ELABORATE SCHOOL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 182, 3 August 1932, Page 3

ELABORATE SCHOOL.

OTAHUHU JUNIOR HIGH.

CRITICISM OP WASTED MONEY

BOARD NOT TO BLAME.

Letters in the Press complained of the money spent on the Otahuhu Junior High School, which cost £30,000, and the writers seemed to be under the impression that the culprit was the Auckland Education Board, but tho board this morning denied the impeachment.

Mr. H. S. W. King called attention to criticism in the correspondence columns of the Press, and said he thought it should be contradicted. Complaint was made of extravagance and the style of building. The board really had nothing to do with the style and cost of the school.

The chairman, Mr. A. Burns, said Mr. King was no doubt referring to a newspaper letter written by Dr. E. B. Gunson. The board knew nothing about the school beyond the fact that its architect drew plans at the request of the Education Department. The board did not even know what kind of school it was going to be. He reminded members that it was known as "the mystery school." The board was really only the agent of the Department as far as the school was concerned.

Mr. J. Paterson said the Government bought the land for the site, and simply requested the board to prepare plans.

The chairman said the Minister of Education at the time the school was built believed in Government buildings being splendid and setting an example to the rest of the citizens, and that was why the school was designed on such elaborate lines. The board knew so little about the matter that when its architect drew the plans the board did not know what the school was to be used for, nor under whose con.trol it was to bo placed.