The Donaldsonville chief., 1915-02-27
MEETING Of SCHOOL BOARD.
Proceedings of Special Session of
Parish Board-Interesting Re-
port by supt. Rusca-ciub Ac-
tivities Extended.

DOnalQS0nFI1Ie, La, Feb. 19. 1915.
The board of school directors of
the parish of Ascension met this day
IN special session, with President W.
lB. Stuart in the chair and the fol-
lowing members present: IL Bour-
tgeois. f. Z. Babin, J. F. Saxon, and
Henry Dugas. Absent-E. n. Pugh,
Emile LeBoeuf and George Ber-
geron.
/ The minutes Of the last meeting
were read, and on motion of Mr
BaEin, seconded by Mr.. Bourgeois,
were ordered approved.
| The superintendent submitted the
following report:
/ DonaldsonyfIIe, La, Feb. IS, 1915.
I To the Honorable President and
Members Of the Board of School
Directors Of the Parish of Ascen-
sion
| Gentlemen:l beg to report that
since your last meeting l have visit
ed all schools in the parish, except
visited twice and several three times
| I expect to make the round again
within the next two weeks
With the exception of the tenn
poFary closing Of Sorrento school
aud the assistants room at Single
tarv school on account OF the pre-
yalence in those communities Of
spinal meningitis. all schools have
been runnSlg uninterruptedly since
the opening, with increased enroll
nelt IN most cases and with good
average attendance.
All schools closed for the Christ
mas holidays and reopened on the
dates set by your honorable body.
w NJ Babin, agricultural super
visor at Oak Grove. was granted a
leave of absence of four days for the
purpose of attending the lectures at
the short course of the Louisiana
State University.
All bills in the office contracted
under appropriations previously made
for said purposes. and all moneys due
teachers On back salaries, have re-
Gently been paid since the receipt
Of our state appropriation.
In the absence Of a board meeting
and in order to meet the salaries due
last month. the president of the
board and your treasurer found it
necessary to negotiate an extension
Of forty-five days of the note due
fhe Louisiana National Bank On the
fifteenth OF January, our action sub
ject TO your approval.
I regret to report the resignation
OF Hiss Rose SaiIta OF Elise school.
Miss Saitta is an excellent teacher
and leaves to accept q position near
4-ass hssE sssa ssas
crease III saIarr of SIS per month.
4 teacher wiz be engaged to replace
her subject to your approval
In order to better care for the
work in the Dona1dsonyiIIe High
School during the remainder of the
session, recommend the employ
ment Of an additional teacher.
As a result Of fire, the roof Of one
Of the Dutchtown High School build
ings was damaged. The claim was
filed and promptly settled by Mr..
BIoomenstiel, local agent OF the in
surance company.
As q result Of the last teachers ex-
animation, all but one Of our celored
teachers failed to qualify by seeur-
parishes, we are without the colored
teachers necessary to operate the
coIored schools. As the only way
oEt OF the difficulty, I recommend
that the opening of the colored
schools be postponed until after April
examinations. when these teachers
will be given another opportunity to
secure certificates
I desire to submit for your approx
al the circular letter of January 1S,
a copy Of which was mailed to each
board member and published in the
official orgaAeo of the board, the Don
aldsonville Chief
Beg to report my absence Of two
days from the parish in attendance
at the superintendent convention
in Baton Rouge. Among the topics
discussed were: Better penman-
ship in the schools, local trustees,
coIored schools and office help for
superintendents Tie meeting was
largely attended by the superintend-
ents and school board members and
was highly profitable. One of the
good features of the meeting was
the visit to two Of the East Baton
Rouge parish country schools. These
schools are models in building and !
equipment, and demonstrate what |
can be done by teachers who are
live wires and by a board with |
sufficient funds.
I have lately undertaken to re-
the parish school club work, |
extending the activities to this side |
OF the river now that the success OF |
the work has been established in the |
New River section of the parish BY |
another week I hope to be able to |
publish by schools the enrolment in
the various clubs, but for the present
shall state only the following: En-
ro1lment in peanut club 8, potato |
club 80, tomato club SO, poultry club |
81, corn club 4S, pig club so. Total |
membership, 292.
You will note that, by way of ex-
tending club activities and lending I
new interest to the work, We have |
added a potato club and peanut
club.
/ am glad to report that the four |
high schools are well represented IN
all of the clubs, and that all except |
three or four OF the two-room and
schools are also well rep
resented. It is expected and hoped
that several schools that have been
negligent in working up proper IN |
terest in the club work, or for per-
hans other reasons have failed to
submit the names To this office, Will l
da co within ff1n raFt dayS