Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-11-03
HERALD TELLS OF
SCHOOL ELECTION
Lexington Paper Says There's
Much Interest Here In the
School Board Policies

The Lexington Herald sent a
special reporter over this week
and in Fridays paper appears
lengthy article on the City School
Board election which is to be
held next Tuesday along with the
congressional and road tax cleo
tions. Outside of several mac
curacies in stating the position OF
the editor of the Daily Regis
ter in the matter, the article as
written in the Herald appears to
be fair presentation of the
question before the people Of
Richmond on the School Board
election. What the editor of the
Daily Register did tell the Her
ald reporter will be found follow
ing the paragraph referring to
him in the article. The Herald 5
story was as follows:
Richmond. KY, Nov. 2-Intcr-
est i'll the Richmond election 10
be held November ] centers in
the fight that is being waged by
the incumbent city school board
members to obtain election Of
the four members whose terms
expire. One q the bitterest con-
tests in the history of Madison
county is being conducted in the
race for the school trustee of
fees. The new candidates are
running upon a platform which
flays the incumbent board for
breaking its promise to the tax
payers, while the old members of
the board are conducting their
fight on a platform of economy
and completion of work already
started.
The members whose terms eX.
pire this year are John Noland.
chairman of the board; J. c Che
nault. D. B. Mckinney and Mrs.
Ada Dunn, and the new ticket
placed in the field consists of !.
Hale Dean, Miss Lucia Burnam,
W. S. Broaddus and Henry Cos
by.
The entire fight is being wag-
ed around and hinges upon
pledge which was given by the
present school board several
months ago, in which it promis-
ed that the school tax which was
then Is cents on $1CO would not
be raised above 90 cents. The
tax has since been increased to
Sl.35 and those opposed to the
board claim incompetence forced
the raising of the tax.
The school board asserts that
the promise was made without
proper inquiry into the cost of
constructing the new school
building and it was forced either
to abandon work on the school
or increase the tax.
In March, 1921, the school
building of Richmond burned TO
the ground all the furniture and
equipment being destroyed. In
surance totalling only $4,000 was
carried on the property. Criti-
cism Of the board was started
Immediately, it being claimed
that it should have had double
this amount of insurance.
Churches and civic organiza-
tions of the city opened their
doors to the school children and
since that time schools have been
scattered throughout the town.
The site upon which the old
building was located covered less
than an acre of ground, most OF
which was taken up by the struc-
ture proper. This left very little
room for a recreation ground,
and the school board, after tax
ing the matter under cOnsidera-
ton, decided to erect the new
school upon a plot of ground on
the other side of the city, this
site covering about seven and one
half acres, having been donated
to the board by the trustees oil
the old Madison Institute for
Girls. the provision being made
that a first class high school be
maintained there. School Super
Payne recommended
that all of the schools of the city
both graded and high schools, be
consolidated in the new buildiag.
This idea was adopted by the
school board and met with seri-
Gus opposition principally among
those who had erected homes
near the site of the burned build
ine- and when a bond issue oil
for constructing the new
school building was voted upon,
the opponents of the new site
took a leading part in the oppo-
sition to the lands. Another fac
ton joined hands with these