1881 Rules

Rules and Regulations in 1881

TEACHERS

All applicants for situations as teacher must have a satisfactory certificate as to moral character, and one from the Board of Examiners as to his or her qualifications, and all teachers appointed hold their situations during the school year unless sooner discharged by the Board.
All the teachers are required to be present in their respective rooms thirty minutes before the time for opening school in the morning, and ten minutes before the opening of school in the afternoon; and all cases of absence, except from personal sickness or some unavoidable cause, shall be reported to the Board.
No teacher shall be allowed to be absent from school, except from sickness, without permission of the superintendent, and without providing a substitute satisfactory to the superintendent. In all cases when a suitable substitute is not obtained no claim shall be allowed for services during that time.
It shall be the duty of all teachers to make themselves acquainted with the rules prescribed by the Board, and observe and enforce the same so far as they relate to their several departments; to preserve perfect order in their respective rooms, watch over the morals of their pupils, and restrain all improper speech and conduct; to report all cases of gross misconduct or immorality to the superintendent for his counsel and direction; to endeavor to gain by courteous deportment the influence and co-operation of parents in sustaining the teachersš authority and government over their child, and so far as practicable, to govern their pupils by the moral influence of kindness, and by appeals to the nobler instincts of their nature.
It shall be the duty of all teachers about to resign their situation in school, to give at least one monthšs notice to the Board.
The Bible shall be read daily by the teacher or pupils as the opening exercises in every grade of the school.
Teachers who shall admit students to their recitations whose tuition fees are unpaid, shall have the full amount of said fees deducted from their salaries.

PRINCIPALS

The principals shall be especially held responsible for the observance and enforcement of the rules and regulations of the Board; for the guidance and direction of their assistants in the absence of the superintendent; for the government of their respective schools, and the deportment of those pupils under them during school hours, and are accordingly invested with authority to carry these things into effect.
They shall, with the aid of the superintendent, classify the pupils in the Primary and Intermediate schools, in the different grades, according to their advancement in arithmetical studies: they shall see to the safe keeping and protection of their rooms, furniture, apparatus, etc., over which they have control, and maintain the strictest cleanliness in their rooms.
They shall see that the roll is called immediately after reading the Scriptures in the morning, and immediately upon opening school in the afternoon, that the strictest account of the tardiness and absence of the pupils may be kept.
The principals shall each keep an annual register, and each teacher a daily register of the name, age, attendance, scholarship, department, grade, suspension and departure of all pupils in their respective departments, and transfer and deposit the same with the superintendent at the end of the school year, or at the time of resignation.

CONCERNING DISCIPLINE

All teachers are required to maintain strict order and discipline in their schools and class rooms at all times. Any neglect of this requirement will be considered good cause for dismissal. In maintaining order teachers are hereby authorized to employ any proper means which may be necessary to secure a compliance with their commands to the pupils, and in the use of which they will receive the full countenance and support of the Board.
All teachers will be held to a strict accountability as to the manner in which they shall use the authority herein delegated, and, upon complaint of severity of punishment, each case shall be adjudged upon its own merits, the teacher being subject to instant dismissal if the Board decide it to be demanded by the circumstances.
Those teachers who are most successful in controlling their pupils without the use of corporal punishment, other qualifications being sufficient, shall be awarded by the Board a high degree of appreciation, and receive the preference over all others in promotions and appointments.

PUPILS

No child under six years of age shall be admitted into the schools, nor shall one pupil under censure in one district be admitted into the school of another until such censure be removed. No suspended pupils shall be re-instated except by order of the Board or superintendent.
No pupil shall be received or continued in the schools known to be affected with any contagious or infective disease, or coming from a family where such disease prevails.
No pupil shall be allowed to depart before the hour of leaving school, except in case of sickness or by the written request of the parent or guardian, or for some pressing emergency, of which the teacher shall be the judge.
No pupil shall be transferred from the district in which he or she may reside to another without permission of the Board.
The teachers are instructed to notify the parents or guardians of such pupils as may be absent or may come after the regular hour for opening school without a written excuse, and to refuse to admit them after such notice until satisfactory excuse is rendered, and to report the same to the superintendent.
The pupils shall not come about any of the school buildings sooner than thirty minutes before nine ošclock, and upon being dismissed shall immediately return peaceably to their homes, except in cases where pupils are allowed to bring their dinners, owing to distance from school.
The male pupils, during recess, shall occupy the east division of the playground, and the females the west division, and all intercommunication within the school grounds is at all times strictly forbidden.
Pupils are forbidden to speak or write profane or unchaste language, or to deface any wall, building or fence on the school grounds, by writing or by drawing any figure or representation; and it is strictly enjoined upon all to avoid slandering each other, quarreling, noise or disturbance of any kind, everywhere, while connected with the schools.
Scholars shall not be allowed to retain their connection with the schools unless they are provided with the books and implements used in the grades to which they respectively belong, without permission from the superintendent.
Borrowing or lending the use of other than textbooks, leaving a seat without permission, and refreshments of any kind, or chewing, are forbidden during the time of study or recitation. Interference with each otheršs desks or property, and all improper conduct are at all times strictly forbidden.
Tobacco in any form must not be used inside the grounds or buildings.
Each pupil will be held responsible for the good appearance of his or her desk, and of the floor in the immediate facility; and parents will be held responsible for injury done by their children to the furniture or other property belonging to the schools.
Pupils are forbidden to enter the garden, lot, field, or other property of any citizen during school hours, or in passing to or from school, without permission of the owner.
Scholars are required to observe strictly the rules of the schools, to obey promptly the directions of the teachers, to be diligent in their studies, both in school and at home, and always, under all circumstances, to be respectful in their deportment towards teachers and to those whom they meet, and kind in their intercourse with one another.
In all cases when the conduct and habits of any scholar are found injurious to associates, it shall be the duty of the superintendent, by and with the advice of the Board, to suspend such scholar from the schools.
For violent or repeated opposition to the authority of the teacher, for the violation of any of these rules, or for habitual tardiness, or irregular attendance, without excuse from the parent or guardian, the superintendent may suspend a scholar from the school, and notify the parent or guardian of the cause, and shall also notify the board, accompanied with reasons for the same, but any suspended scholars, by expressing regret to his or her teacher, and giving satisfactory evidence of amendment, may, by the consent of the Board, be re-instated in the school.

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