The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-01-05

tricts to rent a team for one season Tor
s25 to cultivate a crop. Fifteen such
conveyances could convey all the children
/ in district who lived over two miles
from school For the present it depends
entirely upon the community whether
this conveyance is provided; any town
ship also has the privilege of voting a
sufficient tax to pay all expenses OF
TRANSFORMATION.
The next question was that of furnish
ing suitable and well equipped buildings
AS the matter stood it would take nearly
1900 to improve and equip the old
buildings. The board desired to have
very modern and we'll equipped buildings,
and the entire cost was estimated at
$4,000 for the county, or $1,000 for the
township. This would give a we'll ar
ranged five-room school building for the
white race, and three-room building
for the colored race, each supplied with
the double patent desks, black boards,
maps and charts. This is the maximum
cost after using the timber in the old
buildings. How was this money to be
raised? Let the county issue bonds ex-
actly as she does when a court house or
a railroad is to be built.
The next question asked was, who will
constitute the managing board for this
new school system? The law was so
amended as to allow the commissioners
of Clarendon county to elect a school
board consisting of ten members, one
from each township. The board was
elected but they knew absolutely moth
ing about organizing a graded school.
They needed superintendent. The. re-
sponsibility of the office had been so
much discussed that no man in Clarendon
county thought of applying. Even the
recent graduates who were going to
study law were modest enough to with
hold their applications The commits
sioners were careful; the people were
wondering. A mistake might set the
county back ten years. After much con-
sultation a young man who understood
graded work, who had made a thorough
study of the work was elected. He came
from a distant State-an act entirely un-
known heretofore-to elect a county SUI
perintendent from another county and
even from another State At first the
board thought it was compelled to elect
a member from Clarendon county, so
strong had the custom been.
II was not Sucn a Q1INCuIL matter now
to superintend. He had only ten schools,
and he could spend day every two weeks
in each. The next most important step
was to select the teachers for the differ
ent schools. This work fell largely upon
the superintendent. Now, no one ques
toned the ACCESSIBILITY o fsecuring the
best teachers. and they looked to the SUI
perintendent to decide. Before the posi-
ton was bestowed upon some needy young
lady or gentleman exactly as a commun
to the most worthy or needy widow of an
eX-Confederate. 1t seemed natural now
to question ones ability to teach. After
an extraordinary task Of studying and
grading teachers. the superintendent adj
vised with the board and the teachers
were selected. The superintendent was
responsible for the success of the school
and he was on the look out for efficient
teachers, whether they came from Clar-
endon or Cherokee. The superintendent
with his ten principals carried on con-
tinual educational campaign, and at the
end of the first year a special tax of
twenty cents was voted which was suf-
ficient to increase the length of term to
eight months, which would have been
impossible under the old system.
The next step though after electing the
teachers was to arrange a course of
study for the public schools 1t required
the whole year to complete the course.