The Donaldsonville chief., 1911-09-09
SCHOOL BOARD PROCEEDINGS
Official Minutes of Special Meeting
OF Parish School, Directors-In-
teresting Report Submitted by
supt. J. /. Rusca.

al'SH ocnooi DirectorS-fr
teresting Report Submitted b
Supt. J. L. Rusca,
Donaldsonville, La, Sept. 6, 1911. :
, The school board of Ascension pat
lsh met this day in special session
, with Henry G. Braud, president DR.
TEN, in the chair, and the folloWin,
members present: w. B. Stuart. Pros
per Rodriguez, ST., George Bergeron
Albert Albert Muller. ABSENT. P. Melan
con, J. E. Walker, E. N, Pugh.
The minutes of the last precedins
meeting were read and adopted.
The superintendent submitted thu
following report:
10 the Honorable President ane
Members of the School Board:
Gentlemen:-I beg to submit the
following reprt of teachers insti
tutes held in the parish during the
school session of 191O-11. | wish tc
call your attention particularly tc
my activity in this feature of school
supervision, having conducted in per
son a greater number of such teach.
ers' meetings than were ever held in
the parish during any one school year
previous to this time.
/ In order to facilitate the work. the
parish, as you know, is divided into
two institute districts, known as the
/ New River district and the Donald
I sonvllle district. Two joint meetings
of the teachers of the two districts
We're held, on in Donaldsonville on
Friday and Saturday, Sept 9 and
| 10, with 5S teachers present and 8
absent2 and the other in Gonzales
on Friday, March 81, with 63 teach
ers present and absent.
Besides these two joint meetings
of the two branches, four other meet
ings were held in the New River sec
ton at St. Amant, Dutchtown, Cal
| basse and Johnson schoolhouses, with
So teachers present and Z absent on
Saturday, Oct. %; 80 present and 10
absent Saturday, Nov. rs; 81 present
and absent Friday, Dec Is, and ~
present and 13 absent Friday, Feb. 10
Five meetings We're held in Donald
sonyille, with "a teachers present and
3 absent on Saturday, Oct 8: 23 pres
ent and 4 absent Saturday, Nov. 12;
23 present and absent Saturday,
Dec. 10; rs present and 2 absent Sat
urday, Jan. 81, and 25 present and 2
absent Saturday, Feb. TO-
You will note from the presence
and absence records of these meet
ings that the teachers deserve great
credit for the splendid school spirit
eyemDlified by their attendance in
such large numbers This must cen
vince us that the teaching force en-
gagged during the past year compares
favorably with that of previous years
and with similar bodies in other par
ishes. Our teachers seemed to real
ize the necessity of building up pro
2fessio1l DWledge, spirit and en-
shusiasm, and their duty to the schools
and the communities they were serv.
ing. Some Of the teachers were SO
situated in. Isolated communities
that oasent of lack Of a convey
ancei or impossible roads during the /
greater part of the session they |
were forced to remain away from the |
meetings. Again, some absences were |
due to sickness. I feel safe in stat
ing that rarely ever was a teacher
absent through lack of interest in |
legitimate excuse. To my personal
knowledge as a result of excuses OBJ
tanned for absences, but one teach
er voluntarily absented herself from
an institute in order to crafty her
personal desire for pleasure, and this
teacher l have refused to consider
FOR unemployment.
While the institute laws give the
school boards the authority to pay
teachers 50 per day and mileage
when in attendance at institutes On
SATURDAYS, and when institutes are
held en- Fridays the day is counted
for the teacher the same as taught,
| did not feel justified, knowing as /
did the condition of the school fin
ances, in recommending such acton
10 the board. | therefore deemed it
fair in the conduct of the Institutes
to hold half of the meetings on Fri
days and half on Saturdays.
Again nile the institute laws
empower boards with the authority
TO deducp from teachers salaries fc.
non-attendance at meetings, l did
not consider this a fair or a wise
plan, especially when the meetings
were held on Saturdays. I do not
believe that any good results accrue
10 the school system from such
procedure. A teacher can sometimes inE
this way be driven to attend an inst
ute against her will, but she is.
present in body only and rot in
spirit, and not only does she take no
interest or part in the proceedings
hat will benefit her Or her CO.
workers, but she is very apt to drum
10 trouble among the teachers. The
,eacher who, in attending institutes,
s not actuated with the proper mo-
i've or spirit and who must be forced
o attend when such work is clearly
or her own improvement and for ,,
he advancement Of the schools Of tn
parish, should have no place in the
seaching corps of any parish. 1t is
1t the Institutes that the work CT the
schools is systematized, unified and
narrnonized, and every teacher who !
IS made to attend against ter will is
4