MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1231, 16 November 1882, Page 2

MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Thb uiual monthly meeting of the Masterton School Committee 'was-held'last evening. Present—Messrs Boddington (chairman), Hogg, Feist, Heron;,;Jago/ an 4 Peyton,: ' ' |'/ ::^,^''',j'.!' •j?hfi iflinujej of'the.'prevjou'i imeeting were '',...'"'', ■, The treasurer (Mr',sellar),reno;ted that since last meeting he i had,rjep.eive£ $0 subsidy for gravelling, playground, from the Education Board, also £ls for capitation.! The credit balance at. the bank on general aflc6nnt l 'wss'£2s! is lid, school cadbtaccount£2l-6s s, ;,:;•;,;;,/ The secretary reported that notices had' been served.'on a number.of parents to send children to school., A letter was read from one of them stating that his child's health was not' good enough at present for him to oomply with the order. The committee eiprtsied an' opinion that in thia instance'the order'should not be pressed,- -'■-•- --. — - - A letter'waalreadtfrbni (the! Education Board notifying the appointment of Miss Bobins, a pupil teacher io tha Uultrton

Boh6oli'to beTahlstant mistress at Carterreported that next yeai? the capi tatio ri: alio wn n from 'the.Board wouldvbe, double, that 'preceding v' - V V ' V}",'.;;'.'.«>' •v* one, •.' ,^>^ A sub-committee was appointed to report on the gravelling neoeisary to be donßattheioliool,,,;, ,!.,,,.,.../..,,.,..,..

The head master's report was read for the preceding month. It stated that ■owing-to.'.the. prevalence of measles, the average attendance had (alien to 342 The Chairman reported that the, result to the Inspector's first day's examination was highly 'satisfactory.-- In ;lhe first standard, each child presented pasted'. In the second there-was .but: one failure,: and half thV third statidai'd.w'efe.'throogh without a failure. So far the examination was unequalled in the experience of the Inspector, with the exception of a city school on one occasion, '■ . i , ■

The following accounts were passed for payment,:—D. • Pickering, force pump, &o.,Ll7'3s'jG.M: Wood, 10s6d.''.

The following letter from the head mastor was then read :- To the Chairman of the : ; ; ; ['■ ■ ■ t > iMastertoa School Committee, Dear Siß,:-At a meeting held early in the .present year a request was undo to me to attend in my otlicial capacity as Head Mastelr of the School' the ordinary monthly meetings of your Committee. Upon consideration, however, of the proceedings at your last meeting and of the article which appeared in the" Star" of the next day, and , which was undoubtedly 'written by a member of ysur Committee, I beg _ respeotfully to fall baok upon my privilege and to decline to attend future meetings unless specially requested to do so for some stated purpose. In quoting the article in question, I more particularly refer to that put which charges me personally with intriguing to obtain the appointment of assistant teacher for a particular applicant, (with whom, by the, way, 1 would state I never; exchanged a single'word previous to her candidature), and also with using, my influence in an underhand manner to prevent the candidature of a teacher already in the School, These charges I emphatioally deolare to he grossly untrue, I regret, however, in self-justification, .to stata plainly and publicly that my only reason for failing to support the"' application of;., a member of my staff was that, although she had displayed marked ability in her studies, yet, t& a teacher, she had failed to givo that latisfastion which would have warranted 'her promotion. I much regret that the action of one member has necessitated my present position of apparent constraint with:' your Committee,, and I would earnestly assure'members generally that'l warmly appreciate the many evidences of kindness aud support which I have received from them,

i : I have the honor, &o„.' \ ! W. T. Gbtodt. ' Mr Heron thought that this matterhad been sufficiently discussed at their last meeting, and would move that the letter be simply received, Mr Jago Bail he would second the motion, ■

Mr Paytun said he'was willing not to touch upon the ground which'Mr Heron desired to avoid, but one point was of importance, and should not be passed over He thought Mr Grundy, bad been a little too tensilive, and that he should be asked in the interests of the school to reconsider his decision. It was very desirable that the committee and head master should work cordially together. For his own part, h,e had the fullest confidence in Mr Grundy, and should give him every support he could, He would move-That it was to the interest of the school that its head master should bo present at committee meetings, and tor this reason the committee hoped that Mr Grundy would reconsider his decision, Tho committed begged to assure Mr Grundy that he enjoyed their full confi-. dence,

. Mr-Feist.secnnded this motion, Mr Heron: Is ,Mr Grundy compelled to attend the oommittee meetings 1 ' • \ The Chairman: No I Fi.r my own part I would say that I nould like the head ■ouster to be present at our meetings. Mr Heron said he would not care, as a committeeman, to ask Mr Grundy to reconsider his decjsipn, though he might do so privately. Mr Jago said he would prefer to see Mr Grundy attending the Committee meetings. : Mr Hogi; did not see that there was any occasion for tho committee to express its confidence in Mr Grundy, as it had never given him any intimation that he did not possess it. Nor had he, as a member of the oommittee, said a word adverse to hira. On the other hand, rb it was optional whether Mr Grundy attended their meetings, it would, he thought, be better for him to be absent, so that they might sit as an independent and unfettered body. Masterton was the first place within hie experience where School Oommittee meetings were regularly attended by'the head master. In Mr Grindy's presenco they could not speak as freely as in his absence. He thought the Committee would be stultifying itself by passing such a resolution and that the less they had to do with the teaching staff the better. It was due to him to state that it was merely an assumption on Mr Grundy's part, flja} t);e afliojaio the Star was written by himself. j|e had heard it stated that an article in another paper had been written by Mr Grundy. Mr. Heron Baid he would vote against the resolution on the ground that it was superfluous to pass a vote of confidence in Mr Grundy. He sympathised with that gentleman who had tno Press representatives on his Committee: for his own part he would never vote for pressmen on School Committees. MrJauosaid Mr Grundy was not the' 1 sert 0/ man to act in a partial manner, and He altogether approved of ,the course' ■he had taken in the appoiritnjßnfc'pf the' late teacher. He joined the comtnittee for the express purpose of reducing tho. staff of pupil teachers, and increasing thai; of adult instructors. The Chairman said he sympathised with Mr Grundy in the matter, and he thought it was to the interest of the school .that the committee should have the benefit of the headmaster's attendance, at their meetings, ' Mr Pay ton, in reply, stated with reference to the insinuation tbrown put by'Mr that Mr Grundy had 'never written a sTrigftf liue jn the paper with; which l)e was coDnecteol.'"lf 4lr Hepn thought that an assurance of .confjAgnoe j was superfluous he would ask leave to withdraw the.lfttter portion of his resolur tion and leave the former which was the essential part of it to the meeting, ; Mr Payron's motion was thou put. as amended to the meeting and carried on a division. Ayes: Messrs Boddingtonj Feist, Heron, Jago, and Payton. No: Mr Hogg.

Messrs Boddington and Payton were appointed visiting members,

The meeting then adjourned,