MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE,

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1895, 22 January 1885, Page 2

MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE,

A meeting of the Committee was held last evening. Present—Messrs Boddington (Chairman), Galloway, Lowes, Wood-, roofe, Johnston, and Payton. The minutes of the preceding meeting having been read and confirmed, tlie Treasurer read the balance sheet for the' past year. Mr Woodroofe objected to the form' in which an item of £lO granted to the.' Cadets had been entered, but his objection was not entertained.

Correspondence was read from the Secretary of the Education Board, return-' ing balance sheet duly audited, also giving result of special meeting on the tenders for additions to the Maßterton school.

Sundry small accounts were passed for payment, one being for freight of a case of scientific apparatus recently received from England.. The Chairman reported that Mr Lowes and himself had waited on the Town Clerk re the claim of £5 for part cost of footpaths, They recommended that the Borough Council be informed that they had no fund out of which the claim could be paid, The meeting adopted the recommendation of the sub-committee, Messrs Boddington and Payton, -tho. sub-committee appointed to draw up the annual report, submitted the following Your Committee have to report another year of satisfactory work in the Masterton school, in which the teaching staff has brought the various classes to an exceptionally high standard of efficiency. The average attendances during tho past year, excluding one month when they., were affected by the diptheria scare, were 400, tho number of children on the roll:, being 503, Your Committee could have, secured larger attendances, but pending the erection of the additional class rooms, they felt that they could not discharge their duty towards children whose tion was being neglected without" over-:-crowding the school to an extent which' would have endangered the health of the pupils. The annexed balance sheet.' shows that the school funds are in a satisfactory position, the Town Lands Trust having continued their liberal grant in aid during the past year. The published reports of the Inspector have already made you familiar with the gratifying progress of the school as well as of the success of the higher class. The thanks of householders are due to Mr Grundy and his able assistants for their painstaking labors, and also to the members of the Education Board who have displayed' a warm'interest in the success of your school. Your Committee in conclusion have the pleasure to report that the School Cadet' Corps still continues to be a credit to the town; also that Mr Sellar as Secretary and Treasurer has discharged his duties with zeal and ability.-—Your Committee during the past year held. 16 meetings,-. The attendances of the members were as followsJ. 0, Boddington 16, R. M. Galloway 16, J. Payton 15, G. W, Woodroofe 14, A. Johnston 13, W. Lowes li, atid A. Bish 9.

Mr • Woodroofe,-in honor to-himselfj made an eloquent speech against that portion of thft report which referred' to the* Cadetsj introducing into it His Excellency the Governor, whom he objected to be-

cause lie was bathed to the eyes in military notions, , The report was adopted, Mr woodroofe alone dissenting, ! . The Secretary was insfcructeito sign an for a 'subsidy' tp School Library. . '■'/». : 'K Mr Woodroofe-moved that a.-disputed :•&&? of £2los from Mr • Smith, on which Mr Payton had been appointed to report, should be paid, . •.•Mi: Lqwes secondedilw_j.rQEPSitioii v w. •he vbelieved-%,Wk»-'l«id •.-been-.-den«' fairlyj •diifend the claim: ' ' ■ Y :MrGalloway thought -they "IM no altefffivtive'." ' r -; f-Mr Paytori a&ed ;bo' p?ni.£itreq. ; io ■;r6"poi!t before the motion was put, Ho was'.-;under the impression.: that legally •Mr §mith could not claim a single halfpenny, as he had .dwejflrtoin work solely. • on'"his own "responsibility'.'' For' 'this' ■reasdn he could not vote for the resolution proposed, The' Chairman expressed an , opinion that the work for could have been done equally wjll for 25s or 30s; •'

The motion to pay 50s was put and carried. .«-.on the motion of Mr Payfcon the atfcon-

tion of the Institute Committee was again ■called to an application, made in"Nov®" ber last for a proper'lamp for the., use of thVCommitteoroom.' ,

:Mv Loives: said he;w not one who advocated an unnecessary'expenditure .of public money in- advertising,, .but he observed tliat" the IdueatiOri'Board-.had: advertised the annual school meetings in the "Wellington papers, and-he did not see.whytheWairarapapapers should be ■igiiored.vv Three posters had : be'en sent up. to JJasterton, which wore, in his opinion, altogether; inadequate for advertising such a meeting in a large aiid influential district. Hi'moved ;Jhat the Board be ;asked why they had not advertised the annual meetings jn- tho..Wairarapa papers

in: accordance with'Section G4 of the Act.

Mr T^oodraofe;seconded the motion, He considered the Board had not carried out the spirit of the act jri this matter. The chairman in putting the resolution said he cordially .agreed with it,—Carried. the, meeting then adjourned..