By Muriel Bristol | August 29, 2021
In the thirty-first (June 1877) report, the NH Superintendent of Instruction provided some statistics regarding Milton.
Milton’s town school committee members were identified as being J.P. Bickford (1844-1910) of Milton, Freeman H. Lowd (1853-1933) of Milton Mills, and Ambrose H. Wentworth (1832-1913) of West Milton.
Milton had 11 school districts and 13 schools in town, 2 of which were graded schools. 1 of the district schools had an average of 12 scholars of less; and none had an average of 6 scholars or less. The average run of district school classes was 14.0 weeks. (The Strafford County average was 19.8 weeks).
Milton had 12 schoolhouses, 3 were unfit for use, none were built during the year. They all had blackboards, but none had maps or globes. The estimated cash value of its school buildings, furniture and sites was $12,000; and the estimated cash value of its apparatus was $100.
Milton’s selectmen reported 152 male and 165 female children between 5 and 15 years. Its school committee reported that they had 159 male and 175 female students enrolled. Of these, 14 were aged under six years, 299 were aged between 6 and 16 years, and 21 were aged over 16 years. The average daily attendance was 264 students. There were 26 students pursuing higher branches, and there were 10 students aged between 5 and 15 years that were not attending any school.
There were 5 male teachers, making an average of $60.00 per month, and 10 female teachers, making an average of $25.00 per month. Of these, 3 were teaching for the first time, and 5 had been teachers for more than one term. (One might infer that the remaining 5 had been teachers already for a single prior term). None of them had been to Normal school. Of 344 Strafford County teachers, only 12 (3.5%) had been to Normal school).
The school committee had available to it $3,551.22; of which $1,008.00 came from the town tax for support of schools, $2,009.38 came from district school taxes, $145.34 came from the library fund, $142.50 came from local funds and the dog tax, $0.00 came from the railroad tax, and $246.00 came from contributions. It spent $3,543.43 (leaving $7.79), including $1,453.51 for new buildings, $319.87 for permanent repairs, $169.05 for miscellaneous expenses, and $1,619.00 for teacher salaries. A marginal table note indicated that the remaining amount, $42 in the case of Milton, went for school committee salaries, i.e., $14 for each of three committee members.
Milton expended an average of $5.14 per pupil; the Strafford County average was $7.20 per pupil.
The school district with the largest sum on hand had $324.87, and that with the smallest had $34.37; the school district with the longest term had run 30 weeks, and that with the shortest term had run for 8 weeks; the school district with the largest number of students had 78 students, and that with the smallest number had 11 students. The school assessment rate was $0.003 [per thousand]. Elsewhere in the same report, the Milton’s longest term was said to have been 36 weeks and its shortest term to have been 16 weeks.
Under the heading Private Schools of a Higher Grade, Milton had its Classical Institute, which was situated at Milton Three Ponds. The value of its building, apparatus and grounds was $1,500. It had a 36-week school year, which began in September. It had 1 male teachers and no female teachers; and it had 37 male and 32 female students. Of these, 65 of them were NH residents, 12 were pursuing higher branches, and 2 were studying ancient languages. (This entry was marked as having been based on a return of the previous year).
Previous in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1876; next in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1878
References:
NH Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1877). Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, June Session, 1877. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=ayMlAQAAIAAJ
Milton Observer 