School survey suggestion, Alfalfa County, Grady County, Wagoner County, 1918.

Front matter

ALFALFA COUNTY GRADY COUNTY WAGONER COUNTY

Prepared by E. A. DUKE Rural School Supervisor

Issued by R. H. WILSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Foreword

State Superintendent R. H. Wilson recently issued a bulletin entitled ''Rural, Centralized, Graded and Model schools'' in which attention is called to the fact that Avhere consolidated districts are organized without refrence to a general county-wide plan certain little weak districts ultimately find themselves cut off in such a way that they cannot consolidate. It has been customary in the past for the county superintendents to wait until the consolidation "spirit moves" in a community, or group of districts, and then to go forth and assist those districts to unite. As a result of this watchful Avaiting policy, we have in many cX)unties little districts that have been so hemmed in by consolidations that they are doomed to remain little and weak districts.

School improvements should have in view the welfare of all the pupils in the county rather than the welfare of a chosen few. The child living in a poor district is entitled to as much consideration as the child living in a rich district. It is not neighborly, in fact is rather selfish, for groups of wealthy districts to consolidate in such a way as to make it impossible for the less prosperous districts to better their condition. A county wide plan carefully mapped out and followed will prevent such injustice as has resulted from sporadic consolidation in the past.

This School Survey Suggestion is printed and distributed, therefore as a suggestion to all county superintendents and people in the state, as well as to the people in Alfalfa. Grady and Wagoner Counties. It is not expected that the suggestions contained herein will be acceptable to every one concerned, but if they lead to a better general plan of county- wide reorganization and redistricting in these three counties, or in other counties, the publication will serve its purpose.

During the next school year, each county superintendent in the state should make an inventory of the equipment and needs of each scnool district at the time the school is visited. It is suggested that a county plan be worked out along the lines suggested herein. Each superintendent having an intimate knowledge of local conditions should be able to arrange a better plan for his county than any other person can arrange for it. The plan as worked out should be published and distributed to the people in the county, either in bulletin form or as a series of articles published in the county papers.

Future consolidations should conform to a county-wide plan.

REASONS FOR REPORTING THREE COUNTIES.

In Oklahoma conditions vary to such an extent that a plan which would be feasible in one county would hardly prove successful

S School Survey Suggestion

in another section of the state. School districts were organized in Oklahoma Territory prior to statehood; in Indian Territory the school districts were organized after statehood. Topographical conditions are not the same in all parts of the state. The crops raised have an influence on school attendance and spirit. A mixture of races has its influence on the administration of the schools. The maintenance of the school is effected by the amount of non-taxable land in the district. The educational ideals of the people, influenced as they are by the states from which they came, are not identical. The amount of progress that has been made in organizing consolidated and union graded schools in the several counties is not the same. These are some of the reasons that led to the selection of three counties in the state to be used as a basis of this suggested plan of county- wide reorganization.

The variations in the three counties are briefly as follows : Alfalfa County is in the grain belt where the crops do not interfere with school attendance. The school districts in this county M'^ere organized a short while after the opening to white settlement of the Cherokee Strip September 16, 1893. The county is generaly level and adapted to consolidation. There are no negroes in the county. The population of this county was drawn largely from the northern states. Practically all of the land is taxable. Three consolidated districts have been organized in this countv. The one teacher school predominates, there being only two rural common school districts in the county employing two teachers. At a rule, the school district bonds issued for building purposes have matured and been paid, and the school houses are about worn out. There is one teacherage in this county.

Grady County is located near the central part of the state where cotton and grain are the principal crops groMTi. The cotton crop interferes with the school attendance. The western one-fourth of the county was formerly a part of Caddo and Comanche Counties, Oklahoma Territory, and the school districts in this section were organized prior to the time Oklahoma became a state, 1907 ; the eastern part of the county was formerly included in Indian Territory and the school districts in this section were not organized until after 1907.

The topography and valuation in the several districts of this county are such that all are not adapted to consolidation. The population consists of Whites, Indians and Negroes, drawn largely from the southern states. A great deal of the land is not taxable

One union graded district and two consolidated districts have been organized in this county. Thirty-nine of the rural districts have two-teacher schools in which from one to two years of high school work is offered . High school instruction is provided for a large per cent of the pupils in this county. Not more than one-half

Foreword 7

of the districts in this county maintain one-teacher schools arid less than one-fourth of the pupils in the county attend one-teacher schools. The school district bonds being of later issue than those in Alfalfa County have not as a rule matured and been paid off. The schoolhouses being of more recent construction are generally better and more modern than those in older counties, but the box car type of building predominates here. There are fourteen teacherages in the county.

Wagoner County is located in the eastern part of Oklahoma where cotton and grain are the principal crops grown. As in Grady County, cotton interferes with the school attendance. This county was formerly included in Indian Territory and the school districts were not organized until after 1907. There is considerable rough territory in this county. The population consists of Whites, Indians and Negroes drawn from all sections of the country. A great deal of the land is not taxable. No union grade or consolidated schools have been organized in this county. Only three of the rural districts maintain two-teacher schools. The school district bonds have not yet matured and been paid. The schoolhouses are in a poor condition, the box car type predominating. There is one teacherage in this county.

Acknowledgment

Supt. Chas C. Wolfe of Alfalfa County, Supt. Moman H. Shepard of Grady County, and Supt. Fern H. Sizer of Wagoner County, accompanied me at the time inspections of the schools in their respective counties were made. They co-operated with me fully by making it possible for me to secure the information upon .which this report is based. Each of these superintendents is striving hard to improve school conditions and is entitled to the hearty co-operation of every person living in the county.

But in justice to these superintendents, I take pleasure in stating that they should not be held responsible for the suggestions made herein. I alone am responsible for them.

The illustrations used in this bulletin were furnished |3y the respective counties.

E. A. DUKE, Rural School Supervisor.

This county is one of the northern tier of counties almost equidistant from the eastern and western boundaries of Oklahoma. It lies just south of the Kansas state line, east of Woods County, west of Grant County and north of Major County. The shape of the county is that of a rectangle thirty-seven miles long from north to south and twenty-four miles wide from east to west. With the exception of 28 square miles waste land in the Great Salt Plains, the 888 square miles of area comprises splendid agricultural land.

This county was formerly a part of Woods County, which was one of the counties organized from the Cherokee strip at the time it was opened for settlement and made part of Oklahoma Territory. Sept. 16, 1893. The present school districts were organized and many of the present schools buildings were erected shortly after the opening.

Alfalfa County, as a separate municipality, came into existance at the advent of statehood, November 16, 1907.

The federal census of 1910 credited the county with 18,138 souls. The population at this time is probably greater than 20,000.

Only five negroes reside in this county and no Indian tribes have their domicile within its bounds. The population is almost wholly white. It is the type of a county where the population is homogeneous and where there is no necessity for separate schools. To this extent, the conditions there are ideal.

There are a few^ sand hills in the northeastern part of the county, the northwestern, central and southern parts consist of level prairie, with the exception of a narrow strip about two miles wide extending across the county two miles north of Goltry and Helena. The Salt Fork of the Arkansas River enters the county from the west just twelve miles south of the Oklahoma-Kansas line and flows southeast to the point where it enters Grant County sixteen and one-half miles south of the state line. There are several creeks in the county but all are bridged so they present no obstacles to travel.

The county is traversed by four railroads The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (Santa Fe), the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific (Rock Island), The St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco), and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient (Orient). The following toMnis and villages are located on these railroads: Cherokee, wliieh is the county seat; Carmen, Helena, Jet, Lambert, Driftwood. Burlington, Byron, Ingersoll, Goltry, Aline and Amorita.

It is strictly an agricultural county. Grain, hay and livestock are the products. There is no cotton to interfere with school attendance. A large proportion of the farmers OAvn their farms.

The taxable valuation of all property in the county is as follows:

Public Service 3,923,215.00

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION.

The county is divided into 93 school districts. There are 285, or more, school district officers. In 79 of the districts, one-teacher schools are maintained. There are two districts that employ two teachers each, and twelve districts that employ three or more teachers each. These latter are consolidated, village, and town schools. No high school work is offered in 81 districts.

The enumeration of scholastics in the county January, 1917, was 5,383. The enrollment in the schools during the year closing June 30, 1917, was 4,389 and the average daily attendance during the same time was 3,637. Of the scholastic enumerated, 2,341 live in consolidated, village and town districts where some high school work is offered and 3,042 live in districts that provide no high school training in the home school. The enrollment in the graded schools of consolidated, village, and town districts was 2,097 for the year closing June 30, 1917, and the average attendance was 1,770. The enrollment in the ungraded rural schools for the same year was 2,292 and the average attendance was 1,867.

The consolidated, village and town districts have levied $80,778 to provide schools during the current year for 2,341 persons of school age and the rural districts will pay $62,140 during the same time to provide schools for 3,042 scholastics. In other words, the districts having graded schools have planned to spend $34.50 for each person enumerated, while the rural people have planned to spend .$20.42 for each person enumerated in the rural districts that provide the ungraded schools.

The approved estimates for teachers' salaries are as follows: For the 83 teachers employed in rural districts, $41,139; for the 81 teachers employed in the consolidated, village and town schools, $53,870. The average monthly salaries paid teachers in the county as a whole is $69.10; the average in the graded schools being $72.93 and in the rural ungraded schools $65.24. District 17 pays the loM^est monthly salary, $40.00: District 46, Cherokee pays the highest, $125.00.

Fifty-four of the rural teachers are serving their first year in their present positions and twenty of these had had no previous experience as teachers when their schools opened last September. There are no third grade teachers employed in the graded schools.

Stella Friends Academy, located in a rural community five miles northeast of Cherokee, is the only private school of note in

the county. This academy furnishes high school facilities for rural pupils in that section of the county.

Under the present transfer law, pupils transferred from one district to another have their tuition paid by the district in which they reside. The provisions of this law were not generly understood at the time when transfers were made during June, 1917, and, as a result many pupils in the high school are forced to pay their

CONSERVATION OF HORSEPOWER— TRANSPORTATION AT LAMBERT.

own tuition this year. Next year these pupil, will no doubt apply for transfers in time to have their districts pay this tuition for them. During this school year the rural districts are paying $3,993 as transfer fees, or tuition, for pupils who were regularly transferred to districts maintaining graded schools. The enrollment in the high school grades of seven grade schools reported was 480 and 218 of these pupils were residents of other districts.

The districts maintaining graded schools levy a higher millage tax, upon the average, than do the rural districts. It is interesting to note in this connection that the consolidated districts maintain their schools on a lower rate of taxation than that levied in the

THE NEW WAY— TRANSPORTATION AT DRIFTWOOD.

good town and village schools. The rates levied in districts employing three teachers or more are as follows : No. District Town No. Teachers Rate of Levy

1 Consolidated, Burlington 4 4. mills.

2 Consolidated, Driftwood 5 7. mills.

3 Consolidated, Lambert 8 6.5 mills.

14 District, Amorita '. 3 4.8 mills.

23 District, Byron 4 5. mills.

40 District, Ingersoll 4 8. mills.

46 District, Cherokee 18 9.2 mills.

65 District, Jet 7 • 12.4 mills.

77 District, Carmen ...: 13 7. mills.

86 District, Goltry, 5 10. mills.

89 District, ' Helena ..: 8 15. mills.

97 District, Aline 5 15. mills.

The three consolidated districts furnish transportation as required by law and maintain their graded schools on a tax rate lower than that levied by the average village and town district. Any of the rural groups outlined in this survey-suggestion can do the same. The farmer can provide a good graded school for his children at a lower rate of taxation than the village and town districts must levy to support their schools.

During the month of November, 1917, accompanied by the County Superintendent Charles C. Wolfe, I inspected 58 schools in the coimty, including 47 one-teacher schools, 2 two-teacher schools. 3 consolidated and 6 town and village schools employing three or more teachers. In addition to the pei*sonal inspection of schools in all sections of the county, reports were received from all districts not visited except one \allage school, Ingersoll, and 5 one-teacher schools in districts 48, 82, 91, 95 and 99. The teachers in the.'^o districts either did not receive the report blanks sent them by mail or they ignored the request for information. Several of the reports were incomplete as to certain items.

In 10 graded Xovm, village and consolidated schools, and in 70 one-teacher rural schools the enrollment in the first eight grades was as follows:

Total 635 332 344 383 361 344 304 374 3076 The rural enrollment is greater than the town enrollment in all grades except the eighth. This is due to several causes: 1st. A large number of rural children go to the toAvn school to take the eight grade work ; 2nd. There being no high school in the district to act as an incentive, pupils do not finish course ; 3rd, Rural children outgrow the school before they complete the course of study; 4th, There is nothing in the little one room school to hold their interest.

.The high school enrollment in 7 town, village and consolidated districts was 485, of Avhich number 218 were pupils Avho live in rural districts offering no high school facilities and who were paying their own tuition or Avho had been transferred and were having theiituition paid for them by their districts.

There are 93 grades of one pupil each, 101 grades having only tAvo pupils each, 21 grades having eight or more pupils each, and only 3 grades having ten or more pupils enrolled in the rural schools of '.he county. The average number of daily recitations in the one-teacher schools is 30, the highest number is 37. Small classes, absence of rivalry and short recitation periods lead to an absence of school spirit and enthusiasm necessary to hold the interest of the adolescent child.

1 of 70 one-teacher schools has a teacher, but no pupils enrolled.

SUMMARY.

The following general information was compiled from observation notes and reports made at the time the schools were visited:

1. Fourteeia districts have no water supply on the grounds. Several have wells and cisterns with wood covers in such a state of decay that the water drains back into the well. A large number of wells and cisterns are provided with concrete covers. In the interest of health, concrete covers should be provided for all wells and cisterns.

2. Tw^enty-three of the school sites are fenced and trees have been planted on eighteen.

3. In only four districts are the outside privies provided with screens and in forty-six of the districts these privies have pits, but in no district inspected had the pits been treated to make them odorless or the privies made fly tight. Each school district board should take this matter up with the county superintendent, who -will instruct them how to take care of these outbuildings.

4. Practically all of the schools have some form of playground equipment.

5. There are 77 one-room school houses in the countv, 4 two-room houses, and 13 houses having three or more rooms. In two of the 4 districts having two-room buildings only one teacher is employed. There is one teaeherage in the county.

6 Only two of the 77 one-room schools are lighted properly. The building west of Cherokee in district No. 45. is the most moriern.

The buildings in many districts will need to be replaced or repaired at an early date. Directors should consult the county superintendent before building new houses or repairing the old ones. Only eleven rural buildings have entrance halls and only ten have cloakrooms, several of them have both entrance hall and cloakrooms. Only one buildiiiff in the county has a cupboard built and screened in for the protection of the childrens' lunches. There are in these schools many unused bookcases with doors broken off that could easily be converted into lunch cupboards be placing screen doors on them.

7. Five of these schools have no window shades. Many of them have no sash curtains over tho lower windows.

8. One district has recently bought adjustable desks. Several have non-adjustable desks too large for a number of the pupils enrolled and too small for others. Double desks are found in about three-fourths of the districts and single desks in the others.

9. Many of the schools have insufficient blackboard space and in many others the blackboards are so high that they are of not much benefit to the smaller children.

10. Twenty-two of the rural schools have modern heaters, the others are heated by stoves of the old type that furnish no ventilation or uniform temperature for all parts of the room.

11. Eleven districts have sanitary water coolers.

12. Fifty-five districts have maps, fifty have globes, forty-seven have agricultural charts, eight have reading charts, four have physiological charts, and two have bird charts. In several districts the boards have purchased expensive charts and nothing else in the way of equipment.

13. Thirty-five districts have no library books, twenty-two districts have library books that are too far advanced for any of the pupils enrolled, therefore these libraries are of no value to the school. Only fifteen districts have provided library books for the primary grades. Directors should permit the teachers to select library books, in order to avoid such mistake;^, as liave i>een made in the past. For instance, seven of these districts had in the library nothing but expensive encyclopedias, three of them having as many as three expensive sets each bought from a persistent agent who would not take ''no" for an answer.

14. Eighteen rural schools do not own a United States flag. The flag was not displayed in seven districts that own flags.

15. There are a great many organs in the schools, a few pianos, and seven Victorolas. The musical instruments were usually found to be out of tune. It is suggestive that Victorolas or Grafanolas be purchased and a system of exchanging records be devised under which several' districts may buy a few records each and organize a circuit whereby each district may have an opportunity during the year to use all of the records belonging to the several districts.

16. In two rural one-room schools, domestic science equipment has been provided. In one such district manual training equipment has been provided.