Richmond School Board fonds
- Part Of:
- Richmond School Board fonds
- Type
- Community Records
- GMD
- textual records; graphic; moving images
- Date
- 1878-1996
- Level:
- Fonds
- Physical Description:
- 1 m of textual records; 10.5 cm of graphic material; 8 film reels; 1 videocassette
- Scope:
- The fonds consists of records generated from Board meetings, financial activities, insurance appraisals, and activities relating to school openings, school life, a court case, policy decisions and historical research. Board meetings are documented in an incomplete set of Minutes from the years 1878-1952 and 1986-1996. Financial records consist of ledgers, a financial statement report prepared by external auditors, and receipt and cash books. Files on appraisal of school property contain reports. School opening files contain correspondence, notes, photographs, programmes, memoranda and other textual material. Photographs and films demonstrating school life in the district likely were generated as part of publicity activities. The file on a court case contains financial and account statements and reports, correspondence, and a receipt book. There is a Board policy manual from 1990. Lastly, there are several files containing notes and typed reports on the history of Richmond’s schools and the history of Richmond, in general.
- Responsibility:
- Board of School Trustees of School District No. 38
- History / Biographical:
- In 1906, the Richmond School District was formed after the Provincial Government passed amendments to the School Act restricting the number of school districts that could exist in British Columbia. Prior to this, there were four school districts and boards, one for each school in the Richmond area. The North Arm district was established in 1877 when children began to attend class in the Weslyan or Methodist Church. Richmond children and teachers rowed across the North Arm of the Fraser River to attend. In 1888, the district became known as the Lulu School District. The first school in the South Arm area was established in 1885 and its district, the English School District, formed in 1887. English School District split into two districts in 1893: English School District and Steveston School District. Sea Island’s district was established circa 1889. Prior to 1879, there was an agency called the Board of Education with a Superintendent of Education and six members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor. The mandate of the Board was to: establish rules; certify, hire and fire teachers; set teachers’ wage rates; and recommend text books. However, the 1879 Public School Act abolished this Board. The 1891 Schools Act created a successor body called the Council of Public Instruction that was replaced by the 1906 Board of Trustees for the District. The first trustees elected in 1906 included Robert Gordon, Walter Steves, Rice Rees, A.J. Douglas and J.W. Miller. The size of the District meant that five trustees could be elected. Miller was made chairman, A.B. Dixon was the District’s secretary and A.C. Stewart was the first school inspector. Dixon was the only employee of the Board and he was responsible for typing letters and handling the payroll. At the time, this first Board of Trustees oversaw the four schools in the area with 100 students and seven teachers. From the beginning, the Board faced the challenges presented by Richmond’s growing population. In 1906, the Board ruled that only children of parents who owned property were eligible to attend public schools, which effectively barred the children of workers living in houses owned by canneries. Most of these workers were Japanese and Japanese-language schools were created for these students, but the schools were not part of the Board. The Board accepted responsibility for educating Japanese children in 1923 when the Japanese community gave financial assistance to help in the construction of the new Lord Byng School, provided that they were allowed to hold Japanese-language classes after school hours. Japanese internment in 1942 led to a drop in enrolment. Enrolment increased again when Native families from Northern British Columbia came to Richmond to fish and work in the canneries. The first high school was opened in Richmond in 1910 as part of the existing Bridgeport School. Tuition fees were charged for high school education until 1935. The Depression in the 1930s slowed the School District’s growth. In the 1940s and 1950s, referendums were held on the financing of new buildings as the District began to grow again. At this time, outside of its usual functions, the Board addressed issues relating to transportation and school hours, and had to make decisions on what to do when Lord Byng School burnt down in 1946. The Board started night school courses in 1953, offering general interest courses at first, and then beginning academic courses ten years later. The Board moved into two rooms of the new Richmond High School in 1953. In 1957, the present School Board office was constructed and opened on Granville Avenue. The Board began naming schools after Richmond pioneers in the 1950s. Between the 1950s and 1970s, due to population growth, the number of school-aged children jumped from 2,900 to 15,000. Seventeen schools opened in the 1960s alone. In 1975, the number of elected positions on the Board was increased to seven. Special education courses were started in 1979 and two alternative education facilities, the Incentive Programme and Station Stretch, were also opened that year. In 1990, 20,000 students were enrolled in Richmond and there was a teaching force of 1200 at 46 schools. Currently, the Board is made up of seven citizens elected by voters to set the policy for the Richmond School District. The Superintendent acts as the Chief Executive Officer of the Board and carries out policy decisions made by the Board. The Secretary-Treasurer is the head of the school district’s business administration staff. Under the School Act, the Board forms a corporation under the name of The Board of School Trustees of School District No. 38. Its legal authority to carry out its mandate is prescribed by this Act. The Board is charged with the management of the public schools in the district, and of persons employed in those schools. Among other tasks, the Board is responsible for the following six general functions: 1. Formulating and interpreting policies and by-laws; 2. Delegating administrative duties; 3. Making decisions on educational and budget matters that cannot legally be delegated, or that in the Board’s judgment should be decided by the Board; 4. Appraising the district’s educational, administrative, and planning processes in the light of the Board’s stated goals and objectives; 5. Administering public funds; and, 6. Communicating with the citizenry of the district for the benefit of the education of the district’s children.
- Custodial History:
- The fonds is made up of several accessions transferred from the Richmond School Board over time. It is possible, however, that some accessions came to the Archives not from the Board, but from some community members and schools.
- Name(s):
- Richmond School Board
School District No. 38 - Richmond
- Creator:
- Richmond School Board
RecordType=textual recordsgraphicmoving images
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