Litchfield enquirer., 1874-03-05
REPORT.

committee appointed at the last meetin,
 reported as follows { >@ REPORT.
 The undersigned, majority of a com
 mittee appointed by the First School Dis
 trict of the Town of Litchfield to repor
 upon the establishment of graded schoo
 m this village and upon the probable
 expense of providing suitable schoo
 building and maintaining suitable school.
 therein, wouldrespectfully report:
 THE NEED OF GRADED SCHOOL.
 We are convinced, in the first place
 that there is great need of better public
 schools in our village. We find, on ex.
 animation that the taxable property of the
 borough of Litchfield, and of the school district immediately north of the village IS assessed in the grand list of the town al about $S25, 900, OF about four-ninths oi the entire grand list. The whole amount raised annually by town tax for education, including the interest on Deposit Fund, is about s, 300. Of this amount, therefore. over S1 300 IS raised in the village and north district. They enumerate about 200 scholars, upon whom the town re- ceives from the state about $500, making the total amount the village and north district really bring into the town treas ury for educational purposes S2,OOO-all of which, except the small proportion re- ceived from the State School Fund is drawn from us by taxation. Of this g, 900, we now receive back from the town but S57O, upon which our two public schools are supported. These schools are as good as could be expected with such meagre support; but they by no means meet the educational necessities of the place. The pupils who attend those schools are most ly children of non-taxpayers, while our taxpayers pay at least another $2,OOO a year for the tuition of their children in private schools. The evils and the want of economy of such confusion of school systems are obvious. Our village system of education is in fact utterly at variance with the town and state systems, which we are nevertheless taxed to support. Thus, the children of our non-taxpayers are given the cheapest grade of instruc- tion allowed by law, while our taxpayers are taxed doubly for education: once for public schools they consider too poor for their own children; and, again, forprivate schools where they are necessarily charged high rates of tuition. We are now pay ing considerably more money for educa- tion than would support a good public school of three grades; and yet many of parents of limited means are growing up among us without any snita- ble education, while people are deterred from making this village their residence from the fact that the cost of schooling a family of four children, here, exceeds the cost of house rent.
 We do not think it necessary to argue the respective merits of the free school system and of the older plan that impos- ed on parents the burden of educating their children, because that is really TO longer an open question. The state has adopted the free school system. We must that system by taxation; and the only question really open for our decision is whether we shall give up all hope of benefit from the two mill tax we already pay for the support of free schools, or whether we shall add another mill or mill and half to that tax, and have public schools in this village that shall meet all the reasonable educational wants of the community.
 COST OF PROVIDING A SCHOOL BUILDING.
 As regards the probable expense of pro- viding Suitable school rooms, your com nittee would report as follows:
 We believe that the present real estate belonging to this District could be sold for $3,5O0. The old Congregational church building, with sufficient land for can be purchased for S, ,50O floor through the middle of that edifice twelve feet above its present lower floor, there would be sufficient space in the lower story for three school rooms; two, 24 x30 feet each, accommodating one hundred primary and intermediate schol- ars; and one, 32 X 34 feet, accommodating about seventy high scholars. Room would still be left in the lower story for suitable entrance halls and recitation rooms The upper story would be well adapted for large public hall, also one of the great needs of the village. The entire expense of the building, fitted up for three grade school and hall, would be as follows, ac- cording to the best estimates we have been able to make:
 Building and land, s3,5OO Inside work, 1,5OO Painting and outside repairs, 400 Furnaces, 600
 Total, s6,OOO
 Of this expense we believe that $2,5OO would be borne by Hall Company, all ready projected, which would own the upper story of the building and be liable for all common repairs. The District s portion of the expense would we estimate, be fully met by the sale of'their property on West Street. There would remain then only the expense of school furniture which would be amply met by one mill tax on the enlarged district.
 The chief advantage of purchasing the old church building would lie, of course, in its economy. 1t is not very easy esti- mating the probable cost of a new build ing suitable for a public school of three or four grades. From the limited informa- tion we have obtained on that point we should estimate the cost e such build ;,,r- o& ,,~>& loes, 4bo,, ce 000 o,l ,,,oLo1>1-