95

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Brunner School. The mean average percentage of attendance for the four quarters of the year was 1,124, as against 1,086 for the preceding year, or an increase of thirty-eight. That the increase was not greater is, no doubt, attributable to the fact of sickness being very prevalent, especially during the last quarter of the year. Teachers.—On the 31st December there were forty-three teachers in the employ of the Board, including pupil-teachers. This is three more than the number employed at the end of 1885. They were classed as under: Male head teachers (including teachers having sole charge of schools), 14 ; male assistants, 3 ; female teachers in sole charge of schools, 4; female assistants, 10 ; female pupilteachers, 9 : total, 40. There were therefore thirty-one teachers exclusive of pupil-teachers, and of these sixteen held certificates from the department, leaving fifteen uncertificated, Concerning the smaller schools, the Board recognises the difficulty referred to in the Commissioners' report for 1885, and it agrees with the Commissioners as to the necessity of fixing a time after which no teacher without a certificate should have charge of a school of any degree of importance. The Board, upon taking office, made some few alterations in the salaries of teachers in the direction of increase. The minimum salary of certificated teachers having sole charge of schools was fixed at £120; and that of uncertificated teachers at £90 for females and £100 for males. The salaries payable to assistant teachers who had gone through the pupil-teacher course were considerably increased. At the end of the year the average salaries paid were as follows : Male head teachers, and male teachers having sole charge of schools, £150 Bs.; male assistants, £185 : female teachers having sole charge of schools, £89 17s. 6d. ; female assistants, £72. The following statement shows the classification of the schools : Under 15 pupils in average attendance, 2; 15 and under 20 pupils, 3 ; 20 and under 25 pupils, 3 : 25 and under 50 pupils, 5 ; 50 and under 75 pupils, 2 ; 75 and under 100 pupils, 1; 100 and under 150 pupils, 0; 150 and under 300 pupils, 1 ; 300 and under 500 pupils, 1 : total, 18. The nineteenth school is the Wallsend Side School, which is included in the table with the Brunnerton School. Inspection.—The Board, on taking office, appointed Mr. E. T. Robinson, who was then Secretary, to be also the Inspector. The Board desires to express its satisfaction with the manner in which the combined duties have been performed, especially in view of the difficulty attending the successful discharge of the requirements of the dual position. The Inspector has presented a report upon the schools, and the Board is glad to be able to say that their condition is generally satisfactory. School Buildings.—The amount —£1,046 —available for the Board out of the vote for building purposes was not sufficient to allow the Board to undertake all the necessary works. The Board therefore endeavoured so to distribute the amount as to meet the requirements of each district as far as possible, as the following list of schools to which grants were made for alterations and improvements will show : Kynnersley, Totara Flat, Orwell Creek, Ahaura, Hatter's, Red Jack's, No Town, Brunnerton, Maori Gully, Dunganville, Marsden, Cobden, Paroa, Westbrook, Greenstone, and Teromakau. It was again found necessary to expend a large proportion of the grant upon Greymouth School ; as, owing to the largely-increased roll number, the space provided was found to be quite insufficient. An additional room was therefore built, and the total amount expended upon the school during the year was £347 17s. The Westbrook School building was removed from the site it previously occupied ; and an addition was made to it to meet the requirements of an increased attendance. At the end of the year a considerable amount of work remained to be done, including new school buildings at Dobson and Greenstone, and teachers' residences at Kynnersley, Hatter's, Brunnerton, Maori Gully, Marsden, Cobden, Westbrook, and Teremakau. The school buildings at Hatter's, Brunnerton, Dunganville, and Greymouth require enlargement, and that at Brunnerton needs very general renovation. A considerable quantity of new furniture is also necessary. It may be possible that the department has adopted the most desirable system for the distribution of the yearly building vote —viz., the basis of population —but, none the less, it can easily be shown that it bears hardly upon this district. In a country covering so many degrees of latitude, and having physical and atmospheric conditions so widely varied, it is difficult to prove that a system of division is a fair one which ignores the consideration of these matters. Seeing that the limited funds available render it impossible for the Board to use any other material than timber for building purposes, and that our climate's most prominent characteristic is dampness, it is clear that the expense of keeping the school buildings in repair must be much greater than in most other districts. The large proportion of small schools in the district require all the surplus available from the one or two larger schools for their support ; and a glance at our salary-sheet will show that the salaries paid are not by any means too high. It is even doubtful whether the present rate can be continued. It is therefore quite out of the question to expect any surplus from the General Fund for expenditure upon buildings. The Board hopes that you will take these matters into consideration in the distribution of the next building vote, and deal more liberally with this district. Financial.—Return No. 4 gives the receipts and expenditure of the Board for the year 1886. Including building grant, the receipts were £6,031 18s. Id., and the expenditure £5,909 12s. lid., leaving a credit balance of £122 ss. 2d., of which £85 Is. Bd. was upon Building Account, and £37 ss. 6d. on General Account. Teachers' salaries amounted to £3,805 4s. 5d.; incidental expenses of schools, including grants to Committees, rent, &c, £261 10s. 6d.; and school buildings, £785 10s. lOd. The expenditure on salaries was at the rate of £3 7s. 7d. per head of average attendance. Including incidental expenses, the cost per head was £3 12s. 4d., and including salaries, incidental, and. building, £4 6s. 4d. In a comparison of the expenditure upon management in various districts, so small a district as this must show at a disadvantage; but the Board has strictly endeavoured to reduce all its expenses to the lowest limit compatible with efficient administration. Scholarships.—Two scholarships, of the value of £40 each, were held during the year, the holders attending the Dunedin High School. The reports upon their progress are, on the whole,