tor 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 



Like Biintini: anil Supt. jud^e, many 

 others in the community saw the ap- 

 proachint; 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. Judue 

 said the elementary school situation is 

 still in a critical state ami tiie new 

 county school board elected April 2i 

 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 Kd- 

 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 Grayvillc high school. 

 The suggestion was voted down Dec. 

 20, 19 i7 — 702 for: 81S against. Al- 

 bion favored the idea but \\'est Salem. 

 Bone Gap. and Browns were opposed. 



Albion thereupon voted on a unit 

 district of its own March 20, 19)8. 

 Four days later a petition was circulated 

 in the northern part of the county 

 asking tor a second \ote on the countv 

 unit proposal including the Albion dis- 

 trict. Alter some thought, many had 

 changed their minds because the pro- 

 posal carried April 3 by a substantial 

 majority. Local pride i^svc way to con- 

 sideration for the welfare of their 

 children. 



Bunting, who li\es near Fllery. said 

 there is no intention on the part of 

 anyone connected with school reorgani- 

 zation to gain any advantage lor hiv 

 community over another. The welfare 

 of all the children in Edwards county 

 must come first. Bunting said. 



Bone Gap has a tine little school 

 building. But lack of pupils makes 

 operation of the school highly uneco- 

 nomical and inetlicient. West Salem 

 has a poor plant. Albion's building is 

 adequate and Browns is fair. 



Curricula of all, however, are made- 

 tjuate. and the overall operation is 

 wasteful and costly. 



EDWARDS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS 



ic > ts ir,( fit 



l^ 



1'l r < 



> .1 ■! 



HroM. n^ 



HilIU ( r.lj' 



West S.iUt:- 

 Albi<.ij 



The tour countv high schools listed 

 above spent as much on ll I students 

 as all of the grade schools in the county 

 spent on 1100 pupils. 



Rural pupils are expected to he the 

 great benefactors from school reorgani- 

 zation. Bv combining many districts, 

 the grade school pupil will have greater 

 advantages — more and better books, 

 better c|ualified teachers, more school 

 mates tor organized play. More class- 

 mates offer more competition and com- 

 petition spurs many children to greater 

 effort. 



1 he 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 ". 8. 9) in the tour 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 tor transport 

 to other centers. 



OPERATING COSTS, EDWARDS 

 COUNTY SCHOOLS 



•sSy,-s !->.(- 



1 ( stii>..it(>'. ; S 





Many parents want their sihools to 

 j icivuic a wider lield ol study adapted 

 to the times. Consolidation will no 

 doubt result in the addition of suih 

 courses as home economics, vocational 

 agriculture, and more machine shop 

 work, jsublic speaking, salesmanshijs. 

 and art. 



Some believe, and school leaders are 

 among them, that iidwards county 

 eventually could support a junior col 

 lege. 



If 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 Fdwards 

 county citizens an ideal school setup 

 is taking shape. 1 hey will be satis 

 fiC'i to take less than their dreams tor 

 the j^resent but tomorrow is another 

 thing. 1 omorrow 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. \'. Stevens, L. W 

 Nelson, f arl Hayes, Henry Simms, 

 Harold Shepherd. Dennis Hortin. f lyde 

 C'rackel. and C). R. I:vans. 



Members of the new school board 

 are: Pernio L. Mark. ILiroKl Si hwarz- 

 lose, A. M. Walton, Ramer Sdirader, 

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



Typical of some of the finer small high schools is the building at Albion. This is the 

 largest high school in Edwards county. 



JUNE, 1948 



19 



