The Archives has on microfilm the (Proceedings) of the Harford County Board of School Commissioners, 1865-1867, in series CM582 and (Proceedings) of the Harford County Board of County School Commissioners, 1868-1916, in series CM583. Also on film is a series originally called (Proceedings, Miscellaneous), 1904-1909, [CM585]. Examination of the record for this article revealed that the correct title is (Minutes, Rough) which were used for compilation of the official proceedings. 

The proceedings contain the minutes of the school commissioners, that for each meeting, monthly or special, show the date, place, members and staff present, and business transacted. Business matters included internal board affairs, policies and practices, finances, school districts and buildings, school trustees, teachers and principals, students, and curriculum. 

Internal matters kept the school board functioning and consisted of filling vacancies among themselves, electing officers, and appointing staff. The board set policy and prescribed practices on the basis of state law and directives of the state school body. In 1865 the commissioners directed that a school must have a minimum of fifteen students in order to remain open, unless it was over three miles from the nearest educational facility. Then the minimum was set at twelve. A year later an age limit of nineteen for education in the public schools was adopted. Any pupil over age eighteen could attend only by paying tuition. 

In November 1912 the commissioners decided to apply the recently passed compulsory education law (Ch. 173, Acts of 1912) to their schools. The law required all children between the ages of eight and fourteen to attend school. 

Throughout time, including the present, school boards spent considerable time concerning themselves with finances. The commissioners in Harford County authorized the expenditures for the construction, repair, and maintenance of school buildings, purchase of textbooks and other school supplies, furnishing of coal, and payments of salaries to principals, teachers, and assistant teachers. 

Each year the board recommended to the county commissioners the amount to be imposed for the school levy. Other funds came from the state, but not always in a timely fashion. In April 1877 the school commissioners discussed the delays in obtaining this money and wrote a letter to Levin Woolford, Comptroller of the Treasury.  His response was deemed unsatisfactory, a fact that was communicated to other county school boards and the state board. 

When funds ran out before the end of the fiscal year, the board postponed repairs and closed schools were. Colored schools were closed more frequently because of the separate and lower level of funding made available. This monetary situation

also led to shortcomings in supplies that the board tried to remedy by transferring used items to the colored schools. This happened in October 1888 when a white school obtained new desks, and the old ones were sent to a colored school. 

A board of trustees managed the school in each school district and hired teachers, subject to the approval of the county board. District residents annually elected the trustees, and the school commissioners filled vacancies during the interim. Sometimes a dozen or more trustees would resign immediately after being elected. The proceedings did not give the reasons. 

The county school commissioners made the decisions concerning boundaries of school districts, the establishment of new ones, and the construction of and major improvements to school buildings. Sometimes districts were combined. In 1866 minimum dimensions for a schoolhouse were set at 24' x 36', with an 11' ceiling. Land for schools was acquired through donations, purchases, and condemnations. As in other counties, the Harford County board sometimes purchased the land and buildings of
private academies when they ceased operations. One example was the Abington Academy in 1870. Unneeded public schools usually were sold. Some buildings were rented for use as school rooms on both permanent and temporary bases. On January 27, 1916, the Perryman school burned, and the board arranged for classes to be held in a hall over a store. 

In the late 19th century a separate library within a school became an important enhancement in education. A report issued in April 1892 noted twenty-five out of seventy-nine white schools having libraries. All but one had been organized in the past four years. 

The school board established the salaries for school employees. In 1865 teachers with fifteen students

Sometimes the board considered disputes involving teachers. In December 1873 a father accused a high school teacher of using foul language and assigning his daughter "lessons inadequate to her abilities" as a form of punishment. The proceedings contained no resolution of the matter within the next six months. 

In September 1887 a controversy developed over who should be teaching at one school. Two people claimed the position. One person held the key to the building and refused to relinquish it. The other one broke into the school and claimed possession. The woman with the key had been notified on August 15 that her services were no longer needed. Because thirty days notice was required, she was allowed to teach until September 15. The man who broke in was censured. 

The commissioners selected textbooks and periodically mandated curriculum changes. In 1873 they adopted Good Morals and Gentle Manners for use in the classroom, and in 1881 Eclectic History of the United States. An unusual complaint about textbooks was filed in April 1881. Parents believed that the books in their school "were infected with scarlet fever." The board ordered the books sold [Who would purchase them?] and new ones supplied.
 

Two other strange, but humorous, entries appeared in the proceedings. In January 1889 the commissioners ordered a bell placed on a schoolhouse "in lieu of the tree cut down." Perhaps the bell had been hanging on a tree branch. In February 1902 the following statement was inserted: "The matter putting an additional window in building at 5-5 [school 5 in school district 5] was left open for further investigation." Does one sense a clerk with a sly smile? 

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, GA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES 
    (Adoption File) 1947-1990 [MSA T3161] Restricted 
    (Foster Care File) 1973-1994 [MSA T2093] Restricted 
    (Foster Home File) 1933-1994 [MSA T2628] Restricted 

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, KE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES 
    (Foster Care File) var.d. [MSA T3166] Restricted 

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, PG DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES 
    (Foster Care File) 1996-1997 [MSA T332] Restricted 

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SERVICES 
    (MdProperty View) 1999 [MSA T2846] 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, PATUXENT INSTITUTION 
    (Audit Reports) 1981-1989 [MSA T2424] 
    (Minutes) 1995-1996 [MSA T2425]