The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1916-06-23
When and How
To Consolidate.


! of the year. However, it should
never be tried in a community sc
sparsely settled that the one-room
school buildings are widely sep
arated. On the other hand, if a
drive of approximately one hour
will bring the pupils from any
given neighborhood to a school OF
two or more rooms that is already
established and is not over
crowded, the expense of trans
portation will, as a rule, be less
than that required for the main
tenance of a one-room school,
while the efficiency of the in
struction will be much greater.
That is, when a good school has
been established, it should have
the support, the encouragement,
and the cooperation of every
patron within five miles of it, and
the pupils living within that dis
lance of the central plant should
not be compelled to attend a
school of the one-room type, with
its one-pupil classes, its many rec
itations per teacher, and its total
lack of inspiration.
Again, when a community finds
schools within easy walking dis
lance of each other, none of
which can give the pupils the adj
vantage of special primary work,
practical courses, or high school
it should be remembered
that one good school, centrally
located, with transportation pro-
vided at district expense, is worth
more than any number of schools
that lose five out of six of the pu-
pills who enter, before the day of
graduation, even from the elemen-
tary grades, comes.
If the territory is such that con-
solidation is feasible, the first
thing to do is to create sentiment
for one school that will actually
appeal to the boys and girls, in
stead of three or four of the kind
where there are one or two pu-
pills to the class and where the
teacher is compelled to teach from
twenty-five to forty classes per
lay. This can best be done by |
personal work, followed by a gen.
eral program mostly given by the
pupils, the concluding number of |
which is a round table discussion
If the question, consolidation
md Transportation" Then a Pc
ition must be circulated and the
lanes of the resident freeholders
secured. Each name must be ac-
lnowledged, so a notary public
should accompany the person
who circulates the petition. If
lnyone objects to signing it, his
lttention should be called to the
act that he is not signing petit
ion for consolidation, but simply
or an election at which he and
lis friends and neighbors will
lave a chance to express their
reference in a matter that is of
7ital importance to the boys and
urls of the community. If pre-
ented in this way, it will be
ound that the average citizen of
dontana is a strong enough be-
lever in fair play and a square
Ieal so that he will sign the petit
ion asking for the election,
whether he votes for consolida-
ion or not. |,
AS soon as the necessary names
AVE been secured, the petition
hould be taken to the county
superintendent of schools, who
aust, within ten days, cause ten
avs notice of the election to be
.iven by the clerk in each dis {
riot, such notice to be posted in
t least three public places. If
he majority of the votes at the !
lection favor consolidation, the ]
ounty superintendent will order
he formation of the consolidated
istrict, specify its name and num- q
er, and appoint three trustees to
orva until fha fret Saturday in | r