The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-08
PRATT CITY HAS
 PROBLEM TO SOLVE
MORE SCHOOL ROOM AND ADDl- TIoNAL FACILITIES NEEDED. OPEN LETTER ISSUED TO THE PUBLIC.

Pratt City, May 7,-(special.)Th board of education of Pratt City has addressed an open letter to the citizens. stating the true status of conditions now confront ing the people of Pratt City with ref erence to the public schools" The letter in full follows:
 Pratt City, May 4, 1907.
 Dear Sir and Frend:-We, the board of education of Pratt City, desiring that the people of the city should know some thing of the conditions with which we are confronted in the development and management of the schools of the city, have caused this letter to be issued, be- lieving that full knowledge of the true status of conditions now confronting the people of our city in the development and growth and the financial demands of a growing city, will cause every patriotic citizen who has the real welfare of the city at heart to give his support to any worthy effort to better the educational facilities of the community
 In order that fuller understanding of the present situation of your school board may be had in the management of the public schools, 1t is necessary that some statistics be given to show why the schools are in need of more funds to
 
 ing demand of our city.
 The schools of Pratt City were organ zed and put under the present regula- tions and system in 1894. The number of teachers employed that year was seven and the number of pupils enrolled was 3SS. The amount of funds received that year from all sources was $57O0O; the run ming expenses of the schools for that year were S2S00 leaving a balance on hand of $29nO when the Third Street school build ing was burned in May, 1895. Three years later in 1897, the total receipts from all sources was $S000, the running expenses of the school were $4700, leaving balance on hand of S33O0 The number of teachers that year was ten, and the number of pupils enrolled was 59S. Two years later in 1899. when the city license was at it's highest the receipts from all sources were $11 200 The running expenses for that year were $6500, leaving balance on hand of S4700. The number of teachers was twelve and the number of pupils was 743. Tn the fall of 1899 the High school building was begun and completed the following year and the number of teachers was increased to eighteen, while the en- rollment of pupils was 979. Up to the year l9O3 all the surplus fund was expended in the purchase of three sites and the erection of the three school buildings now owned by the city In the year 1903 the
 
 and the running expenses were $s500 leav- ing a surplus of only S1S1 This surplus was not sufficient to keep the buildings in repair and before the next session began money had to be borrowed to begin the session with.
 Since that time the board has had to borrow funds more or less every year and if it had not been for the onemil tax levied by the county there would now have been deficit of several thou sand dollars on hand or the schools could have been run only about six months each year since. The receipts for the present year will approximate $105OO and the expenses for the present year will amount to about the same after all the necessary expenses have been paid. A surplus in our treasury is a thing of the past so long as our receipts are not in- creased. We have now twenty teachers employed and up to the present month 1f25 pupils have been enrolled, an increase over last year of over 130. The teachers have had from fifty to ninety pupils to