The Need For Better Public Schools

Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a series of articles looking back at the history of public schools in the City of San Angelo, Texas, from 1874 to the present. From the earliest days decisions by voters for better education and improved schools helped establish San Angelo as a city on the rise. The decisions those early voters made attracted many new residents during the wave of major expansion taking place in West Texas. Without providing for quality schools and education, it is questionable whether San Angelo would have attained the same position of prominence it did as a leading West Texas city and hub of commerce.

Part I – Beginnings

Why Local Schools Incorporated

It was overcrowding and serious outbreaks of contagious diseases that led San Angelo to establish an independent school district in the early 1900s.

Public education has always been a concern in Texas, dating back to the 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence. One of the reasons listed as justifying separation from Mexico was that Mexico had failed “to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources…”

The Anglo-American Public School Law of 1840, set aside land in Texas for public schools in each county. In 1845 the state amended the constitution to apportion tax revenue for the establishment of schools.

Texas’ Common School Law followed in 1854, establishing the first public school system in the state. That year, a survey of schools showed 65,463 students in Texas.

The U.S. Army Builds The First School

According to local history, the first strides toward education for local children came soon after the U.S. Army established Fort Concho. The Army built a picket structure for church services. The Army also used it as a school for the children living at the fort.

The legislature created Tom Green County out of the vast Bexar District of western Texas in March of 1874. They initially divided the County into five justice precincts. The County seat was at Ben Ficklin around where Loop 306 crosses the South Concho River. The population was a little over 1,000 at that time.

First Civilian Schools Organized

County officials initially organized two school districts in 1874, establishing School District No. 1, made up from Justice Precincts 1 and 5, with the Pecos River as a western edge, in what is today Loving, Ward and Crane counties; and School District No. 2 made up from Justice Precincts 2,3, and 4 on the eastern side.

Tom Green County fully incorporated in 1875, the same year state legislators passed laws allowing for the establishment of independent school districts. A wooden structure replaced the little picket building. The Army erected a stone building for it in 1878 and 1879.

Flood Changes The Fate of San Angelo

In 1882 a flood washed Ben Ficklin away. The County seat literally floated downstream to San Angelo by necessity.

Following the flood Tom Green County Commissioners reorganized the school districts as follows:

School District No. 1 at San Angelo; School District No. 2 at Ben Ficklin; School District No. 3 in Rethaville (later Water Valley), and School District No. 7 in Sherwood, with districts 4, 5, and 6 left unassigned.

Jesse Cross was the principal of San Angelo Public School in its earliest years.

That same year the trustees of School District No. 1 petitioned the county for the stones from the Ben Ficklin courthouse to use for a new school. Their request was granted on the condition they raise $5,000 for the effort. This led to the reappearance of that courthouse as San Angelo Public School. Located at 102 Magdalen St., it sat on 4.5 acres that cost $1,800. It was located in what was considered the far-north of town at that time.

Mexican and white children were taught side by side in the early years. Racial prejudice soon resulted in separate, but not equal, school facilities provided for Mexican children. 

Black students of this time were taught at “the Negro School,” under the direction of the black community, which was sizable in San Angelo, relative to other Texas towns. This resulted from the many Buffalo Soldiers stationed at Fort Concho who decided to stay in San Angelo after mustering out of the Army.

Progress on the March

In addition to reporting news, news outlets of the time devoted plenty of space in each issue to promoting their town as the ideal new city of the new west. They touted modern luxuries like running water, electricity and telephone service, and of course, modern schools.

Reports from San Angelo newspapers of this era boast constantly of new residents and businesses moving to town in a steady stream, and—with many of those families having children—school facilities that were new just a couple of years ago soon were overcrowded.

This pattern repeated with regularity and was a primary impediment to regular school attendance for the children of San Angelo.

By 1890 the public school in San Angelo had grown to 400 students with seven teachers. At that time, eighth and ninth grades made up the high school. 

According to the U.S. Census from 1890, San Angelo had a population of 2,615 that year.

The Pinch of Progress

From its humble beginning, Santa Angela became San Angelo. But progress was stymied for several years because voters were slow to embrace the idea of having a city government. So, the San Angelo Business Club promoted the City’s economic development and civic improvements.

The Business Club was very successful during these early years. They planned future thoroughfares, and securing new railway connections, and generally promoting this area of Texas.

But every couple of years schoolrooms in San Angelo would become tightly cramped. This often prompted school officials to hold two school sessions with half-day classes for students.

News accounts reported repeated outbreaks of contagious diseases that would close the school until local physicians declared conditions safe. Local papers from those years also carry countless news items where a child or elder, died after “falling sick.”

Many parents wouldn’t allow their children to attend schools. According to several press accounts, worries about sickness are the main reason they give for holding children out.

Late September, 1901

 On Sept. 28, 1901, local doctors formed the San Angelo District Medical Society at the urging of Dr. Robert L. Greene. Some of the constant concerns they discussed were scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles and smallpox.

The first problem they addressed was the situation in the local school. The school was already suffering from major overcrowding.

The Pastor’s Association appointed a committee of three to examine the schools at the doctors’ recommendation.

Public Health and Cramped Quarters

The Nov. 12, 1901 edition of The Press carried the following communication from the San Angelo Board of Health:

“At this season of the year we may expect a visitation of scarlet fever and diphtheria. A few cases have already occurred, and we will have others unless everybody will do their duty in isolating and caring for each case.”

The bulletin goes on to recommend courses of action for treating some illnesses. Suggestions included boiling all cloth in sick rooms, and specifically mentions special instructions for keeping sick children home from school.

“When any child continues to attend any school after it has become known that a contagious disease exists at their home, teachers are requested to send such a child home, and to require a certificate before allowing them to return, from the family physician, stating that the children of the family may be admitted again safely.

“If everybody will be vigilant and diligent in regard to their duties in preserving public health, we may spare our children much dangerous risk…”

Pastors’ Report Recommends New Buildings

Drs. Green and Parsons made a report to the Pastors outlining the “pressing need of more room in our public school. After observing cramped conditions firsthand, the report states there were 1,574 school-age children in the whole of Tom Green County.

“The seats were crowded closely together, with very narrow aisles and no room for recitation. Our general impression was that the rooms were much overcrowded for the comfort and health of the pupils and teachers, and that ward school buildings in convenient parts of the city were an immediate and pressing necessity.

“Proper facilities would add largely to the attendance and efficiency of the schools, as many parents do not send on account of the crowded conditions of the school and the consequent danger of sickness and contagious diseases.”

The report goes on to state that, in the doctors’ opinion, “the children of San Angelo needed a larger campus than the present facility affords, and hence the need for ward schools. They also urged parents to investigate the conditions for themselves.

The issue arose after an October meeting of the Medical Society to discuss the subject of epidemics and the prevention of diseases. This led to the group writing an open letter to Tom Green County Commissioners, urging measures to remedy the situation.

The Revs. A.L. Barr, F.R. Starr and F.M. Masters concluded their report by saying “We recommend that the pastors and churches generally give their united influence for better school facilities and thus advance the financial, social, intellectual, moral and religious interests of our city.”

The Ward School Idea Takes Hold

The Press reported San Angelo had three school buildings on the property at that time. There were 400 children who could not attend school. “[B]ecause there are no benches or boxes or even places for them to stand within our present school buildings.”

That report again mentions the idea of ward schools. As stated by County Commissioner A.S. Gantt, he was “heart and soul” for the schools. Gantt said he “had always favored ward schools.” He said the three wooden buildings should be removed and used for ward schools.

He also said he favored using the school’s current “rock building” as the high school. Gantt also said it could be used a ward school for its neighborhood.

The County appropriated twenty percent of every tax dollar for schools at the time. This financed San Angelo District No. 1, with a taxable valuation of $1,643,370 generating $3,284.74 in revenue.  

The District, at that time, had 1,079 students. The report noted that the State of Texas contributes $4.75 per child, or $5,125.25. That made a grand total of $8,409.99 going toward San Angelo’s public schools.

Local educator Prof. J.S. Abbot weighed in with a letter to the editor discussing at length the atmosphere in the schools. He wrote if, “One pupil will breath(e) about 26 cu.ft. of air in 1 hour and 30 minutes, then 80 pupils will breath (sic) 2,080 cu.ft. of air in a school period. ” Abbott added that four-percent of that would be unhealthy carbon dioxide, along with whatever contagions might be present.

Raising The Money To Build Public Schools

The county attorney did not advise changing the present law and mode of raising school funds. He said if the schools were incorporated, “it would limit us to an area of two-square miles, and less money would be raised than at present.”

He suggested holding a mass meeting at the courthouse in order to raise money by subscription. The County Attorney went on record as willing to contribute $50 or more if necessary to help things along. Deputy County and District Clerk Jim Keating said there were plenty of people who would donate for ward school buildings.

Next Week: Beginning of the Ward School Era