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Show schools in this county since consolidation con-solidation went into effect, we have, first of all a school term of 7i months for last year and a possibility of an eight months term this year. There has been established a uniform average wage scale for all teachers of the county, by which, tho some teachers are not receiving more pay than they received under the old system, on the whole the salaries are uniform and better. The pupils, too, generally are receiving a more equal distribution distribu-tion of the funds per capita and it has been arranged so that pupils in the small and isolated precincts are being properly provided with supplies and text books and good teachers, teach-ers, so that their opportunities opportun-ities for an education, which they have a right to have, are compared favorably- with those of the children who live in larger larg-er centers. Last year a $12,000.00 school house was built at Oak City and artesian wells were provided at the schools of Sunflower, Sugar-ville Sugar-ville East Central, Rock and Sutherland, at a cost of $700. 00. Disbursments for the operating opera-ting of schools alone amounted to $56,488.43. Disbursements for the payment of debts contracted con-tracted before consolidation and interest on same, including bond interest, salaries of board members, mem-bers, clerk and superintendent amounted to $24,316.71 and for building school houses, purchasing purchas-ing furniture and apparatus amounted to $13,021.54, yet taking tak-ing into consideration the heavy expense of bringing the smaller schools up to a better standard of efficiency,- and providing all the schools of the county with the best equipment that could be procured under the circumstanc-(Continued circumstanc-(Continued on page 8) Eighteen Months of Consolidation (Statement) When the schools of Millard County were consolidated into one County School District of the first Class, under one Board of Education, by an act of the last Legislature, there were a number-"of objections raised by the school patrons of the various communities. But there seemed to be no other alternative at the time than to proceed to meet the requirements of the law. Hence, the County Commissioners in 1915, with the help of the County Coun-ty Superintendent, D. F. Peterson, Peter-son, divided the County into five School Representative precincts, having in mind the object of apportioning ap-portioning the school population in each precinct as evenly as possible, and from each precinct they appointed a man as a member mem-ber of the County Board of Education. Ed-ucation. . Mr. J. L, Stott was appointed from precinct 1, which includes the schools of Meadow, Kanosh, Malone, Hatton, Clear Lake, Black Rock, Gandy, Garrison, Burbank and at Meecham's Ranch. Mr. Rufus Day from Precinct 2, which includes the schools of Fillmore and Holden. Mr. J. Lee Anderson from Precinct 3, which comprises the schools of Scipio, Lynndyl, Leamington and Oak City. Mr. John Reeve from Precinct - 4, comprising the schools of Oasis, Deseret and Hinckley, and J. A. Bishop from Precinct 5, which comprises the schools at Delta, Sutherland, Sugarville, Sunflower, Rock and Abraham. These five men met in Fillmore, Fill-more, in May, 1915, pursuant to their appointment and organized the Board ot Education of the Millard County School District. The conditions were new to them. They were in control of a great school system that had hitherto been operated by 25 Boards of Education consisting of three members each, and all the- trials and troubles of these numerous Boards were now transferred to this one Board. Two big problems had to be solved. To increase the standard stand-ard of education in the county, by increasing the efficiency of the teacher through better supervision, su-pervision, more complete organization organ-ization of the work and bettering better-ing the conditions of the school facilities compatiable with school funds. 2. To effect a more economic ec-onomic expenditure of the School Funds. The Board then proceeded to make a careful survey of the school conditions of the County, and a thorough report was .nade of the financial and educational conditions of the various districts, dis-tricts, which of course included a report of the buildings, kinds and condition, the apparatus, the supplies, text books, length of school term, qualifications of teachers, salaries paid, ect. The report showed that there were twelve one teacher schools in the county, whose terms run from two to six and seven months of school, averaging about five months per year, and conducted in buildings, with the possible exception of three, which were totally and wholly unfit for school purposes. The report showed further, the need of establishing a school at Meecham's ranch in Snake Valley, and that better buildings for the school children would have to be provided in Delta, Lynndyl, Oak City, Sutherland, Sugarville, and for the County High School at Fillmore, as the ones in use in these places were inadequate and largely unfit for school purposes; and it was showed further that artesian wells were badly needed at the schools in Rock, Delta, Sugarville, Sugar-ville, East Central and Sutherland, Suther-land, as the only means of providing pro-viding drinking water for the pupils. It was further shown that a heating plant was necessary neces-sary for the Leamington school as the only safe and sanitary means of providing, heat for the schoolhouse, and that the heating heat-ing plants of the Central, Hinckley Hinck-ley and Fillmore schools were; much in need of repairs before they could be of the best service. ser-vice. The report further showed that repairs were needed at the Scipio School house, so that an extra teacher could be employed to alleviate the congested conditions condi-tions of the school; likewise at Meadow, it was recommended that repairs be made to the school house so that more room could be provided for an extra teacher, to relieve the crowded conditions of the school and the same recommendations were likewise made for Fillmore and requested that the old Rock school house be repaired so that an extra teacher could be employed, em-ployed, to take care of the increased in-creased enrollment in the school. The report showed further that the school houses at Hinckley, Hinck-ley, Kanosh, Fillmore and Malone Mal-one were in need of some very essential repairs. In addition to this the report stated that in ten schools there was little, if any school furniture and practically no text books or supplies. The Board realized that the many recommendations made in the report were essential and needed immediate attention, but to accomplish the work meant the expenditure of a vast amount of money. At the time of consolidation con-solidation the former school districts dis-tricts had a floating indebtedness indebted-ness of $45,000 and a bonded indebtedness in-debtedness of $40,000. The twenty of the former school districts dis-tricts were rather heavily involved invol-ved in debt and there were only four that turned their records into the office showing no liabilities. lia-bilities. The matter of making a tax levy to provide sufficient funds for the operation of the schools gave much anxiety to-the Board. So much money was necessary but the taxes should not be excessive, ex-cessive, so an average of the amount of mills on the dollar, that each former school district had levied the previous year was taken and ascertained to be 17 mills. The county Board then made a levy of 17J mills for 1915-16 1915-16 but in 1616-17, this year, the levy for school purposes is only 4 mills, a decrease of more than 425 ber cent in the levy of the previous year, though the property prop-erty tax in the county has been raised for taxation about 300 per cent. Thus our levy this year will probably provide ample means for the school, and yet it is over one mill and one half lower low-er than the levy made by most other County Boards of Educa- tion in the state. And when we j figure the per cent of the taxes, j that are used for school purposes purpos-es in this county we can't complain, com-plain, this year especially, when (in Fillmore, for illustration, less j than 28 per cent of all the money paid by the people in the way of i taxes is being used for school ! purposes, hence, for every $1.00 that is paid in taxes only 28 cents is available for our schools. So taking into consideration !the things have been and are being accomplished for the i |