HIGH SCHOOL BOARD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 889, 20 February 1879, Page 2

HIGH SCHOOL BOARD.

The first meeting of the Board of Governors of the Waitaki High School proposed to be established under the Act passed during last session, was held this morning at the County Council Chambers. The members present were Messrs. Shrimski,- Steward, and Sumpter. After waiting some little time for the other members to put in an appearance, Mr. Steward proposed Mr. Sumpter as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Shrimski seconded the motion. Mr. Sumpter declined to accept the position, saying that he thought Mr. Shrimski, as the promoter of the Bill, was entitled to the honor of being the first Chairman of the Rgcuxl of Governors. The Bill would confer a great benefit upon the town and district, and they would only be paying Mr. Shrimski a well-de-served compliment by electing him Chairman, and he would therefore move that Mr. Shrimski act as Chairman. Mr. Steward : I think Mr. Sumpter is quite right, and I have much pleasure in withdrawing my motion in favor of Mr. Sumpter's. Mr. Shrimski said he had no desire to be elected Chairman. He was perfectly satisfied with the compliments which had been paid him by Mr.' Sumpter and Mr. Steward for anything that he had done for the benefit of the district. His tmly desire was to see the solipql grove a sue 7 cess, and he thought that this could best be obtained by appointing Mr, Sumpter

Chairman, as he (Mr. Shrimski) would be absent from town during a portion of the year.

After some persuasion, Mr. Shrimski consented to accept the position of Chairman, and on taking the chair, thanked the meeting for conferring upon him the honor of being the first Chairman of the Board of Governors. His reason for introducing a Bill to establish a High School for Waitaki was that he saw that the most valuable educational endowments in the district were being given to the boys' and girls' High Schools in Dunedin. He thought the time a very opportune one for getting a High School for North Otago. He acknowledged the cordial assistance rendered him in the House by the Hon. Mr. Stout. Mr. Sumpter was then appointed Hon. Secretary. Mr. Sumpter proposed, and Mr. Steward seconded, the following motion, which was carried :—" That this Board on taking office desires to put on record its sense of the benefit conferred upon the district in an educational point of view by the setting aside of valuable endowments for higher education, and expresses its sense of the valuable services rendered to that end by Mr. Shrimski, M.H.R., as promoter of the Waitaki High School Act. " Mr. Shrimski, in acknowledging the compliment, referred to the way assistance had been rendered him in the House of Representatives by the Hon. R. Stout and by the Hon. W. H. Reynolds, who took charge of the Bill in the Upper House. The Secretary was directed to write to the gentlemen named, thanking them for their assistance in getting the Bill passed. A letter from Mr. W. J. Habcns, Secretary to the Commission 011 Higher Education, was read, inquiring whether "the reserves referred to in the Waitaki High School Act had been made available for the purposes of the school, and if so, what income was received from them, and how it is applied. The Secretary was requested to reply that 110 action had yot Been taken, nor revenue received, but that the writer would be informed when anything definite had been done. The Secretary was directed to write to the Minister for Lands applying for the issue of Crown grants for the land described in the schedule to the Waitaki High School Act, and asking that the Board might be supplied with plans of the said lands. The Secretary was also directed to. write to the Secretary to the School Reserve Commissioners, asking for a statement as to the rental and lessees of the Board's reserves.

It TetbS decided to apply to the Harbor Board for the use of the Harbor Chamber for the holding of meetings. The Secretary having been empowered to purchase the necessary minute-book, the meeting adjourned until Thursday, 12th March.