Show SCHOOL FINANCES while it has always been policy of this newspaper to upon the bright side of things particularly during the depression still there is no trying to deceive ourselves in regard to the serious financial predicament di that our schools facing lewis W jones president the board of education stated the meeting of the parents teach ers association last thursday that the school funds in sight would mot carry the term further than february 24 and the indications are that unless some relief is received from the reconstruction finance corporation schools will close this year about the last of next month thus giving our pupils only some five months of schooling this year mr jones explained that the special tax which was vas expected to tiring bring in during the fi five v e year period for which it was was levied really resulted in in receipts of only owing to the delinquency in tax payments he stated further that the building t program estimated at ac lually cost plus for building sites for equipment and for miscellaneous expense the present bonded indebtedness of this school district is 1 j which must be paid at the rate of a year starting in 1935 this makes it out of the question according to mr jones for the board to issue long term warrants and expect to pay them we lve cannot attempt to judge ft fix blame if any is due upon person or group for this situation in which we find ourselves with regard to the schools we do know that it is extremely unfortunate that our children must be hampered in their education by this extremely short term naturally the board of education would be handicapped in their operation of the schools by the fact that so many taxes were forced to go delinquent just the same as any individual or business firm has suffered by the depression it is difficult to understand der stand however the statement of mr jones as to the difference in the estimate and actual cost the building program a amounts to including items of building sites equip and miscellaneous we think that ordinarily these additional items would be taken account when the estimate first made under linder the circumstances would seem to us ua very dilatory I 1 the part of the school to permit the great delay in publication of the annual financial report this report required by law should have published during august of 1932 but here it is february 1933 and no report has been submitted to the taxpayers as yet the people have the right to see sec just how their money is being spent and we should think that just now especially 1 when there is such a public tidemand demand for economy that the board members would want to place everything openly before the i people in order that they might I 1 I 1 i see what a tight financial condition I 1 lion they are laboring under we might also add at this time that the sevier school district has not been in the habit of publishing a report sufficiently in detail to meet the requirements of the law which requires that this report shall specify the moneys paid out to whom and for what too many items of expense have been grouped heretofore in this report for one reason or another for instance in the last report published in august 1931 one item of expenditure amounting to 1 I 1 was listed under disbursements by the vague title of other lad I 1 administrative expense and preceding this was another item of 1 I listed as administrative admiel strati vc expense p in those two items alone were more than which did not specify to whom and for what this money was paid as the law lav prescribes |