SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 801, 26 April 1910, Page 6

SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Annual-elections-withdrawal of the capitation 'v- •v.;/ v W.;:dßANts..; v^; ' : ;- '' : HOUSEHOLDERS PROTEST. FOUR WOMEN ELECTED. Considerable interest was taken by .;. householders. everywhere, in '. the annual ■■•> School Committee elections, which were \ held throughout the various school, dis- k 'l tricts in New Zealand. In Wellington, in the big city schools especially, the electors mustered in strong, force, and there.were ;;; animated discussions ■ on: the Bible-in- .;; schools' question' ..elsewhere),' ; . the withdrawal of the special Government grant to; School, Committees,■ free school ■■• books, /anil-'.other topical ■'■ questions. An ■ interesting:feature, of the-elections was. < ->tbe return.of four women candidates to teats' on the new committees. >;WILLIS. STREET. /■ ■ : : Th«e'was a good 'attendance at the gnitnal meeting of: the Willis Street ; bchool Committee, held in the school ..... house last evening,, Mr.' E. A.. Wright, SLi'., presiding. The chairman of the ■ outgoing committee, Dr.i M'Gavin, reported that during .the year a miniature nfle range had .been erected .in the ■ ■■. •; school grounds. "A,school library had • also been-established. A portion of the cost of both-the library and the rifle range-had been defrayed by entertian- .:., ments given by the teachers and.scholars. /:■• -the committee desired to express its appreciation of the work of the headmaster • ■.. and other teachers in arranging an operetta. The alterations in the boundaries ,of the school district,: previously notified, had now. been made. During ; the.year.the committee had purchased several articles of furniture/etc., for the school. . - ..

scnooi. . . - .. ~The .balance-sheet showed that the war began with a balance in hand'of/ „ ij' T M receipts amounted to • <j ; M - and the expenditure to .£122 Bs.< Id., leaving a balance in "hand'of 6s. 2d. , .v .-..•. \ ..After..a 'discussion. on the ' Bible-in-question, reported elsewhere, the .report was adopted.. The-election of the new committee was then proceeded with. Eighteen .nominations' were .made, and the election resulted as follows, the votes .received being shown in parentheses :— ..Messrs; W. J. Lankshear (30), L..ChurchW. J.' Thompson (21), C. J. ■Hill {21), G." E. Brown.(2l), Crane (21), W. Jennings (21), •■!'.. M'Kerizie (20), and okinner (19), Messrs. Jennings and MTfenae were the only members of last- year's committee .re-elected. -Most of the mem/oers had been,,committeemen, in the previous year before the district boundaries altered.' 1 - <■'. "■■'■.'' ■■;'■'. '".. ■ '; - Dr. Mackenzie ..'moved:—"That '■'' this meeting of: householders, considers the Qovernment is ill-advised/in withdrawal the Sinewncoa head capitation'from sßhoel oommltteßs," .:Be said he did-not •to* how'the new oommlttee would be 6818 » manage to provide goal for'firing .tttifia*-the, winter /months /without 'the J22 this brought in.' The best , thiag would probably, be to close up the /school, in the cold weather,' and let the children run about • outside 'and; keep, ihemselves >arm'-that way.;,'' •/ ." ■ 'Mr.'-;. Pethetrick I seconded the motion; nr&ich was carried unanimously. The; 'meeting , closed, with ..the, usual complimentary.. votes.

V CLYDE OUAY. ,' T&t. David Eobertson presided at a ,tfell-attended meeting of the Clyde Quay householders, held last, evening, fox tho' purpose of receiving the annual report and electing a committee for the ensuing year. The report,of,the headmaster was as follows the year- the;work has proceeded.regularly and' satisfactorily jas evidenced by the inspectors' reports, which favourably remark- upon the oohdi-' ■tion.of the school. Mr.'; Fanning, second .assistant master, .resigned .in .December, his place, being ;filled by the well-earned promotion of Mr: Dempsey, whose duties were taken' 'over', by : , Mr. A/ Bast in March.. Of the two junior "national scholarships ; competed for by. the large schools .of' 'the ed'uea'tion. district, "one '.was: won by * Harold /.Corkill, a , boy of this school, who was only twelve years of age,-last'. November.'. Two Education Board •.'scholarships were .-won by Jack Woods add Lily Garland / respectively.' Several other' pupils.obtained honourable places in this competition. In the sportscompetitions, I am pleased to be able to report thai the Duthie Swimming' Challenge Cup was won by the school.for the fifth time' in. '; succession .Vf The' 'Tennis' Championship Cup was won during the year, as well as ; the BlundellCup preheated' by /the .W.A.A.C. .foav A Tunning .events.y Owing to the recent commercial depression, it was determined that no' appeal should .be made to the parents and friends on behalf of the sports fund of • the school. ; The. fund is; now exhausted; ;is, in fact,,in debit; and,it is hoped that an appeal for. assistance/ which is shortly to be made, will,receive a sympathetic response from parents and. oi&ers.*' ■ /,. .-;', ■

The annual report of the committee Btaited_ that: during, the past year the committee-vhave given 1 careful attention to aU'work-..neceesary' v to keep, the'school grounds and buildings in a. thorough '■ state of repair. - Amongst the many improvements, it would 1 probably bo noticed that tie whole of. the lower jjlaygrouhd facing Clyde Quay' had been asphalted, and the: •proper draining- of the_ stbrmwateri had .been attended to. It was understood . that it was the intention of the' City Council to,asphalt to the whole width 'the footpath along 4Clyde Quay frontage at aii: early date, and this would ihen complete the whole of the 'asphalting in and around., the. school property. On account of pressure of private busiTiess, Mr. Robert Johnson had been compelled to -resign his, position, of secreta.ry, which he had held for the past two years, and the committee desired to place oil record their appreciation of his services..

Mt. Gaudin (treasurer) reported that the receipts had amounted to ,£l2O 17s. 3d. (including a balance of .£7 3s: brought forward from last year): After meeting all expenses there was a balance of £5 10s. '9tt. to carry, forward. The following committee was.elected for, the following'■ year:—Messrs. W. MTDonald, W. G. Skinner, J. W. Possette, D. Robertson, J. Burley, W. B.Strong, J. Patten,. T.'.Sim,'and J. Mitchell. At. a subsequent meeting Mr. Robertson was elected, chairman,. Mr. Skinner secretary, and Mr. Sim treasurer.

•■.;.-,,' TERRACE SCHOOL. ■Toe Rev. W. J. Comrie,; chairman of the;committee,\ presided at the annual meeting of householders in the Terrace School. There was a moderate ; attendance. The committee's annual report stated that, the ' health , of the 6chool had been satisfactory;:-and expresesd appreciation of the excellent manner in which the headmaster and staff had carried, out their work. Th'o boys' playground, which was enlarged in the previous yeaT, had now been drained and asphalted, and,, although not aslarge a ground asisneeded,: the present area was about as large again as that formerly available. Efforts had been made to secure the section on Clifton Terrace to the north of the present ' playground, so that the children ohonld.not.be-forced to play on the roadway; up to the present, however; nothing* ef a very definite nature had resulted. It was a .matter of the highest importance to parents of children * attending the Bihool that this . ground should be Bseured, as should, the present negotiations prove abortive, houses would be erected on the land, thus compelling the children to use the roadway. The risk to life, not to speak' of other ■ things, through such failure must be faced, and tho committee and the school. staff viewed with much uneasiness such a contingency. The balance in hand at the end of the year of .£B7 10s. 6d. was held as follows:— Playground account, .£6l '12s. Bd.; picnic jtccount, £1 15s. Id.; general account, .£24 2s. 9d. The balauce at credit of the playground account, together with the subsidy of granted by .the Education' -Board, would barely meet the expenses ti drainage and asphalting. The general.

account was ».in. a satisfactory condition, .there being, rio liabilities Vat the close of the year on this account. Tho new committee would, however, have some ,£22 less this year, owing to the withdrawal of the special capitation of 9d. This notion might, in the event of any unforeseen expenditure having to be met, render it exceedingly difficult for the committee ,to':ineet;its obligations. "As a committee' wo protest against the action of tjio Ministry, and sincerely hope the special capitation will on next year's estimates." 'The following, resolution, was \ passed: "That the committee be-thanked for their efforts'to secure the'vacant section to the north of the,school for the-purposes of a playground;' that 'the incoming committee be requested to continue the efforts in that direction, seeing that the school is not only very seriously handicapped for want of playground accommodation, but that tho present danger of losing the ground altogether from alienation for building purposes will place this school in a much worse position than almost any other large public and increase the, dangers to the life aid limbs of the children;' also that the Minister for Education be thanked for his practical -sympathy - and coffer .-of assistance, and that the incoming. committee be directed to arrange for a deputation jfrnm the-committee of householders to wait upon the Prime Minister and the Minlt* tor for Education and urge the securing of,the section for the 6ch001."

The following nevr committee was elected:—Rev. W. J. Comrie, Mr. H.. A. Gold, Mr. J. M. Geddis, Kev. H.Van' Staveren, Messrs; A.' P. Webster, H. W.. Lloyd, A. Johnston, J. B. Speed; J. A. Thomson, and T. Ward.

The Kev. W.' J. Comrie was re-elected chairman of the committee and Mr. Gold secretary. ~.'_• '

NEWTOWN DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL. • Mr. Joseph Martin presided over one of tie best-attended elections yet held in the Newtown District High School district. .- ...'..-

The annual report from the outgoing committee stated that the year had been a busy one, and the school had suffered less from casual interruptions than in the past, as was evidenced by the satisfactory condition of the various classes at' the end of the year. A /condition of uncertainty as to the probable fate of the secondary _ department consequent upon the admission of proficiency certificate holders.- to the secondary colleges had had a bad effect on the attendance. It was hoped -that the secondary classes would be ■' allowed, to remain, one strong argument in favour of their ■ retention' being ' the distance of the district to the nearest secondary college. Eeferring to the bazaar which was held during, the year -in aid of -' the school funds, the committee stated that the financial success of the enterprise—there being a'net profit of .£85,-to which-was to. be added the Government subsidy of £, for '£.— had been such as to place the school: beyond 1 the need of applying to the public for further assistance for at least two or three years. Gratification was expressed' that the school had been equipped with a miniature rifle range, and that the various outdoor sports connected with the school had received their due share of attention.:' In a reference to the teaching btaft, the committee Tcgrefc fully recorded the' resignations of Mrs. Jordan",'infant mistress, on superannuation, and of Mr. F. P. Wilson, who had joined the teaching'staff of Victoria College. Their places .were filled by Miss Dowdeswell and Mr. B. H. Low. Tho condition of the school, attendance was described as having been fairly satisfactory. The report concluded, with an expression of satisfaction that the co-opera-tion of the various school committees in urging upon the Minister for Education the necessity, for arriving.at a satisfactory settlement- of the free-place difficulty, had resulted satisfactorily..: i The report, was .adopted.- -For the new committee of,-nine: members ithere, were twenty-two nominations, and the ensuing ballot, which lasted till dose on 11 pjn.," resulted as followsr-J. Castle, 105; J. Martin, 104; A.JI. Hornblow, 93; J. W. Salmond, 93; W. Pearman, 91: S. Martin, 89; E. i C Harding, 84; Mrs. Boxall, 76; Mrs. Wright, .76.

V -,'-■•'.'WELLINGTON'.-, SOUTHi : Theifc was a large'attendance* at Wellington South last evening,-the chair being occupied by Mi. W. Higginbottom, the retinhg chairman..■:>.',; The annual report" referred, to various details of the school working during the year,:th"e establishment of. one. of. the most up-to-date minature rifle ranges in the Dominion, and' other improvements that . had been made, in;..the . school grounds. The committee regretted that the Education Board'.had adopted a policy, of sending : committees only the name of one. candidate from amongst; the applicants for .'Vacancies, .thu» giving no choice of selection by .a 'committee. Dur.ing. the .year a gentleman had offered- a prize for a bugle contest between the boys of - Newtown and Wellington- South schools. With regard to that and also the - Boys' Bisley at Trentham last December the headmaster -would not. allow any'of■th6/bbys,.to:b6jhpete'.in the name of the'. school. ■ 'Tho, committee regretted that a' difference, of .opinion should have existed betweon tht- beadmsstei and tho committee. It'was stated that the Headmasters' Association had passed a resolu,taon condemning such competitions, but all the schools had not kept faith with the spirit of their resolution.' They bad allowed' their pupils to compete. The committee considered -that; the. pupils should be enconraged in friendly compe : titions. The chairman moved the adoption of the report and/ balance-sheet." Mr. G. Flux (headmaster) referred to "serious differences of opinion which had existed between him and the committee." In vindication of,his attitude.in not approving of the scholars entering into'such competitions as had been referred to, hs. said he .could understand the. action of tho committee lif they were held responsible for.the conduct of .the. school. That responsibility rested : uponr'- him. When the board instructed.him to engage in tugle contests, he, as a loyal servant of the board, would be prepared .to obey instructions. Even then, he would ; not hesitate to respectfully state his convictions. His position would be impossible were,he to concede that even the com mitteehad the right to instruct him on such matters as those under discussion. These contests appealed to their cupidity, and were about as harmful as they well could be.

An amendment was proposed that the report be adopted, with the deletion of the clause relating to the headmaster and competitions/ ' . ■■'.-.■■'•-, The chairman, in replying, said that when Mr. Flux and the committee had met in the headmaster's room over the matter, it was suggested there that the question should com* up at the householders' meeting; hence the reference in the report.* .'-..,

The amendment was carried by a [substantial majority. Twenty nominations were received for the nine positions on the committee, the voting being as follows:—G. W. Key 60, A. Whitelaw 60, W. Mounter 57, W. Higginbottom 52, T. Byles 52, F. W. Moore 51,' W. Miller 50, J. Bell 50, W: Newton ,48, C. Orr 47, J. Mann 47, H. Starr 47, R. A. Ferguson 44, A. Banks 43, W. Brown 43, J. W. Patience 42, G. Lynn 39, E. Taylor 39, P. C. Watts 26, F. O'Connell 16. The first nine were declared elected. The meeting passed a vote of confidence in the headmaster. NORTHLAND. There was an attendance of 26 householders , at the annual meeting of the Northland School; Mr. Inster presiding. The receipts from all sources during the year totalled £&\ 10s., and the expenses amounted to .£79 Bs. 7d;, leaving a balance of .£2 Is. sd. The following committee was elected: — Messrs. W. Kater (chairman), E. H. Eton (secretary), G. Gapes, G. Feam, M. Lynch, P. Levy, W. M. Tilsley. : ■ . ■■ — : \ KtLBIRNIE. Fifteen householders'• were present at the annual meeting of the Kilbirnie school district The report stated that £11 had been handed over to the new committee, and £31 placed in tho liands of trustees towards providing a piano for the school. In the annual roport, which was adopted, reference was made to the progressive policy which had been adopted with regard to .' improvements to the school grounds, and regret expressed that certain difficulties had arisen in the way of installing a miniature rifle range. The incoming committee was recommended to negotiate further in the matter. The cramped accommodation of the classrooms was also referred to, and the hope expressed t&ai the need for using tfoo

Methodist Churchroom as an extra classroom would soon bo dispensed with. The following committee was elected:— Messrs. James Cheeseman, \V. Lewis, J. H. Bettony, S. W. Cope, T. M. Eastc-n, J. T. Canty, W. C. Caitwriglrt, P. N. Martin (chairman), and J, W. Callaghan (secretary).

ROSENEATH. Tho annual meeting of householders to hear the report of the outgoing school committee and to. elect a new committee was held in the school last night. There were about '-10 householders present. Mr. J. Smith was voted to tho chair.

The report' mentioned that Mr. C. Bary ((ate headmaster) had been appointed to take charge of Mount Cook Boys' School, and that the committee and residents, in order to show their appreciation of what Mr. Bary had done in the interests of the school and grounds, had presented him with a silver tea bet and 'case of pipes, suitably engraved. Mr. Robert Darrnch had been transferred from Mitchelltown to take Mr. Bary's place, and the committee were satisfied that the school would not suffer under his leadership. Tho work' of completing the excavation of the grounds was nearly finished. The board had painted the scliool inside and out during the holidays, and had the school connected with the new drainage system. The work in all classes had been faithfully carried, out, and the inspectors in their reports had commended the teachers and the'committee for, the manner in which their duties -had been attended to._ One of the pupils, Master 0. Hutchison, had gained a scholarship, making the sixth that pupils had gained during the time Mr. Bary was headmaster of the school. . '

The balance-sheet showed an income of £125 12s. od., and the expenditure was £120 10s. id.; leaving a'balance of £5 2e. sd. " ;

The following committee was elected: 'Messrs. A. B. Gray, 23; J. Smith, 22; W. J. Hellyer, 21; T. Sinclair, 19; W. Farrelley, 18: H. Morrison, 17; A. E. Khull, 17. Mr.'J. Smith was appointed cbairman, and Mr. A. E. Khull secretary. .-.'.'•'_

'~ MITCHELLTOWN. Mr. P. Garmody presided' at Mitchelltown; and abo.ut 40 householders were present. The balance-Sheet disclosed a credit balance 'of ,£3B 6s. 7d„ most of which is ear-marked for the improvement of the recreation ground and tennis court, which has just been laid out. The following were elected the committee:—Messrs. Carmody (reelected, chairman), French (re-elected), Kidley (re-elected, secretary and treasurer), M'Carthy (re-elected), Andrews, Parker, and- Robertson. ■ , ' ..'• KARORI. The election at Karori resulted in the return of the following members of committee :—Messrs. Sunley, Burn, Lissington, Frost, Eev.J: E. Clark, Watchman, Nimmo, Hildreth, and Standen. Mr. Lissington was re-elected chairman and Mr. Sunley secretary. ISLAND BAY. There was a good attendance at the meeting of Island Bay householders. The report stated that during the year', the committee' had increased the library by 220 books, and had also bought a . largo number of books for,junior standards to make up:the deficiency in the Government grant for free books. The following committee was elected:—Messrfv H. Ivory (chairman), John 0. Shorland (secretary), John Mills, William Eose, Joseph Conder, E. F. Jones, W. H. Potts, James Osborne, and Mrs. ; H.-A. .Millar. • ■ .;■'■:■.;. : -:''mARAN.UI./. ; ■ •The'election' of a School Committee at Maranui resulted, as follows:—Messrs. J. W. Easson (chairman), W. Millar..(secretary), A.- J. Ibbotson, D. Carman; C. J. .Phillips, W. S. Bruce, F. Matthews, W. Martin, and F.,Eayner. , " MURITAI. 90 and .100 persons attended the meeting of householders in connection with the Muritai School, Mr. J. P. Kelly presi-ling. Oh the motion of Mr. J. B. Avery it was. resolved • that the Government:ba.asked to reinstate the capitation grant of ntnepence a head. The following committee was elected:—Messrs. J. P; Kelly (chairman), J. D. ' Avery (secretary), E.-L. Button, F. Wills, F. G. Boss,' F. G. Chitty, and W. Hobbs. Votes of thanks were passed to the outgoing committee and to the teaching staff.

WORSER BAY. ( , The following committee was elected \lov the Worser Bay Rohool:—Messrs. 11. Hall (chairman),' J. Kircher (secretary), P. Buss, C. Mlelland, A.' Grigg, and J. Power. This represents the old committee, with the exception of one who did not stand. A Bible-in-sohools "ticket" was put forward, but was not successful. KAIWARRA. ) i There were 25 present at the meeting of householders to elect a new school committee for the Kaiwarra School last evening, and the keenest interest was manifested in the proceedings. The hilowing committee was elected:—Messrs. W. J. Bowden (chairman), W. H. Bowden, J. Knight, Thos. Wainwright. A. Wixon, J. Morgan, and J. Carrick. There was a tie for the seventh position, but Mr. R. E. Flaws retired in favour of Mr.' Carrick. ' JOHNSONVILLE. The following is the new committee of the Jbhnsonvillo district A. ,R. Bould, chairman (re-elected), P. T. Moore, secretary (re-elected), Mrs. Jessie' Macquarie, Messrs. 6. Macquark, J. Gray, W. P. Bndd.A. Mills, S. M. MTlcar, and A. . ; ; .. PETONE EAST. A great deal of interest appeared to be taken in £he election at Petone East. The schoolroom was crowded, a large number of ladies being present. Mr. D. M'Kenzie (chairman), explained that only those residing on the eastern side of Nelson Street were entitled to vote. After the secretary's and headmaster's reports had been received, 16' nominations were made, the subsequent election resulting as follows:—Messrs. D. M'Kenzie, chairman (re-elected), W. Burd (secretary), E. Townsend, Rev. J. D.Russell,.W. Hill, H. Kirk, Rev. A. Thomson, T. Cairns, W. Abrahall. Messrs. Cairns and Cox received the same number of votes,. and the chairman's casting vote was in favour of Mr. Cairns, During the evening songs and other items' were given by Monsrs. Hope, Townsend, J. MTJlwaB, J. List, and Mrs. D. M'JBwen.

/ PETONE WEST. The result of the election at Petone West was as follows:—Messrs. J. Cotton, L. Parrant, J. G. A. Castle, S. N. Burridge, T. Maynard, A. Marsden, G. Davis; W. G. D. Evans, C. H. Snow. Mr. Castle was re-elected chairman, Mr. W. G. Evans secretary, and Mr. G. Davis . assistant secretary. ' LOWER HUTT. At Lower Hutt a large mrmber of householders assembled last evening, the {election resnlting in the return of the following members of committee:—Messrs. Hendry, M'Caskill, Baldwin, Eishworth, Anson, Webley, Pinney, Wilson, and Barlow. All the foregoing were members of the old committee. ■ Mr. Russell asked Mr. Wilson to 6tate' his views on the subject of swimming baths for -the school, and was answered that in all probability the scheme would receive the hearty support of the committee. EPUNI HAMLET. The election at Epuni Hamlet resulted as follows:—Messrs. C. Fisk, W. Stewart, G. Howard, E. Gilbert, J. Burn, H. England, and J. Swain. Mr. Stewart was subsequently elected chairman, and Mr. Burn secretary. !

A sate of horses will bo held to-morrow at 2 p.m., at Nag's Head yard, Dixon Street, by Messrs. J. W. Braithwaite and Co. One pony, trap and harness, two good hacks, and a lot of express and harness horses will be submitted by public auction.. .