Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-02-15
Necessity of Additional school
Rooms.

4JiIoN-ll k1EAEpoA lIA-tl ~
In accordance with action of the
Board at its last regular meeting, the
/ Butler School Board. desires 10 direct
/ public attention to the necessities which
/ confront the Board.
We now have schools in five ,5J rooms
entirely unfit for that purpose and sad
/ ly needed for the uses for which
| they We're originally intended. These
| are as follows Two recitation rooms
/ in the Springdale building, one recita-
/ tation room in jefferson street bulldIng,
and two rooms in the Jefferson street
annex. The above recitation rooms now
being used as school rooms, without
proper ventilation. lighting or equip
ment. violate the simplest hygienic re-
quirements and render satisfactory
school work impossible The jefferson
annex was built as a janitOr's residence
and serves scnool purposes as lily as
such a structure would be expected -
do 1t Is poorly ventilated, can not b.
properly heated, affords bad lighting,
and its floors are not mutfied 50 that Il
is almost impossible to conduct reel
tation IN one room while a class is NOV
ing in the other.
These facts disclose the immediate
imperative need of five additional schOo!
rooms. In addition to this the Board
has under consideration the addition OF
q business course to the High School
cirriculum This with the increased
enrolment in High School next year
will render necessary an additional two
rooms for High School purposes
To sum up then, without providing
for the inevitable growth of our school
population and without providing for
relief Of the crowded condition IN some
Of our schools at present, we are in need
of seven additional rooms 1t Is pro
posed to secure this needed room IN the
following manner. On account OF the
lack of room in Springdale It Is neces-
sary to bring the pupils from that part
OF the town 70 the Mexican street build
ing when they have completed but little
more than half of their work below the
High School. As a result of this cOndi-
ton there are near 80 Springdale pupils
in the Mexican street building at the
present time BY building an addition
OF four rooms to the SpriEgdale build
ing. it will be possible to retain these
DuDils on the South Side and also do
away with the schools in the recitation
rooms there. The removal Of the
Springdale pupils from the McKean
street building will give the High
School opportunity to expand and take
on a business course. The erection of
four-room building on Institute Hill
will make il possible 10 do away with
the jefferson annex, which can be de-
voted to its designed use, the JanltOr )
residence; also to abandon the school IN
the jefferson recitation room, and pro
vide one room for the reception of the
increasing school population of this
portion of the city.
To look at the matter from ano5her
point OF view, with au enrolment OF
1850 below the High School, we have 81
school rooms constructed Tor th3t pur-
pose. thus giving an average OF over ~
pupils 10 Il room. True, we are con-
ducting school in five rooms entirely
uufit for such purpose and at the ex
pense of the health and the future wei
fare of the children. And while con
sjderiug these facts we must bear In
mind that all educators agree that no
teacher can do justice to more than 40
pupils under the most favorable CIR
cuinstances. Taking this basis as a
standard we are in present need OF II
additional school rooms, not taking INTO
consideration the pressing needs OF the
High School and the contemplated busl-
ness course.
The bare recital of these facts is GER
tainly sufficient to show that the School
Board has deferred action as long as
possible and now comes before the pen-
ple with the only feasible proposition to
make it possible to maintain the hlgh
standard of our schools.
Now. the situation, financially, that
confronts the Board is briefly as fol
lows: Additional school facilities are
demanded by the crowded AMI improper
condition of present accommodations
Under these circumstances, aside from
the Directors doing their sworn duty,
the residents Of the district can compel
the Board to provide further accom-
modations The Board, having luvestl-
gated these matters and recognizing
their necessity. have but two courses OF
action open to them.
In order to complete and add TO pres
ent buildings and erect new one,
which viii be imperative IN the near
future and to fund the tioatlng lndeot-
edness which was incurred III DulidlhS
an addition to the Mexican street build
ing. the Board must, by the first course,
levy 1t special building tax during the
next fiscal year OF sufilclent nlliaSeL
probably 10 mills in conjunction with
InG regular SCHOOl hciN NiilSAA ~
mills. Thus the necessary funds could
be provided, but the raising of such an
additional school tax in one year, must
of necessity, in most cases, prove burden
some. And it must be in one year as
the present indebtedness is up to the
leral limit and cannot be further in
creased except by a vote of the district
The other course is indicated by the
action of the Board leading up to the
submission of this question to the peo-
nIe The Board does not deem 1t wise
or best to raise the necessary funds In
the first way, believing that, because
these improvements, etc, are perman-
ent, future residents and the coming
generation, for whose especial beneht
these improvements are made, should
also help to pay them. The Board,
therefore, proposes, rs 1t has advertised
in the election notice. to take the only
other way of accomplishing the high
ends for which our schools exist. The
Board asks the electors Of this district
to authorize by their ballots II two per
centum increase of the bonded lndebt-
edpess. This will raise in round figures,
SO 900 Taking from chat amount the
SlO. 600 of floating debt which Will be
wiped out by bonds of like amount,
there will remain $40, 600 for building
purposes. With that sum at the dis
cretion of the Board, the school taclll-
tie. of this district will be secured for
number of years and payment for same
extended over a period of thirty years
instead of one.
The Board, most emphatically, does
not propose to issue bonds needlessly or
to the full amount of this increase at
present, but will issue as needed only
such amounts as are absolutely necces-
sary and as future necessities demand.