Training-School Finance
By H. G. Lucas
Guard Carefully Every Expense
TAKE the “taxes and insurance” account. Some of our schools have made the mistake of acquiring too much city property, or else have made too many improvements on other land, and are compelled to pay from five hundred to one thousand dollars per annum for taxes, and about half as much for insurance. Schools with home accommodations for from sixty to seventy students should plan to keep the average cost per annum for taxes and insurance down to less than five dollars a member. Then there is the salary account. Competent teachers must be secured in order to make the school successful, and to satisfy the students who come. The teacher usually has the misfortune of being employed eight months out of the twelve, and then at a low wage. The laborer is worthy of his hire. It requires great forethought by the Board to select persons who will labor early and late just as if the work were their own. This class of teachers will enable a school to get along with very little other paid help, provided the Board will plan just right. Have students do all the work under experienced workmen. Do not employ too many teachers, but select them well. The fuel expense is an item that should be constantly watched by the manager. Plan for the use of the least expensive fuel that will answer your purposes. Oil can be used cheaply and successfully in some localities. Various other expenses, such as repairs and improvements, lights, water, printed matter, and laundering, must of necessity be reckoned with and included when a rate for board and residence is made, but curtail every possible expense so as to establish a price that will be safe to the school, and also within the ability of the parents to pay. Instruction, Order, and Discipline an Aid to Finances
Even indifferent students do not wish to remain at schools loosely and carelessly managed. The principal must be one who is able to command the respect of the students in every capacity of approach. Discipline and order in the schoolroom and in the school homes promote solidity of the entire fabric of school work both in and out of the recitation rooms. System, order, spirituality, and teaching by persons of force and character who know their subjects, have an important bearing on attendance, and therefore upon the finances of the school. A Different Order of Things
Advertise the school by doing your work thoroughly and successfully during the school year. Pray much and work hard. During vacation, send out some teachers to mingle with the churches and visit those who have children old enough to attend your school. Be prepared to answer questions like these: Why aren’t public schools good enough for our children? Why not keep our children at home and not send them to school at all? What are the reasons for sending our children away from home to the conference school? Aren’t the temptations greater at such a school than at home? The parents must have the knowledge that their daughters will be protected from improper associations with young men, and be just as safe as they would be at home, if our schools are to merit the confidence of fond mothers. All these things will encourage attendance and aid in the finances. And the different order of things consists in this, that since we receive no endowments, we must learn to run our schools within our income. “It would be better, far better, to close the school until the managers learn the science of conducting it on a paying basis.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. VI, page 211. H. G. LUCAS. San Fernando, Cal.