THE EDUCATION BOARD FINANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13191, 31 May 1906, Page 6

THE EDUCATION BOARD FINANCE.

LETTER FROM THE BOARD'S ARCHITECT. A letter was read from Mr. .T. Mitchell, the Board's architect, at the meeting of the Auckland Education Board yesterday, draw-; ing attention to certain statements made in the Board's annual report, which appeared to him calculated to convey a wrong imoression as to the Board's expenditure of the ordinary grant and the special grant made for certain new buildings. The report said: —"The re<ruests made for the establishment and erection of new schools and for the enlargement of existing schools have very largely increased during the year, and for the most part they have been promptly and liberally dealt with by the. Government." In a previous paragraph it was stated' that the Board had to expend £9000 on new building in excess of the special grant received from the • Government during the years 1904- and 1905, which necessitated an encroachment upon the maintenance grant to the extent of £9000. Those two statements were most difficult to reconcile. Further, it was stated: "It is evident that either the special grant must be increased or the cost of new buildings must be so reduced as to prevent any further encroachment upon the ordinary grant." This would give the impression that the Board had spent and was still spending a very large sum or money out of its ordinary grant upon certain new buildings in excess, of the money specially : granted for such. -That would he entirely inr correct. The statement omitted to make reference to those "cw buildings which the Board had unavoidably to erect out of the ordinary grant and for which no grant had ever yet made by the Government/and which v.-e/v- the chief cause of that :>nr.r'.-.rh-i .m.?;; 1 . &..; Hit c-aic'i.) 1/7 "*i - "....' ..uddi'-Ks'" . h-- '.'.k»d Cl-.e Board L- t-a-u--.: v re;urn to *><* prepared showing <!.; fch'» ..-.mousiis >in avoidable tpent during recent years upon n-"w buildings and alterations to old buildings for which no special grant; had ev+*i been made, and {?.) th« amounts granted during 1904 and 1905, the. amounts applied for, and the amounts spent upon new. buildings and alterations. The Board, he said, would then learn to what extent the ordinary grant had been encroached upon for, expenditure upon buildings for which no grant was ever made: how much for neces-aii-.y repairs and improvements to old buildings added to or remodelled, and how much for the strictly new buildings for which special grants were made in order to provide the kind of buildings which the Board had specially resolved to adhere to. He wished the Board to understand also that tendering for those small buildings had been foi a very long time erratic and abnormally high, thus increasing the difficulties. He still be-, lieved that all those smaller buildings would be built far bettor and more advantageously if carried out by workmen employed by the Board. Ho. asked- that the above return be made in fairness to himself and to remove the misconception about a retrograde movement in school buildings. The Chairman moved that the returns asked, for bo provided. '. Mr. Peacocke thought they should have, a definite understanding with the Department

as to what standard was required. The other m« hi bare of the Board concurred with Mr. .PeacwV.'/s remarks. The motion was carried. ' '