East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-04-18

Frank X. Welles, county school su-
perintendent, does not take the gloomy
view of the county school situation
expressed IN the recent Tribune edi-
torial, and declares the statements
made in that paper do not tell the
entire story. According to Mr.. Welles
but one district in the county has been
forced to suspend operations since he
has been in office. This was district
107, near Meacham, which he ruled
out because of insufficient enumera-
ton.
From Choice, Not Necessity.
Regarding the schools that have
been suspended during that time, he
says In every instance the step was
taken not through necessity, but in or
der to secure better and longer schools
through cooperation. BY combining
the schools OF two small districts a
better teacher could be secured and
longer term taught than was form
erly possible. That there should be
fewer rural schools and better ones,
has been the plea of educators for
years and when the small districts of
this county united they merely car
ried out the recommendations of ed
ucational leaders.
Within the past few years the fol-
lowing districts have suspended their
schools and are sending their children
to adjoining ones: District II, near
Athena: district 3, near Athena; dis
trict 81, near Pendleton; district 32,
near Juniper; district 81, near Adams,
and district 90, at Nye. That suspen-
sion was not forced" upon these dis
trlcts Is shown by the enumeration at
the time. The largest district to sus-
pend was No. 81, which contained 23
children of school ages, while the
smallest was No. so, which had but
eight. The other districts had be-
tween 10 and 20 pupils at the time OF
suspension, whereas but six is neces-
sary to keep a school going.
Decreased Population a Factor.
But while the above named districts
were not forced to close through de-
creased population. Mr.. Welles says
that loss of population had a bearing
upon the subject. In general he says
the wheat section of the county has
gone backwards with regards school
attendance. Aside from the schools
that have suspended, Athena has dis
pensed with one teacher and next
year Ukiah, in stock country, will
have but one instead of two teachers
Many Districts Gain.
But on the other hand the Vincent
and Ferndale districts, in the Milton
country, have each added a teacher.
Echo will add one next year; Hermis-
ton is seeking a school: Helix needs
another teacher badly, and four new
teachers were added to the Pendleton
corps last fall.
According to Mr.. Welles the losses
which some districts have sustained
within the past few years have been
more than balanced by the gains in
other districts. That the attendance
for the entire county is increasing at
a healthy rate is shown by the coun-
ty enumerations for the past five
years, which were as follows: 1900,
5S3s; 1902, 6073; 1908. 6393; 1904,
GAPS: 1905, 6421.
Town Schools Preferred.
According to Superintendent Welles
the general tendency of late years has
been for farmers to send heir child
rem to adjoining town schools in pref
erence to those in the country. By
this course the children have been
given the benefit of a nine months
school under better teachers than
could generally be secured for the
country. Many farmers from all parts
of the county now live In Pendleton
and the other towns during the winter
for the purpose Of sending their
children to school, Naturally this
tendency has weakened the country
schools and strengthened those in the
towns. However, 1t has furnished
better school advantages for the chill
dren, and consequently from an edu-
cational standpoint is step In the
right direction.