The Brunswick news., 1912-02-11
ANNUAL REPORT
IS SUBMITTED
TO THE BOARD
PRESIDENT WOOD OF BOARD OF
EDUCATION, TELLS OF WORK
OF THE SCHOOLS.

Full.

Among other items connected with
school administration which was TAX
en- up at the last meeting of the board
of education, the chairman OF the
board presented the following
In making my annual report to
your honorable body it seems but
right that l should take in some items
of interest and Importance in school
work; things which have been done,
in a great many instances under great
difficulties, and especially would i re-
fer just now to the matter of financ-
ing school efforts and of the indebt-
edness which is hanging over the
board at the present time.
For a great number of years the
board had worked along with a rea-
sonable deficit at the end of each
year: one which they could see their
way clearly through, but in the past
two years, owing to the construction
of the High School building, debt
of about $1S,000 has accumulated
which up to the last few months had
seemed as if it would be a hinder
ance to our school movement for
some time to come. 1t must not be
understood that this $4,000 represents
a real deficit on the school building;
as a matter of fact when the board
started the work of the High School
building they had in hand some $685.
900, but owing to financial difficulties
in meeting the payments of the teach
ers some of this money had to be
used and after the construction of the
building, which cost with furnishings
in the neighborhood of $4,000 it was
extent named above. The last cleo
tion determined the means for wip-
ing out eventually this deficit, by
putting the board in the financial po
sition, which it should have occupied
in the past number Of years, of Civ
ing them a fixed revenue for financ-
ing school matters. This has been
done by relieving all of the Towns
Commons to the city in consideration
of their placing available to the board
up to threetenths of one per cen
tum OF all of the tax assessments.
With this amount available, We can
all of us who have struggled along
with the meager support formerly
given, greatly strengthen the school
system and give better results to the
public.
Among the things that l desire to
touch upon, and which seems as if it
were pertinent at this time, is that
of the employment of teachers, or /
should say, that Of the conduct OF
teachers employed under contract,who,
with out any conjunction, or reason,
break their contract with the board
leaving them at critical periods of the
school work TO shift for themselves
as best they may to supply such po-
5itio IS vacated. The contract which
is entered into by the teachers and
the board is one which does not com
pei The teacher to stay regardless of
any condition, but we have had in
stances where teachers have believed
work without any reason other than
that they could better their financial
On the other hand, if the
board had thought, at any time dur
ing the terra, to have supplied the
place of these teachers for the same
reason, it would have been taken as a
serious thing ty the teacher.
During the past few months there
has appeared in The News a criti-
cism Of one branch of our school work.
It was thought at the time to reply
to 1t because it seemed such an un-
accusation of a failure to
carry out an essential in all school
work. I cannot let the present time
Slip by without touching upon it. One
Of the greatest efforts and one which
has shown the best results Of all the
school work, has been in the spell
inc. For the past few years the sys-
TEN iLaugurated has fairly revolution
zed the spelling in the schools ANY
one Interested in the matter may YER
ify this by having access to the forms
Of spelling blanks used in the school
where they will see the most diff
rult as we'll as the words most used
given as daily work in such small NOR
sells that the lupil is bound to absorb
tho~n To1'in" FROM mo urimarv To
tto srra duo+ipU ryrado tboro Sc n ooro-