The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-08
CUT THE SUIT TO THE CLOTH
PROBLEM IN TAILORING THAT
C0NFRONTS INSPECTORS
h'eouctfon of $4,000 in the Budget
VIII Compel Some Very Careful
Figuring on the Part of the City
directors - Branch High
schools May Be Sacrificed for
Grammar Grades.

To meet the cut Of $4,000 in tho
school budget proposed at a recent
meeting Of the city council. 1t will he
necessary for the board of school in
spectors to do some intricate flnan-
cler1ng to make the school account
come out on the right side of the ledger
at the close Of the next school year
Berore the budget was passed upon
by the board and transmitted to tho
mayor by President Zimmerman. a
schedule OF the amounts required to
run the several branches of the edu-
cational system Of ST. Paul was pre-
pared and carefully examined by the
board. At the time the schedule was
published by The Globe. and the
board at a special meeting few DAYS
later voted to consolidate the academic
departments Of the Mechanic Arts and
the Central high school in the Central
building and move the technical depart
ment Of the former institution into a
rented building on Minnesota street
formerly used by Hallowell & Co.
After this action was taken the bud
get was submitted to the proper city
officials. and 1t was with an eye to
economy that the board asked for an
appropriation of $462, 000 after 1t had
MADE what retrenchment 1t could by
consolidating the two schools, which
erected saving of $4,000 and relieved
to moderate degree the crowded con-
dition of the graded schools in the
Eighth and Ninth wards.
Last year the pay rolls Of the teach
ers' salaries amounted to 1884,, 0O0 hut
the board asked in the budget for an
additional $4,000 to enable them to
raise the salaries of all teachers who
had taught for certain period at
salary less than $50 per month. The
budget also included an item of S25, coo
Tor repairs. Last year $4,000 was ex-
pended in repairing the buildings, but
much of the work that should have
been done was put off another year
and many Of the buildings are in a
very bad state of repair
The friends Of the Mechanic Arts,
while not unmindful Of the fact that
the board has been compelled to adopt
measures to meet the emergency, yet
feel that the Mechanic Arts school
has been Disseminated against, as
the board did not in any way curtail
the functions of either the Humboldt
or the Cleveland high schools.
Inspector McGill, seen by The
G b e, said: 81 think the time has
come when no further retrenchment
can be made in teachers salaries, and,
II the council does not appropriate
enough money to run the schools, why.
am in favor of maintaining the sys-
tenn as long as the appropriation holds
us to run the schools in their entirety"
The board is not a unit on the ques-
ton Of closing the schools before the
close Of the term, as it appears to be
decidedly unpopular with the patrons
of the schools, aside from the fact that
st. Paul would go on record as follow
ing in the footsteps of Minneapolis on
the school question. There are those
who favor the closing of the Humboldt
and the Cleveland high schools until
there is an increase in the assessed
valuation of the city, or a measure
passed by the legislature which will
increase the tax levy for school pur-
poses.
This measure may yet be adopted to
save the grammar schools in view of
the radical reduction by the council of
the amount first estimated by the
board. The last superintendent report
shows that less than 10 per cent of the
school children ever enter the high
schools, and a very small percentage
Of them attend the branch high schools,
and about rs per cent leave the gram
mar grades before entering the high
schools.
There are four members of the board,
constituting a majority, who are de-
cidedly opposed to any proposition
which will have a tendency to curtail
or injure the grammar schools in any
way. If it comes to choosing between
the grammar schools and the branch
high schools, those members may sac
rifice the branch high schools to gave
the grammar schools, which are credit
ed with 80 per cent Of the school popu-
latiOn of the city