Show SUPT farnsworth MAKES ANNUAL REPORT we have taken the liberty to publish tile the following report in almost its entirety duo due to its general interest honorable board ot of education millard district gentlemen it Is with considerable pleasure that I 1 present to you my fourth annual report ot of the schools of 0 millard county school district covering especially pec ally lally the year 29 but reviewing in summary the general conditions tor for tile the lour four years four ot of you board members are serving your second continuous term you will recall something of 0 the factionalism and storm that immediately preceded my coming to this county fortunately for us those matters were disposed ot of for or during these four years we can pride ourselves on the harmony lony and cooperation that has prevailed within the school forces and between the communities group solidarity has grown remarkably four years ago many of the older teachers wanted to hold separate institutes on the cast and west sides aides of the county then teachers were loath to bo be transferred from one side to the other to teach I 1 never hear any such suggestion gest ion now true positions in the larger towns are at a premium but that will likely be the case until until conveniences in rural districts approach what they are in larger towns our chief difficulty has lain in other directions we have faced three years not of famine but of drought and low yield generally some communities muni ties have been very fortunate fillmore has been even more prosperous than ordinary but throughout the county as a whole production has fallen considerably this has haa been reflected in a considerable shrinkage in assessed valuation in the percent of taxes paid and in the I 1 A 41 resulting revenues available tor for schools in 1920 we had an assessed valuation of a levy ot of 72 mills and revenue amounting to this assessed value had shrunk to 1928 and yearly revenue from the county to at our levy of SG 86 mills 11 of which was tor for debt service the situation was all the more distressing because of a special levy tor for building in 1925 the building program tor for the two years aggregated 14 08 4 of this amount was raised by a special levy it was estimated that would be raised in two years but due to delinquent lin quent taxes actually plus was all that was realized the difference of or was carried as a floating debt which has been squeezed out of the maintenance of schools we rejoice ce exceedingly that the last of that debt was paid in january 1929 and from january on tor for the first time since 1925 we are operating without paying any interest on oil current loans our bonded indebtedness is in a most gratifying condition in 1925 we had bad a bonded debt of drawing interest at 5 per cent and 6 per cent wo we had ar sinking fund of 58 thanks to our predecessors decess ors on oil may 1 1926 we paid Ue thereby and throwing it into serial bonds maturing yearly dearly and drawing interest at 4 per cent at tl nis s date dale our bond debt is as follows malone bond 1700 due in 1934 leolden bond being paid 1000 yearly central school due 1933 all drawing 6 per cent interest board of education drawing 4 per cent interest being paid off yearly to meet the central and mano majone bond duo due in 1933 34 wo we have a sinking fund of drawing 4 per cent interest com rounded bounded oun ded J f to havo have accomplished tho the above aaa required tho the strictest economy and I 1 congratulate ole board of 0 education on their determined adherence ot the budget by such a practice only iras this been possible holding strictly for requisition counting our money before spending it refusing to incur indebtedness beyond our ability to pay day tor for it Is sound public policy and in the long run makes tor for well equipped efficient schools with this present practice in effect tile the people 0 of millard county have no nc cause to worry about any abuse of 0 school funds with prospects tor for a good year a head conditions could hardly have been moro more promising when on OB january 1 1929 wo we wore were shocked by the loss of 0 the delta high school by fire ire we had bad the building insured lor for ot of which was on equipment this amount was carried with the homo home fire insurance co ot of utah the Pir emens fund 0 of san francisco and niagara fire insurance co A prompt adjustment was made by which we received this Is now in the state bank of 0 millard co on savings drawing 4 per cent interest during 1928 the per capita cost ot of schools in illard district was 62 15 the average ot of the state was had millard conformed to the averige average it would have cost more than additional we were below the state average in every detail but teachers salaries and transportation por tation on a per capita basis our elementary salary shows below the state average while in reality they are about the average this Is because we increased the size ot of classes and decreased the number ot of teachers it means that our teachers are paid but the per pupil cost la Is loss less our high school teachers are about four points above the state average this Is duo chiefly to the tact fact that our tenure Is becoming sufficiently long that many teachers are in the upper brackets of our schedule ille transportation was higher than usual last year because the total cost of all fifteen busses was charged off tills this year it will be only about a third as much one other phase of school finance merits public attention the cost of 0 operating schools per pupil day has not increased since 1920 we have lengthened the term some are having higher paid teachers more expense is going to high schools tree free bus transportation Is provided yet yel the cost of school per pupil by the lie day is almost identical with school costs in 1920 school population enrollment and school population has shown a slow but steady increase since consolidation soli dation reaching its peak in when there were on the census in 1928 the number had fallen allen alien to of course this thia is s only crop failures failure and drainage uncertainty figures show that since 1920 our school population has increased 19 per cent our school enrollment has increased 32 per cent the number in average dally daily attendance has increased 11 41 per cent have decreased 64 per cent promotions have increased 49 per cent and the length of term tor for elementary schools has increased 22 per cent I 1 believe that the organization for handling attendance is sufficiently prepared now that per cent can be properly accounted tor for hence forth As suggested above have decreased 64 per cent and promotions increased nearly 50 60 per cent yet our stin standards dards have in no sense been lowered it if the testing ngwe we have done Is any criteria there has been a general improvement ot of nearly 25 per cent in all the work the school I 1 have long believed that it is next to criminal to force any child into a class or institution keep him there day after day forcing him to do or try to do things for which he has no interest nor aptitude and then at tile the end brand him as a failure and him to the same crude machine lor for another year it if general education were elective as college education now is and we could take it or leave it alone or do something else probably as worth while this retention idea would lose some of its sting but under present conditions I 1 think it lias has no place in public education nearly a third of all are now in the beginners classes this suggests that retention would be ba largely eliminated it if wo we had a kindergarten and in the larger communities it would be economy to hold summer kindergartens at school expense it if necessary in rural communities winter kindergan tens tells may bo be ot of questionable value not because the Is undesirable but because the gathering and transporting trana porting little tots tota Is at present too undeveloped to warrant it however during the last few years we have made considerable progress lu in transportation this year we have operated 18 routes under one blanket contract with mr will killpack of delta regardless neg ardless of size elze of bus or load or distance traveled wo we pay 24 cents a running mile but this really makes very cheap tation considering what is generally paid thru the state several ot of our trucks do double duty for example the foith tract bus brings elementary ch children lidren from sunflower district into sutherland where it loads with high school children tor for delta greenwood bus brings elementary children to and high school children from holden to fillmore oasis bus carries elementary children to A C nelson school and high school children to hinckley school transportation r centralized to appreciate the trend and growth ot of transportation in millard county one needs to go back only a few years indeed consolidation itself is a comparatively new movement financial reports on file in tile the office ot of the board of 0 education show allow that prior to 1917 no appropriations had ever been made tor for transportation however in tile the year 1916 17 were paid tor for hauling children from the wells into fillmore in a wagon that was just ten years ago the growth lias has been rapid but in keeping with the practice the nation early reports kept no record ot of the number ot of children transported but the reports tor for the last tour four years indicate that in 1924 pupils received benefits and the number grew to in 1927 As might bo be expected in a movement that is fast developing the method has not been identical for any two years the first suggested for or elementary children was to hire a wagon and haul them in this was to be an experiment tor for one month the first plan for high school students was worked out in 1919 which is as follows 20 cents tor for those from 3 to 5 miles 40 cents tor for those more than 5 miles provided that plan be approved by the state board of education uca tion 2nd and plan be approved by officers ot of millard academy 3rd ard students attend at least 20 weeks luring during term ath students absent more than 5 consecutive days shall be reduced tor for days absent aith they shall bo be paid tor for full term it if they attend it ath no discrimination between pupils who return home borne at night and those who board in city where school is located ath students must make acreage grade ot of 76 75 per cent in all subjects since these two beginning provisions the various boards of aducat education on have each year wrestled with the problem varying it as seemed best to the particular group of 0 men in office in 1924 a flat rate of 0 a day was wag paid to all high school and elementary children living beyond two miles from school tor for each day they attended participated in this subsidy and the amount expended was this increased tile the transportation burden from to or better than per cent the board must leave become alarmed at the expense tor for the next year they reduced the fee to 15 cents flat rate tor for each child living beyond 2 miles for each day actual attendance at school this was for the school year 1921 1924 25 the transportation expense that year amounted to after studying these facts the present superintendent suggested the fo lowing program which is widely used in many utah districts that the board pay this subsidy on the basis of the distance children have to travel and the kind ot of roads over which they have to go the board decided to pay 2 cent a mile for each mile on state road and 3 cents a mile on all other roads tor for the actual distance children have to travel living beyond 2 miles and the maximum to any child being 30 cents a lay day therefore a child living 3 miles on a state road would receive 6 cents a day one living 10 miles would receive 20 cents one living IG 15 miles would receive 30 cents and so would one living any greater distance this cost the district or about the same as it cost when the board paid a flat rate ot of 20 cents some ot of the disadvantages of 0 the above methods were 1 it attempted but failed to equalize opportunities for those who were able rode in tine fine closed autos while others rode horseback came in open rigs or walked 2 it gave the board only a very uncertain and awkward control over the discipline and scheduling of routes for people came however they could many were persis persistently late several b boi yog would band together come in a ford run races smoke etc in transit 3 it tempted children to misstate their age and the distance they lived from school 4 aside from what the board paid parents also had aad to pay a greater or less amount depending where they lived for example in kanosh each parent had to pay 50 a child meadow paid 25 a child to get to school all others paid like amounts this cost to parents can call only be guessed at but it probably ran between and the board therefore decided to take lake over the whole burden of transportation por tation and hire bus drivers tills this of course meant a considerably added finan cila burden this could only be achieved by a similar retrenchment in some other department the board decided to close the near in acl and transport the children to tile the larger schools the following schools were closed hatton ll atton sunflower flowell Fl owell Pa Pah vant livant greenwood scipio ath grade this effected a saving of that Is these schools cost us a year to operate them since these schools cost and fees cost tile the two items cost the district 00 the board felt that it if they could operate their busses by contract under they cou could ld save money tho the transportation actually cost continued on page three SUPT farnsworth FARNSWOR MAKES ANNUAL continued from page one so that notwithstanding pe jle the school board assumed the whole burden there was effected a saving of about when bids were first called tor for by the board tor for this bus transportation there was wag considerable agitation against it many people were skeptical bids were high and they were rejected repeatedly many compromises were made finally bids were nere accepted on each route contracts were given for 3 year terms with the provision in tho the contract that whenever it seemed to the best beat interest of the hie board of education they could ter terminate 3 the rou tract by buying the ou sais s use 1 there was great variation vari atin in the aini lint bidders were receiving 9 tire me d diperi averi were for 2 25 r c nt ants l a mil while ot nars tars wera ihie 0 o i to i 14 i the average c sl si t tho the I 1 wis cents or icci avelt mile on oil all our routes in 1928 the board faced the problem ot of placing two more busses in the county the total yearly mileage tor for nine months would be miles it if this mileage should cost the school district the same rate as the year previous it would be the board knew this was prohibitive tor for they have also miscellaneous tees fees amounting to about it therefore decided to either call for cheaper bids or operate the system itself it called tor for bids rind and finally accepted one tor for on the proposed ini mileage leage this will save tile the district practically the board called in the county attorney mr air grover giles showed him all the contracts and asked it if the board had the right to make the proposed change mr giles was ot of the opan opinion that there was no question but that the board had the right the board then submitted all contracts to the attorney general ot of the state mr cluff who held as mr air giles had that the board was acting entirely within its legal right the board has hag therefore awarded mr will 1011 kollpack pack the bid tor for the hatire bus transportation ot of the e at a mile there are several advantages aside from a saving ot of the responsibility is centered in one reliable responsible person rather than a dozen or more busses |