SCHOOL TROUBLES.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10955, 3 May 1901, Page 2

SCHOOL TROUBLES.

TEACHERS AND PARENTS. ENQUIRIES BY IHE EDUCATION BOARD. At Wednesday's meeting of the Education Board the reports of two commissions appointed to enquire into complaints made against the teacher, of the Done and Sefton Schools were submitted, .and in both cases the teachers were exonerated. The report of the chairman and secretary (Mr H. C. Lane) on their enquiry into the charges made against Miss Stewart, the teacher at the Doric School, stated that ths complainants, Messrs Harrison and Richards, Miss Stewart, and others j had been examined. The complainants desired that their children should be permitted to forsake the Doric School, and attend the aided school at Awa-ou. because of Miss Stewart's alleged unkind, if not crue_. treatment, to Tom Harrison and Lily Richards, and also because of her alleged inability to teach arithmetic. The commissioners ascertained that the "whipp'.ngs" that constituted the so-called illtreatment occurred in September, 1899, and the treatment- therefore "had not been continued during the period of Miss Stewart's ; charge of the school, nearly two years. The ! lad's* brhaviom- to Miss Stewart- had been ' exceedingly and persistently rude, and had it been tolerated must have demoralised ! th- children generally. Also the lad's pa- ' vent-, hsv! supported* the mistress, for on | N.ntcri.h.r ..nth. 1899. Mrs Harrison wrote ! s.iyinc: that the bey ni-'.'-t apohgise before | tho * diool for Ids unmanly rudeness, and j _._•.• T_.rri-.-r. had threatened to publicly thrash th? b-y if ha continued in his conduct. Mv Ri. hards, who was ohainnan of I the committee at the time, hud approved jof Mies Stewart', action. Miss Richards ) was _tr.n.]>:d on th? hard for talking, and _ (:■_ n_':r..l_ig to her seat refused to pvoi cced v...i Lt-r school work, and the strap ! was ad;:ii::iet:re.d tinr-il obedience was se- ! cv.ye .. This wa* necessary if order w-i. ! ti> b? r.-a!_;t'ii.ed. The evidence clearly j .bowed >_!«•. Ft .w..rt to b? kindly and coni .-.idera.ie: and the cviiknco of .Messrs Duni van (cliairman of the committee). Loek- | head, Smith. Boyce, and Carruthers wa. ( ! comp'.imentarv to'M.ss St.wart, who holds ; J a D certificate. The result of the enr-uiry was that Miss Stvwart was exonerated from :• h',-.r,.e and that she is in cv-_y sense enI {'.tied t. retain the confidence of the Board. Alter the. enquiry had concluded. Mr i-iehrrd. wrote d.ny.r.g that he had been responsible for Mr Harrison removing his children from the Doric School, and suggested if tho Board could sec its way to lil'.ow his children to attend the Awaro-a S.hool, thu«* dividing the two families, no iuov-. woi.M b? heard of the trouV... 'The renalt was adopted, but it was decided that- the Board could not entertain Mr Richard--:'s suggestion. The chairman and Mr T.an-r- were thanked for the thorough manner in which the enquiry had been conaJ C. U Mr A. C. Heady. M.H.R.. and the' secretary (Mr H. C. Lane) reported on the complaints m.._de by the Sellon Comm'ttec ajaii'.sf the master, Mr Thomson. With regard to the charge of undue severity in administering corporal punishment, the boys whose punishment had been questioned" were not present at the enquiry, ar.d in two of the three cases the parents had r.ot. thought it necessary to attend. 1-videnc- was given that the lees of !he boy, Hug-h Coughey, had b.en "bruised and marked by the strap: but the master, whils.. admitti-ig having given the boy reasonable punishment, denied having bruised him. There was no confirmatory evidence on either side, and the commissioners were of opinion that the charge was not sustained. The cha_ge of severely punishing the boy Ritchie should not. have been made, his parents having laid no complaint against the master. With regard to thee other case, that of the chairman's son, th. punishment complained of took place early in 1900, but no .reference to it appeared on th- minutes of the committee. No material facts were elucidated respecting the alleged discourtesy of the master in not : accompanying the children to the Exhibition. Mt Thomson's explanation with re- : gard to not accompanying Mr Pain's son home when he broke his arm—that he s had no'idea that the injury was more than ■ a sprain—was considered sufficiently satis- : factory to exonerate the master. Mr ; Thomson should have obtained the consent • of the committee to attend the funeral iof the late Mr Ensor. Though feeling that the exercise, of a little mo-re common-sense on Mr Thomson's part would perhaps have prevented these misunderstandings the • commissioners regretted that the committee [ should have considered it necessary to rei commend his removal, as they were of ; oninion that but for the absence of sym- ! pathy between the -committee and the • master no compl-ints would have been i made. The report was adopted, and the com- • missioners were thanked for their services.