ELECTION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13888, 27 April 1909, Page 3

ELECTION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

The annual election of school committees took place last evening. The results to hand so far are as foliows:--TIMARTJ MAIN. At the Timaru Main school about thirty householders, including the members of the late committee were present. The Rev. A. E. Hunt was called to the chair.

The chairman said that the only matter that needed comment was the fact that the school savings bank had been closed, after' careful consideration by the committee.

A female householder voiced the opinion that the closing of the savings bank was a mistake, as children would save their pennies through its means better than through the ordinary procedure of the savings bank. The annual report, as published, was taken as read and adopted. Mr A. Stead, treasurer, read the annual financial statement which showed a credit balance of' £5 3s Bd. The grant received from the Education Board was barely sufficient to carry out tho necessary work of the school and the committee had consequently been obliged to ask donations fro parents; a proceeding which they here very loath to do.'

The financial statement was adopted. The chairman detailed the steps that had been taken for the provision of the George Barclay scholarship fund, and put down the very poor response that had met the appeal for subscriptions, to a lack of knowledge of the real ends of the scheme. The fund was for the benefit of the children of South Canterbury and it was a noble object that should' meet with enthusiastic support. •The Main school was very low down on the total list, having only added £4 7s lOd to the fund. As no one seemed to have any suggestion to make, the matter was allowed to drop. Mr J. McCahon moved a hearty vote of thanks to the headmaster and teaching staff for their efficient work and eulogistic speeches were made by Messrs W. Satterthwaite, McNab, and the chairman. The vote was carried by acclamation ' and the Mr J. Dalglish responded. On the motion of Mr Vogeler a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Messrs Collins, Fleming, and Donoghue of the school cadet corps for the excellent way they had carried out their duties. " Captain Collins, at the chairman's request,, voiced a pretty general grievance held against the Department by officers of corps, with reference to the greatly increased amount of clerical work necessary now to ensure correct returns for the capitation grant. iir McCahon moved .that the attention :i' the Department be called to this V ter. —Agreed to. Hearty votes of thanks were passed to Mr Keay (the janitor),' the .Press, and the outgoing committee. The election of the new committoe was then proceeded with. The members of the old committee who sought re-election were Messrs Robertson, Wilson, Burmester, Stead, Radcliife, Vogeler, McCahon, and Revs. Hunt and Olphert. To these was added the name of Mr A. Segar, and oil a ballot being taken the former committee were re-elected.

At a subsequent meeting'of the newly elected committee the He v. A. K. Hunt was elected chairman, Mr Vogeler secretary, and Mr Stead treasurer. The Board wrote stating that Miss R, McGill would fill Miss bibly's place whilst she was away from her duties, an absence necessitated by throat trouble. It was decided to grant Miss Sibly a month's leave of absence, and the' secretary was instructed to writs a letter of sympathy on behalf of Hv-' committee. It was decided that tiie present day''of meeting should be adnered to. It was left to the cin. man to arrange for the provision of i>i<l for the school. The chairman an-- ireasuier were reappointed trustees "f the committee's funds, and the next meeting was appointed- for the first week in June. TIMAHTJ SOUTH. There were about thirty householders present, and the chairman said it was a. better meeting than they had seen for some years. ' Mr Sealey was voted to the chair and before proceeding to business proposed a resolution of sympathy with Mr T. Hawkey and family, which was caried.

The report of the retiring committee having been published was taken as read, and the chairman read the bal-ance-sheet. This showed that, the year began with a credit of £22 17s 6d, and the receipts had been, from the Department £sl 16s 9d, and from entertainments etc. £3O 6s 9d. Cleaning had cost £3l 16s, school prizes £lB 3s Gd, other items £34 13s lid. leaving a credit balance of £2O 2s 7d. Report and balance-sheet were adopted without discussion. .

No response was made to an invitation to propose subjects for discussion, and the election of tlie committee was taken. Sixteen' householders were nominated, of whom six declined to stand, and a ballot resulted in the election of Messrs G. J. Sealey, R. Irwin, A. Fraser, J.Dockrill, F. Hathaway, A. Hay, 0. Knowles, J. Mcllroy, J. Boothroyd. Mr Sealey topped the poll with 30 vot-es. Messrs Hay, Knowles. and Boothroyd are new members. The chairman mentioned the subject of the Barclay Memorial Scholarship fund, and expressed regret that this school district had so ! far contributed so littler-only 12s 6d. It did not dt them credit, that they had done so little for the memory of a man who had done so much for education. Ho asked whether they were to make a further effort or let the proposal drop. Messrs Harney, Irwin and Beswiclsuoke in favour of the movement and regretting the small response made to the appeal. The chairman read a recent circular from' the central committee which stated that.about £IOO (onefifth of tho sum wanted) had been col looted. A circular had been sent to parents attending school, and Mr Val ontine explained that so many new families had come to the district, and old ones had left, that the majority had no knowledge of what Mr Barclay had done. Mrs Moore, who was present, offered to collect over the district for the fund, and the meeting accepted the offer. . Mrßeswiek proposed a vote of thanks to the staff, and to the committee for their preseverance in obtaining the improvements carried out and proceeding, and the chairman acknowledged the vote for the committee, and iVlr Valentine that' for the staff. Mr Valentine made a few remarks ou the free readers, supplied up to bt. 11., and said he was pleased that most of the parents continued to buy J' ool «' be ; cause the free books could not be taken home, and the children could not make full use of them. He also explained the importance of pupils being present at the term examinations, because it was on the results of these that promotions were made at the end of the Tear. He also mentioned that, the school had about 100 volumes in the library, and he begged for contnbutions to the shelves. . , The public meeting being ove , the committee met and appointed Mi bea]Py chairman, Mr Fraser secretai y and the nielit of meeting was fixe for +he first, Thursday of each month. Ihe rhairman was authorised to .mange for supplies of fuel.

Kt his request the headmaster was authorised to refuse to permit theschool to bo used as a means of distributing advertising slips. WAIMATAITAI. At Waimataitai there were fifteen persons present, chiefly inombers ot tho old committee, and-Mr G. P, Wood piesided The annual report and balancesheet' (as already published), were read by the secretary. (Mr E. J. Penrose), and taken as read. Mr J H. Hawkes wrote, congratulating the committee on the success of its working for the past year, and expressing regret that he would be unable to offer his services as a committeeman for the incoming year.-—the chairman said, and all present agreed, that Mr Hawkes liad been a most valuable member of committee, and his. inability to serve further on it was to be greatly regretted. , The chairman mentioned that, in tne balance-sheet it that the cleaning of the school for the year had cost £47 odd, but in reality the cost had been £3B, the balance being paid for extra work outside the school, lhe committee started,'the year with £2l, and finished with a credit of £33. Report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted; • Mr Tank referred in complimentary terms to the excellent work done by tho headmaster and his staff during the vear, his remarks being cordially endorsed by the meeting, and the hope was expressed that Mr Wood might long be spared to continue the good work he is doing at the school.. The following were elected a committee for tho ensuing year:—Messrs G. P. Wood, E. J. Penrose, M. Evans, W. Tank, J.'Currie, G. R. Joyce, J. Harrison, J. Pearse, and Thos, Jones. The secretary read a circular from the Barclay memorial fund committee, stating that so far about £IOO. had been raised for this fund, and asking that the committee should make some further effort to help in bringing the amount up to £SOO. ■ , The chairman said that the Waimataitai school had so far contributed less than £l. '• _ ' Messrs Tank, Joyce and Evans expressed the opinion that the project was not likelv to be successful unless it was decided to apply the iuiid to some special object apart irom what js ordinarilv available in the shape ol education. Mr Penrose suggested that a garden party be held by the three town schools combined, the proceeds to be devoted to the Barclay memorial. He moved to this effect, and Mr Pearse seconded. Mr Evans said ho did not approve of asking the public for more funds; they had quite as many calls made on them as they could afford to meet, and in view of this fact, as well of the hopelessness of procuring anything like ' the desired sum, he moved an amendment that the project be dropped. On a vote being taken the amendment was carried, only three voting for the. motion. The chairman referred in eulogistic terms to the good work*done by Mr Penrose as secretary to the committee for the four years lie had held that office, and proposed a hearty vote of thanks to him. The vote was earned unanimously, and a similar compliment was paid to the chairman: —It was decided to write to Mr Hawkes. heartily thanking him for what lie and his wife had done for the school for an - extended period of years. —On the motion of Mr Evans, a hearty vote of thanks was also passed to Mr Wood and his staff for the excellent work they had done. The vote was carried by acclamation, and Mr Wood acknowledged the compliment. After the close of the householders' meeting, the new committee met and elected Mr G. P. Wood as chairman and Mr Tank as secretary; and fixed the night of meeting for the first Wedof each month (omitting next month). The chairman and secretary were appointed trustees of tho Savings Bank account, and were authorised to arrange for supplies of fuel.