SCHOOLS OF YESTERYEAR
Paris No. 3
Later Known as Maurer School, Part 7
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation as we continue the history of Maurer School, revealing expenditures logged in the ledger book from the 1940s and 1950s.

Maurer School stood on the east side of Maurer Road, one-half mile south of Purdy Road in Section 8 of Paris Township.

In June 1941, the district paid Thumb Electric $18.90 for the year’s electricity costs, and in December, Thomas Murray earned $1 for providing the Maurer schoolchildren with a Christmas tree. Mrs. Jennie Flannery became Maurer’s teacher in 1941 and ended the school year with 34 students. In her attendance notations, six boys missed several days and even weeks of school due to “beans.” Farm families needed their older sons at harvest time. After the harvest, the boys returned to school for the winter session.

The children’s education continued during the 1940s, with the district purchasing books in the amount of $5.85 from Eisengruber Drug Store as well as $2.88 worth of pencils from A.J. Smith Store. Adeline Gliniecki taught 40 students during the course of the 1942-43 school year. In her annual summary at the close of the year, she indicated she had made plans to teach the following year at Minden City High School. In her report, Ms. Gliniecki indicated the inside of the schoolhouse could use a bit of redecorating and the children would benefit by adding playground equipment to the schoolyard.

In June 1943, Leo Maurer earned $23 for taking the census, and in July, the district paid $17.50 to John Maurer, Sr. for “price of land.” The district purchased material for the “repair of school building” in September 1943 from Fred S. Lenton in the amount of $9.91, and in June 1944, the district paid $66.76 to Bad Axe Grain Company for coal.

Prior to the start of school in 1944, Joe Buchkowski earned $5 for cleaning the outhouses, while Casmer Kubacki, Peter Micklash and Ted Wrubel worked in the school, earning $16, $14 and $24, respectively. During the mid-1940s, the district decided to make further repairs to the school, paying $206.77 to High Smith Lumber Yard for roofing material. The 1944 High Smith receipt indicated their Bad Axe address and their phone number of 557F1. The lumberyard receipt revealed the material included shingles and nails. The district allocated an additional $85.58 for paint, and on May 8, 1945, Leo Maurer earned $30 for “labor on roof.”

Students began to earn their fair share, undertaking some of the janitorial work. According to the district’s expenditures, in January 1945 German Micklash earned $2 for “making fire.” In March 1945, the district purchased 50 tablets and six dozen pencils from Amos Lowe, the supplies totaling $3.95. Amos Lowe's receipt boasted his store offered the following goods: Groceries and Meats; Dry Goods, Shoes and Wallpaper; and Fruits and Vegetables. The receipt also indicated their phone number was 38, the bill of sale mailed to the district, courtesy of a three-cent stamp. By August 1945, the district decided to expand Maurer School’s growing library, spending $18 on books from Harry M. Ward Co.

Teachers seeking employment at Maurer School during the 1940s included Clara Moran, and Emma McClew assumed the teacher’s role in January 1945. She would lead the children in their education through the 1949-50 school year. Ms. McClew listed her teaching qualifications as “war emergency” on the yearly report.

According to the teacher’s final report for the school year commencing September 3, 1945, and ending on May 10, 1946, Emma McClew earned $190 per month, teaching a total of 169 days of school. The total registration at the onset of the new school year totaled 54 students, but by the year’s end, she had incurred “seven losses,” with 47 students completing the year. The water was supplied by the well with an outdoor pump, and both of the outdoor toilets were approved by the Health Department. Ms. McClew noted the school had both a piano and electricity, and she made the following recommendations for betterment of the school: “chart for beginners; clean walls, windows, etc.; gravel on driveway; repair broken seats, toilets, hinges on doors, etc; and a first aid kit.

Expenditures during the summer of 1945 included $10 paid to Bernard Glaza for painting the school and $40 to Casimer Kubacki for the same. In April 1946, Joseph Buchkowksi, Jr. earned $22.40 for building the morning fire, while teacher Emma McClew earned $11.56 for her work in sweeping the schoolhouse. In February 1947, the Maurer children looked upon with pride the brand new United States flag, purchased from Thumb Office Supply for $13.75.

According to the 1947 Annual Statistical and Financial Report, the district estimated the value of school properties: land, $50; buildings, $2,500; and equipment, $1,000. In case of fire, the buildings were insured for $2,900, with a $13.76 annual premium. Likewise, in case of a tornado, the structures were insured for $2,200, in exchange for an annual premium totaling $4.40. The 1947 report also revealed the salaries of the board of education members totaled $60.

In preparation for the upcoming school year, in June 1947, Johnnie Maurer earned $10 cleaning the schoolyard. Likewise, the district paid Roman Lemanski $79 for painting, while Neil Maurer earned $23.45 – the cost for materials and labor for roofing the shed. Neil Maurer would return in the spring to install lightning rods on the shed.

The teacher’s final report for the school year ending May 10, 1948, indicated a total enrollment of 39 students. The teacher earned a salary totaling $2,025 for the 162 days of school taught. The number of the previous year’s graduates attending high school totaled one. Maurer School’s library continued to expand with 75 additional books added through the course of the year, bringing the total volumes on hand to over 252 books. On the report, the teacher expressed an interest in making the following recommendations: “boys toilet repair, fix bookshelves, play equipment, several new dictionaries.” In Ms. McClew’s attendance records, she noted “no unavoidable tardiness except when they attend morning church.”

Maurer students delighted in the school board’s decision in the fall of 1948 when they purchased bats and balls from Chuck’s Sport Shop amounting to $8.32, and an additional $7.83 worth of sporting goods. In January 1949, the district paid Lambert J. Jaroch $25 for a new outside toilet, and the outdoor fun continued in October 1949 when the district spent $267.08 on a “playground apparatus.” Neil Maurer earned $12 for his labor installing the equipment, while Walter Hammerle earned $16. Harold Smith earned $152 in October 1949 for his work painting the school, and new shades graced the windows in time for the annual Christmas program. At the close of the 1949-50 school year, Emma McClew noted her plans on the annual report that she would be teaching the following year at Becking School.

Be sure to look for the conclusion in next month’s issue.

©2008 Stein Expressions, LLC