St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-09-23
TOWN MEETING
Academy Trustees Make Statement
To The VOters-Parents Must
Pay If Town Rescinds Vote
To the voters of St. Johnsbury:

To the voters of st. Johnsbury:
The trustees Of the academy feel
that it is proper for them to make a
statement to you at this time, in
view of the approaching special meet
ing, which has been called to see
whether the town will rescind its
vote of May %, by which it de-
cided to pay S14 per year for each
town pupil in the Academy in ad-
dition to the $46 per year which had
been previously paid. If the vote is
rescinded it will not affect the tut
tion that each pupil has to pay. The
tuition will remain $50 per year as
it is now. The effect of the rescis-
ion would be to leave the students
or their parents to pay the $14 in
stead of having it paid by the town.
The Academy was obliged to raise
the tuition for reasons that were ex-
planned to the public at the time, but
it did not ask the town to pay the
additional amount. That was done
by voters who were convinced that
it was for the interest of the town to
keep on with the existing arrange
ment, rather than to build a high
school or send town pupils to insti-
tutions outside of st. Johnsbury.
While the Academy does not urge
the town to send its pupils to this
school, yet it desires and welcomes
them, believing the present arrange
ment to be mutually advantageous.
The coming town meeting has been
called because of a situation result
ing, as we understand it, from a
demonstration that occurred on the
Aoo dor,ou orr01rdo IN middle Of
the night of June the second in which
numerous pupils had a part. The
disturbance was aggravated in char
acter including the use of quantities
of rotten eggs, and resulting in sub
stantial, though not extensive, dam
age to Academy property. The af-
fair did not come to the knowledge
of the board in season to be dealt
with before the graduation of the
outgoing class, some of whom were
concerned in it. But when it did be-
come known, and before the present
term opened, the trustees, without
the knowledge of the principal, took
up the matter and decided that those
who were implicated ought not to re-
turn to school as pupils in good
standing until they had made proper
apology. Accordingly they sent to
each pupil who was understood to
have been implicated printed state
ment to be signed as a condition of
reinstatement. 1t reads as follows:
Gas one implicated in the disord-
erly events of June 2, 1914, on the
Academy grounds, now realize that
those actions were an injury to the
good name of the school, and 1 here
by make personal apology for my
no in hn Ac Onn6ifinU of
returning to the school 1 promise
obedience to all regulations and
courteous conduct toward all in
structors. L will meet my share of
the expense of damages done to the
Academy property"
The larger number have signed;
the rest refuse to sign although ex-
pressing a willingness to make the
same statement orally. The trustees
have felt that they could not make
exceptions in their favor and cannot
see why they should refuse to put in
writing what they are willing to say,
unless they wish merely to carry their
point and be able to say that they
made their own terms. To yield up
on such a ground as that would be
ruinous to school discipline and the
trustees cannot consent to it.
1t is not easy to see what connec-
ton there can be between this un-
willingness on the part of a few boys
and the question to be presented to
the voters, which is, whether the
town will now throw upon individ-
ual parents a part of the burden of
education which has heretofore been
borne by the public, yet this is the
way the matter stands. The meet
ing is called for Saturday, September
26, at o'clock.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES. ,