USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1919 > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
I would suggest that this matter be given immediate attention, as they certainly do need it.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE H. SIDEBOTTOM,
Building Inspector.
195
REPORT OF INSPECTOR OF ANIMALS
TO THE HONORABLE BOARD OF SELECTMEN, READING, MASS .:
I wish at this time to submit my report as Inspector of Animals.
During the early part of 1919 every place where neat cattle, sheep, swine or goats were kept was inspected and passed upon; also the animals upon such premises. With few exceptions they were found to be both healthy and well kept. Those to the contrary were dealt with according to conditions and promptly rectified. Cases of disease were disposed of and premises disinfected. A strict look- out being kept for further spread from such places.
It would appear that much of the interest which was taken when the slogan started in Reading, "Everybody Keep a Pig," has died away, for there were less good ones this year than for the past two years. People think pigs require no care and will grow well on anything, but many have found out differently this year if they can figure straight. It would appear that in most cases, at least, the Town health authorities would be justified in returning to their original orders regarding proper distances and conditions of keeping swine.
Many people show little regard for neighbors and it is practically impossible to adjust all complaints satisfactorily without some fast rules. At present there are several hundred pigs in town, most of which have been treated against swine plague, and hog cholera, which are two at least of the most expensive diseases known to breeders and raisers.
Orders have been received to make another annual inspection before March 1, 1920, which I shall endeavor to do in the same im- partial manner as heretofore.
Yours
C. H. PLAYDON, M. D. V.
Feb. 1, 1920.
196
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF FIRE ALARM
TO THE BOARD OF FIRE ENGINEERS:
During the year there has been two miles of new wire, and 54 cross arms placed on the line. The trees have been insulated with tree moulding. I find I shall need moulding and more cross arms. The whistle machine will have to have new pinion shaft and gear for the regulating jars and new cable. With a few repairs the system will be in first-class order.
L. T. EAMES, Supt. Fire Alarm.
-
197
REPORT OF THE PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board respectfully submits to the Town its fourth annual report covering the year ending December 31, 1919.
The vacancy on the Board left by the resignation of Mr. James P. Carleton was filled early in the year by Mr. Henry Q. Millett.
During the early months of the year the Board studied the prob- lem of the disposal of soft coal ashes from various public buildings and industrial establishments. A report on this matter was sub- mitted to the Board of Selectmen. This report showed that from places where soft coal ashes are made and not used by the producers, at least 912 cubic yards of ashes are removed annually at a total cost of over $300.00 to the owners. This special report suggested the pos- sibility of such ashes being collected by the Town and stored until they would be required for such work as building foundations for sidewalks.
In June the five members of the Planning Board were appointed members of a Special Committee to examine the advisability of erect- ing a municipal garage and prepare plans therefor. This appoint- ment was made by the moderator, of a special town meeting, accord- ing to special instructions at the meeting. In connection with this work the Board visited the site of the town lot on Pleasant Street, which seems as a result of previous investigation to be best suited for a municipal garage.
The present police station was also investigated with the idea that in building a municipal garage on this site, more up-to-date and highly necessary improvements in the police accommodations could be made.
Mr. Walter B. Nichols was employed to make a topographical survey of the Pleasant St. lot, giving grade lines and location of pres- ent buildings.
Information has been received from the Selectmen and various department heads of the Town as to the amount of garage space re- quired and also the amount of space for general storage, should the design of the building permit of such.
Architects have been employed to furnish sketches of a suitable garage building on the Pleasant St. lot, which will meet the require- ments of the town, not only at present but also for some years to come.
198
In December several members of the Planning Board attended the Annual State Convention of Planning Boards at the State House, taking some active part in the proceedings, much to the credit of our Town.
Respectfully submitted,
CHESTER J. WALLACE, Chairman RAYMOND B. TEMPLE, Secretary HENRY Q. MILLETT LEONE F. QUIMBY CLARENCE C. WHITE
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF READING
1 For the Year Ending December 31 1919
202
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
WALTER S. PARKER, Ch., 55 Walnut St. LEONE F. QUIMBY, 25 Howard St.
ARTHUR N. MANSFIELD, 107 Woburn St.
MRS. ELIZABETH H. BROWN, 83 Prospect St. MRS. RUTH A. LUMSDEN, 86 Woburn St. JESSE W. MORTON, 114 Woburn St.
Term expires 1920 Term expires 1920 Term expires 1921
Term expires 1921
Term expires 1922 Term expires 1922
Superintendent of Schools
ADELBERT L. SAFFORD 78 King Street
Office High School. Hours: School days, 8.30 to 9.30 A. M.
Attendance Officer
EDWIN L. HUTCHINSON, 6 Grove St. Office, 187 Main Street
School Physician
CHARLES R. HENDERSON, M. D. 126 Woburn Street
Janitors
HIGH SCHOOL, Clement Gleason HIGH SCHOOL MATRON, Ara A. Pratt HIGHLAND SCHOOL, Jesse N. Hutchinson GROUARD HOUSE, Charles H. Stinchfield CENTER SCHOOL, David W. Pigueron UNION ST. SCHOOL, David W. Pigueron LOWELL ST. SCHOOL, Sylvanus L. Thompson PROSPECT ST. SCHOOL, Fernando O. Wyman CHESTNUT HILL SCHOOL, Jos. J. Farpelha
64 Orange St. 29 Orange St. 79 Bancroft Ave. 20 Highland St. 88 Orange St. 88 Orange St. 167 Lowell St.
Curtis St.
203
ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman
ADELBERT L. SAFFORD, Secretary
Sub-Committees
A. N. Mansfield
FINANCES AND ACCOUNTS L. F. Quimby
J. W. Morton
BOOKS AND SUPPLIES
J. W. Morton
Mrs. Ruth A. Lumsden
W. S. Parker
SCHOOL HOUSES AND PROPERTY
A. N. Mansfield J. W. Morton
L. F. Quimby
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Mrs. Elizabeth H. Brown L. F. Quimby
A. N. Mansfield
TEACHERS AND SALARIES
L. F. Quimby
W. S. Parker J. W. Morton
MUSIC AND DRAWING
Mrs. Ruth A. Lumsden J. W. Morton Mrs. Elizabeth H. Brown
COURSE OF STUDY
L. F. Quimby
Mrs. Ruth A. Lumsden J. W. Morton
204
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1919
TO THE CITIZENS OF READING:
The School Committee of Reading in accordance with the re- quirements of law submits the following report for the year 1919. The educational situation at the present time is a critical one not only for Reading but for the state of Massachusetts and for the whole country. The most important single factor in the cause of educa- tional advancement is the teacher. The scarcity of skillful efficient teachers is something alarming. Many schools in the back districts have been closed because of the lack of teachers. Even in our cities many schools are crippled when teachers are sick because no substi- tutes can be obtained. President Faunce of Brown University re- cently declared that the entire public school system is liable to col- lapse. There were 145,000 teachers in the United States who resigned last year. Normal school attendance has been cut in two because young people are not taking up teaching on account of the low wages paid to teachers. A very serious condition exists everywhere in the educational field.
A great unrest is apparent in all industrial centers and the far- mers everywhere are beginning to feel the stress of scarcity of labor- ers and the call for shorter hours-all of which will tend to advance the price of all products. Work seems to be in the discard.
The School Committee has asked for increased appropriations to meet the request of the teachers for more pay. Nearly eighty per- cent of the entire budget is for salaries. We must not forget that the purchasing power of the dollar has been reduced about one-half. Attention is called to the financial part of the superintendent's re- port which merits your careful study. Outside of salaries and the items of fuel, transportation of pupils, and repairs, the amount asked to be appropriated for 1920 is $440.09 less than was expended for the same purposes three years ago, in 1917. In the mean time the price of text-books and of all kinds of supplies has steadily increased as well as the number of pupils in the schools. This fact is mentioned to show that every effort has been made to keep down the budget to the lowest point consistent with maintaining a reasonable degree of efficiency in the schools. The appropriation requested is as follows: For maintenance of the Public Schools, General Account, $100,450; for the Agricultural Account, $5,250; for Tuition to State Industrial Schools, $150.
205
Last year attention was called to the fact that in many towns and cities a School Nurse is employed to follow up the cases reported by the School Physician and to assist in many ways in looking after the health and promoting more efficiently the physical welfare of the pu- pils. There is a bill before the legislature at this time making the employment of such a nurse obligatory. We are not mindful at all times of the well-known fact that the child is made up of a three- fold nature, physical, mental and moral; that the three are mutually dependent upon one another; and that the physical is the basis. A sound mind must have a sound body. The three-fold nature of the child is so constituted that you cannot separate them. There is a unity in the personality of everyone that must be reckoned with in the educational process. Therefore any system of education is de- fective which neglects the training of either physical, mental, or moral nature.
The importance of the schools and particularly the value and importance of the services of teachers seem to be less appreciated that formerly. Many persons have assumed a critical and sometimes even a contemptuous attitude. Governor Coolidge in his address at Harvard College Commencement last June called attention to this dangerous trend of public sentiment. He said in part as follows, "The Constitution (of Massachusetts) declares that 'wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people are necessary for the preservation of their rights and lib- erties.' John Adams and James Bowdoin knew that freedom was the fruit of knowledge. These principles there laid down with so much solemnity have now the same binding force as in those revolu- tionary days when they were recognized and proclaimed. Then the teacher spoke with the voice of authority. He was treated with def- erence. He held a place in the community that was not only secure but high. The rewards of his service were comparatively high.
Teaching is now the same high calling, but how lacking in com- parative appreciation. We pay a good price to bank men to guard our money. We compensate liberally the manufacturer and the mer- chant; but we fail to appreciate those who guard the minds of our youth. We have lost our reverence for the profession of teaching and bestow it on the profession of acquiring.
This will have such a reaction as might be expected. In our pur- suit of prosperity, we have forgotten and neglected its foundations. I am directing attention to the great mass of teachers and clergy- men. They are not properly appreciated or properly paid. They have provided the foundations of our liberties. The importance of their position cannot be overestimated. These influences so potent in the development of Massachusetts cannot be exchanged for a lead- ership that is bred of the market-place, to her advantage. The pur-
206
pose set forth in the Constitution is clear and plain. It recognized with the clear convictions of men not thinking of themselves that the cause of America is the cause of education, but of education with a soul, a trained intellect but guided ever by an enlightened conscience. We of our day need to recognize with the same vision that when these fail America has failed."
The terms of Leone F. Quimby and Walter S. Parker expire at the end of February 1920. These two vacancies are to be filled by election at the annual town meeting.
WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman ELIZABETH H. BROWN RUTH A. LUMSDEN ARTHUR N. MANSFIELD
JESSE W. MORTON LEONE F. QUIMBY
School Committee.
207
LETTER TO FINANCE COMMITTEE
TO THE HONORABLE, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS:
GENTLEMEN :- The School Committee presents herewith for your consideration and recommendations estimates for the school budget for 1920. For the maintenance of the Public Schools, General Ac- count, $100,450; for the Agricultural Account, $5,250; and for the Special Account, Tuition to State Industrial Schools, $150.
In preparing the budget for 1920, it is not too much to say that the School Committee was confronted with an acute crisis-a crisis not peculiar to or confined to Reading but prevailing in greater or less degree throughout the state and nation. For years teachers have been poorly paid compared with the earnings of persons whose abil- ities and training were of equal extent. While prices have doubled and wages in the industries have made commensurate advances, the salaries of teachers have lagged until they are no longer sufficient to attract new recruits or to hold those already engaged in teaching. Thousands of schools in the United States have been closed the past year because teachers could not be procured at the salaries offered. The National Educational Association and leading newspapers and magazines of the country, recognizing the present emergency as per- haps the greatest that has ever arisen in the history of public educa- tion in the United States, have carried on a nation-wide movement for a greater respect and remuneration for the services of teachers. The slogan, "Keep the home fires burning," has given place to "Keep the school doors open." The teachers themselves, as they have been made more and more painfully aware of the growing inadequacy of their cash on hand to provide for their frugal wants, have been pre- sented with three possible ways out: 1-Changing to an industrial occupation. An increasing number are doing this. 2-Organizing as a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and seeking to improve their conditions by labor-union methods. Reading teachers during the past year were solicited by representatives of organized labor to form a local union. So far they have refused to en- tertain the proposition, hoping for another solution of their difficul- ties. 3-Appealing to the intelligence and fair-mindedness of parents and other citizens to meet the emergency by a substantial increase of teachers' salaries to make them in some degree commensurate with increased cost of living. Every town and city in Massachusetts has
208
had to consider this problem-even those paying the highest salaries. In some cases the proposed increase has taken the form of a flat in- crease of $300 to $600 for each teacher in the lower grades and larger amounts for the higher positions; in other cases a percentage in- crease of 20 to 50 per cent. or more has been proposed. The City of Worcester is typical of a large number of cities and towns in this mat- ter. Certain salaries of teachers in the City of Worcester were in- creased during the year nineteen hundred nineteen sixty-six per cent. and the smallest increase was forty-four per cent. The present max- imum salary in Worcester of women teachers in the Elementary Grades is $1,600; women teachers in the High School, $2,500; men teachers in the High School, $3,250; Assistant Principal of the High School, $3,600; Principal of the High School, $4,500.
The Reading Teachers' club, in order to place some definite pro- posal before the School Committee and the citizens for consideration, presented the following petition :
TO THE HONORABLE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE
TOWN OF READING:
We, the teachers of Reading, respectfully petition you for a flat raise of $200 for each teacher, the full amount ($200) to be paid between Jan. 1, 1920 and July 1, 1920; on Sept. 1, 1920, an advance of at least $100 for each teacher. We also ask a 20% increase for principals and special teachers.
The reason why we ask for increased salaries and why we hope for a favorable report on this petition, are-
1: The decreased value of the dollar.
2. The increase in the cost of living.
3. To maintain the high professional and social standard re- quired of the teachers of Reading.
Respectfully submitted,
The Teachers of Reading.
Signed: ALICE E. HOOD MARION T. PRATT
This petition was accompanied by an endorsement signed by over two hundred citizens and tax payers. The School Committee voted to endorse the request of the teachers and to include in their estimates for 1920 a sum sufficient to enable them to grant the salaries requested. By this schedule of salaries teachers in the Elementary Schools re- ceive a maximum of $1,150; in the Junior High School, $1,250; in the Senior High School, $1,600. The janitors also asked for a twenty- five per cent. increase and it was voted to include this also in the
209
budget. Under this schedule the maximum for a man on full time is $25 per week. These increases, with amounts required for increases made in September, 1919, for part of the year only, and for additional teachers required by growth in numbers and new compulsory laws relating to educating backward children, supervision of pupils' health, and Americanization, make up the total increase in salaries. The seriousness of such a large increase in one year is fully realized but it is imperative if the disintegration of our teaching force is to be pre- vented and the integrity of our public schools maintained.
The estimates for 1920, outside of salaries, call for little comment. The amount required is $440.09 less than was expended three years ago in 1917 for the same purposes, with the exception of the three items of transportation of pupils, fuel, and repairs. Transportation of pupils has increased 129.5 per cent. since 1917. This is due to doubling the price of pupils' tickets on the street railway, to higher charges for automobile service, and to a larger number of pupils re- ceiving transportation. The increased cost of fuel is universal and hardly needs comment except to say that during the past two years the School Committee has obtained its soft coal from the Municipal Light Board at cost. In regard to repairs it may be said that owing to increased cost of labor and materials the present appropriation is scarcely sufficient for ordinary up-keep.
The estimates for the Agricultural Department are $464.19 more than the expenditures of 1919, but, as it is all in salaries, will be off- set by increased reimbursement of $520 from the State.
The estimate for tuition to Industrial Schools is less than has been asked for previously but accords with the expenditures for the last two years.
Respectfully submitted,
ADELBERT L. SAFFORD, Superintendent.
BY ORDER OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Reading, Mass., February 2, 1920.
.
-
210
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, 1919
TO THE HONORABLE, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS
I beg leave to submit herewith the twenty-seventh annual report of the Superintendent of Schools, the seventh report of the present incumbent of that office.
Encouraged by the belief that the winning of the war was usher- ing in a new era of social progress, the schools entered upon the year nineteen hundred nineteen with high hopes and eager anticipations. Relieved of the distractions and interruptions of the war period, the work has gone on with renewed energy and initiative but the war's aftermath has brought the schools face to face with new problems more critical and difficult to solve than any that the war period itself presented. The scarcity and high cost of materials and labor during the war increased greatly the expenditure for overhead maintenance and postponed until the close of the war the carrying out of any plans for expansion and permanent improvements: not only those plans in- volving the introduction of new features such as a school nurse, eve- ning school for Americanization, and special classes for pupils men- tally retarded and physically below normal health but also, what was far more serious, the improvement of the Center and Union Street schoolhouses, the building of a new schoolhouse to provide additional schoolrooms, and the addition of several new teachers to bring the size of the classes down to a number consistent with the best interests of the children. The closing of the war instead of relieving the situa- tion as was expected and giving an opportunity to catch up with the program of development and progress in the schools has made the fi- nancial situation worse. Nearly everything is scarcer and higher than during the war and the policy of procrastination can no longer be justified by expectations of an early relief from the present infla- tion. The citizens must now face the problem squarely and determine what degree of excellence in view of the increased cost they are able and willing to pay for in the education of their children. The sound- ness of American education in its essential principles has been fully demonstrated. It stood the test of the war and the conviction that education is a profitable investment for the community and essential for its prosperity and safety was never so strong as it is today. Such defects in education as were revealed by the war could have been
211
avoided if the citizens of some of the communities had not allowed their schools to fall far below the standards of the best American schools. Illiteracy, poor physical condition, neglected health precau- tions, lack of training in a chosen vocation, and ignorance of the prin- ciples and practice of American democracy,-these were the principal defects in education revealed by the war and these can and should be avoided in every American community. To do less than this is un- profitable and may be dangerous. Mr. C. R. Mann in "The American Spirit in Education" says, "The schools must recognize as the army has that every citizen has abilities that render him capable of some useful service and it is the function of the educational system to dis- cover each individual's ability and develop it." The idea that ten per cent. more or less of failures was to be expected has been accepted too complacently. The physical, intellectual, or moral causes of failure should be discovered and the individual redirected and reeducated in such a way as to awaken his interest, furnish him with a compelling motive, and provide the point of contact for the impelling power to ac- tion generated by habitual success. As a humanitarian service to the unfortunate but even more urgently as a sound economic measure for the welfare of society, education ought to salvage the "scrap-heap" of adolescence. Mr. E. C. Baldwin in "The Educator's Problem from the Business Man's Standpoint" asks very pertinently, "Can we not then measure educational standards by the degree in which they increase the individual's power of production, enlarge his capacity for happi- ness, and strengthen his purpose to live in harmony with other men?" The Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, ap- pointed by the National Education Association defines the goal of Education in a democracy thus: "It is the ideal of democracy that the individual and society may find fulfillment each in the other. The purpose of democracy is so to organize society that each member may develop his personality primarily through activities designed for the well-being of his fellow members and of society as a whole. Conse- quently, education in a democracy, both within and without the school, should develop in each individual the knowledge, interest, ideals, habits, and powers whereby he will find his place and use that place to shape both himself and society toward ever nobler ends. This commission, therefore, regards the following as the main ob- jectives of education: 1-Health. 2-Command of fundamental pro- cesses. 3-Worthy home-membership. 4-Vocation. 5-Citizenship 6-Worthy use of leisure. 7-Ethical character. It is the firm be- lief of this commission that secondary education in the United States must aim at nothing less than complete and worthy living for all youth, and that therefore the objectives described herein must find place in the education of every boy and girl. The doctrine that each individual has a right to the opportunity to develop the best that is in him is reinforced by the belief in the potential, and perchance
212
unique, worth of the individual. The task of education, as of life, is therefore to call forth that potential worth."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.