"Your committee appointed to consider the contracts..." · EMU Archives

Title

"Your committee appointed to consider the contracts..."

Subject

Michigan--State Board of Education, Lincoln Consolidated School District--1920s, Michigan State Normal College--History, School buildings--Michigan--Washtenaw County

extracted text

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To Presidents Charles McKenny and D. B. Waldo:

~ Your committee appointed to consider the contracts under
which the Normal Colleges cooperate with rural scnools and
maintain training departments therein respectfully report:

l. We find that all of these schools with one exception
are working under identical forms of contract which provide in
crief that the State shall purchase and maintain 211 movezable
Turniture and equipment, purchase all supplies, pay the cost
of transportation of all critic teachers and college students
and one half of the transvortation cost of pupils, and pay the
salaries of teachers and Janitors, The contract which is an
exception to these terms is that of the District of Paw Paw
with Western State Teachers College in which the district has

&

less favorable terms in that it purchases its own supplies,

<. There has been some variation in the execution of the
terms of these identical contracte in that certain of the
scnools have purchased part of the supplies although not re-
quired to do so by the terms of the contract. It is perhaps
true, however, that where such purcnases were made the dic-
trict was somewhat more adequately supplied than a distriet
which depended solely upon the State, |

3. Your committee is of the opinion that an early attempt
should be made to redraft these contracte, Sufficient prevision
was not used in drawing the contracts and conditione have arisen
which apparently were not considered when the contract was made,

Following are illustrations of these conditions.,

8. In one case the contract was made for a seven teacher
scnool, The Teachers! College needed that many critic teachers
and so wase justified in assuming the expense of the school,
>lnce then, however, the growth of population has made this a
fourteen teacher school, The State does not need this additional
number of critic teachers. Is the State bound to provide these
additional teachers with corresponding increased supplies? As
Lo this the contract is silent.

b, In another case two additions have been made to the
bullding since the drawing of the contract. These additions
were made necessary by the growth of the population in the dis-
trict and not by the needs of the State for teacher training
facilities. ipparently, no such condition was foreseen when
the contract was drafted, ‘

Obviouely it is entirely possible in g rapidly growing
community for the rural school to grow far beyond the needgs of
the Normal Colleges and to become g heavy financial burden unon
them, | ~