The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-05-24
ENLIGHTENED ON
SCHOOL MATTERS
SUPT. SOULEN TELLS CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE OF CONDITIONS
DISTRICT NO. 5

SUFT. SOULEN TELLS CHAMBET
OF COMMERCE OF CONDITIONS
DISTRICT NO. 5
Superintendent Phi. Soulen, of ths
Moscow city schools was the principa
speaker at the weekly chamber o
commerce luncheon Wednesday anC
brought to the members present in.
formation which every taxpayer and
school patron should have. The fl
nancial condition of the district from
the standpoint of bonded and warrant
indebtedness was dealt with, as well
as the receipts and disbursements, the
cost per child for operating the school
being shown.
Assessed Valuation S2,5OO, 900
Superintendent Soulen called atten-
ton to the assessed valuation of the
district, which is two and one-half
million dollars, while the area is
about twelve square miles He show
ed that the finances come from three
sources: The state public school
funds, on a child basis, from county
taxation and from special district
levy. By far the larger portion of the
money required to operate the schools
comes from the latter source
The information given out by Mr..
Soulen was from data based on the
school year of 1920-21. 1T was shown
that the bonded Indebtedness is $780,
900, largely for money expended in
the construction of the high school
and the remodeling of the Whitworth
school. The warrant Indebtedness was
some 5000, but this has been re-
duced by approximately $4,000 during
the last year.
The receipts for the year were $685.
765, while the disbursements were
$4,000, leaving a deficit of about
$4,000
Operating Expenses
The greatest part of the money paid
out for operating expenses goes for
Observation-Disclosures for the 35 teach
ers employed. This amounted, during
the year upon which the report was
based, to $43,809. Operating expen-
ses, such as janitors' salaries, fuel,
lights, ETC., amounted to $12,929. Com
parat1vely little was expended for Ii
brary, furniture, etc., and for upkeep
of the buildings and grounds, owing
to the extremely high prices at that
time. Interest on bonds amounting
to $4,000 was paid
Money Expended JudiciOusly
1t was evident from comparison with
Lie GA pcuSC VI IlldluJdl111uR OJuCI ulSu
schools in the state, as shown on
chart prepared by Superintendent
Soulen, that Moscow's money is not
being wasted. The expenses per month
per child in the Moscow high school
is $780, while in many other large
high schools in the state it runs from
$12 to SIS per month.
Attention was called to the fact
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high in Moscow, as compared with
other places in the state and in the
northwest, and that no reduction had
been made for the coming year. He
said that in the state less than four
per cent of these schools had reduced
salaries for next year, and very
small per cent had advanced salaries
over the past year, while a great ma
1Orlty were maintaining the same sal
ary schedule as last year. It was
shown that the living expenses Of the
teachers have not been reduced to
any extent from the expenses of two
years ago.
Th loss to the district of about
$11.5O per year on nonresident pupils
was cited.
Returns on the Investment
In summing up his talk, Mr.. Soulen
said that the thing the people of the
district wanted to know was whether
they were getting returns on their in
vestment, in education for their child
rem. He said that the normal child
should make a grade each year; that
461a per cent of the children in the
Moscow schools were doing this; 81
per cent were retarded from a half
n TO fxrr<, n fI,n+
cent were accelerated, or making adj
vancement beyond the grade per year.
Where children are retarded and fCrc-
ed to repeat grades, there is the added
expense on the district and this, based
on the percentage of retardation and
the cost per pupil, amounts to more
than $4,000 per year. Comparison
with records from other schools shows
the percentage of retardatiOn in the
Moscow schools to be below that IN
most schools It was. shown by the
superintendent, too, that the child
who is back half grade, or an en-
tire year. may be entirely normal, as |
many persons of excellent ability re
quire more time to get through the
public schools, or through college |
than others.
1t was explained that it is the work
of the superintendent and the teach
ing force to bring the percentage of
retardation to as low point as poss
fble, but that little headway could /
be made without cooperation on the
part of parents and that one of lbe
greatest causes of poor work on the I
part Of pupils was irregularity Of at
tendance The percentage Of attend
-ance, he said, should be 90, but this
has fallen to 96 and as low as "a per
cent.
Following his address Superintend-
ent Soulen was rendered a vote Of
thanks and confidence by the mem
bers of the chamber of commerce.
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