By Muriel Bristol | September 19, 2021
In his June 1878 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 Martin V.B. Cook (1839-1891) of Milton.
Milton had 10 school districts and 12 schools in town, 2 of which were graded schools. There were 10 schoolhouses, and 2 others that were unfit for use. Maps and globes were available in 2 schoolhouses. The value of schoolhouses, furnishings and sites was estimated at $10,000, and the value of apparatus was estimated at $100. Only 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 15.7 weeks. (The Strafford County average was 23.45 weeks).
Milton had 1 fractional school district. It paid $43.00 in superintendence. Some 60 students had no absences during the year. It had 5 students attending private schools.
The school district with the largest sum on hand had $392.00, and that with the smallest had $30.00; the school district with the longest term had run 30 weeks students, and that with the shortest term had run for 12 weeks; the school district with the largest number of students had 49 students, and that with the smallest number had 7 students. The school assessment rate was $0.003 [per thousand].
Milton had 154 male and 161 female students enrolled. Of these, 20 were aged under six years, 272 were aged between 6 and 16 years, and 23 were aged over 16 years. There were 30 students pursuing higher branches, and there were 12 students aged between 5 and 15 years that were not attending any school. Average daily attendance was 262 students.
There were 3 male teachers, making an average of $60 per month, and 12 female teachers, making an average of $28.50 per month. Of these, 1 was teaching for the first time, and 5 had been teachers for more than one term. (One might infer that the remaining 9 had been teachers already for a single prior term). None of them had been to Normal school. Of 249 Strafford County teachers, only 16 (6.4%) had been to Normal school).
Under the heading Private Schools of a Higher Grade, Milton had its Classical Institute, which was situated at Milton Three Ponds. It had been chartered and organized in 1866. The value of its building, apparatus and grounds was $2,800. It had a 44-week school year, which began in September. It had no male teachers and 2 female teachers; and it had 17 male and 31 female students. Of these, 37 of them were NH residents, 18 of them were pursuing higher branches. Its principal was Miss Augusta Clement.
The school committee had available to it $3,594.61; of which $1,220.44 came from the town tax for support of schools, $1,942.61 came from district school taxes, $143.10 came from the literary fund, $30.00 came from local funds and the dog tax, $58.46 came from the railroad tax, and $200.00 came from contributions.
Milton expended $1,588.57 for new buildings, $130.00 in permanent repairs, $150.oo in miscellaneous expenses; and $1,343.00 in teacher salaries, for a grand total of $3,254.54. The average cost of salaries and miscellaneous expenses per scholar was $4.77. (The county average cost per scholar was $7.85).
Previous in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1877; next in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1879
References:
NH Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1878). Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=myMlAQAAIAAJ
Milton Observer 