HAWHLTON WEST SCHOOL SITE.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17714, 18 May 1929, Page 9

HAWHLTON WEST SCHOOL SITE.

i (To the Editor.) j sir,—l feel it is duo to those mem- ' hers of the public interested in the proposal to remove the Hamilton West School to comment upon certain state- _ rnents made by Mr W. Fraser in Thursi day's issue of your journal. Instead of J approximately 100 children from th( Melvile area attending the school, only 24 would he affected if Melville were made a separate institution, the fifty scholars on the Melville roil at present not being included in that of the West School. Of course, as recommended by the advisory inspector of the Education Board after a recent visit, the J Melville School would be closed altoj gether upon the removal of the Wes School to the Palmerston estate. Already the recent authorisation of | additions to the Melville School has i been withdrawn. Again, instead of j the “probably at least 50 children i drawn from as far north as Boundary | Jtoad,” only 20 scholars from this side j of the river attend the West School j Since the initial reduction in the roil !at the time of the opening of the I Whitiora School the West roll has | steadily increased, and no doubt would ; speedily attain its maximum capacity | upon the rebuilding of the school on •its present site. Although no great I fuss has been made concerning the j healthiness of the present site, it is known officially that the ratio of sick leave at the West School is lower than at any other school in Hamilton. Ii is more than problematical tuat this proud position would be sustained in the event of the school moving to the proposed site. Although in the Issue of the Waikato Times, dated February 5, Mr F. A. Snell, on behalf of tiic chairman of the Technical School Board, is reported as pressing for the setting aside of the West School grounds solely for Technical School purposes, my association is less concerned with the reasons advanced for the taking away of the present site than with the matter of its loss. The admittedly splendid present site, both from the aspects of centrality' and health and the high standard of teaching and control of the scholars, are the most potent factors in the stand made by 2511 parents, who have children attending the school. Despite the efforts being made to secure advantages for secondary institutions at the expense of primary schools, it is to be hoped that in this instance the West Schoo will escape the tentacles of the Technical School octopus-—I am, etc., NAN G- KENT-JOHNSTON, President Hamilton West Parents’ - Association.