THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORFOLK
REPORT OF H. FRANK COOK, 
Inspector of Public Schools
Simcoe, 6 Jun 1910

To the Warden and County Council of Norfolk:

Gentlemen, -- I have the honour  to submit herewith for your consideration my 5th annual report on the Public Schools of the county.

Preamble

Heretofore this report has been submitted at the January meeting of your body. It was found very difficult to make it as complete as it should be so early in the year since very many of the annual reports from the school sections did not come to hand before the end of January.

In my last report the statistics given were entirely for the calendar year 1908. In this report some paragraphs will refer entirely to the calendar year 1909 and some other portions will relate to the whole of 1909 and the first half of 1910. Because the school year begins in August of one year and end on the 29th of June of the next, there is good reason for bringing some of the details and facts down to the end of this present month.

Moreover, since the only supply of new qualified teachers becomes available at the close of the Normal Schools in June of each year, the greatest number of changes among teachers new takes place at midsummer.

Hopefully all School Boards will remember this fact when engaging a teacher, and that every reasonable effort will be made to avoid a change of teacher at the Christmas vacation. 

Since the High School Entrance examination and the Uniform Promotion examinations are held at the end of June, we have another good reason for trying to keep our schools in charge of the same teachers from midsummer to midsummer.

Since the conditions are slightly different in Rural and Urban schools the two classes of schools will be kept separate and distinct in the following statements.

Teachers

The work in our schools during the year and a half from 1 Jan 1909 to 30 Jun 1910, has not been as satisfactory as we should desire.

One of the reasons for this has been the more than usual number of shiftings on the part of teachers from one school to another.

There has been a decided shortage in the supply of qualified teachers, which has caused a sharp increase in the salaries paid. Naturally, a teacher will move from one school to another for a material advance in salary; and some of our best have been drawn away by increases that in some cases exceed $100.

These too numerous changes work in the majority of cases as a hindrance and a serious handicap in the best interest of the pupils. The schools that suffered most in this regard during the year and a half just ending were the rural schools.

At the present time there are in the county 25 teachers in Urban schools, 104 in Rural schools, and I Kindergarten Director, making a total of 180. Sixty-six of these schools retained one teacher during the year and a half; 
40 schools have had two teachers, 
15 had three different teachers; 
six had four different teachers; 
one school had five; and 
two schools had six.

Many Boards and sections have done everything within reason to keep a well qualified teacher engaged. Salaries have been increased steadily and in many cases markedly, and the higher salaries have in the majority of cases produced the desired result.

Prior to 1 Jan 1907, only two Rural school teachers received an annual salary of $500. By the School Act of 1906, salaries had to be paid according to the assessment of the sections. This made it compulsory upon four Rural schools to pay $500; the remaining 100 teachers received salaries between $475 and $800. 

Today there are 19 teachers receiving $500,
three receiving $525, two receiving $550,
one receiving $600, one receiving $675, and
one receiving $750.

The average salary for all Rural schools in the county for 1908 was $402. For 1909 it was $422.

It is the policy of the Department of Education to gradually withdraw the grants on Interim Second Class teaching certificates to encourage Boards to engage teachers with Permanent Second and First Class certificates.

In Norfolk, the percentage of teachers with Second and First Class certificates is still low, as can be seen in the following table:

	1907	1908	1909
1st Class	2	5	5
2nd Class	35	31	38
3rd Class	62	64	54
Temporary	5	5	7

Attendance

Another very serious hindrance to the satisfactory advancement of the pupils in too many schools is the lack of regularity of attendance.

This is a matter in which teachers, boards of trustees, and all ratepayers should take particular interest. We are wasting money, scores of children are allowed to waste time, and the next generation is not being fully equipped and prepared for the responsibilities of life by receiving even a "common school education."

It is not too much to expect that the average attendance at any school for a year should be from 70 to 80 per cent, and sometimes above 80 per cent  under favorable conditions as to the roads in winter months, the lack of epidemics among the children, etc. 

In this connection it is gratifying to be able to report that several sections have appointed a truant officer since 1908, and the results have been quite satisfactory. Splendid work is also being done by the Children's Aid Society in looking after neglected children throughout the county. The C.A.S. has such power by law as enables its agents to deal very effectively with cases of persistent and willful truancy.

Attendance by Township (percentage)

	Low	High
Charlotteville	40	72
Houghton	33	81
Middleton	36	61
Townsend	40	62
N. Walsingham	39	63
S. Walsingham	40	55
Windham	31	70
Woodhouse	44	71

Attendance in Urban schools (percentage): 

Port Dover	66
Simcoe	63
Waterford	62
Port Rowan	61
Delhi	57

Property

The equipment of the schools is being steadily improved. At the end of 1909 there remained only three schools without a library, today there is only one. At the end of the year there were 6,699 volumes in the libraries, with a total value of $2811.

During the year, four fine new school houses were built:
Houghton S.S. No. 4
Houghton S.S. No. 8
Houghton S.S. No. 10
Middleton S.S. No. 12,
at a cost of $1300 to $1800.

North Walsingham S.S. 9 (Silver Hill) was so thoroughly renovated that it is practically as good as one of the new ones.

There are still some school houses that are so inferior in accommodations and suitability to the requirements either of the comfort and welfare of the children or the regulations of the Department of Educations that they should be replaced very soon by new buildings.

Every school was inspected at least twice during the year; a very few were visited three times.