DUNEDIN SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Evening Star, Issue 3796, 24 April 1875, Page 2

DUNEDIN SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

The following was the business transacted at the committee’s meeting aßt night

Mr Halliwell intimated the desirability of constructing a chimney and fireplaces in the two rooms erected out of the shed at the Middle District School before.the cold weather comes on. It was resolvid that the application be declined, on the ground of there being sufficient accommodation in the other parts of the school for ths winter season. A return, showing the number of teachers and pupils at the four schools under the Committee in Dunedin, was read as follows;— : South School, 8 teachers and 401 pupils; North Dunedin, 11 teachers and 589 pupils; Middle District, 15 teachers and 583 pupils; Albany street School, 7 teachers and 408 pupils. The object of Mr Ho'an, who moved for the return, was to ascertain whether they could dispense with; the proposed new teacher at the Middle District School . Whatever engineers might report, he believed they would eventually; find this school lying djwu in York. Place. The approaches were very bad, uiid parents would not care to s.md their children unless some improvements were effected.—Mr Fish expressed the opinion that the best thing would be to lower the school; and Mr mout, who remarked that a concrete wall would cost nearly LSOO, said they should wait till the Normal School was finished. The use of the North Dunedin schoolroom was given to the Caledonian Society for its evening classes.

The annual coat per head in the various schools was stated to beNorth School, L2 Os ild; Middle District. L2 7s lljd; South bchool, L2 5s 3g.1; Albany street School, LI I4s did. The average of the four schools is L2 2s par bead.

Miss Jane Blackley- was recommended as pupil teacher at the Albany street School, and Miss Mary M‘lntosh for the South School, subject to the Inspector’s favorable report. A long comjnu ication from Mr Montgomery, the head master, on the subject of the ventilation of the Albany street School, was read. Mr Montgomery, after alluding fully to the reports about the state of the ventilation, which are, as he alleges, very wide of the truth, and can be traced back to the officious meddling and silly tattle of a single individual,” whose plans, of ventilation the Government declined to avail themselves of, went on to say:—

The complaints tis now put forth are substantially as follows ; —That the means of ventilation are very defective; that even such means as are available are not made use of; and that either from ignorance or other causes the teachers of the school do not appreciate the advantages of good ventilation. . . . Of the statements themselves it is not enough to say of the two last that they are entirely untrue ; they are positively and, as is well known to hundreds in the school daily, precisely the .reverse of the truth. Daily and hourly doors and windows ore made use of to prevent any closeness and to insure a constant supply of fresh air. The windows axe generally opened the first thing in the morning and closed the last thing in the afternoon. At one time they were left open all night, but os it was found that certain boys in the neighborhood took advantage of this to enter the school and do considerable mischief, I was compelled to cause the windows to be closed after the scholars were dismissed. With regard to the first statement, it may be admitted that the ventilation, apjirt from that by means of the windows, is not what it o ight to he; but seting tnat in the meantime abundance of fresh air is admitted by the windows, and seeing that the School Committee are taking every means to have the best possible system of ventilation introduced, I can only regard it as a piece of impertinent meddling on the part of anyone to keep continually prating about the nod! ventilation and the unhealthy state of the school. I shall always welcome any fair criticism, and receive with pleasure any suggestion by which the school or its management may be improved, but 1 decidedly object to the circulation of .statements absolutely untrue, and to anyone imputing as faults to the school and its teachers the mere creations of his own whimsical fancy.

It was resolved to thank Mr Montgomery for his satisfactory explanation.