Cherokee scout. [volume] (Murphy, N.C.) 188?-1961, 1908-08-04
County Board of Education.
lCo3,ti,s1ed from paae ore

(Co5atfaaued from page one1
the first Monday in January, 1908.
the board, in considering the ques-
tod of the number of teachers re-
CURED and the amount of money
that would be needed, called Mr 4.
Rice, chairman of the county com.
missIoners, before it and explained to
him what it was doing and asked
him how much il would take to run.
his school, when be stated that it
would take SO per month, for they
should have two teachers at that
school, as it was a hard school to
govern. The matter was deferred
for final action untilzthe meeting of
the county board, held the first Mon
day in June, 1908, when the board
had before it Prof. James M Lovin-
good, who had once been comfy
superintendent and who has been an
active teacher in the county for a
number of years, and went with him
carefully over every district in the
county, fixing the number of teach
ers and the amount necessary TO s'Fiia-
the different schools in the county,
and after careful consideration of the
question, with the advice and assist
ance of this experienced man, re-
quested the county commissioners to
levy sufficient tax TO run the schools
of Cherokee county four months.
Every member of the board has
guarded carefully the interests of
the tax payers and the school chill
dren. 1t must be borne in mind that
all things that are worth having ne
cessarily costs US some effort and
some money,
/ note in the letter that has been
published that it says the school
committeeman have been "comman-
6ed'' to employ good teachers. /
fail to find anywhere that any com
mand has been issued by the county
board of education or the county sup
erintendent. The letter that was
sent out by the county superinten
dent was submitted to The board of
education before the same was print
ed and it was approved and still
stands approved. The county super
intendent undertakes to record cor
rectly all orders that are made. He
has been superintendent for nearly
five years. lie accepted the posi-
ton with great reluctance, and l
know of my own personal knowl-
edge that he devotes a great deal of
his time to the advancement of edu-
cation in Cherokee county, and is
ever watchful in guarding the inter
ests of the schools. He never hest
tates to call upon me for'advice upon
any question that arises during The
vacation between the meetings of
the board, and I believe that an in
spection of the records of the office
will find that all accounts have been
accurately kept, all communications
courteously answered and every at
tentlon given that one could wish.
That he may make mistakes like any
other person is but natural, but il
would be but just to him and the
county board of education that be-
fore any criticism is made as to the.
actions of the county board of edu-
cation that inquiry should be made
as well as an inspection of the re-
cords. l have not undertaken to
give a detailed statement of the
financial affairs of the school. This
will appear later in a detailed report
made by the county superintendent.
[ do not know to whom Messrs.
Rice, Martin and Hill refer when
they say, "But men who have no tax
to pay and live easy don't mind hard
times" / have taken the pains to
inspect the tax books of the county
and find that the members of the
Board of Education pay $16.16 and
The Superintendent pays Sc 81 gen
eral school tax, and Mr.. A. Rice pays
$500, Mr. C. B. Hill 1919 and Mr..
w. ]. Martin $3.50 general school
tax. If it be that the members of
the County Board of Education are
not so wealthy as the members Of the
Board of County Commissioners it
is their misfortune, but take it that
they try to perform their duties with
as much integrity as do the county
commissioners.
l have avoided casting any refecs
tions upon any one, for l do not wish
to do any such thing. But for the
fact that erroneous statements were
made in the letter published, / would
not have SAID a word. Think, how
ever, that the people of the county
should be informed correctly as to
the status of affairs. The people
may rest assured that it will always