WILLIS STREET SCHOOL

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 15 September 1928, Page 11

WILLIS STREET SCHOOL

CLEANING EXPENSES COMPLAINT IK HOUSE , r Complaint of the inadequacy of the allowance made' to' school committees for the purpose, of cleaning .schools was made in the House, of'Kepresentatives last night by Mr. ,T."'A. Lee (Auckland East), who pointed -out; that the vote for the /-purpose this year was being reduced from. £100,000 to- £104,000. He read a ' complaint made by" Mr. Hennessey in the "Evening Post" concerning the Willis Street School, and said it was extraordinary that some schools were cleaned only once or twice a week. It was not right,. A greater allowance should be .made to .some of the caretakers. He instanced a case of a caretaker who was being paid only £2 a week. The Minister of Education (the Hon. E; A. Wright) remarked that it' was unfortunate that Mr;' Lec: had alluded to the Willis Street School. , "That is" .the Cinderella 'of the service,"- he observed. "I was on the committee of that school many years -ago, and I :know something-about it. ; More'than that>- rny'own- children were educated there; and '."they were particularly healthy 'children,' as- were the otherchildren,' so that''all this' talk ■' of the' honourable gentleman is of no "value. There is the evidence." He went oh to allude to the allegation that the caretaker was underpaid. Mr. Lee: "I was quoting Mr. Hennessey, as published in the' 'Evening Post." Mr. P. Frasor (Wellington Central): "He will take-full responsibility for what he has said." The Minister said that the committee pakl the caretaker. They should alter it. Other committees paid their care-' takers £3 and£4 a'we'ek. He was not aware that only £.2 a week was being paid. He knew by the school balance-sheet that that was not correct. Mr. Lee: "But a deputation of teachers that waited..ph you,'told,you what I said." ..... Mr. Wright: "No teachers, waited on me at all." .... . Mr. Lee:.. "I apologise to the Minister. They waited pa only ordinary members of Parliament-r-Sir John Luke and Messrs. Field, Fraser, and'Forsyth." The Minister: "The honourable member should not.be sarcastic. I don't think the honourable gentleman does any good by this sarcasm.because other people can b.o" sarcastic as . well." (Laughter.) He said that Willis Street School used to havo good revenue from tennis courts, etc. •• There were school committees in Wellington which had very satisfactory .balance-sheets.