St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-04

Total disbursements. 81 .225, 600 49
WHERE DEPOSITED.
Bank of Minnesota. .........- s4S, 1888 96
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE REFS,
Treasurer Board of Education.
Received and ordered placed on file.
From the Superintendent of Schools
ST. PAUL, Mimi. Dec. /, 1890.
To the President and Members of the
Board of Education. st. Paul, MINI.
GENTLEMEN: L have the honor here
with to present to your consideration,
my report for the month of November,
1890.
The number of pupils enrolled during
the present school year to date is Is. 1913 !;
this is an increase over the October en-
rollment of 632 and over that of Novem-
Der, 1889, of 1,192. Surely this is no in
dication of the decrease in population
which our city's frightened ex-buomers
are now declaiming.
We have abandoned the annex to the
Adams school, owing TO the presence of
scarlet fever in the house rented by the
Board. The children have been re-
moved to the main building, where half
day sessions OF three full hours each
are held.
The new buildings and additions are
approaching completion; some of them
rapidly, others more slowly. 1t will be
a relief to all familiar with the present
condition of things when these new
rooms can be occupied. 1t may not be
known to some of the more recently
appointed members of the Board of Ed
ueatlon, to what extent this Board has
been compelled to rent rooms. During
the month of November 947 pupils were
lenrOlled in rented rooms, rooms which
were in most cases imperfectly ventilat
ed and badly lighted. These rooms cost
for rent $500 per month, and for jail
tors services S192.50 per month, making
an annual cost of S7.1lO in addition to
the cost of furnishing and lighting
them. This increases the annual cost
of each pupil housed in these rooms
$3.50.
E Certain members of your honorable
body have asked ME to prepare state
ment Of the cost of educating each
child in the public schools of st. Paul.
| have prepared such statement. which
is herewith submitted. | desire to say
i'll explanation that no item in published
school reports is more liable 10 error or
more misleading than this one of
the cost per pupil. In no two places
can we be sure that it is made on
strictly the same basis. 1t can be fig
ured out in great number of WAYS.
The two most common are these: First,
using the cost of tuition and supervis-
ion as the dividend and the average at
tendance Of pupils as diviSor. Sec
Ond, using the entire running expenses
of the school as dividend and the
total enrolment as q diyiSOr The
difference in results obtained by the two
methods will sometimes be great and
sometimes small, depending largely
upon the weather, the general state OF
health and other conditions which af-
feet the attendance of children in the
public schools. In my Judgment. the
former of these methods. using the aver
age daily attendance and the cost of
tuition and supervision, is of little value,
because necessarily ineXact. The divi-
dend. namely. the cost of tuition and
supervision, is manifeStly too small, as
there are many items which belong to
the necessary running expenses of
schools. and which vary with the sea-
son. the climate and the method en-
plOyed in conducting the schools,
such as fuel, printing and sta
tlonery, salaries of janitOrs and
general supplies. On the other hand.
the average daily attendance is alto
gether too small diviSOr, because, the
average being figure between the
maximum and minimum, does not indI-
cate the number of children who are
liable to be in attendance on any day
and for whom provision must be made.
For instance, during our winter months
there are many days, sometimes weeks,
when. owing to severe storms, cold Or
the prevalence of sickness, the attend
ance is very small, which greatly re-
duces the average, but does not at all
diminish the expenses of the school. AS
an instance of this. take the month OF
January, 1890. Notwithstanding an
actual increase in the enrolment dur
ing this month of 414 over December,
1889, the average daily attendance was
1,300 less tnan in December. This was
due to the prevalence Of 1.-THE grip"
The effect of this disease did not en-
tirely disappear for some months, and
the average attendance at the schools
for the year was greatly diminished;
yet it was impossible to dismiss the
teachers or in any way lessen the ex-
penses during that time.
BY this process of reasoning | have
reached the conclusion that the only
fair basis upon which to estimate the
cost per pupil In the public schools is on
the one hand the total enrolment in the
public schools. and on the other the
total cost Of running the schools, omit
ting the first cost of real estate and
charges upon same, and such expenses
as would naturally belong to the realm
of real property.
To obtain my figures [ have gone
carefully over the report of the City
Comptroller, month by month, and Sc
lected those items which in my judy
ment fairly belong in this schedule. If
l have omitted any which properly be-
long here. they are not sufficient in
amount to greatly affect the result.
The results obtained are as follows:
Total cost Of salaries for the
school year ending June
so, 1890, including officers,
teachers and employees of
the Board ...............S36 S, 2227 so
Cost of fuel. Observation-Disclosures. 23.44S go
Printing and stationery. 1889 SO
General expenses, not includ
ed in the above. .......... 1856 45
Making a total of...... .S4O9.912 SO
And this, divided by 1G,442. the total
enrolment for the year, shows asthe av-
erage cost per pupil s24.93. This is for
the school year ending in June. 1890.
1t is well to bear in mind that, as there
is this year considerable reduction in
the average pay of teachers and in the
cost of printing and stationery, if not
in other directions wa wal bn iiEpIu To