Imperial press and farmer., 1902-01-25
IMPERIAL VALLEY SCHOOLS

week, has opened the way for inter- ested parents and the school directors to present local school questions to them for some additional information, and as result of conferences some important steps are being taken.
 The most encouraging fact for the immediate future is that Superintend- ent Baldwin has arranged to have the present school continued for the full school year of nine months. The plan has heretofore been to have a six months term, but outside of regular ways money has been provided to con- tinue the school for the full year at its present quarters.
 This is good for the present, but 1t does not meet the requirements for the coming year, when there will be sev- eral hundred children anxious to att tend school, but scattered over d wide stretch of country, for which req son 1t is considered necessary to have four school districts under the Imperial irri- gation system for the next year, while even that number will necessarily be greatly increased within the next few years.
 The schools to be provided for the coming year will be located at Imper-. ial, Calexico, at or near Pariuga and at some point about three miles east of Blue Lake, the exact location of the two latter schools being determined by the center of population in the dis tricts. The growth of the towns of Imperial and Calexico has been such as to give permanency to the schools, and at each of those points school houses will be built. That at Imperial will probably be of brick, designed to be wing of a larger building when required, and the one at CaleXico will probably be on the same line.
 To maintain these schools an effort will be made to get the 70 miles of the Southern Pacific railroad in the county divided between the four districts. Tue reason for this is a logical one. The railroad has heretofore been di- vided between the mountain school districts. and has been subjected to special taxes to build school houses in most or all of those districts, though none of them are in country tributary tos tue railroad. The railroad company has expressed a desire to people of this valley to be put in districts i'll Imperial valley, which is tributary 10 the road, declaring it's willingness,to contribute to the building of schools, in. this. sec ton, where the road would share the benefit of the, schools. It is necessary to have the roads in these districts, be- cause it will be some years before the land filed on is proved up and is thus made subject to taxation. The noun tain districts are now provided for, and the time has come for building schools in the valley, .a ls, What will be a great surprise to many people is the fact that Imperial is i'll a union high school district: and that every dollars worth of property here is subject to taxation. for high school purposes. This district contains about 1000 square miles, and is probably the largest school district in the United States. The school house is located at Julian, about sixty miles northwest of Imperial. Any of our bright young people who so desire can walk over to Julian any morning and enroll them selves as pupils of the high school, re- turning in the evening. The Julian ! high school is very prosperous in stitution, because it has every mile of thev Southern. Pacific road in the county on which to levy taxes, although tue railroad runs from GO to 125 miles from the school house. Now 1t is oc- curing to many. people of Imperial and of the valley that since the valley has within it all the railroad which supports. the Julian high school, since all the property in this valley is subject to taxes for high school pur- noses and since it is impossible to get