INVERCARGILL HIGH SCHOOLS BOARD.

Southland Times, Issue 3364, 2 April 1879, Page 2

INVERCARGILL HIGH SCHOOLS BOARD.

oA meeting of tbis Board was held' on Monday evening at the office of the secretary (Mi* Nutter)". There- were presentMessrs Lumsden (in the > chair), Jaggers, Macdonald, Jdyce^ and, Harvey. Upon the minutes being read by the Clerk, " . Mr Joyce said he -should object to .the Chairman, signing what purported to be tbe minutes of last meeting. There was nothing 'to dhow that they were correct. At that meeting he arrived late, and when he came he found" the Board engaged in discussing a report sent in by Mr Harvey, one of -the Visiting'" Conimittee,, andthe must enter his objection that that iheeting was not regularly convened . " He objected that he had received notice to attend on tbe occasion at seven p.m.,- instead of- four in the afternoon. * His attendance at seven o'clock was of no use ; the meeting had been held and the business transacted. Since that tithe he had taken the action he had thought proper ' regarding tbe matter. He had written to the chairman stating what be wished to be done, and he considered it would not be right for him to. allow the business to-proceed unless , thia matter was decided. The minutes of a iheeting held on the 25th February were then read, and it was proposed that tliey should be cori firmed. Mr Joyce said, he must object. He believed the chairman had his letter of objection, ancl be had now ojher proposals to urge against the passing of those minutes. It appeared to- him that there was a consciousness on the part not only of the chairman but of the members of the Board that the " proceedings were not valid. That was evidenced by the chairman' not' signing the minutes. If he was not mistaken there was a clause in tlie Act corripelling the chairman to sign' the record of tbe proceedings of the Board. . The Act in question was here'produced. Mr Joyce read a section to show that the minutes must he signed. He then resumed, stating that he took the .minutes as they stood in the book to mean nothing, and if the chairman wished to prevent'complications he would produce tbe letter he (the speaker) wrote to him. Now", in answer to this letter he had the reply, wjiich he regarded as somewhat short of courtesy. He would read the letter, Avhich was dated March 19th:—" I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, 'in which you express a desire that the opinion of the Attorney-General may bo, taken as to the validity of the proceedings of the High School Board at its two last sittings, and to inform you that your communication will be submitted to the Board at its next monthly meeting." Now, he thought that when a direct request was made that the question' should be submitted to" the Attorney-General that request should have been comphed with. He submitted that the minutes "were totally Avortbless, and asked the chairman to pro- . duce bis letter. •The Chairman explained that the last meeting was a special one, and pos- . sibly members might have gone away with the idea that in consequence of that ■the minute's need not be confirmed. However, to put the matrer in order, he would suggest that the minntes be confirmed, and the regular business proceeded with. Mr Joyce must object to anything being confirmed. Everything was irregular. The proceedings of the last meeting but one were invalid, and also those of the last 'sitting, and the liabilities of the Board had been added to by the -raising of salaries without a shadow of reason. At the'present time he was totally in ignorance of the attendance at the High School.. A proposition to increase the- salaries of the teachers of that school had been agreed to in his absence, 'and unless the" Board bad good reason for doing so, he must protest against their action. Mr- Macdonald here objected to Mr Joyce's wasting the time of the meeting in the manner he was doing. It was intolerable. Mr Joyce: said the matter might very easily be settled by expunging the minutes.. He had already shown the chairman that : the actiori'of the Board was irregular, and he would ask him to place before the members such information as he- was in possession of. He had come^prepared to challenge the correctness ,of those minutes. He might remark that when.be went to the ' last meeting he bad in his' pocket a letter from the clerk, dated, as hear as his memory served him, 6th March, informing him that he had been- elected a member of the Visiting Committee. The Chairman failed to see what this tatementrhad to do with -the question. Mr Joyce said it had a great deal to do -■yrith it. He objected to those minutes on the ground that they were incorrect and misleading. He pointed out that they were not signed'; that he was not present, and that he was debarred from judging what was requisite for the" proper carrying on of the school. * Eventually, the minutes for both the Bpecial and " ordinary meetings were confirmed. ■ - -- - j Mr Joyce (addressing the Chairman) — j Ypu, sir, may be as hasty as you like, but I

those minutes are wrong. They are incorrect and irregular. The Chairman then read a letter addressed to him by Mr Joyce, to the following: effect :— " On the 25th February, a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Girls' High School was held, at which, as I learn, from :the minutes, the annual financial liability of' the Board was in"creased. From that meeting I was virtually excluded, in consequence of Aie facfm^rsecreta^'^Mr Nutter ) having-sentf 7 me a notice that it would be held at 7 p.m. instead of 4 p;ni., the time -, at whicli'l-am informed it took place? 71 w^notaffirst inclined . tp aitacU much import'ahce to the matter^ut, on- re flection,/ 1 li aye/ V cbme^to - the conclusion that a bad.prepedent would be established if I were- not/to .challenge .the legality of .the proceedings^it that and subsequent meetings-- I /have jheraforej to request thatiyou will cause. a statement of ttie case to be prepared arid submitted to the Attorney-General (tae Hon. /B7Stout) ; foi* his opinion as to : the propriety of : making a fresh departure 1 iq/ the business ofthe Board, starting ftom the date of tlie „; last regularly convened meeting." The" receipt of this letter was acknowledged by liitii (the chairman), and as he . dici * not ' deem it necessary to call a " special •.-■meeting to consider the matter tlie' question - ; was alio wed to/remain, until tlie Board, met ,, . ; in the usual course of {things. ,; It would ; now/ be for the Board. to. consider whether or hot it was necessary that the opinion- : f of ijlie Attorney-Ggnerala should ; ;be ; ob tamed. He must -confess The jfeltf considerably surprised fat the attitude of Mr. . Joyce; ,; The ..day after .he replied jto bis letter, be meti him, ,andv,Mr//Jbype^then ; said lie did not attach iriucli-impp.rtancq .to the affair. '-. In fact; be stated/he" approved. ' of tlie raising pf the teachers' salaries./. )? 7 v .Mr Joyce said he/did hot objeetito/goocl f :salaries beiligf paid. But as a matter of principle.be must object ta the .irregular ; ' prbceedirigsf>/7; ; ; ";' A"; ...y; : :-- "... - .7.-7' .7 TheGliairmari requested Mr ..- Joyce ta niake -his remarks when he; (the speaker) had concluded, f He -bad to state that Mr Joyce'.appr6ye4 of'vwhat bad beeri done\ f ! : 7Mr^Joyce 'dietiied this7;7- 77 .' : ■7y r 7-- i '^ The Chairman continued;* He tbptigbt = it was^^ exceedinglj*; /;'titifo^na^fthlai;^tlniß 7affair sbOulol^ baVe oc^urred^f He ; tberi-re--Y^^; fened to the .cause of the disagreement/: • whicii he alleged hadfariserif through- Mr :,-.;-. Harvey, one of .the - Visiting .Committee, , having visited the '■ Higb: /School witboiit bis colleague, jMr Joyce. He ; regretted that Mr Joyce was not present at the last meeting through 1 'riot -gettingf sufficien notice. '/ As 'to the /he ;- held. . they were legal -, but that of course wasjthe opinion of a non-professional man. It *was fbr the Board to say whether it was desirable io appeal to the ''Attorney-G-eneral on the point. f'vT^f'T/f'T . Mr JpjTe; said it was quite right ithat^be - ... should occupy the attention ;pf tlie Board to/explain that hej bad jerideayored .to state - his case in the least off ensive manner possible. He felt'- that at : the lastLlneeting .afslight-bad been thrust upon him by the, member who was balloted with tiiha on the' /Visiting Committee having -acted! onf. his own account. He:w;ould have made it his duty to have gone to the school with 111 -Harvey. Then, \vben he found' the : Boai*d discussing at its meeting a Teport-f rom Mr Harvey, felt 'arinoyed;/i^ This he re- •.-, ; gi*ettecl, for no one wasf more- anxious to .work with. the Board than fhe was. He fhad-j hot the slightest objection to the teachers .being well paid;' but he Vfourid 'that' he -bad ? been ig'riored ; inf the matter o£ inspecting the 7 school,., he felt vexed, and deterriairied : f6 r make : liiriiself€n •' : obstruction as far as he; could, f . . '- Mr Jaggers then moved 'that the opinion of the Attorney-General be'asked upon the point ; but the motion failed to find a •seconder, and consequently lapsed. Tlie Clerk here explained that it was through a mistake that Mr Joyce had been supplied with a wrong ' notice. Mr Joyce said tbis was correct. But some irregularities had occurred-"' before ' those to which he had referred. On one occasion/ a meeting 'was put off to suit the convenience of one member. Some discussion ensued, and finally Mr Joyce moved that the minutes of the Board of the 25th February and sth March be expunged. It would be an easy thing ; , for the Board to go through the matter again. ' : Mr Jaggers objected to tbis. It Would be most unfair to expunge tbe^minuteS' entirely. He would not submit to any - attempt that might be made in tbis direction. The motion was not seconded.* ' Another resolution was then moved^ and considerable .discussion ensued, but finally the motion lapsed. Mr Joyce, in answer to some strictures, said the position he took up with regard to the matter was that the meeting was not a meeting at all ; that tbe Board was not regularly constituted ; that he himself was kept out ; and that the meeting was irregularly convened. If the matter was l'explained, he would not.be obstructive. r ► The minutes of the meeting held on the 25th Februaiy were then, on the motion of one of the members, confirmed. Mr Joyce— 1 ! have now simply to leave. I will ask the members to be good enough to recollect that I protested at last meeting against the conduct of the business. /I, • cannot take part in business that I^do,-not consider valid. Some of the members here interposed, and at their request Mr Joyce consented to remain. - • ,J . It was then decided -that the resolutions passed at the meeting on the 25th February should be confirmed by the Board seriatim. This was done, all the members 'with the ' exception of; Mr Joyce, who contented himself with * uttering in a sonorous tone of voice the monosyllable "No," voting, for their confirmation; Mr Joyce then objected that the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the' sth March had not been confirmed. * . Tbe Chairman replied that they were. . Mr Joyce said he really must protest. He maintained that the minutes had not been passed. After some further discussion, Mr Macdonald said that every opportunity had been given to Mr , Joyce,- and/ really the part he had acted was not at all creditable. The Board had gone a long way to meet Mr Joyce^ but still he appeared to be determined to be obstructive. Mr Joyce said he' would, move some-- : thing tangible if the chairman would rulehe was in a position to do so. The Chairman — Certainly you are. Mr Joyce — Very well, gentlemen, I will move that the minutes of the meeting held outhe 25th February, in so far as they related to an increase' in the salaries of two lady teachers, (Miss Aiken and- Miss Milne), be rescinded:, and that the Visiting Committee for the month of April be. re-, quested to report to the, Board as to the attendance at, and requirements of, the High School. The Chairman said tbere was nothing in the Act to prevent such a- motion being brought forward. " ■ • The motion, however, lapsed for want of, ,a seconder. Mr Joyce said he ,\vould take the opportunity of giving his reasons f orfmoving the v above resolution. His idea was" that they might just as well reduce salaries as raise them, and that until they knew what the actual requirements of the school were" it was injudicious to raise salaries. Both '■ ladies were doubtless deserving of tbe increase, but to raise the salary was, to say the least of it, hasty. There might be good . and sufficient reasons, but he mast decline to endorse the action of tbe Board .until he had something definite on the point. , Before going further, it would, -perhaps be well for them to consider the daties oi the Visiting: Committee, What he, wished, to

r'a,.«>"*i.'- js^-t- -*. - __•*__ AiTT.~T.~z know was whether one member was to report, or whether both members were expected to be present. The Chairman replied that if was the rule that members of that committee should visit the school sihglyor otherwise. Mr Macdonald endorsed tlie chairman's remarks. His idea was that a committeeman shquld drop in when opportunity offered, but were there a report to be prepared,' then he considered it advisable the two membnrs.should attend.-. Mr Harvey.spoke in the same strain.. „ Mr. Joyce was sorry he had to he .so. punctilious in this matter. His objection ■was that- , in this case no intimation had been afforded him that his -colleague, Mr Harvey', was' about to visit the>Schoolf The - whole affair must be regarded- 1 as a small thing ; that was the light in which he regarded it ; but sooner than be slighted, he would stojj his connection with the Board. He believed it would conduce to the proper carrying on of the work if they attended lo these matters of .punctilio. After some further discussion, the matter was allowed to drop. The Boiird then proceeded to pas 3 a stringent resolution regarding the collection of school fees, after which the matter of heating the school during the winter months was taken into consideration. This latter matter was referred to the Visiting Committee for the month of April, with power to act. " " It was decided that the schools should close from Good Friday to the following Monday week. < , Accounts to the amount of L3l 16s ld having' been passed for payment, the Board rose.