By Muriel Bristol | November 7, 2021
In his June 1882 report, NH Superintendent of Instruction J.W. Patterson provided some statistics regarding Milton.
Milton’s town school committee members were identified as being John U. Simes, and H.F. Pitcher, M.D.. (John U. Simes (1836-1927) of Milton Mills was a trader, i.e., a storekeeper; and Herbert F. Pitcher (1853-1924) was a Milton physican). (They would seem to have been short by one committee member).
Milton had 11 school districts and 13 schools in town, 2 of which were graded schools and none were district and town high schools. There were 11 schoolhouses, of which none that were unfit for use and none were built during the year. Maps and globes were available in 11 schoolhouses. The value of schoolhouses, furnishings and sites was estimated at $8,000, and the value of apparatus was estimated at $150. Only 2 of the district schools had an average of 12 scholars of less; and 1 had an average of 6 scholars or less. The average run of district school classes was 18.4 weeks. (The Strafford County average was 20.82 weeks).
Milton had 146 male and 138 female students enrolled. Of these, 31 were aged under six years, 233 were aged between 6 and 16 years, and 29 were aged over 16 years. There were 39 students pursuing higher branches, and there were 14 students aged between 5 and 15 years that were not attending any school. Average daily attendance was 201 students.
There were 4 male teachers, making an average of $40.00 per month, and 14 female teachers, making an average of $23.42 per month. Of these, 2 were teaching for the first time, and 10 had been teachers for more than one term. (One might infer that the remaining 16 had been teachers already for a single prior term). Of these, 2 of them had been to Normal school. Of 208 Strafford County teachers, only 30 (11.6%) 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.
The school committee had available to it $1,925.41; of which $1,092.00 came from the town tax for support of schools, $483.00 came from district school taxes, $120.62 came from the literary fund, $129.00 came from local funds and the dog tax, $100.79 came from the railroad tax, and $0.00 came from contributions.
Milton expended $0.00 for new buildings, $358.00 in interest, $25.00 in permanent repairs, $100.0o in miscellaneous expenses; and $1,223.71 in teacher salaries, for a grand total of $1,766.71. The average cost of salaries and miscellaneous expenses per scholar was $4.66. (The county average cost per scholar was $7.29).
Previous in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1881; next in sequence: Milton in NH Education Report, 1884
References:
NH Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1882). Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=qholAQAAIAAJ
Milton Observer 