The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-03-30

luo taplo SHOWS tlat III 1000 tneFo were
nineteen regular teachers. one special. the
average daily attendance being 638. the ex-
penses $31. OBS and the apportionment $685.
485. In 1892 the number of regular teachers
had increased to forty, the special teachers
to three. the average daily attendance to
$3s.067, the expenses being $50. 1870. In ad-
dition to the regular apportionm ent of $685.
O67, in 1892, there was a special tax which
Brought in $4,000. leaving the district
about $4,000 to the good. During tho first
half year OF 1893 tho average daily attend
anoe has been 1,4l7, and there has been one
TEACHER added to the roll, and one ~janitor.
There Ia money enough to run the schools
ub to the end of the term and to pay the
running expenses till they open in the fall,
whom thers will hs but about $4,000 on
hand.
It will be asked what ia the money needed
for? A glance at the table will show that
In 1889 the expense was about $7,O0O greater
than the apportionment, and in 1891 about
$1,000. Thus every year when the schools
open there Is no money on hand, and the
necessity 10 forced upon the board to raise
the money in some way or other to run the
schools till January. The average annual
expense of the schools now is about $50. 900.
New school buildings. demanded by the
residents Of the various wards, have each
year increased the running expense. The
finance committee of the board, after care
fully going over the situation, decided to
do what they thought should have been
done four years ago-Ask the people for
sufficient money to place the finances OF the
district In suoh shape az would guarantee
enough money to run the schools without
borrowing. They were also forced to this
conclusion by the fact that q law passed by
the last legislature makes tho trustees per-
eonally liable for all expenditures unau-
thorizsd by law, and this deters them from
borrowing money to run the schools and
charging the interest to the districts.
An interesting feature of the table is the
cost per capita of schooling children. based
on the average daily attendance and total
cost of maintaining the schools. In 1883 it
decrease per month Of 81 cents. or for the
year of about 81, 200. This decrease in the
cost per capita must have been the result of
good management. as in place Of one
special teacher, as in 1888. there were three
In 1892.
In 1891, under the head Of "other OF.
penses," is $15. 743. This exceeds that Of
other years by from $1,000 to $40. 900. The
increase was made up of the following
large items: j. H. Sanford, desks, 49, 17. 20;
F. J. shaffer, plans. $500: permanent re-
pairs OH Bryant school, 1864. 20; permanent
safe, $3.50; permanent repairs on central
building. $258. 80; a total OF S.. 1858. 20.
In 1892 the pay roll for the same number
Of teachers a. in 1891 was about SO, 900
creator. lnl6 was OcC06lOne0 BY the fact
that previous to that time Butte, Spokane,
Seattle n Tacoma were above the Helena
scale. and they werc all in the field for the
best teachers; to get the best Helena had to
pay the same salaries as neighboring cities
we're offering. The daily attendance in 1892
was 1880. about 200 greater than in 1891,
but no additional teachers were employed.
keeping the fact in mind that Helena has
to-day what 10 acknowledged by all visitors
to be the beat public school system in the
northwest. handsome, we'll lighted and we'll
ventilated school houses. as fine a CORDS of
teachers az there are n ywhere, the above
table OF growth and expenses. taken in con.
nection with the special tax asked for. will
be of interest to every voter. Such careful
business men as Fred Gamer. w. L. Cox, s.
W. Langhorne and IL. i. G. Kleinschmidt
will be on the board next year. and they
will not throw any money out of the win
dow" Tho n~pportionment for the coming
yenr will amount to about 1874, 600; if tho
voters decide not to allow the special tar.
the q ustees will be governed BY them and
the schools will not be opened till Jan. /,
1894.
On the sam day Tint Helena votes on this
proposition the people of Missoula, Great
Falls. Anaconda aud Livingston will vote
on like pr opositiops-a special tx TO mnin-
tain tho schools. showing that Helena ia
not the only school district in the state
whore the expenses are greater than the ap-
portionment.