Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-10-19
OUR GRADED SCHOOLS
The Proposal to Abolish lncor-
pOrated Districts.

How such Law would Anect BrHttle-
boro---Considerntio which Legisln-
tors Must Bear In Mind---Preserv"-
finn of the Graded school system.
Brief allusion was made last week to the
fact that DR.. Weston of Newtane has IN
troduced into the house a bill abolishing all
INCORPORATED school districts in the state.
This is the full text of the proposed law:
AN act abolishing incorporated school dis
See I. All acts or parts Of acts heretofore
pas,ed by the general assembly Incorporating
school districts in this state are b. rely repeated
Sec ? The school directors OF any town, lh
which are incorporated districts. shall take pos.
session Of the schoolhOuses and other properly on
SAID Incorporated istrict and shall conduct the
affairs OF the district IN the same manner ASH no"
provided for uuincorpnrated districts.
Sec g. ANY indebtedness that shall rest upon
the district for the purchase or repa OIL schooii
houses or grounds snail be paid by the town. al
other Indebtedness shall be- paid by the district
and "A suitable tax to liquidate the same shall be-
voted at the annual school meeting held next ait
or the passage of this act 1000
Sec 4 This act shall take effect April j. l'''
This bill was suggested, without doubt,
by the following recommendation made by
the commissioners upon the revision OF
I'VE believe it is far better for the cause Of ed
ucatiOn to adopt a uniform town system, WIN no
exceptions and from observation conclude that
the existence Of specially Incorporated districts
creates confusion. prOvokes local aulmoslues ana
is uuvisp We. T., commend that the law he so
amended as TO suitably provide, under the town
81 stem. for education ln the higher branches ana
also in such studies as are pursued TO- course iil
ting scholars for college, and mat all school us
tricts specially Incorporated for the purpose Of
maintaining public schools be abolished
While the motive which prompted this
suggestion cannot be questioned, 1t is diff
cult TO see how a law so sweeping in its
provisions as DR.. Weston's bill contem-
plates could be enacted without doing in
Justice to a town like Brattleboro, or to an
incorporated school district like that in
this village Tue "Brattleboro graded
school district" incorporated by the legis
lature of 1854, owns property in its High
school and Canal street buildings, in its four
primary school buildings, and in the land on
which all these buildings stand, of a value
not less than 100000 on to $12j. 900
/ Ii is certainly not in equity that this prop
erty should be- turned over to the town
without payment being made for it. There
is debt of So. 900 on the property, and il
would be very serious burden were tbs
district to be compelled TO pay this debt OF
the first of next April as the bill in ques
tiOn coutemplates On the other hand il
would be an injustice to the people of tn,
town outside tins district were they to b,
taxed to maintain the village schools a.
their present standard without being able
on account of the distance. to send thei
children 10 the village to receive the full
benefit of the schools
The existence of incorporated district
undoubtedly causes friction and "local an
imosities' in some towns. but here we be
lieve the management of the school boar
has been such as to avoid anything of tn
kind, except in some rare and exceptiona
instance. Tuition pupils are admitte,
from outside the district at q charge which
in the High school az least. is less than tn
actual cost per pupil. Were the question
of the proposed change to be submitted /,
the voters of Brattleboro il would un
doubleday be rejected by a strong majority
both outside the district and in il. I,
make such change would be much NOR
feasible in a large town, where the bulk o
the population was located near its centre
than in a town like Brattleboro, where tn
main village is on the extreme and, geo
graphically for the rest of the town, re
mote side or part
he NNO ioNus III the south part OF IN
state most seriously affected by this law, i
enacted, would probably be Bennington
and Brattleboro, Rockingham already hav
ing the town system. Rutland and Bun
!ington would not be affected because the
are under city government. ST. Johnsbur
has no High school, its older and advance,
pupils being sent to the academy by specia
arrangement. Ii we mistake not ST. A
bans is similarly situated. In all there ar
probably some 30 towns in the state whc
have incorporated and graded school dis
tricts.
The proposed measure will undoubted
receive careful attention and be so dispose
of as to meet the demands of Justice AM
the best interests of all concerned. bu
nothing should be done which would ten
to dis -ourage or embarrass the grade
school system. or make ii less easy tina,
now TO maintain it. In this matter Vel
mont must take no backward step.