USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1914-1919 > Part 20
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Leaving no balance to collect.
To Debit of L. W. Wheeler, Collector, for year 1916.
To amount of tax levy as per Assessor's Warrant, as follows: «
805 Polls at $2.00 $1,610 00
Tax on Personal Property 12,699 55
Tax on Real Estate 25,578 12
Moth and Lead Tax 554 51
$40,442 18
133
Additions since issue of Warrant as per Assessor's and Selectmen's notices . . . . $354 87 Past due interest collected on taxes paid after November 1, 1916 29 23
$40,826 28
Less Abatements for the year, as per Asses- sor's notices 123 93
$40,702 35
By collections to November 6, 1916 $35,573 87
By collections from November 6 to January 9,1917 3,641 85
Past due interest collected
29 23
39,244 95
Balance to collect $1,457 40
To Excise tax to collect as per Assessor's
Warrant $258 58
By collections 258 58
Leaving no balance to collect.
TOWN CLERK.
The Town Clerk issued during the year licenses for
190 male dogs at $2.00
$380 00
17 female dogs at $5.00
85 00
$465 00
1 license for 1915, since last audit
2 00
$467 00 41 60
Less Clerk's fee, 208 at 20c.
Balance paid to County Treasurer and receipted for by him $425 40
134
SELECTMEN.
The Selectmen drew 856 orders on the Treasurer during the . year, amounting to $44,725.42. Receipted bills were found on file for nearly all the payments, and in the few cases where these were not in evidence, I found checks on file as vouchers for the payments.
TOWN FARM.
Mr. H. W. Barnes, Superintendent.
To balance cash on hand December 31, 1915 $ 66 28 Total receipts from all sources during the
year 4,211 65
$4,277 93
By expenditures for the year
4,230 22
Balance on hand December 30, 1916 $ 47 71
TREASURER.
To balance cash on hand January 1, 1916 5,882 86 Receipts from all sources during the year 82,014 29
- $87,897 15
By total payments for the year ending December 30, 1916 75,923 46
Balance cash on hand December 30, 1916
11,973 69
$87,897 15
135
Statement of Condition.
ASSETS.
1916 taxes remaining uncollected
$ 1,457 40
Accrued interest on same 18 22
Due from State Aid 486 00
Due from Military Aid
108 00
Due from Vocational School Fund 93 75
Due for old pipe
21 55
Balance cash on hand with Supt. of Town
Farm 47 71
Balance cash on hand with Treasurer
11,973 69
$14,206 32
LIABILITIES.
Due State Treasurer on Schoolhouse Loan (William E. Frost School) $6,000 00
Two months' interest on same at 44% 42 50
Due V. C. B. Wetmore on Fire House Loan 500 00
Due State Treasurer account Acton & Lowell Road Loan 1,500 00
1} month's interest on same at 4% 7 50
$8,050 00
Balance
$6,156 32
The balance December 31, 1915 was 341 64
EDWARD T. HANLEY,
Auditor.
136
WARRANT FOR ANNUAL TOWN MEETING.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
1 MIDDLESEX, SS.
To the Constable of the Town of Westford, in said County.
GREETING:
You are hereby required in the name of the Commonwealth aforesaid, to notify and warn all the inhabitants of said Town qualified to vote in elections, and also in Town affairs, to meet at the Town House, in said Westford, on Monday, the twelfth day of February, being the second Monday in said month at 7.45 o'clock A. M. The polls will be opened at eight o'clock A. M., and may be closed at one o'clock P. M .; and they are then and there to act upon the following articles, to wit:
1st. To choose a Moderator.
2nd. To bring in their votes for one Selectman, one Overseer of Poor, one Assessor, two School Committee, one Com- missioner of Public Burial Grounds, one Trustee of the Public Library, all for three years; Town Treasurer, Col- lector of Taxes, one Constable, one Auditor, and one Tree Warden, all for one year; also to vote on the following question: "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this Town?"
3rd. To hear the report of the Finance Committee, and act in relation to the same.
4th. To hear the report of the Selectmen, and act in relation to the same.
137
5th. To hear the report of the Selectmen on Guide Boards, and act in relation to the same.
6th. To hear the report of the Overseers of the Poor, and act in relation to the same.
7th. To hear the report of the School Committee, and act in relation to the same.
8th. To hear the report of the Trustees, and raise and appro- priate money to meet the expenses of the Public Library, and act in relation to the same.
9th. To hear the report of the Commissioners of Public Burial Grounds, and act in relation to the same.
10th. To see if the Town will accept the report of the Auditor chosen to audit the accounts of the Town Officers, and act in relation to the same.
11th. To see if the Town will determine the compensation of the Tax Collector, and act in relation to the same.
12th. To raise and appropriate money to repair Roads and Bridges.
13th. To raise and appropriate money for Town Debts and Charges.
14th. To raise and appropriate money for support of Poor.
15th. To raise and appropriate money for the support of the Public Schools, High School purposes, school text-books and supplies, salary of the Superintendent of Schools, . repairs and maintenance of, and miscellaneous expenses incurred in connection with the various schoolhouses and medical inspection, and act in relation to the same.
138
16th. To raise and appropriate money for destruction of gypsy and brown tail moths and elm tree beetles.
17th. To raise and appropriate money to meet the expense of the Fire Department.
18th. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate money to purchase new hose and fire apparatus for the fire department, and act in relation to the same.
19th. To see if the Town will vote to instal additional hydrants in accordance with the recommendation of the Fire Engin- eers, and act in relation to the same.
20th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to purchase a piano to be placed in the Town Hall, appro- priate money therefor, and act in relation to the same.
21st. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate two hundred dollars ($200) for the George Washington Memorial Building, Washington, D. C., and act in relation to the same.
22nd. To hear the report of the committee chosen at the last annual meeting to investigate and report relative to the establishment of quarters for the Fire Department at Westford Centre, and act in relation to the same.
23rd. To see if the Town will vote to remodel, make additions to, or otherwise repair the Old Academy Building, so called, for the use of the fire department, whereby the floor space thereof is to be increased, and raise and appropriate or borrow, or raise and appropriate in part and borrow in part, money for these purposes, and act in relation to the same.
139
24th. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate money to meet the portion of the expense to be borne in the relocating and repairing of the Graniteville Road, so called, as ordered by the County Commissioners, and act in relation to the same.
25th. To see what action the Town will take towards continuing taking water from the Westford Water Company, and act in relation to the same.
26th. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate a sum not exceeding fifty dollars ($50) as compensation for a Fish and Game Warden in the event one is appointed for the Town.
27th. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate money for the construction and grading of sidewalks in the several villages, and act in relation to the same.
28th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of the revenue of the current financial year.
29th. To determine the manner of collecting taxes for the en- suing year, also the rate of interest on taxes remaining unpaid at a time to be fixed by vote of the Town, and when and how said taxes shall be paid into the treasury, and act in relation to the same.
30th. To choose a Finance Committee.
31st. To choose all other Town Officers necessary to be chosen by hand vote, and act in relation to the same.
32nd. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate money to commemorate Memorial Day, and act in relation to the same.
140
33rd. By request of the citizens of Graniteville, Forge Village, and Parkerville, to see if the Town will appropriate the sum of one hundred dollars ($100) for the purpose of distributing books from the Public Library in these three villages, and act in relation to the same.
34th.
To see if the Town will authorize the Town Treasurer to give to the Merrimack River Savings Bank of Lowell, Mass., a bond in a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25), in order to withdraw from said bank the amount of the deposit now standing in the name of Daniel May, deceased, and act in relation to the same.
35th.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate money for lighting the road from Westford Depot or vicinity to Brookside Corner, and act in relation to the same.
And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting up true and attested copies at the Town House and each Depot in said Westford, eight days at least, before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands, this nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventeen.
OSCAR R. SPALDING, SHERMAN H. FLETCHER, FRANK L. FURBUSH,
Selectmen of Westford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
WESTF
TOWN
F
INCORPO
1729.
R
T 23.
SE
OF THE
TOWN OF WESTFORD, MASS.
FOR THE
School Year ending December 31, 1916
3
School Calendar.
ACADEMY. 1917.
March 16. Winter term closes 14 weeks
VACATION-ONE WEEK.
March 26. Spring term opens.
June 22. Spring term closes 13 weeks
SUMMER VACATION. 1917-1918.
Sept. 4. Fall term opens.
Nov. 28. Fall term closes 13 weeks
VACATION-THANKSGIVING AND DAY FOLLOWING.
Dec. 3. Winter term opens.
CHRISTMAS VACATION-ONE WEEK. December 21, 1917-January 2, 1918.
1918.
March 15. Winter term closes 14 weeks
VACATION-ONE WEEK.
March 25. Spring term opens.
June 21. Spring term closes 13 weeks
Total
40 weeks
4
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
1917.
March 16. Winter term closes 13 weeks
VACATION-ONE WEEK.
March 26. Spring term opens.
June 8. Spring term closes 11 weeks
SUMMER VACATION.
1917-1918.
Sept. 4. Fall term opens.
Nov. 28. Fall term closes 13 weeks
VACATION-THANKSGIVING AND DAY FOLLOWING.
Dec. 3. Winter term opens.
VACATION-TWO WEEKS.
December 21, 1917-January 7, 1918.
1918.
March 15. Winter term closes 13 weeks
VACATION-TWO WEEKS.
April 1. Spring term opens. June 7. Spring term closes 10 weeks
Total
36 weeks
5
SPECIAL EXERCISE DAYS AND HOLIDAYS.
1917.
Feb. 12. Lincoln Exercises, one hour.
Feb. 21. Washington Exercises, one hour.
April 18.
Patriots' Day Exercises, one hour.
May 29. Memorial Day Exercises, one hour.
Oct. 11. Columbus Day Exercises, one hour.
Nov. 28. Thanksgiving Day Exercises, one hour.
1918.
Feb. 12. Lincoln Exercises, one hour.
Feb. 21. Washington Exercises, one hour.
April 18. Patriots' Day Exercises, one hour.
May 29. Memorial Day Exercises, one hour.
LEGAL HOLIDAYS.
The words "legal holidays" 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, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, or the day following when any of the four days first men- tioned, the twelfth day of October or Christmas Day occurs on Sunday.
January 1st is now a holiday.
Arbor Day occurs on the last Saturday in April, and is not a legal holiday.
Flag Day occurs on June 14th, and is not a legal holiday. It should be observed by any school then in session, by appropriate exercises.
6
School Committee.
JOHN SPINNER Term expires 1917 ARTHUR E. DAY, Secretary Term expires 1917 CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, Chairman T. ARTHUR E. WILSON . Term expires 1918 Term expires 1918 Term expires 1919
JOHN P. WRIGHT FRANK L. FURBUSH
Term expires 1919
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. FRANK H. HILL, Littleton, Mass. Telephone 36-3 Littleton.
COMMITTEE ON TEXT-BOOKS.
CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, JOHN P. WRIGHT.
SUPPLY AGENT.
FRANK H. HILL.
ATTENDANCE OFFICERS.
JOHN A. HEALY,
JOHN SPINNER. SCHOOL PHYSICIAN.
CYRIL A. BLANEY, M. D.
7
Financial Statement.
AS APPROVED BY THE SELECTMEN.
Balance from last account $ 1,424 55
Appropriation, Common Schools 10,450 00
Appropriation, High School
3,100 00
Appropriation, Superintendent
573 75
Appropriation, Text-Books
750 00
Appropriation, School Physician
100 00
Appropriation, Repairs and Miscellaneous
1,000 00
Received from Mass. School Fund
1,079 37
Received from State on acct. Supt. of Schools
531 25
Received Tuition from Town of Tyngs- boro.
50 00
Received Tuition from Town of Groton
58 50
$19,117 42
EXPENDITURES.
Trustees of Westford Academy
$ 375 00
Teachers
9,072 00
Transportation
2,896 00
Fuel .
1,051 60
Janitors and cleaning
1,072 00
Drawing
225 00
Music
300 00
Superintendent of Schools
892 50
School Physician
100 00
Text-Books and Supplies
839 97
Repairs and Miscellaneous
988 59
Attendance Officers .
7 75
Tuition to Town of Tyngsboro
23 25
$17,843 66
Balance on hand
$1,273 76
8
REPAIRS AND MISCELLANEOUS.
Trustees Westford Academy, typewriters . $270 00
Underwood Typewriter Co., typewriter 30 00
Westford Water Co., water rates 222 00
Express and freight 4 10
Eleanor Hill, Clerk to Superintendent
79 78
H. S. Stiles, labor
42 85
J. E. Knight, labor 19 45
Wm. C. Roudenbush, expenses
15 06
Butterfield Printing Co. 6 50
Alex McDonald, gravel
12 00
A. W. Tuttle, labor
3 00
Joe Wall, stock and labor
2 95
Supplies for Superintendent
29 26
Wright & Potter Printing Co., supplies
5 64
Accompanist at Graduation
3 40
Ribbon for Graduation 2 61
Butterfield Printing Co., programs
9 00
F. LeDuc, repairs on swings
2 00
S. H. Balch, labor.
22 02
Hanley & Co., supplies
11 25
Catherine A. Hanley, educational certifi- cates 8 80
Union Sheet Metal Co., repairs
12 50
Manifold Mfg. Co., supplies
11 25
Edward E. Babb & Co., supplies
2 79
Edward Defoe, labor
1 50
Miss H. F. Denfeld, expenses
50
J. W. Fletcher, teaming supplies
2 00
Edward Hamlin, repairs 1 60
20 00
John Spinner, labor 14 25
Thos. H. Murphy, repairs
5 75
Boston School Supply Co.
44 15
C. O. Prescott, making State Report
6 00
Wright & Fletcher, supplies 24 38
J. A. Healy, repairs 40 25
$988 59
H. C. Doughty, supplies
9
Report of the Superintendent.
GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE :
Following is my seventh annual report, the twenty-fifth in the series of such reports.
A general retrospect of the school year ending in June, 1916, presents fairly satisfactory results in most of the activities entering into school problems. As the teacher is by far the most important factor in the successful school it follows that last year's teachers were worthy of a high degree of approval. Only three were new to Westford schools: Miss Osborne of the Academy, Miss Beal of Parkerville, and Miss Staples of the Department of Drawing. These three teachers had been successful elsewhere and, with the exception of the Parkerville situation-I am not ready to say teacher-were successful here. In Parkerville there has been persistent lack of co-operation with the teacher for many years, on the part of a small minority there. After some years the situation will right itself, no doubt, but meantime the teacher's life is made none too pleasant by this lack of co-operation and the work of the school cannot be said to be satisfactory in consequence. Here and there residents of remote sections have shown a dis- position to maintain the rights of their children to an education without recognizing their own duty in the matter. With these two exceptions the report of last year's work might have been "satisfactory" instead of "fairly satisfactory."
Coming now to the present school year: Miss Young of the Commercial Department of the Academy was called to the Lynn Commercial School during the summer vacation, and Helena F. Denfeld has assumed her duties with reasonable assurance of success at this writing. Miss Clara Smith was the first teacher of this town to take advantage of her right to retire on a retire-
10
ment pension, and Miss Lottie L. Dunn has been appointed in her place, as teacher of grades seven and eight in the William E. Frost School, Miss Grant having been made principal of the school when Miss Smith retired, but retaining her own fifth and sixth grades. Miss Grace E. Ranney has succeeded Miss Beal at Parkerville, also succeeding to some of Miss Beal's problems. In Graniteville, Miss Mary A. Dunn is in charge of grade one, after a leave of absence of one year, and Miss Letitia V. Ward has again entered upon her duties at Forge Village from a leave of absence of nearly a year and a half. We have good reason to expect a harmonious and satisfactory year.
One of the causes of irritation, the matter of transportation of some of the children from remote and inaccessible sections of Westford, must be faced squarely, for it is a growing cause, not a diminishing one. I believe the court will be the final means of determining whether or not the parents are doing all that may be reasonably expected of them in the matter of providing an education for their children. The other alternative is to determine upon the cost of transportation for those children, and ask an additional amount for transportation at the next annual town meeting. It is well to cross the street before meeting some kinds of trouble, but, if nothing else out of the usual routine of things is accomplished during the next six months, this matter of trans- portation ought to be faced and settled.
The general subject of transportation is a big one. I am sure the committee desire to provide every reasonable facility for the children to reach school and acquire their education. I believe they have been more than generous in handling this situation. But transportation is a necessity, few wish to engage in the work, and the price goes up. The time may come when the town should purchase school barges and have them start from the Centre, the drivers being paid for the use of their horses and for the driving. In some way a greater field of competition must be devised, and opening up the central part of the town to compete with remote and much less populous sections would
11
extend competition to good effect. The fact that "He is the only man in that district who can put on a barge" would be less sig- nificant if fairly populous sections like the Centre, Forge Village, and Graniteville could compete with those outlying sections. To drive a barge-load of children to school should be looked upon as a privilege, not as conferring a favor upon the town; an oppor- tunity for public service at a reasonable wage, instead of a chance to hold up a branch of the public service for a price.
As work certificates and special home permits are based upon birth certificates as one condition, and upon school attendance of 130 days after the thirteenth birthday as another condition, it would seem reasonable to require that children approaching their thirteenth birthday should deposit their birth certificates with the teacher as a part of the school record. Upon leaving town to acquire a school residence elsewhere, the birth certificate would be given to the child with his discharge card. More pre- liminary correspondence, and consequent delay, comes from the lack of a birth certificate when a work permit is desired than from any other cause. If, upon entering school, a birth certificate were deposited, and one required from those thirteen years of age, in a few years we should have a complete and absolutely correct record. Heretofore, the school register, our only immediate reference, has been very unsatisfactory evidence of birthday data.
The general high prices prevailing throughout the country have not neglected the interests of text-book and supply houses. Supplies of paper especially have advanced in price, and recently I have been notified by four publishing concerns that their books would be advanced January 1, 1917. The present liberal allow- ance for these materials, in daily use in the schools and of un- questioned necessity, must bc again increased, and an appro- priation of at least $100 more than last year should be made: I do not contemplate changing text-books, except possibly onc text in the Academy, but the additional sum is asked for only to meet the increased and increasing prices of materials we must have to work with.
12
I regret to report that arrangements could not be made to begin manual training and domestic science in the Academy last Fall. The cooking classes carried on by Mrs. Abbott in the Frost School are to be continued this year. A home-like and exceedingly refining atmosphere characterized this little cook-room at all times, to my mind one of the most enduring assets of the course. I wish each week one mother would visit this room, so that by the end of the year all the mothers of all the girls taking the course would have seen the work. Lest all come at once the girls could receive a card of invitation in rotation until all were served. The superintendent would be glad to hear from the mothers their opinion, whether in approval or in objection. From a professional standpoint, considering the small scale on which the work is being carried on and the limited amount attempted or possible in such a small room, he has not found a single objection to date. The only regret is that the Cameron and Sargent Schools cannot be equally as well served.
The reports of the principal of the Academy and the special teachers are to be read as a part of this report covering their special fields, and show their viewpoints from a closer and more intimate knowledge than I possess.
I have held one general teachers' meeting, at the Sargent School, since the opening of the Fall term. All the teachers in town were present, except one whose excuse was satisfactory. As often as once a month during the remainder of the year these meetings will be held, in different buildings, and, during the Winter term, at an hour early enough to conclude the work before dark. The special subject of the year will be English, with the greatest emphasis laid upon oral expression. It is hoped that, as one result of this series of meetings, pupils will be better taught to express themselves logically and fully upon any given subject than now. The influence of this work upon written themes ought to be considerable. "Common Sense Didactics," by Sabin, has been selected as a book for general reading and dis- cussion. In this way I hope to make the year professionally
13
profitable for the teachers, both by a general review of school conditions, and by the special application of thought to a single subject of the program.
I cannot conclude this report without expressing my appre- ciation of the work of the janitors of Westford. The rooms are kept clean, the heating is intelligently and economically attended to, the ventilation is watched closely, and the children obey and respect our janitors. Their work is important, and, playing as it does a large part in the scheme of education, is deserving of recognition. We are naturally anxious for the conduct of our schools: the greater the confidence we have in our janitors the greater our sense of security at all times. I hope, therefore, it will be possible to so increase the salaries of these efficient public servants that they may be assured of our appreciation.
I wish to express my appreciation of the active help and continued confidence of the committee and townspeople through- out the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANK H. HILL,
Superintendent of Schools.
Westford, January 9, 1917. .
14
Report of Westford Academy.
January 1, 1917.
MR. F. H. HILL,
Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR MR. HILL:
The report of Westford Academy for the past year is as follows :
At the opening of school in September, 1916, there was a total of fifty-four pupils enrolled, twenty-one boys, and thirty- three girls. For various reasons one boy and five girls have since left school. Of this number three girls moved from town, and the three remaining pupils left school to go to work. Consequently the enrollment to date is twenty boys and twenty-eight girls.
The entering class in September comprised nine boys and twelve girls. Of these there remain eight boys and ten girls. The three pupils mentioned above who left school to go to work were from this class.
A year ago this month (January 17-21, 1916) there was held, in the Town Hall, the Westford Agricultural Extension School under the leadership of the Massachusetts Agricultural College Extension Service. Lectures were given on a variety of subjects pertaining to agriculture, also lectures and demonstrations on household arts. The boys and girls of the Academy were per- mitted to attend these lectures, utilizing, as far as possible, those periods when they had no recitations.
1
15
The large majority of the school took advantage of the opportunity, the chief condition of attendance being that each pupil submit a written report upon some subject in which he or she found particular interest.
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