SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL DISCUSS TEACHERS' HOUSING

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 191, 23 September 1955, Page 1

SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL DISCUSS TEACHERS' HOUSING

On Monday, September 12, a deputation consisting of Mr. W. D. Haines; chairman, Taupo District High School Committee, Mr. W. J. Murray, secretary, and Mr. G. W. Foote, headmaster, met the Borough Council and outlined the Committee's problem in trying to secure adequate housing for teachers in Taupo. Mr. Haines read a letter received from the South Auckland Education Board, referring to a scheme put forward recently by the Government under which local bodies could apply to the State Advances Corporation for finance to erect housing for teachers. The letter stated that an appeal had been >ssued to mayors and County chairmen by the Government to implement the scheme. The Mayor, Mr. J. E. Story, said that the letter sent to local authorities did not appear to have been received. Mr. Haines outlined the difficulties of obtaining teachers, or of retaining them long, in view of housing difficulties in Taupo, and the way in which this was prejudicial to the welfare of the school and children. It appeared that the scheme was the only avenue open to the Taupo committee for the provision of housing for teachers. The Education Department, apparently- as a matter of fixed policy, provided houses in some centres, but for the headmasters and senior secondary teachers only. This was the case in Taupo. Mr. Foote mentioned that the Com mittee had gone into the present scheme at his request and they had thought that the Council would have had information which the Committee had not got. The* Committee had made other enquiries as to housing possibilities but they had all been turned down and the new scheme was now their only hope. The Mayor said that the Council would obtain information on the scheme and confer with the Committee again when this was in hand. >