Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/663

 A MODEL MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENT 639

done in the autumn of 1903, largely under the direction of Dr. Walter Bensil, then assistant chief medical inspector, and with most gratifying results. As at present organized, the whole city is divided into school districts, with a medical inspector in each district, under the charge of a district superintendent. 1 It is the duty of the latter to oversee the work of his subordinates and keep them up to the mark, and at the same time report to head- quarters (/. e., to the assistant chief medical inspector) for con- sultation and instructions. Each individual school inspector must also send into the assistant chief a daily report of his work at each school, and a weekly summary of the same ; and must report to the district superintendent in person once a week, and once a week in person to the assistant chief. Furthermore, each man is assigned a certain number of schools which it is his duty to inspect every day. By this "squad" or district system, first established by Dr. Bensil, much time is saved which was formerly lost by the men having to report more often to the headquarters of the department. At the same time there is more thorough oversight of each man by the district superintendent, and, as a logical result, more thorough work is done. Each man also becomes more familiar with his schools, and with the principals and teachers, and there is a far greater uniformity of method.

The working day of each inspector begins at 9 : 30 and closes only when he has performed all the work required of him, which is generally at the end of the afternoon session of school days. His daily round of duty is of three kinds:

I. A morning inspection of all \\\z public schools to which he has been assigned, before 10 o'clock. Here he is required to examine each child that has been isolated by the teachers as a source of possible contagion, and exclude from school attend- ance anyone affected with, or showing symptoms of, an infectious or contagious disease. The following affections must be excluded without delay and the patients sent to their homes, viz.: measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough, mumps, chicken pox,

1 During the school year of 1902-3 there were employed in Manhattan and the Bronx six supervising medical inspectors, including one woman doctor, and sixty- eight regular inspectors, including nine females.