Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

Teachers Request Meeting with Board
• There were staff management issues, and, for the first time, the teachers,
as a group, asked to meet with the Board.
‘Lack of Coordination with Staff’ Access to Library
The teaching staff wrote requesting a meeting re their complaints. Mayor
Reg Hyson chaired the Board meeting on November 11th 1922. The minutes
read as:
Mayor explained that as correspondence showed lack of coordination with staff, he
deemed it advisable for them and the board to meet and endeavor to settle the differences
in an amicable manor. The teachers and board freely expressed their views
of the complaints submitted.
Moved by Commissioners Mader and O. A. Hamm [the well-known boat builder]
The Board provide each teacher with a key to the library door. Carried.
The problem of access to the Library is recorded and a curriculum problem was
recorded. There were certainly other complaints, particularly about class size and
teacher assignments.
Class Size and Teacher Assignments, 1922-23:
Need for an Additional Teacher
At the Board meeting of July 7th 1922, Principal Langille submitted the following
plan for the 1922-23 school year:
Grade 1 about 50 pupils Miss Smeltzer
Grade 11 about 27 pupils Miss Hiltz Large
Grade 111 about 31 pupils Miss Zinck Classes
Grades 1V & V about 46 students Miss Kedy And
Grades V1& V11 about 46 students Miss Oxner Inequitable
Grades V111& 1X about 45 students Miss Quinlan Distribution
Grades X & X1 no numbers given Mr. Langille
Extra Teacher Needed
At least one extra teacher was needed. There is no record of the teachers
specifically requesting this, and there is certainly no record of the principal
demanding additional staff. H.V. Corkum, appointed principal in 1929, immediately
campaigned for an additional teacher.
• Supervision of Teachers
An interesting innovation took place in April 1925. At the Board meeting of
April 4th the Principal was ordered to visit rooms on date set… Moved by Commissioners
Eisenhauer [the same Warren Eisenhauer who supervised the
building of the school] and Hamm: The Principal requested to dismiss his room
the afternoon of every Friday preceding the second Tuesday of each month, and devote
that afternoon in question to make an inspection of the various rooms, ascertaining
the standing of the grades and teachers, and report, in person, to the school
board meeting the same evening.
The concept was good. Part of a principal’s job is supervision and evaluation of
staff. But how to do it when the principal is a full-time teacher? The board had
been reactive. There was concern at exam results and teacher performance.
• Salary Increase Refused: The Writing On The Wall
Twice Mr. Langille asked the Board for a salary increase and was refused. On
the second occasion, April 9th 1925, the board minutes record that: Principal
Langille made a verbal application asking for an increase in salary, giving reasons
for his demand. Moved by Commissioners Crouse and Davis-We engage Principal
Langille at present salary. Carried
• Poor Results in Provincial Exams
The 1925-26 year did not start well. At the August 27 Board meeting, Showing
of Pupils was on the agenda. The chairman brought before the meeting the poor
showing of the pupils in the High School-thirty writing and only fifteen successful.
1925-26 was to be Mr. Langille’s last year.
Today, 2007, such large classes and inequitable distribution of class enrolment,
combined with mixed grades, would lead to a major crisis. Even for
1922-23 the picture was bleak. At least Mr. Langille could have redistributed
the numbers in the first three departments to make three classes of 32-34
students. Did Miss Smeltzer really have 50 students!
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