Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/335

 H1STOKY OF GOODHUE COUNTY 275 school; fifty schools, eight months; thirty-seven schools, seven months; forty schools, six months; and sixteen schools, five months. Compared with the report of twenty- five years ago it will be seen that short term schools are gradually becoming a thing of the past. We again quote from the annual report of 1908: "It may be of interest to know what a school would be like that should represent the average of all the rural schools of the county. Such a school would be found in a schoolhouse worth about $1,000, with seats worth about $75 and apparatus worth $45. There would be about one hundred volumes in the library. There would be twenty-five pupils, of whom three would fail to attend forty days. Five of the pupils would be from five to eight years of age and the others would be from eight to eighteen. The school would be in session seven months and the pupils would attend an average of eighty-eight days. The teacher would receive about $40 a month. The district would have a cash on hand of about $130, receive from apportionment $100, from spe- cial tax $220, from one mill tax $55 (showing that the district would have an assessed valuation of about $55,000). It would pay for teacher's wages $280, for fuel $33, repairs $18, library books $2.50, text-books $6, apparatus $2, other purposes $25. "Years ago it used to be a common thing for schools to employ two or three different teachers during the same year, one for each term. This has changed so that now practically every dis- triet employs the same teacher throughout the year. Out of a total of 151 teachers who taught in the rural schools during the year, 140 stayed the whole time in the same school. "During the past year the state high school examination was taken in twenty-eight schools and about two hundred credits were obtained. The final county examination was taken in 103 schools and 1,764 papers were sent to the county superintendent. Fifty-eight pupils received common school diplomas as a testi- monial that they have completed the common school branches and are entitled to enter the high school." During the school year of 1908-09 the final county examina- tion has been taken by about one hundred and twenty schools and the number of graduates will be about eighty. Most of the schools are well equipped with those things which are required for efficient work. During the last few years special attention has been given to heating and ventilation, and a large number of districts have installed heating and ventilating plants in accordance with the suggestions of the state superintendent of public instruction. During the present year forty-six schools will meet the