USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1942-1946 > Part 36
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ART. 25. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen in its name and behalf to enter into a contract with the Westford Water Company for three additional hydrants to be located as follows: One on Pleasant Street between Abbot Street and Patten Road; one near the corner of Brookside Road and Lowell Road; one on Lowell Road easterly from Brookside Road; or act in re- lation thereto.
ART. 26. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen in its name and behalf to enter into a contract with the Westford Water Company for hydrant service for a period not to exceed five years on such terms and conditions as the Selectmen deem ad- visable; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 27. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to install one street light on Oak Hill Road at the intersection of Lake Shore Drive; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 28. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to install one street light on Oak Hill Road in the vicinity of Tower Road or Grove Street; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 29. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to install one street light on Coolidge Avenue in Nabnassett; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 30. To see if the Town will vote to accept a gift from Richard Hall et als of a triangular parcel of land situated on the south- easterly side of Main Street in Graniteville, together with a monu- ment erected thereon in honor of those residents of Graniteville who served in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II; or act in relation thereto.
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ART. 31. To see if the Town will vote to rescind the action taken under Article 2 of the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting held June 15, 1937 (the action taken under said Article 2 was as fol- lows: "Voted unanimously that the compensation of the regular members of the Fire Department while in the performance of their duties in responding to calls on account of fires, shall be at the rate or One Dollar per hour for the first hour and thereafter at the rate of Sixty Cents per hour, and that of the officers in- creased in proportion") ; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 32. To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of Sec- tion 4B of Chapter 136 of the General Laws (This section provides in substance for the granting of licenses by the Selectmen for the operation of bowling alleys on the Lord's Day); or act in relation thereto.
ART. 33. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Assessors to use as free cash a sum of money not to exceed Fifteen Thousand ($15,000.) Dollars, said amount to be approved by the Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation of the Common- wealth, and said sum to be applied in determining the tax rate for the current year 1947; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 34. To see if the Town will vote to elect at the annual meeting for the year 1948 a Moderator for the term of three years; or act in relation thereto.
ART. 35. To see if the Town will vote to rescind its By-Laws as adopted at the annual town meeting held February 11, 1924 and any amendments or additions thereto adopted subsequent to that time, and to accept and adopt the following By-Laws, and raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money for the purpose of printing and publishing the same:
BY-LAWS ARTICLE I.
Town Meetings and the Procedure Thereat
Section 1. The annual meeting for the election of Town Officers shall be held on the third Monday of February in each year. The polls shall be opened at 12:00 o'clock noon and shall remain open until 8:00 o'clock P. M.
Section 2. All business of the annual Town Meeting except the election of such officers and the determination of such matters as by law or vote of the town are required to be elected or determined by ballot shall be considered at said meeting on the Monday following called at 7:00 o'clock in the evening.
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Section 3. Notice of every Town Meeting shall be given by post- ing an attested copy of the warrant at the Town Hall and each Post Office in Westford at least seven days before such meeting.
Section 4. Special town meeting shall be called on any day not earlier than seven-thirty o'clock P. M. except that on Saturday it may be called not earlier than two o'clock P. M.
Section 5. The proceedings of Town Meetings shall be governed by the rules of practice contained in Robert's Rules of Order except as modified by law or by the by-laws.
Section 6. . At any Town Meeting held for the transaction of town business, no person whose name is not on the list of voters shall be admitted to the floor of the hall except those who may be invited by the meeting assembled. It shall be the special duty of the police and election officers to enforce this law by use of the check list; but the same shall not apply to the state election, primaries or meetings for the election of Town Officers, or to be construed to prohibit press re- porters from such admission. The Moderator shall determine the bounds of the floor of the hall.
Section 7. All committees shall be appointed by the Moderator unless otherwise specially directed by the meeting, and all committees so appointed shall be directed to report within a definite time. If a committee does not report within the time stated, or at the first Town Meeting held thereafter, it shall be considered discharged. The Moderator shall not be a member of any commmittee appointed by him.
Section 8. All motions shall be presented in writing, if the Moderator so requests.
ARTICLE II.
Duties of the Finance Committee
Section 1. There shall be a Finance Committee of six voters of the Town, no one of whom shall hold an elective or appointive town office having to do with the expenditure of town money. The mem- bers of this committee shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their duties, and shall serve without pay.
Section 2. The Finance Committee shall be appointed by the Moderator. The first committee shall be appointed as follows: Two for one year, two for two years, and two for three years. At the an- nual meeting in each year thereafter, two members of said committee to serve for the term of three years shall be appointed by the Mod-
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erator. The term of office of said members shall commence on March first of the year of their appointment. Said committee shall meet at the call of the Town Clerk and choose its chairman and clerk. The Moderator shall forthwith fill by appointment any vacancies which occur in its membership, and said appointee shall serve for the re- mainder of this predecessor's term of office.
Section 3. The Finance Committee shall consider matters relat- ing to the appropriation, the borrowing and the expenditure of money by the Town, its indebtedness, the methods of administration of its various offices and departments, property valuation and assessments, and other municipal affairs, and make recommendations to the Town or to any town board, officer, or committee, relative to such matters, also articles in Town Warrants involving the expenditure or appro- priation of money and shall approve or disapprove the same in whole or in part, and shall make report to the voters with such recommend- ations or suggestions as the committee shall deem advisable.
Section 4. The Town Accountant shall immediately upon the close of the financial year compile statements in tabulated form showing the amounts appropriated and the amounts expended from each appro- priation during the preceding year, and the estimates for the current year, and shall forthwith furnish a copy thereof to the Finance Com- mittee to consider and report on proposed appropriations. The said committee shall, after due 'consideration, designate the amounts which in their opinion should be appropriated for the ensuing year, and shall accompany the same with such explanations and sugges- tions in relation thereto as they may deem desirable for the proper information of the inhabitants. The Selectmen shall bring and dis- tribute this document at or before the Annual Town Meeting and the Town Clerk shall transmit a' copy thereof, and of all Town Reports to the Director of Accounts. The committee shall furnish to the Se- lectmen on or before February first of each year a report of the mat- ters so considered by it with recommendations or suggestions rel- ative thereto, and the same shall be printed in the Annual Town Re- port.
ARTICLE III Duties of the Board of Health
Section 1. The Board of Health shall annually make a report to be printed in the Annual Town Report, showing in detail the statis- tics of the health and sanitary condition of the Town, with recom- mendations for its improvement, together with a full and comprehen- sive statement of its work and that of its appointees, during the pre- vious year.
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The Board shall make and publish such regulations as it deems necessary for public health and safety, and from time to time shall cause said rules and regulations to be printed in a form suitable for public distribution.
Section 2. They shall have charge of the appropriations for quarantine purposes, in addition to the regular health appropriation, and any special appropriation which may be made by the Town, which concern the health and sanitation of the Town, not specifically entrusted to any other department.
ARTICLE IV Junk Dealers and Collectors of Junk
Section 1. The Selectmen may license suitable persons to be dealers in and keepers of shops for the purchase, sale or barter of junk, old metals, or second-hand articles; they may also license suit- able persons as junk collectors, to collect by purchase, or otherwise, junk, old metals, and second-hand articles from place to place in said Town; and they may provide that such collectors shall display badges upon their persons or upon their vehicles, or upon both when engaged in collecting, transporting or dealing in junk, old metals, or second-hand articles, and may prescribe the design thereof. Fees for such license shall be five dollars ($5.00).
Section 2, Every such shopkeeper shall keep a book, in which shall be written at the time of every purchase of any such article a description thereof and the name, age and residence of the person from whom and the day and hour, when such purchase was made and such book shall at any time be open to the inspection of the Select- men and by any person by them authorized to make such inspection.
Section 3. Every such shopkeeper shall allow his shop and all articles of merchandise therein to be at any time examined by the Selectmen and by any person by them authorized to make such in- spection, and every such collector shall allow any place, vehicles or receptable used for the collection or keeping of such articles of mer- chandise to be at any time examined by the Selectmen and by any persons by them authorized to make such inspection.
ARTICLE V Streets and Sidewalks
Section 1. No person shall suffer horses or grazing beasts or swine to run at large in the Town or to graze within the limits of the highway in the thickly settled parts of the Town; or to graze within the limits of the highway in any other part of the Town unless se- curely tied.
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Section 2. No person shall throw stones, snowballs, sticks or other missiles, or kick football, or play at any game, in which a ball is used, or fly kites or balloons, or shoot with an airgun, bow and ar- row, sling shot or other similar devise. in or across any of the public ways of the Town.
Section 3. No person shall wilfully or negligently obstruct the free passage of foot-travellers on any sidewalk, nor shall any person loaf upon any sidewalk or in any street or public way of the Town after a request to move made by any constable or police officer.
Section 4. No person shall break or dig up any sidewalk, street, or highway, or place thereon any staging or other temporary struc- ture, or move any building into or along the same without a written permit from the Board of Selectmen, or the Board having charge of the streets in such cases. Any permit issued hereunder shall be in force for such time as the Board may specify; shall be issued upon condition that from one half hour after sunset until one half hour before sunrise sufficient lights or lanterns shall be so placed as to secure travelers from danger, and shall be issued upon such other conditions as the Board may prescribe. The Board granting such permit shall have the right to revoke the same at any time, and may require a bond either before the commencement of work or during its progress to ensure its proper performance. Any person having such a permit shall, before the expiration of the same, restore the sidewalk, street or highway to its original condition.
Section 5. No person shall throw or place or cause to be thrown or placed upon any street or highway of the Town, any nails, spikes, screws, glass, tin cans or any rubbish or refuse of any kind.
Section 6. No person shall deface or damage any public monu- ment or damage any public grounds or property.
Section 7. No person shall ride, drive or cause to be driven, any horse, or vehicle over that part of any street which is being mended, repaired or paved, if a watchman or signs are placed prohibiting the same.
Section 8. The Selectmen shall have the right to close any street or highway or portion thereof to coasting.
Section 9. No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any street or highway nor shall any owner of any vehicle knowingly permit such vehicle to be driven or moved on any street or highway unless such vehicle is so constructed, or so loaded, as to prevent its contents from spilling, dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping there- from. Vehicles loaded with any material which may be blown about
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by the wind shall be suitably covered to prevent the contents from being blown about the streets and highways.
ARTICLE VI Legal Affairs
Section 1. The Selectmen shall, with the assistance of Town Counsel, institute, prosecute and defend any and all claims, actions and proceedings to which the Town is a party or in which the inter- ests of the Town are or may be involved.
Section 2. The Selectmen may, subject to the approval of the Town, settle any claim or suit made or instituted by them in behalf of the Town. They may compromise or settle any claims or suits against the Town, provided an appropriation by the Town for the payment of such compromise or settlement has first been obtained.
ARTICLE VII Penalty
Section 1. Whoever violates any of the provisions of these By- Laws shall be punished with a fine of not more than twenty dollars for each offense unless specifically provided otherwise herein.
ARTICLE VIII Amendments
Section 1. These By-Laws may be repealed or amended at any annual Town Meeting or at any other Town Meeting an article or ar- ticles for such purpose having been inserted in the warrant for such meeting.
ARTICLE IX Repeal
Section 1. These By-Laws shall go into effect upon their accep- tance by the Town and their approval and publication in the manner required by law, and all the By-Laws or votes of the Town inconsis- tent with these By-Laws are hereby repealed, or act in relation there- to.
ARTICLE 36. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate a sufficient sum of money for the purpose of defraying the ex- penses of the Department of Veterans' Services, including the com- pensation of the Director of Veterans' Services, as provided in Chap- ter 599 of the Acts of 1946; or act in relation thereto.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies thereof at the Town Hall and at each Post Office in said Westford, seven days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
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Hereof fail not, and make return of this warrant, with your do- ing thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the first meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands this twenty-ninth day of January in the year of our Lord, 1947.
ARTHUR L. HEALY CYRIL A. BLANEY EDWARD F. HARRINGTON Selectmen of Westford
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ANNUAL REPORT
THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
Town of Westford
OF
TOWN
NESTFOR
INCORPO
1729
23
R
SEP®
For The Year Ending December 31,
1946
ORGANIZATION - SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Frederick Gatenby, Chairman Term Expires 1949
Edgar Peterson Term Expires 1949
William Kelly Term Expires 1948
H. Arnold Wilder Term Expires 1948
Robert Hunter Term Expires 1947
F. Stanley Smith, Secretary Term Expires 1947
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS Chester V. Sweatt, Westford, Mass.
Tel. Res. 616
Tel. Office 561
SCHOOL TELEPHONES
Tel. Cameron School 542 Tel. Sargent School 553
Tel. Wm. E. Frost School 230 Tel. Westford Academy 561 Tel. Nabnassett School 233
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN Dwight W. Cowles, M. D., Westford, Mass.
SCHOOL NURSE Dorothy Healy, R. N., Westford, Mass. Tel. Office 391, Town Hall
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REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Citizens of Westford Westford, Massachusetts
The Superintendent's report which follows has been read and accepted by the School Board.
The Board is asking for the sum of $102,600 with which to operate the public schools during 1946-1947 and the sum of $800 for vocational tuition. A copy of the 1947 budget may be obtained at the office of the Superintendent of Schools.
Only one new member, Mr. Edgar Peterson, was elected to the Board this year.
Respectfully submitted,
FREDERICK W. GATENBY, Chairman.
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REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the Westford School Committee:
It is with mixed emotions that I submit this my last annual report. Naturally, I am happy to accept the challenge of my new position but my associations in Westford have been so happy that I can't help regretting leaving such a fine town.
In the years I have served as your superintendent I have worked on the assumption that Westford people want good modern schools. There have been few times during those years when I have doubted the soundness of that assumption, for Westford citizens have con- stantly supported efforts to have better schools. But occasionally one hears some individual say, "We are spending a lot of money for our schools and we don't have anything." In this report, there- fore, I shall review our school program for the benefit of the few citizens who utter that all too embracing generality "we don't have anything," and also for those citizens who are aware of what has been accomplished and are proud of that accomplishment.
PART I WHY DO WE HAVE SCHOOLS?
Education is that process by which society constantly seeks to renew itself. It is a continuous process begun at birth and continued through life, and everything in the environment may contribute to one's education - the family, church, school, butcher, baker, or candlestick-maker.
The school is only one factor in the educational process but it is a vital one. It is the centralizing agency set up by society through which the many influences of an environment that contribute to an individual's education may be assessed, given perpective, and, if necessary, re-directed in the light of a common goal. The major items making up this common goal are: vocation, personal develop- ment, and citizenship.
VOCATION
Everyone needs to develop proficiency in some vocation what- ever it be, home-maker, doctor, or engineer. The nation cannot sur- vive without an abundance of well-educated, skilled workmen, technicians, and engineers. It is rather generally admitted that the schools should give this vocational training but there is some question as to what schools should provide it. The danger in the emphasis on vocational training is that the other two factors, personal develop- ment and citizenship, may be neglected.
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The most important educational item among those pertaining to self is character. Knowledge, health, and appreciation of fine things are desirable for good living but character is essential. For good living one must have a code built on a firm foundation of what God and Time have shown to be good. Possession of such a code gives a person character.
Character is essentially those knowledges, attitudes, habits, appreciations, insights, and actions concerning the science of good and evil. The person who possesses character is one who has definite standards, "a philosophy of life, a principle by which to judge and rule" his life. It is the duty of the school to help the individual ac- quire a philosophy of living that serves as an ideal to guide his life, and, through him, national life. Richard Livingston expresses it thusly: "Education, that maid-of-all-work, has set her hand to as many duties as a general servant. But two things she could give everybody before her work is complete - an intellectual attitude of life and a philosophy of life. I would define the right intellectual attitude as threefold; to find the world and life intensely interesting; to wish to see them as they are; to feel that truth, in Plato's words, is both permanent and beautiful. And a philosophy of life? The right intellectual attitude to life is already a partial philosophy of it. It is complete, if you extend it to cover Goodness, Truth and Beauty, and define Goodness to cover those words which have been trumpet-calls to many generations, and, once sounded by unknown men far back in history have been borne around the world on waves of the spiritual air, now loud, now low, but never wholly silent: Love, justice, courage, self-mastery, mercy, liberty-". "The funda- mental task of education is to put into the mind some idea of what these things are, some desire to pursue them."
There was probably never a time when firm character, indivi- dual and national, was so needed as today. Our way of life is changing so fast that the speed of that change frightens people. It is well that it does for it makes us realize the necessity of striving for goodness, in individual and national life.
CITIZENSHIP
Individuals are born citizens only in a legal sense. They must be trained in the knowledges, duties, attitudes, understandings, and obligations of citizenship. Such training should be as far as the school is concerned a major part of the school program and it can best be done by organizing the entire school program to provide it. Here is one phase of education where learning by doing is a must.
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In citizenship, as in many other things, the public school is asked to do the impossible. No public school can fully train citizens. Learning by doing implies action but only adults can participate in the machinery of government. While elementary principles of citi- zenship can be taught in school, where the life of the school is organ- ized to this end, the real training in citizenship can only be given on the adult level.
Citizenship training on any level must include three elements: knowledge of the structure of the state and the foundation of the parts of the structure; a vision of what society may be; and a sense of being a part of the state, a feeling of belonging. Knowledge is needed but even more is vision needed so that knowledge can be used for the good of man. Even of greater importance is the necessity for one to feel he belongs and is important to his state.
HOW WELL ARE WESTFORD SCHOOLS MEETING THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE HAVE SCHOOLS? VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Vocational training is an area in which our school program is far from adequate. Naturally, this is a secondary school problem and not an elementary one. Only in the field of commercial education can we claim to be offering training that has immediate use in earn- ing a living.
Commercial instruction in Westford Academy consists of two years of typing, two years of stenography, and one year of book- keeping. These subjects are taken in addition to the required courses in English and social studies, together with elective courses in science or foreign language.
A bright girl who is willing to work hard can graduate from the above program with good secretarial ability. Those graduates whom we have recommended highly to employers have consistently done well.
In specialized training as in other fields not all individuals learn as rapidly as others. Our policy has been to discourage pupils from taking Stenography II if their work in Stenography I is un-' satisfactory. These pupils may continue their typing instruction thereby fitting themselves as office clerks.
Our vocational instruction should include more prevocational work. There is considerable doubt that the intensive vocational training should be given in schools as small as ours. On the other
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hand, it is generally agreed that prevocational training is in order. This training should be in manual arts and domestic science, possibly followed by intensive study at the Lowell Vocational School. How- ever, until adequate space is made available it will be impossible to improve vocational training as the Academy building is inadequate for even the present secondary program.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
It is to be expected that in a New England town like Westford, great emphasis would be placed on individual development and such is the case. Great pride is taken in pointing to the graduates of our schools who have lived well, who have succeeded in life. This is all to the good and the emphasis along this line continues to be an im- portant part of the school program. The program includes training in the knowledges, skills, habits, insights, appreciations, and attitudes which, if tied together into a "habitual vision of greatness", give a person standards by which to govern his life.
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