USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > West Bridgewater > Town annual reports of the selectmen, overseers of the poor, town clerk, and school committee of West Bridgewater for the year ending 1930-1934 > Part 23
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Water, Elementary
131.25
Water, High
20.96
Furniture, Elementary 30.60
$49,781.60
Total for Schools
$50,499.08
LIBRARY
Librarian, Salary
$325.00
Assistants, Salaries
334.88
Books and Periodicals
1,083.35
Janitor
100.00
Light
9.33
Supplies
22.06
Printing
41.00
Cleaning
12.32
Equipment
26.43
Repairs
32.25
$1,986.62
RECREATION
Memorial Day
$100.00
Care of Monument Grounds
$43.50
PARKS
Care of Elm Square $11.95
Putting out Flag, Central Square
$7.00
146
UNCLASSIFIED
Printing and distributing Town Reports
$485.00
Liability Insurance
$698.00
Fire Insurance
$509.47
Plymouth County Aid to Agriculture
$100.00
Land Damage
$460.75
WATER DEPARTMENT
Maintenance :
Commissioners' Salaries $150.00
Clerks
241.37
City of Brockton,
Water
5,762.46
Stationery and Postage
78.50
Printing and
Advertising
136.75
Telephone
45.23
Labor
2,090.34
Pipes and Fittings
321.44
Insurance
98.48
Gas and Oil
64.51
Equipment and Tools
121.69
Repairing Truck
123.08
Repairing Hydrant
5.00
New Hydrant
40.82
Testing Meters
1.50
Truck hire
10.50
Freight and Express
5.67
Registration
2.00
Supplies
9.97
$9,309.31
147
Bonds and Interest :
Bonds
$4,535.00
Interest
1,570.09
$6,105.09
New Main, 6-inch :
Labor
$533.47
Pipes and Fittings
638.74
Freight
244.55
Hydrant
43.20
Gate Boxes
8.73
Gas and Oil
4.39
Supplies
1.42
$1,474.50
Less than 6-inch Main :
Labor
$107.40
Pipes and Fittings
15.12
$122.50
Total for Water
$17,011.42
CEMETERIES
Care of Cemeteries
$258.42
INTEREST
On temporary loans
$1,571.94
MUNICIPAL INDEBTEDNESS
Temporary loans
$65,000.00
Taxes :
State Tax
Special State Tax
$4,680.00
974.00
148
County Tax Division of Parks
Dog Tax
6,218.15 6.90 364.40
$12,243.45
REFUNDS
Taxes
$78.91
$209,973.32
Cash balances, Dec. 31, 1932
18,819.87
General
$228,793.19
TRANSFERS FROM RESERVE FUND
Dog Officer
$10.00
Liability Insurance
148.00
Election and Registration
134.48
Public Welfare
896.86
$1,189.34
BALANCE SHEET, DECEMBER 31, 1932 GENERAL ACCOUNTS
ASSETS
LIABILITIES AND RESERVES
Cash :
General
$18,819.87
Library
25.00
$18,844.87
Accounts Receivable : Taxes :
Levy of 1929
$1,354.41
Levy of 1930 7,525.10
Levy of 1931
18,923.12
Levy of 1932
41,118.16
Old Age Assistance Taxes :
Levy of 1931
$112.00
$12.00
Levy of 1932 233.00
1932
19.00
$345.00
Temporary Loans : In Anticipation of Revenue $20,000.00
Special Accounts : Westdale Improvement Society (gift) $174.76
Surplus War Bonus Fund 1,540.32
Overpayment to be Refunded 20.62
$1,735.70
$68,920.79 Special State Tax : Old Age Assistance : 1931
$31.00
Motor Vehicle Excise Taxes :
Levy of 1929 $326.05
Levy of 1930
1,407.88
Levy of 1931
2,156.62
Levy of 1932
2,726.34
Appropriation Balances : Water Construction 6-inch Main $76.86 Less than 6-inch Main 1,656.37
Copeland Street 2,250.00
$3,983.23
Departmental :
State Aid
$190.00
Military Aid
22.50
Soldiers' Burial
100.00
Overlays Reserved for Abatement:
$312.50
Levy of 1929
$945.35
Levy of 1930
585.10
Levy of 1931
681.72
Levy of 1932
2,051.80
$6,959.98
Overdrawn :
Water Bonds and Interest
$7.59
Revenue Reserved until Collected : Motor Vehicle Excise Tax $6,616.89
Departmental
312.50
Water
6,277.50
Surplus Revenue
$13,206.89 $35,562.39
$102,007.62
$102,007.62
$6,616.89
Water Department: Available Surplus
$16,120.98
Reserve Fund Overlay Surplus
$7,103.46
Water Rates :
1929
$5.25
1931
543.05
1932
6,411.68
$4,263.97
Net Funded or Fixed Debt
DEBT ACCOUNTS $35,995.00 Water Loans $35,995.00
TRUST ACCOUNTS
Trust Funds : Cash and Securities
$24,232.54
Cemetery Funds :
Alfred E. Alger fund $219.79
William Burke fund 173.07
Davis Copeland fund 210.88
Mrs. Henry Copeland
103.33
Lyman and Nathan
Copeland fund 662.27
S. G. Copeland fund 213.87
Martha K. Crosby 101.11
Mary A. Dewyer fund
136.93
The Hartwell fund
319.37
Julia M. Hooper fund
133.61
Isabelle Howard 102.09
Samuel H. Howard 106.75
S. Nelson Howard 102.30
Hattie M. Jennings 111.27
Warren C. Kinney 206.30
Henry J. LeLacheur
101.20
- 1
Fred A. Perkins 106.46
Rosa R. Shaw 341.81
Orrin Smith
152.59
South Street Cemetery
fund 144.41
Charles C. Thayer 220.79
Sanford Alger
51.90
Sumner D. Keith
102.29
Frank P. Hatch
160.00
Alba Howard
100.00
$4,384.39
Library Funds :
Cornelia Alger fund $573.62
Nathan Copeland 608.53
M. N. K. Edgerly 580.74
Francis E. Howard
561.51
Mary L. Perkins 1,057.82
Mary P. Whitman
16,465.93
$19,848.15
$24,232.54
$24,232.54
154
STATEMENT OF TRUST FUNDS
CEMETERY PERPETUAL CARE FUNDS
On hand at beginning of year On hand at end of year
Savings Bank deposits
Total
$4,328.34
$4,328.34
4,383.39
4,384.39
Receipts
Payments
Income
$185.37
Added to Savings Deposit
$80.15
Transferred to Town 205.22
$285.37
$285.37
Name of Fund
Jan. 1, 1932
Receipts
Withdrawn
Jan. 1, 1933
Alfred E. Alger
$216.51
$9.28
$6.00
$279.79
William Burke
170.76
7.31
5.00
173.07
Davis Copeland
210.85
9.03
9.00
210.88
Mrs. Henry Copeland 103.65
4.68
5.00
103.33
Lyman and Nathan
Copeland
657.07
28.20
9.00
662.27
Samuel G. Copeland
213.20
9.67
9.00
213.87
Martha K. Crosby
101.52
4.59
8.00
101.11
Mary A. Dewyer
139.60
5.33
8.00
136.93
The Hartwell Fund
313.93
13.44
8.00
319.37
Julia M. Hooper
134.55
5.76
6.70
133.61
Isabelle Howard
102.45
4.64
5.00
103.09
Samuel H. Howard
105.25
4.50
3.00
106.75
S. Nelson Howard
101.95
4.35
4.00
102.30
Hattie M. Jennings
109.32
4.95
3.00
111.27
Warren C. Kinney
202.61
8.69
5.00
206.30
Henry J. LeLacheur
101.61
4.59
5.00
101.20
Fred A. Perkins
104.98
4.44
3.00
106.46
Rosa R. Shaw
329.83
14.98
3.00
341.81
Bequest
100.00
155
Orrin Smith
152.66
6.93
7.00
152.59
South St. Cemetery
209.99
9.52
75.10
144.41
Charles C. Thayer
211.20
9.59
220.79
Sanford Alger
50.75
2.15
1.00
51.90
Sumner D. Keith
100.00
4.29
2.00
102.29
Frank P. Hatch
160.00
4.42
4.42
160.00
Alba Howard
100.00
$4,304.24
$185.37
$205.22
$4,384.39
LIBRARY TRUST FUNDS
Securities
Deposits
Total
On hand at beginning
of year
$500.00
$19,643.51
$20,143.51
On hand at end of year Receipts
500.00
19,348.15
19,848.15
Withdrawn from
Transfer to Town
$1,163.40
Savings deposits $295.36
Income
868.04
$1,163.40
$1,163.40
Name of Fund
Jan. 1, 1932
Receipts
Withdrawn
Jan. 1, 1933
Cornelia Alger
$550.00
$23.62
$573.62
Nathan Copeland
583.48
25.04
608.53
M. N. K. Edgerly
567.92
23.44
$10.62
580.74
Francis E. Howard
547.99
24.15
10.63
561.51
Mary L. Perkins
1,014.26
43.56
1,057.82
Mary P. Whitman
16,879.85
728.23
1,142.15
16,465.93
$20,143.51 $868.04 $1,163.40 $19,848.15
ARTHUR C. PECKHAM, Town Accountant.
Payments
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
AND
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
OF THE TOWN OF
WEST BRIDGEWATER
FOR THE YEAR 1932
A.H.WILLIS PRINTER HRIDOEWATER MASŠ
MEMBERS AND ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Harold Lyon, Chairman
Term expires 1935
Mrs. Corelli Alger, Secretary
Term expires 1934
Mrs. Edith Alger
Term expires 1935
Dr. W. C. Whiting
Term expires 1934
Frank G. Chadwick
Faelton Perkins
Term expires 1933 Term expires 1933
Regular meetings of the School Committee are held in Room 4, Town Offices, on the second Monday of each month, July and August excepted, at 7.45 P. M.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Ernest W. Robinson Office, Howard High School Telephone Brockton 5094 Residence, 40 Ash St., West Bridgewater Telephone Brockton 3559-R
SCHOOL PHYSICIANS
Dr. Walter Whiting Dr. Ellis LeLacheur
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Ervin W. Lothrop
Report of School Committee.
To the Citizens of West Bridgewater :
During the past year, the School Committee has success- fully endeavored to keep within its appropriation, as will appear from the itemized financial statement to be found in the report of the Town Accountant. Perhaps this would not be a noteworthy achievement were it not for past transgres- sions. In bringing about a system of controlling and keeping a more accurate record of expenditures, the Committee is greatly indebted to the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Robin- son. Enforcement of the requirement of a State law with respect to transportation of High School students living over two miles from the school imposed an unexpected burden. To meet this contingency and at the same time safeguard against over-running the town grant, it seemed expedient to dispense, at least temporarily, with the position of Supervisor of Drawing, which action was accordingly taken. The sav- ing thus effected was sufficient to offset the increased cost of transportation. At the present time the Superintendent and your Committee are engaged in a study of the entire trans- portation problem. In the past, no consideration has been given to the factor of age. It is believed that children in the lower grades should not be expected to walk as far as might well be required of children of high school age. The problem is complicated, however, by the fact that the sessions of the grade schools do not coincide with those of the High School.
During the past year no repairs of major importance were made, although toward the end of the year a small amount was expended in improving the interior appearance of the Jerusalem School building.
160
The budget of the School Committee for the ensuing year is appended. A letter from the Finance Committee urging retrenchment was not altogether unexpected and it was the belief of your School Committee that it should co-operate in this respect in so far as possible without substantial detri- ment to the school system. The possibilities of retrench- ment, however, in this Town are probably somewhat more limited than is the case in cities and towns where curricular expansion has been considerable. To the latter is open at least the opportunity to economize through the elimination of non-essential courses. The financial resources of this Town have never warranted embarking upon a policy of such ex- pansion. Moreover, it is the opinion of your School Committee that so-called enrichment of the curriculum not infrequently, although not necessarily, is productive of consequences not altogether beneficial. Even if we could conceive of a public school system capable of imparting all of the world's know- ledge, no child exists that could absorb more than an infini- tesimal part of it. The human mind has its limitations, even were we to presume that the purse of the community has none. A relatively few subjects taught well may be far more valuable to the child than a large number so poorly im- parted as to produce habits of slovenly thinking. Vocational training for every branch of human activity is out of the question. Instruction of general value is possible and inci- dental thereto, but of fundamental importance far transcend- ing the value of specialized education in particular lines, val- uable as that may be where feasible, is the training of the mind to the end that the child may become schooled to do thoroughly and well whatever he attempts. To afford such training is the minimum below which no town should go if it can possibly be avoided. Hence, your School Committee be- lieves that it must proceed with caution in dealing with its major possibility for retrenchment,-reduction in salaries. Such reduction as is consistent with the reduced cost of living
161
and the exigencies of the times, we may fairly expect our teachers to accept. Repeated drastic and arbitrary cuts, we believe would be not only unfair to a teaching force, that has shown a spirit of co-operation, but would in the end irrepar- ably impair efficiency. Perhaps above all other persons, a teacher who is successful finds compensation for her work in a love of it that brings too high a degree of satisfaction for any ordinary reduction in pecuniary emoluments to affect its quality. That, however, is the type of teacher that we must exert every effort not to treat unfairly.
During the year your Committee received with regret the resignation of its Chairman, Mr Thayer. We, who served with him, wish to pay tribute to the splendid service which he gave. Always just, tolerant and kindly, he was a companion and leader whom we greatly miss.
Other reports customarily incorporated in the report of the School Committee follow. In conclusion, we wish to ex- tend thanks to the Superintendent, the teachers, the Parent- Teachers Association and to all others whose co-operation has tended to promote the welfare of our public schools.
ESTIMATED BUDGET FOR 1933
General Control
$ 3,950.00
Salaries
28,350.00
Books and Supplies
1,850.00
Janitor's Service
2,200.00
Fuel and Light
2,000.00
Repairs
400.00
Transportation
3,900.00
Tuition
2,100.00
Nurse
850.00
Miscellaneous
75.00
$45,675.00
As will be noted by a comparison of last year's budget, the foregoing estimate represents a substantial decrease in amount,
HAROLD S. LYON, Chairman.
Report of Superintendent of Schools.
-
To the School Committee .:
The educational progress of the past year has been maintained throughout the school system despite the gen- eral stringency of the time which has exerted its restrict- ing influences on entire communities and their several de- partments of municipal activities, particularly the depart- ment of education. The forthcoming year holds faint promise of a restoration of normal business activity, a con- dition which will naturally be reflected in educational wel- fare and progress.
It will be our problem then, to try to maintain a sus- tained productivity in all our educational work. During the past year much ingenuity in developing economical de- vices for classroom teaching has been noted as well as a spirit of co-operative economy and understanding of our local situation. We must depend on such a spirit to see us through our operative difficulties for some time to come.
ATTENDANCE
The attendance table of January 1, 1933, shows a gain of eighteen pupils over 1932, the present enrolment being 662 against 644 at the same time in 1932. The distribution of this year's classes is fairly uniform except in the lower grades of Sunset Avenue and the upper grades of the Center School. Cocheset has a very unequal distribution this year, the upper three grades having the largest num- ber in years. Judging from the numbers in the intermedi-
163
ate grades at the Center School some relief will be felt in the upper grades as the larger classes there progress.
HEALTH
The sanitary conditions are far from satisfactory in all the grammar school buildings except at Sunset Avenue, where modern conveniences are an integral part of the . equipment of the building. The sanitaries at the Center School were evidently installed faultily as they cannot be used effectively and these large buildings are reduced to the level hygienically of a remote rural school with its ele- mental sanitary conditions. These conditions prevail also at Cochesett where a sanitary system installed at consider- able expense has failed completely to function as intended. Severe as the current economic depression may be, we can- not afford to relax in our efforts to maintain proper stand- ards of school hygiene in all our school buildings and as soon as practicable provide modernized sanitary equipment for each one.
TEACHERS
We have been fortunate in having been obliged to re- place but one teacher in the system for the current year, the position being that of History instructor in the high school formerly filled by Miss Emily Rutter who was suc- ceeded by Miss Clarice Weeden a graduate of Clark Uni- versity with an A. M. in History.
In the elementary grades we have students from the Bridgewater State Teachers College training at the Center and Sunset Avenue schools together with two graduates of the Maine, Castine Normal School, Miss Ellen Leavitt and Miss Thelma Johnson who are giving their services for the sake of the teaching experience gained. On account of the . large numbers in the Center eighth grade and the Sunset
:
-
164
Avenue fourth and fifth grades, these services are very acceptable.
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS
We have at the current writing eight boys at the Bristol County Agricultural School at Segreganset, one at the Norfolk County Agricultural School and one at the Quincy Trade School, the annual tuition of whom is $200 each for fifty weeks, of which one-half is paid by the State. There are also three students at the Brockton Evening Vo- cational School for whom the tuition is $16.00 each for a period of five months, and which offers courses in home economics, millinery and dressmaking for women students.
The Bristol County Agricultural School and the Nor- folk County School offer courses open to boys over fourteen years of age in dairying, poultry-raising, orcharding and market gardening, one-half the year being devoted to aca- demic study, and the other half to outdoor activities in the form of summer projects in the several lines of study under the supervision of regular instructors. The Quincy Trade School offers mechanical courses entirely.
A closer supervision of the progress of all these stu- dents, by local school authorities, has been effected in the current school year in order that students may be made to realize that this expensive form of education can be secured only by intensive application on their own part throughout the entire course of four years.
SCHOOL COSTS
At the present time school costs are being closely scrutinized by citizens and municipal bodies in countless communities in this and many other states. Such subjects as music, drawing, domestic arts, manual training, athletics, kindergarten, backward classes, etc., have been dropped
165
from the curriculum as too expensive and quite unnecessary forms of education.
The greater number of these courses have been intro- duced into the curriculum in the past by the insistence, not of the educators themselves, but of local bodies of repre- sentative citizens who felt that educational training should be expanded to meet the expanding and more exacting needs of the present day strenuous modes of social, intellectual and industrial life. We can simplify educational training, but it is a more difficult thing to simplify modern social life, which seems to grow more exacting in its demands with each decade. We must be careful in reducing salaries and other operating expenses, that we do not bring into effect the law of diminishing returns, thereby depriving our children of an education that will equip them adequately for the struggles awaiting them in the coming years.
The following tabulation is of interest in showing com- parative pupil costs of our town with those of our popula- tion group and those of the state as a whole:
PER PUPIL COST FOR THE YEAR-1932
Town of West Bridgewater $77.67
Group III-Towns (107) of less than 5,000
population $92.30
State-355 Cities and Towns $100.38
The above figures do not suggest extravagance in any form in the operation of our local educational system. We have excellent teachers who are giving a fine quality of ser- vice to the community in a spirit of understanding and help- ful effort. This spirit together with the constant co-opera- tion of the School Committee, I wish to acknowledge at. this time as valuable co-operative forces that render my own work effective and stimulating to an appreciable degree.
The several reports of supervisors are herewith
166
appended and merit careful reading and consideration as they present in excellent form the conditions and needs of the various departments of the school system
Respectfully submitted,
ERNEST W. ROBINSON, Superintendent of Schools.
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
Mr. Ernest W. Robinson,
Superintendent of Schools,
West Bridgewater, Mass.
Dear Sir:
I have the honor to submit my annual report as Prin- cipal of Howard High School for the year of 1932.
As the depression has now focused the attention of city and town officials and taxpayers upon our whole educa- tional system in a frantic.effort to reduce its expenditures, it is fitting that a portion of this report should deal with some of the general aspects of the situation as related to our own high school.
During the last forty-two years tremendous changes have occurred in the secondary schools of America. With the raising of the compulsory school age, the rapid increase of the school's holding power, and the amazing curriculum expansion with its increasing appeal to boys and girls of all types and degrees of ability, the secondary school enroll- ment has grown from 300,000 in 1890 to over 4,200,000 in 1932. Students, instead of coming chiefly from professional families, now are drawn from every layer of the social and economic strata. The augmentation in the use of machines for hand labor with the resulting reorganization of industry
167
together with the diminishing responsibility of training youth in the home has produced in our schools a change from a slight and narrow curriculum emphasizing only col- lege preparation to an extensive and varied offering which embraces almost every phase of human endeavor. Thus, today, upon the high school, with its heterogeneous popula- tion, rests the immeasurable responsibilities of civic, moral, health, social, and vocational training which were once the serious duties of the home and business.
When compared with these gigantic shifts in the sec- ondary schools of United States, the growth of Howard High School is rather unique in character. In the first place, while the enrolments for the country at large in- creased 1300%, that of our high school grew less than 600%. Secondly, our curriculum which included in 1900 twenty different subjects, now contains, in 1933, but twen- ty-two different subjects representing an increase of 10%, while the increase in other high schools is far in excess of that amount. Some of the subjects found in schools of our size are household arts, various kinds of shop work, me- chanical drawing, economics, problems of democracy, guid- ance, botany, geology and physical education. Our policy of enriching the curriculum has been, to say the least, ex- tremely conservative. Therefore, the frequently mentioned criticism of curriculum over-expansion cannot possibly apply to Howard High School.
In the light of these facts there is no just argument for educational retrenchment, but in view of the pressing financial needs of today our taxpayers have to right to know whether or not we are doing anything to relieve their bur- dens. In this connection, I wish to call attention to the re- sults of careful planning and the splendid co-operation of both teachers and pupils in making possible the reduction of expenditures for books from $484.25 in 1930 to $374.66 in 1932, and for supplies from $1,120.33 in 1930 to $420.25
168
in 1932. Allowing for the 10% drop in prices of these materials, a net reduction of over $700 has been achieved, and what is of vital importance from an educational view- point is that this saving was accomplished without impair- ing the effectiveness or standards of teaching A further saving of over $275 has been made in the temporary dis- continuation of drawing instruction
An interesting sidelight of our high school expendi- tures is revealed by the following comparison of per capita costs in Massachusetts :
Howard High School
Cost per pupil $92.25
Cost per pupil in excess of that of Howard High School
Towns (107) of less than 5,000
maintaining high schools
128.61
$36.36
All high schools
113.52
20.27
These figures clearly show that we pay 39% less per pupil than towns in our group, and 22% less than the aver- age cost of all high schools in the State.
The school's distribution of enrollment as of October 1, 1932, is as follows :
Boys
Girls
Total
Freshmen
24
24
48
Sophomores
17
25
42
Juniors
9
16
25
Seniors
8
14
22
Post Graduates
0
3
3
Totals
58
82
140
During the past year there have been few changes in the school's activities and administrational policies all of which have been discussed in some detail in my previous reports. Of these changes I wish to direct attention to the return of both boys' and girls' glee club work without addi-
169
tional costs, the improvement of health conditions and supervisory control during the winter physical exercise periods through the fine co-operation of student leaders in a plan organized in home room and gymnasium groups, and the progressive development of our school assemblies.
The last change is of special interest. At the begin- ning of the year a committee of teachers arranged an assembly schedule, one for each week of the school year in- cluding representation of every regular classroom and ex- tra-curriculum activity of the school as well as a few well chosen outside educational features. In the sharing of a part of the educational program of the school with the pupils in this manner, the transformation has been one in which the assembly has turned from a cut and dry affair, consisting largely of talks and announcements, to an en- thusiastic one of unusual interest in which every student in the school has the opportunity of taking part, and through which school unity and morale is strengthened, greater in- terest in school subject matter is awakened, and a training not attainable elsewhere is given in leadership, poise, self- confidence, and self-expression.
Through the generosity of the Class of 1932 electric clocks with auxiliary movements were completely installed in the classrooms and assembly hall of the school, thus aid- ing materially both in improving the physical appointments of the rooms, and in raising the efficiency of administra- tion and teaching.
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