Education Board.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 281, 1 December 1904, Page 4

Education Board.

. Th« : Taranaki Education Board . : met cm Wednesday. There were pra- , sent: Mrs Dougherty, Messrs Wade, Morton, Faull, Monkhouse, Mackay, McDonald, and Adlum. , Owing , to the absence of the chairt man, Mr fi. G. Allsworth, Mr Wade : . . . was y.ptetf tp the chair. . —Architect's Report.— j Mr J. Sanderson, the board's architect, read his report, in which it was stated that the dairy room at Stratford had been lime-whited. The . - 1 New 'Plymouth Borough Council 1 ■> have laid: a sewer in Lemon-street v ' to within about 130 yard 9 of the r Central School. If it is intended • for school drainage purposes then it should be carried to the junction of i ' - Lemon and Gover Streets, and continued up Gover-streets to a line with the position of the latrines. To connect them with the sewer where it mow terminates would cost about £75, if taken in a diagonal direc- . tion through the grounds. The report was adopted. Report The secretary read the chairman's report submitted by Mr Allsworth, as follows The following app<rintro»ntß been made in pursuance of the recommendations of the committees interested Mr G. - Becker, sole teacher, Punewhakau ; Mass, jl,. Potts, assistant, Okato ; Mis# arewart, assistant, West End ; Mr Sullivan, pupil teacher, Central, in place of Miss Bowman, who has left the f service ; and Miss Berry transferred from West End to the Central. In reference to LieutenantColonel Loveday's circular referred to him to deal with, he had ar- ■-: ranged for the cadet encampment to v takje at Waitara during the : week cotumencing Dec. 12. After detailing the unsuccessful steps taken to , secure an interview with the Minister .of Education, the report stated that ft was now for the board to say

whether any further effort, be made ... .to obtain an interview in Wellington '** dr'-fry 'Stad arrange a meeting with him in New Plymouth when he goes North in a few weeks. —Chairman's Resignation.— ■ Mr:.E. G. Allsworth forwarded his resignation as chairman of the board. Some discussion took place on the effect of the resignation on the proposed interview on Departmental matters with the Minister of Education, and it was decided, on the motion of Mr Faull, seconded by Mrs Itougix'rty, to ask Mr Allsworth to hold over the resignation until the matters referred to are dealt with. —lnspectors' Report.—

Owing to the absence of the in- " spectors, the manual and technical report and examination reports were • held over. j —ComplaintMessrs Mackay and Monkhouse forwarded a confidential report on a <: complaint against a scholar at the Whangamomona school. In cotiformity with the report, the teacher -i will be instructed to expel the lad '■ concerned. . , —Requests for Repairs I The Stratford School Committee wrote asking that tar be sent for asphalting the courtyard.—Referred , to Finance Committee, i - » The Mahoe Committee wrote in reT, fcrence to the overcrowded state of j,,,, that school. The ventilation was j defective, and as there were 45 pui pils tn the building, which was origlnalfy. intended to accommodate »£l, '■Ajy, \ dent swrlethittg should be done.—ReiVafti ' '° t' lo Finance Committee. The Kaimate Commissioner prefur(v"' red a retjuest for several alterations to and enlargement of the school, Ejj{ v' stating that the ventilation was defective. . Mr UcDomtid said he inspected the tehtfdf, atwl fjore out the statements coAtafmed thereto. * Mr Morton said in reference to a fc',. clause in the letter that he had never K&V JBPort£H#tt., the air space, but, the seating accommodaHMMW on f am ceUitw was very low anii-

soraeUiingj should be clone. This letter was also referred to the Finance Committee, us were letters asking l'or sundry repairs anil additions to residence, from Tarata, Salisbury Road, Xgaire, Tututawu, land Pukearuhe Committees. —Central School.—

The Central School Committee wrote asking thai Hicks on cupboards at the school be replaced prior to handing the building over to th« Exhibition Committee. They also desired to see the agreement between the board and the exhibition authorities that they might see how far iheir interests were protected. The chairman was given power to act in these matters.

—Clearing School Grounds.— The Kahui Road School Commitmittee answered a communication from the board drawing their attention to the state of the school grounds.

On the motion of Mr Mackay, seconded by Mr Faull, it was decided to call the attention of the committee to the fact that they had not fulfilled their promise to properly clear the ground so as to render the building safe, and to inform them that the Board expects the matter to be attended to at once. —Right-of-Way.— A letter from the Huiakama Committee asking that permission be granted to settlers to go through the grounds, owing to the soft state of the newly-formed public road, was referred back to the Committee, as the board declined to accept any responsibility in the matter. —School Holiday.— The llruti School Committee forwarded a letter received from the teacher, sug'gesting that owing to the poor attendance during the winter a fortnight's holiday only should be allowed at Christmas with the longer period in mid-winter. Mr Faull objected, saying the inspector's work would be liable to interference, and they had in other cases refused to carry out the idea. Mr Mackay said in these cases the teachers objected. On the motion a! Mr Adlum, seconded by Mrs Dougherty, it was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the chairman. —Undue,Punishment.— Mr Harvey, Pungarehu, wrote complaining of the severity of punishment inflicted- °n bis child by the teacher. Mr McDonald moved that Mr Harvey be informed that his letter has been sent to the committee to report. Mr Adlum seconded, and the motion was carried. On resuming. after lunch Mr Morton was an absentee. —Central School Drainage.—

Mr Collis, chairman of the Centtal School' Committee, waited on the board in reference to the drainage of the school. He! said the Borough Council asked the committee to con-

tribute towards the cost of laying the main up to the school, pointing out that the scheme would mean an annual saving on the present

niglitsoil contract: The committee wore themselves agreeable to meet the council, and would agree to the capitation being reduced. (Mr Sanderson's report was here read by the secretary.) The estimated cost of altering toe present system would be between £l5O and £2OO. If t'he council had no power to compel them to connect with the sewer, the present contract would' continue. He had pointed out to the borough that the committee had no power to expend their money on laying road drains.

Mr Mackay moved that the matter be referred to the Finance Committee, who will confer with' the Borough Council and obtain from the architect an estimate of the connections before reporting. Mr Monkhouse seconded, and the ■notion was carried. —Fitzroy School.— Messrs Weller and Steele (Fiezroy) waited on the board m reference to raising the school. Mr Weller said the parents had intimated their intention of ' withdrawing their children until better sanitation obtained, and the committee felt this state of things should not go on. They had approached the Government without avail, anid they now asked the board to take the matter in hand. As half the children were away the only alternative was to close the school. The Chairman said this was one of the matters relegated to Mr Allsworth for conferring with the Minister. The board had no money , to devote to this work.

Mr Weller pointed out that in the ■biuildingj allocations a sura of money had been placed for this purpose. The Chairman said they could not do anything till Mr Allsworth reported. Mr Weller pointed out that if the work was not done at once, during the holidays, the school routine would be interfered with again. The Government sanitary inspector had twice condemned the building.

Mr Mackay moved, That when the allocations for the ensuing year are drawn up, the matter receive consideration/

Messrs Faull and Adlum thought that the matter was one for Government aid, and eventually Mr Mackay agTeed to a resolution, proposed by Mr McDonald, That the Fitzroy Committee be communicated with as soon as Mr Allsworth has interviewed the Minister. This was seconded by Mrs Dougherty and carried. —Vogeltown.— Mr Brbwne waited on thetooard in support of & petition from the Vogeltown district, praying for the erection of a school at the comer of Carrington Road and Smith Streets.. The mdjority of children in the district were debarred from attending school owing to the distance to the nearest school, which l'rom one part, of the district was that at Frankloy Road—2J miles away. The petition was signed by the parents of 66 children, 43 of whom were of school age, the rest being under. Mi' Browne said when the last petition was presented Mr Allsworth had promised that if the settlers purchased a site and erected the school the board would furnish it and supply a teacher. The sum of £43 had been Sulbscriljed, but that was not sufficient to purchase a site and he came to them with' an alternative scheme. He proposed to erect a build ing on his own property, at a cost of £167, the land being valued at £l5O, Insurance would be about £1 6s, and rates £2 10s, five cent, rental Would equal £ls 17s. He would louse the place to the board at a rental of 8s per week for a term of seven years. The only condition was that he could let the building during the evenings, as he would be a loser on the transaction. The district was heavily handicapped by the subsidy paid for the 'bus service and «ie idea was that when the subsidy exi'iind, the thiMren would have their own school. ilessrs Mackay aiid Adlum doubted whether the board could spend money on a school within that distance of the Central School. Mr Browne in reply to a question by Mr i'aull, said it cost him 12s per month to get his children to school. Messrs McDonald and Monkhouse pointed out that the district was in no part outside the legal radius from a good school. Mr Monkhouse moved, and Mrs Dougherty seconded "That owing to the absence of Messrs Allsworth and Morton, who drew up the last report, consideration of the Question be postponed till next meeting-. The motion was carried. —lnspector's Report.— 'Che board went into committee to consider several letters ii reference to the inspector's reports. —Christmas Holidays.— The application of the Stratford committee that the Christmas holidays be one week later than at other schools, on account of the cadet tournament to be held there on December 21st and 22nd, was agreed to. —Stratford District High School.— -vThe Stratford' School Committee.

wrote in reference to the District High School classes, consideration being deferred until next meeting, the letter in the meantime to submitted to the inspectors. —Kina Road Site.— The School Commissioners notified that their funds were available, only for freehold sites, this f being the outcome of an application for a school site on native land at hina K< Mi d 'Paull moved "That the Public Trustee be asked whether he wil facilitate the purchase of a_ school site on the Kim Road from Mr Norman Simpson." 4 Mr Mackay seconded the motion, which was carried. —General.— A large amount of departmental correspondence was dealt with. Mr Potts, teacher at Bell Block, was granted two months' sick leave, to date from January 12th. Mr A E. Green, Upland Road teacher,"' through his committee, drew attention to various unprowments required, the matter being refeucd to the finance committee. f . lfioo Accounts amounting to i>lbuu were passed for payment. The next meeting ol the board will be held on December 14th.