PALMERSTON SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 262, 1 August 1919, Page 8

PALMERSTON SCHOOLS

BOARD AND DEPARTMENT

CAUSES OF DELAYS

DR. ANDERSON EXPLAINS

Asked by a Dominion reporter if he hail any remarks to make on the subject of Mr. Pirani's letter which appeared in Wednesday morning's pap'er on the question of school buildings, Dr. Anderson, Director of JMucation, stated that,, although ho was averse to taking official cognisance of matters appearing in tho Press and publicly commenting upon them, yet he felt that in the public interest Mr. Pirani's, ex-parte statement of the case could not bu allowed to pass unchallenged. Mr. Piriini, heNpointed out, took credit for tho general suitability of school sites and buildings in the AVangamii district, and represented that over ,£35,000 pad been spent by the board on those purposes during the last twelve years, "not one penny of which had come from the Education Department." He accused the Department further of having of late stultified and hampered overy attempt to get the public to contribute towards primary education. If tins statement meant anything, said Dr. Anderson, it must be taken to imply that the amount stated had ,been drawn from private Eources. As a matter of fact, according to tho board's balance-sheets, the payments received from the Education Department for new buildings for tho last twelve years totalled .659,009, and only £ai was obtained from local sources, lne only conclusion to be drawn from Mr. Pirani's statement was that the bulk ot the amount stated to havo been independently spent must have been obtained by using money provided by the Department for other purposes. Tho last published balance-eheet-that for 1917—shows, for instance, that on its maintenance and replacement account the board should have a cash credit of over '=£20,000 m trust for works for which it is liable, yet its entire credit balance on. all accounts amounted to only .£I9OO. The excess expenditure from whatever source it had been derived, Dr. Anderson went on to say, had been due largely to the persistence of the board in carrying out ''leas in school buildings and equipment* of which the Department having regard to Hie needs of the districts could not approve, and for which accordingly grants were not included in the sums authorised. The board, for instance, had followed all along a policy of constructing school buildings on a central hall plan which the Department could not support. The Education Department had no objection to the assembly hall per se, but, so long as the moneys at its disposal were insufficient for class-room accommodation throughout the Dominion and halls of this type could not be. generally provided, one board could not be favoured m this respect while others were denied. Io tho central hall system, however, which had been adopted generally in tho larger schools of the Wanganm district at a considerable expense to the board, over and above the grants that had. been made, there were other cogent objections. Such halls unquestionably prevented the effective ventilation of the classrooms, and had been abandoned lor years on hygienic grounds by all authorities of repute iu Britain, America, and elsewhere. At the instance of the Department after a long controversy, tho board at length abandoned its idea of the central hall, but the idea of an assembly hall, to which the Department had only a financial objection, was stnl adhered to. I c t was the oard's persistence in embodying this idea in its plans that, more than anything else, had deferred action in the case of the schools of Palmerston North. Regarding tho proposals at Campbell Street., Dr. Anderson explained that tiio site of the projected new school (which consisted of some -4* acres) was selected bv himself (not by his predecessor, Mr. Hcben) on a special visit to Palmerston North in August,'l9l3, when the question of the' unsuitable accommodation at Campbell Street first arose, and much subsequent work in connection with the !'acquisition and adjustment of the various interests involved fell upon tho officers of the Department. The Department's bulky file of correspondence relating to this one matter was sufficient evidence of the part taken by that office in the matter. As to the expense of the site it was insisted from the beginning that the cost should be .balanced as-tai-ns possible by the sale of the old site, which consisted of two acres in populous neighbourhood.. On the basis of the value placed on this property by the Valuer-General and the amount actually paid for the new site, there was a difterenco of .£370, the half of which on y the board was called upon to pay with respect to additional land acquired, .the balance being paid by the Demrtment. ! A3 to the Campbell Street buildings, the i lxiard's first plans were for a very ela- ! borate two-storied structure, containing a large assembly 'hall, of which it was propdsed- to erect immediately only four rooms and the hall with necessary outbuildings at a cost of X7MO. This' plan was referred back to the board on April 5 1918 for modication, with the suggestion that the new building should consist of an infant department. Aothiiig moro was heard from the board until November 2, 1918, when an amended plan was submitted, which still contained features including a hall, to which the Department had objected. Other plana had since been submitted, but had been again referred back for a similar reason. Finally, tho last plan submitted was referred back to the board on May 21 last, since when no other plan had beeji received, despite the fact (that on the 2nd instant the board was asked when it would be in a position to submit its proposals. That the architect interviewed him in Dunedin, stated Dr. Anderson, did not constituto a proposal from the board, and then for the first time was tho feature that stood in tho ;.vay omitted and a class-room substituted. With regard to the additional accommodation at College Street which M.r. Pirani asserted.the Department had.deI layed also, the director stated that on September 6, 1918, a plan, providing only two class-rooms, but including a hall measuring 40ft. by 50ft, under the nameof a pavilion, and using up tho greater part of ono wing on subsidiary accommodation that is usually provided by I shelter sheds, was submitted, tho estiI mated cost being MOW. Such a plan ! quits doubling tho cost unnecessarily I could not be accepted. This was .referred back to the board on, September 24, 11)18, i but no lnQio was heard of the board's I proposal until May 27 last, when application was made for the acquisition of I four acres of new land u<loll which to I erect the building. r Subsequent coi-res-I pondenco look piece with regard tc >:!io site, the Iwurd beinf? fluked lo suptfSy further information, instead of supplying the whole of the essential information* required, however, on the Till infltant, the board asked the Department to institute inquiries in certain respects— practically to prepare tlie board's case in the matter. Nothing further had I been, heard regarding the plan, however, ; since the Department wrote to the board ten months ago. . "From this it is obvi--1 ous," said the Director of Muwtion. "that in this ease any charge of delay on the part of the Department is entirely unwarranted."