Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-02
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
New Board of Education May Do Away
 With Compulsory Vaccination.

With Compulsory Vaccination.
 The board of education has started
 in to annul the rule of the department which makes vaccination compulsory
 among the children and the officials of the schools. Commissioner Wooster
 made the motion that started the mat
 ter going, and it was rumored during
 the election last fall that the object MT Wooster had in getting on the
 board of education was to remove this compulsory vaccination rule. Accord | ing to the rules it would require two thirds vote of the board last evening i to carry Commissioner Wooster's mo- l tion, there not being q full board pres ent, so he made an amendment to the
 motion tabling 1t until the next meet 1 ing when it is expected there will be full board on hand and when, there fore, it will require only a majority 1 vote to carry his object through. The motion to abolish the vaccina- ! ton rule was seconded by Comnis- sioner Mcdonald and Commissioner Wooster said he had been requested by a number of people who have chfl- dren in private schools to bring this matter before the board. Personally he was opposed to the rule because of the results of vaccination that came l under his own observation. People, he said, are more afraid of vaccination to-day then they are of smallpox. With this the matter was temporar- 1 fly dropped. The rule in question re- quires that all children, and school of fcia1s who have not been vaccinated | within five years shalll not be allowed ! in the public schools during a period 1 of smallpox. Mayor Elton presided at the meeting which was over before
 9 o'clock. An application from Mabel ! Benham for a position as kfndergart-
 en teacher was filed. Miss Benham will graduate from the Normal school in June.
 Reports from the truant officer and | inspector of school buildings were ac-
 cepted.
 | On the matter of truancy Superin- tendent Tinker said the uniform of
 the new truant officer was the best | thing out. The idea of having him
 wear a uniform, (which came from
 Commissioner Chapman) was one of the best things in local school legisla-
 ton for many years. MT Tinker was l high in praise of the idea.
 Superintendent Tinker was allowed $60 and the last week in this month to | attend the meeting of the national as-
 sociation of school superintendents
 which takes place in Atlanta. Commissioner Larkin moved that the city engineer draw up plans for | heating and ventilating the new Elm ] street and the Bank street schools. The motion was opposed by Commis- sioner Phelan on the grounds princi- Dally that Engineer Cairns had his hands full and that the department should not experiment further. It was not the engineers work to do such
 work as proposed. Commissioner Phe-
 Ian thought this would be the work of
 the architect of the new school. Commissioner Larktn replied that
 the work proposed Is the work of the
 engineer and that he ought to do all such work, in which Mayor Elton agreed with him. The matter drew out some further expressions in the line mentioned after which the motion
 was put and lost.
 s~ But Commissioner Larkin was on deck the next moment with a motion that the city engineer be instructed to draw up heating and ventilatfng plans for the Bank street school This
 motion was passed.
 Another motion of Con- Lar kin appointing E. S. Hickcox school carpenter and George Rice his assist
 ant was tabled, it being out of order. It seems that the committee on school houses and hygiene consisting of Commissioners Larkin, Griggs and Lawlor should have all been at the
 meeting at which the above appoint
 ments were agreed upon, and that their recommendation came from
 Commissioner Griggs to Commission CT Larkin without Commissioner Law Tor knowing anything about 1t, where as, according to the rule the whole committee should have been conver- sant with the matter. It was there fore irregulsr and ruled out. An application from William J. Mr1l- vey for an appointment as janitor was
 fled
 The question of insura nee on school | buildings, was then discussed, Mayor | Elton considering that the rate was | rather high considering the risks in ! cured. He thought it 8 matter that ! deserved the attention of commits 1 sion of the foremost business men in
 the city. However, nothing was done
 with it for the present. The pay rolls
 and bills were then approved and the
 board adjourned subject to the call of
 the chair, as the plans for heating and | vent1lating the Bank street school
 may be ready before the time for the
 next regular meeting arrives. The report of Truant Officer Leroy | for the past month created some com
 nent at the meeting of the board of ! education last evening. The report is 1 as follows:
 have investigated one hundred and
 eighty complaints, and found forty 1 seven of these were sick and eight
 were truants, and one hundred he'd
 not proper clothing or shoes, and
 twenty-five were kept out on account of sickness.
 received the above complaints
 from the different schools as follows:
 35 from Clay street school.
 25 from Crosby Grammar school.
 IS from Barnard street school.