MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2301, 21 May 1886, Page 2

MASTERTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Correspondence,

The regular monthly meeting of the Commit.ee was held last evening Vre^Z «Vton, Redman, Muir, Lowe s.and Hogg The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. g The treasurer reported receipts since grant'credit balance, £42 lis fid.

From the Education Board in reference hnnl^V and , stat ! D ß the Committee ™? nu s h t ave kepti tHo long whon it was onnd to be put of repair, a. they

F m hegecretary to the Board statmg that ho etter to the Chairman reding the offer of a site for a school did not, owing to his absence, arrive in time, and could not, therefore, be dealt with, * rom a parent in reference to her son With regard to the damaged dock, the Chamnan said it had been placed in the landsof MrLittlejohn, and he 'found rliat it was not worth repairing,' and, that mused a delay in returning It to the. WithPßg4rd6) tsie Miv Via,

ctoria-St. offered to tho Board asasite for a schloo.MrPaytonauggeatod that thoßoard be asked to vote a Bum of money to purchase a site. He did not see how the Board could expect Masterton to find the money for a school site, which would coat say £3oo;' That waanofc done in Wellington, and he thought. Masterton should not bo put on the same footing as a small country district! were laud wbb only a few pounds an acre, but should, be treated the same as Wellington, and" provided by the Board with a site.

Mr Lowes thought tho Board would reply that they were prepared to erect a school as soon as the site was provided. 'Mr,Hogg moved, and Mr Payton seconded, That the Board be asked to vote a sum, not exceeding £3OO, for the purpose of purchasing a site for tho erection of a second school at the northern end of Masterton, -Carried. .Mr Payton moved that the consideration ot the letter from a parent be held over, for the reason that tho father was the one who should make tho application. Mr Boddington quite agreed with the remarks made by Mr Payton in'regard to who should appiv, He thought it hard, however, that a boy should be debarred from tho advantages of further schooling. He read the clause of the act under which action had boen taken. "If the Committee opened the matter they would have to rescind the resolution of the old Committee, and he felt sure from the evidence that their action would be confinned. Ho. had seen Mr Grundy, who was inclined to forgive the offence if tho boy came to him and expressed contrition,

After some further discussion tho matter was left in the hands of ono of the Committee with poWer to deal with it. The Teachers' report.was read, and showed the average attendance to be 391, the highest 450, and the lowest 295 From the 6th to the-18th the Hoad Master waa absent through illness, and Mr Waito took charge in hts stead. Mr Nelson Bunting had been appointed pupil teacher. The Infant School ropnrt wbb read There wore 111 on the roll, 86 was tho average attendance, 90. being the highest and 22 the lowest. Edith Sage had been appointed pupil teacher, B nd Alice Galloway had ceased to act on probation. The School diary was read, and the following accounts were passed for pay. me.it:—Cleaning, £1; J,Ran ßorae , £2 4s Gd; Mrs Woodham, £1 ; W. H. Wostin, coals, 10b sd; M. Caselborg & Co., £llos sd. An account for £7 16s for maps, supplied by D. Clark, Wellington, was held over.

Under general business the Chair-1 man brought forward the question of j compulsory attendance. Ho said it seemed to be thought that there were a number of children of school age not Waiving instruction. They had sufficient school room at present, ana he felt that where parents refused to send their' children to school they should be punished as it was an injury to the children. He explained the clause of the Act, bearing on the question and the mode of carrying it into force. '

Mr Paytmi moved that the Government be asked, to supply tho Committee with the names of children of school ago from the local census,

Mr-Hogg thought .the suggestion was a very good one. It was a proper use fo make of tho census. He would second tho motion, thinking it would be the means of drawing attention to what the Government ought to do in other cases. The motion was carried.

Tho Chairman moved that tho Committee take the necessary steps to enforce the attendance of children of school age. Mr Lowes said he failed to see tho necessity of passing a motion on the subject; as the compulsory clauses of the Aot were already in force. After soriio further discussion the motion was declared carried. Mr Hogg moved that the Education Board be requested to have printed notices hung up at all the principal buildings with a copy of the clause of the Act, showing the penalty attached to parents for neglecting to send their' children to school.—Carried.

Mr Hogg was appointed visiting member for the ensuing month, and the meeting adjourned.