The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-27
ooRHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT
Denies the Right of the Town to Manage
Its Affairs.

An important bill in equity was pre-
sented to Judge Haskell of the Supreme
court yesterday. 1t was petition from
the inhabitants of school district number
one of Gorham for writ of mandamus
to compel the experimenting school COM
mittee of that town, which is made up of
Charles W. Deering, George R. Spinney,
Howard A. Mckinney, Solomon B.
Cloudman, John A. Hinkley, Frank l..
Whitney and. Augusta f. Kemp, to allot
to district number one the funds de-
manded by it and to allow the agent of
the district to expend the funds as he
may see fit, independent of the superin-
tending school committee.
This case involves the construction of
Chapter 216 of the public laws of 1898
which abolishes all school districts in the
State of Maine. By the same acts certain
exc options are made with reference to
school districts which hold property in
trust for the benefit of the district to be
expended for educational purposes and
for this purpose the corporate powers Of
the school districts holding trust property
are continued
AS soon as this act, abolishing the
school districts in the state, went into
effect the assessors of Gorham appraised
all the school buildings in the town in
Guiding the school property in district
number one. The town then took posses
sion of the school property thus appraised
and levied tax on the town as whole
and remitted to the inhabitants Of school
district number one the appraised value
of its school property. Under the act OF
1898, the management of schools and the
custody and care of all school property in
the town devolved upon the superin-
tendendin.. school committee. The school
district number one after having received
the value of it's property from the town,
amounting to t8115 claimed that they
were not abolished by the act of 1898 on
the ground that by the provisions of
chapter 454 and 461 of 1889, private and
special laws, certain special powers were
conferred upon school district number
one SO as to except said district from the
operation of chapter PIG abolishing the
school districts in the state.
The question as to the construction of
the law of 1893 as to whether school dis
trict number one has been abolished or
not has been the ground for controversy
between the select men of the town, dis
trict number one and the experimenting
school committee ever since the act of
1893 went into effect The town claims
to own the school property in district
number one which it has bought and paid
for. District number one claims that they
were not abolished as school district
with power by the act of 1898. The super
intending school committee claim the
right to the management of all the school
funds raised by the town and the allot-
ment of the same under their supervision
without dictation from the agent of
school district number one,
A hearing on this petition for writ
of mandamus was given yesterday morn
ing before Judge Haskell and ordered on
report to the Law court. John A. Water
man, Esq, and George B. Emery, ESQ,
of Gorham appeared as the attorneys for
the petitioners and John n. Togg, ESQ.,,
for the respondents.