The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-13

1neF, put tu6 SCHOOL committee IS Ideadlocked, along strict lines of di- 1 vision, three to three, with little hope
 of an agreement. Leo Hickson, prin-
 cipa1 of the school, continues to teach. The town is divided along the same | lines that divide the school commit tee, excepting two or three well known
 families, who have left the ordered
 array of those in favor of MT. lick son.
 1 It seems to be admitted that at the 1 least the group opposed to Mir. Hick-
 son failed to look to. it's evidence suf- ficiently to sustain charges of i'm : morality.
 i At least the equal division of the committee makes it impossible to get legal declaration that the charges are
 sustained. Some children are being
 sent to private schools. Others have
 returned to the tuition of MT. Hick-
 son. and others never left the school
 at all.
 i The troube arose out of the resig-
 a;ion of a high school teacher, Miss
 Spring. She claimed that she was
 forced to resign by reason of the ar.
 bitrary treatment of the superintend- ent Since her coming to the school, she has won favor with a large num-
 Der of the pupils in the high school.
 On the day she. was leaving town, 8
 number of the pupils stayed out of school to bid her goodbye. These
 pupils then went on a strike and re-
 fused to return to the high school A
 petition was at once circulatedi asking
 the school committee to reinstate Miss
 Spring and to inquire into the rumors
 of immoral conduct on the part of the
 superintendent, MT. dickson. i Both sides to the controversy en- pIoyed attorneys and MT. Hickson at | once demanded that he be informed as to the immoral acts with which he
 was charged. He was accused of hug
 ging and kissing one of the young
 ladies who taught in the high school. The hearings before the committee
 were held in executive session. but
 the members of the commi tee have
 told what transpfred in the hearings
 and the town pretty generally knows
 the nature of the evidence against
 MT. Hickson.
 i The principal witness against him was a man who lives in the neighbor-
 hood of the high school building. He
 testified that on different occasions ! during the past year he saw Mr. 1 Bickson hugging this young lady in l front of a window in the hallway of the upper floor of the building. This i accusing witness is not a native of l Newtown nor an old time resident 1 here. He came from a neighbor- 1 ing community, where he lived for l years and was well known. Two men 1 of standing and responsibility in the l community from which this witness l came testified before the school com 1 nnittee that this man, who accused | MT. Hickson, had very bad reputa- 1 tion in the town from which he | came and that they would not believe | him under oath. Furthermore MT
 Hickson denied on oath that there 1 was any foundation for the accusa 1 tion.
 ! The hallway, at the window of ] which MT. Hickson was charged with i this indiscreet department, has open 1 ing off of it to several school rooms. It is an open hallway at the head of the stairs which could be entered by anybody in the building.
 The superintendent has an office adjoining the hall where he could se cIude himself from all observatio if he were inclined to commit the acts with which this witness charged him.
 A boy testified that he saw the superintendent on the Fourth of July afternoon at Lake QuasSapaug near Waterbury in the company of this
  shown to be in error. Newtown had a parade and a celebration on the Fourth of July. Nearly every one in Newtown knew that MT. Hickson was in this parade at the head of the school children and remained at the ! public speaking at the town hall the entire afternoon.
 A young woman, a school teacher in one of the district schools, who had taught for two months, testified before the committee that MT. lick son appeared in her school on one of his visits under the influence of liquor In answer to this it was shown by MT. Hickson that he had ] never tasted drop of intoxicants in his life Furthermore the school records show the other schools that he visited on the occasions that he visited the school of the young wom- i an who accused him of intemperance. l The teachers from these other schools appeared before the committee and testified that MT. dickson on those days was absolutely sober. MT. Hick- son has. been in Newtown nearly four l years.
 A large number of men in the group, opposed to MT. Hickson, while they feel that charging him with inn morality was unwise and unfair to him. still believe that in view of the spirit of antagonism which has been created, that it would be better for the school system of Newtown that
 MT. Hickson should retire. They say that his method of handling the schools has been arbitrary and that his discipline has been too strict. The | supporters of MT. Hickson, on the other hand, however, say that they will not permit him to retire. They say that the charges of immortality l have fallen flat and that he was never charged with being arbitrary in 1 his treatment of teachers and pupils l until this trouble broke over the res ignation of Miss Spring. They say that he has been in charge of the l High school for nearly four years and that it is strange that this harsh treatment and lack of diplomacy, of which complaint Is now made, did not become known until the resigna- | ton of Miss Spring. They say that l back of the whole agitation is a, pre- l iulice which ought to be beneath men and women of intelligence. | The townspeople, however, are di- | vided into two camps, one of which 1 has onened a private school which is | haino attended by their children. The