The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-09-10
Austen Discusses School Situation

Editor Glacier: In answer to No
body's letter in last weeks Glacier in
regard to the action of the district
boundary board, wish to say that
there were no misstatements whatever
in regard to what they did, and while
know and most everybody else in the
district knows, that it was both unjust
and irregular and will not stand when
subjected to a rigid test of law, yet
say that | do not think that the county
judge and the county commissioners
were to blame, for am sure that they
did not fully understand the true con.
ditions of things here in Frankton
district.
Frankton is the only one of the lsrg-
er districts of the Lower Valley that is
maintains a four year high school
course. This it has been doing for
number of years. But there was
small faction up in the Belmont section
who started an agitation to have do
mestic science and manual training put
into our school, and latter to advocate
consolidation with Hood River. The
question of adding on two more rooms
at Frankton in which to teach domestic
science and manual training was voted
on and lost by a small majority, and
strange as it may seem to an outsider,
the very people in Belmont who had
| first started an agitation for those
branches all voted solidly against it.
The question of consolidation or send
ing the high school to Hood River was
also voted on and beaten by a large
majority. Then Superintendent Thomp.
son, who as superintendent should have
been impartial but who, J am sorry to
say, always favored the Belmont fac
tion for consolidation, told them, and
for which there seems to be no warrant
in the school laws. that if they could
elect a director who was favorable to
sending the high school to town that
the two could carry it over me as a di-
rector and against the vote of the peo-
pie and send the high school to town
anyway. But at the annual election
their candidate was badly beaten.
Then that same faction who had
themselves appealed to the vote of the
| people on those questions and lost, not
satisfied to abide by majority vote of
the people, quietly, indeed very quietly,
started the move to be set over into
Barrett. There was to the best of my
| knowledge never a notice posted on
either of the school houses in the dis
trict nor were either Mr.. NiCkelsen or
myself ever notified of the move that
they were making, though some had
found it out before it came up. When
the matter came up for consideration
Prof. Thompson got the county judge
and the county commissioners into his
auto and took them out and showed
them that the little section that wanted
to be set over into Barrett would have
leveler road to travel, though in most
cases it was some distance farther to
Barrett than to Frankton. So, without
considering that the children from that
same section had been going to Frank
ton for more than 80 years and had
considered it no hardship, without con-
siderng that the children living west
of the road that leads by the Belmont
lumber yard had farher to 60 than did
those mentioned and over worse roads,
without considering those living east OF
there ION the Belmont road who had
farther to go to Frankton ard down the
same identical hill that those about
Forden's would have to go down, with.
out considering that the people in the
east ei d of the district near town would
also ask to be set off into the town dis.
trict; in short, without considering
that to cut the district would be vita
to the life of the high school and that
the cut was bitterly opposed by nine
tenths of the people of the district, yet
they saw only that the children of that
particular section would have levelel
road to school and SO proceeded to cut
a notch out of the south side of the
district and give it to Barrett. AnC
that too, after the teachers had al
been hired at Frankton and preparation
made to maintain the high school.
Now, do not deny anyone the righ
to think, but do deny that any man o.
J men have any right to try to destroy {
district just because they found them
selves not big enough to bully or rui
the district to suit themselves; in fact
because large maj Crity of people o.