for taxing purposes plus state aid were 

 not sufficient to meet costs which have 

 risen rapidly since 1939. Per capita 

 costs rose steeply as rural school popu- 

 lations dwindled. 



RURAL SCHOOL CHILDREN 

 ENROLLED, EDWARDS COUNTY 



1891 1875 1940 445 



1930 826 1947 395 



1951 (estimated 375) 



Like Bunting and Supt. Judge, many 

 others in the community saw the ap- 

 proaching crisis and knew that some- 

 thing had to be done. The school sur- 

 vey committee followed and the 12- 

 grade county unit school district is the 

 result. 



Does the county unit district solve 

 everything? Far from it. Supt. Judge 

 said the elementary school situation is 

 still in a critical state and the new 

 county school board elected April 24 

 is "inheriting a bankrupt situation." 

 He added, however, that if the people 

 will cooperate with the board to stream- 

 line the county school system "I am 

 sure we can have far better schools and 

 not need to vote any extra taxes." 



After two years of study of the Ed- 

 wards county school situation, the coun- 

 ty survey committee recommended that 

 the county be made into one school 

 district with the exception of the area 

 served by the Grayville high school. 

 The suggestion was voted down Dec. 

 20, 1947 — 702 for; 818 against. Al- 

 bion favored the idea but West Salem, 

 Bone Gap, and Browns were opposed. 



Albion thereupon voted on a unit 

 district of its own March 20, 1948. 

 Four days later a petition was circulated 

 in the northern part of the county 

 asking for a second vote on the county 

 unit proposal including the Albion dis- 

 trict. After some thought, many had 

 changed their minds because the pro- 

 posal carried April 3 by a substantial 

 majority. Local pride gave way to con- 

 sideration for the welfare of their 

 children. 



Bunting, who lives near Ellery, said 

 there is no intention on the part of 

 anyone connected with school reorgani- 

 zation to gain any advantage for his 

 community over another. The welfare 

 of all the children in Edwards county 

 must come first. Bunting said. 



Bone Gap has a fine little school 

 building. But lack of pupils makes 

 operation of the school highly uneco- 

 nomical and inefficient. West Salem 

 has a poor plant. Albion's building is 

 adequate and Browns is fair. 



Curricula of all, however, are inade- 

 quate, and the overall operation is 

 wasteful and costly. , 



EDWARDS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS 



Sup- Enroll- Per Cap 



jects ment Cost 



Browns 21 28 $400 



Bone Gap 18 35 380 



West Salem 20I/2 123 250 



Albion 31 225 200 



The four county high schools listed 

 above spent as much on 4l4 students 

 as all of the grade schools in the county 

 spent on 1100 pupils. 



Rural pupils are expected to be the 

 great benefactors from school reorgani- 

 zation. By combining many districts, 

 the grade school pupil will have greater 

 advantages — more and better books, 

 better qualified teachers, more school 

 mates for organized play. More class- 

 mates offer more competition and com- 

 petition spurs many children to greater 

 effort. 



The school survey committee recom- 

 mended for the county unit district . — 

 one senior high school (grades 10 to 

 12) to be located near the county's 

 geographical center, junior high schools 

 (grades 7, 8, 9) in the four towns; 



rural schools in neighborhoods where 

 as many as 18-20 pupils can be brought 

 together in the first six grades or where 

 distances are too great for transport 

 to other centers. 



OPERATING COSTS, EDWARDS 

 COUNTY SCHOOLS 



1920 $69,383 1940 $1 19,170 



1935 85,675 1947 193,509 



1948 (estimated) _.. $220,000 



Many parents want their schools to 

 provide a wider field of study adapted 

 to the times. Consolidation will no 

 doubt result in the addition of such 

 courses as home economics, vocational 

 agriculture, and more machine shop 

 work, public speaking, salesmanship, 

 and art. 



Some believe, and school leaders are 

 among them, that Edwards county 

 eventually could support a junior col- 

 lege. 



It is now the job of the recently 

 elected school board to put the plan 

 into effect or reject these recommenda- 

 tions as they see fit. 



But in the minds of many Edwards 

 county citizens an ideal school setup 

 is taking shape. They will be satis- 

 fied to take less than their dreams for 

 the present but tomorrow is another 

 thing. Tomorrow they want the best 

 schools in the state for their children. 

 The course of the school board must 

 point that way. 



Members of the school survey com- 

 mittee were: H. V. Stevens, L. W. 

 Nelson, Carl Hayes, Henry Simms, 

 Harold Shepherd, Dennis Hortin, Clyde 

 Crackel, and O. R. Evans. 



Members of the new school board 

 are: Pernie L. Mark, Harold Schwarz- 

 lose, A. M. Walton, Ramer Schrader, 

 A. B. Gill, Frank Saxe, and Dale Moore. 



Typical of soma of the finer inrall liigh iclieoit is Hie building at Albion, 

 largest high school in Edwards county. 



This Is the 



lUNE, 1948 



19 



