HOUSEHOLDERS' MEETINGS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 251, 23 April 1912, Page 7

HOUSEHOLDERS' MEETINGS

CENTRAL SCHOOL. The annual meeting of householders in I the Central 'School district was held last evening. About twenty householders attended. Mr. G. Roper presided. The report submitted by the committee showed that on March 31 the roll number was 505, and the average attendance under normal conditions was 580, which was very creditable both to teachers and scholars. Epii! mics of measles and mumps had at various periods of the year seriously interfered with the attendance and school work. On March 31 no fewer than 140 pupils were abseHt owing to mumps. At the prese nt time the grouping of the school was as follows : Infant department, 168 pupils, Mrs. Martin, assisted by Misses Doile, Blythe and Spencer; Standard 1., 74 pupils, Miss Gleeson; Standard 11., 72 pupils, Mr. Wagstaff (Miss Ford also assisted in these two standards); Standard 111., 68 . pupils, Miss Crawford, assisted by Miss Weston half day; Standard IV., 84 pu- i pils, Miss Dempsey assisted by Miss Craig; Standard V., 71, Mr Mcllroy, assisted by Miss Weston half day; Standard VI., 68 pupils, Mr. .Sullivan, the whole being under thee ontrol of Mr. Dempsey, who found it necessary to devote considerable time to the instruction of the weaker classes. The unsatisfactory condition of both the Central and Courtenay street buildings through old age and faulty design was also referred to. 'Parents whose children complained of headache, listlcssness and inability to give attention to their lessons, had frequently referred to the matter, and although teachers never grumbled, some of them had suffered in health from the conditions under which they worked. At the committee's request, the (Board of Health's inspector had visited the school in November, and his report was pregnant with condemnation. A report signed by six leading medical practitioners, who examined the school a little later, and which has been published, not only confirmed but emphasised the inspector's report. The position was then laid before the Education Board and also the Minister of Education, but so far nothing had been accom- | plished, the committee being given to ! understand that the age of the buildings did not yet warrant the re-building. It was. however, hoped that the Board would seriously consider re-modelling the •, class rooms by improved ventilation, which would to some extent ameliorate existing conditions. The rule of the Department that wooden school buildings should have an average life of 33 vears did not appear to be logical or in keeping with the progress of the Dominion. Conditions varied greatly, and what might have been ample and admirable provision for Xew 'Plymouth 28 years ago was inadequate and quite behind the times now. The Central had never been altered or added to since its erection, and the central portion was a very much older building incorporated in the structure. The project of school baths still re- | mained in abeyance, as the Borough j Council's charge for \vatcr was proliibi- \ tive. It was unfortunate that children i could not make much use of tne muniI cipal baths, which were' too far away for ' the great majority. The appeal of' the householders of Vogeltown for better provision for the younger clnMrtfo eff that increasing suburb was supported by the committee, and the.Board-hid no W'determined to establish a branch l teaching the lower! standards a-iid' stmfrTied to the Central. The balancfe-sijeet showed a credit balance of' £!) Is •Id.'as against £7 13s Sd. lajst year. The total receipts were £9l 15s 'ld, of which capitation produced £B4 2s 3d. The utmost economy had to be piacticed to'fiiakt ends meet. Cleaning amounted to- £ffi) 'lfis Bd. Fortunately, last winter'was-a inild one. (.?:.! on!-.- £1 4s was expended on fuel. ilh .Mr.' ' ljempsey's assistance, a piano, a valuable'adjunct to the. school equipment, had "been.purchased, funds being raised outside of the committee. Hitherto it had been necessary to trespass upon tlie good nature of one or other of the piaiw dealers, who always willingly lorried, tli,eh\ .an. instrument. The report and, balance-sheet was adopted. F. P.' Corkill' (chairman of the committee) ,of the unsatisfactory represetitat'i'on : of the town schools on the Education Board. In fact, they had no representative' on the Board. He had conferred with the chairman of the Taranaki Education Board on this and other matters, but until the Act was amended they could hardly hope for a better condition of-(tilings. Referring to the financial position, M». Corkill pointed out tliatjthe.eapitatirn at present received from the Hoard was only 2s Md per scholar. This was tnlallv inadequate for the requirements of the institution and the result wa,s that «.e School Committee had to guard every penny of its revenue to make both ends meet. Mr. C. T. Mills also speke of the diflficuities of finance. In discussing ,the: question of finance and representation on the Education (Board, the Rev. Mr. Osborne thought that the time had arrived when two education boards should represent the district, one for the town and one for the country schools. ' A'otes of thanks were passed to the outgoing committee, the chairman, secretary and the headmaster and teaching staff at the Central anil Courtenay schools. J Eleven nominations wer- received for the new committee."'the ft 'owing bem" appointed:—Messrs. !•'. P. Corkill, S. g! Smith, G. 11. Dolby, C. T. Mills, R. Suclair, 11. F. Russell, W. F .Short, Rev. Osborne and Archdeacon Evans. The customary vote to the chairman terminated the meeting. At a subsequent meeting of the newlyelected committee Mr. F. P. Corkill was re-elected chairman, and the Rev. Osborne deputy-chairman. Mr. C. T. Mills was re-elected secretary. The monthly meetings will be held oil the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30 p.m. FRANKLEY. Mr. 11. J. H. Olcey, M.P., presided over an attendance of thirty householders at the Frankley gymnasium last evening. The report stated that the progress of the school had been well maintained under the capable supervision of Mr. Winfield and his assistants, Miss M'Dermid and Miss O'Rorke. The latter completed her two years of probationership at the end of 1!)11 and was succeeded by Miss K. Winfield. The average roll number for the year was 86 and the average at- 1 tendance 77. _ The present roll number was Ofi, and. if this were maintained for the year the school would be entitled to anothei assistant. Four pupils had gained certificates of proficiency at the annual examination. There had been various changes on the committee during the year, Messrs H. F. Allen and J. Garcia resigning and Messrs J. Lovell and V\. 1. utt being appointed to the vacancies. The committee on taking office had devoted their efforts to raising fundto pay off the debt of £lO fis 4d on the gymnasium and were eminently suecess- , fnl, raising over £l7. Rents for the f use of the gymnasium added a useful £3 | 15s; £7 lis was expended on prizes ]cav I vr!' 4 b T alan( " e in this •iceount of | £3 Us /d. In the school account the year commenced with an actual debit of x- 1,)3 ana closed with a credit of £3

8s lid. The asphalting had been completed at a cost of £ll 10s, towards which the Education ißoard had made a grant of £5 Is 6d. After a brief discussion, during which Mr. A. C. Downes pointed out that the gymnasium building was free of debt before the commencement of last year, before the commencement of last year, the report and baJance-sheet were adopted. Hearty votes of thanks were accorded the committee and especially the chairman, Mr. Bendall, for the -work done during the year. The teaching staff were also congratulated on the efficiency maintained.

Eight ■were nominated for the committee, Messrs. A. C. Downes ant E. N. L. Okey declining nomination. Messrs. Okey and Garcia were appointed scrutineers, the electi«n resulting: J. Lovell 24, W. Putt 24, W. Bendall 23, J. 'Hamilton 21, F. Newall 21, A. Lister 20, P. Langman 19, and H. Cole 15. The first seven were declared elected. . A vote «f thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. At a subsequent meeting of the committee, Mr. W. Bendall was appointed chairma'n and Mr. F. Newall secretary. The meeting night was fixed for the fisst Monday in each month.