SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 July 1924, Page 10

SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

SOUTH TARANAKI ASSOCIATION. Ths executive of the South Taranaki School Committees’ Association met in' the Hawera County Chambers last evening. Mr. Ira J. Bridger presided, and others present were: Messrs. J. W. Harding (secretary), J. Dakers (Manaia.), J. P. Marx (Mangatold), IV. S. Hayes (Eltham), and AY. AVilliams (Ta-wlviti). Apologies were received from Messrs. Iveheley, Guy and Collins. , The secretary said the meeting had been called at his suggestion because he had some difficulty in interpreting the rules in their application to the election of members of the executive. Apparently, under the system of voting, it would be necessary for him to . send to each committee in the different groups notice to nominate members for the executive. AVlien these nominations came to hand sets of voting papers would have to be sent out, one paper for each committeeman, and after the voting the papers would have to be returned to him. All groups would nominate five members with the exception of Manaia, which would nominate only three. From these nominees the executive would be elected at the annual meeting. There were several objections to the system. It was very cumbersome, and the first difficulty was to be found in the infrequency with which some of the smaller committees met. Sometimes meetings were only held once in three months, and then to do little more than confirm work done by the chairman in the interim. Without giving fairly long notice he might miss meetings of committees with the nomination papers . Another objection "f?, that- members of a committee, while having the power to nominate five for the executive, would sometimes have little or no knowledge of members of other committees who may make useful members of the executive and would be obliged to act in the dark. The question of expense, in view of their slender revenue, was important The printing would be fairly costly because the- names on the voting papers for each group would be diflerent. The system amounted to a double election, and was a devious way ol amvmg at a conclusion. The president said the system had been evolved after a good deal of thought, and it would accomplish the end m view : it would give every committee a voice m the selection of the executive The system would mean a p” C , deal of ) vork for the secretary, b -vr tl -rr lts .ouly disadvantage/ Mr. Harding said he had no objection hurry 6 ' VO1 ’ k ’ provided there ,was no fhe .president said that the constitution. having been adopted, the system of voting could not be changed without going through the right forinaiities, and for the first election it would have tobe accepted as it stood. After a good deal of discussion it was decided to carry out the election as agreed upon at the last general meeting, the voting papers to be returnable by August 9. Owing to the time that will be occupied in getting the nomination papers returned, the annual meeting was postponed to a- date to be fixed by the president and secretary. Mr. A. J. White-,- secretary to the Federated School Committees (Wellington) wrote complaining of the poor support received by school committees, and stating that the time had arrived to consider whether the federation was to continue or go out of existence. Members were of the opinion that it was most desirable in the interests of education that the federation should continue to function, and it was pointed out by Mr. Harding that the Federation, with its office ih AVellington, would be in close- touch with the department and would be able to make much more effective represntations than any provincial associations of committees. It was decided to reply along these lines and to affiliate with the federation. The secretary was requested to offidaily advise the Taranaki branch that a South Taranaki branch had been formed. Mr. Marx raised the question of the ' apportionment of capitation allowances. ■ He saw no reason why the larger schools should receive increased grants at the expense of the smaller schools. It was resolved to write to the board asking for information as to the basis on which capitation grants wore fixed, and what- the- board proposed to do- in the case ol the increased grant recently made by the department. A member thought the inquiry would be useless, and that the board would probably rep y stating that die money , was allocated at its discretion. Another matter brought up by Mr r Marx was school holidays. He said that the schools were granted holidavs ! extending over a- little more than' a week at Faster, and shortly after the ! resumption of work the schools were l again closed- for the winter holidays. I hose frequent breaks were not in the 1 interests of the children, and the in- 5 iU / s specially suffered. sf-horJ of all preseilt was tha-t { we /• ay / aS - afc present arranged, • dien * m 118 mterests of the cliil- \ The- frequency of the changes in l teaching staffs was also mentioned bu? 1 the Education Board ° ha. aheady-dealt with this matter and passed iv resolution fTvoSe , f rnn-.m,,,,, of.t,v„ years i„ o.UapiSL-' » It wa s agreed that the holidavs W e Hi/ l.Vn ) ,ni r|l rn St r° nS he brought * before J tie s” Irv erenW ' as remit *. nnd, o™ b S'diSisZd or ' var(l aiiy th^in