St. Louis. Previously the tax rate upon merchandise was .03478 on each one hundred dollars of the largest amount of stock on hand between the first Monday in March and the first Monday in June of each year. The law changes this so that the tax is made the same as on real and personal property, to wit, 40 cents on the hundred dollars. NEW BOOKS AND CHANGES IN COURSE OF STUDY. The American Book Company for many years past furnished a large majority of the books used in our schools, and in a measure controlled the prices of text-books. At the commencement of the last scholastic year the Board determined to substitute new and what some believed to be more modern books, for those heretofore used in the various grades, and on recommendation of the Course of Study Committee, the readers, arithmetics, grammars and physical geographies were changed. The table attached hereto, as part of this report, shows the changes made in detail, together with the amount saved the board by the new contracts. After an attempt to let a contract for the new readers was made, a suit was filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis, entitled Charles L. Chapman v. The Board of President and Directors of the St. Louis Public Schools, to enjoin the Board from completing the contract. This suit was decided in favor of the Board, and the contracts were sustained. Without necessarily deciding that these contracts were to be let contrary to the rules it seems to have been incidentally decided by the court that no controlling power existed in the rules to prevent a majority of the Board from acting contrary to the rules themselves, although they expressly declare that they can only be changed or varied by a two-thirds vote of the whole Board. SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND ENROLLMENT OF PUPILS. The Public School interest has become a great one, not only for the reason that it involves a large expenditure of money, but because it concerns the education of by far the largest portion of the youth of the community. Nearly a million and a half dollars were expended during the last year in supporting and extending the public school system. The total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 65,169, exclusive of those who attend the evening schools. These pupils were taught by 1,322 teachers, and were seated in 1,027 school rooms. There were 2,734 more pupils enrolled during this year than during the preceding year. The increase in enrollment during the preceding year was slightly more. The increase in the enrollment of the pupils in the schools during the last two years was 5,256. This increase is more than twice the increase for any preceding two consecutive years since the year 1879-80. Thus it will be seen that the growth of the schools during the last two years as compared with their growth during the preceding eleven years, has required far more than ordinary effort to keep pace with the growing demand. I have reason to believe that this unusual increase in the number of pupils enrolled is due not only to the increase in population of the city of St. Louis, but also to the closing of many private and parochial schools. The following summary of statistics shows at a glance the extent of our school system, at the close of the year 1892-3 as well as the increase in the several items over those of the preceding year. No. of school buildings. No. of school rooms. No. of seats..... No. of pupils enrolled (excluding evening school-). 118 1,027 56,485 65,169 49,451 1,322 45 2,475 2,734 1,298 No. of teachers (excluding evening schools)... Increase of seats.. Increase of enrollment... Increase of number belonging.. Increase of teachers..... No. enrolled in evening schools.. 46 2,010 Average cost per pupil for tuition on average number belonging.. $15 64 Average cost per pupil for tuition and incidentals, on average EXTENSION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. During the years 1891-92 and 1892-93 the Board awarded contracts for the construction of eighty new rooms for the District Schools. This number does not include any of the forty-two new rooms opened during the year 1891-92 and noted in the President's report for that year. Of these eighty rooms, including Kindergartens, fortyeight were additions to school buildings. The remaining thirty-two were located on new sites. The Chouteau (12 rooms) takes the place of the old Chouteau (8 rooms) which has been sold. The Grant (12 rooms), the Washington (4 rooms) and the Benton (4 rooms) are so planned and located that they can be enlarged to meet future demands. It has been the policy of the Board, during the last fifteen years, to so locate, plan and construct its buildings as to eventually increase their size to buildings having eighteen or more rooms. This plan seems to meet the approval of the people, judging from the general desire to patronize the larger schools. In the construction of school buildings the Board has endeavored to adopt the most approved methods for heating and ventilating. In adopting plans for buildings attention has been given to light and to proper seating. The following statement shows the additions and new buildings for the construction of which contracts were awarded during the last two years: CONTRACTS AWARDED DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS FOR NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS, EXCLUSIVE OF THE BUILDINGS ERECTED DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS CONTRACTS FOR WHICH WERE AWARDED SHORTLY BEFORE THE CLOSE OF THE FISCAL YEAR, 1890-1891. |