SCHOOL NEWS
| MUSCATINE COUNTY, IOWA SCHOOL NEWS | |
Source: The Muscatine Journal and News Tribune, 30 July 1947, page 12
Submitted by Phyllis Hazen, June 4, 2019Pike Township to Vote on School Building Sales
Voters of Pike school township will decide in a special election Aug. 15, whether to sell any or all of their seven rural school buildings, it was announced today by E. D. Bradley, county superintendent of schools.
Plans for the special election were made Tuesday night when the board of directors of the school township met at the Adams school in district No. 1.
During the last school term, three of the seven rural schools of the township were open and four were closed, and the children of the four closed schools rode to and from the Nichols school in a bus operated by the Nichols Independent district.
When the 1947- 48 term opens this fall, six of the seven schools will be closed. The only school remaining in operation will be the Adams school.
While deciding to keep the Adams school in operation for another year the directors decided to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the special election to get the views of the citizens of the school township on the operation of any or all of the buildings.
To Ballet On Each At the election, which will be conducted by the school board at the Adams school Aug. 15, each of the seven buildings will be listed in a separate and distinct proposition. Voters, by marking an “X” in either the “YES” or “NO” square, can register their sentiment as to the sale or retention of any of the seven buildings. The polls will open at 3 p.m. and close at 8 p.m.
General election laws will apply in the election. To qualify as a voter, a man or woman must be 21 years old and resident of the state for six months, resident of the county for 60 days and of his school precinct for ten days.
Proposition No. 1 on the ballot presents the question of whether the board of directors of the school township shall sell the Adams district No. 1 school house, outbuildings and contents. Proposition No. 2 pertains to Pike district No. 2 pertains to Pike district No. 2; proposition 3, to Lacy district No. 3; proposition 4, to Wild Rose district No. 4; proposition 5, to Buffalo district No. 5; proposition 6, to Poole district No. 7 and Proposition 7, to Willow Grove district No. 8.
Wild Rose, Buffalo Bluff, Poole and Willow Grove schools were closed last year and this year Pike and Lacy will be added to the list of idle buildings. Part of the children in the districts where schools have been closed will be transported to Nichols in a bus operated by the Nichols independent district and the rest of the rural group will be carried in a bus that the Pike township school board has recently purchased.
Time Opportune In line with the state-wide trend toward larger school units and the legislative program encouraging the formation of community districts rather than small rural districts, the Pike township board decided that the present is a logical time to plan for a special election. The board members also felt that this was an opportune time to offer the buildings for sale because of the scarcity of housing and high costs of new construction.
Sentiment among the parents of children who were transported to Nichols last year indicates a strong preference for the graded school system, and it was pointed out that with roads good, bus transportation to Nichols was swift and required no more time than would have been needed by some of the children to walk to their own rural schools. Arrangements for transportation made in the closed districts last year seemed to be satisfactory and more economical than operating so many rural schools, Mr. Bradley said.
Harry Braun is president of the Pike township school board, and W. R. Schmitt is secretary. Other directors are F. F. Stalkfleet, Robert Elder, Robert Green, Arthur Will, Ray McCullough, and Donald Mills.