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Show School Board Entertains Delegations To Discuss County Education Needs The problem of establishing an elementary school in Newcastle came before the Board of Education at the regular reg-ular meeting Monday, when a delegation of Newcastle residents res-idents met with the board to discuss the matter. At present all Newcastle school children, elementary through high school, are transported to the Cedar City schools, but parents of the elementary children are anxious an-xious to have a school established at home so that it would not be necessary to transport the children to other schools. i The delegation pointed out that next year there will 16 children of from first to fourth grade age, or 18 to fifth grade age. It was pointed out by the board members that the 'state department depart-ment of education frowns upon the establishment ot so-called one-room schools, and will not permit state participation In financing fi-nancing such schools. Consequently Conse-quently such a school necessarily necessari-ly would be financed by the district dis-trict alone. The board also pointed out that the children could be transported to the Escalante Valley school, and that additional facilities and a. teacher at that school could be provided as a result. At the present pres-ent time there are 45 students In the Escalante Valley School, and the average has" been 50 or more. This enrollment together with the 18 from Newcastle would make a much better school, It was pointed out. Dlmtanea Loosened The distance to travel to the! Escalante Valley school would be six miles', compared to 30 to Cedar Ce-dar City, and the board lndlcat-m1 lndlcat-m1 that a KDeclal bus would be provided. At present the elemen-tary elemen-tary students ride with the high school students brought to Cedar City from that area. The board members also spent some time at the meeting studying study-ing the matter of proper traffic safety regulation and posting of signs in the school area, when Ray Gillies and Sherl Chamber ' lain ot the State Road Department Depart-ment met with the board. The two men pointed out the legal aspects of traffic control, both from the standpoint of regulations' regula-tions' and th placing of signs. As a result a much better understanding under-standing of the problems of controlling con-trolling traffic In the school area was developed State Cooperation They pointed out that the state would cooperate in keeping the traffic signs properly painted and posted, and in any other way that might eliminate traffic haz-ards. haz-ards. It was pointed out that the placing of school signs' in the streets, such as the "Sally" signs used over the state, is in violation viola-tion ww "culition; t"v-aii they create a hazard. Use of such signs are" permitted, however, with the school or sponsoring organization or-ganization assuming the responsibility respon-sibility of any damage that may be incurred from use of the signs. The question of teacher salaries salar-ies and employment practices for the coming year also came before the board when Clemont Adams, and Don Knight, repre- sentlng the Iron County Teachers Association, met with the board. No definite recommendations were made or action taken on this problem, but the overall salary sal-ary schedule and policy was discussed dis-cussed at length. Differential Discussed Among the questions brought before the board was the matter of salary differential between holders of bachelor and master degrees. The automatic advance In pay upon acquiring a master's degree is only $150, It was1 pointed point-ed out, and the association representatives rep-resentatives stated that most people in theTfofess'on feel that this does not provide sufficient incentive for teachers' to devote the time and expense for additional addi-tional training. One other matter was that of requiring administrative personnel person-nel to devote part of their time to teaching. In most casts in the district principals and supervis ors are teacning classes, ana u was recommended that this practice prac-tice be discontinued and that ad-(Continued ad-(Continued on Back Page) SCHOOL BOARD DISCUSSES NEEDS (Omtisraed from Front fag) inintstraUve-parsoanel b relieved reliev-ed of all teaching responsibilities. responsibili-ties. Special Issues Granting of sabbatical leaves was alse discussed. The practice was discontinued during war times and has not been revived since, and the association members mem-bers feel that it should now be reinstated. Some discussion was directed toward the matter of increased in-creased salaries for next school year. However, all the questions ques-tions and other minor issues brought before the board were merely presented for study with n request being made for official offi-cial action at this time. Superintendent Ianthus Wright was authorized to take steps toward to-ward arganizing his teaching staff for next year, with approval approv-al given for the rehiring of present pres-ent staff members who wish to remain in the district, and looking look-ing toward filling any vacancies that may arise. Another delegation from Parowan, having been invited to make a study of possible new building site for future use, met with the board to make a preliminary pre-liminary report on .findings to date. It had been decided that with the probability of needed building expansion In the future, fu-ture, it would be advisable to obtain property now, rather than wait until the building need arises. Such long range planning may avoid expensive acquisition of property later on or even selection se-lection of less acceptable sites for schools, and for this reason the board had asked that committee com-mittee to study the problem now. Following the report, Superintendent Superinten-dent Wright was authorized to work closely with the committee commit-tee In considering the possibility of acquiring property in the near future. The question of Installation of , a sprinkling system at the Cedar North Elementary school was studied. It was found that plans'! for the system must be revised and the superintendent was au- ! thorlzed to iscsue a call for bids j as soon as the proper revisions ' can be made. Prompt action is hoped for so that planting at the school can be made this spring. |