Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-09-28
SCHOOL DEFECTS WITH
REMEDIES POINTED OUT
[Continucd from First Page.]

respects to the accepted standards of
modern schoolhouse construction.
Elimination of politics in the Sc
lection of janitors and other en-
ployes of the board; all janitors to
be instructed in care and operation OF
buildings in such manner as to re-
lieve principals and teachers from
some duties now devolving upon
them.
Substitution of cheaper grades OF
coal for some of the larger and more
expensive varieties now in use.
Employment of expert accountants
as school auditors and all sinking
/ funds to be placed at interest in
school and local city or local indus
trial bonds in order to earn larger
percentage of interest.
The surveyors also made the point
that school treasurers could get away
with taxes paid them without any
! body being the wiser School Treas
urer Owes to-day denied this. He
| said the system of accounting might
! need revision. but that careful ac:
counting makes it impossible for the
treasurer not to be found out if dis
honest. He also pointed out that
school funds in his charge are nt
| interest at rates as high as the banks
will pay.
The introduction and summary ac.
companying the report are as fol.
lows:
This report deals with the or
ganization and the procedure fol
lowed in administering the physica
and business functions, and in pro
Vlding for the general regulation anC
control over all of the activities o
the school district of Harrisburg
While no inquiry was made into tn,
work methods of the different edu
catfonal services, /. e., instruction
medical inspection, enforcement o
attendance, etc, yet the general or
ganization for the administering o
these services and the relation there
of to the business and physical ad
ministration of the schools has at al
times been taken into account. Boil
the criticisms and recommendation
of this report are made in the ligh
of what is deemed necessary il
order to produce a we'll BALANCED
and regulated school system 70
Harrisburg. Due to the limit of tn
survey, this report necessarily give
much consideration to the construc
ton of buildings purchase of sup
plies. maintenance of accounts
rendering of statements. etc. How
ever, it is realized that no school sys
tenn exists only for these particula
| purposes. The real and prjmar,
objects of any school system is tn
provision of efficient instruction 70
the children of the school district
With this in mind, therefore, an,
form of organization or procedure il
connection with the general control
the business. or the physical admin
istration of the school system whicl
tends to inhibit, retard, or to max
less important the real end and ain
of the schools, has been criticised
In securing the information upol
which this report is based the min
utes of the board for the last fiv
years 0912-16) and the minutes o
each committee from January 16tl
to March 1917 were studied inten
sively. The minutes of the boar,
and the four committees for tn
months October and November, 1915
were carefully analyzed and the diff
ferent actions were tabulated. A
least one meeting of the board an,
each of it's committees was attende,
during the period of the survey
FEBRUARY 13th-March gath.
A careful study was also mad
or the organization and functions o
the school system as set forth in TIL
state education laws and the rule
and regulations of the board. Facl
of the three members of the sur
vey staff in Harrisburg was in dali
contact with either the president
certain members of the board, tn
secretary or the superintendent
More than three-fourths of th
school houses were visited wher
the building and the operatin
plants were inspected and confer
ences held with the respective prin
cipals and janitors.
The findings and recommends
tions of this report were discusse
and approved in a conference be
tween members of the survey staff
/ the civic committee of the Harris
burg Chamber of Commerce, an
the president, superintendent sec
retary and chairman of the financ
committee of the board of schoo
directors.
The Bureau of Municipal Re
search desires to make a matter O
record its appreciation of the splen
did cooperation which was given tn
survey staff continuously throughou
the conduct of the survey by eacl
and every official and employe O
the school system. Such co-opera
ton was at all times given zealousl
and in many cases at the sacrifice O
| their own time.
General Administration
"The present organization and pro
cedure obtaining in the HARRISBURG
school district by means of which tn
| provisions of the state school Law