The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-05-13
The County Public school.

The annual memorial of the Bead OF
School Commissioners has been filed in the
office OF the County Commissioners. 1t con.
tairs their full estimate OF the funds necessary
for the conduct Of the department for the
coming year, and is unusually explicit in its
statement. They ask for the appropriation of
81. 1855, in order to carry on successfully the
work which has progressed so favorably as to
place Hartford county in the front rank in
everything connected with the extremely i'm
portant subject of education.
The memorial contains many statements
which are and should be very gratifying to
the taxpayers; and in order to more thorough
" comprehend them it is necessary to under
stand the exact figures which although Lot
embodied in the paper. are an essential part
OF it. There are at present under the direct
control of the School Commissioners, eighty
FIVE schools for white children and twenty
schools for colored children, making a total
of one hundred and five schools, with an en-
rolment for single term Of 4,727 white
pupils and 1,011 coored pupils, taught by a
corps of one hundred and sixty four teachers.
And so thoroughly is the system Of education
as conducted at present that the free schools
have virtually forced all other schools out Of
existence, or they have, as is instanced in the
Bel Air, Havre de Grace and Darlington
Academies been merged into the county
schools.
The moral which is plainly deducei from
the above statement is obvious, viz. the
County Commissioners in granting the amount
asked for, can do so with the full understand
ing and assurance that the fund levied for
will inure not to any particular school or
| class of pupils, but to the whole school going
population, the men and women of tomorrow.
Another strong point is made when the an
nouncement is made, that the work in Har-
ford county is done at minimum cost, con-
sidering its character, as no county in Mary
land has so large ratio of strictly profess
sional teachers. 1.-The average cost of educa-
tion in the State, per pupil, was SILL. In
Hartford it was SlO.50, and this with a<year
seventeen days longer than that OF the State
at large.
Our neighboring county, (Baltimore) receiV-
ed from the county fund $ll2.l 1873 to educate
| 1863 pupils. Hartford county received $4,000
to educate 6.645 pupils. The ratio was ST.26
per pupil in Baltimore county and $G.08 in
Hartford"
fact set out in the memorial, and one
| which must be met squaIely, is the school
house question. The records of the School
Board show that there has been hardly
meeting of the Board during the year at
| which a demand has not been made for the
| improvement of several OF the school houses,
and in many instances for the establishment
| of schools in new localities and the consequent
erection of new buildings. This necessarily
entails upon the county an additional expense
| which must be provided for by the County
Commissioners. And it is folly 10 keep ward
ing it off, The items which go 10 make up
the sum Of $67 500 which the School Board
considers absolutely essential for the proper
| carrying on of the schools, and of which sum
| enough is provided for to reduce it to the
amount of $42.9 which they asked to have
| appropriated, include the sum of $500 for
| repairs. This is a cOmparatiyly small fund
| to keep the one hundred aud five schools in
| habitable condition and with the most rigid
economy barely sufiices. Our county has
/ inc past sCOle vi years IdNcu y.
| rapid strides toward the front rank, and 1t
should be the pride of every citizen of bar
ford to not only help her to maintain her
| position, but to advance further.
| Demands have come from nearly every
district for new or additional buildings.
| During the last two years much has been
done in this direction, but there is still much
to do. AT the meeting of the Board held on
May 4th last past, strong petition was filed
asking for the establishment OF a new school
at d point in the third district about
a mile Southeast of Benson and not long
since a demand was made for one which
would cover the large and thickly populated
district lying between the Black Horse, Dry
| Branch and Kirkwood schools in the fourth
district.
If We would keep abreast of the times and
provide our children with the educational adj
vatages upon which really hinge the future of
our State aud county, We cannot afford to
adopt or pursue policy the result OF which
would even in the near future prove us to be
penny wise and pound foolish. Taking
everything into consideration the amount
asked for by the School Board is very
moderate one and we trust that there will be
no hesitancy in granting It,