The Newtown bee., 1896-10-02
Local Affairs
The Hearing at Hartford.
BEFORE SECRETARY HINE AND JUDGI
 PRENTICE.

BEFORE SECRETARY HINE AND JUDGE
 PRENTICE.
 The hearing on the Newtown schu0
 question was held at the Capitol on Sat.
 urday September 10. The case was
 heard before Judge Prentice of the
 Superior court, and Mir Hine, Secretary
 of the State Board of Education. There
 were present from Newtown William H.
 Glover, first se!octman, Attorney W. T.
 Beccher, Attorney Charles H. Northrop,
 John J, Northrop, Rev 0. o. Wright,
 D. c. Beers aGd K. L. Johnson, the last
 four members of the Board of School
 Visitors; also Giles Potter, the state agent of schools.
 The illegalities of the Gray's Plain District were conceded at the start So that the inquiries were on the Pootaturk case.
 John J. Northrop was the first one to be inquired of as he was secretary of the local board aud made out the statistics.
 He testified that he was the school vis- ALtA LII LAiE SNI4tyA A4C pal jAlEuI O4 LL4dG school during the year in question. That he visited the school officially that year, six times, twice each term, and had dropped in occasionally at other times.
 ThaJ h. saw the school register when ever bt a ked for it and was positive he sa@ it tuu, ouC If the six times he visit rd the rchoUl that year and that accord ing 10 lis best knowledge and belief the schooj had been kept in all res poets &C., c0rdii 2 to law afterward qualifying if by 5jpg, "as much so as any of the schools" He further testified that no return of statistics were made to the ScGrrtGrv fFam the district as the law re- q";~p.. uuT 'ta@ tho :chcai regi ter re- turo,u. That bs wrote for them but could never get tdem and that was why when he made his returns to the state he -Iatisttcs If Pootatuck were "e8timat- ,d' ii" knew nothing about the teacher, Mir Brew, !4aviig his school occasionally t3 atta@d co L;9 undertaking business, only f.om hear.ay and had never visited t!sn rj.uary dcpa: tmcnt officially or ex amjucd hat register,
 Giles Peter, tate agent, testified tn having vi t q the school iG lis ulIiliu, capacity at dttI..reut times during the yeat li quc.tiou That the first visit he made hr asked to s"e the register and Mir B~>~ jola hitu ;t WAS over at his board lrg place, but he would bring it over SD .lr cuuld see it ID the afternoon. Mir Pot ter called in the afternoon at the Sandy Hook school, Aud while there d mess engcr came from Mr Brew tcliug him he had aH unexpected call away, and could not s@p him as he had expected. H. came again the next week and saw thc registes Mir Potter cited instances when he had met Mr Brew on the street some li>ta"ce from the sUho0lh0use at ul- reasonable times and that he had been informed by those who had opportunity to know, that he left his school so often for other business, as to interfere serious ly with the schools prosperity. Later in the season lie found the register there, examined ir, and so far as he could judge the record on the attendance pages seem- ad filled out, though he saw nothing to indicate that the school had been closed )u school days and on calling MT Brew's lttenJion to it, he the teacher, showed him a dot about the size of period tbat he said indicated when he had closed his
 chool for other purposes. Surprised at what seemed such a blind way of keep. ng things, Potter asked him if that was his way If keeping tracS )f the time h. was out of school He said it wae, and claimed he made up his lost time at the end of the year, MT Potter said he noticed in his egiater that he had failed to enter upon he page prepared for the purpose, the he names and ages of the children or the names of the parents as the law requires,
 After the close of that school year, Mir Potter in trying to find out what became If that register, said he was told by the eacher, he did not know but it might lave been left in the desk and lost in hat way.
 K, L. Johnson in giving his reason for aking exception to that district said hi- .ction was based for the most part OF the tatement made to him by the secretary f the local board that no returns of taCistics nor school register were made | y the district, that he tried to get them nd could not succeed, so he had to re. | ,Ort them as ''estimated.' Mir Johnson | lso went to see MT Brew to ascertain rom him why no returns were made or 1 egister sent in and was told he knew | lothing about 1t. He did not know what 'eCame of the register but thought he 1 ave it to the district committee.
 The hearing was confined mostly to | he district in question, though few hings cropped out in regard to general management in the past. The hearing vas over before l o'clock and the de. isi0n was received by the chairman on friday of last week and is as follows: tear Sir; Referring to the hearing held Sat rdaY, September 19, I would say thaf the ev 1 fence showed that you had acted entirely in ccordance with the law in withholding your pproval from the certificate to the compt -oI- 'r. 1t also showed that your action was not nly legal, but was warranted by the eondi- on of schools in the two districts (Gray's !ainS and Pootatuck)s specifically mention d. You certainly would have been rerniss in our duty as public officer if you had tailed } note the condition of those schools,
 The evidence showed that there had beer egleet of plain provisions of law and great regularity in the management of the schools the town, The returns to the state upou 'hich money is drawn for libraries appear to ave beon 'estimated," a practice nowhere lse attempted or thought of so tar Q s the ex- er1ence of this office goes. In no district ad any certificate of legality been required i ? the selectmen as 8 condition of payment money. K, Thls is not only 3 fax method of doing busi. esq, but opens the way for all kinds of abus- in the management of schools.