USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1947-1948 > Part 7
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You are also hereby further required and directed to notify and warn the said inhabitants of the Town of Wilming- ton, who are qualified to vote on elections and Town affairs therein, to assemble subsequently and meet on Town Meeting at the Grange Hall, Wildwood Street, in said Town of Wil- mington
on Monday the 8th day of March A. D. 1948 at eight o'clock P. M.,
then and there to act on the following articles :
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Article ?. To hear the reports of Committees and act thereon.
Article 3. To see how much money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate for the following items and fix the salaries and compensation of all elective officers of the town as provided by Section 108 of Chapter 41, General Laws, as amended :
General Government Library Parks
Protection of Persons and Property
Maturing Debt
Highways
Charities
Interest
Veteran's Benefits
Unclassified
Educational
Reserve Fund
Water Department Cemetery
Health and Sanitation
Article 4. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to bor- row money from time to time in anticipation of the financial year beginning January 1, 1948, and to issue a note or notes therefor, payable within one year, and to renew any note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with Section 18, Chapter 44, General Laws.
Article 5. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to pay for insurance providing indemnity for the protection of the officers and employees of the Highway, Cemetery, Fire and Police Departments of the Town against loss by reason of their liability to pay damages to others for bodily injuries including death and property damage, at any time resulting therefrom. caused by operation, within the scope of their official duties or employment of motor vehicles owned by the Town, to an amount not exceeding Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.) on account of injury to or death of one person, and property damage, in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 Chap- . ter 40, of the General Laws, as amended or do anything in relation thereto.
Article 6. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00) for the observance of Memorial Day, and that the Moderator appoint a committee who shall arrange and have charge of such ob- servance, or do anything in relation thereto.
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Article . To see if the Town will authorize the Board of Selectmen to sell at public auction in the evening, properties taken by the Town under Tax Title foreclosure procedure, and to execute all documents necessary to carry out the pur- pose of this vote, provided however, that before any sales are made due notice of the time and place of sale shall be given by advertising in the local paper and Lowell Sun at least four- teen (14) days before the sale and deeds executed hereunder must be recorded within twenty days (20) of their execution, or do anything in relation thereto.
Article 8. To see how much money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate for Department 1947 Unpaid Bills.
Article 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or some other amount, the money to be expended under the direction of the 4-H Town Committee, serving in co-operation with the Middlesex County Extension Service, under the provisions of Section 40 to 45, Chapter 129, General Laws of Massachusetts.
Article 10. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($150.00) for the purpose of renewing, under the authority of Section 9, Chapter 40 of the General Laws as amended, the lease of the American Legion Club House in Wilmington for the purpose of providing suitable headquarters for the Wil- mington Posts of the American Legion and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States or do anything in rela- tion thereto.
Article 11. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to sell and convey, in the name and on behalf of the Town, any portion or the whole of the parcel of land be- longing to the Town on Chestnut Street on which the South School stands, and fix the terms of sale and/or the price, or do anything in relation thereto.
Article 12. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Thirteen Thousand Four Hundred and Fifty One Dollars Thirty-two cents ($13,451.32) to purchase, two trucks for the Highway Department and/or authorize the sale or turnin of two of the Highway trucks as credit toward such purchase or do anything in relation thereto. Request of the Superintendent of Streets.
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Article 13. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00) to purchase two (2) land side Baker snowplows No. 213 for the Highway De- partment or do anything in relation thereto. Request of the Superintendent of Streets.
Article 11. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Fourteen Hundred Dollars ($1400.00) for the purpose of installing a two way radio for the use of the Fire Department. Request of the Chief of the Fire De- partment.
Article 15. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Six Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($650.00) for the purpose of installing a fire alarm system at the North Wilmington Water Department. Request of the Chief of the Fire Department.
Article 16. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Ten Hundred Dollars to install a 21/2 inch pipe from the so-called dam on Salem Street to the Town Dump. Request of the Chief of the Fire Department.
Article 17. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for the purchase of a power lawn mower for the use of the Park Department or do anything in relation thereto. Request of the Planning Board.
Article 18. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Four Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($450.00) for the purpose of reconditioning the Town Common and laying out a temporary baseball field or do anything in relation thereto. Request of the Planning Board.
Article 19. To see if the Town will instruct the Modera- tor to appoint two (2) Advisory Members of the Planning Board or do anything in relation thereto. Request of the Planning Board.
Article 20. To see if the Town will vote to accept Jaquith Road for a distance of 500 feet as laid out by the Board of Survey and raise and appropriate the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) to put said street into a passable condition.
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Article 21. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be in- stalled on Nickerson Avenue or do anything in relation there- to. Petition of Judson Arbo and others.
Article 22. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be in- stalled on Carter Lane, one (1) electric light at the corner of Carter Lane and Norfolk Avenue, one (1) electric light at the corner of Nassau Avenue and Norfolk Avenue and one (1) electric light on Nassau Avenue near the residence of William Kulka. Petition of Bertha J. Quinn and others.
Article 23. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be installed on Hillside Way near the Burlington line or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Helen L. Whittredge and others.
Article 24. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be in- stalled on Central Street, off Salem Street or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Harry Solow, Jr., and others.
Article 25. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for five (5) electric lights to be in- stalled on Burt Road or do anything in relation thereto. Peti- tion of Lester H. Smith 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 Cedar Street or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Lester H. Smith and others.
Article 27. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for two (2) electric lights to be in- stalled on Harris Street or do anything in relation thereto Petition of Lester H. Smith and others.
Article 28. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Selectmen to contract for one (1) electric light to be in- stalled on MacDonald Road or do anything in relation there- to. Petition of Samuel Heller and others.
Article 29. To see if the Town will vote to install two
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(?) street lights on Swain Road West, one opposite the resi- dence of Francis M. Farrell and one at the intersection of Winston Avenue, or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Francis M. Farrell and others.
Article 20. To see if the Town will vote to install two (*) street lights on Swain Road, one at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and one at the intersection of Forest Street, or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of John J. Farrell and others.
Article 31. To see if the Town will vote to install three (3) electric lights as follows: Center of Pine Street, Corner of Pine Street and Hobson Avenue and Hobson Avenue be- tween the homes of Storm and McKenna. Petition of Mary G. Hutchings and others.
Article 32. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Nine Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty-Five Dollars ($9,625.00) for the purpose of laying a water main from Glen Road northerly down King Street a distance of 1800 feet and Bartlett Street (continuation of King Street) :00 feet, or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Sylvia M. Ronco and others.
Article 33. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety Dollars ($1,890.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from West Street westerly along Nickerson Ave- nue to a point at or near the residence of Edwin J. Watkins or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Judson Arbo and others.
Article 34. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Nine Thousand Three Hundred and Ninety Four Dollars ($9,394.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Harris Street along Cedar Street and Burt Road for a distance of 2400 feet or do anything in re- lation thereto. Petition of Edward E. MacPherson and others.
Article 35. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Five Thousand and Thirty Seven Dol- lars and Fifty Cents ($5,037.50) for the purpose of extending
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the water main from Middlesex Avenue easterly along North Street approximately 1550 feet or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Harold E. Carter and others.
Article 36. To see if the Town will vote to raise and ap- propriate the sum of Twenty Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) for the purpose of extending the water main from Forest Street easterly on Swain Road for a distance of approximately six hundred feet (600) or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Peter W. Mortsell and others.
Article 31. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Seventeen Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($1,250.00) for the purpose of extending the water main approximately Five Hundred Feet (500) along Brattle Street to the corner of Massachusetts Avenue, or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Charles F. Jordan and others.
Article 38. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Three Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($3,200.00) for the purpose of constructing a sidewalk on Grove Avenue from Main Street to Wild Avenue, a distance of 1500 feet more or less or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Edward J. Sullivan and others.
Article 39. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of providing and insuring the privacy of the residents of Wilmington who use Town owned land which in 1941 by vote of the town was established as a Public Park, and is situated in the rear of the Mildred Rogers School and bordering Silver Lake, by grading and enclosing said area. Petition of Francis S. Hoban and others.
Article 40. To see if the Town will vote to accept Section 6B of Chapter 10 of the General Laws which reads :- Section GB-A city of town which accepts this section may appro- priate money for the purchase of uniforms for members of its Fire and Police Department. Or do anything in relation there- to. Petition of Patrick J. Rooney and others.
Article 41. To see if the Town will set up new hours and wages for the various Departments of the Town, or do anything in relation thereto. Petition of Joseph F. Annino and others.
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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-Eight.
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.
IGTO
TOGETHER WITH THE REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31,
1946
ORGANIZATION-SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Mr. Adam Galka. Chairman
Wilmington
1946-1949
Mr. Harland V. Whittredge. Secretary
Wilmington
1947-1950
Mr. John J. Farrell
Wilmington
1947-1950
Mrs. Mary Welling
Wilmington
1947-1949
Mr. Charles Baldwin
Wilmington
1945-1948
Mr. Ernest Crispo
Wilmington
1945-1948
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Stephen G. Bean, 104 Middlesex Ave. Tel. Wilmington 2052 or 343
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
Ernest C. MacDougall, M.D.
Tel. Wilmington 432
SCHOOL NURSE Mrs. Esther H. Nichols. R.N.
Tel. Wilmington 744
ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Mr Ernest Cail
Tel. Wilmington 571
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SCHOOL CALENDAR, 1948
January 5 to February 28 & weeks
Winter Vacation March S to May 1 - S weeks
Spring Vacation
May 10 to June 18 - 6 weeks - Elementary May 10 to June 25 7 weeks - High School (if 180 days of school)
Winter and Spring vacations subject to changes made necessary by adverse weather conditions.
Summer Vacation - 10 weeks September S through December 23 - 16 weeks
Christmas Vacation
School commences January 3. 1949
HOLIDAYS
January 1 February 22 Good Friday April 19
May 30 October 12 November 11 November 25 and 26
NO SCHOOL SIGNAL
22 -22 Twenty-two blown three times on fire alarm signal
At 7.15 no school all grades At 7.30 no school elementary schools
Radio announcements will also be made over WLLH-Lowell-1400 on the dial WLAW-Lawrence-680 on the dial WBZ-Boston -??? on the dial WEEI-Boston-590 on the dial between 6.45 and 7.30 A.M.
129
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
January 25, 1948
To the Citizens of the Town of Wilmington:
We hereby submit our annual report relative to activities in the Wilmington School Department during the year 1947. Following this report are the reports of other department heads in the school systeml.
During the past year many improvements were made to the school buildings. Many of the repairs made helped considerably to prevent accident or serious injury to children using our school buildings.
At the Whitefield School, all of the classrooms and corridors have been repainted. New shades were. purchased for the purpose of im- proving the appearance as well as creating a more pleasant atmosphere in the classrooms.
One of the most important improvements for the year was the erection of fire escapes on both the Walker and Center Schools. The original fire escapes were purchased secondhand at a very reasonable cost to the school department. The fire escapes were rebuilt and adapted to the buildings and afford a greater opportunity for children to evacuate themselves from the buildings in the event of an emer- ency. A very serious and hazardous condition existed at the Center School where there was not a suitable exit in the rear of the building. The new fire escape there, we feel sure, has remedied the entire situa- tion.
At the Buzzell School, a new hot water heating unit was installed. In the rear of the building, repairs were made to the bulkhead. Hot top was used to prepare a small area for the use of coal storage and to prevent damage to the rear of the building.
In the Center School. the two classrooms upstairs have been washed and repainted and the desks have been sanded. Minor repairs were made to the steps on the outside.
In the High School, no extensive repairs were made except for. minor repairs to plumbing and heating.
At the Maple Meadow School, the outside of the building has been weather-proofed in order to improve the heating condition in the classrooms. This particular building, like the Silver Lake portable, has always presented problems in heating.
The fence at the Mildred Rogers School has been repaired, and
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another radiator has been installed in the north wing which has rem- edied the heating problem during the cold winter days.
Repairs were made to the front steps and porch of the Silver Lake portable school. Repairs were also made to the steps of both side exits. Storm windows were purchased for use on the portable building during the winter months.
It is the hope of the members of the School Committee that more suitable heating units will be available for installation in the near future. At the present time, many of the furnaces are antiquated and worn out. The condition of these heaters has resulted in the waste of coal and increased cost of operation.
In the preparation of the 1948 budget, a great deal of attention was given to the establishment of a salary schedule for our school system. It must be borne in mind that the introduction of a salary schedule to our system will mean added costs to the taxpayer. How- ever, it is our belief that the schedule will improve the efficiency of our educational system immeasurably. The Town of Wilmington is one of the few remaining towns in the Commonwealth without a salary schedule. It has, therefore, made it difficult for our Super- intendent of Schools to get the best qualified teachers, especially where other cities and towns have maintained more attractive salary arrangements.
The most serious problem at the present time is the lack of seat- ing capacity in our classrooms. It is imperative that the school de- partment be provided with new housing facilities during the coming year. The classrooms are overcrowded and something must be done to relieve the congestion. Otherwise, we are advised by our Super- intendent that it will become necessary to revert to platooning of classes.
The postwar period has presented many problems to our educa- tional institutions. The burden to the taxpayer has been tremendous and the cost of maintaining our school system has steadily increased. It is our hope that high standards of education will always be main- tained by maximum efficiency of administration at a minimum of cost to the taxpayer.
Respectfully submitted.
ADAM T. GALKA, Chairman HARLAND WHITTRIDGE. Secretary MARY E. WELLING, JOHN J. FARRELL. ERNEST CRISPO. CHARLES E. BALDWIN,
Wilmington School Committee.
131
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To The School Committee Wilmington, Mass.
Madam and Gentlemen:
Subscribed please find my twenty-fourth Annual Report as Super- intendent of Schools of this town. In it will be found little concerning the first half of the year other than necessary statistics. The greater part of the limited space will deal with present conditions and needs and a look into the immediate future.
The background of most of what follows is indicated in three quotations from The Kiplinger Washington Letter of December 27th, 1947. This is a publication "circulated privately to businessmen". Its purpose is to show national trends upon which business houses may base their long-range planning.
Underlined in the first paragraph of this letter is the following: "This whole letter is about babies, birth-rate, marriages . ". The next excerpt is similarly underscored in the third paragraph, viz- "More children in United States in the next ten to fifteen years than ever before . " The following paragraph states that the school problem is not temporary, it is permanent. It is first and worst in grade schools. The wave is moving along and will catch up with high schools and colleges progressively from year to year. "Present over- crowding is NOTHING as compared to the future, unless facilities are expanded even MORE than most communities now plan."
These excerpts from a hard-boiled business publication are not to be treated as lightly as the words of the present writer have been treated in the recent past. They do not come from the head of a do- partment suspected of wanting to dip deeper and deeper into the town treasury. These are quotations of cold. hard, business facts.
We who are responsible for the education of the children of this community are often suspected of painting an over-gloomy picture of local conditions. For years we have reported on undesirable condi- tions and prophesied a "day of reckoning". Then we have struggled on with the inadequate facilities and meager financial support at our disposal and "by the grace of God and a lot of good luck" have turned ont a product from our schools, much of which the town may well be proud.
The "day of reckoning" is at hand if not already here. An intel-
132
ligent examination of the enrollment tabulations to be found annexed to this report gives indisputable evidence that even at present our children are suffering from our previous negligence and that at the commencement of the next school year there will be conditions in many school rooms in the town which are not only intolerable, but actually illegal. There will be conditions such that a hard-boiled in- spector from the State Department of Public Safety could cause them to be closed overnight, not because of structural conditions but due to overcrowding.
This is written in January 1948. Eight months hence the open- ing of the fall term, the beginning of a new school year will be upon us. Based on present population trends and past experience it is log- ical to anticipate an increase in enrollment which may be impossible to cope with under existing capacities of the total school plant.
There are those who will say that not every available seat in every school room is filled. This is true to a very limited extent but it is equally true that the geographical location of children in the town makes it impracticable to avoid this fact. We cannot handle school children like hogs; throw them into a truck and cart then where we please. We are already transporting children from one ex- treme boundary of the town to another, from lower Chestnut Street, from the Burlington boundary off Forest Street and from Hopkins and Nichols Streets and upper Shawsheen Avenue to the Whitefield School in North Wilmington. To those mentioned could also be added children from the Reading border on West Street and the North Woburn boundary on lower Main Street to this same school. Some of these children leave home before seven-thirty in the morning and are delivered back at sometime after four in the afternoon. Of these latter, a good number are children just under or a little over six years old. It might be added parenthetically, that we get fewer complaints and less trouble from these little folk than we do from some in the highest grades who spend about ten minutes on the bus twice a day and who should legally be walking to school.
All of the foregoing leads up to one statement of indisputable fact. We need increased school accommodations for every grade in the school system; from bottom to top AND WE NEED THEM NOW. It is already too late to start building for use in September 1948 of any kind of first or second-class construction. Frame buildings might pos- sibly be rushed through in that time but they would be ill conceived and poorly constructed and of questionable desirability in solving our problem.
We will all agree with any citizen who claims that this is no time to build IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO. We have no assurance, however,
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that building can be done at any time in the next five years to better advantage. On the other hand. WE DO HAVE TO or let the school children suffer the consequences.
There are ways of meeting this situation but not without definite losses in educational efficiency. The one which has already been tried at least twice in this town is that of part-time organization of certain grades. In the present case it would involve grades seven through twelve, which is the upper half of the school system. It would reduce the learning opportunity of these pupils by approximately twenty percent. At the same time it would improve the conditions for a large number of pupils in the six lower grades from forty to sixty percent. It would make it possible that. excepting at Maple Meadow and Mildred Rogers Schools. no teacher in town would be required to teach more than one grade.
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