The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1960-05-12
EDITORIAL PAGE
TK!E.I@URN'SE I'll! - .g!5l21 I! 3 81! Z
As The State Sees Us

the state department or educatlOn ana ere
long the charters for these schools will be re-
voked.
This even includes Southern Noble high
school which must have come as shock to
the people of that taxing district
However the state has warned Noble
countians for several years that consolidation
is the answer to their problem. There has
been lot of talk but each school district is
Jealous of the other and they want every
thing to be coming their way. There isn't
a district that wants to give up what they
have.
The state department has waited long
enough and just recently they informed each
of the high schools in the county system that
they could not recommend the continuation
of the high schools.
Each school received letter from the
state department following the inspection
tour and they were all practically alike and
said the same thing The complete text OF
one of these letters is as follows:
''It was my privilege, as representative
of the state department of education, to visit
the Belle Valley high school on March 9, 1860
This is my report to you and the board of
education.
"The administration of this school is
particularly difficult problem due to the linn
itations of facilities, staff, program and ser
vices The executive head, as the profess
sional leader of the school, is in a position
to give proper direction to the educational
program
"Our evaluation of the Belle Valley high
school reveals many deficiencies. These
shortcomings, for the most part, are inherent
in the program of the small high school,
With the present enrolment and small tax
duplicate it is very difficult if not impos-
sible, to provide the type and quality of ed
ucational program to which your boys and
girls are entitled.
"a seriouS shortcoming is the limited
curriculum. Only twenty-five units of credit
are scheduled this year in additional to phySi-
cal education and music. A foreign language
is not scheduled. The curriculum in COM
mercial, home economics industrial arts and
music is meager.
"Many deficiencies exist also in the area
of library facilities and services. Good in
struction frequently centers around library
facilities. The present library lacks needed
resources and the librarian does not meet
standards in regard to training in library
science.
"The physical facilities handicap the in
structiona program. An effective industrial
arts program cannot be provided with the
present facilities and equipment. The bus-
ness education department lacks office ma
chimes needed for training purposes. AL
though there is some good equipment in the
home economics department, the facilities are
too small to accommodate normal size class.
There are no planned music facilities. The
science laboratory lacks much equipment
which is deemed necessary in a well-devel-
oped science department. Facilities for
physical education are inadequate since
proper provision has not been made for show
er and dressing rooms.
"We also find a general lack of needed
teaching aids. Sufficient textbooks for the
Problems of Democracy class should be pur-
chased Immediately. In brief visit to the
fifth and sixth grade classrooms we noted
the lack of sufficient library resources en-
cyclopedias, bulletin boards, supplementary
readers and dictionaries.
Your attention is directed to the follow
ing 1857 Ohio high school standards which
are not fully met:
The high school shall not infringe finan-
cially, physically, or Internationally upon
the elementary school.
TO be considered a permanent high
school center, tax supported school district
shall have an enrolment of not less than
24O pupils in grades nine through twelve and
tax duplicate of not less than S5,O00,0DO
However, an existing high school which does
not meet these criteria but fully meets all
other minimum standards shall continue to
be chartered by the State Board of Education
Each school shall be either comprehen-
sive or special in it's organization or purpose
The educational program shall have suf-
ficient breadth to take care of the college
preparatory students and those not preparing
for college. In order to meet this require,
ment the high school shall offer the following
number of units as minimum: English 5
social studies g. science 3, mathematics 3
foreign languages 2, business education 5
home economics g. industrial arts 2, music |
and health and physical education l. The
home economics and industrial arts require
ments shall apply appropriately to school
exclusively for girls or for boys. Exception
shall be made only for school with a specia
purpose such as college preparation or vo
cational education.
The following number of units shall b.
scheduled each year in an approved frs
grade high school: English 3, social studies
science 2, mathematics 2, business education