Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1910-03-04
Report Of the School Board to the
Legislative Delegation.

To the Honorable Senator and Members OF
the House of Delegates from Monteom-
cry county, Annapolis, Maryland.
Gentlemen Upon the invitation of your
predecessors to this Board and the County
commissioners, conference was held at
Annapolis two years ago for the purpose
OF deVising means for meeting urgent de-
mands for increased public school facilities
The concensus of opinion on that occasion
was that this Board should proceed to con-
serve the educational resources to the best
advantage, and that it would have the
support and cooperation of the County
Commissioners and the legislative delega-
ton in this regard, provided that no bonds
should be issued at that time.
Pursuant to the general plans formulated,
the School Donation Act was duly passed.
and the County Commissioners increased
the county levy for schools to $4,000 per
year. being an increase in the levy from
rs to 26 cents for schools. The former
provision has resulted in the erection of an
eight-roOm and basement brick structure
at Woodside, subject to an IS 900 mort
gage, and similar structure at Sandy
Spring, subject to a $4,000 mortgage.
This $13,0 900 Indebtedness is held by the
Savings Institution at Sandy Spring and
bears interest at per cent The dOna-
tons from the citizens for the first-men-
toned school were about $4,000 in cash,
besides the land. The donations at Sandy
Spring consisted of the old structure, which
constitutes a commodious assembly hall,
the school grounds with improvements,
and other donations in cash and hauling
valued at about $4,000.
| During the past two years the Board has
been able to complete two-room structures
near Glen Echo, Colesville, Montrose and
Clarksburg, and One-room structures at
Oakdale, Goshen, Middlebrook and Kings
Valley
PRESENT NEEDS.
II is necessary to construct two
room building at Burtonsville, one-room
building at Elmer. and a two-room build
| ing is greatly needed near Four Corners
Besides this, new building, with three or
four rooms, will have to be erected at or
near Germantown in a short time.
The Gaithersburg High School has been
supplied with steam heat but every avail
able space in that building, including the
basement, is now used for class rooms
and the manual training department in
that school had to be abolished for lack of
room.
All of the rooms in the MONTGOMERY
County High School are occupied including
two of the basement rooms. where manual
training and commercial courses are in
stalled This structure has no assembly
hall and no system of forced ventilation
The increase in the number of students
in this high school has been such that
there is urgent need for another teacher in
the High School department.
None of the five high schools in the
county are provided with much-needed
apparatus, especially for teaching physics
in a practical manner. The acceptance by
this Board of the voluntary offers of the
Andrew Small Academy at Jamestown,
with $500 per year income from endOw-
ment the Sherwood Academy at Sandy
Spring, and the Brookeville Academy at
Brookeville, with 5000 State appropriation
annually, has resulted in resuscitating all
three Of these institutions and in restoring
to the communities in which they are sew
orally located their former positions as
centers of secondary as well as primary
education.
The increase in the number of students
in each of these schools and of the facii-
ties required for proper teaching has served
to materially increase the cost of conduct
ing the public school system in this county
yet the buildings and income at barnes
town and BroOkeville are being utilized and
taxpayers are obtaining benefits not here
tofOre enjoyed and it is believed that this
Board has acted justly in utilizing the
school funds and buildings 50 placed at its
disposal Especially is this true of Brooke
vile, where there is fund of 5000 per
year which comes out of the State treasury.
HIGH SCHOOL Policy
a
school facilities in other portions of the
county removed from railroad facilities
Particularly is this true at Damascus and
Poolesville. At the latter place there is
one unused room in the present four-room
building, but at Damascus there are but
two rooms in the structure, and HIGH
school could not be established there with
out further building.
To accede to the demands for other rural
high schools would involve additional costs
for teachers, etc. at each place where such
schools should be established.
For many years past the children in the
lower section of the county have had little
difficulty in entering the high schools of
washington City, to which place transpOr-
tation facilities have been ample and com
paratively cheap. Therefore, MONTGOMERY
county has been relieved of the expense of
public school facilities in that section be-
yOnd the grammar school grades. Recently
the regulations for entrance by nOn-resi- |
dents of the Washington schools have be-
come more stringent. and this has resulted |
in decided demand for high school facili-
ties along both the steam and the electric |
railroads between Rockville and the Dis |
trict of Columbia.
In view Of the great expense of and the |
nj al al ha ~ 81 Al.
county in the payment for the Montgomery |
County High School at Rockville, this Board |
has not encouraged the establishment of |
high schools in those sections of the county |
from which students could gain ready ac-
cess to this school by rail and il still be- |
lieves that the best and most economical |
results can be attained by conducting one |
well-equipped high school at Rockville. TO |
which these students could travel by rail |
than to multiply the number of small high |
schools along the railroad to be attended |
by comparatively few students and no one |
OF which to be equipped and conducted in |
manner which could compare favOrably |
with the high schools Of Washington, with
which our citizens in this part OF the county |
are familiar.
The fact that students now attend this .
school from Derwood. Germantown, Boyds,
Buck Lodge and GAINESVILLE. with unsatis-
factory railroad schedules, is enough to
demonstrate that, with proper rates and
schedules, high school students could as
readily travel to Rockville from Montrose
and Bethesda on the electric line and Sill
yer Spring, Forest Glen, Kensingt0n and
Garrett Park on the steam line.
There are three difficulties in cOncen-
trating at the Montgomery County High
School the students residing alOnp lines of
transportation to and from Rockville, which
II is believed that the legislative represen-
tatives Of Montgomery county at this ses-
sion OF the General Assembly can do much
toward solving. namely:
~ EXCESSIVE Cost OF TRANSPORTATION.
While the schedule Of cars on the cleo
trio line is satisfactory, the rates are
prohibtive. The electric railway provides
communication rates between various points
on its line and Washington CITY but heinz