Arizona republican., 1904-01-09
THE HIGH SCHOOL Some Figures Which Are
 Taken From Records
Some Facts Also Showing How the School Came to be Put Into Such "a Hole.

The most interesting topic in Phoe- nix at this time is the financial condi-
 ton of the hgh school district, to which reference was made by The Republi- can yesterday under the. head of Tn
 a Deep Hole" It was also mentioned that a call for a meeting next Monday night had been issued for the purpose of considering the business of voting an Issue of bonds to the amount of
 S2O. 900. There is a disposition in some quarters to criticize the board of su-' pervisors for the present state of af- fairs but it appears that the beard has rot been illiberal, but there has been bad management on the part of the school board for more than year. There is now about S9OO for the pay ment of the expenses of the school fos the rest of the year. That will really pay the expenses for. about a month, and what will happen after that will depend upon the action of the voters I.of the district There is nothing theI l board of supervisors can do nov. It was mentioned that the superin- | tendent of public instruction in his es- timate to the board at the beginning of the year, requested that the sum of about S19,OO0 be set aside for the use
 of the school. The board knew that no such sum was necessary; that while any appropriation that might be made , by the board would not be wasted orI frittered away. it was net believed to be wise to tie up more money than was needed in fund. The tax levy for the maintenance of the high school had been for the ,,-o,-io,,c ,-aaf Sar-aDtaau car1tc or1 each S1O0 The board increased the levy toI eighteen cents. which would produce for the high school s1Q7 73S. At the snd of last year the treashrer had collect ed of this sum $s,1S276. This lefr a bal ance for the years 19O3-4 of s1.555.65. There was Still due and uncollected for the year 1902 S1.609, making altc-
 gether 12.33S.41. which would have
 been available for the use of the school
 by the time it shouuld be needed.
 The monthly expenses of the school
 for. salaries for teachers and for :he
 janitor is SSSS. Up to the time that it
 s-as found that the school was in a
 hole it would have required s4.44O to meet the expenses of the school for the remaining five months of the year. There was on hand at the beginning of this year the sum of S4.61S.27 for that
 purpose so that at the end of the year there would have remained to the credit of the high school Sl7S-27, not taking into account at all' the balance
 of the delinquent tax still to be eel lected by June 1 of this year.
 That amount will undoubtedly be collected by that time and the expenses of the school will be met but there
 will be no money much before that to .t aI-, .,T Io
 CTS beyond the present month
 The board chose to buy bloek of
 ground immediately north of the high school building and in doing so it acted
 with it's eyes open and against the warning of the board of supervisors. The members Of the school board call 'ed upon the board O: supervisors al the time the real estate deal was in
 contemplation and wanted a fund set aside for that purpose. The supervisors said that they could do nothing: that they were only authorized to provide fer the maintenance of the high school and they could no more provide for the purchase of ground by tax lew than they could undertake to build schcel house. The supervisors suggest ed to the school board that if the ground were actually needed as had been represented to put up stalls upon for stablipg the horses of pupils that a bond election be called.
 Thomas F. Dalton, the spokesman of the school board, replied that the peo- pie of the district would never vote the bonds. The supervisors then said that there was the greater reason, if the. people of the district felt that way fer not setting aside any fund for that purpose, and which could not be done anyhow without violation of the law.
 The matter of the purchase of this ground was never after that brought to the nctice of the board of supervis- ors, but the ground was purchased.I for the sum of S3,6O0 and a warrant for that amount was drawn against the maintenance fund, leaving. as has been mentioned, SSSS for the rnainten- ance of the school for the remaining five months of the year.
 In 1900 the high school had deficit
 Of s1,SOO and the board made a levy
 Of nineteen cents, which maintained the school for that year and paid S1 200
 of the deficit In 1902 the board reduced
 the levy to seventeen cents, and that
 not only maintained the school for
 nine months of that year, but still fur ther reduced the deficit by $500
 On account, however, of the law passed by the last legislature relating to the collection Of delinquent taxes i the immediate collection was prevent ed and deficit of $500 was occas- toned.
 The levy. for 19O3-4, eighteen cents was, however, sufficient to wipe out
 the deficit and maintain the school
 until the end of the present year, but fer the deversion of S, 500 of the main- tenance fund for the purchase of that block of ground. No complaint has been made that the ground was not needed. but there is very serious complaint
 that 1t was not acquired in a business lflxn