on another page with the salaries re- ported in previous years indicates that there has been some increase in the salary rates. In May 1944 an attempt was made to adopt a satisfactory salary schedule. At that time a maximum of $1,600. was voted for women teachers in grades one to six and $1,800. for women teachers in grades seven to twelve; these maxima to be reached by annual in- crements of $100., beginning with the amounts specified in the contracts in force at that time. While these figures fol- lowed the general trend of salaries, in my opinion they are not sufficient to meet the present need. We have at times failed to secure the services of what appeared to be the most desirable candidates for salary reasons. We have also lost some valuable personnel because funds were insufficient to retain them.
Teachers have not enforced demands, they do not resort to strikes. Their recourse is a change in position. Our good fortune lies in the fact that many of our teachers have homes here and have not moved away. Others who have formerly
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taught have accepted teaching responsibility this year. Otherwise some positions which were vacant the week before schools opened might not have been filled. These teachers deserve our appreciation for the very excellent work as well as for their public spirit. Current reports give us little reason to expect lower salaries or a more abundant supply of well qualified teachers in the very near future. For several years colleges have not enrolled anything like the usual number who are prepared to teach. Many teachers are leaving their schools to marry or to go into other lines of work. A greater shortage of professional teachers is predicted next year than last.
School appropriations have been voted in Harwich in accordance with the budget. I believe citizens will support a further increase in expenditures for good teachers. The record shows a marked rise in school costs during the last ten years :
School appropriations in 1933, 1934 and 1935 were $40,000. while in 1945 it was $63,050.00. It is also significant that $25,829.71 or 62 per cent. of the 1933 appropriation went for instruction salaries while in 1945 the expenditure for in- struction salaries was $31,862.86, or a little under 51 per cent. of the total. A tabulation of expenditures for schools by 109 Massachusetts towns of less than 5,000 population maintaining high schools in the vear ending June 30, 1940 shows that the median expenditure for salaries for instruc- tion in that group was 60 per cent. and the highest was 72.8 per cent. Harwich that year was 46.4 per cent. of the total. It should be noted also that the highest valuation per capita in those towns was $3,626.00. The lowest was $466.00; Har- wich $3,085.00 The magazine, "Nations Business" published by the United States Chamber of Commerce November 1945 carries an article "Education Is Good Business". Their . study of school expenditures and retail sales in various states of this country shows a definite relationship between highest school expenditures and the highest standards of living. Living standards in this case are measured by ex- penditures for items which contribute to good homes and what might be termed abundant living. There seems little doubt that education does pay. If the Battle of Waterloo was won on the fields of Eton, it is equally true thet World War II was won in the schools of the U. S. A. We can cer- tainly afford what we value most. Where do we rate the school ?
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FACULTY CHANGES IN 1945
The resignation of Miss Eleanor Anifantis became ef- fective June 30, 1945 in order that she might accept a posi- ion as Supervisor of Vocal Music in the Town of Plymouth. Her three years service ended with most gratifying success. Though we have offered prospective candidates a salary equivalent of what Miss Anifantis said she would accept and remain, we have not, at the close of the year, been able to fill the position.
In the High School, Mr. Charles T. Noonan succeeds Miss Johnson. Miss Patricia Eldridge succeeds Miss Salmon as teacher of Home Economics. Both these people are show- ing excellent results. They are industrious and able teachers.
In the elementary grades a removal of the restriction against employment of married teachers has enabled us to fill vacancies caused by the loss of four teachers. Miss Gladys Nickerson, Miss Althea Chase, Miss Ada Bassett resigned to accept employment in Dennis. Miss Mary Tay- lor resigned and is now employed in Hawaii. New teachers now in service are Mrs. Helen Drake, Mrs. Mary Hall and Mrs. Ruth Nickerson. Miss Gladys Crosby was transferred to grade four. A special class as it had been organized was. closed. Mrs. Cora Chase teaches the third grade. Miss Alberta Wicks teaches one section of the first grade in the room formerly occupied by the special class.
Classes in Adult Education were discontinued at the end of June. Most of those who attended had been granted citizenship and there was not sufficient demand for this work to warrant its continuance. During the two years this work continued the State reimbursed the Town for one-half the expenditures and some twenty people had mastered the minimum essentials required for the attainment of citizen- ship.
REPAIRS
I would direct your consideration toward the problem of school repairs, alteration or replacement at the Elemen- tary and High School buildings :
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
There are two buildings occupied by the elementary schools. Repairs at the old High School building largely fall under what would be considered maintenance such as exterior painting, storm windows, weatherstripping and gen- eral repairs.
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For a long time it has been felt that the elementary school is a sub-standard building which fails to meet the requirements for the children of Harwich. The basements are without adequate heat. In winter they are dark, damp and cold with little or no ventilation. They can be reached only by going around the building on the outside. I might use rather strong adjectives in describing these facilities. Your own examination will be quite as informative and your judgment will doubtless carry its own condemnation.
In this building there are four classrooms without ven- tilation other than that which comes through loose windows and around the doors. They are heated by jacketed stoves capable of supplying a reasonable quantity of heat but with questionable distribution of it throughout the rooms. Each room is lighted on two sides whereby sufficient light is pro- vided on three sides of the room but leaves the fourth cor- ner in a shaded area. The halls are without heat and the children's clothing hung on hooks fail to dry out in the win- ter time. Often they are damp in the morning when they arrive and damp at noon or recess when the children have to wear them outside. Between times they hang in these halls giving off the characteristic musty odor.
Drinking fountains in these halls usually freeze in the coldest weather.
It seems to me that the problem here presented can be handled in one of two ways. I shall attempt to outline these two ways as they appear to me.
ALTERATIONS
Heat
Further excavation of the basement and removal of the toilets would provide space for a heating plant of suitable size to take care of the building.
Toilets
I believe that the toilets removed from the basement could be located on the first and second floors in the small rooms at the end of the corridors, one of which is at present used for a storeroom and the other for a library. The main entrance to the building might be relocated at the first floor level near the center of the building and the stairway lead- ing from the second floor to the first floor could be turned back on itself so that there could be a landing in the down- stairs corridor, avoiding the entrance to the second floor
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from the outside. By such expedients it would seem pos- sible to provide heat from a central heating plant for the present building and make the toilet rooms accessible with- out going outdoors.
It would be relatively easy to estimate the cost of altera- tions described above. There are obvious angles to the problem which would seem wise to evaluate before adopting the above measure.
First, the building is already filled to capacity and un- suitable for enlargement. By glancing at the enrollment of the lower grades it is easy to forecast that within four or five years it will be necessary to provide additional space to accommodate these children. An attempt to extend the old elementary building in either direction by addition of other rooms would result in cutting off the light on one side of each of the present rooms bringing about a very serious shortage of light. The standard lighting ratio for a class- room is that the glass area should equal at least one-fifth of the floor space. By addition of rooms, the present lighting would be reduced by at least one-half if the window space on one side of the room was eliminated. Four classrooms with capacity of thirty-five pupils each will accommodate one hundred and forty children in the present rooms. If the building were later to be enlarged the toilets above described doubtless would prove inadequate. Rooms added as above could not be accessible through a central corridor with the rooms as they are now constructed. This would probably mean that the building would be in two separate sections so far as any organization plan could be provided.
PLAYGROUNDS
The land owned by the town around this building, I have been informed, is restricted in area to perhaps one-half acre in extent. Through the kindness of neighbors an addi- tional area has been used for playground purposes. The total however is not sufficient for a larger school. The front of the building is within a few feet of the limits of the high- way at an intersection of four streets where cross traffic is a series hazard for small children, particularly when they pass across the street for lunch or transportation. This is in my opinion a dangerous place for a school and I would recommend another location be designated.
A NEW BUILDING
Adequate provisions for future needs would seem to
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merit serious consideration of the erection of a new build- ing for elementary grades. I believe adequate playground facilities might be found on the lot owned by the town and occupied by the present high school, although I do not recommend that it should be joined to the high school build- ing but constructed as a separate unit. Elementary and high school programs have nothing in common except the school lunch. The mixing of younger and older children in the same building tends to make confusion. It is a handicap which should be avoided.
A new building should provide well lighted, well heated, well ventilated school rooms of sufficient number to accom- modate the probable enrollment for the next ten or fifteen years. It should be designated to allow further additions as needed without impairment of the original structural plan. It would provide adequate space for its own lunchroom. An adequate playroom in the basement suitable for use in stormy weather should be included in this plan. This room should provide facilities for school assemblies as well as re- creation. Suitable provisions should be made for the stor- age of equipment and supplies. There should be a health room with adequate space for the care of children who may be ill. There should be a room provided for the use of the school dentist and the nurse and a separate rest room for the teachers. Suitable wardrobes would be provided for the children's clothing where they could be warm and dry. The playground would be away from the street and children arriving by bus and departing in a similar manner would not be exposed to highway traffic at any time. A playground of ample space would provide space for playground equip- ment for children of all grades.
The cost of a new building would no doubt exceed the initial expense of repairing the old one but would result in a much improved school. Use of funds would be conserved for permanent outlay by diverting cost of temporary changes into new construction. Temporary economy has often proved to be wasteful in the end.
HIGH SCHOOL
There are things which need attention at the new high school. The outside wood finish needs to be painted again this year. The old paint has curled up in many places and should be given a new surface in the spring. I am able to report that the waterproofing of the east end of the build- ing has been done in a satisfactory manner. I am informed
1
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that there are no leaks on that side at present. The building needs similar work on the south, west and north sides. The longer this process is postponed the more it is likely to cost. Damage will result to the building by delay.
The area above the ceiling over the classroom wing should be insulated. At present the ceiling of the second floor is separated from the space above it only by the fibre board ceiling of the classroom. I believe a layer of insula- ting material would prove a source of comfort to the oc- cupants of the room and it should be a paying investment in preventing heat loss in a short period of time.
These expenditures are outside the regular expenditures for maintenance- they are rather of the nature of outlay or permanent improvements and might well be covered by a special appropriation.
We should bear in mind also that the grading of the high school grounds has never been completed. A large area which was levelled and filled through the W.P.A. pro- gram remains as they left it. Some program for the develop- ment of this area should be planned.
SCHOOL LUNCHES
Both the high and elementary lunch rooms have been conducted in financially successful manner and the service rendered has been such as to warrant their respect and con- tinued support. They are operated on entirely different plans.
The elementary schools have enjoyed the benefits of the lunch room for practically two years, and has from its be- ginning received the benefits of Federal Subsidy. The Fed- cral Government reimburses seven cents per meal for the food served each child. The meals have been planned ac- cording to professional standards of evaluating meals. In the elementary school a complete balanced meal is avail- able to each child. The cost, including milk, is fifteen cents per day. It is not known in advance what the lunch will be and there are no choices. One takes the risk eating what is served or must bring his own lunch from home.
The fact that about two hundred children of an enroll- ment of two hundred twenty consistently choose the school lunch indicates the popularity of the service. It is planned that no child shall go away hungry although an attempt is made to avoid waste. The quantity and quality of the food and the economy of its preparation and service are results of careful and skillful planning. Children come from
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the meal with expressions of appreciation.
The high school lunch has, from its beginning in 1937, been operated on a cafeteria basis. Individuals may make their choice from what is offered on the menn for the day. The comparison between the two methods is difficult. We can count the lunches in the elementary school by the number of people served. In the high school this service ranges all the way from complete meal to any item of food served- dessert, ice cream, milk, fruit or whatever the choice may be.
We can not predict how long the Federal Subsidy will be available although we are assured it will last through the present year.
I am convinced that some provision should be made so that the school lunches may continue however they may be financed. Health is a matter of public concern. Various methods have been proposed for improving public health. One way is by subsidizing the needy under social welfare, by direct grant in aid emanating from Washington. Another is to subsidize worthy projects from local taxation. Many of these proposals have been of questionable value and un- questioned expense. In my opinion there is no waste when money is spent in providing food for hungry children. The whole public school program which supplies free education including teachers, textbooks and supplies, fuel, buildings and transportation at public expense has survived through the years. It is without doubt one of our most socialistic governmental projects. It has been charged with being a private service financed at public expense. It has been labeled pauper school and it has been called danger- ously socialistic in its implications. Whatever the charges may have been results obtained have merited confidence and increasing support.
I am ready to advocate the incorporation of the free lunch along with free textbooks and free transportation as a part of the service offered by the public schools.
I believe this is justified on the grounds that those who pay for the support of the schools are the ones who subsidize the welfare and help the needy. They pay the cost through whatever channels it may be routed.
Money and time expended for education is wasted when any child is hungry. If it is a public concern that children be provided with free education and good health then it is of equal public concern that they be properly nourished.
I hope ample provision will be made to support school lunches on whatever basis they may be maintained.
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HIGH SCHOOL Report of Paul A. Morris, Principal
When we read of the various changes which have taken place in the schools of the nation, the changes in the home life, changes in the social life, changes in the training of . skills in youth, changes in ways of thinking because of war conditions, changes in the moral code, increase in juvenile delinquency, and other headline news of the day, we can be very thankful in this town that our school and our youth are doing as well as they are. For we are doing very well. Our school has been granted another four year period of approval by the College Admissions Board, which is one standard of judgment. Our graduates who have entered other institutions of training are making splendid records for themselves, which is another way of judgment. Our former pupils who have been in the Armed Services have acquitted themselves like men, which may be the final judg- ment.
In order to have had a school which has done anything like a creditable piece of work, maintained satisfactory levels of achievement, trained in good habits of citizenship, and conducted itself on decent standards of social behavior. I must admit that I as principal, have had the most difficult year in my educational experience. There have been unusual problems in school administration, which have required many additional hours to control. As I am in a classroom seventeen of the twenty-five recitation hours, and have no clerical or office help, this has been difficult. There have been difficulties in securing many of the supplies which we have been accustomed to using. War shortages have been felt in many ways, and have increased our difficulties. It has been difficult to determine a definiteness of instruction to fit the needs of the year. Pressure has been brought to bear from government sources for changes in our proced- ures, without provisions extended to carry out projected ideas. It has been difficult to carry on with a seemingly con- stantly changing personnel. It is just as hard to break in new teachers to do what we want done as we want it done, as it is in any other position or line of work. To my mind, the reason for this difficult situation which I find is just as apparent as the fact that it really does exist. I think that the greatest part of it may be summed up in one word "uncertainty".
Our job is to teach certain fundamentals or concepts,
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and to branch out from these in the directions which will best serve the times and our vonth. There is considerable uncertainty as to just what these needs are. Should empha- sis be placed on training to help the boys in their military service ? Will this service continue for years? Should we stress pre-college training? Will they be allowed to go to school? Should we strengthen our training in manual arts? What about the girls? Where do their real needs lie ? How can we best serve them? What should they be taught which will be to their best advantage? Is our present program adequate, or should it be reviewed and revised.
Then, too, there is just as great a state of uncertainty in the minds of the pupils. They are living in extremely precarious times. They do not know about the next few years; whether they will have personal freedom of choice of activity, or whether some outside agency will decide their program for them. The girls are as perplexed by uncer- tainty as the boys. Naturally a spirit of unrest is the result. This comes to light somewhat as a mild type of social revolu- tion. Behaviorism becomes a problem. Restraint and con- sideration do not seem to be the virtues that they once were. Finally, there is the uncertainty regarding the teaching staff. I believe that it is not for the best interest of the school to change teachers too frequently; it would be a desirable investment for the town to secure a well-trained, competent, enthusiastic corps of teachers who really like to teach, and pay them enough to stay here.
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