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46 CARROLL COUNTS. In making my first official report I must necessarily labor under considerable disadvantages from the want of proper statistical infor- mation on all subjects required. When I took charge of the Public Schools, I found them in a very unsatisfactory condition. They were supervised by Trustees, who, as a general thing, took little or no interest in the Schools, further than to employ the Teachers. The Board of School Com- missioners paid the amount of money due each School District to the Trustees, whose duty it was to pay the Teachers. The Trus- tees were not held to a proper account for the money thus received, and the result was that some of them are vet supposed to retain money belonging to the School fund, and there appears to be a diffi- culty in bringing them to a proper settlement, from the fact that they themselves hold all the hooks and vouchers. The larger portion of the School-Houses in the County are unfit for any civilized man to teach in, and the furniture is in a worse condition than even the houses themselves. In these old buildings, with benches without backs, and desks of pine hoards extending around the sides, fifty or sixty children are compelled to spend the day, crowded so thickly that comfort is entirely out of the question. Perhaps one-fourth of our houses might bo made to answer the purposes for which they were intended, but the rest are mere apologies for School-Houses, and yet, bad as they are, the most of them are claimed to have been built by the citizens of the respective districts for their own uses. and have never been deeded to the County. Before we can accomplish much, we will be com- pelled to build new houses in the majority of School Districts. The people, as a general thing, seem anxious to have the proper houses, but whether they -would be willing to pay the amount needed in additional taxes, is a question which admits of considerable doubt. I hope the Legislature will do something in the matter. 2d. The Schools have been hitherto supported from the interest of a fund of about seventy-two thousand dollars, which was divided among the several School Districts in proportion to the number of School-going children in the district. There was no uniformity in the arrangement. Some of the Schools were kept open six months in the year; others two, three, and four months. In those districts in which the people added liberally to the amount received from the County, the Schools made considerable progress; in the others none. 3d. In general intelligence, the people of our County will com- pare favorably with those of other counties. I do not think the number who cannot read and write is large. 4th. In some parts of the County the people manifest a great interest in the Public Schools, and will contribute liberally to the erection of School-Houses, provided the expense can be equalized in some way, by requiring all to pay their proper proportion. In other parts, where dollars and cents are of more value than mental |
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Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1866
| Volume 107, Page 512 View pdf image (33K) |
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