CLOSING QUEENS REDOUBT SCHOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9178, 6 October 1888, Page 5

CLOSING QUEENS REDOUBT SCHOOL.

DISCUSSION AT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. At the meeting of the Board of Education yesterday a lengthened discussion took place on the much-vexed question of closing the school at the Queen's Redoubt. Mr. Goldie, in accordance with notice, moved, " That the resolution of the Board, that the Queen's Redoubt School be closed on the 30th September, be rescinded." In speaking to his motion Mr. Goldie said he was not here when the resolution which he proposed should be rescinded was carried, and he could not understand the motion ; but for the last twelve years, by the action of this Board, that district had beon kept in a state of turmoil. In 1876 an attempt was made to close this school, and families left the district in consequence. He found that lately the school had been going on well. The Board had spent £70 in improving the building, and now they resolved to close it; but why they did so he could not understand. There was an average of 20 scholars attending, and if they closed all the schools under 20 they would close 85 schools, and if all under 35 they would close 141. In his opinion, if any of the schools in that district were closed it should be the Pokeno Hill School, as the children from Pokeno Hill could as well, or better, go to the Pokeno Valley School as those of the Queen's Redoubt; but he saw no reason why either should be closed. If they were closed the Pokeno Valley School would not accommodate all the children, and he pointed out that the children attending the Queen's Redoubt School were mostly from the Mercer side, and would have to travel four or five miles to attend the Pokeno Valley School. If any school was to be closed it should be the Pokeno Hill School. He pointed out that, if it was urged on the score of retrenchment that they should close the school, it would not act, for if they closed one school, the effect would be to increase the average attendance at the other. The Government had given a distinct pledge that country schools should not be closed. If they wanted to go in for retrenchment they should deal with their officers and not with those schools, so on either of those grounds the application was absurd. The building was given to the Board free, but the settlers were driven to distraction by these continuous threats of closing the school. He moved the resolution of which he had given notice.

Mr. Theo. Cooper seconded the resolution. He had visited the district last week, and no one he said could understand the question without visiting it. Whatever view they might take in the first instance on the erection of these schools they now had them, and after visiting the district, he came to the conclusion that it would be unwise to close either of them. The Queen's Redoubt School, it was true, was near the Pokeno Valley School, but not so near as the latter was to the Pokeno Hill School, but how the latter came to be erected he could not understand, for it should be nearer to Bombay ; but to say that justified the closing of the Queen's Redoubt School was absurd. The children must find their way either to Mercer or to the Pokeno Valley School, and tho Board would have to expend money to enlarge this school, and the teacher's salary would have to be increased. He could not help thinking that the .agitation was got up by the friends of the late teacher of the Pokeno Valley School, in order that he might have a larger school and get a better salary. He saw no reason why either school should bo closed. Tho saving would be infinitesimal, and the probability was that the increased expenditure would be so great that it would be much better to keep all on, and they certainly should not, to suit the purposes of a few interested individuals, put people to inconvenience by closing this school, which their children attended. Thero was no doubt that a good deal of the agitation was caused by persons connected with the Pokeno Valley School. Mr. Carr said he knew nothing of the intrigues referred to by Mr. Cooper, but he had visited the district and saw that the schools were too close together, and it was evident that there was a good deal of jealousy, but if the two schools Pokeno Hill and Queen's Redoubt were closed, it would give one good school and a better teacher. Mr. Udy said he also had visited the district, and, as these schools were there, it would, in his opinion, be unfair to close either of them unless the Hill and Redoubt schools were both closed, and the Valley School moved nearer to the Great South Road, and his opinion was that this would be the best course. Mr. Luke said he did not know the neighbourhood as well as the other speakers d'd, but ho knew that when the Pokeno Hill School.was built it was understood that the Queen's Redoubt School should be closed. Mr. Cooper : Yes ; but the Hill School is nearer to the Valley School than tho Redoubt School is. Mr. Luke said he thought they should have a central school, and he saw no reason for altering the decision which the Board had arrived at. Mr. Monk said he hardly knew how to vote, but if the district required a firstclass school arid first-class teacher, it ought to have them for the benefit of the children. Mr. Moat said it was with the intention of having a good central school that he voted for the resolution last time, and for the same reason he would support it now. The Chairman said it was a grave thing to close a school unnecessarily, but it was not so in this case, for there was ample accommodation for the children even when this school was closed. The question was, how far they would have to travel, and he found it was only two and a-half miles either to the Mercer School or the Valley School. Mr. Cooper had remarked on the agitation re teachers' salaries. He could not blame the teacher or his friends, and he should do the same thing himself. The Hill School was first built, and it was, in his opinion, a mistake to build the Valley School in its present position, but he was not convinced by the arguments of Mr. Goldie and Mr. Cooper that they should rescind the resolution already arrived at. He referred to the correspondence with the Pokeno Hill and Pokeno Valley school committees, showing that it was the intention of tho Board to concentrate the whole work in one school. The cost of the three schools was £310 a-ycar, and the cost of one central school would be £255 a-year, equal to a saving of £55, and in addition he might remind them that they would not j have to paint the extra schools. He should ! vote against the motion. Mr. ,>Monk asked why they should not close both the Hill and Redoubt schools. The Chairman said this Board had not j the power to open or close any school without the consent of the committee, except by amalgamating the districts at the end of the year. Mr. Goldie replied, and, in conclusion, urged that if they wanted ;.o put up a central school, they should do so before closing the others. The motion was then put. Ayes, Messrs. Goldie, Cooper, and Udy ; noes, Messrs. Moat, Monk, Luke, Carr, and Chairman. The motion was, therefore, declared lost.