USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1945-1946 > Part 16
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800 11
400.00
Carter Road and Crest Avenue .. 800 200.00
Beech Street 1000 = 200.00
Article 12. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for the purchase of a new au- tomobile and equipment therefor for the Police Department and/or authorize the sale or turnin of the present police car as credit toward such purchase or do anything in relation thereto.
129
Article 13. To see if the Town will vote to have a Com- mittee appointed to study and recommend what action should be taken by the Town to provide suitable housing facilities for the Fire Department equipment and personnel.
Article 14. To see if the Town will vote to authorize and direct the Selectmen to petition the General Court for authority to borrow money outside of the debt limit for the construction of a new elementary and/or other educational facilities, or do anything in relation thereto.
Article 15. To see if the Town will direct the Selectmen to prepare a division of the Town into convenient voting precincts in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 of Chapter 54 of the General Laws (Ter. Ed.) as amended, or do anything in relation thereto.
Article 16. To see if the Town will raise and appro- priate the sum of Six Thousand Four Hundred and Seventy- five Dollars ($6,475.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from its present terminus at the corner of Lowell and West Streets along West Street for a distance of 1850 feet to the residence of John F. Gammons, et als, or do any- thing in relation thereto. On petition of Helen T. Gammons and others.
Article 17. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Nine Thousand Three Hundred ($9,300.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Shawsheen Avenue westerly along Hopkins Street to a point at or near the Billerica Line, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Ernest Crispo and others.
Article 18. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Eight Thousand Dollars ($8,000.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from the junc- tion of Lowell and Main Streets, southerly along Main Street for a distance of 2000 feet or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Willis B. McIntosh and others.
Article 19. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Sixteen Hundred Twenty-Five Dol- lars ($1,625.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Forest Street along Swain Road, West approximately * 650 feet to or near the residence of Mr. John J. Farrell or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of John J. Farrell and others.
130
Article 20. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($6,750.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Salem Street along McDonald Road 2700 feet, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Ed- ward MacLean and others.
Article 21. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of Two Thousand One Hundred and Eigh- ty-seven Dollars and Fifty Cents ($2,187.50) for the purpose of extending the water main from its present terminus at the junction of Burlington Avenue and Harris Street, along Harris Street for a distance of 875 feet, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Wesley H. Baker and others.
Article 22. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($1,750.00) to extend the water main 700 feet along Miller Road, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Sidney R. Miller and others.
Article 23. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Four Hundred Fifty Dollars ($450.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Salem Street northerly along Central Street to a point at or near the residence of Harry Solow or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Harry Solow and others.
Article 24. To see if the Town will vote the necessary amount and provide the necessary authority to extend the town water from Forest Street to the residence of Mr. Gilbert W. Stalker, Edwards Road a distance of 170 feet or do any- thing in connection therewith. On petition of Gilbert W. Stalker and others.
Article 25. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be installed on Brentwood Avenue. On petition of Harold Woodman and others.
Article 26. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for three (3) electric lights to be installed on Cook Avenue. On petition of Wesley J. Geldard and others.
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Article 27. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be in- stalled on Mackey Road or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of James A. Mackey and others.
Article 28. To see if the Board will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be in- stalled on Wilson Street or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of George W. Danico and others.
Article 29. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be installed on Pershing Street or do anything in relation, thereto. On petition of Annie M. Murphy and others.
Article 30. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for seven (7) electric lights to be installed on McDonald Road, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Raymond E. Banks and others.
Article 31. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be installed on Brattle Street between Glen Road and Mass- achusetts Avenue, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of Charles F. Jordan and others.
Article 32. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be in- stalled on Carter Road, corner Crest Avenue, or do anything in relation thereto. On petition of John B. Fiola and others.
Article 33. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for three (3) electric lights to be installed on Burnap Street. On petition of Mary E. Gilligan and others.
Article 34. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be installed on Shawsheen Road. On petition of Herbert R. Boutwell and others.
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Article 35. To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Acts of 1947, which reads as follows :
Section 1. The Town of Wilmington may continue to maintain its fire department notwithstanding the fail- ure of the Town, prior to the establishment of said de- partment, to accept the provisions of sections forty-two to forty-four, inclusive of chapter forty-eight of the Gen- eral Laws, or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, and all acts and proceedings of said town and of its officers in relation to the fire department, so far as they were invalid by reason of said failure, are hereby validated and confirmed, and the chief and other officers and members of said department shall have the retire- ment and other rights to which they would be entitled if it had been originally established in the manner pres- cribed by law.
Section 2. This act, if accepted by the town at its next annual town meeting, shall take full effect on July first, nineteen hundred and forty-seven.
Article 36. To see if the Town will vote that the Town Clerk, Town Treasurer and Tax Collector shall hereafter be elected for a term of three (3) years, or do anything in re- lation thereto.
Hereof fail not and make due return of this Warrant, or a certified copy thereof, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk as soon as may be and before said meeting.
Given under our hands and seal of said Town this- Day of February, A. D., One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty-seven.
JAMES J. GILLIGAN, Chairman CHARLES H. BLACK, WAVIE M. DREW
Selectmen of Wilmington
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Annual Report
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF
WILMINGTON, MASS.
GTO
SS.
THE
WHITEFIELD ELM
730.
TOGETHER WITH THE REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31,
1946
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Mr. August Macleod, Chairman
North Wilmington
1944-1947
Mrs. Vilma Bedell, Secretary
Wilmington
1944-1947
Mr. Burt Tilley,
Wilmington
1946-1949
Mr. Adam Galka
Wilmington
1946-1949
Mr. Charles Baldwin
Wilmington
1945-1948
Mr. Ernest Crispo
Wilmington
1945-1948
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Mr. Stephen G. Bean Wilmington Tel. 343 or 2052
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
Dr. Ernest C. MacDougall
Wilmington Tel. 432
SCHOOL NURSE
Mrs. Esther Nichols
Wilmington Tel. 744 .
ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Mr. Ernest Cail
Wilmington Tel. 571
136
SCHOOL CALENDAR 1947
January 6 to March 1-8 Weeks
Winter Vacation March 10 to May 3-8 Weeks
Spring Vacation
May 12 to June 21-6 weeks - Elementary May 12 to June 28-7 weeks - High School (if 180 days of school)
Summer Vacation - 10 weeks
September 8 through December 23 -16 weeks
Christmas Vacation School commences January 5, 1948
HOLIDAYS
January 1 February 22 Good Friday April 19
May 30
October 12 1
November 11
November 27 and 28
NO SCHOOL SIGNAL 22-22-22
Twenty-two blown three times on fire alarm signal at 7:15 and 7:30 A. M. Radio announcements will also be made over WLLH, WLAW, WBZ, and WEEI between 7:00 and 7:30 A. M.
137
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
January 1, 1947
To the Citizens of the Town of Wilmington:
You will find herewith a report concerning the public schools of Wilmington. The reports, submitted annually, by various school officers are printed on the following pages.
Major improvements and repairs on our buildings during the year 1946 consisted of the following:
Walker School- Two class rooms on the lower floor, halls, lavatories and stairway were painted. The desks were sanded and refinished. A fire escape was purchased. It had been attached to a business block in Lowell, Mass. and when the building was razed, the fire escape became available.
Whitefield School - Neither painting nor refinishing was con- sidered essential in this building this year, other than the customary summer cleaning by the custodian.
Carter School - Two rooms on lower floor were painted during the Christmas vacation; also halls, stairways and lavatories. Daniel T. Buzzell School - This building is a satisfactory struc- ture in many respects. However, leaks in the roof continue to be annoying and expensive. Repairs have been made as required, but leaks continue to appear following severe rains. Maple Meadow School - During the summer, celotex board was applied under the flooring to provide insulation. Attempts were made to improve the air circulation within the building. Some improvement has been noticeable but on extremely cold days this building continues to be a difficult one to heat.
Mildred H. Rogers School - The interior of the building was painted during the summer vacation.
Silver Lake Portable School - The interior of the building was painted during the summer vacation. .
West School - The roof was reshingled during the summer vaca- tion. The exterior and interior of this building were painted during the summer vacation. It is planned to improve the toilet facilities during the forthcoming year.
High School - The cleaning and painting of the laboratory was accomplished during the Christmas vacation. Similar work was done in the gymnasium and upper hall.
The plumbing bills were relatively heavy this year, old pipes and toilet facilities demanding many replacements or repairs.
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The report of the School Committee and Planning Board, shown elsewhere in this publication, indicates the reason for a lack of progress during 1946, in the formulation of plans for a new High School building.
The salary situation as it pertains to the teachers in our schools has undergone considerable study on the part of this com- mittee with reference to the preparation of the school budget for 1947. We might add that the committee was aware several years ago ofthe relatively low teachers' salary schedule in effect in our town. For instance, six years ago, there were a few teachers in our elementary schools being paid at the rate of $900 per year. Since that time the salary schedule, particularly as it affected those in the lower brackets, has been gradually increased. During 1946, the lowest rate of income for our elementary school teachers was $1400. The lowest annual salary paid a High School teacher during the same period was $1500.
In the preparation of the 1947 budget, we have proposed a basic salary of $1800 for High School and elementary teachers alike. We can see no reason for penalizing our elementary teachers because they have chosen to train themselves for, or are adept at, teaching the younger children. Many of the leading educationalists empha- size the importance of the fundamental training received in the primary grades.
The salary problem need not be an intricate one but it is some- times difficult to solve to the- satisfaction of all concerned. The purpose of this committee has been to treat the school personnel fairly without placing an unjust or dangerous financial burden on the taxpayers. It surely is, however, the responsibility of the Town of Wilmington to provide the very best in education that it's financial position can afford.
Respectfully submtted,
AUGUST G. MacLEOD, Chairman VILMA B. BEDELL, Secretary CHARLES A. BALDWIN, ERNEST M. CRISPO, - ADAM GALKA, BURT TILLEY.
Wilmington School Committee
?
139
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the Wilmington School Committee,
Madam and Gentlemen:
I herewith present my twenty-third Annual Report as Superin- tendent of Schools of the Town of Wilmington. For the purpose of economy of time and materials it will be as brief as is possible.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
School work has progressed along the tried and true methods which have in the past made it possible to have our graduates meet those from other communities on an equal footing. Any normal child who has the will to do so can go from our system to any college that has room for him without recourse to additional study in a "cramming school." The same condition applies for our coni- mercial graduates except in those positions calling for training on special business machines. We could even overcome this handicap if we had the machines on which to train them.
The final test of a school system, as of an industrial plant, is the quality of its product. The soundness of our educational policy has been demonstrated repeatedly in the past by the negligible per- centage of failure of our former pupils who entered various col- leges. It has also been seen in the ability of our graduates to hold their places in the commercial world during the years of depres- sion. Probably the best demonstration is given by the rankings earned by our former pupils who were in the various armed serv-" ices. They were in competition with others from every part of the nation. Their record is a source of pride to the town.
Because of limited financial resources this has never been a system that could experiment with all of the new theories of educa- tion. It has ever been our policy to adopt, in so far as possible, any demonstrated improvement in educational procedure. This policy of "watchful waiting" has many times been evidenced as good policy. We may not have been PROGRESSIVE, but we HAVE made excellent progress.
THE PROBLEM
In Wilmington, as elsewhere throughout the nation, the number one problem is, and has been for/some time, that of keeping a quali- fied teacher in every classroom.
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The source of this difficulty is the all time low in the supply of people in any way qualified to serve as leaders on the road to learning. There are not enough teachers to go around and there are increasingly few in the process of training for the profession.
The reason for this scarcity is two-fold. The first, though not necessarily the more important, is the financial status of teaching as compared, not to the other professions, but to those who are engaged in pursuits which require no years of study and prepara- tion and which demand only a strong back or a trained hand. The second reason is the low esteem in which the general public has held teachers as compared to other professionals whose preparation and skill is no greater nor more exacting.
Until very recently the public has paid little attention to this growing danger to the future of our national institutions due to a shortage of teaching personnel. It has required the combined efforts of radio, press and monthly periodical publications to bring home to the people a realization of a condition which has been long existent. As a result of this publicity and because the teach- ing profession had at last begun to make itself heard there are today, all over the nation, movements underway in municipal and state governments to meet this critical situation. On the agenda of the current session of the Massachusetts General Court there are no less than ten bills dealing with adequate teacher remuneration and means to raise the necessary funds and so allocate them that the poorer towns can compete for the services of qualified teachers.
In Wilmington, your School Committee has for several years been aware of the approach of this present condition and has en- deavored, within the scope of. its ability, to at least equalize some of the glaring inequalities within the system. It created a minimum salary of $1200 a year before this became a state law. In practice our minimum salary for 1945-1946 was $1400 for the very good reason that no satisfactory teacher could be hired for less. The committee is now asking that this minimum be raised to $1800. This sum is still $200 short of the goal of three bills now before the General Court. It is interesting to note, by the way, that these three bills are sponsored by the American Federation of Labor, the C. I. O. and the Massachusetts Teachers Federation. Two other bills backed by the American Legion and the Boston Teachers Alli- ance are even proposing a minimum of $2400 which is the same as the figure recommended by John Desmond, State Commissioner of Education.
The paragraphs above are preliminary to a warning that a sharp increase in the 1947 school budget is necessary and that this is no temporary increase. It is probable that $1800 or $2000 will
141
in fact be a minimum upon which a regular scale of increases to some set maximum will be based.
CHANGES IN PERSONNEL
For brevity, changes in personnel during the past year will be shown in tabular form as follows:
School
Resigned Replacements
Buzzell School
Mrs. Virginia Erickson Mrs. S. Myrtle Mahoney
Elizabeth Evans Mary G. Quinn
Margaret Bartley Shirley Hey
Center School
Mrs. Ruth Ganyard Irene Sharp
Marie Barrett
Mrs. Elizabeth Evans Sullivan
Walker School
Barbara Haley
K. Elizabeth Brennan
Patricia Higgins
Mary L. Kearney
Whitefield School
Marion E. Brenton
Mrs. Catherine M. Mc- Laughlin Elizabeth Murphy
Silver Lake School
Sylvia .Shapiro
High School -
Mr. Carl Harvey has Anne M. McCarthy not been in service
High School - Janitor Louis Kennedy Louis Nichols
Walker School, Janitor David Dickson
Bernard McDonough
West School - Janitor William White
Eli Coombs
This list shows a twenty-five percent turnover in the teaching staff and about thirty-seven percent in janitor service. . One-half of the changes in the teaching staff were due to better financial offers in neighboring towns.
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Complete figures as of October first nineteen hundred and forty- six will be found tabulated in the appendix to this report.
Increase in enrollment for the' current school year is less than was anticipated, especially in the High School. This is in part due to the fact that of the one hundred and nine pupils in the eighth grades in June, only ninety-one entered the ninth grade in September. Several of the missing pupils entered Lowell Vocational School and a few others enrolled in private schools. A slight increase in numbers is shown in the elementary schools. The majority of these pupils seemed to enter the Whitefield School where an increase of thirteen children appears on the registers.
There is very serious overcrowding in several schoolrooms at this writing. In two cases this involves grades one and two with both grades in the same room. In the West School, Mrs. Eames has twenty-five first and twenty-one second grade pupils, rather closely packed in this one-room building. Under ideal conditions
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the first grade of twenty-five would be all that the teacher should be expected to handle. This is actually the vital spot in the school system and should offer the best possible conditions for a proper start on the educational journey.
In the Whitefield School first grade room is found an even worse condition than that in the West School. Here the teacher has thirty-six first graders plus an additional group of eleven in the second grade. This total enrollment of forty-seven is too great if there were but one grade in the room. The thirty-six in the first grade is six more than should be allowed in a first grade under any conditions. The present grouping is unfair to both pupils and teacher. Satisfactory first grade work cannot be done with such an arrangement.
The fourth and fifth grade rooms in this same school have memberships of forty-eight and forty-six pupils respectively. Neither of these rooms should have an average membership of more than thirty-six children. This situation is less serious for the children than that in the first grade, but it is still inefficient.
The total enrollment in the Walker School is not excessive for a staff of five teachers but even here it is necessary to conduct three multiple grade classes. This makes for uneven progress of the split grades.
For efficiency it should be made possible to remove the fifth grades from the Walker and Whitefield schools, thus permitting assignment of a single grade to each teacher. Even this would leave each class in these schools with a membership in excess of the desired thirty-five. This is of course impossible because there are not two rooms available to accommodate them. If the Center School were a structure worth continuing as a school building an addition of two rooms there would solve this problem. This build- ing, however, is not even suitable for its present use.
THE SCHOOL PLANT
It is clearly evident that there is urgent need of immediate additional housing for our present school population to say nothing of preparing for increases which are logically to be expected, and this within a very short period. One needs only to note the large number of baby carriages and tiny toddlers seen on the streets daily to realize that we are facing that increase in school popula- tion which always follows war years.
As stated above, our school buildings are already overcrowded. We have too many large classes of a single grade and worse still classes of multiple grades. These latter were supposed to have disappeared with the old district schoolhouse. We still have them - at least eight in this town less than twenty miles from Boston.
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In reading over my reports of earlier years it has been impres- sive to note how many times this same problem has been set forth. On several occasions in past years committees have attempted to pursuade the town to take favorable action on definite proposals put before town meetings. As yet all endeavors to secure this most needed means of improving our schools liave failed. Only emergencies have produced action, and emergency actions are almost always mistakes when viewed at long range. If warnings had been heeded and long range plans followed, much money would have been saved and more efficient school facilities secured.
Of course the most evident need is for a better high school plant. The present building is outgrown and outmoded. The interior has been revamped repeatedly in an endeavor to make a structure which was erected to serve two hundred accommodate in excess of three hundred pupils.
A well planned Commercial Suite was the first sacrifice followed by a curtailment of the space assigned to the Science Department. For a year, part of the commercial work was conducted in one half of the so-called gymnasium. A beautiful little auditorium had to be butchered to secure needed classrooms. The study hall was cut into two recitation rooms. The result is a structure which is wholly inade- quate for use as a modern high school plant.
During all of these years of resort to emergency expedients va- rious plans were presented to enlarge the building by addition of classrooms and a combined auditorium and gymnasium, but all to no avail. Now we are, in the vernacular, 'up against it'. Our high school facilities are wholly inadequate. We have no auditorium. We have no gymnasium. We have no adequate commercial suite. Our laboratory facilities are cramped and ill equipped. The below-grade toilet facilities are a disgrace to the town. Vocational education for either boys or girls has long since disappeared from the picture.
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