Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1914-12-23
idation of rural schools be espe cially
approved bv the board. Carried

idation of rural schools be especially
approved by the board. Carried
Gentlemens-I take pleasure in submitting
for your consideration this my sixteenth an
nual report of the educational work of Yer
general View of the conditions Of oar
schools from year to year shows marked IN
prOvemeut in all classes Of schools. This prog
ress is perhaps more noticeable IN our cities
and villages. where imposing buildings have
been erected that are well equipped with mod
ern conyeuiences and working apparatus. The
rural districts are not far behind however n
this matter because they are also building
school houses with special reference 70 the
health and comfort of The children
With one exception. all school houses that
have been built within the past three years
have been Of . modern and approved type
which means that the house should be warn.
well lighted on one side and end. with conven-
lent entry and cloak rooms. and provided with
proper ventilating system. A well lighted
basement should be under every school house
built school houses Of the above type are. Vic
tory Ia Wheatland il. - Sterling. Jt.2 town OF
V.roqua. Franklin and Hamburg.
CENSUS: Total number of children between
ages and 90 90Ie-an increase of T6 over last
year, but 1919 less than ten years ago. Total
llet enrolment in rural schools was 4i2i. Ay-
erage ATTENDANCE for each child in the rura
schools was 10 days. Enrolment in State
Graded schools sOi; average attendance 1S4
days. Enrolment grades below High school
IA: average attendance l47 days. ENROLMENT
High schools 305: ave attendance I6I days.
These facts show that the attendance is beI-
ter in graded than in rural schools. This can
be partially accounted for because the graded
schools have longer term, and they are 10
Gated mostly in villages where the majority
Of the pupils live nearer to the school house
Small enrolment in so many of our schools Is
another factor that aids non attendance A
pupil is more interested in school when he has
several companions of his own age with whom
he comes in contact both in the class roon
and on the playground. It is almost impes
siole for teacher TO get up enthusiasm IN
school work when she has but one or two pup
lis in a class. Theonly remedy sfor this con-
dNlon is TO consolidate and have fewer but
larger schools. or have graded schools of two
or more departments. Where enough dis
tricts can % combined. that have the neces-
Sary school population, graded schools are
preferable. A teacher can do better Work IN
room with but few grades, than with eight
or nine, as is now the case in the rural hools.
Thirtv-two districts in the county last year
enrolled less than 20pupils. and or asof them
but two. Inmany places a graded school OF
Two rooms could do the work that is now being
done in three or four schools, and do it better,
Thus the saving in teachers wages and run
ming expenses would nearly Offset the cost Of
transportation. s.ft
We do not claim that consolidation and
transportation is a cheaper system of edlca-
ton, but We do claim that we will have better
schools and the increased benefit that pupils
VIII derive therefrom win more than Offset
the extra cost, If there is any. Also the con-
Venience and benefit that our pupils win de-
rive from being transported to and from the
school house in com Portable CONVEYANCE in
stead OF walking mile or two through SNOW
cannot be measured in dollars and cents
To encourage consolidation the state offers
liberal financial assistance both in building
and paying for tranSportation-from $500 for
one-rcom school, to 5000 for grade of four
or more departments; for transportation Eve
cents per day for pupils living between one
and two miles from the school house. and ten
cents for those who live more than two miles
Three school board conventions were held
last winter-at Viroqua. LaFarge and Hills
boro. Practically every district was repre-
sented by one or more mem bers of the board.
ger boys ana girls corn growing contest
gas unusually successful: 350packages Of test
ed Golden Gle IS seed corn were distributed 10
aas many different pupils and 20 of this num-
per entered samples of ten ears each at the
fair. The samples displayed showed an i'm
Droyemcn over last year, both in quality and
trueness ~ type.
The total cost for all school purposes. the
past year was Sta6.547.l0, OF this amount the
rural schools spent $40. 504.6f. the state graded
schools sl4937.9S, the high schools including
the GRADES below the high school S5I, IQ4.5q
II we deduct the cost OF lana and buildings
but include the payment of loans and old In
debtedneSs with the running expenses the
cost per pupil enrolled Ia the different classes
OF schools is as follows: Rural $500 state
graded 20.69, high including grades 1896.
II required 2y2 teachers 70 fill our schools
when all were in session. or this nun Der II
were men ana l9l women
The average salaries per month were Ru-
raj schools. males siS.6l, females S42 So State
schools males S. females assistant, and
grade teachers) $500
After July !. 1915. all beginners wishing to
teach must have year OF professional train
ing before they are eligible to receive a GER
tificate TO teach This professional training
may be gotten in Normal school a County
Training school or High school that has a
training school department. Vernon county
needs about fifty new teachers every year
The training school furnishes about halt Of
this demand but the other half must be gotten
from the high schools and the state graded
schools that have part of the high school
course. Whether enough young people are
now taking this one ~edI s training to enable
them to teach next year remains to be seen
From all indications 1t Looks as though there
would be a shortage OF teachers