Milford chronicle., 1919-10-03

observations made as to actual
conditions existing in the schools
today serves TO partly answer
these questions which every
parent OF a school child is ask
ing.
Promptly at S.45 every school day
new up 10 date busses whisk into the
school yards of Townsend and Middle
towns. two of the schools operating
under the State Code Sixty happy
youngsters, laden with books and
lunch boxes file by, and the onlooker
realizes -lat in Delaware a new day
has come
This fail there is no premonition OF
frost bitten fingers wearisOme trudg-
ing through snow and slush in the
shortening days OF the season; instead
there is for the first time for the rural
boy and girl a fair chance to establish
an attendance record, satisfactory alike
to himself and the State which pro-
vides the opportunity for him
The installation of four auto busses
last Monday by the New Castle county
school board, responsible under the
new code for the maintenance and op-
Grafton of all school, both white and
colOred, in the county, outside of
special districts marks the real be-
ginnig of real consolidation in Della
ware.
For the first time, in 1919, children
under IA years of age are required to
be in school $50 days; and for the first
time such a demand on the part of the
State is made a reasonable and prac-
tical one.
According to the new school law,
"The County Board of Education shall
not maintain any single one-room
school without the written approval of
the State Commissioner of Education
which during the three preceding
school years has had an average daily
attendance of less than twelve pupils"
In such cases the County Board of
Education is required to provide free
transportation for all children living
distant from the schools, as much as
two miles if below the sixth grade or
three miles if above that grade.
3 Auto Routes Reach 60 Children
Accordingly in the vicinity of Town !
send and MiddletOwn, three auto routes /
have been established, each covering |
approximately ten miles and reaching Z
about 60 children. Four small one '
room school houses, which antedate |
the Civil War and violate every mod n
ern conception relating to school i
buildings, have been closed, the chill v
dren have been brought to the more n
progressive graded schools, and for I
the first time are enjoying privileges g
equal to those provided for children n
in the incorporated districts. Three h
of the schools, Brown Cottage, Mill
Lane and Woodlands, have been closed h
by the Board in conformity with the f;
above quoted section of the law;~the II
action at the fourth school, Fieldsboro, IL
where the enrolment last year was cl
2S, is voluntary on the part of the kcC
people of the district. bi
A drive through this section of New ia
Castle county presents a striking il of
of the Inconsistency pre-
1ailing in many a neighbOrhOod.
There are great cultivated fields of
there are barns, trim and dr
looking, stamped all over an
with marks of prosperity there are Sc
lOmes spacious and comfortable, sug- wi
resting in every line the special brand da
# hospitality which Delaware claims tai
IS her very own. But alongside of SC
hem stand the school houses, small frt
rame and neglected, like a childs DO
OK houses, with windows penetrating ed
very wall. Time and weather have the
bliteEated the signs of the paint un
rush. Four walls and a roof; 20 by
0 feet of floor space. all told, into az,
'hich there has been crowded heating ter
pparatus, WashrOOm, clOakrOOm oul
lnchroom. school equipment, pupils SUI
nd American standards for the com the
lg generad0ni at
Reasons for Closing School De
Superintendent Jump, secretary OF sln 81
lie county board, in commenting on '0',
lie situation, stated: "The schools +ro'
ere closed after an intensive survey no
the situation; all routes were care Az
lily mapped out; a survey was made ~.
the districts covered, and the dis go
nee of every child from the chosen 2o,
hool center indicated on maps filed ~
the Office of the county board in boa
ilmington. 10 e
"A general plan Of Statewide con- OpE :,
lidation is being worked out by the sicI
ate Board Of Education. Although bo-
G plan cannot become effective for ~
nuLllDeI o. years, "uen e!e DuIiulng dec;
osIall . li'illateu oy lne olate boaIu the
al nave iA DfAAEN pAbpGA AdAil4llGo 'efffa
+ consolidation, a marked improve ba,,
INT in conditions can be made by ~
ch concerted effort as is now in dila'
ect in the Middletown-TOwnsend -
.trict
"A new building has already been So So
scted at Townsend, which, it is very toac
)bable, will eventually become the scbC
lter of grades up to the high schooh too
tn the high school center located at limo
idletown ~
Plans are under way for a new frt,,
lding in conformity with the most coda
dern standards in school construc- oatic
q by the people of the Middletown ~ ~,
trict. AT present two sites are un- nj
consideration. apparently the most ton,
)ular being a tract of 10 or II acres ~
II the New Century Club building. IT;
Dartments of Agriculture and Home TODD,
)nomics, under the Smith-Hughes e5So
Z, have been established this year. o,,J
the near future it is planned to ;ts =,
We hot lunches to the rural school ;,,os
Idren. ins rs
For years the problem Of school at ,,ao5 lug :
dance has been one of the most
Ous in the educational field here
aware in the last report published
he y. S. Bureau of Education ranks
y-fifth in the average attendance
chool children. For the first time mrs
aware can make a demand of her alter
Dol population. The way is pro- ua usl
d and an effective organization is olnlti