Milford chronicle., 1922-03-31
MESSIGKS SCHOOL TROUBLES

It has been shown to the Editor of tn
Milford Chronicle, that there has beei
either a mischievous attempt to be an
noying to the local board of school trus
tees of Messicks Public School, in Sussey
County, or an attempt to use the column!
of the Chronicle, for the purpose of crit
icising of1icials-instead of loyal suppor
of the local board, and an effort to bring
about harmonious administration of the
school affairs of the district. The story
connected with the whole affair. is some
what long and tedious. First;-when the
school year opened last fall, the two tea
chers of the school requested that the
! Chronicle print weekly reports of the
school news; this we gladly complied
with and they sent in from time to time,
] the things that were of interest to the
pupils the people and helpful for the
school interests, which was printed, and
they were appreciated.
Then somewhere about November or
December, a call was printed for a meet
ing of the people of the district, to Or
ganize a Parent Teachers Association
which was held, and the organization eff
fected. Then, came reports from some
one, whose name was not clearly deciph-
cradle because of hurried formation of
the letters of the words by the writer
but as the report was an account of the
organization of the association, it was ac-
cepted. The written report was in the
form of a copy Of the minutes of the
meeting which was rewrote to be a
report for use in newspaper.
About this time we received several
letters, most of them in the same hand
writing, which knocked" the local board
and charged it with various short COM
ings, and specifically stated, that they
refuse to function, because they did not
get pay for doing the work. These let
ters admitted that there was one MEM
ber of the local board, who was willing
to conduct the schools, and was willing
to meet with the Parent-Teachers Asso-
citation, to discuss what could be done.
The writer in a letter wrote on each
side of seven sheets, took occasion to
make statements about the Superintend-
ent of Schools for Delaware, and that the
people of Messicks District had received
treatment from the office at
Dover. He also stated that the Visiting
Teacher had told the people Of the dis
force.
These statements came as part Of the
of the Parent Teachers As.
sociation, and this led the writer of these
lines, to mistrust the loyalty of the wri-
ter. It must be born in mind, that the
two teachers had nothing to do with the
letters relative to the Parent Teachers !
Association-outside of announcing that
there would be an organization meeting
held.
We have received the following letter /
from Francis e. B. McCaun, who is the |
chairman of the Publicity Committee Of |
he Messicks School Parent Teachers As !
which will show the real facts |
If the case as reflected by the people /
Who are working for the best interests of |
he school. We have made inquiry from |
several sources as to the school conditions
It Messicks District, and find them very
similar to others in Sussex County
many loyalty support the schools while
,thers would do little or nothing Of their
,wn accord to better school conditions.
We have no intention to be unfair to-
ward any person. and can appreciate the
ust resentment Of these people who are
.nrolled in the Parent Teachers AssOcia-
ion of Messicks public school, Of being
Unfairly held up to criticism by others.
The Milford Chronicle and its Editor
ave always stood for the best possible
n public school education. There have
cen many bitter contests for better
chools, but they have always been de-
ided in favor Of the schools.
We print the letter of Francis r. B.
MI hot
hey shall have a square deal and defend
against being put in a wrong
osition before the public-even if unin-
entional. Second-That we may show
hat we appreciate the effort of those
eople who are working for the advance
nent of the local schools. We were mis-
ed in the matter by the several letters
which came to the office for publication
n the subject Of the Messicks Public
chools, and take this method Of inform
lg the people Of the fact If the {
harges had been all true-then no
would have been any too severe
D apply to the people guilty of perpetrat- ]
lg outrages on public school education.
Letter of Francis E. B. Mccann
Bridgeville, Della.
March Is, 1922.
[ilford Chronicle,
[ilford, Della.
In your letter published in your col q
mns on Friday March 10, 1922, you pub
shed preface for which we would like
q explanation. t
It seems that the chairman, Mr.. Nc t
ann, of the Press and Publicity Com !
ittee, did not know anything about it. $
While we want to do all in our power J
better the conditions at this school, I
e do not care to use any such slander, n
was used in the preface of your ar t
lie.
While Mr.. McCann will stand RESPONSE h
e for the report as it was sent in he
IL not acknowledge the preface as you
inted it in your columns. c
We feel that you should print an ex-
anation, as to who gave you the au-
ority to do this. What right have you
nr1h1ieI1 e11ob sIander2