Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1854-01-25
WHOLE z no. As..s.....s,
From The Ohio staiesman.i


Questions Proposed 10, and Answered
Sy tbc STATE CommissioncE Of cen-
T. ''7SH''VOSis' ,aIaiasb Z 70 Goi1sSsfd
/ orEsrioE Frrsr4Does the new school law
vest in the directors Of the sub district. oris The.
township boards, the right to prescribe ne gener-
al rules and regulations for the government Of the
primary or sub-district schools!'zd asaw sl8sh
ANSWER LIN the township oardsundoubtediys
for although Sec. s, declares that I shall be The
duty of the school directors in each 10
take the management and control Of it's local in
terest and affairs &C., yet this duty must beper-
formed under, and in obedience to such rules and
regulations as the township board may prescribe,
s'in the case of negotiating andmaklng GoDtracts
in relation to providing fuel, repairing buiidingor
furnishing school houses, &C., as provided for in
Sec, y, different construction of the law would
defeat one of its most important objects, yz that
of equalizing, far practicable, the educatioh-
al privileges of the several sub-distficts Of the
township and preventing the numerous disparities
incident to the old ipdependent district system,gs
The law is very plain on this point; for in Sec
13, is declared that "It shall also be the further
duty of said board to prescribe res and regulations
for the government of all the common schools
within their jurisdiction" Besides, Sec llmakes
them body polite and corporate in law, and vests
in them, in their corporate capacity the title care
and custody Of all school houses, school house
sites, libraries, apparatus and other property, be-
longing to the sel6o districts. 1t is evidentthen,
that their right to prescribe rules &C.. for the d-
rection and government of the sub-districts must
be paramount, and that of the directors subordi-
nate. tr ..
QUESTION SEcoND.-Are township boards au-
thorizcd to appoint the township clerk the acting
manager Of schools for the township! s....t,,.,
ANswER--Un ndoubtedly; for Sec. 10 declares,
"That the township board of Education shall con-
sist of the township clerk and Of the local direc-
tor from each sub-district of the township, who
has been appointed clerk in his sub-district; and
near the close of Sec. 13, it is declared that,-ssif
the board deem it necessary, they may appoint
one Of their number the acting manager of schools
for the township" &c. The township. clerk,
then, being constituted by the law member of
the board of education, he may unquestionably be
appointed the "acting manager" q 'a'Fa9a
QUESTION THIRD.-The board of educationof
a township, embracing nine school districts under
the old school law proceeded at a regular meet.
ing to redistrict their township dividing it into
FIVE instead Of nine subdstricts, and the Judge of
the proper court, on application, granted an in-
junction against the proceedings of the township
board on the ground that the present school law
did not authorize them to diminish the number OF
school districts in the township, from what it vas
under the old law but only to alter district lines.
Ought the injunction to have been n7grantedsg silp
AxswER.-Most assuredly not; for it was the
intention of the trainers of the law, frequently
expressed while the subject was pending in the
late General Assembly, to confer upon township
boards the power to alter, by consolidation or
otherwise, the several school districts of the
ownship, SO as to equalize to reasonable extent,
their territory their number Of children Of school
age, and their educational privileges generally,
But according TO the opinion Of the judge in the
case referred to. the number of school districts
in any township must remain the same as the
new school law found them. Such construc-
ton of the law would contravene one of the
principal objects of the Legislature in creating
township boards, viz: the removal of many evils
incident to the old system, such as the dimnni-
ton of the pecuniary strength of school districts
by an unnecessary multiplication of them and
the consequent employment of an unnecessary
number of teachers, from which resulted, as
natural consequence, the necessity Of employing
cheap and poorly qualified teachers, or of having
very short school terms-to say nothing of the
very great inequalities is almost every respect
which existed in the several districts Of the same
township, under the old law. ass,
But in order to construe the present law, SO az
to s'remove the evil and advance the remedy,"we
are not obliged to go back and look up the evils
incident to the old law, or to gather from circum,
stances the intention of the law-gvers. The pro-
visions of the law touching the point at issue, arc
quite obvious. 9s'' 71s-F u 3a aAg s'fs 2 N
In Sec. 4, it is declared that, "The said Board !
shall prepare map Of their township, as often as
they deem necessary, on which shall be designat,
ed the sub-dstricts Of the township, which they
may changeor alter at any regular session, and
the nuu,5er Of scholars assigned To- each; but no
sub-district shall contain within it's limits less
than sirty resident scholars by enumeration, except
in cases where, in the opinion Of the Board, Il is
necessary to reduce the number ~ Now, suppose
that the whole number Of scholars by enumeration
in the township above referred to, divided By Bine
the number Of schools districts in il time
the new law took effect should give q quotieht
of twenty; or twenty-five, or even thirty or forty
how could the Board carry into9 effect that pro-
vision of the law which requires them to assign g
least sirtg scholars to each sub-districti The
mere want Of nine times sixty scholars 10 the
township, would not constitute such an exception
to rule requiring sixty scholars to be assigned to