ADDINGTON SCHOOL BOUNDARIES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11368, 8 September 1897, Page 3

ADDINGTON SCHOOL BOUNDARIES.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l have the honour, by the direc-' tion of my committee, to forward you the enclosed copies of the correspondence which has taken place between the Education Board of North Canterbury and the Addington District School Committee regarding the alteration of the Addington and Christchurch West school districts boundary, with the request thatyouwill kindly publish the same in full, as the abridged report of the Addington Committee’s which appeared in your issue of Sept. 2, in your report of the Education Board’s meeting, is likely to have created erroneous impressions in the minds of some of the public. I am, &c., FRED. N. BARTRAAI, Secretary. Devon Road, Sydenham, Sept. 4, 1897. The Education Board of the District of North Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, July 23, 189/. To L. K. Bowden, Esq., Chairman Addington District School Committee, Sir, —I have the honour, by direction of the Board, to inform you that at its meeting on. Wednesday several deputations waited upon the Board with regard to the proposed alteration in the Addington and Christchurch West boundary. After taking into consideration the representations made, together with the circumstances in which the two schools are placed, the Board is of opinion that the- proposed alteration is a reasonable one, and it has, therefore, resolved to agree to it.—l have, &c., H. C. Lane, Secretary. Addington, August 26, 189/. To the Chairman and members of the North Canterbury Board of Education. Gentlemen, —At the last meeting of the Addington District School Committee, held on August 11, a letter dated July 23, announcing the decision of the Boai’d to alter the boundary of the Addington and West Christchurch districts ■ was submitted for our consideration, when it was unanimously decided to reply to the Board that, as the letter merely informed us of your decision, giving no reason for such decision, wo can only infer therefrom that you acted with extreme partiality towards the West Christchurch Schooland knowingly inflicted a gross injustice on the Addington School. We cannot imagine any just reason why you have done so. Wo can understand that the West Christchurch School has some claim on your sympathy, for if the figures advanced by a West Christchurch supporter at the public meeting of householders were correct the West Christchurch School has suffered a loss of about four bundled scholars since 1888, while the Addington School has had a gain of about two hundred since that date, but why even tins should be regarded as a reason for dealing so unjustly with the Addington School is beyond our comprehension. In accordance with your request that an expression of opinion “ respecting the proposed alteration of boundary should be obtained from the householders in the affected part or the Addington district, so as to assist the Board at arriving at a decision,” this committee took the necessary steps to obtain such expression of opinion, with the result that one hundred and four residents expressed themselves, by petition, averse to the change, and at a large public meeting held in the affected part of the district, at which both sides were freely discussed, the advocates of the alteration doing J.heir best, without any hindrance being ottered them, to obtain a vote in favour of the change in boundary, there were only thieo Addington residents in the room who voted against the resolution “ that the boundary remain unaltered. These results were forwarded to you, at your own request, but for some unexplained reason you appear to have utterly ignored both the petitions and the resolutions ox the public meeting. And we can only regard this as a deliberate insult to the householders of the Addington school district, and a sample of unfair treatment bestowed on the Addington School Committee. These are our conclusions after considering the letter from the Board. But if wo are wron o- ; if you had any just and sufficient reasons for the alteration; if such alteration of boundary will m any way serve the interests of the children living in the severed portion of the Addington school district better than the old arrangement; if transferring those children to another district the senool in which according to inspectors reports has not shown a better record that the Addington school during the last three or four years will be an advantage to tbe cbildien in an educational sense, then gentlemen, we would like you to furnish this committee with particulars of same, and thereby put us right if we' are m error m these our conclusions. On behalf or the Addington School Committee Fred. N. Bartram, Secretary.