Forum Flashbacks: March 5-11
MARYVILLE DAILY FORUM, MARCH 11, 2001
25 YEARS AGO: Jefferson Science Fair – Jefferson C-123 fifth grade students, l to r, Rachel Henry, Kevin Moffat, Tiffany Bliley and Tara Deranek surround Bliley’s Science Fair project, “The Battle of the Balls” Thursday. Becky Schieber’s fifth- and sixth-grade science classes demonstrated their talents by coming up with a problem, hypothesis, procedure, doing research and giving results and conclusions, during the annual fair.
50 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, March 6, 1976
School Classification System Designed to Improve Education
The lifeblood of a small community flows through its school. It is the center of social activity and the catalyst which often sparks citizen involvement in the community.
One of the greatest fears is that the school might be lost to consolidation with a neighboring school district which is larger and more affluent. Often people believe failure to be classified under the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education classification system will result in the loss of the community school.
The “be-classified-or-lose-your-school” belief crops up in Nodaway County where several schools are attempting to meet state class AA standards or face becoming “unclassified” as the state ends the class A category.
Such is not the case. A school is not closed or consolidated if it becomes unclassified, nor does it lose state funding. …
“The only provision for closing a school is when the average daily attendance falls below 15 students,” (assistant commissioner of education for Missouri P.J.) Newell stated.
Schools can be lost through merger of districts as in the recent case at Sheridan, but the classification system has nothing directly to do with it. …
In the Sheridan case, the Worth County Board of Education (not to be confused with a district school board) submitted a reorganization proposal to the Department of Education. the proposal was to reorganize the R-II district and the much larger Worth County R-I district which included Grant City.
The department approved the proposal and an election was set up to decide whether or not to reorganize. Although Sheridan voters by a 3-to-1 margin voted against the reorganization, the larger voting bloc in the R-I district voted for reorganization; Worth County R-III was formed.
The Sheridan school will be closed next year.
75 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, March 7, 1951
School Board Wants Skaith to Quit
Superintendent of Maryville public schools, F. L. Skaith, has been offered a $1,000 contract for the school year beginning July 1, 1951, by the board of education.
When the matter of renewing contracts was brought up at the regular board meeting Wednesday night, Feb. 28, a majority of the board members voted not to extend a contract to Skaith as superintendent of schools. Before adjourning, the board decided to defer the matter until a later meeting.
A special meeting of the board was called for the following night, Thursday, at which time a majority voted to offer Skaith a contract for one year. …
Hiring of Teachers Is Issue
The main issue of the board’s action seems to arise from Skaith’s failure to carry out the instructions of the board when hiring teachers. Another reason given by board members is his dictatorial attitude in handling teachers and other minor personal issues.
Two years ago a committee of two board members, Mrs. Clun Price and Homer Ogden, were appointed by President Don Alexander to advise Skaith in the hiring of teachers. According to the board Skaith hired several teachers without consulting the committee which he was instructed to do. …
Ralph E. Hargrave, another board member, stated that he voted against offering Skaith a contract at all. “I was opposed to issuing a contract to Skaith from the first board meeting,” Hargrave stated.
Blames Dictatorial Attitude
When asked to give reasons for his stand on the issue Hargrave exclaimed that “we have been unable to get teachers because of Skaith’s dictatorial attitude.” …
“The decision of the board of education in the Wednesday meeting came as a distinct surprise to me,” Skaith declared this morning. “At no time had there been the slightest indication that the renewal of my contract as superintendent of schools was in jeopardy.” …
Explaining the reasons for not consulting the committee, Skaith said, “The board did not take into consideration the fact that there is an acute shortage of teachers and that the administrator is placed in the position of one seeking employes rather than selecting from a list of applicants the one who would be the most acceptable to members of the committee.
“It was a matter of getting teachers at the time or of closing up rooms and denying pupils the services they are entitled to.” Skaith continued, “In each instance, the superintendent’s appointments were approved by the teacher committee at the next meeting and the teachers regularly employed.”
Motive Obvious Says Skaith
Skaith said the motive of the board is obvious. “From the standpoint of the school administration that form of action has no ethical basis,” he added.
“The superintendent has no desire to make an emotional appeal on his behalf. The board has acted and while the technique employed is of questionable merit, I must accept the verdict as final,” the superintendent said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 50- and 75-year flashbacks are courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, accessible at shsmo.newspapers.com.
