The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-20
TABLES TURNED ON FRENZEL
The School Commissioners Indorse the
Report Of Their Finance Committee.
An. Urgent Necessity for Additional School
Accommodations What 1t Costs to Grad
uate Pupil at the High-School.

A report on the urgent need of more room for
the accommodation Of the rapidly increasing
population of school children. to which attention
was recently directed by Superintendent Jones.
was submitted by the committee on buildings
and grounds at the meeting of the School Board
last evening 'The committee recognize" the
report stated. ''that the present financial condi-
ton of the board requires the strictest econ
omy, and the curtailment Of expenditure
in all departments of the board, and, with this
in view, only what is regarded as necessary for
the accommodation OF the school population,
which from year to year has had gradual in
crease, is recommended. The accommodations in
the southwestern and southeastern portions of
the city are limited. and need enlargement for
the coming school year. To meet this demand
the committee recommend, first. four-room
addition to school-house No. II, and it is esti-
mated that this Improvement will cost about
$4,000 second, to lease building for the pupils
now attending No. 19 in more
convenient location for them; third, to
use No. 10 to relieve Nos. Is,
co. % and g. which will require no additional
outlay; fourth. to temporarily relieve the north
ern portion of the city by making accommoda-
tions in High-school building No. / for the high
or grades in grammar schools. To so this two
plans have been suggested One is to fit up rooms
in the basement The cost of this will be about
$3.50 a room. The other is to appropriate rooms
in the northeast and southeast corners of the
building, which are so arranged that they can
easily be adapted for the purpose needed by
furnishing both study and recitation
rooms. II the accommodations set
forth should be agreed upon by the board, the
overcrowded buildings on the North Side will be
relieved 30 as not to require another building for
the coming school year. If the board had the
resources, other accommodations would have
been suggested, but it is wise policy to keep our
expenditures within the limits that the laws have
provided" Action on the report was postponed
until the second regular meeting in March.
The committee on the appointment of teachers
reported the resignation Of Miss Alice B.
Thomas, of school No. 10, and Miss Florence
Fay of No. g.
Mr.. Conner moved to take up the report of the
committee on finances, stating the reasons why
Treasurer Frenzel was not consulted In the ne
COLLATION. of the recent loans, for consideration
and action. Objection was made to the motion
on the ground that the report had been disposed
of at the last meeting President Merritt held,
however, that the report was still pending, be-
cause the motion to adopt it had failed by tie
vote. Mr.. Conner said that he had carefully
suited the highest authorities on questions of
parliamentary procedure. and had found that, as
the matter stood the report had not been dis.
posed Of, and it was proper that there should
be some action on it. Messrs. Bingham and
Kuhn asked postponement of the consideration
OF the matter until next meeting, claiming that
it was improper for the members of the finance
committee to insist on indicating themselves
by their own votes. The president regarded the
objection as very weak one, as nearly all COM
mittee reports adopted by the sboard are sus-
tanned on the votes Of tho committeeman them
selves Messrs Bingham, Kuhn and Thompson
declined to vote on the motion to adopt the re-
port of the finance committee and 10
place it on record in the proceedings of the board
Commissioners Merritt Vonnegut, Greenstreet,
Bamberger and Conner voted in the affirmative,
and the motion was declared carried. Mr.. Kuhn
inquired if the refusal of three members to vote
had not prevented conclusive action on the mat
ter President Merritt replied that 1t bad not,
because the record showed that they were pres
emit, and that there a quorum. Il guess we
have made mistake" remarked Mr.. Kuhn,
with some chagrin, I'VE ought to have left before
the vote was taken. think we ought to have
done it, because regard this as q very question
able proceeding"
The following resolution, introduced by Mr..
Bingham, was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the treasurer Of this board be and
is eby directed to demand of the county treasurer
the taxes collected by him under the levies of the
Board of School Commissioners during the month of
January last and upon the lst Of each month there
after for similar collections of the previous month
the act approved March 3, 1871, under which this
board has its organization and authority provides.
Mr.. Bamberger offered resolution providing
shat the committee on High sch DOL, together
with the superintendent ard principals of the
high-schools, be and is hereby instructed to exam
inc into thu causes Of the small percen tage of
boys graduating from the High school, and to
ascertain, If possible, what changes are neces-
sary in the present system OF instruction to Sc
cure better result; said committee to report
at the first meeting in April next In
said that he had found that of 178 pupils who
entered the Indianapolis High school in 1881.
there we're 81 boys and 121 girls This number
in 1882 diminished to 81, in 1883 to r. in 1884 to
g. and of the ITS who had entered at the begin
ming of the course only Sc graduated. and but
nine of these graduates were boys. The enum
Grafton shows that there are 1929 school
children in the city, and of these the average
number who graduate from the High school is
but one in every 347. He wanted to know
the reason why so few boys take ad-
vantage Of the opportunity for getting
a high-school education, ALPHABETICALLY he de-
sired to know if it was due to any fault in the
high-school system. 1t seems that child enter
the course of instruction until eighteen years
old. He wanted to know why the course could
not be completed at the fifteenth year. He
thought it would be found that the present sys-
tenn Is not as practlcaui6 as IL might De. Inc eX-
penses of the High-school during the
last four years were about $s0O00 1t
would be unfair to say that this sum
was expended on the fifty-six pupils
who graduated, because every year new pupils
are admitted to the schools. However if there
had been no new pupils admitted it would have
required $50. 600 to carry the 6fty-six graduates
through the course of instruction. The sealed
proposals for the contract to take the school
enumeration for the next year were as follows:
Mrs. Georgia Wright, $1.15 per 100 names;
Mary E. johnson, 80 cents; NJ H. Lockwood,
rs cents; j. r. Routh, ga cents; Amos Gudgel,
IS cents; B. W. Cole, So cents; Naomi Tomhn-
son, 80 cents; Mary d. Maley. So cents; w. A.
Patterson, So cents; John H. Kills, 6s. 70 cents.
The bids were referred to the committee on
finance, with instructions to call a special meet
ing of the board whenever it is prepared to
make report.