CARTERTON SCHOOL DIFFICULTY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1193, 11 January 1895, Page 14

CARTERTON SCHOOL DIFFICULTY.

ME BENNETT APPOINTED. A special meeting of the Wellington,Board of Education was held on Wednesday to consider the objection of the Carterton School Committee to the appointment of Mr F. Bennett as head master of the school, the committee being anxious that Mr J. Kay should be appointed to the position. Present Messrs J. E. Blair (chairman), J. Young, F. EL Eraser, W< C. Buchanan and the Eev j. Paterson, Apologies for non-attendance Were received from Messrs Fitzherbert, McCardle and Dr Newman, M.H.E. The Chairman said that on receipt of communications from Carterton he had called a special meeting to enable the Board to deal with this matter. The members cf the Board would remember that on the headmastership of the Carterton School becoming vacant applications were invited for the position. A large number cf candidates sent in their papers, and the Board after careful consideration selected Mr F. Bennett for the position. The nomination of Mr Bennett was forwarded to the Carterton committee, who objected to the recommendation of the Board and requested that Mr Kay should be appointed. It was now for the Board to take some action in the matter. :

In answer to a question by Mr Bradey, Mr Young said it was settled some time ago by the Supreme Court that the appoii t ment of teachers rested with the Board and not with the committees.

The Chairman said the Board ha,d certain functions to perform,: which it was necessary to carry out unless . the members were to be nothing but mere dummies. The Board had always been careful to meet the wishes of the committees. The Cai'terton Committee were informed that Mr Kay had no pre-emptive right to the position. He then referred to the resolutions passed at the public meeting in Carterton, and took exception to the statement that the Board had nominated a man with inferior qualifications to the position ef head master.

The Eov J. Paterson said he would bring the matter to a head by moving the following motion • " The Board having carefully considered the respective merits of the several candidates, and having selected Mr Bennett for the appointment, having consulted the local committee in terms of the Act, and having given due consideration to their representations in the matter* see no good reason to depart from their first decision." Ho said he was perfectly satisfied that the Board had done the wisest thing in selecting Mr Bennett for the position. He was perfectly satisfied with the position that the Board had taken up, and it was quite clear to him that the appointment was a proper one. He had no personal feeling in the matter.

Mr Young, in seconding the motion, said he had known Mr Bennett for many years, and when he (the speaker) was in the service of the Board, Mr Bennett was looked upon by the head teachers as one of the most promising young men in the service, and. his subsequent career had fully justified that opinion. He was fully convinced that of all the candidates who had sent in applications for the position, Mr Bennett was the oldest and best servant of the Board, and he did not think they would be doing their duty if they were to interfere with the appointment. He had nothing to say against Mr Kay, whom he had only seen a few times, and the only occasion he had a conversation with him ho was favourably impressed with him. Mr Fraser said that the petition in favour of appointing Mr Kay as head teacher was signed by 75 per cent, of the parents of the children attending the school, and six out of nine of the committee favoured it, so that it would be a very popular one. He would not vote for the motion.

Mr Buchanan pointed out that the petition stated that the Board had selected a teacher of inferior qualifiations to Mr Kay to fill the position. The Board was in the beat position to judge the respective merits of candidates, not the householders. He was prepared to support the motion.

Mr Biadey also expressed himself in favour of the resolution.

The Chairman said that Mr Kay had au E.l. certificate in 1893, and Mr Bennett a D.l.

The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried, Mr Fraser being the only dissentient.

It was decided to notify Mr Bennett that he was to take up his duties forthwith at Carterton.