The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-11-19


is the fact that little more money has been
paid for extra repairs and furnishings but
the extra expense has been only forty cents
a week and that Is considerably less than
the difference in teachers wages over the
sum paid last year. Again, the districts are
deprived of the managing of their own af-
fairs-can't elect their prudential committee
and other district officers and =" run things y
in their own way. OF the petitioners who
have asked to have the districts restored,
seventy-hve have no grand list; they are
hired men and others of similar class;
fifty-seven are not affected by the system,
being within the corporation of West Ran
dolph; out of two hundred eighty families
in the town only tifty-eight patronzng the
schools are ON the petition; the opposition
comes from those who do not patronize the
schools but pay taxes; the twenty weeks
districts have better schools, watch things
and take an active interest in the schools,
while the twenty weeks districts that lived
on the public money, assessing no school
tax, have had to do justice to their own
school children and contribute equally with
their fellow-citiZens to the support of the
schools. From these districts come many of
the signers to this petition. In a word, Mr.
Grow said, regular attendance, less tardi-
ness greater interest by pupils and parents
equality of privileges and equaizing of
school taxes, better and longer schools and
permanent teachers at a smaller actual cost
have been the outcome of the adoption of the
town system in Randolph.
Mr.. A. A. Smith was of the opinion that
the cause of the opposition to the town sys-
TEN was ignorance of the way it worked.
The people get more for their school money,
great deal, under the town system of man.
agement the school furnishings are better,
the houses are kept in better condition,
teachers are permanently engaged, extend
ing in some cases to two years, while before
| there was change every term; under the
district system there was great inequality
in the length of terms in the different dis
tricts. now each district has the same num-
Der of weeks; formerly some districts paid
high school tax, others none at all now
| there is equality of taxation for the schools;
| from the fractional district in which Mr..
| Clifford lives the only other scholar besides
that persons daughter had preferred to
walk two and one-half miles to Mr.. Storrs'
! district, the school was so much better than
the Bethel school three-fourths of mile
away. This scholar was young girl. Board,
| wood and all school supplies had been fur
nished for less money than the districts had
paid and the reason why the directors had
sometimes gone out of town to buy wood as
| was charged by the petitioners, was that it
| could be bought considerably cheaper than
any one in the district would furnish it.
Mr.. ID. III. Morse corroborated all that had
been said about the favorable working of
the system. He detailed the particulars in
relation to the repairs upon the school-house
in DIR. Davenport's district The doctor
said the house didn't need shingling or much
repairing. The fact was that during rain
| storm, while they were at work on this house.
water came through the roof as through
a sieve, and they concluded that it needed
! shingling. The school-house was not fit for
a hog pen when they began to repair it. He
| wished the gentlemen of the committee could
! have seen it. They found it detled with
| human eXcrement, plastering off and paper
| torn to shreds, rough benches, hacked and
whitfield, unfit for use and injurious to chill
dren who had been compelled to sit on them.
The house was thoroughly renovated, newly
plastered, painted and papered, decent fur
niture put in it, and blackboards supplied,
of which the house was before practically
destitute. The house was made fit for hui
man habitation comfortable, decent place
for school children, and the work was en-
| tirely necessary, well and economically
managed and industriously accomplished,
DIR. Davenport's statements to the contrary
notwithstanding. The scholars have shown
| their appreciation of decent school-house
by protecting it from DETACHMENT. Another
school-house in the town, in similar need
had been put in good order and more or less
work done on all. The tax in his district
had been one dollar on the grand list for the
support of schools. Now it was thirty cents
with more weeks of school, better teachers
| and better schools.
Mr.. II. G.. Gilbert was sturdy witness to
the abuses of the district system in Ran
u.oiPi '," VIZ i0ioiiii "iO"Iii' W uii' '''ol-
tioh OF the TOWN. system. ne s'rohsly sus-
famed every point lnaue IN its llVor curing
the nearing Stated piack ooarus Oh ample
extent hau peeii liaceu III every Scnool-
mousse put one, thao III MI Storrs ulstrlct
IN three schoQi-h0uses modern seats mao
peeh placed; IN III davenport ustrlcu
where IheS hiu peeh SettihS alolS WIN d
taS Oh zen cents .he sea.s were ihseraole
aiialrs, al loose; lhueeu IL was pastiine Oh
ohe 1oSe W t'sren wy 10. w. MI ,t
puPlis anu uneS MerG Vh9s carrleu pue vi
tlle,r coatl,aiis' III ms ui f WIN seV
sIai We"i.iy men NJ M, ~ nai ~ iaiae.'
lol io.i VI nNo SEiio. nc ooipoi iu p zee u
run on .ii9 puoii. IioiIS aii'. iiipieS na9 1
, peen saNeu Wy niiiS the"P .eaoheia an.'
poaluiis tnei i iouiiu tiie uisIiicV, ~
,e II ei'aG ;at 10 Va LiIo peit'io,,
ouei .no I, 10 ~ ny Phlu no
% "a; IA, io" s 20 o.
.aAcu lihe 'lgil ieiloW -t,'l%eiis anu ooiise.'
10 give the cillurel Vi 'ns uisIllc. aspect
ape lhs.ruc'ioIi, heice .neli opPosi.ion W
une system. oc!1oi SUPPLIES: clisiih anu
otIei ar.clfs cos. iessi puyils ~ w
lol .iie wiloie uo"n: ne sIaho lise VI wa.
par, Vi .he :ow ~ a.,e e pH .e a VI
.ile systeiIi - @ioou. Vi Wiicii only %f'f-o Is
III Vlio PoVio M oici 80 me- M co.. CO..
tlie having iis,s VI On 2o 70 loo
VINO are III the oolRola.lo,l -, esu hah-
uolph' anu are h0t aIecueu oy the lown sys-
s ZEN. ne s aI .aA ~ ti,av u
rom IRON UNI .y-nNe cen.s W iolS cen,s, VINE
that Oh lhe Town, unuer tne eNi!raaorulIary
: | eApoHscS III repairs VI Sohooi-HouScs IL