OVERCROWDED.
TAKAPUNA GRAMMAR.
CONCERN FOR PUPILS' HEALTH
QUESTION OF BRICK BUH/DING.
The Auckland Grammar. Schools' Board is much concerned about the stoppage of all work on the Takapuna Grammar School additions, and has urged upon. the Minister of Education the need of providing two extra class rooms immediately.' x At a meeting yesterday the board resolved to send a telegram to the Minister asking him to Inake a rapid decision. The telegram stated that a progress payment of £800 was due to the contractor, ;,nd the position of the board and the contractor was very uncertain. Professor A. P. W. Thomas, chairman, said the board received a telegram on February 18 to stop all work at the Takapuna Grammar School. Originally it was expected that the additions would be completed by February, but there had been delay. Parts of the school wall had been removed and some rooms were exposed to the weather. In view of the i approach of winter this was a serious matter. Five weeks had passed since the work was stopped, and the board could get no advice as to when it would be resumed, continued Professor Thomas. He questioned whether the total cessation of brick building by the Education Department in Auckland was necessary. The board's architect had prepared a plan for tying together the building in such a way as to make it earthquake-proof. In commenting upon the Department's action, following the Hawke's Bay earthquake, Professor Thomas said: "Probably it was not unnatural that the public generally and the heads of departments became a little alarmed about the rest of New Zealand. Napier is in a region which, for over a century, has suffered from earthquake shocks. ISlo one can record any earthquake that matters in Auckland. We.must be guided, not by remote possibilities but by probabilities. All experience points tc> the fact that there is no probability oI any
serious earthquake occurring here. There is, therefore, no need for excessive anxiety regarding brick buildings in this part of the Dominion. We are being held up because another part does run certain risks." Mr. C. M. Little John, the headmaster, said the crowded conditions were liable to disorganise the school work, and he was not prepared to take the responsibility for the health of the children, under these conditions. The secretary was instructed to send another telegram to the Minister and a copy to Mr. A, Harris, M.P. for Waitemata.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 72, 26 March 1931, Page 10
Word Count
406OVERCROWDED. Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 72, 26 March 1931, Page 10
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