Milford chronicle., 1920-10-29

~AHNhtkAeNNA1A~ -
. minister certain funds provided
P. S. du Pont for the erection {
{ schools and other educational activ
ties in the State of Delaware. Tn
total amount of the trust was S2,500
600, 100000 of which was specihcall
set aside for the erection and equil
ment of colored schools. Owing to IN
repeal of the School Code by the spec
ial session of the Legislature in 1872
the deed of Incorporation of the Della
ware School Auxiliary Association be
came invalid and a new charter Of in
corporation was obtained, thus en-
abling the association to continue il
work. The change in the deed mad
no drastic difference in our methods
OF operation. but the revised code die
make a difference TO the counties anC
special school districts which nigh
become beneficiaries of the fund. Will
the maximum tax rate set at 81 on the
500, it was found that certain school
units were unable to bond because
/ they could not meet the interest and
sinking fund on the bond issue with
| the present tax rate. Sussex and Kent
counties found themselves in this po-
sition. Such a condition necessarily
involved a change in our distribution
OF the fund, and whatever is done in
these two counties will have to be
accomplished not as a supplementary
gift to the bonds issued, but as out
right construction by the Delaware
School Auxiliary Association. New
Castle county is able to bond, and
there is no reason why it should not
go forward with its original pro-
gram.
This summer, and particularly
with the opening of the public schools
this fall. At was discovered that the
accommodations in many places thru
out the State were obviously made
quate. There was only one solution
of the problem and that was to pro-
vide a portable or temporary building
until a permanent building program
could be carried out. The Delaware /
School Auxiliary Association had .
scruples about spending its trust /
fund in such portable buildings. The .
Delaware School Auxiliary Associa-
lion has been provided with supple
mentary fund to be used for emer-
yency work and for development of
interest along educational lines other
han school construction.
"As the opening of the college year
approached, it was found that there
we're 40 prospective Womens College
tudents who could not be accOmmo-
lated in the dOrmitories or the din
ng hall. We recognized that we were {
for this increase of stu
ents because we had provided the /
money for establishing the teacher [
raining department and by securing
had made it possible for {
0 girls to take the two-year course I
Tho would not have done so other s
rise. Also the most desperate need \
I Delaware is for trained teachers {
nd we dare not see these students I
lrned away from the college doors. /
we made contract with {
ne du POnt Engineering Co. to erect f
yo dormitories. These structures are
wood and will accommodate 20
iris each and a member of the facul-
z. The entire cost will be between
10000 and $4,000. The buildings
ere erected within six weeks of /
hen ground was broken.
Securing New Teachers \
About 10 teachers in Delaware are
DIV employed under provisional GER L
ficates. In order to train the teach [
IS we must first secure candidates. Il
e have therefore made an arrange
ent with the Delaware WOmens e
Dllege to release Miss Rich for the e.
,ar, for field work in the State" D
Dr.. Odell includes report from DR.. Il
w. Cooper, chief of the Bureau of G.
from which the following D
tracts are taken: Il
In addition to the regular activi- al
IS connected with the development A
the State school system, the bu- o-
au of education of the Service Cit a,
ems is now giving special attention r
school attendance in Delaware. d,
le immediate objective is a new at
ndance record for Delaware schools II
id the ultimate is a new conscience et
Delaware on the regular schooling a!
children. M
"In spite of the excellent advance S
last year, our Delaware school at fc
ndance is still five points below the OF
erage for the nation. DR.. Leonard P. hi
7ers of the Russell Sage Foundation II
ids that in 1918, in the matter of fc
e percentages of children of school S:
e who were in daily attendance, Del II
ware stood forty-first in the list of oi
e 4S states in the nation. His fig c;
es also show that, in daily attend
ice, our State was IL points below a
g average for the nation and that B
IT rating in 1918 left us where the II
.tiOn's average stood "a years be- nj
re. q
"A campaign for better attendance II
already operating. and the teach CO
S report that the children are mani NJ
sting a real interest in both the el
rtificates for attendance to be Civ o.
and in the Delaware State flag II
hich is the premium for schools t,
ID schOolrOoms." tC
Parent-Teacher Association p
DR.. Odelrs report continues: "In o.
operation with the Parent-Teach- u
Association OF the state we are p
nveying to the local communities u
d to the homes of the children such W
as will create a new in II
rest in the importance of regular 3
tention to school duties. Late last m
ring the Parent-Teacher Associa-
IN of the State appealed to the 81
rvice Citizens of Delaware for such W
unset and help as we could give in a
e organization of local associations c.
out the school as a center. With W
e hearty cooperation of the school NJ
thorities of the State, the execu- tt
-e committee of the Parent-Teach-
Association is planning to appeal
every community to form a school