DINGY DUNGEON!

Grey River Argus, 11 June 1935, Page 3

DINGY DUNGEON!

BLENHEIM SCHOOL. BLENHEIM, June 10. Strong allegations of persistent neglect of the authorities to improve educational facilities in Blenheim were made al the annual meeting of the school committee. “I don't Think there is a dirtier, more poverty-strick-en, dilapidated and disreputabl * set of school buildings than those which do service for 400 pupils in Blenheim,” declared the chairman. Air. R. AleArt ney. “The infant school floor is falling out. the windows are breaking a.-, the walls warp, and the south-east- (*.• blows through the cracks like a blast from an ice-chamber. The doors will not stay shut or locked, and the building is awry in all directions as it falls to pieces through sheer age and decrepitude, after 57 years’ service. The chairman proceeded to quote from a visiting committees’ report on the main school, as .follows: “It being a dull day the school in general looked more like a dirty, dingy, dilapidated dungeon than ever, and is no fit place to send innocent young New Zealanders to be educated.”

A member declared the infant building unsafe, and warned the headmaster to keep the children away from the western wall, or a serious tragedy would occur during some storm. He said floods for generations had passed through the school, and the periodical epidemics were attributed to the unhygienic state of the structure. The meeting decided to invite the Alinister to visit Blenheim and inspect the buildings, with a view to the erection of a new infant school and the complete remodelling of the mam school.