People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1897-05-13

future boards OF trustees TO the wishes
OF the board Of education. The trus-
tees could not cOnscientiOusly do this.
and some of them so informed the
members Of the board of education
who were working with them 10 Sc
cure such concessions. Although it
was thoroughly understood by the
board of education before the Joint
meeting of the boards committee and
the high school trustees held at the
court house Tuesday afternoon that
the trustees would not submit to their
dlctatiOns, the school board were de-
termiDed to force them to this point.
and instead of the committee going
before the county commissioners who
were inSesSion a day and a half await.
ing them, they ClOSeted themselves
with the high school trustees and for.
tilted their position by q "fatherly so
llcltude" for the city schools and siez
ed upon every possible argument 10
bring the trustees of the high school
to their terms. The trustees con-
ceded or asSented to minor details
concerning the conduct of the high
school, but upon the question Of
allowing the board of education to in
terfere with their duties and right to
control the faculty, they were firm
and immOvable. The committee
finally saw that all further efforts to
influence the trustees W.uld be futile.
and they adjourned and left the
building. The board of trustees then
resolved to maintain their determine
alton to act as they pleased in all
matters pertaining to county high
school, and the board committee was
so Informed.
A final effort on the part of the
leader of the forces working to secure
control of the high school was made
in the evening before the adjourned
meeting of the board to consider the
question of leasing a building, when
one OF the trustees was approached
and Informed that unless they would
consent to allow the board to name
the faculty of the new high school
the thing would he killed straightway
and forthwith. He was informed OF
tie decided stand of the trustees and
the word was passed among the mem
berS of the board of education t.
knock the high school in the head
that evening on the question of leas.
ing them building.
The rest is matter of record. The
leaders Of the board of education had
several different FINDS of clubs up
their sleeves when the meeting was
held TueSd ~ night to listen to the
committees report, The county com.
mlSSiOnerS had a resolution before the
board declaring their willingness and
desire to lease building from the
city for period of sufficient length TO
warrant a strOng-hearted effort being
made for the success OF the enter
prise, with safety clause annuling
the lease by mutual agreement after
two years il it was seen that the prc.
ject would be failure. The cnmmls
SiOners' Willingness to Experiment
with high school and their ,uiici-
tude for It's success was ignured and
the board of education, with uener-
Gus fund of excuses on hand, succeed
ed in killing the high scnool On IA
lease technicalitY, but which was
really nothing else than a cOwardly
thrust in the back.
The action of the school board in
killing the high school is being COM
mended and condemned with about
equal fervOr, Those who uphold
tue board in Its action Tuesday
night, do so from point of inter
est in the city schools, and are not
acquainted with The Interior mo-
tiveS Of the persons whose inhu-
ence resulted in itS destruction.
The school board could have allowed
the trustees of the county high school
all their rightful prerOgativeS with
out sacrificing their interest in the
city high schools. The board of edu.
cation should have fully trusted in
the good judgment of the trustees in
electing a competent faculty. but
the demoqpgicll schemes Of few If
the members # the board to procure
jobs for their friends and obtain
power for themselves, is responsible
for the ignOminOus failure of the first
efforts to establish a high school in
Sumner county.