SCHOOL NEEDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 July 1921, Page 5

SCHOOL NEEDS.

TARANAKI MATTERSBETTER FACILITIES WANTED. POSITION IN NEW PLYMOUTH. The claims of New Plymouth for better facilities as regards its schools were fully placed before the Minister of Education (the Hon. C. J. Parr) at New Plymouth yesterday by the Taranaki Education Board. The disabilities attending educational work in some form or another at all of the town schools were reviewed and various suggestions put forward for the consideration of the department. The Minister fcas accompanied by Mr. W. E. Spencer, officer in charge of school buildings, and the members of the board present were: Messrs. P. J. White (chairman), S. G. Smith, M.P., R. Masters, M.P., H. Trimble, R. J' Deare, and F. Hoskin. Mr. Parr had previously spent some time in inspecting the schools in company with members of the board, and visits were made to Fitzroy, Central, Courtenay Street infant department, West End, Westown side school and the area which has been acquired on Pioneer Road for a school at Moturoa. In welcoming the Minister, the chairman of the board said that from whfit he had seen during the trip around the town Mr. Parr would no doubt be im-' pressed with the growth of the borough, and incidentally the advance in its school population. The census returns had shown that New Plymouth was second in the list of boroughs in New Zealand as regards percentage of increase in population The matters which would be brought before the Minister had been selected by the board as the most urgent in tho list of requirements. The matters concerned were: Request for additional accommodation at Fitzroy; the grant for the Courtenay Street infants’ school (new building); better accommodation at Waitara; provision of a site for the West End School: reinstatement of the grant for a residence at Ngaere; and an application Jor a grant in connection with the capital expenditure incurred by the board for workshops. SUBURBAN SCHOOLS. Dealing With the Courtenay Street School, Mr. White quoted a letter from the department which showed that the board’s plan for a new building had been practically accepted. The Minis ter, on the occasion of his visit to New Plymouth a year ago, had also recognised that the position was deserving of most careful consideration, and the board now asked for a definite decision. In reference to the West End site, the board had a n'ew proposition to put before the department. They now had an offer of a property, which, in their opinion was the last area of a suitable kind for a school at West End that would be available. The board, the committee and the householders of New Plymouth felt that the position In regard to the playing area at West End was desperate. The. new site which the board favored was on the Cutfield Road and was under offer for .£4000; of th)R the vendor was prepared to take £3OOO in 54- per cent debentures. This, no doubt, altered the aspect of the position from the department’s viewpoint. The board had also received an offer of £5OO from the school committee towards the purchase of the site.

At Fitzroy very serious inconvenience was being suffered. As the result ol the growth of the town space in all the schools was becoming very limited, but this was most emphasised at Fitzroy. Ac. the result of a report from the senior inspector the board proposed that a separate infant room be erected, the idea being that this would form the nucleus of a new school. At \Vaitara they also desired to have a new room built, which would form part of a new school. A portion of the present structure was very old and must have been erected in the late ’sixties or I early ’seventies. The lighting was bad* and in the centre the roofing had sunk.

WORKSHOPS EXPENDITURE. The position in regard to the workshops expenditure was dealt with by Mr. Masters, who recalled that this question had been discussed on previous occasions. The board, he said, had spent ,£l2OO capital expenditure for the erection of workshops and installation of machinery, and they desired that the department reimburse them to this extent. All the money had been paid out of the general fund. The board admitted that they had received a great deal of benefit in the saving of maintenance and the manufacture of furniture through the adoption of the policy, but the department had also been saved a great deal as the result of the board’s artion in carrying out. the works, as against the contract system. As an alternative to receiving a refund the board sought permission to transfer the balance out of their maintenance account, as the workshops expenditure was really 'a charge against the former. Air. Masters asked that the department reinstate the grant of £lO5O for a new residence at Ngaere. He said that a grant had been made; the board had been unable to undertake the work, and called for tenders, but the prices were too high and the department did not sanction the contract prices. Now the position was different, and the board were anxious to push on with the election of the residence; there was no doubt about its necessity. SCHOOLS OVERCROWDED. Speaking in support of the request foi increased accommodation at town schools, Mr. Smith said the Fitzroy committee was at present engaged m organising a campaign to raise £2oo lor the purpose of supplementing the funds, and in common with other committees in New Plymouth were keenly interested in the welfare of the schools. They hoped, in view of the growth ot the suburb, that the department would be able to give effect to the proposal to build a separate infant room As illustrating the growth, of that part of the town.- Mr. Smith said that tlieie wore thirteen houses in course of construction and within the last six months about 37 dwellings had boon erected within easy distance of the school. As regards Courtenay Street the provision new infant school could be regarded as the most important, from the point of view of education in New 1 Lvmouth, of any of the grants. lhe Central School the Minister had also personal!) inspected aud would admit there was room for vast improvement There had been a large number of absentees the y«ar of

'■ sickness and this might be attributed to ethe fact that there were so many children cramped into the rooms Mr. Smith reviewed the agitation which had been going on for some years in regard to the West End site, and pointed out that as opportunities were lost year by year the cost was increasing. The board now felt that if they lost the chance of accepting the offer of the site from Mr. Greig’s estate there would be no other central area available in that end of the town which would serve the same school district. There was also the question of erecting a school at Moturoa. It had been ascertained that within a radius of a mile and a quarter of the school site which had been acquired there were 198 children of school age. At present a private school was being conducted in the district for the convenience of a number of children. THE DEPARTMENT’S POSITION. After. thanking the chairman and board for the kindly welcome extended on the occasion of his .second visit to New Plymouth, Mr. Parr remarked that on this occasion he had come under altered circumstances. “Then,’’ said the Minister, referring to his previous visit, “we were all pretty flush, and we saw no early prospect of any serious falling off in either public or private finances, whereas to-day matters have altered very considerably. The last year has been one of a good deal of building throughout New Zealand; the Government has made, on the whole, very liberal grants. It is obvious, of course, that we have had to call a halt in expenditure on buildings and sites, just when I was hoping to get in another year of effective work in that direction throughout the Dominion. No one is more disappointed than the Minister. I realise that the success of education in New Zealand involves a question of material things —buildings and sites — and unless they are given freely education must suffer to some extent. What we may be able to do this year depends largely on what amount of loan money I can secure, and until Mr. Massey returns 1 shall not be in a position, to make any definite promises of large expenditure. It is no use lamenting the pewition, however, and I am one of thhopeful souls who consider another couple of years, at the outside, will see us in a, more favorable financial position. This period of financial s rlngency is going to be a decided advantage in some respects, for we will be getting some value for the money we spend. Up till now it has been the experience to pay a pound for ten shillings’ worth of work, and the new conditions in the next twelve months will be an important factor in helping along lhe position. Apart from that 1 am not so sure that the country did not need some of the lessons of hard times. The country has been doing w-ell for the last twenty years, and the discipline of economy might prove beneficial.” Dealing with the requests made, the Minister agreed that these had been placed before him moderately', apd thai there was a good deal of reason in them A very large sum was represented, however, and the estimates for the work were: Two rooms at Fitzroy, £3756: Wefit End site, £4000; Moturoa, £2009; Courtenay, £7728: refund to general account, £1200: Waitara, £l7OO. This totalled over £19,000, and Taranaki was only one board out of nine. As far a Fitzroy was concerned, he could not hold out any immediate hope of spending the sum involved in the board’s proposals. They had a building adjunct in the gymnasium, which had been used as a classroom, and ho was prepared no sanction a grant for putting in win, dows, lining it and making the building comfortable for use, for, say. IS months. He wished it io be clearly understood that, thiis was only a temporary measure, and later the question of erecting an addition ro the school, or an infant block, .would be decided.

NO NEW BUILDINGS. Touching on the request in regard to Courtenay Street, Mr. Parr remarked that the department had already spent £2175 in purchasing -additional ground at this site. He had brought the application for a new h’lilding before Cabinet, and it had been ordered to stand down. After seeing the place again he would bring the iflatter up afresh, and hoped it would be with more success, but ne could make no definite promise, if some one would come along -and offer to take up debentures . the difficulty would be settled. He assured the board that finance was the only thing which was holding up the move for a new building. In regard to Waitara the department’s architect had made a careful examination, and stated in his report that the present dilapidated state of the school was due to a systematic Jack of maintenance, and not to decoy. The building, in the opinion of the architect, was worth remodelling. Mr. Smith affirmed that the officer who made the examination of the school building at Waitara spent very little rime over it, and, in fact, was only there half an hour.

Continuing. Mr. Parr referred to the position in connection with the Ngaere residence. Be said that in dqne of last year. a result of representations made by Mr. Masters, a grant of £995 had been made. This was later increased to £lO9O. That decision would stand, though he was not prepared to make any more increases, and the board were at liberty to go on with the work straight away if necessary. With reference to the capital expenditure on the workshops, and the request for a refund, Mr. Parr said he would see what he could do for the-board, but he pointed out that there was a big sum involved., as other boards, were making similar demands. Central there was a general application to rebuild, and this could not be considered at present.

West End’s case v.'as reviewed at length by Mr. Parr. He pointed out that this was a case in which they had a very good building on an utterly inadequate site. He was sorry that some of the land adjoining the school had not been secured in former years. His main objection was that the present building was a thoroughly sound one. He thought it would be good policy to push on with the erection of a school at Moturoa, thus relieving the position at West End. Speaking of the proposed new site at West End, Mr. Parr said he would like to have seen an area chosen further back towards Westown, where it would be the centre of. a large population In the future. The only area which might be secured was part of Reserve T, a recreation ground. This, however, was the best locality, in his opinion, and the Borough Council might consider sellling the department an acre of the reserve on which to put a school building, and the reserve could be used as a playing area. He favored the policy of building schools near public parks, as the children got the benefit of the recreation grounds. If the suggestion was carried out in this case he thought it would be sound policy for the department, the board and the borough. They might even be able to get enough land adjacent to the reserve. After this had been zuad« th«x

j could still consider the present proposal. PUBLIC SUPPORT. Opportunity was taken of the visit of the Minister by Mr. Matters to make representations concerning the shifting 'of the Hiu-imoana School to a permanent site, and he asked that this matter be expedited. He also expressed thanks to Mr. Parr for the grant made for a school at Ast wood, a grade O school. Last night a large deputation waited on Mr. Parr in support of the claims for assistance at various schools in New Plymouth. Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., in introducing the deputation, extended an apology for the absence of the Mayor. He stated that the object of the deputation was to show that the whole of the interests of the town were concerned in educational facilities and the necessity for improvement. Mi. T. C. List (president of the Chamber of Commerce) extended a welcome to the Minister, and said the commercial community desired to associate themselves very closely with the school committees and the Education Board in the representations for better facilities The attention of the Minister to the needs of the respective school districts was drawn by several speakers, the being as represented at the conference with the board. The speakers were: Rev. J. F. Martin (Fitzroy), Mr. J. S. S. Medley (West End), and Mr. W. Thomson (Moturoa). Mr. Parr briefly replied in the terms of his remarks to the board. THE MINISTER AT HAWERA. The Minister was met at the Hawera Borough Chambers yesterday morning by His Worship the Mayor (Mr. E. Dixon, M.P.), who welcomed him to the town. Later Mr. J. B. Murdoch, chairman of the Hawera County Council and president of the Chamber of Commerce, also Mr. G. H. Buckeridge, chairman of the Technical School Advisory Board, Messrs. Tait and Death (Hawera Main School) waited upon the Minister. The Minister was invited by Mr. Buckeriuge to perform the opening ceremony of the Technical High School, and Mr. Parr said he would endeavor to HKt'ke arrangements for the visit. Mr. Parr visited the new Technical School buildings. He expressed himself as very pleased with them, and said he thought Hawera was very fortunate in having euch a fine block of buildings for the purposes of secondary education. After this, Mr. Parr visited the prevent Technical School, inspecting the different classes while at work. He wax informed by the principal (Mr. Gray) that there was now a roll number of 170. Next, the Minister paid a viait to the Hawera main school, and addressed a few appropriate remarks to the children.