UC-NRLF 
 
 SB 13 E7S 
 
 A REPORT 
 
 Upon the Business and Financial 
 : Administration of the Harrisburg 
 School District 
 
 J Prepared for the J 
 
 j I 
 
 Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce 
 HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 by the 
 
 BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 
 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
 Under th^ direction of the Civic Committee of the 
 Chamber of Commerce 
 
 A. C. Stamm, Chairman, Robert McCormick, George A. Shremer. 
 Robt. A. Enders, Warwick M. Ogelsby, John F. Sweeney, 
 
 Fiancls J. Hall, Samuel F. Rambo, John Fox Weiss. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 David E. Tracy, Edward L. McCoIgin, Charles W. Burtnett, 
 
 President. Secretary. 1st Vice President. 
 
 Arthur D. Bacon, Robert McCormick, 
 
 2nd Vice President. Treasurer. 
 
GIFT OF 
 

REPORT 
 
 ON A 
 
 Survey of the Organization and 
 Administration of the 
 Public Schools 
 
 OF 
 
 Harrisburg, Pa. 
 
 PREPARED BY THE 
 
 Bureau of Municipal Research 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FEBRUARY-MAY, 1917 
 

 THE TELEGRAPH PRINTING COMPANY 
 HARRISBURG, PA. 
 
BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 
 NEW YORK 
 
 June 1, 1917 
 
 Mr. E. L. McColgin, Secretary, 
 
 Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce, 
 Kunkel Building, Harrisburg, Pa. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 'In compliahce with the instructions of the Harrisburg 
 Chamber of Commerce, we have made a survey of the organi- 
 zation and administrative methods of the city's school system 
 and beg to submit our report herewith. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 (Signed) Herbert R. Sands, 
 
 Director of Field Work. 
 
 A ri o P f\ \ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction and summary, 7 
 
 General Administration, 8 
 
 Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Buildings, . . 10 
 
 Finances and Accounts, 11 
 
 Purchase, Storage and Issuance of Supplies, 11 
 
 I. General Organization and Functions of the Board of School 
 
 Directors, 13 
 
 Actions of the Board and Committee Analyzed, 22 
 
 General Criteria of the Work of a Board of School Direc- 
 tors, 28 
 
 Criticism of the Organization and Procedure of the Board, 31 
 
 The Budget as a Means of Control and Publicity, 42 
 
 Ii. Construction, Operation and Repair of Buildings, 
 
 Construction, 
 
 Business Methods Relating to Construction Work, 60 
 
 Engineering Features of School Plants, 61 
 
 Repair and Operation of Building, 68 
 
 Repair of Buildings and Equipment, 68 
 
 Janitorial Care and Operation of Buildings, 80 
 
 Some Conditions in Buildings Which Should be Remedied, 95 
 
 III. Purchase, Storage and Issuance of Supplies, 99 
 
 Organization 
 
 Purchasing, 101 
 
 Stores, 115 
 
 IV. Finances and Accounts, 121 
 
 Organization, 121 
 
 Present and Proposed Accounting Systems, 125 
 
 Revenues and Revenue Accounting, 138 
 
 Expenditure Documents (Other than 1 Payrolls), 152 
 
 Payrolls and Payroll Accounting, 161 
 
 School Debt, 169 
 
 Auditing, 179 
 
 V. Teachers' Retirement Fund, 180 
 
 Appendix "A," 183 
 
 Appendix "B," 186 
 
 Appendix "C," . 208 
 
Introduction and Summary 
 
 Scope and Method of the Survey 
 
 This report deals with the organization and the proced- 
 ure followed in administering the physical and business func- 
 tions, and in providing for the general regulation and control 
 over all of the activities of the school district of Harrisburg. 
 While no inquiry was made into the work niethods of the dif- 
 ferent educational services, i. e., instruction, medical inspec- 
 tion, enforcement of attendance, etc., yet the general organiza- 
 tion for the administering of these services and the relation 
 thereof to the business and physical administration of the 
 schools has at all times been taken into account. Both the criti- 
 cisms and recommendations of this report are made in the light 
 of what is deemed necessary in order to produce a well bal- 
 anced and regulated school system for Harrisburg. Due to the 
 limit of the scope of the survey, this report necessarily gives 
 much consideration to the construction of buildings, purchase 
 of supplies, maintenance of accounts, rendering of statements, 
 etc. However, it is realized that no school system exists only 
 for these particular purposes. The real and primary object of 
 any school system is the provision of efficient instruction for the 
 children of the school district. With this in mind, therefore, 
 any form of organization or procedure in connection with the 
 general control, the business, or the physical administration of 
 the school system which tends to inhibit, retard, or to make 
 less important the real end and aim of the schools, has been 
 criticised. 
 
 In securing the information upon which this report is based, 
 the minutes of the board for the last five years (1912-16) and 
 the minutes of each committee from January 16th to March, 
 1917, were studied intensively. The minutes of the board and the 
 four committees for the months October and November, 1916. 
 were carefully analyzed and the different actions were tabulated. 
 At least one meeting of the board and each of its committees 
 was attended during the period of the survey, February 13th- 
 March 24th. 
 
 7 
 
A careful study was also made of the organization and func- 
 tions of the school system as set forth in the state education 
 laws and the rules and regulations of the board. Each of the 
 three members of the survey staff in Harrisburg was in daily 
 contact with either the president, certain members of the board, 
 the secretary or the superintendent. More than three-fourths 
 of the school houses were visited where the building and the 
 operating plants were inspected and conferences held with the 
 respective principals and janitors. 
 
 The findings and recommendations of this report were dis- 
 cussed and approved in a conference between members of the 
 survey staff, the civics committee of the Harrisburg Chamber of 
 Commerce, and the president, superintendent, secretary and 
 chairman of the finance committee of the board of school direc- 
 tors. 
 
 The Bureau of Municipal Eesearch desires to make a matter of 
 record its appreciation of the splendid co-operation which was 
 given the survey staff continuously throughout the conduct of the 
 survey by each and every official and employee of the school 
 system. Such co-operation was at all times given zealously and 
 in many cases at the sacrifice of their own time. 
 
 General Administration 
 
 The present organization and procedure obtaining in the Har- 
 risburg school district by means of which the provisions of the 
 state school law are carried out has developed (1) in accord- 
 ance with statutory restrictions and prescriptions, and (2) by 
 accretion rather than as the result of constant readjustment of 
 the old organization or a realignment of functions in order to 
 accommodate the several new and increasing activities. 
 
 That the responsibility for the conduct of the school system is 
 at the present time widely diffused among the board, commit- 
 tees, members of the board, secretary, superintendent, etc., is 
 largely ascribable to the present state law which does not ex- 
 pressly permit the superintendent of schools to be the real re- 
 sponsible leader of the school system. 
 
 In spite of the fact that during the last ten years the expendi- 
 tures of the system have grown 100 per cent, the school popu- 
 
lation nearly 25 per cent, and many new activities have been 
 added, there has been no appreciable corresponding change 
 either in the number of, personnel of, or in the practices fol- 
 lowd by the central office staff. The effect of this has been 
 that (1) responsibility has been diffused among the several 
 executives and board officials, (2) the central office staff has 
 been greatly overworked, (3) it has not been possible to secure 
 proper information upon which to base administrative policies. 
 
 The board, its committees or the individual members as well 
 as the executive staff are most conscientious and zealous with 
 respect to their work, in fact the willingness of each official to 
 take a practical part in the administration of the schools is in- 
 deed extraordinary. There is a tendency on the part of all to 
 "volunteer" their services and to perform functions for which 
 the others should be held wholly responsible. Thus we find that 
 the board or its committees, or its principals, have assumed 
 functions which should be performed by their executives. Secre- 
 taries keep records and render statements which should be the 
 duty of the treasurer or the superintendent. The direct result 
 of this has been that (1) prompt, definite and responsible action 
 has been lacking, (2) the paid experts have been ignored in the 
 initiation of plans and the execution thereof. 
 
 In criticising the general organization and procedure of the 
 board, its committees and executives, certain principles or stand- 
 ards for the organization of their work are laid down in this re- 
 port. Briefly, these principles, which it is believed will make 
 for efficient and responsible administration, are as follows : 
 
 1 The executive (preferably one executive) should be re- 
 sponsible for the initiation and the execution of plans. 
 
 2 The board should be responsible for the critical review and 
 appraisal of the plans and work of the executives. 
 
 3 The board is accountable at all times to the electorate and 
 therefore should keep it constantly informed. 
 
 Wherever the findings of the survey indicated that the present 
 general organization deviated from the above principles, such 
 conditions are pointed out and the necessary remedial measures 
 are indicated. 
 
 9 
 
In brief the major recommendations with reference to the gen- 
 eral administration are 
 
 1 That the committees of the board be abolished. 
 
 2 That a dual executive system be established (until proper 
 legislation can be secured by virtue of which the superin- 
 tendent of schools will become the chief executive). 
 
 3 That the board modify its procedure so as to be able to 
 consider only the essentials of the school administration, 
 and that it give more attention to the reports of its chief 
 executives. 
 
 4 That the board adopt a more scientific form and definite 
 procedure with regard to the making of its budget. 
 
 5 That the administrative year be made coterminus with the 
 fiscal year in order for the people of the school district to 
 be able to place responsibility for failures or successes of 
 any one school administration. 
 
 Construction, Maintenance and Operation 
 of Buildings 
 
 The survey discovered that the building problem of the board 
 has not been handled on the broad lines warranted by the mag- 
 nitude and importance of this subject: 
 
 1 Too many small cheap buildings have been built. In some 
 parts of the city these are located in close proximity to 
 one another. 
 
 2 Standards of construction have been years behind the 
 times. 
 
 3 The financial program of the board with reference to new 
 construction does not seem to have been well propor- 
 tioned to the resources of the city. 
 
 4 The board has taken upon itself responsibility for certain 
 technical phases of construction instead of delegating 
 such matters to technically trained men and holding 
 them responsible. 
 
 10 
 
Better supervision over the repair and operation of buildings 
 is greatly needed. It was found that the administrative pro- 
 cedures relating to this phase of the board's management prob- 
 lem present much opportunity for improvement. Here also 'the 
 board has been assuming responsibility for the solution of cer- 
 tain technical matters which it is not qualified to assume, while 
 other phases of plant care and operation, the study of which 
 would undoubtedly result in substantial economies, have been 
 neglected. 
 
 The present organization of the board is not well adapted to 
 cope with the problem of building management, which involves 
 an annual expenditure of over $65,000. The chief recommenda- 
 tion of the report bearing upon this subject is that a competent, 
 broad gauge superintendent of buildings and grounds be em- 
 ployed. 
 
 Finances and Accounts 
 
 The chapter on "Finance and Accounts " briefly describes the 
 present bookkeeping methods, discusses them critically, and 
 sets forth definite recommendations for an adequate accounting 
 system. The chapter is largely critical for the reason that the 
 present methods are so woefully inadequate. It shows that in 
 failing to maintain a general ledger arid other subsidiary rec- 
 ords necessary to produce complete operating statements and a 
 balance sheet, the board lacks much of the current information 
 almost essential for efficient administration of the school dis- 
 trict. It likewise shows that the present situation presents no 
 complication but what can be easily corrected. The solution is 
 the adoption of a comparatively simple system of accounts, sim- 
 ilar to that found in progressive municipalities and corpora- 
 tions. Such a system is fully described herein. 
 
 Purchase, Storage and Issuance of Supplies 
 
 The purchase, storage and issuance of supplies presents a 
 problem large enough to warrant consideration in a separate 
 chapter. Considering the lack of sufficient help and storage 
 facilities, the serious inconvenience resulting from certain feat- 
 
 11 
 
ures of board administration, and other handicaps, the pur- 
 chase, storage and issuance of supplies has, in general, been 
 fairly well managed. There is, however, need for much improve- 
 ment and it is therefore the purpose of this chapter to present 
 in detail the defects, showing at the same time both the ex- 
 pense and inconvenience resulting therefrom, and ways and 
 means by which they may be eliminated. 
 
 12 
 
GENERAL ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS 
 OF THE BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS 
 
 Outline of General Organization. 
 
 According to the state education laws of Pennsylvania 
 "every city, incorporated borough or township constitutes a 
 separate school district." The school district of Harrisburg is 
 one of the second class,* having a population of 72,000 1910 
 census. 
 
 The state education law states that a school district is a body 
 corporate, the affairs of which are supervised and controlled by 
 a board of school directors who "shall establish, equip, furnish 
 and maintain .... elementary schools and .... additional 
 schools and departments for the education and recreation of the 
 persons residing in such districts." In order to provide for an 
 official staff the law specifies that the board "shall annually 
 elect a secretary, treasurer, tax collector and a district superin- 
 tendent (superintendent of schools) and may appoint a solicitor 
 and such other appointees, clerks and employees as it may deem 
 proper. ' ' 
 
 It is under the above general provisions of the state educa- 
 tion law that the Harrisburg school district is organized, di- 
 rected and controlled. The board of school directors of Harris- 
 burg is composed of nine members, three elected bienially at 
 large who serve for a term of six years. At the present time 
 the work <of the district is performed by a supervising and 
 teaching staff of some 330, and officers, clerks and other em- 
 ployees numbering about 50. The total annual expenditure for 
 meeting the current needs in 1916 was approximately $600,000. 
 
 *School districts are divided into four classes: 
 
 1st class those districts having a population of 500,000 or more; 
 2d class those districts having- a population of between 30,000 and 
 
 50,000; 
 3d class those districts having a population of between 5,000 and 
 
 30,000; 
 4th class 'those districts having a population of less than 5,000. 
 
 13 
 
This sum was applied to the instruction and welfare of some 
 12,000 pupils. 
 
 The organization of the district may be said to consist of two 
 groups of officials (1) the legislative organization, i. e., the 
 board and its committees; (2) the executive organization, i. e., 
 the officers and executives of the board. These groups are con- 
 stituted as follows: 
 
 Legislative organization consists of the board of school direc- 
 tors 9 members. The organization of the board is as follows : 
 
 Committee on finance 4 members and president ex officio. 
 Committee on buildings and grounds 4 members and 
 
 president ex officio. 
 Committee on text books and supplies 4 members and 
 
 president ex officio. 
 Committee on teachers, examinations and transfers 4 
 
 members and president ex officio. 
 Retirement board 2 members of the board, 2 members of 
 
 the teaching staff, and president ex officio. 
 
 Executive organization consists of 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Treasurer and collector. 
 
 Solicitor. 
 
 Superintendent of schools. 
 
 General repairman. 
 
 This organization with its administrative relations is graphi- 
 cally set forth in chart No. 1. 
 
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Committees of the Board* 
 
 According to the rules and regulations of the board, the 
 principal functions of the committees are distributed as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 1 Committee on finance. 
 
 Settles the accounts of the tax collector and the treasurer 
 and reports thereon to the board. 
 
 Submits to the board estimates of receipts and expendi- 
 tures for the ensuing year. 
 
 Suggests changes necessary in the financial procedure of 
 the district. 
 
 Receives, examines and expresses judgment as to payment 
 
 of bills and claims against the board. 
 2 Committee on buildings and grounds. 
 
 Has general supervision of all school buildings and grounds 
 of the district. 
 
 Inquires into the sanitary condition of buildings and sug- 
 gests measures relative to the safety and health of the 
 pupils and teachers. 
 
 Inspects buildings with regard to repair needs and the ac- 
 ceptance of repair work. 
 
 Recommends awards and contracts for construction work. 
 3 Committee on text books and supplies. 
 
 Has general supervision over the purchase, storage and is- 
 suance of all text books, supplies and equipment. 
 
 Makes the inspection to ascertain the conditions and usage 
 thereof. 
 
 Recommends awards and contracts for supplies and equip- 
 ment. 
 4 Committee on teachers, examinations and transfers. 
 
 Has general charge of the examination, transfer and dis- 
 cipline of pupils. 
 
 Equalizes with the superintendent the distribution of pu- 
 pils in the district and fixes their classification. 
 
 Directs how and by whom examinations may be conducted, 
 passes upon qualifications of pupils for promotion and 
 gradation. 
 
 *In Chart No. 2 are indicated the administrative relations yj-hich the 
 committees bear to the several officers or executives of the board. 
 
 17 
 C of C 2 
 
Has general supervision over the work of the medical in- 
 spection and the attendance departments. 
 
 Executives of the Board. 
 
 1 Secretary. 
 
 Attends the meetings of the board and its committees, and 
 performs all secretarial duties in connection with such 
 meetings. 
 
 I his custody of the records, documents, etc., of the board. 
 
 Prepares annual and other periodical financial and satis- 
 tical reports. 
 
 Maintains the accounts of the district, prepares payrolls 
 and acts as paymaster. 
 
 Prepares and signs orders on the treasurer. 
 
 Maintains accounts with the treasurer and the school tax 
 collector. 
 
 Prepares the school tax duplicates for the district. 
 
 Has general supervision of all the business affairs of the 
 district, issuing all orders for work to be done and ma- 
 terials or supplies to be furnished. 
 
 Maintains a list of the non-resident pupils. 
 2 School tax collector and treasurer. 
 
 Is responsible for the receipt, custody and disbursement of 
 all school funds, including the state school appropria- 
 tions. 
 
 Reports monthly to the board relative to receipts and dis- 
 bursements. 
 3 Solicitor. 
 
 Furnishes legal opinion and advice to the board. 
 
 Approves contracts and bonds issued. 
 4 General repairman. 
 
 Makes and directs such repairs and improvements as are 
 ordered by the board through the secretary. 
 
 Reports monthly to the board and submits annual state- 
 ments on the condition of school property, suggesting 
 such repairs and improvements as are necessary. 
 5 Superintendent of schools. 
 
 Has entire supervision of the public schools of Harrisburg. 
 
 18 
 
Visits schools, investigates cases of misconduct of pupils, 
 
 complaints of teachers and parents. 
 Has general supervision of the promotion of pupils, their 
 
 health and the enforcement of the compulsory education 
 
 and the child labor laws. 
 
 The Board at Work. 
 
 The board of school directors holds regular meetings on 
 the first and third Friday of each month, excepting in the sum- 
 mer when regular meetings are held on the first Friday of July 
 and the third Friday of August. During the year 1916 the 
 board of directors held two special meetings. The extent to 
 which the board has been holding special meetings has tended 
 to diminish within the last five years. This is probably due to 
 the fact that the number of meetings of the committees has in- 
 creased, as is shown in tables 2-a and 2-b and diagram. The at- 
 tendance of the members at the meetings of the board has been 
 uniformly good, the percentage of attendance during 1916 being 
 90.2. 
 
 These meetings last on the average from two to two and one- 
 half hours. No calendar of the meeting is prepared for the 
 members; the matters to be considered in the meetings are an- 
 nounced seriatim by the secretary. Reports of the committees 
 are set forth in the form of resolutions and each member is pro- 
 vided at the meeting of the board with a copy of each report. 
 On the reading of each report the board votes on the adoption 
 of these resolutions. It is a rare exception if the reports of the 
 committee are not approved by the board. Communications are 
 also read by the secretary. 
 
 It was formerly the custom for the secretary to read each and 
 every bill to be approved by the board. This meant that the 
 board was compelled to listen to some one hundred to one hun- 
 dred and twenty items of expenditures. At the present time 
 these items are summarized under the appropriation titles and 
 the totals are approved. Each member is provided with a copy 
 of the monthly reports of the treasurer (receipts and disburse- 
 ments, appropriation balances, etc.). These reports are read by 
 the secretary. Monthly reports of the superintendent are refer- 
 
 19 
 
red to as having been presented, but they are not read, neither 
 are the members furnished with copies thereof. 
 
 The members of the board are seated at separate desks ar- 
 ranged in a semi-circle located opposite and somewhat removed 
 from the president. The whole arrangement is one which, while 
 it admits of a better control by the president in maintaining 
 order and decorum, appears to engender such a sense of august- 
 ness and dignity as might tend to prevent full and free discus- 
 sion of matters which come before the board for decision. On 
 the other hand, members are in the habit of rising and address- 
 ing the chair in a strictly parliamentary fashion on subjects 
 which many times are of little significance. 
 
 'The Committees at Work. 
 
 During 1916, the committees of the board held meetings 
 on the average of about once a month. The attendance at the 
 several meetings differs greatly. Thus, the attendance of the 
 committee on teachers, examinations and transfers was not so 
 good as the attendance at the meetings of the other three com- 
 mittees. These facts are shown in the table following: 
 
 Table 1. 
 
 Table Showing Attendance at Board and Committee Meetings 
 Held During Year 1916. 
 
 to S S S fcn-rf 
 
 t- r- ;-. 0> <1> M^ 
 
 MEETING 
 
 II 
 
 h-,i^ >7 ^ n ^ ^ ^"^ n 
 
 f-< < PH "^ l*i 
 
 Board 24 9 216 195 90.2 
 
 Finance committee ... 14 4* 56 49 82.5 
 
 Committee on text books 
 
 and supplies 14 4* 56 49 82.5 
 
 Committee on buildings 
 
 and grounds 16 4* 64 54 84.3 
 
 Committee on teachers, 
 
 examinations and 
 
 transfers 13 4* 52 41 79. 
 
 *Not including president as ex-officio member. 
 
 20 
 
In the above table it is to be noted that the attendance at 
 none of the committee meetings is as good as that of the board, 
 and that the attendance at the meetings of the business com- 
 mittees (finance, buildings, supplies) is better than that of the 
 education committee (committee on teachers, examinations and 
 transfers). 
 
 It may be said that there has been a decided tendency in the 
 board to increase appreciably during the last five years the 
 number of committee meetings. This has been probably due to 
 the fact that increase in the board's business has been such that 
 more committee action was deemed necessary, or that the mem- 
 bers of the board felt that a closer supervision should be main- 
 tained over the executives and the activities of the school district 
 by means of more frequent committee meetings. The extent to 
 which the board and its committees have met during each year 
 of the last five years is shown in Tables 2-a and 2-b. 
 
 Table 2-a. 
 Number of Meetings of the Board and Its Committees. 
 
 MEETING 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 
 
 Board of directors, 27 26 29 30 24 
 
 Finance committee 13 12 13 12 14 
 
 Committee on buildings and 
 
 grounds 4 2 3 16 
 
 Committee on text books 
 and supplies 4 14 
 
 Committee on teachers, ex- 
 aminations and transfers. 3 4 10 10 13 
 
 Total number of meetings 47 44 52 59 81 
 
 Table 2-b. 
 Committee Meetings Summarized Functionally. 
 
 MEETING 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 
 
 General administration 27 26 29 30 24 
 
 Business and physical ad- 
 ministration 17 14 13 19 44 
 
 Educational administration. 3 4 10 10 13 
 
 Total number of meetings 47 44 52 59 81 
 
 21 
 
In table 2-b the data is grouped to show the extent to which 
 the attention of the board has been directed to the general ad- 
 ministration (meetings of the board), the business and physical 
 administration (meetings of the finance, building and supply 
 committees) and to the educational administration (meetings of 
 the committee on teachers, examinations and transfers). 
 
 It will be noted from these tables and diagram that while 
 the tendency in the activities along the lines of general adminis- 
 tration has decreased, the activities incident to the supervision 
 of the executive departments of the board have increased. In 
 other words, it may be said that it is becoming more and more 
 the tendency of the board to pay attention to the particular 
 details of administration rather than to the general or legisla- 
 tive features. 
 
 With the exception of the meetings of* the teachers' commit- 
 tee, the general characteristic of these committee meetings is that 
 they deal largely with the direction of the executives in carrying 
 out the details of their work and responsibilities. It was ob- 
 served that the secretary asked permission to have certain things 
 done which by the nature of his own work should have been his 
 responsibility. Thus, it is the habit of the supply committee to 
 pass on such matters as the following: the authorization of hav- 
 ing clocks repaired, supplying waste baskets, purchase of a 
 wheelbarrow, removal of a piano, purchase of cleaning com- 
 pounds and of six cupboard locks, etc. 
 
 The tendency of the committees to go into the administra- 
 tive details of their officers and executives is even more evident 
 from the fact that in many cases a member is appointed as a 
 subcommittee to see that the work is performed or to inspect 
 work already completed. 
 
 Actions of the Board and Committees Analyzed 
 
 Sources of the Items Acted Upon by the Board and the Com- 
 mittees. 
 
 Besides a very careful analytical study of the minutes of 
 the board for the past five years and the minutes of the com- 
 mittees for the past year, this survey included an intensive an- 
 alysis of the actions of the board and its committees during the 
 
 22 
 
DIAGRAM SHOWING 
 
 NUMBER OF MEETINGS DEVOTED TO THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF 
 
 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION. I9I2-I9I6 
 
 CITY OF HARRISBURG, PA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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months of October and November, 1916. These two months were 
 taken because the number of meetings, the attendance and the 
 amount of business transacted seemed to be more typical of the 
 present practice than any other similar period of recent date. 
 The analysis had to do with the business of sixteen meetings 
 (eight in October and eight in November) at which 140 distinct 
 11 items" of business (as itemized by the secretary) were taken 
 up. The items and number of meetings were distributed 
 among the board and its committees as follows : 
 
 Table 3. 
 Number of Meetings and Items Considered Thereat. 
 
 Number of Number of 
 Meetings Items 
 
 Board of directors 4 56 
 
 Finance committee 3 12 
 
 Committee on buildings and grounds 3 35 
 Committee on text books and supplies 3 18 
 Committee on teachers, examina- 
 tions and transfers 3 19 
 
 Total 16 140 
 
 The following tabulation was first prepared, setting forth the 
 analysis of these items in order to show the sources from which 
 they originated: 
 
 Table 4. 
 Sources of Items October and November, 1916. 
 
 MEETING . g 1| I I & S 
 
 I I- I 1 o i 
 
 5 * 2 l 
 
 Board 14 2 17 9 .. 2 12 56 
 
 Finance committee .... 7 2 3 12 
 
 Committee on buildings 
 
 and grounds 30 2 3 35 
 
 24 
 
Committee on text books, 
 
 and supplies 9 5 1 3 ]8 
 
 Committee on teachers, 
 
 examinations and 
 
 transfers 12 3 . . 1 . . . . 3 19 
 
 Total board and commit- 
 tees 72 14 18 10 2 24 140 
 
 Total committees 58 12 1 1 12 84 
 
 It is desired to point out some of the most important facts 
 shown by a study of this table. 
 
 1 Over 50 per cent, of the items come from oncers or execu- 
 tives. 
 
 2 Officers report both to the committee and to the board. 
 
 3 Of the 84 items coming from the committee only 17 (20 
 per cent) were referred to the board. 
 
 4 To a certain extent items of business are brought up for 
 discussion by members. This is particularly true with 
 reference to the meetings of the board itself. 
 
 5 Of the 84 items acted upon by the committees only 19 (23 
 per cent.) had to do with things strictly educational. 
 
 6 Quite a number of items of business are taken up directly 
 with the committees of the board by principals and 
 teachers. This is particularly true in the case of the 
 supply committee. 
 
 Action Taken By the Committees in Disposing of Their Business. 
 
 In order to ascertain the extent to which the committees 
 are in the habit of (1) issuing orders to executives; (2) dispos- 
 ing of items of business in the committee itself; (3) referring 
 matters to other committees and the board, etc., the eighty-four 
 items coming before the committees were analyzed to ascer- 
 tain the kind of action taken by the committees. It will be 
 noticed that in order to dispose of these eighty-four items eighty- 
 five distinct actions were taken. (This is due to the fact that in 
 one case two actions were taken on one item). 
 
 25 
 
Below is presented a table which sets forth the actions of the 
 committees in disposing of these items, classified according to 
 the committee in question and the kind of action taken: 
 
 Table 5. 
 
 Actions of Committees in Disposing of Items. 
 
 t-, 
 
 ^ & 
 
 T5 .C 0> . X 
 
 n " 5 -* - 
 
 s. s-6. s._ 
 
 O ,- 
 
 S lt3 Sagog dS f 
 
 COMMITTEE 
 
 sSsSLo.^^ *S 
 
 3 a>'a : 3<i><ij-'C he 
 
 ill l|a| Si 
 
 o5|oS^g 
 
 *--*- >-i ^ 
 
 O o p <i> 
 ? o <j fc 
 
 b 2 o s i - 
 
 ^^ *v S's - 
 
 o> ." rr o Q o 
 pi^ b" <1 W H 
 
 Finance Committee 3 . . 1 5 3 . . 12 
 
 Committee on Buildings 
 
 and Grounds 27 6 2 . . 35 
 
 Committee on Text Books 
 
 and Supplies 7* 3 7 2 19 
 
 Committee on Teachers, 
 
 Examinatio n s and 
 
 Transfers 2 .. 1 1 1 13 1 19 
 
 Total 36 3 1 2 15 25 3 85 
 
 *Two actions on one item. 
 
 There are three important facts which should be emphasized 
 with regard to the above table 
 
 1 In approximately 30 per cent, of the cases (25 out of 85) 
 action of the committee terminated the consideration of 
 the matter in hand. 
 
 2 The percentage of cases in which action of the commit- 
 tee terminated the consideration of the matter in hand 
 varied greatly as between the several committees. 
 
 3 Nearly one-half of the actions were orders for executives 
 or officers to act or to report further. 
 
 4 It appears that the committee on buildings and grounds 
 far exceeds the other committees in the tendency to is- 
 sue orders to executives. 
 
 26 
 
Sources of the Items Acted Upon by the Committee. 
 
 Matters coming before the committee may, roughly 
 speaking, come from seven distinct sources. To know the 
 sources of the different items with which these commit- 
 tees deal is to have some definite idea of the relation of these 
 committees to the officers and executives of the board, to outside 
 public and private individuals and organizations, and also of 
 the interrelations of the committees themselves. In the follow- 
 ing table the items are classified with regard to their source as 
 well as disposition : 
 
 Table 6. 
 
 Source and Disposition of the Items of Business Disposed of by 
 the Committees of the Board November-December, 1916- 
 Disposition. 
 
 
 -> 3 % J3 .0 
 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 S5 o 
 
 
 H^ 
 
 
 
 a H ^ u S < 
 
 T3 
 
 C +J 
 
 
 SOURCE OF ITEMS 
 
 o ^ 0*2^ 5 S 5 
 
 S Is- 
 
 "o 5 5 
 
 
 
 03 ^ 03 O "^ * 'e * 'S 
 
 Q) O 
 
 ^s . t 
 
 
 
 
 
 c o S 
 
 
 
 o x-S u a; a <u S 5 
 {gW^g.^^'S^'S 
 
 <M^ 
 
 S c tr 
 
 OS 
 
 o 
 
 
 O O "^ IS rt 
 
 tf "^ 
 
 fc" <^" 
 
 H 
 
 Officers or executives. . . . 
 
 31 2 1 . . 
 
 11 
 
 13 .. 
 
 58 
 
 Principals and teachers. . 
 
 3 .... 1 
 
 
 5 3 
 
 12 
 
 Other committees 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 2* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Members 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 State, county or city 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Outside private agencies 
 
 1 1 .. 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 Total 
 
 36 312 
 
 15 
 
 25 3 
 
 85 
 
 *Two actions on one item. 
 
 From this table it is to be seen that 
 
 1 The greater number of the items originate with the of- 
 ficers or executives of the board. 
 27 
 
2 In most cases where executives refer matters to the com- 
 mittees the committees order the executives to act or 
 take final action thereon. 
 
 3 Where committees have ordered executives to act, such 
 action on the part of the committee is usually (31 out 
 of 36, or 86 per cent.) based on matters which have 
 been brought up loy the executives themselves. 
 
 General Criteria of the Work of a Board of 
 School Directors 
 
 It is deemed wise, before entering on a critical discussion of 
 the material which has been presented in the foregoing pages 
 relative to the organization and functions of the board of school 
 directors of Harrisburg, to set up the standards by which the 
 work of the board is to be appraised. It is intended to lay down 
 what are considered the fundamental principles involved in the 
 management of a public school system by a board of education. 
 It is believed that these principles are those upon which the 
 most efficient administration of the schools can be based. 
 
 In discussing these principles the board is considered mainly 
 in the light of (1) the administrative relations between the 
 board and its officers and executives, (2) its responsibility to 
 the people of the community. 
 
 The questions which will be discussed are 
 
 1 What functions should be performed by the board. 
 
 2 What functions should be performed by its executives or 
 
 officers. 
 3 How may the board best discharge its duties with respect 
 
 to the system and the community. 
 
 The Board Should Be a Planning and Reviewing Body. 
 
 In any organization the functions of management should 
 be so distributed that they fall in the jurisdiction of those indi- 
 viduals or subunits of organization where they will be most 
 efficiently performed. In the organization scheme of the school 
 system of Harrisburg the board of school directors constitutes 
 the local legislative body. It is a board composed of laymen, 
 each appointed for a period of six years, who receive no com- 
 
 28 
 
pensation for their services and who are required to give only 
 a comparatively small portion of their time to the duties of the 
 position. They are a highly selected group, chosen by the elec- 
 torate of the city. They come from representative walks in life. 
 They are different in that they have various points of view, in 
 some cases a different social or racial background. They are 
 alike in that they are ostensibly public-spirited and interested 
 in the educational welfare of the community. 
 
 Keeping in mind the above facts, what are the functions 
 which can best be discharged by these men ? Being unpaid and 
 giving part time, the extent to which demands may be made 
 upon their time is limited. Being a lay board, they are not ex- 
 pected to solve the technical problems incident to the manage- 
 ment of the public school system. Being intelligent, respon- 
 sible citizens of various viewpoints, they are a body who may 
 reasonably well represent the people of the community in the 
 management of the public school system. They are not placed 
 there to operate the system ; they are placed there as responsible 
 agents of the people to see that the policies followed in the man- 
 agement of the system are wise, economical and represent the 
 needs of the community. Thus, they are responsible for the adop- 
 tion of the "work plan" or "sailing chart" of the school system. 
 
 Since they are to authorize plans, they should likewise be able 
 to review and weigh the results of former plans and to form a 
 judgment on new proposals. Having a comparatively short ten- 
 ure of office, giving only a small portion of their time, and being 
 a lay body they are not expected to execute the plans. They 
 are, however, charged with the responsibility of employing com- 
 petent executives whose duty it is to propose and carry out the 
 plans. Being responsible for the adoption of plans, they cannot 
 delegate this responsibility to others ; but holding their executives 
 responsible for proposing and executing plans once authorized, 
 they should not interfere in any way with their executives. 
 
 Executives Should Be Responsible for the Initiating and Carry- 
 ing out of Plans. 
 
 In the last analysis the board is dependent upon its 
 .airents, i. e., executive officers, for conducting efficiently the ac- 
 
 29 
 
tivities of the school system. Having chosen these executives 
 as persons reliable and competent to perform their respective 
 functions, the board has thereby expressed its confidence in their 
 abilities. These executives are chosen to carry out the policies of 
 the board and to advise the board with respect to new plans, 
 necessary adjustments, or abandonment of old plans. Anything 
 which the board or a member thereof may do that relieves the 
 executive of any of these responsibilities will tend to place this 
 responsibility either wholly or in part where it does not belong, 
 namely, on the board itself. If the board assumes the responsi- 
 bility for carrying out its own policies, it puts itself in the 
 illogical position of being forced to review its own acts. 
 
 The efficiency with which the executives carry out the plans 
 of the board will depend upon the care and intelligence with 
 which the plans are made and the executive reports are reviewed 
 by the board. In order to make possible a careful and an in- 
 telligent review of the acts of the executives, it is necessary to 
 see to it that their reports are frequent, prompt and adequate. 
 It is by means of sound reporting methods that the board will 
 be able to judge the work of the executive and to enforce re- 
 sponsibility. 
 
 The Board Accountable to the Community. 
 
 School buildings, funds, and all facilities of the schools 
 belong, not to the board, but to the people of the community. 
 The board acts only in the capacity of trustee and it is incum- 
 bent upon it periodically to account to the people for its trus- 
 teeship. This accounting should be frequent, intelligible and 
 comprehensive. The school administration should, moreover, be 
 so organized that the responsibilities are definitely located so 
 that a definite accounting can be made. Not only should the 
 community be able to appraise the work accomplished by the 
 school system, but it also should be taken into the confidence of 
 the board with regard to the plans for future work. P'articu- 
 larly should the community be informed as to the detailed cost, 
 the probable benefits and administrative difficulties, etc., of the 
 proposed work of the district. 
 
 30 
 
Criticism of the Organization and Procedure 
 of the Board 
 
 The Board Has Delegated Its Power to Minor i\ ' y Groups. 
 
 In the previous discussion it has been shown that the com- 
 mittees have been largely concerned with the direction of de- 
 tails of administration. It was shown that not only did most of 
 the items of business originate with the executives, but that in 
 disposing of these items, these executives were ordered by re- 
 spective committees to act. Another fact should be kept in mind, 
 namely, that even where the committee does not act but recom- 
 mends that certain actions be taken by the board, it nearly 
 always happens that the board approves the findings and rec- 
 ommendations of the committee. The practical effect of this sit- 
 uation is that the committees are acting to a great extent in an 
 executive capacity, and the administration has become decid- 
 edly bureaucratic. The situation has a further significance. 
 These committees are in each case a minority group of the board 
 since the committees are composed of four members. It is true 
 that the president is also ex officio a member of each committee, 
 but in recent times the records show that the president attends 
 but a very small percentage of the committee meetings. Thus it 
 is evident that minority groups of the board are directing cer- 
 tain activities of the board, and the board is uniformly adopting 
 the reports or recommendations of minorities of its membership. 
 
 The Committees Assume Quasi- Executive Functions. 
 
 It is noticeable that : ( 1 ) the committees insist on direct- 
 ing the executives in their work; and (2) the committees refer 
 administrative details to subcommittees. In table 5 it was 
 pointed out that in coming to a final decision in respect to busi- 
 ness which came before them, the committees in practically 
 three-fourths of the cases made final disposition of the matters 
 by either issuing a definite order to an executive officer, or by 
 taking final, action on the matters. Moreover, it was brought 
 out that practically two-thirds of the matters coming before the 
 committees came from the executive officers of the board. This 
 tendency on the part of the committees was further corroborated 
 
 31 
 
by all the analyses made of the minutes and by observations at 
 the meeting themselves. There was abundant evidence to show 
 that the executives did not feel authorized to go ahead and to do 
 things even of minor importance without the consent of the ap- 
 propriate committee. Thus we find the secretary asking of the 
 supply committee permission to make minor purchases. The 
 superintendent must get permission from the teachers' commit- 
 tee in order to transfer a pupil, to make minor changes in pro- 
 grams of schools, etc. 
 
 Besides assuming the direction of the executives in their 
 work, it is frequently the case that subcommittees or that the 
 chairman or a member of a committee are authorized to proceed 
 and actually supervise the performance of certain administra- 
 tive functions of the board. The chairman or members of the 
 building committee have been authorized to take personal charge 
 of the supervision of certain construction or repair work. In 
 one case, the chairman of a committee asked permission to see 
 that a particular piece of work was performed. In one case the 
 board authorized the chairman together with the secretary to 
 see that a certain service was rendered. When it was suggested 
 to a janitor by one of the survey staff that he ought to have a 
 certain equipment in his schools, he replied: "I know it, and I 
 will get it soon. Mr (a member of one of the com- 
 mittees) will get it for me." Recently the superintendent rec- 
 ommended the appointment of a certain member of the teaching 
 staff to a principalship. In the presentation of his recommen- 
 dation he showed the committee that on the basis of training, 
 qualifications, character, executive ability, etc., that this candi- 
 date was the most acceptable, and that he was ready to be re- 
 sponsible for his competence. All except one member of the com- 
 mittee concurred in the superintendent's recommendation. In- 
 stead of trying to illicit more information from the superintend- 
 ent relative to his proposal or of placing the responsibility of the 
 choice directly upon the superintendent, the dissenting member 
 of the committee expressed his desire to talk to the candidate 
 himself before he was willing to agree with the superintendent, 
 
 It is believed that this practice of having committees and in- 
 dividual members of the board assume immediate direction over 
 
 32 ' 
 
certain of the details of administration is a relic of the time when 
 the board consisted of thirty-two members and when, due to 
 election of wards, each member felt that he should have some 
 intimate relation with the activities and the provision of school 
 facilities in his ward. Somewhat like members of a volunteer 
 fire department, each member felt that he should either do or 
 direct some of the details connected with the provision of edu- 
 cational facilities in his ward. Volunteer fire departments have 
 given way to expert and trained fire-fighting organization. The 
 Harrisburg board of school directors was likewise reduced in 
 number undoubtedly with the purpose of securing an official 
 body which would direct and hold Responsible an organization 
 of experts to do the work which formerly had been done to such 
 a great extent by "volunteer service." 
 
 It is, however, believed that the practices of the old larger 
 board have not wholly disappeared, and that the old tendencies 
 of volunteer and lay direction instead of responsible expert ac- 
 tion are being perpetuated in the present committee system of 
 the board. 
 
 Committee System a Positive Hindrance to Prompt and Respon- 
 sible Executive Action. 
 
 It has been pointed out in previous discussion that in re- 
 ality the affairs of the board are being carried out by minority 
 groups, viz. : the committees. Furthermore, it has been made 
 apparent that these committees either as committees or as indi- 
 viduals not only direct the executive officers, but follow the prac- 
 tice of actually performing some of the executive functions them- 
 selves. In theory and in fact the effect of this organization and 
 procedure has been to make a division of responsibility and to 
 limit the executives in their initiative. Another effect which 
 this form of administration has had on the business procedure 
 of the board is that it has built up a procedure which is wasteful 
 of the time of both the members of the committees and the ex- 
 ecutives. Instances bringing out this fact are cited at this point. 
 Since it is the practice of the executives to go before the ap- 
 propriate committee with matters on which decision is to be 
 made and that this committee in many cases must refer the mat- 
 
 33 
 C of C 3 
 
ter to the board we find invariably that the matter must be 
 taken up twice. Thus, the superintendent on one occasion de- 
 siring to have a change made in the salary schedules of teachers 
 took the matter up in great detail with the committee on teach- 
 ers, examinations and transfers. This committee, after hearing 
 his presentation, recommended it favorably to the board at the 
 subsequent board meeting. The superintendent then took up 
 the question de novo as he had done at the committee meeting. 
 "While it is not suggested that full and intelligent discussion 
 should not be had on such matters of policy, yet it is evident 
 that in this and similar cases the matter could have been just 
 as fully and as intelligently considered at the board meeting 
 as it was at the two meetings. What virtually happens in all of 
 these cases is that there are two presentations to the member- 
 ship of the board, one to inform four or five members (the com- 
 mittee), the other to inform the remaining members of the board. 
 In the second instance we find half of the board listening to 
 matters the details of which are already known to them. 
 
 If at the present time the superintendent wishes to establish 
 or change a course of study the matter must first be presented 
 to the committee on teachers, examinations and transfers for 
 general approval. Then in order to secure the text books the 
 matter has to be referred to the committee on text books and 
 supplies. Then in order to secure final approval the matter is 
 referred to the board as a whole. 
 
 At the meeting of the board, December 1, 1916, the secretary 
 stated that he had made two futile attempts to get the finance 
 committee together in order to audit the bills (according to the 
 procedure of the board), so that they might be presented at that 
 board meeting. Due to the failure of the finance committee to 
 act on these bills, it was the secretary's suggestion that they 
 should be taken up under ' ' new business ' ' at the board meeting. 
 While this instance does not indicate that any delay had re- 
 sulted, it is evident that committee action on all matters must 
 be at times omitted in order to secure prompt action. In this 
 particular case it is believed that such bills should not be audited 
 either by the committee or by the board, but by the officers or 
 the executives of the board. 
 
 34 
 
Prompt, decisive action should at all times be possible with re- 
 spect to matters which affect the work program of the executive 
 officers. It is not possible for a committee meeting at intervals 
 during a month to anticipate the emergencies which may arise in 
 the interim. Moreover, it is not right that the chairman of the 
 committee should be called on incessantly between committee 
 meetings for decisions. Such a system as the present one does 
 not admit of day-to-day planning and adjustment of the work 
 of the district so that delays can be forestalled. 
 
 The Board Should Act as a Unit. 
 
 The delegation of the responsibilities of the board to dif- 
 ferent groups of board members always tends to specialization of 
 interest among the membership of the board. The effect of such 
 specialization is that some of the members of the board may 
 lack contact and perspective with regard to the business of the 
 board as a whole. Thus a member whose interests are directed 
 to supplies, buildings, etc., of the board is apt to underestimate 
 the problems of the educational committees, and vice versa, those 
 who are thinking of the educational needs and welfare of the 
 system are likely to leave out of consideration the financial and 
 physical features of the school administration. This is partic- 
 ularly true with respect to the chairmen of the committees who 
 in most cases have assumed a quasi-executive attitude to the field 
 of interest to which they have been assigned. 
 
 It has been shown that by parceling out the work of the board 
 to the different committees: 
 
 1 The board receives and (usually) acts upon minority re- 
 ports. 
 
 2 Half of the membership of the board is often compelled to 
 go over the same ground twice. 
 
 3 The executives are often compelled to waste time by pre- 
 senting the same matter twice. 
 
 4 Responsibility for executive action is diffused. 
 
 It is believed that matters which are important enough as to 
 cause detailed discussion in committees should be the subject 
 of discussion before the board as a whole. Every member of 
 
 35 
 
the board has a right and ought to have just as intimate a knowl- 
 edge of all of the transactions of the board as any other mem- 
 ber. If items are assigned to committees because they are unim- 
 portant then it is believed that the time of the committee mem- 
 bership is taken up unnecessarily and that such items, usually 
 being administrative in character, should be the subject of re- 
 sponsible executive action. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the committees of the board 
 be abolished and that as a consequence all of the details of ad- 
 ministration now being supervised by the committees be as- 
 signed to the executives and that the board interest itself only 
 with the larger matters of policy. Since the abolition of com- 
 mittees is predicated on radical changes in procedure it is deemed 
 wise to discuss these changes at length. 
 
 Desirability of the Board Giving More Attention to the Reports 
 and Reporting Methods. 
 
 If committees are abolished it will be necessary for the 
 board to see to it that they have at each of their meetings cur- 
 rent information with reference to the activities carried on by 
 each one of their executive officers. It is evident that hereto- 
 fore the board has had little regard for the form and adequacy 
 of the reports of the various officers. 
 
 Once a month a report is made by the general repairman re- 
 garding the work which he has completed during the past period. 
 In this report is set forth merely a description of the work 
 done and the location thereof. The board should know a great 
 deal more than is contained in these reports. Such information 
 as the estimated cost of the job as determined at the time of 
 the preparation of the budget, the difference between the esti- 
 mated cost and the total cost, the units of work accomplished, 
 the amount of material used and labor applied to date, the 
 estimated cost at completion, the present status of the work, 
 etc., should be included. 
 
 In the section on "Finance and Accounts" of this report, the 
 fact is brought out that the statement of appropriation bal- 
 ances is not only misleading in that it does not show the unen- 
 cumbered balances but also that the report comes from the treas- 
 
urer instead of the secretary, the officer who is supposed to main- 
 tain and render statements relative to the appropriation ac- 
 counts. 
 
 The fact that even before the year was half done several of 
 the accounts have been overdrawn, is evidence that either the 
 board has continued to be misled by these reports on the appro- 
 priation balances or that no attention has been given them. The 
 use of a proper statement of appropriation balances in con- 
 nection with the possible control through the budget is dis- 
 cussed in a later section. 
 
 The superintendent renders to the board monthly a report 
 showing the fluctuations in enrollment, attendance, number of 
 teachers, number of transfers, number withdrawn, etc. While 
 this report not only lacks data of former months and the past 
 year with which the present data may be compared, yet as a 
 statement of the current conditions of the school service it pre- 
 sents a mass of information which should be carefully studied 
 by the board as well as interpreted by the superintendent. The 
 practice followed with regard to this report, however, is that it 
 is received and filed along with other reports from the medical 
 inspector, the chief attendance officer and other special super- 
 visors. It is suggested that not only should there be some writ- 
 ten interpretation of the reports of the superintendent and his 
 subordinates by the superintendent but that such reports should 
 be included in the minutes. There is no doubt but that data 
 which shows the trend of the school services from month to 
 month is of sufficient importance both to the school board and 
 to the public as to be set forth in the minutes. 
 
 Hoiv the Board May Save Time and Consider Only Essentials. 
 
 The board should devote its attention to essentials. If it is to 
 exercise proper control over its executives, it can not spend time 
 in dealing with details. It should exercise its functions of re- 
 viewing and planning, leaving administration of the service to 
 expert and responsible executives. 
 
 If the board is to take a definite stand and face about in this 
 rriatter, more care is needed in the preparation of calen4ars 
 of the meetings. Indeed a different procedure must be adopted. 
 
 37 
 
As it is now, board members come to the meeting without pre- 
 vious knowledge of many of the questions and matters that are 
 about to come before the meeting. As a result much initial ques- 
 tioning and discussion ensues merely that some members of the 
 board may get the fundamental facts relating to the subject 
 for consideration. Moreover, it has been the habit, both of the 
 committees and the board, to bring up for consideration items 
 received up to the moment the meeting is called or even during 
 the meeting. Members should have more opportunity to secure 
 information before .the meeting with a view to intelligent dis- 
 cussion at the meeting. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that a calendar for each meeting 
 of the board be prepared by the secretary and that each member 
 be sent a copy of the calendar at least twenty-four hours before 
 such meeting. So far as practicable, it would be well to enforce 
 a rule that no report or communication be taken up unless it is 
 received at the office of the secretary in time to be included in 
 the calendar. Each item of the calendar should be a concise 
 statement or an abstract of the matter to be discussed. Long 
 lists of names should not be included but referred to, for ex- 
 ample, as the "list beginning with John Doe and ending with 
 Richard Eoe. " In other words, the calendar should be brief, 
 but informative. Reference might be made to executive reports 
 which should also be in the hands of the members at least twenty- 
 four hours before the meeting. 
 
 This calendar should be prepared in two sections, which may 
 be designated respectively as Calendar "A" and Calendar "B." 
 Calendar "A" should contain those items which are of a non- 
 routine nature, which will demand more or less deliberation. 
 Calendar "B" should contain relatively unimportant or rou- 
 tine items and the responsibility for which rests with the execu- 
 tives. 
 
 Any item of Calendar "B" should be transferable to Calendar 
 "A" on the request of a member of the board. In taking up 
 the business of the meeting Calendar "B" should be disposed 
 of first and approved as a whole, leaving for further deliberation 
 the 'items on Calendar "A". 
 
 38 
 
State School Laiws Restrict the Board to a Dual ffxecuvtva 
 Control. 
 
 The present state law of Pennsylvania virtually pro- 
 vides for a dual system of control for school districts of the sec- 
 ond class. Thus it shall be the duty of every district superin- 
 tendent (superintendent of schools) "to visit personally as of- 
 ten as practicable . . . the several schools . . . under his super- 
 vision; to note the courses and methods of instruction and 
 branches taught; to give such directions in the art and meth- 
 ods of teaching in each school as he deems expedient and nec- 
 essary and to report to the board of school directors any ineffi- 
 ciency found . . . . " " The district superintendent shall have 
 a seat in the board of school directors in the district and the 
 right to speak on all matters before the board but not to vote." 
 The secretary, on the other hand, "shall have general supervis- 
 ion of all the business affairs of the school district subject to the 
 instructions and directions of the board of school directors." 
 
 It would appear from these statutory provisions that the mean- 
 ing of the law is to set up under the board of directors two dis- 
 tinct divisions of the school administration, viz., the educa- 
 tional administration and the business administration. Without 
 going into the interpretation of these provisions it appears that 
 there would be some difficulty if the Harrisburg board of school 
 directors attempted at the present time to set up an organiza- 
 tion which did not admit of these two separate responsibilities. 
 It is due to this situation that for the immediate needs of the 
 district and at the same time in order to conform with the legal 
 provisions the best recommendation possible is for a dual execu- 
 tive organization as graphically set forth in Chart No. 3 here- 
 with. It will be noted in the chart of the proposed organization 
 that the superintendent and the secretary are made coordinate 
 executives under the board and that the general repairman has 
 been completely subordinated to the direction of the secretary. 
 
 Dangers of a Dual System of Executive Control. 
 
 The organization recommended for immediate adoption is 
 at best double-headed. The result will be that the board will 
 have to act in the administrative capacity of directing, coordi- 
 
 39 
 
nating and reconciling the work of two executives. But it is 
 felt that by carefully defining the functions of each officer, by in- 
 sisting upon reports that are truly informational and by modify- 
 ing other business practices of the board, as recommended 
 herein, the difficulties will be greatly minimized. 
 
 The Superintendent of Schools Should Be the Chief Executive. 
 
 If the board of education is to be the planning and re- 
 viewing body of the school system; it should so organize the 
 
 CHART 3 
 
 PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT 
 CITY OF HARRISBURG, PA. 
 
 system that its full time may be given to these functions. Any 
 organization or procedure which tends to make this difficult 
 should be remedied. Likewise, if by any arrangement, the board 
 assumes or is forced to assume executive direction of the adminis- 
 
 40 
 
trative details, it is plainly inviting ultimate division of responsi- 
 bility with a consequent impairment of efficiency and waste of 
 time. 
 
 Under the dual form of organization recommended for im- 
 mediate adoption, the board will be forced to make administra- 
 tive decisions wherever the two heads are concerned. This will 
 happen daily. The centralized form of organization would, on 
 the other hand, relieve the board entirely of its administrative 
 functions and would thereby centralize responsibility, facilitate 
 executive action and reconcile the business and educational work. 
 It would give a real executive head to the system. 
 
 Moreover, single executive control is being adopted more and 
 more in the administration of public service. In this connec- 
 tion one needs only to point to the rapid growth of the com- 
 mission manager plan under which an increasingly large num- 
 ber of cities in this country are being .administered. In this 
 way the many and varied municipal activities are brought to- 
 gether under one responsible executive head. The principle of 
 centralized executive control for the school system is likewise 
 not a novelty. In recent surveys of school systems this form of 
 organization has been recommended unqualifiedly.* 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the board include in a pro- 
 gram of state legislation for 1919 a proposal so to amend the 
 state education law that the superintendent of the school district 
 of Harrisburg may act as the chief executive of the school sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Under such a reorganization there should be an assistant sup- 
 erintendent in charge of business affairs and other assistant 
 superintendents in charge of educational affairs, as assigned 
 by the superintendent of schools. This proposed executive or- 
 ganization predicated upon changes in the state school code is 
 set forth in Chart No. 3 (that part of the organization which re- 
 quires change of present law is designed by dotted lines). 
 
 *Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association, 1915; 
 Finance Commission of Boston, Mass., 1916; 
 Denver, Colo. School Survey Committee, 1916; 
 Portland, Ore. Committee Tax Payers, 1913; 
 Board of Education of Salt Lake City, 1916, and others. 
 
 41 
 
The Budget as a Means of Control and 
 Publicity 
 
 Once having set up an organization whereby there is one ex- 
 ecutive, the superintendent of schools, who is to be held respon- 
 sible for the provision of efficient and economical educational ser- 
 vices for the community, many of the administrative and inspec- 
 torial functions now exercised by the board, its committees or in- 
 dividuals of the board will necessarily have to be delegated to 
 him, as a rule, boards of education are reluctant to turn over to 
 their executive or executives all of the functions of administra- 
 tion. There is a presumption that it is not possible to control 
 the work of the school system unless the members ' ' have a hand 
 in it." The effect of this, as has been pointed out in the pre- 
 vious discussion, is that since the executive or executives are not 
 given complete power they cannot be held completely respon- 
 sible. It is the conviction of the Bureau of Municipal Research, 
 based on the findings of this survey, that the school district of 
 Harrisburg needs: 
 
 1 A responsible executive. 
 
 2 An informed controlling board. 
 
 3 An informed community. 
 
 The present arrangement leaves the board far from a realiza- 
 tion of these ideals. Radical changes are required in order to 
 bring about the needed adjustments. 
 
 In addition to having the board act as a unit, changing its 
 procedure, paying more attention to executive reports, etc., there 
 is another phase of the school administration which, if properly 
 carried out, will do as much or more than any other one thing 
 to correct existing defects. It is the preparation, presentation 
 and use of the school budget as an instrumentality for control 
 and publicity. 
 
 The Present Budget Procedure: 
 
 In the state education law, section 512, is the statement : ' ' The 
 board of school directors of every school district in this com- 
 monwealth shall annually, through its proper officers, furnish to 
 its incoming school directors all necessary information and such 
 
 42 
 
detailed statements as may be needed by it to provide for the 
 annual tax levy and to prepare an annual estimate of expendi- 
 tures." Further, section 536 has the provision that: "In all 
 school districts of the second, third and fourth class of this com- 
 monwealth the fiscal year shall begin on the first Monday of 
 July each year. ' ' In section 546 is the provision that " . . .In 
 all the school districts of the second, third and fourth class all 
 tax duplicates shall be furnished as herein provided by the tax 
 collector on or before the first Monday of July each year." 
 
 It will be seen that the above legal provisions do not specify 
 a definite budget procedure. Presumably, sometime before the 
 first Monday in July, estimates must be made in order to arrive 
 at the amount to be raised by the school tax. There is no men- 
 tion made of the one who is specifically responsible for the prep- 
 aration of such estimates. 
 
 The plan followed in preparing, reviewing and adopting the 
 budget by the school district of Harrisburg to-day is. in the 
 main, as follows: 
 
 About the middle of April each year the secretary assembles 
 in his office certain data relative to the needs of the system for 
 the ensuing fiscal year. This data comes from several sources, 
 viz., superintendent (educational personal services), the board 
 (repairs, public library, annual contributions), from the treas- 
 urer and the secretary himself (fixed charges and other items). 
 Having received advice from the state education department as 
 to the probable state apportionment and made guesses as to the 
 amount of tuition, interest, etc., which are to be received by the 
 school district, the secretary then, on the basis of the assessed 
 valuation furnished him by the city clerk, determines what rate 
 it will be necessary to levy for the additional amount needed to 
 cover the estimated expenditures. Commenting generally upon 
 the preparation of the school budget the secretary states: "In 
 the matter of getting up the budget for the ensuing year very 
 little figuring is done except so far as it affects the increases 
 that the rules provide for teachers or for increases in the janitor- 
 force, most of the other items being confined to practically a 
 pure guess." 
 
 43 
 
Accompanying this statement of estimated receipts and expen- 
 ditures prepared in the above manner is a "statement of con- 
 dition at the end of year" showing the estimated deficit (or sur- 
 plus), and a "debt statement," showing the present borrowing 
 capacity of the district all of which are presented sometime 
 during the first week in March to the finance committee.* It is 
 in this committee that the secretary's estimates undergo change. 
 After consideration of these estimates by the finance committee 
 resolutions are drawn recommending the tax rate to be fixed for 
 the ensuing year and an ' ' estimate of receipts and expenditures ' ' 
 therefor to be approved by the board. 
 
 In company with other regular items of business this state- 
 ment of probable receipts and expenditures is passed as the 
 "appropriation act" by the board, usually without any change. 
 Comparing the 1917 estimates presented by the finance commit- 
 tee with the budget as adopted for the last five years, it is found 
 that only one change was made.* 
 
 Form and Content of the Budget. 
 
 In the "act" or "ordinance" of appropriation passed by 
 the school board there are twenty-two separate appropriation 
 accounts or items.** The classification used is not uniform ; some 
 of the items represent objects of expenditure (personal service, 
 supplies, etc.) ; some represent functions (medical inspection, 
 domestic arts, etc.) ; some represent organization units (techni- 
 cal high school, open-air schools) ; and some represent funds 
 (teachers' retirement fund, sinking fund). 
 
 Taking these twenty-two appropriation items and subjecting 
 them to an analysis on the basis of objects of expenditure, we 
 find that it is practically impossible to ascertain how much 
 money the school district proposes to spend for compensation to 
 individuals, for supplies, materials, equipment, etc. respectively. 
 In the following statement it will be seen that if one attempted 
 to get an idea of how much money would be spent for personal 
 
 *See Appendix "A" for copy of these documents as presented April, 
 1917. 
 
 *In the estimates of the finance 'Committee for the fiscal vear 1913-14 
 the item for teachers' retirement fund was increased from $5,000 to 
 $6,000. 
 
 **See Appendix "A." 
 
 44 
 
services ten accounts would have to be analyzed. Provision for 
 supplies occurs in ten, for materials in eight, etc., etc. In other 
 words, without an analysis one cannot determine what "things/' 
 "commodities" or "facilities" it is proposed to buy with the 
 money appropriated. 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS ANALYZED BY OBJECT OF 
 EXPENDITURE. 
 
 Appropriation Accounts. 
 
 Salary Superintendent 
 
 Personal 
 Service. 
 
 CO 
 
 o> 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 K 
 
 Mat erinls. 
 
 Equipment 
 
 Contrac-t and 
 Open Ordei 
 Service. 
 
 Fixed 
 Charges. 
 
 Real Piropert.A 
 
 Special and 
 Miscellaneo 
 
 Secretary . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Treasurer 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clerks 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Teachers 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Janitors 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Buildings 
 
 
 1 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 
 Supplies and Fuel 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 Printing 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Text Books, 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Contingent, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Dental Clinic, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 . . 
 
 
 
 State Tax on Bonds 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Interest on Bonds, 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Sinking Funds 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Technical High School 
 
 
 1 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 
 Public Library, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Domestic Arts High School,. 
 Open Air Classes, 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 1 . . 
 1 1 . . 
 
 
 
 Medical Inspection 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 . . 
 
 
 
 Teachers' Retirement Fund,. 
 Tax Collection 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 . . 
 
 
 10 
 
 45 
 
 10 
 
 874 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
There are also obvious omissions in this list of proposed ex- 
 penditures. One finds for instance, no items relative to the ac- 
 quisition of real property yet this item every year amounts to 
 thousands of dollars. Neither does one find provision for the 
 payment of temporary loans. This item in 1916 amounted to 
 $76,000. 
 
 The estimated receipts are set forth in five accounts, viz., 
 "real estate tax," "state appropriation," "personal taxes," "in- 
 terest, " " tuition. ' ' The amount set opposite real estate tax is the 
 net amount resulting after deductions are made for abatements, 
 exonerations, etc., etc. It is thus not possible to ascertain from 
 the budget the amount of these deductions from year to year. 
 One finds, likewise, no provision made for borrowing on tempor- 
 ary loans, yet the board has been facing, and will probably con- 
 tinue to face a deficit for a couple more years. Thus the deficit 
 estimated for the fiscal year 1917-18 is somewhere between $35,- 
 000 and $47,000.* Provision is not made for receipts from mis- 
 cellaneous sources, such as : rent, fire losses, sale of supplies and 
 equipment, etc., which amounted to nearly $7,000 during the 
 fiscal year 1915-16. 
 
 In a school system as large as Harrisburg, where nearly 350 
 teachers are employed, there are always changes made in the 
 staff in the course of the year. Numerous substitutions will be 
 made, in which lower salaried teachers will take the place of 
 those who were paid at a higher rate. The effect of such sub- 
 stitution is that there will accrue to the district a certain amount 
 of money; in New York City the amount accruing from this 
 source has been determined to be somewhat over two per cent. 
 Assuming that these accruals will amount to two per cent, of the 
 salaries paid teachers during the course of the fiscal year 1917-18 
 there should be some $5,000 or $6,000 made available in" this way. 
 Provided with the new accounting facilities which are recom- 
 mended in this report, it will be possible to take an accurate ac- 
 count of this item in the future when preparing the budget : 
 
 The Present Budget Not Prepared As a Means of Control: 
 
 Beyond a question of doubt it may be said, with regard 
 to the present budget procedure of the Harrisburg school dis- 
 trict that : 
 
 *See Appendix "A." 
 
 46 
 
is to a great extent based on guesses. 
 
 2 It presents a classification so varied that one cannot de- 
 termine things which are to be bought, services to be 
 rendered, funds to be affected or the extent to which 
 money expended is to provide for current expenditures 
 or capital outlays, etc. 
 
 3 it is prepared by a spending officer who has limited exec- 
 utive direction of but a small proportion of the school 
 expenditures. 
 
 4 It is supported by no information relative to unit costs or 
 past' expenditures with regard to the several items. 
 
 5 it is in effect finally determined by a committee of the 
 board which is not responsible for the services rendered 
 or the incurring of expense therefor. 
 
 6 It is not a complete plan of work or financing. 
 
 The Present Budget Not Used As a Means of Control: 
 
 Even if the budget were prepared and presented in a 
 proper way the practice which the board follows in operating 
 under it would impair its value as a means of control. 
 
 Having set down by resolution the limitations on expenditure 
 it is natural for the board to demand monthly statements show- 
 ing the balances available in the appropriations. The fact is, 
 however, that after the board has appropriated over half a mil- 
 lion dollars no statement as to the condition of the appropria- 
 tion accounts is submitted to the board until November 1st, i. e., 
 until after expenditures have been going on for over four 
 months. Furthermore, these statements (due to the lack of a 
 proper accounting system brought out in a subsequent division 
 of this report) take no account of the orders outstanding. A 
 comparison of the estimated with the actual expenditures of the 
 fiscal year 1915-16 shows that of the twenty-two accounts thir- 
 teen had overdrafts at the end of the year aggregating nearly 
 $35,000. 
 
 The Superintendent Should Be Responsible for the Preparation 
 and Submission of the Budget. 
 
 Responsibility in connection with the budget should be 
 clearly defined. This document should constitute a plan by 
 
 47 
 
which the administration of the schools could be guided and to 
 a certain extent be limited and restricted for an ensuing period 
 of twelve months. It should be well conceived, accurately esti- 
 mated, complete and well coordinated. It should be the plan 
 of the officer who is responsible for the administration of the 
 schools. At the present time, the superintendent does nor as- 
 sume responsibility for the budget and gives no consideration 
 to the financial plan of the school district. 
 
 It should be remembered in this connection that any plan or 
 a part of any plan for the administration of the schools which 
 may be proposed is either directly or indirectly connected with 
 the education of the children of the district. For this reason 
 responsibility for the preparation of administrative proposals 
 should rest with the .superintendent, who in the last analysis is 
 responsible for a well coordinated and executed program of 
 school service. Even under the dual executive organization to 
 which the board is restricted by the state educational laws, the 
 preparation and submission of the budget should be so formu- 
 lated by the board that hereafter the superintendent should be 
 made responsible for its preparation and submission. 
 
 Appropriations Should Limit the Spending of Money, Not the 
 Use of Facilities Purchased. 
 
 Since the appropriation accounts are to serve as an in- 
 strument for the control of the spending officers, these accounts 
 should be so classified that control can be exercised over the dif- 
 ferent commodities or "objects," i. e., personal services, sup- 
 plies, equipment, etc., which are to be purchased. 
 
 This is a control over the spending of money, and is properly 
 the only control which the board, as trustees and laymen, need to 
 exercise over their executives through the appropriations. In 
 other words, the money available each year should be appro- 
 priated for the different objects to be bought. Such objects 
 are usually designated and classified as "personal service," 
 "supplies,' "materials," "equipment," "contract and open- 
 order service," "fixed charges," "real property," and "special 
 and miscellaneous." The use or application of these objects or 
 facilities of expenditure in the administration of the schools 
 
 48 
 
is a technical matter and should be wholly in the hands of a re- 
 sponsible expert executive. Thus, if the board appropriates 
 money on the basis of functions or sub-units of organization as 
 it does at the present time, it is obvious that the executive is 
 definitely restricted in the use or application of the objects or 
 facilities. Moreover, at the time when the appropriations are 
 made, it is impossible to state how these objects will be applied 
 to the several functions or used by the several organizations. 
 
 Limiting the expenditures to function or organization unit, 
 together with the practice of the board in assuming responsibil- 
 ity for so many of the administrative duties, seriously interferes 
 with executive initiative and responsibility. 
 
 It is not to be implied that the executive shall not be held re- 
 sponsible for the economical expenditure of the amounts ap- 
 propriated. On the contrary, the system of accounts which is 
 recommended in this report is such that the board will be able 
 through periodic reports to get necessary information relative 
 to the expense and cost of the different functions of the school 
 district. In this way, the board will be able to detect extrava- 
 gant administration and the executive will have the opportunity 
 of demonstrating economies.. 
 
 While it is suggested that the board should appropriate on 
 the basis of objects of expenditures, it should be informed of a 
 great deal more than merely the fact that the money appro- 
 priated is to buy so much personal service, supplies, etc. Accom- 
 panying the expenditures classified by objects should be other 
 classifications and supporting schedules which, in effect, would 
 give the work program, i. e., the services or functions to be 
 rendered, the funds to which expenditures would be chargeable, 
 the plan of financing the school district, etc. In other words, it 
 should show completely and in detail the work planned and the 
 way such work is to be financed. 
 
 With this material at hand, together with unit, costs and com- 
 parative data of past years, a statement of the total cost of 
 operation in the past, a surplus account to show how the pres- 
 ent surplus or deficit had accumulated with a statement of the 
 estimated surplus or deficit for the present year, a debt state- 
 ment and a balance sheet to show what the district owns and 
 
 49 
 C of C 4 
 
owes, the superintendent would be in a position to go before the 
 board, present his program intelligently and exhaustively. The 
 board would then be in a position to judge of the work and fi- 
 nancial plan in the light of the essential facts. 
 
 mini ronn and Conti Ht of the Hutlget. 
 
 The preparation and adoption of an adequate budget for 
 the school district of llarrisburg will call for more serious and 
 careful consideration on the part of the board and its executive 
 than any other act of the administration. 
 
 To summarize the recommendations expressed or implied in 
 the above discussion, it is recommended: 
 
 1 That the budget for the school district of Harrisburg be 
 
 prepared and presented to the board of school directors, 
 by the superintendent as the responsible executive of- 
 ficer of the school administration. 
 
 2 That money.be appropriated on the basis of objects of ex- 
 
 penditure. 
 
 3 That the following collateral or supporting data accompany 
 
 these estimates: 
 
 a Classification of expenditures by function: High 
 
 school, elementary school, teacher training, medi- 
 
 cal inspection, etc. 
 
 b Classification of expenditures by character. 
 c Current expense; administration, instruction, opera- 
 
 tion and capital outlay. 
 d Classification of expenditure by funds : General fund, 
 
 teachers' retirement fund, building fund, etc. 
 e A balance sheet. 
 f A debt statement. 
 g An operation account. 
 h Surplus account. 
 i Unit costs. 
 j Expenditures for a series of years comparable with 
 
 the present proposals. 
 
 4 A complete plan of financing including prospective bor- 
 
 rowings. 
 
 50 
 
The Budget As a Means of Informing the Public. 
 
 At the present time the school board issues an annual re- 
 port of the activities of the district. This report appears some 
 months after the close of the period to which it relates. It con- 
 tains a record of things passed and gone, both in respect to the 
 educational and financial aspects of the administration. 
 
 While this has been the usual way of most school districts of 
 informing the community of their activities, yet it can be said 
 that such measures do not furnish the citizens at the proper 
 time with adequate information relative to the plans, difficulties, 
 achievements of the administration. 
 
 A budget for the school district of Harrisburg as proposed 
 would contain not only a presentation of the past activities of the 
 school district but also a work program for the ensuing year. It 
 would represent the plans for the future as predicated on the 
 achievements of the past. It would be informative to the high- 
 est degree with respect to the services, financial program and 
 the present financial condition of the school district. In this 
 document would be collected all of the facts which the superin- 
 tendent thinks are necessary to convince the board of school 
 directors of the needs, and to inform it of the program of the 
 school system. The board could do no better than to bring the 
 public into its confidence by making public such information, 
 and inviting public scrutiny and criticism. 
 
 It would be of little or no value to publish the meager, ill- 
 classified and incomplete statements which are now considered 
 by the board in the course of the formulation of its administra- 
 tive plan for the ensuing year. If, however, the budget is drawn 
 up along the lines recommended above, there will be all of the 
 essential facts at hand which the public should know. It is 
 therefore recommended that before adoption by the board, the 
 tentative budget should be given wide publicity through the 
 local papers and that opportunity be given to the citizens of the 
 community to be heard with reference to the proposals of the 
 school administration as outlined in the budget. 
 
 Since it is recommended that the tentative 4 budget be made 
 known to the people of the community there should accompany 
 it an explanatory statement or message, from the executive or 
 
 51 
 
the superintendent, covering in general the reasons for increases 
 or decreases, the advantages which are calculated to result in the 
 proposed plan, explanations regarding increased or decreased 
 services, increase or decrease in tax rate, etc. Such an intro- 
 ductory statement would serve to assist the reader in realizing 
 the significance of the proposed plan. 
 
 The "Administrative" Year Should Be Coterminous With the 
 Fiscal Year. 
 
 According to the state education law the annual reorgani- 
 zation of the board of school directors occurs each year on the 
 first Monday of December. It is not until the first Monday in 
 July that the ensuing fiscal year begins. The effect of this ar- 
 rangement is that annual reports covering the operations of the 
 fiscal year never correspond to any one administration of the 
 board of school directors. It is thus never possible to compare 
 one administration with another. Thus citizens as well as mem- 
 bers of the board do not know exactly what progress a given ad- 
 ministration has made over a former administration. In ap- 
 praising the work of public officials opportunity for comparison 
 is vital and in the case of the Harrisburg school district the 
 change which is necessary could be made by merely shifting the 
 date of reorganization of the board so that it would fall at the 
 beginning of the fiscal year. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that this change be made a part 
 of the legislative program at the next session of the state legis- 
 lature. 
 
II 
 
 CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND REPAIR 
 OF BUILDINGS 
 
 Construction. 
 
 The General Construction Problem. 
 
 The public school buildings, which are built by the Har- 
 risburg school board, are designed by an architect engaged for 
 that purpose by the board. The architect also supervises the 
 construction of the buildings. He is directly responsible to the 
 board throughout the period of his employment. 
 
 The construction problem of the board resolves itself into two 
 main elements: 
 
 1 The formulation of a plan or program for a new building 
 
 project in which consideration must be given to the three 
 
 following factors : 
 
 a The size of the new school unit, the lay-out of which 
 should provide for future as well as present needs. 
 
 b The location of this new unit, which should be de- 
 termined with reference to the needs of the entire 
 system as well as the immediate local needs. 
 
 c The financial resources of the city for educational 
 purposes. 
 
 2 The selection of an architect and the establishment .of re- 
 lations with him which will permit the board to control 
 the main features of new construction without hamper- 
 ing the architect in designing buildings which will con- 
 form to accepted standards of modern schoolhouse con- 
 struction. 
 
 The Planning of Extensions of Physical Plant. 
 
 Detailed examination of a number of buildings built 
 within the last ten to fifteen years indicates that not enough con- 
 
 53 
 
sideration has been given to the importance of planning exten- 
 sions to the physical plant on broad lines. This lack of good 
 planning is reflected- in 
 
 1 The large number of small buildings in close proximity 
 to each other in certain districts. 
 
 2 The very late acceptance of approved standards of build- 
 ing design and construction. 
 
 T 'oo Many Small Buildings Have been Built. 
 
 The desirability and economy of concentrating the physi- 
 cal plant of the system in fairly large, well-designed and well- 
 constructed buildings instead of scattering it in a number of 
 small, cheap buildings do not seem to have been recognized and 
 taken advantage of by the board until quite recently. From the 
 relatively large number of small buildings located within close 
 proximity to each other in some parts of the city it would seem 
 that the building policy of the board has been dictated by re- 
 quests of various wards and school districts rather than by the 
 educational needs of the city as a whole. 
 
 Standards of Construction. 
 
 Critical inspection of the buildings erected in the last ten 
 or twelve years shows that they have not conformed to the ac- 
 cepted standards of the times for schoolhouse construction. 
 Buildings of non-fireproof or only semi-fireproof construction 
 were built as late as 1912-1913. Principles of correct school- 
 room lighting were adopted only about two or three years ago. 
 Some of the toilet facilities installed as late as 1905 were so 
 poor that they are now being replaced. The heating and venti- 
 lating plants in a number of the buildings were poorly designed 
 and required extensive changes soon after completion. Some 
 never 'have given entirely satisfactory service. 
 
 It is well known that school buildings as a class are nearly 
 always utilized until it is absolutely necessary to abandon or 
 replace them for reasons of safety, or to make room for larger 
 buildings. As a result, there is not a community of any size in 
 the country which has not a considerable number of wretched 
 
 54 
 
old buildings entirely unsuited to the educational needs of the 
 times, a menace to the safety of the occupants, expensive to 
 keep in repair and to operate, and generally a source of irri- 
 tation to the citizens. Many of the schools which Harrisburg has 
 built in the last fifteen years arc of a type which become obso- 
 lete in the course of twenty years, but they will continue in use 
 long after they should be abandoned because the financial con- 
 dition of the city will not permit their abandonment. For 
 this reason the education of many school children is needlessly 
 hampered and many are housed under^ unsafe and insanitary 
 conditions. 
 
 It may be said that the Shimmel building, erected in 1915 y 
 was the first public school building in Harrisburg to be built 
 in accordance with modern ideas on school design and con- 
 struction that is, ideas which were generally accepted four or 
 five years previous to its erection. 
 
 Coordination, of Needs for New Educational Facilities and 
 Financial Resources of the City. 
 
 In attempting to explain the generally unsatisfactory 
 character of schoolhouse construction, as previously described, 
 a study was made of the construction costs of several buildings. 
 From this study it would seem that the board has been actuated 
 by a too rigid sense of economy in planning its buildings. Even 
 in the case of the Steele building, the latest to be added to the 
 school system, the funds originally appropriated were too lim- 
 ited for a building of the size and type which the board had in 
 mind. Experience with the Shimniel building, at that time just 
 completed, should have furnished sufficient data on which to 
 base an adequate appropriation for a building almost identical 
 in size and general requirements. That both of these buildings 
 were built at a reasonable cost, is shown by the fact that the cost 
 per classroom (actual) averaged $5,500, and the cost per cubic 
 foot, on the basis of measurements made during this survey, 
 averaged about 16 cents, exclusive of the architect's fees. Both 
 of these unit costs are moderate for buildings of this kind. 
 
 Appropriations for some of the larger buildings, notably the 
 Technical High School, seem to have been based almost entirely 
 
 55 
 
on guess work, the most evident desire being to economize even 
 to an unnecessary degree. An analysis of the capital account 
 of the board shows that on February I, 1917, the net bonded 
 indebtedness was only 1.61 per cent of the assessed valuaton of 
 the city, whereas the legal limit without recourse to popular 
 vote is 2 per cent., and the limit with popular sanction, 7 per 
 cent. The necessity for any drastic economy is therefore not 
 apparent, especially in the light of the popular approval given to 
 the recently adopted program to spend $1,250,000 on new con- 
 struction. 
 
 Responsibility for Technical Phases of Construction. 
 
 An examination of three of the most recently constructed 
 buildings indicates that the board has taken upon itself respon- 
 sibility for technical features of design and construction which a 
 school board is not especially fitted to assume. 
 
 For example, the board has always reserved the right to select 
 the stone and brick for new buildings. In the case of the Shim- 
 mel building a brick was selected which has effloresced badly and 
 marred the appearance of the building. It is believed that a lay 
 board should limit the choice so far as brick and stone are con- 
 cerned, to specifying if it so desires, the color and maximum 
 cost. The actual selection of the materials should be left to the 
 architect. Only in this way can responsibility for results be 
 fixed. It may be said further that the price* of face brick and 
 trim used on a building does not affect the cost of the building 
 to any marked extent. 
 
 In the case of the Technical High School, the power plant 
 installation was a rather poor one in comparison with the rest 
 of the building. While the board was not responsible for the 
 actual selection and arrangement of the equipment, it failed to 
 provide sufficient land for a first-class installation, thereby mak- 
 ing necessary the selection of equipment ill-suited for the plant 
 and the arrangement of this equipment in an improper man- 
 ner. 
 
 The criticisms which can be made of this power plant from a 
 mechanical viewpoint are numerous. Furthermore, no provis- 
 ion was made for expansion of the plant. The result is that when 
 
 56 
 
the new addition is made to the school, in accordance with the 
 building program recently adopted, it will be necessary to dis- 
 mantle the present power plant and build an entirely new one. 
 
 In the case of the Steele building, a type of heating and venti- 
 lating system; was chosen by the board on its own initiative which 
 is considered obsolete. Discussion of the apparent advantages 
 and the numerous disadvantages of this system as compared 
 with a first-class steam plant is reserved for a later section of 
 this report. 
 
 It is recommended that the board leave technical matters of 
 design and construction to the experts employed by it for just 
 that purpose. 
 
 Preliminary Study of Building Projects. 
 
 The consideration which has been given to the present 
 program of enlarging the Harrisburg public school system by 
 the construction of new high schools is typical of the thought 
 and study which should be given to all new projects, whether 
 large or small. The board is to be commended upon the steps 
 so far taken to bring the physical plant up-to-date and keep it 
 abreast of the times, even though the present situation is the 
 outcome of serious neglect in past years. 
 
 In the planning of new buildings, it is believed that a freer 
 hand should be given to the architect. To be sure the board 
 must keep a tight hold on the purse strings. This should be 
 done, not as in the past by merely specifying a lump sum for a 
 building without reference to the unit cost of accommodations 
 to be provided, but by limiting the total cost on the basis of 
 unit costs per classroom or equivalent study area, and per- cubic 
 foot. 
 
 The working out of details of design and construction should 
 be left to the architect in collaboration with the superintendent 
 of schools and the superintendent of buildings (if the board 
 accepts a recommendation made later in this report that a 
 superintendent of buildings be employed). 
 
 Several instances of defective design and construction were 
 observed in recent buildings such as are likely to occur unless the 
 building plans are carefully studied by the superintendent of 
 
schools with reference to educational efficiency of the buildings 
 from an administrative viewpoint, and also by a well qualified 
 superintendent of buildings familiar with features of building 
 operation : 
 
 In the Steele building the room intended for use as the prin- 
 cipal's office is only nine feet by ten feet and is poorly 
 located. 
 
 In both the. Steele and Shimmel buildings the auditorium stage 
 is not deep enough for dramatic exercises, one of the things 
 for which a school auditorium is intended. 
 
 The roof covering of both the Steele and Shimmel buildings 
 are of tar paper. In the case of the Shimmel building, a 
 considerable portion of the covering was ripped off during 
 a recent storm. It is recommended that the roofs on new 
 buildings be of the type known as "slag" roofs, which are 
 inexpensive for the service which they give. 
 
 In the Steele building the furnace room has an entrance only 
 at one end. This means that the janitor can get to the room 
 from a far corner of the building only by a circuitous route 
 within or by a route outside of the building. 
 
 In the Steele building no screen was provided over the fresh 
 air intake. Paper, dust and particles flying about in the 
 air are likely to be sucked in. If paper should be blown 
 through the fan and get lodged in some part of the very 
 hot radiating surface of the furnaces, a fire might be 
 started. Fires have been known to start in just this way. 
 A grill should be placed over the fresh air intake, and, in 
 addition, a cheese-cloth filter to keep out the dust which 
 ultimately is deposited on the red hot furnace surfaces and 
 creates disagreeable odors. Another serious objection to the 
 intake is that it is located immediately over the window of 
 the ash storage space. This means that the fan must be 
 stopped every time ashes are handled ; and it is likely even 
 then that a considerable amount of ash dust gets into the 
 intake. 
 
 The auxiliary hot water heating sj^stem intended to heat sev- 
 eral of the small rooms in the Steele building by means of 
 radiators is poorly laid out. The circulation is so defective 
 
 58 
 
that these rooms are always cold during extreme weather. 
 Futhermore. the plumbing is apt to freeze in the southwest 
 corner of the building. 
 
 The grates for the hot air furnace in the Steele building were 
 evidently intended for soft coal, as the pea coal which is 
 used falls through and is cither wasted or recovered only 
 by the tedious process of sieving. 
 
 In the Shimmel building the level of the coal bin is several 
 feet higher than the boiler room level, and it is necessary 
 for the janitor to wheel coal down a steep incline. This 
 sort of an error of design is not easily detected on plans, 
 but should be caught during construction by a wide-awake 
 building superintendent. It is recommended that the steep 
 grade referred to be eliminated, even at this late date. 
 
 In the Shimmel building the electric lights are attached to the 
 ceiling. They arc so high 1hat a larger number must be 
 provided for adequate illumination than would be necessary 
 if they were suspended several feet. 
 
 The trap on the drain line to the roof of the front portico is 
 buried in the building wall. This trap has become clogged, 
 which in turn has caused the water to overflow, marring 
 the appearance of the building and ruining the plaster in- 
 side. 
 
 The playground of the Shimmel building has been covered 
 with cinders containing a considerable proportion of large 
 clinkers. Cinders of this kind should not be used, as chil- 
 dren falling on them may be seriously injured. 
 
 Many defects, such as those listed above, could be detected 
 by a building superintendent either on the plans or during the 
 process of construction. It is well known and architects them- 
 selves are usually free to acknowledge thai errors are frequently 
 made by them simply because of lack of experience on their part 
 in the care and operation of buildings, and in the conduct of the 
 business for which different kinds of buildings are intended. A 
 building superintendent should also be of great value in super- 
 vising the acceptance tests which should be made of all instal- 
 lations of mechanical equipment. 
 
 59 
 
Business Methods Relating to Construction Work 
 
 It is recommended that certain changes be made in the busi- 
 ness methods of the board relating to construction work. 
 
 The Architect Should Be Employd Under Contract. 
 
 In past years no contract between the board and the archi- 
 tect has been entered into. It is stated that no difficulties have 
 arisen on that account. This is believed to be more a matter of 
 good fortune than good business. It is recommended that the 
 relations between the board and an architect be denned hereafter 
 by means of a contract. Care should be taken to insert in such 
 contracts the stipulation that the cost of the building to be de- 
 signed shall come within the amount apppropriated. In this 
 way the board would be able to exercise more effective control 
 than is now possible over the funds provided for new construc- 
 tion. It would also be incumbent upon the board, if such a stip- 
 ulation were to hold, to estimate the cost of a proposed building 
 more carefully than in the past. 
 
 Bids on Construction Should Be Accompanied by Schedules of 
 Unit Prices. 
 
 At the present time payments on account for new con- 
 struction are made on the basis of 90 per cent, of the work com- 
 pleted, as estimated by the architect. The architect's estimates 
 are based upon unit costs computed by him. It is recommended 
 that a schedule of unit costs be required of contractors when 
 bids are submitted. These unit costs should then serve as a basis 
 for payments on account and also for any extras or credits which 
 may be paid later by the board. Incidentally, these schedules 
 of unit costs would be of considerable value in comparing bids 
 of various contractors. 
 
 Filing of Construction Data ; Preservation of Plans. 
 
 At the present time some of the data on new buildings Is 
 filed in the correspondence files and some is contained in the 
 board minutes from which it can be assembled only with diffi 
 
 60 
 
culty. Considerable data of special importance in connection 
 with operation and maintenance, such as equipment data, floor 
 areas to be used in connection with janitorial compensation, and 
 cubitures in connection with unit costs of operation (as 
 later explained herein) is not recorded at all. It was found 
 difficult to obtain the cost data on several of the recent buildings. 
 This data was finally obtained from the office of the architect. 
 Recourse was had to the plans of several buildings for the 
 purpose of measuring cubitures as a basis for appraising the 
 unit costs of construction. It was found that many plans were 
 missing, including those of the Shimmel and Steele buildings. It 
 was stated that these plans had been loaned to various contrac- 
 tors in connection with repair w r ork and had never been re- 
 turned. If proper control over repairs and operation is estab- 
 lished in accordance with later recommendations of this report, 
 frequent reference w r ill be necessary to building plans and to con- 
 struction data. It is urged, therefore, that as each new building 
 is constructed all of the data referring to it be filed under one 
 cover, and that in the future no plans whatever be loaned out. 
 
 Engineering Features of School Plants 
 
 Coal Storage Space in New Plants. 
 
 In the majority of the older schools storage space for a 
 year's supply of coal has been provided. In preparing the gen- 
 eral specifications for the newer school buildings, however, the 
 tendency has been to limit the coal storage space to but a frac- 
 tion of the year's supply. It is recommended that space for a 
 year's supply be provided, wherever this can be done, without 
 excessive cost. 
 
 The reasons for this recommendation are : 
 
 1 Coal which can be delivered during the summer months 
 can be bought cheaper than if winter deliveries must be 
 made. Savings as high as fifty cents per ton are some- 
 times made in this way. 
 
 2 If deliveries are completed during the summer frequent 
 reorders throughout the year and trouble regarding the 
 supply under unusual market conditions are eliminated. 
 61 
 
3 It is relatively easy when bins are filled at one time to 
 cheek up wagon-load deliveries against ear-load mani- 
 fests, this check being the only one which the board now 
 has on the tonnage for which it is billed. 
 
 J>alanc<d Systems of Ventilation in New Plants. 
 
 In most of the plants of the school system which have 
 artificial ventilation, the air is forced in by means of a fan and 
 makes its exit from the various rooms through vents leading 
 to the roof. Such a system is called an ''unbalanced" system 
 and can be operated properly only when all classroom windows 
 and doors are closed. When a teacher opens the windows a 
 short circuit is created, large volumes of air go out through the 
 open windows, and the other rooms where the windows are 
 closed do not receive their proper share of fresh air. This pro- 
 duces a very unsatisfactory condition throughout the entire 
 building. 
 
 It is recommended that so-called " balanced" systems of ven- 
 tilation be provided in new school buildings. A "balanced" 
 system is one in which the fresh air supplied by a fan is also 
 sucked out of the rooms by means of a fan instead of being al- 
 lowed to make its own exit through a vent. The production of 
 a partial vacuum in the zone about the foul air outlet prevents 
 large volumes of air going through open windows and doors. 
 In this way a uniform condition of ventilation is maintained in 
 all of the rooms of the building. 
 
 Air Washers in New Ventilation Installations. 
 
 The Shimmel building is the only school building in Har- 
 risburg provided with an air washer. The type of heating and 
 ventilating system installed in the Steele building precluded the 
 use of an air washer. The installation of air washers in all new 
 schools is recommended primarily for the reason that by their 
 use humidity can be controlled. 
 
 Recent experiment and practical observation of the effects 
 upon the human system of the various factors introduced by arti- 
 ficial heating and ventilating under different conditions tend 
 more and more to strengthen the conclusion that symptoms of 
 
 62 
 
discomfort and disturbances of the normal health equilibrium are 
 due primarily to the physical condition of the air with refer- 
 ence to temperature, humidity and circulation about the body. 
 The older theory was that the chemical condition of the air 
 with reference to content of carbon-dioxide, organic poisons and 
 germs was primarily responsible . for deleterious effects. In fact, 
 the various state laws defining the minimum amounts of air to 
 be supplied in schools are based primarily upon this old con- 
 ception which has been generally disproved. The modern view 
 is that the large amounts of air specified in the laws are valu- 
 able, not because chemical purity is assured, but because cir- 
 culation about the body, with its exhilarating effect, is assured. 
 It is because of its pronounced exhilarating effect tnar V/TH^W 
 ventilation is popular, and there is no doubt that it is valuable 
 when the weather is good. But, unfortunately, window venti- 
 lation is too erratic for large rooms with many occupants. In 
 cold, brisk weather its ''benefits" are too severe upon those 
 nearest the windows; in warm, humid weather only those near 
 the windows receive any ventilation at all. 
 
 If provision must be made at great expense to secure positive 
 ventilation, as defined by law, it is believed that the small addi- 
 tional outlay which would make humidity control possible would 
 be fully justified. Next to temperature control, humidity con- 
 trol is perhaps the most important element in ventilation. Ex- 
 cessive dryness affects the membranes of the nose, throat and 
 mouth. By dry air the mucous membrane is rendered less able 
 to resist colds and other affections. Furthermore, evaporation of 
 moisture from the body is very rapid in dry air, which means 
 that room temperature must be kept higher for bodily comfort 
 than if the humidity were tinder control.* 
 
 Steam Heating Systems in Which Heating is Independent of the 
 Ventilation Should Be Installed in New Buildings. 
 
 The Shimmel building is the only school building in Har- 
 risburg in which the heating and ventilating plant is designed 
 in accordance with modern principles of school engineering. 
 The most important features of design of this plant are : 
 
 *See also &pecial report on schoolhouse heating and ventilating; In- 
 diana State Board o.f Accounts, 1917. 
 
 63 
 
1 The heating of the building by a vacuum system of direct 
 radiation with automatic temperature control. 
 
 2 The ventilating of the building by an independent system 
 in which air is washed, humidified and tempered auto- 
 matically, but not heated, for the purpose of heating the 
 building. The only unsatisfactory feature of the venti- 
 lating plant at the Shimmel building is that it is "un- 
 balanced. ' ' 
 
 It is generally recognized that the heating of school buildings 
 should be kept separate from the ventilation. This is substan- 
 tiated by experience in the case of a number of Harrisburg 
 schools in which steam systems of hot air heating were originally 
 provided. It was subsequently found necessary to install radia- 
 tors in the rooms of several of these buildings. 
 
 Considerable criticism has been justly made of the steam sys- 
 tems in the Harrisburg schools. This criticism is due, however, 
 not to the use of steam as a medium for heating, but to faulty 
 application of correct principles of steam heating. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the system of hot-air 
 heating and ventilation chosen by the board for the Steele build- 
 ing. This system is not considered a good one for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 1 There is danger in any furnace system of hot-air heating 
 of leakage of the furnace gases into the fresh-air cham- 
 ber. 
 
 2 The fresh air comes in intimate contact with radiating 
 surfaces heated at times almost to a red heat. This 
 causes certain minute animal and vegetable particles in 
 the air to become charred, giving rise to the common 
 complaint of "cooked air." 
 
 3 It is desirable from a physiological viewpoint to have a 
 room heated by radiant heat and to have fresh air sup- 
 plied at a temperature somewhat lower than room tem- 
 perature. Such an arrangement conduces to bodily com- 
 fort and at the same time produces mild exhilaration 
 due to the relatively cool air provided. 
 64 
 
In the furnace system of hot-air heating in which 
 dependence is placed upon the hot air to heat the build- 
 ing as well as to ventilate it, it becomes necessary in cold 
 weather to heat the air to a very high temperature, with 
 the result that the occupants breathe air which is much 
 Avarmer than room temperature. 
 
 4 Control of humidity, which is very nearly as important as 
 control of temperature, is not possible with the furnace 
 system. Furthermore, it is impracticable in this system 
 to cleanse the air except by means of cloth niters which 
 are a poor substitute for air washers. 
 
 5 The heating of a building by a fan system of hot air is ab- 
 solutely dependent upon the operation of the fan. If 
 the fan unit stops for any reason whatsoever, the fur- 
 naces are rendered practically useless. 
 
 The hot-air furnace system is undoubtedly cheaper to install 
 than a first-class steam system.' It is also possible with the hot- 
 air furnace to heat up a cold building more quickly than with 
 steam. One of the major claims in favor of the furnace system, 
 is that it is simpler than the steam system. This is true, but the 
 mere fact that one system is simpler than another, does not make 
 it the better one. Although a hot-air system is apparently simp- 
 ler than a steam system, it actually requires much more careful 
 and constant hand manipulation. 
 
 The relative economies of the two types of plant under dis- 
 cussion in the matter of operation and maintenance have not 
 been proved one way or the other. Theoretical arguments are 
 advanced by the advocates of each type, but very little reliable 
 data of value for comparative purposes is available. The fact 
 remains that steam systems in which the heating and ventila- 
 tion are independent are installed in an overwhelming major- 
 ity of new buildings throughout the country, and where changes 
 from one system to another are made, either in old buildings or 
 in new additions to old buildings, the hot-air system is usually 
 replaced by a steam system. 
 
 65 
 C of O 5 
 
Use of Central Station Hlcain in Xcw School Buildings. 
 
 The rate for central station steam in Harrisburg, namely, 
 forty cents net per thousand pounds, is unusually low. This is 
 primarily due to the fact that the steam company uses coal 
 which it recovers from the river bed at a very low cost. This 
 coal can be successfully used in large plants with careful firing 
 and constant supervision, but not in small school plains. 
 
 A simple calculation will indicate roughly the relative econ- 
 omy of purchased steam at forty cents per thousand pounds as 
 against steam generated locally in a school plant. It is found 
 by analysis of operating costs in a number of school plants that 
 the fuel cost is usually around 60 to 70 per cent, and the labor 
 cost 40 to 30 per cent, of the total cost, neglecting for the time 
 being the small per cent, represented by other supplies and 
 miscellaneous items. Therefore, if steam is to be made in a 
 school plant at a cost of forty cents per thousand pounds, the 
 corresponding cost of fuel must not exceed twenty-four to 
 twenty-eight cents per thousand pounds. Assume twenty-eight 
 cents, the higher value being more favorable to local generation. 
 The ratio between pounds of steam generated and pounds of 
 coal fired for an entire season under the conditions obtaining 
 in school plants is certainly not over six to one and probably 
 nearer five to one. Let it be assumed, however, that the local 
 plant operates at the higher ratio of six to one, that is, at the 
 higher efficiency, then, for every thousand pounds of steam 
 generated at a fuel cost of twenty-eight cents, 167 pounds of 
 coal at a cost of twenty-eight cents, will be required (1,000 di- 
 vided by 6=167). If 167 pounds of coal cost twenty-eight 
 cents, then a gross ton will cost 0.28 divided by 167 times 
 <2240=$3.76. 
 
 To complete the calculation certain important deductions 
 must be made from this figure of $3.76. Removal of ashes costs 
 the board about twenty cents per ton of coal burned; miscel- 
 laneous supplies are equivalent to fifteen cents more. Deprecia- 
 tion and repairs are estimated as equivalent to from eighty 
 cents to $1 .20 per ton of coal burned. The figure $3.76, less the 
 sum of these items, leaves $2.20 to $2.60 as the approximate 
 price limits within which coal must be bought in order that 
 
 66 
 
a school plant may compete with the local central station plant. 
 Such fixed charges as interest on investment, insurance, etc., 
 would lower the figure still further, but these are purposely 
 omitted from the computation as it is believed wise in all cases 
 to install a heating plant to cover conditions of emergency. 
 
 It is not believed that a local steam plant can compete with 
 the central station under the conditions which have been sum- 
 marized and it is therefore suggested that consideration be 
 given to the purchase of steam for any new school building 
 which may be erected near the steam company's lines. It is 
 significant that the United States post office building in Har- 
 risburg uses purchased steam. The office which supervises the 
 operation of these federal office buildings is known to make care- 
 ful studies of operating costs. That office, which has had wide 
 experience in operating buildings of all sizes, makes it a prac- 
 tice to install heating plants even if it is known that purchased 
 steam is to be used. 
 
 Purchase of Electricity versus Local Generation at Technical 
 High School. 
 
 At the present time the Technical High School is using a 
 considerable amount of purchased electricity for power at the 
 rate of three cents per kilowatt hour. This is an unusually low 
 rate in consideration of the fact that there is no fixed charge (in 
 Harrisburg this is usually fifty-five cents per horsepower of 
 connected load) and no maximum demand rate (usually seven 
 cents per K. W. hour for the first thirty hours' use per month 
 of the full connected load). 
 
 During the winter months, especially during the day-time 
 when heat is on throughout the entire building, electricity can 
 undoubtedly be generated for less than three cents per kilo- 
 watt hour. This is because the steam which is needed primar- 
 ily for heating can be passed through the engines with only 
 a small loss; and further, because the operation of an electrical 
 plant of the size under consideration does not require any la- 
 bor beyond that needed for tending the heating plant. Dur- 
 ing the season, however, when there is no heating of the build- 
 ings, it is believed quite impossible to generate electricity for 
 
 67 
 
anything like three cents per kilowatt hour, because then all of 
 the fuel used must be charged against the electrical plant. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that if a new mechanical plant 
 be installed in connection with the addition to be made to the 
 high school, this plant be so designed as to generate electricity 
 locally, with provision, howevjer, for the use of purchased 
 power. 
 
 Repair and Operation of Buildings 
 
 Although the repair and the operation of the physical plant 
 of a school system represent two well-defined functions of man- 
 agement, each with its own procedure, these functions are so 
 closely related from an administrative viewpoint that they are 
 considered in this report under one heading. 
 
 Repair of buildings, as the term is used herein, refers espe- 
 cially to those major repairs of buildings and mechanical equip- 
 ment which cannot be handled by the local janitors. 
 
 The operation of buildings includes janitorial care and the 
 furnishing of heat, ventilation, light, power and allied services. 
 
 Repair of Buildings and Equipment 
 
 Extent and General Character of Repair Work. 
 
 The organization and administrative procedure best 
 adapted to handling the repair work of a school board depends 
 primarily upon the extent and general character of this work. 
 An examination of the repair account of the board shows that 
 it includes a large number of miscellaneous items not properly 
 chargeable against repairs, such as insurance, telephone, water 
 rent, electricity, new furniture, educational equipment, ash 
 removal and nearly all operating supplies except fuel and jani- 
 torial supplies. During the year 1915-1916 the total of the re- 
 pair account was $28,506. An analysis of the account indicates 
 that of this amount but from $18,000 to $19,000 was strictly 
 chargeable against building and equipment repairs. 
 
 Some of the repairs are made directly by employees of the 
 board, but the bulk are made by outside contractors. The only 
 men regularly employed by the board for repair work are one 
 
 68 
 
carpenter, known as a general repairman, and one assistant. 
 They do nearly all the carpentry work, and, in addition, make 
 various articles of school furniture. During the summer extra 
 help is sometimes employed to do roof painting. The janitors 
 also do general renovating and, in some cases, considerable re- 
 pair work during the summer. 
 
 All other repairs, aggregating fully 80 to 85 per cent, of the 
 total are done by outside contractors. It is estimated that aoout 
 80 per cent, or more of contract repairs are done during the 
 summer time. 
 
 Administrative Procedure Relating to Repair Work. 
 
 The procedure relating to repair work usually follows 
 certain consecutive steps: 
 
 1 Reporting of the apparent need for repair work to the 
 
 authorities who decide with respect thereto. 
 2 Action of those authorities upon the reported needs as 
 
 they develop. 
 3 Authorizing of contractors or departmental workmen to 
 
 make repairs. 
 4 Inspection of repair work during its progress and after 
 
 completion. 
 5 Approval of bills. 
 Each one of these steps is discussed in order. 
 
 Reporting Repair Needs. 
 
 The board alone has the power to direct repairs. The 
 need or desirability of repairs is usually reported to the board, 
 either directly or indirectly, by a school principal, teacher or 
 janitor, any one of whom may appear directly before the board 
 to make a personal appeal or to furnish information regarding 
 a stated need ; or they may communicate with the board or with 
 the secretary in writing (on any kind of paper which happens 
 to be handy) or advise the secretary's office by telephone or in 
 person, or in some other way get the attention or enlist the in- 
 terest of the board director of the district or some other direc- 
 tor. 
 
 69 
 
An examination of the minutes and other records shows that 
 practically every means of communication has been used to call 
 the attention of the board to repair needs. There seems to be 
 only one point on which any degree of uniformity in reporting 
 is attained. This is in connection with the annual inspection by 
 the board each spring to decide upon repairs to be made during 
 the summer. Previous to this inspection, principals, teachers 
 and janitors are instructed to report repair needs. These re- 
 ports are then used as a guide by the board in putting the build- 
 ings in shape for the ensuing year. 
 
 In many cases requests approved by the formal action of the 
 board are of a decidedly minor nature. For example, it is re- 
 corded that the principal of a school appeared before the board 
 to complain of insufficient heat in two rooms; that a teacher ap- 
 peared in person to make a request for a blackboard in his 
 room ; that the secretary was directed to have a dead plate in 
 a boiler replaced ; that a director was authorized to have a 
 "heat pipe" run to a teacher's room; that a director empowered 
 to supervise a certain boiler repair was authorized to have addi- 
 tional minor repairs made at the same time. 
 
 The need for more uniform methods of reporting repairs to be 
 made is obvious. The first step is suggested in the paragraph 
 which follows. 
 
 Standard Forms Should Be Used to Record the Need for Re- 
 pairs. 
 
 It is believed that there should be two standard forms for 
 recording repair needs in the Harrisburg schools: 
 
 1 One form to be used in connection with routine repairs 
 which have to be made throughout the year. 
 
 2 The other form to be used to summarize repairs which 
 should be made in the different buildings during the 
 summer. 
 
 Suggested forms are contained in Appendix "C" (See 
 Forms Nos. 1 and 2). The use of these forms will help con- 
 siderably to establish a uniform procedure in the handling of 
 repairs. At the present time requests are frequently made 
 
 70 
 
over the telephone with no written evidence that they have been 
 made. It is important that telephone requests be followed up by 
 written requests. 
 
 Action Upon Reported Needs for Repairs. 
 
 The board may act upon reported needs for repairs in a 
 number of different ways. It may make personal inspection as 
 a board. In a number of cases the secretary is authorized to 
 secure bids, or in a general way, directed to have the work done. 
 Examination of the minutes shows that quite frequently the 
 president of the board, or the chairman of the building com- 
 mittee, or some director with a fair knowledge of repair mat- 
 ters, or perhaps more time at his disposal than other directors, 
 is authorized to attend to the repair. In some cases the direc- 
 tor who calls attention to the need or in whose district tne 
 school requiring attention is located, is authorized to attend to 
 it. In fewer cases the building committee, or a special com-, 
 mittee, or the secretary, jointly with the president of the board, 
 or the chairman of the building committee, or some other mem- 
 ber, is directed to have the work done. 
 
 These diverse methods of handling repairs make it difficult to 
 fix responsibility. Furthermore, the maintenance .of buildings 
 frequently involves technical matters and there is evidence that 
 the varying methods used by the board sometimes tend to un- 
 necessary expense. 
 
 Aim ual Inspection of Buildings Bij the Board. 
 
 The board makes a tour of all school properties in the 
 spring of each year to decide upon the repairs- to be made dur- 
 ing the following summer. It has been the custom of the board 
 to decide forthwith as it makes the round, the merits of a re- 
 quest of a principal, teacher or janitor without having had an 
 opportunity to consider the repair problem of the entire sys- 
 tem for the year as a whole, that is, decisions made in the early 
 part of the tour were made without reference to the relative 
 importance of the repairs to the repair needs of the entire sys- 
 tem, which, of course, could not be known until the inspection 
 was completed. During the present year this procedure was im- 
 
 71 
 
proved, in that the general repairman was instructed to make 
 a round of inspection preliminary to that of the board. The 
 board was thereby enabled on its tour to avail itself of the re- 
 pairman's opinion in deciding the relative needs of the various 
 repairs. 
 
 It is obvious that a two or three days' inspection trip by a 
 lay board, during which time thirty buildings are visited, is an 
 unsatisfactory way to decide upon repairs. The granting or re- 
 fusal of requests is liable to be determined, not so much by the 
 merits of the various cases, as by the effect which this fatiguing 
 process has upon the members of the inspection party. A com- 
 parison of the requests made for repairs during the last year 
 with the repairs actually undertaken shows that the board ap- 
 proved nearly all of the original requests. This would indicate 
 that the repairs were badly needed, that principals, teachers 
 and janitors were very moderate in their requests, or that the 
 board was exceedingly liberal in granting them. 
 
 No Preliminary Estimates of Cost of Summer Repair WorK. 
 
 It is common in every day business practice to estimate 
 wherever possible, the cost of an undertaking before the work 
 is decided upon. In the Harrisburg school district summer re- 
 pairs are decided upon practically at the time of the annual in- 
 spection and if bids are obtained, the costs are ascertained at 
 some later time. 
 
 The probalble cost of each job should be known, if it is pos- 
 sible to make an estimate, at the time the work is decided upon. 
 The estimated total for all work to be done should be known 
 before any of the work is authorized. It is only in this way that 
 financial control over repairs can be exercised. Financial con- 
 trol is the basis of good management. 
 
 Preliminary estimates of cost are of value when bids are se- 
 cured for the various jobs, especially in connection with paint- 
 ing, flooring, large roofing and similar jobs, the cost of which 
 is reducible to a square foot or other unit basis. At the pres- 
 ent time the board usually selects the lowest bidder, but it has 
 no means of judging whether the lowest bid is too high for a 
 particular job or so low that the work can hardly be done prop- 
 
 72 
 
erly at the bid price. Furthermore, it is quite likely that cer- 
 tain jobs could be done more economically and better by hiring 
 extra help temporarily than by engaging a contractor. For ex- 
 ample, in the case of certain kinds of painting the use of good 
 materials would be assured and cheaper labor could probably 
 be used in this way. 
 
 Technical Guidance Needed on Certain Repair Work. 
 
 The following examples of repairs undertaken by the 
 board in recent years -will serve to show that the board needs 
 technical guidance in repair work : 
 
 At the Technical High School a system of balanced draft was 
 installed in 1914 in order that river coal might be burned in- 
 stead of the bituminous which was then being used. It was esti- 
 mated by the company which installed the system (a patented 
 one later decided in the courts to be an infringement against 
 other patents) that a saving of 40 per cent, in the fuel bill could 
 be effected. The fuel bills of the school for the years 1914, 1915 
 and 1916 were $1,478, $1,192 and $1,168, respectively. The aver- 
 age annual saving for the two years subsequent to the installa- 
 tion of balanced draft was therefore $298, or about 20 per 
 cent. At this rate it will take the installation which cost $1,650, 
 about five and one-half years to pay for itself before any net 
 economies in fuel can be realized. Experience shows that in 
 most cases installations of this kind are justified only when 
 they can pay for themselves in the course of one or two years, 
 and that it is unwise to base a- calculated saving on a longer 
 period because unforeseen conditions may arise upsetting the 
 entire calculation. 
 
 It is believed that the installation of artificial draft to burn 
 cheap anthracite coal in a high pressure plant like the one at 
 the Technical High School is economical when the installation 
 can be made at not too great an expense and when its use can 
 be properly supervised. The trouble with the particular in- 
 stallation under consideration is that it costs about $1,000 more 
 than such a system should cost. 
 
 Boards of education and similar lay boards are frequently 
 singled out by agents who have remarkable fuel saving or other 
 
 73 
 
devices to sell. For example, an offer was made to the Harris- 
 burg board to equip several schools with devices intended to save 
 25 to 40 per cent, of the fuel bills, the cost of the devices to 
 amount to $400 per school. An examination of the fuel bill of 
 one of those schools shows that the average for the past two 
 years was only about $450. The economies claimed by the agent 
 for his device therefore are not apparent. It was finally de- 
 cided by the board to equip one school, the board to pay at the 
 rate of $5 per inch of smoke pipe diameter "if the device proved 
 satisfactory. " It is to the credit of the board that no payments 
 have been made so far. It is not known just how the board 
 could finally decide whether the device had proved "satisfac- 
 tory." 
 
 At the Lincoln School a motor was substituted only last year 
 for the fan engine originally installed in the building which 
 was built in 1905. The installation of this motor cost $508. It 
 is stated that the change was decided upon for reasons of econ- 
 omy, as it was known that the engine was wasting steam. It 
 is very doubtful whether these fans can be driven more econom- 
 ically by a motor than by even a wasteful engine where the 
 exhaust is used in a tempering coil as in the Lincoln School. 
 Furthermore, a comparison of the fuel bills of the school, which 
 averaged but $524 for the past two years, with the cost of the 
 installation, namely, $508, leads to the belief that the installa- 
 tion cannot possibly be justified on the grounds of economy. 
 
 Let it be assumed, however, that the installation of the motor 
 was warranted for mechanical reasons, as the contributory 
 claim was also advanced that the engine showed signs of wear 
 and was beginning to give trouble. In this case serious criti- 
 cism can be made of the method taken by the board, which was 
 as follows: The local power company was requested to submit 
 a bid for the installation of a motor. Accordingly its repre- 
 sentative visited the school, and, finding the plant shut down, 
 it being in mid-summer, obtained certain data from the janitor 
 regarding the speed of the fans. The size of the motor was then 
 based upon this data, the judgment of the power company's 
 representative being influenced by the injunction of the board to 
 be liberal in making installations of this kind. The motor was 
 
 74 
 
then installed, but it was not connected to the fans, owing to 
 misunderstanding between the board and the power company. 
 This alone caused a delay of one month in mid- winter, when 
 the need for the fan was greatest. 
 
 The net result of this procedure has been : first, that the 15 
 horsepower motor installed is about 50 per cent, too large, mak- 
 ing the installation cost excessive ; second, bills for current will 
 always be excessive owing to the fact that a considerable portion 
 consists of a fixed charge (fifty-five cents per horsepower), and 
 another large portion consists of a maximum demand charge 
 based also upon the size of the motor; third, the motor is run 
 at about 60 per cent, of its rated load and therefore at very low 
 efficiency. 
 
 At the Cameron School an entirety new toilet installation for 
 the boys was made at a cost of about $1,800. The number of 
 waterclosets provided is greatly in excess of the requirements of 
 the school. Moreover, the type of flushing device selected is gen- 
 erally found unsatisfactory for school service. It is believed 
 that waterclosets in school buildings should be of the type which 
 flush automatically when the child rises from the seat. Fixtures 
 are on the market with valves having no stuffing boxes and lo- 
 cated in the earthenware, making it impossible for the children 
 to tamper with them. 
 
 The installation of the new toilets at the Harris School in 
 place of the outhouses is open to criticism in the following re- 
 spects : 
 
 1 The utility of the building exit has been seriously dimin- 
 ished as a means of egress in case of fire. 
 
 2 The entrance to the boys' and girls' sections of the toilet 
 are close together. 
 
 8 The thin wood partition between these sections is open at 
 the top. 
 
 4 Insufficient heating surface was installed, making the 
 toilets quite cold in the winter and giving rise to con- 
 tinual danger of freezing of the fixtures. 
 
 75 
 
On the whole, it may be said that this "improvement" was 
 not as satisfactory as it should have been. 
 
 Authorizations to Contractors to Make Repairs. 
 
 The bulk of repair work, as already stated, is done by 
 outside contractors, either after competitive bidding or upon 
 open order. The law requires competitive bidding on jobs cost- 
 ing over $300. Examination of a large number of these jobs 
 shows that awards MIT usually made to the lowest bidder. Open 
 orders to contractors are usually distributed among the trades- 
 men in town. 
 
 Very few jobs are done on specifications, primarily because 
 there is no one within the organization of the board especially 
 fitted to write specifications. This 'was brought out in the case 
 of the plumbing installation at the Cameron building pre- 
 viously criticised. The first draft of specifications for this par- 
 ticular job was written by the secretary. The draft was then 
 referred to the local agent of a large plumbing supply house 
 who practically rewrote the specifications. Fixtures bearing the 
 trade name of the goods of this supply house were specified as 
 the standard, the "equal of which" the contractor would have 
 to furnish. 
 
 It happens from time to time that contractors bidding on a 
 job have different ideas of what the job includes. In a certain 
 painting job, for instance, the contractor refused to scrub the 
 woodwork. In the painting of rooms some painters have re- 
 fused to paint inside of closets or other surfaces without extra 
 compensation. In one school where a wood ceiling partially 
 destroyed by fire was replaced by a concrete slab, extra com- 
 pensation for a new window amounting to $65 was later paid. 
 
 On some kinds of repair work, for example, roofing, tin- 
 smithing, and the like, the work to be done is usually left to 
 the discretion of the contractor. The weaknesses of such a 
 practice are obvious, and yet, under the present methods and 
 with the present organization of the board, this is practically 
 the only means of having certain repairs made which are diffi- 
 cult to define. 
 
 7G 
 
Standard Forms Should Be Used for Repair Orders. 
 
 At the present time orders to contractors and also to the 
 general repairman are typed on letterhead paper. In the case 
 of work orders to the repairman no copies are kept. 
 Orders to contractors are usually of two kinds: 
 
 1 A notification to the contractor that he has been awarded 
 a contract in accordance with the terms of his bid. 
 
 2 An authorization to do certain work where no bid has been 
 obtained. 
 
 A simple standard form for notifying contractors of awards 
 would eliminate much of the typing which is now repeated in 
 practically every notification. A duplicate copy should, of 
 course, be kept. A suggested form for authorizing a contractor 
 to do certain work on open order is submitted in Appendix "C' 
 (See Form No. 3). This form should be made in triplicate: 
 One for office record, one to be kept by the contractor, and one 
 to be presented to the principal by the contractor .notifying the 
 principal and janitor that the contractor has been authorized to 
 make a certain repair. When the repair is done, this last copy 
 should be signed by the principal and returned to the office 
 by the contractor when he submits his bill. Meanwhile, the 
 janitor who is apprised of the arrival of the contractor or his 
 workmen should be required to keep a record of the time spent 
 on the job. This record can then be used to check against the 
 labor item of the contractor's bill. 
 
 A form is also suggested for repairs to be done by the general 
 repairman (See Form No. 4, Appendix "C"). This form should 
 be in duplicate. The reverse side of the original provides room 
 for the record of labor and material used. This would make it 
 possible to keep such cost records as experience would show to 
 be desirable. 
 
 Inspection of Repairs. ' 
 
 Some kinds of repair work are apparently inspected con- 
 sistently ; others are not inspected, at least not with the care 
 which should be given. The general repairman usually inspects 
 carpentry work done on contract. Occasionally, he is directed 
 
by special resolution of the hoard to supervise other work, e. g., 
 grading and paving. 
 
 Painting work is usually done during the summer and is 
 inspected by the instructor in woodworking at the Technical 
 High School. During the summer of 1016 the inspection of this 
 work was done in a fairly systematic manner. Jobs were usually 
 inspected once a week and a report was made 1 out after the work 
 was completed. This teas the only irri1t<n >< [tort of ainj kind: 
 made on any inspection trork. Such inspecting took about six- 
 teen days of the instructor's time. In previous years inspection 
 work of this kind was usually done, if at all, at the request of 
 some director. 
 
 The repairs to heating, ventilating, electrical, sanitary and 
 other equipment, which are made in the summer, are usually 
 inspected by the instructor of metal working at the high school 
 These inspections also were done for the first time with any de- 
 gree of system during the last summer. No written reports or 
 records of these inspections, however, were made. The work 
 took about ten days of the instructor's time. Repairs to equip- 
 ment made throughout the year may or may not be inspected by 
 the secretary, board member or committee authorized by reso- 
 lution of the board to have the repair made. 
 
 In a few cases janitors have been authorized to supervise 
 repairs by contractors, such as paving and grading. Masonry, 
 roofing and similar work seem to be inspected only if the job 
 is an important one, sometimes by the general repairman, some- 
 times by. a member of the board or the secretary, or some com- 
 bination of secretary, board member and committee. 
 
 That poor work is bound to be done occasionally under these 
 circumstances, may be seen from a few examples. At one build- 
 ing a recent roof repair was made improperly. The roof has 
 leaked since, causing the ruin of a considerable amount of plas- 
 ter. In another building a steam fitting job was improperly 
 done, causing a direct waste of steam, which waste should have 
 been obvious from the very method of connection. Several in- 
 stances of poor wiring and of poor location of lights and 
 switches were also noted. In fact, a good deal of recent electric 
 wiring has been done in a manner no longer regarded as safe. 
 
 78 
 
Approval of Bills. 
 
 Bills for repairs done by contract are said to be checked 
 against the bid prices. Bills for repairs on open order are usually 
 not checked at all. In the first place, they are frequently not 
 itemized as to labor and materials; in the second place, even 
 if they are itemized, there is no way to check them except in the 
 case of some -of the summer jobs which are closely supervised. 
 Bills for painting during the last summer were O. K. 'd by the 
 inspector, but these were the only ones so checked. 
 
 The checking of bills for materials used and for labor in con- 
 nection with adequate inspection of repairs for quality of work 
 is believed to be essential for control over these repairs. 
 
 tiuimnary and Recommendations, 
 
 It is evident from the foregoing description of condi- 
 tions in the Harrisburg school system with reference to certain 
 fundamental principles of good business management that the 
 school board is greatly in need of a more effective procedure for 
 handling its repair work. It is also evident that the administra- 
 tive organization of the board as at present constituted would 
 not be able to establish the procedure recommended throughout 
 this report. 
 
 It is therefore recommended, first, that consideration be given 
 l>y the board to the appointment of a superintendent of build- 
 ings and grounds. The need for such an administrative officer 
 to properly supervise building operations is developed in the 
 next section of this chapter. 
 
 Recommendations on repair procedure are summarized as 
 follows : 
 
 1 That the board adopt the general policy of deciding upon 
 a yearly financial program for repairs and not upon the 
 merits of individual needs except in unusual cases which 
 might arise from time to time. As a general rule re- 
 sponsibility for undertaking repairs should bo centered 
 in the superintendent of buildings. 
 
 2 That estimates of cost be made before individual jobs and 
 the repair program for any year be decided upon. 
 79 
 
3 That the superintendent of buildings and grounds be au- 
 thorized to direct and supervise all repair work, includ- 
 ing the actual ordering, inspection and the approval of 
 bills. 
 
 4 That a uniform method be adopted for the reporting of re- 
 pair needs to the superintendent of buildings and 
 grounds, and that standard forms be adopted for this 
 purpose. 
 
 5 That authorizations to contractors to make repairs be ac- 
 companied wherever possible by specifications or care- 
 fully written instructions; that standard forms for re- 
 pair orders be used. 
 
 Janitorial Care and Operation of Buildings 
 
 The Magnitude of the Operating Probl< in. 
 
 The magnitude of the problem of janitorial care and opera- 
 tion of school buildings in Harrisburg is indicated by the fol- 
 lowing items of expenditure for the year 1915-1916: 
 
 Janitors' salaries, $27,754.00 
 
 Fuel, 12,239.00 
 
 Electric light and power (estimated), 2,800.00 
 
 Removal of ashes (estimated) 650.00 
 
 Water rent, 650.00 
 
 Cleaning supplies, 1,479 . 00 
 
 Disinfecting and miscellaneous supplies (estimated), 528.00 
 
 Total, $46,100.00 
 
 If to this total is added the $19,000 estimated for building re- 
 pairs, the grand total for operation and maintenance of the 
 physical plant becomes in round numbers $65,000. 
 
 Essentials of Administration Relating to Plant Operation. 
 
 The degree of success attainable in the care and opera- 
 tion of a large number of scattered buildings, such as constitute 
 
 80 
 
the Harrisburg public school system, is believed to be dependent 
 upon the joint establishment of two kinds of control, namely, 
 
 1 Local disciplinary control by the principals, the primary 
 purpose of which is to secure proper attention by the 
 janitors to the cleanliness of the buildings, their heat- 
 ing and ventilating, and those other features of care and 
 operation which contribute to the educational efficiency 
 of the buildings. 
 
 2 Central technical control, the primary purpose of which 
 is to standardize janitorial practice throughout the en- 
 tire system and to effect economies in the operation 
 and care of the plant. 
 
 Local Control By the Principals. 
 
 At the present time principals are authorized by the rules of 
 the board to exercise immediate supervision 'over the janitorial 
 service. This supervision is, of course, necessary in order that 
 the buildings may properly serve the educational purpose for 
 which they are intended. 
 
 Interviews with many principals indicated that in a ma- 
 jority of cases they are fairly well satisfied with the janitorial 
 service. Enough complaints were made, however, and enough 
 cases of unsatisfactory conditions were observed to warrant the 
 belief that considerable improvement could be made in certain 
 schools, and that a general "toning up" throughout the entire 
 system could be effected. 
 
 Principals Should Report on Janitorial Service. 
 
 At the present time the board has no records whatever show- 
 ing the operating conditions or the quality of janitorial service 
 in the various schools. The entire system is run, at least in 
 effect, upon the assumption that all is well unless specific re- 
 ports are made to the contrary. Various operating records are 
 suggested from time to time in this report. Among those con- 
 sidered of fundamental importance is a monthly report to be 
 made out by the principal of each school. A suggested form for 
 this purpose is included in Appendix "C" (See Form No. 5). 
 
 81 
 C of C 6 
 
It is believed that the filling out of records of this kind by the 
 principals would give them an added sense of responsibility for 
 the physical condition of their buildings, as well as a suitable 
 opportunity to record their ideas. Also the moral effect upon 
 the janitors should help to elevate the standards of janitorial 
 service. 
 
 Central Control Orcr Janitors and riant Operation. 
 
 At the present time there is no central supervision over 
 plant operation other than the rather loose occasional super- 
 vision exercised by the building committee. 
 
 It is. believed that effective central supervision should include 
 the following elements: 
 
 1 Control over personnel, by which is meant efficient meth- 
 ods of securing and retaining the type of janitorial help 
 desirable fcTr the service. 
 
 2 Standardization of janitorial practice including 
 a Janitorial compensation, 
 b The use of fuel and miscellaneous supplies. 
 
 3 Janitorial instruction. 
 
 4 Frequent regular inspection of buildings. 
 
 5 Operating reports and records for analysis and compara- 
 tive purposes. 
 
 Methods of Appointing and Retaining Janitors. 
 
 At the present time the method of appointing janitors 
 seems to be very irregular and not entirely free from political 
 influence. The following is an illustration of the erratic man- 
 ner in which a recent janitorial vacancy was filled: 
 
 The janitor of a school having resigned, it was first decided 
 by the board to try a certain man for a period of thirty days. 
 It was then decided to hold an examination and several appli- 
 cants were so notified. An examination was held by the engi- 
 neer of the Technical High School, with the result that one man 
 received a rating of 70 per cent, and another man a rating of 
 37 per cent. The results of this examination were announced 
 at the next meeting of the board, but no definite action was 
 
 82 
 
taken because all of the members were not present. Before the 
 next meeting of the board an application for the vacant posi- 
 tion was made by an assistant janitor at another school. At a 
 later meeting of the board, at which all members were present, 
 a motion was made by one member that the "70 per cent, man" 
 be appointed ; a second resolution was offered by another mem- 
 ber that the "37 per cent, man" be appointed. It was finally 
 decided to hold another examination. No further mention of 
 this case is made in the minutes. The men formerly employed 
 as assistant in another school was appointed and at the present 
 time holds the position. 
 
 Examinations as a Basis for Janitorial Appointments. 
 
 All janitorial appointments should be based on examina- 
 tions covering: 
 
 % 
 
 1 The practical ability of the applicant to fill the position 
 in all its details. 
 
 2 The physical and moral fitness of the applicant. In this 
 connection it is believed that a precautionary measure 
 well worth taking is an examination by the medical in- 
 spector of the board. 
 
 3 A probationary trial of a month or so, during which time 
 the applicant should be carefully observed by the prin- 
 cipal as w r ell as by a central administrative officer. 
 
 Xcri'ice Records for Janitors. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the value of reports 
 on janitorial service submitted by principals. It is obvious that 
 the elements of personality, viewpoint and the efficiency of the 
 principal in securing co-operation by the janitor may enter into 
 such records. It is therefore desirable from an administrative 
 viewpoint that these records be supplemented by an independ- 
 ent record made by an administrative officer responsible for the 
 central supervision of plant operation. The tw r o ratings of the 
 janitor so obtained should then be combined. 
 
 83 
 
Standardization of Janitorial Practice. 
 
 Standardization of janitorial practice relates especially 
 to two things: 
 
 1 Janitorial compensation. 
 
 2 Use of fuel and miscellaneous supplies. 
 
 Such recommendations as arc made in connection with stand- 
 ardizing janitorial practice are made with a full appreciation of 
 the numerous local influences which tend to make the care and 
 operation of each school building a problem in itself. Stand- 
 ardization of practice, as the term is here used, is not a set of 
 hard and fast rules to be applied indiscriminately to all con- 
 ditions, but rather a general revision and improvement of con- 
 ditions throughout the entire system in which due considera- 
 tion would be given to local circumstances peculiar to each case. 
 
 Janitorial Compe nsation. 
 
 In the absence of exact information regarding the labor 
 situation in Harrisburg, no appraisal was made of the rates of 
 wages paid to janitors. Examination of conditions in a num- 
 ber of school buildings leads to the belief, however, that read- 
 justments of compensation should be made in several cases. 
 
 Janitorial compensation in each case should be for the posi- 
 tion, and not for the particular janitor. Rates of compensation 
 should be based upon several factors, the more important of 
 which are as follows: 
 
 Floor area to be cleaned. 
 
 Mechanical equipment to be operated. 
 
 Conditions peculiar to the school and the neighborhood. 
 
 Length of satisfactory service. 
 
 Overtime. 
 
 Closely related to the question of janitorial compensation is 
 the reimbursement of the board for use of auditoriums and va- 
 rious rooms. Rates should be so fixed that at least no loss 
 would be sustained by the board for the use of its facilities. A 
 number of rooms at the Technical High School are used for the 
 
night classes of a local branch of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania at a considerable expense without compensation to the 
 board. It is understood that the instruction given by tne uni- 
 versity is paid for. 
 
 The Shimmel building is used occasionally in the evenings 
 by local organizations, the janitor being paid for his services 
 directly by the organizations. No criticism is made of the free 
 use of this building by these organizations, as such use may be 
 in the interest of good public policy, but it is believed that the 
 janitor should be paid through the board for his services at a 
 standard rate. 
 
 Us( of Cheaper Grades of Fuel. 
 
 The amount of the fuel bills of the board depends upon 
 two things: namely, the kind of fuel used (which practically 
 determines price) and economy in its use. Analysis of the coal 
 records shows that about 70 to 75 per cent, of the coal used is 
 pea coal, which, on the whole, is probably the cheapest fuel 
 which can be burned in the plants of the board. 
 
 Substitution of Pea Coal for Large Sizes of Anthracite: 
 
 It is believed that the use of pea coal can be extended in 
 some of the schools where more expensive grades ar now being 
 burned. The amounts and kinds of coal used in some of these 
 schools during 1915-1916. are shown in the following table: 
 
 Stove " Eg-g- Broken 
 
 Xame of School. Tons. Tons. Tons. 
 
 Willard, 61 
 
 Stevens . . 51 
 
 Downey . . 80 
 
 Harris, . . . . 80 
 
 Forney . . . . 86 
 
 Vaclav. '65 
 
 Total, 61 131 231 
 
 In all of these schools mixtures of the larger coals with pea 
 coal, in which 50 per cent, or more would be pea coal, could be 
 burned. The economies which would result are shown below: 
 
 85 
 
Stove. Egg. Broken. Pea. 
 
 Cost per ton, 1916, $6.08 $5.83 $5.58 $4.23 
 
 Stove & Pea. Egg & Pea. Broken & Pea. 
 
 Cost per ton of mixture, $5.15 $5.03 $4.90 
 
 Difference in cost per 
 
 ton, .93 .80 .68 
 
 Net saving on the basis 
 
 of 1916 tonnages, ... $57.00 $105.00 $157.00 
 
 It will be seen from these figures that in these six schools the 
 minimum saving would be about $319. 
 
 Fuel Economy at the Technical High School: 
 
 It is understood that bituminous coal was formerly, 
 burned at the Technical High School. Subsequently, a sys- 
 tem of mechanical draft was installed for the purpose of burn- 
 ing river coal. The use of this coal was, however, unsuccessful, 
 partly because the contractor did not 'make regular deliveries 
 and partly because it was found that river coal alone could not 
 carry the heavier loads. Last year it was decided by the board 
 to burn pea coal in this plant. At the time the plant was vis- 
 ited it was found that a mixture of No. 1 buckwheat and river 
 coal, or barley, was being burned because the contractor could 
 not obtain pea coal. It is believed that the most economical 
 fuel for this plant would be a mixture of river coal or No. 3 
 buckwheat (barley' anthracite) and semi-bituminous in ratio 
 to three to one. 
 
 The economy of such mixture depends primarily upon the 
 very low price for the small sizes of anthracite. The bitumin- 
 ous is necessary, however, to insure proper combustion of the 
 anthracite. 
 
 These coals may be mixed while being filled into the bins by 
 the simple method of having three loads of anthracite delivered 
 to every load of bituminous (all being of the same weight). By 
 the time the coal is shovelled into wheelbarrows and fired it 
 should be fairly well mixed. The soft coal in the mixture forms 
 a sort of matrix causing the fuel to cake to some extent. This 
 prevents holes in the fire through which air passes in large 
 
 86 
 
quantities, leaving other parts dead, as is common where the 
 very small sizes of anthracite are used alone. This mixture can 
 be burned entirely without smoke and causes no added burden . 
 to the fireman. 
 
 If the price of bituminous coal is too high this year to war- 
 rant its use in order to make possible the economy of burning 
 the very fine anthracite, then No. 1 buckwheat or a mixture 
 of No. 1 buckwheat and river, or No. 1 buckwheat and No. 3 
 buckwheat, should be used, but in no case should pea coal be 
 used straight as was decided upon last year. The price of pea 
 coal in normal times is about $1 per ton more than the price 
 of No. 1 buckwheat. 
 
 Economies in the Use of Fuel. 
 
 Comparison of the fuel consumption in the Harrisburg 
 schools with the school population, shows that the average an- 
 nual consumption of coal per pupil in average daily attendance 
 has been between 680 and 750 pounds in the last three years. 
 A similar comparison has been made in another city where condi- 
 tions were studied, as they were in Harrisburg, and the result 
 showed an average annual consumption per pupil in average 
 daily attendance of about 500 pounds. In this particular city 
 the janitorial forces were under much better control than in 
 Harrisburg, but on the other hand, there was a large preponder- 
 ance of schools with auditorium, gymnasiums and special rooms, 
 making the ratio of cubic feet to be heated per pupil rather high. 
 Furthermore, a large number of the schools in the city fully 25 
 per cent, of the total w r ere used for night sessions. 
 
 The limitations of a comparison of this kind are recognized 
 and it is not claimed that these figures indicate a possible sav- 
 ing of 30 per cent, in the amount of coal burned in the Har- 
 risburg schools. It is believed, however, that this comparison 
 is indicative of a situation in Harrisburg which can be greatly 
 improved. This improvement may be partly a matter of operat- 
 ing economy and partly a matter of installing a better grade of 
 plants in new schools. 
 
 No special study was made of the comparative economy of 
 using fuel in the various schools in Harrisburg, since figures on 
 
 87 
 
th* 1 tonnages used in any one season in the individual schools 
 were net available. Figures on deliveries during the past two 
 years were obtained with much labor, but since these were not 
 adjusted for stocks on hand they did not coincide with actual 
 consumption. 
 
 Use of Electricity. 
 
 The use of eleetrieity in the Ilarrisburg schools varies 
 widely. Very few of the schools are properly equipped 
 throughout with electric light, the use of which is essential dur- 
 ing the dark hours of about forty odd days in a school year. 
 Some of the rooms contain more than their quota of lights ; oth- 
 ^ers have none at all. In several cases observed, lights were 
 too high to be of much use. This is especially true in the Penn 
 school, where dependence is still placed on the gas lamps which 
 the electric lights were supposed to replace. Incidentally, of 
 the $82 gas bill for last year, $20 was for maintenance of the 
 lamps. 
 
 In several recent installations no shades were provided for 
 throwing the light down. A considerable number of old car- 
 bon lamps are still in use. 
 
 Inspection of bills bears out the claim that the use of electric- 
 ity varies widely. In one four-room building in which only two 
 rooms are now in use, the bill for ten months was $89.53, or prac- 
 tically $45 per room. In another building of ten rooms the bill 
 for a similar period was $153.73. or $15 per room, while in no 
 less than a half dozen schools, on the other hand, the bills con- 
 sisted of the minimum charge of $1 per month for all but two or 
 three months in the year. 
 
 The use of power is just as widely divergent as the use of 
 light. In one eight-room building the power bill for a ten 
 horsepower motor running a fan was $215.48 for ten months. 
 During one month alone 1390 K. "W. hours were used in this 
 building. In another eight-room building of similar design the 
 greatest amount of power used in any one month w~as 380 K. W. 
 hours. In two other eight-room buildings -the greatest amount 
 xis-.'d per month in either was only 29 K. W. hours. 
 
 88 
 
Bills for electricity are never checked; in fact, no one in the 
 office knows the rates or the connected load ratings of the differ- 
 ent buildings or the methods of computing the bills on the basis 
 of meter readings. The checking up of a month's bills ought 
 not to take more than fifteen to twenty minutes. 
 
 The need for standardization regarding artificial lighting of 
 schools and the use of electricity for light and power is evident. 
 
 r.sv of Supplies. 
 
 The expenditure for janitorial supplies during 1915-1916 
 was $1,479. This does not include, however, an item of about 
 $256 for disinfectant bought by the building committee. A de- 
 tailed study of the use of janitorial supplies in twenty-six 
 schools, representing a total of 289 classrooms, showed that the 
 average cost per classroom was $3.73, on the basis of supplies 
 bought on the approval of the supply committee, and $4.85 in- 
 cluding "Sanaform" and some miscellaneous supplies bought 
 on the building committee's recommendations. 
 
 It is believed that these unit costs are high. Further analysis 
 of unit costs in different schools showed a wide variation in the 
 use of supplies. In one school the cost of supplies delivered per 
 classroom was $8.10; in four .others it was over $6. On the 
 other hand, it was less than $3 in ten schools, the lowest unit 
 costs recorded being $1.60 and $1.80. It is understood that ex- 
 treme variations may be due to the fact that in some schools a 
 considerable stock was on hand at the beginning of the year and 
 that in other schools requisitions by the janitors were in excess 
 of the current year's requirements. It is further appreciated 
 that the location and environment of several of the schools 
 UTeatly influence the amount of various supplies which must be 
 used. 
 
 There seems to be no doubt, however, that the use of janitor- 
 ial supplies would be a subject for fruitful study. Particular 
 attention is directed to the use of certain special supplies, such 
 as disinfectants and boiler compound. 
 
 Recent annual bills for disinfectants and special equipment 
 connected with thoir use are summarized in the following table: 
 
 89 
 
YEARS 
 
 Item. I:*:!-!. 1915. 1916. 
 
 Formaldehyde and potassium 
 
 permanganate, $92 .00 
 
 Sanaf orm and hydroclean .... 448 .00 
 
 Sanaform, $256.00 $256.00 
 
 Formaldehyde fumigators, 238 . 00 
 
 Totals, $540.00 $494.00 $256.00 
 
 The large amounts used in 1914-1915 were due, so it is 
 claimed, to the Avretched condition at that time of many of the 
 toilets throughout the system. A special effort was made to 
 improve on the conditions during those years. With the toilets 
 in better shape the annual expenditures for special disinfectant 
 may be taken at about $250 per year, as shown by the 1915-1916 
 figures for Sanaform. It is evident, from interviews with jani- 
 tors, that Sanaform is generally liked and that there are no seri- 
 ous objections against its use, but several of the janitors seem 
 to question the need for this disinfectant. It is known that in 
 some cities toilet bowls and urinals are kept in good condition 
 6y flushing them with a hose several times a day and with 
 only an occasional use of a disinfectant. It is quite likely that 
 the condition of some of the very old toilets in some of the Har- 
 risburg schools justifies the use of an expensive disinfectant 
 Sanaform costs $1 per gallon, but it is believed that the fix- 
 tures of many of the newer installations can be kept sweet and 
 clean by frequent flushing with water. This practice would re- 
 sult in a considerable saving. 
 
 During the year 1915-1916, $235 was spent for boiler com- 
 pound which was used in not more than a half dozen schools. 
 It is not the idea so much to criticize the selection or the price 
 paid for this compound, as it is to raise the question as to why 
 it should be necessary to use it in a few schools when all of the 
 schools in the system use the same water in the boilers. It is 
 further desired to call attention to a very simple remedy to pre- 
 vent the adhesion of scale to the boilers, A small amount of 
 powdered graphite should be stirred into several pints of kero- 
 sene, or heavier mineral oil. This is then to be fed to the boiler 
 
 90 
 
after the heating surfaces have been cleaned. The boiler Is to 
 l)e filled entirely with water (this cannot be done, of course, 
 while there is any load on the boiler) and then blown down. 
 The oil and graphite will adhere to the heating surfaces of the 
 boiler, forming a film, which prevents adhesion of scale. Such 
 scale as may collect in the boiler from time to time may then be 
 easily removed by scraping and brushing. 
 
 Janitorial Instruction in the Care and Operation of Buildings. 
 
 The standardization of janitorial practice makes neces- 
 sary the instruction of the janitorial force as an element of good 
 management. A certain amount of instruction can be embod- 
 ied in carefully prepared rules supplemented by general orders 
 from time to time, but a considerable amount of valuable infor- 
 mation regarding plant operation can be imparted only by 
 means of personal instruction. Furthermore, personal contact 
 between janitors and the administrative officer responsible for 
 the general quality of janitorial service develops an esprit de 
 corps among the men and fosters a spirit of interest in their 
 work as no other means can. 
 
 Janitors as a class have had no considerable amount of exper- 
 ience in running any kind of a plant. What knowledge they 
 have is instinctive rather than exact. This is brought out by 
 the odd notions some of them have on the proper care and opera- 
 tion of mechanical equipment. Some of the janitors are eager 
 enough to learn proper methods, but facilities are limited and 
 there is no incentive. At the present time the position of janitor 
 is an isolated one; nobody is especially interested in his prob- 
 lems, and the result is that he soon develops the habit of doing 
 just as little work as he can without being called to accouiit. 
 
 The need for janitorial instruction, in fairness to the men, 
 as well as for the purpose of effecting economies, may be illus- 
 trated by the following cases. In a certain school it was found 
 that the janitor was not running the pump intended to return 
 the condensed steam from the heating coils to the boiler. All of 
 the condensate was going to the sewer, with a loss in heat of per- 
 haps 10 to 12 per cent, in addition to the direct loss of Avater. 
 When the janitor was questioned the fact developed that the 
 
 91 
 
boiler was being run at a pressure too low to operate the pump. 
 The janitor explained that the boiler inspector on his previous 
 visit had remarked upon the age and deteriorated condition of 
 the boiler and had given him the impression that it was unsafe to 
 run the boiler except at a very low pressure. A letter of inquiry 
 addressed to the boiler inspector brought back the answer that 
 in his opinion it would be entirely safe to run the boiler at the 
 higher pressure. The waste incidental to the method of opera- 
 tion adopted by the janitor on his own responsibility had not 
 occurred to the janitor himself. 
 
 In several of the buildings visited room temperatures as high 
 as 75 to 80 were observed. Overheating of rooms is generally 
 recognized as having an undesirable effect upon the health of the 
 pupils and greatly reduces the efficiency of their mental pro- 
 cesses. Incidentally, it is wasteful of fuel. 
 
 In one of the schools where the rooms were unduly warm and 
 the windows all closed, a recess occurred during the visit but no 
 windows were opened to relieve the stuffy conditions. Several 
 teachers were asked if they did not think it wise to open the win- 
 dows. The answer was that the janitor did not like to have 
 them do so because in that way the ventilating system became 
 unbalanced and heat was lost to the outside atmosphere. 
 
 General observation of operating methods, supplemented by 
 talks with janitors, in which reference was made to various mat- 
 ters of a technical nature, indicated that some of the janitors 
 have their own peculiar notions about economical methods of 
 running a plant. In one building the vacuum cleaner provided 
 was used almost entirely for cleaning floors; in another build- 
 ing a similar cleaner could be used, so the janitor stated, only 
 for cleaning the halls. The janitor of one school gets rid of his 
 paper by burning it in the furnace. This is a bad practice, since 
 pieces of paper only. partially burned collect in the chimney and 
 are apt to give rise to chimney fires. In another school the jani- 
 tor finds it easier to gather his paper in a bag and burn it in a 
 nearby lot than to bale it in the machine provided. In some 
 of the buildings the janitors make quite a few repairs; in others 
 even the simplest ones are not attempted. In one building, in 
 fact, the principal stated that she had to do quite a few things 
 which the janitor ought to do. 
 
 92 
 
Frequent Inspections of Buildings Desirable. 
 
 Reference has been made to the need for and to certain 
 means of establishing effective central supervision of building 
 care and operation. It is highly important for an administra- 
 tive officer in general charge of an extensive physical plant to 
 be familiar at first hand with all the physical details of the 
 plant and the ramifications of operation. Such intimate infor- 
 mation can be obtained only by frequent visits and personal ob- 
 servation of the conditions in the different plants. These visits 
 tend also to keep the janitors on the alert and in that way to 
 elevate the morale of the force. Another advantage of frequent 
 inspections by the man in charge of buildings is the detection of 
 need for repairs before they grow to an extent which maizes 
 them very expensive. 
 
 J!< ports on Plant Operation, Comparative Operating Data and 
 Ef I nip me nl Records Desirable. 
 
 In the scheme of organization proposed in this report respon- 
 sibility for the care and operation of a single school plant rests 
 with three individuals, namely, the janitor, the principal and 
 the superintendent of buildings. It is essential that each one of 
 the three record currently such data on operation as represents 
 his particular interest and responsibility. A form for monthly 
 reports by principals has already been suggested (See Form No. 
 5 in Appendix "C"). It is important that certain items of ac- 
 tual operating information be recorded currently, and inciden- 
 tally that janitors be given opportunity to record their side of 
 the operating problem. The moral effect upon the janitors them- 
 selves of having to make even the simplest reports cannot be 
 valued too highly. A form (No. 6 in Appendix "C") is offered 
 as a suggestion of some of the items on which janitors should re- 
 port. This form is for a monthly report but the items of daily 
 occurrence should be filled out daily. Only one copy at a time 
 should be given each janitor. It should be hung on a board in 
 the janitor's room or any other suitable place where it can be 
 readily inspected. . 
 
 A superintendent of buildings and grounds is interested es- 
 pecially in the comparative costs of operating different school 
 
 93 
 
buildings in the system. A list of column headings suitable for 
 a large table, showing the comparative operating economy of the 
 various schools, is given in Appendix "C" in Exhibit No. 7. It 
 is important that the schools of the different types be grouped 
 in such a manner that the cost data of one school may be com- 
 pared with those of similar schools. The several groups of 
 schools may then be compared on the basis of operating costs for 
 the different types. The physical data to be tabulated can be 
 obtained during visits and inspections and at odd times. The 
 importance of data of this kind as a guide to intelligent grap- 
 pling with the problems of operation cannot be overestimated. 
 It should further serve as a guide in the selection of the better 
 types of equipment in new installations. 
 
 Physical plant data is not complete without records for im- 
 portant items of mechanical equipment. These records should 
 include the following data : Location, size, type, rated capacity, 
 date of installation, important dimensions, name of manufac- 
 turer and important parts and auxiliary apparatus. Such data 
 is of great value in connection with the ordering of repairs, new 
 parts, etc. Equipment records are frequently kept on cards, 
 one side being used to record general data, and the other side 
 being used to record the dates and costs of important repairs. 
 
 and Recommendations. 
 
 The need for better control over the care and operation of 
 the physical plant of the system and possibilities for effecting 
 economies have been discussed in detail. As in the case of build- 
 ing repairs, it is believed that the first consideration of the board 
 should be directed toward the appointment of an administrative 
 officer on whom responsibility for results can be placed. 
 
 It has been shown that the maintenance and operation of the 
 Harrisburg school plant involve an expenditure of at least $65.- 
 000 per annum. It is believed, therefore, that the school board 
 would be fully justified in employing a thoroughly competent 
 superintendent of buildings and grounds. Such an officer should 
 not only have an intimate knowledge of building and equip- 
 ment repairs, based on wide experience along these lines, but he 
 should also have a very fair knowledge of engineering econ- 
 
 94 
 
ouiies as applied to the mechanical plants in the various build- . 
 ings. He should have above all the faculty of management and 
 the personality to secure a high degree of cooperation on the 
 part of the janitorial force. 
 
 Recommendations on the operation of buildings are summar- 
 ized as follows: 
 
 1 Janitorial appointments should be on the basis of exami- 
 nation, including a physical examination by the medical 
 officer of the board. 
 
 2 Service records of janitors should be kept. These records 
 should be based upon regular monthly reports by the 
 principals and upon the opinion of the superintendent 
 of buildings. 
 
 3 Janitorial compensation should be based upon service ac- 
 tually required. 
 
 4 Janitorial practice should be further standardized with 
 reference to the use of fuel, electricity, cleaning and 
 miscellaneous supplies. Extensive economies should re- 
 sult from this standardization. 
 
 5 Pea coal should be substituted in part for the large sizes 
 of anthracite in certain of the schools ; mixed fuel 
 should be used at the Technical High School. 
 
 6 Janitors should be given instruction in the care and opera- 
 tion of buildings. 
 
 7 Frequent inspections of buildings should be made. 
 
 8 Reports on operation of plants should be made by janitors. 
 
 9 Comparative operating data of the various plants should 
 
 be kept. 
 10 Equipment records should be kept. 
 
 Some Conditions in Buildings Which Should 
 be Remedied 
 
 The general repair and operating problem of the Harrisburg 
 school board has been discussed with particular reference to 
 questions of organization and procedure. Recommendations and 
 suggestions have been made which should establish an orderly 
 procedure for dealing with the various building problems, place 
 
 95 
 
responsibility for results in an individual qualified to handle 
 these problems and result in substantial economies to the board. 
 It is desired to make a brief mention of some conditions found 
 in the Harrisburg schools which it is believed should be elimi- 
 nated or greatly improved. 
 
 It was found that the board has remedied a large number of 
 defective conditions in buildings in recent years. Some of these 
 conditions were called to the attention of the board by various 
 inspection agents, such as the state factory inspectors and the 
 boiler inspectors. Other improvements have been made on th< J 
 initiative of the board itself. That the board has been alive 
 to the importance of safe conditions, is shown by the attention 
 which has been given to such things as fire extinguishers and fire 
 drills a few of which w T ere observed. 
 
 So many of the Harrisburg school buildings are of old style 
 wood construction that extra precautions are necessary in order 
 to provide reasonably safe and sanitary conditions for occu- 
 pants. In fact, not a few of the oldest buildings are in such 
 condition, with reference to safety, sanitation and general fit- 
 ness for occupancy, that they should be abandoned. 
 
 Publish. Old Furniture <nxl the. Like Should Be Removed from 
 Buildings. 
 
 Large amounts of rubbish, old furniture, junk and the 
 like were found in the basements of a number of schools. In 
 some cases furniture was found stowed away in classrooms not 
 in use. In one school a considerable amount of rubbish was 
 found in the fresh air chambers, one of which had a decidedly 
 musty odor. The presence of such articles in large quantities 
 about the buildings is undesirable as they constitute a decided 
 fire risk and render the buildings more difficult to keep clean. 
 Some of these articles, for example, old pieces of machinery and 
 equipment of various kinds, can probably be disposed of to ad- 
 vantage. It is quite likely that a considerable amount of the 
 furniture can be used, but many of the articles will have to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 Old paper should be collected more often than at present. As 
 many as a dozen bales were found in one school and the janitor 
 
 96 
 
stated that at one time he had as many as thirty on hand. In 
 some schools paper was found loosely piled up on the basement 
 iioor and in one school to Avhich reference has already been 
 made, the janitor made a practice of burning it in the furnace. 
 
 Closets Under titainniijx Should Be Closed Up Permanently. 
 
 A number of schools were found in which there were clos- 
 ets under stairways. In some cases the main exits of the build- 
 ing had closets or spaces filled with rubbish under them. These 
 closets constitute a grave menace in case of fire and should be 
 fcealed up in such a manner that no inflammable material of 
 any kind could be stored in them. Furthermore, no closets 
 should be tolerated under the stairways in new buildings. Even 
 though the stairways may themselves be fireproof, the panic 
 hazard due to smoke rising in the staircases is not diminished. 
 
 Ceilings Close to Boiler Flues Should Be Fireproof ed. 
 
 A number of cases were observed in which the" clearance be- 
 tween a hot sheet iron boiler flue and the wood ceiling above 
 was only from a foot to eighteen inches. In some cases the ceil- 
 ings were plastered, in others the wood ceilings were entirely 
 bare. The danger of fire under these conditions might appear 
 to be remote, but a case was observed during a recent survey 
 by the Bureau in another city where a fire had occurred under 
 just such conditions as those obtaining in Harrisburg. 
 
 It is recommended that in all cases where there is even the 
 remotest danger of fire due to a hot boiler flue, a fireproof slab 
 be inserted in the floor above the boiler room or that at least 
 the ceiling be coverd with a permanent protective sheathing. 
 
 Man i) of \]\c Tolld Installation* Should Be Entirely Replaced. 
 A number of toilet installations were found which should 
 be entirely replaced. In the case of a certain girls' toilet of the 
 range type with automatic flushing, partitions were provided 
 only between groups of two seats, several large screens being 
 placed in front of the range in the place of doors attached to 
 the stalls. 
 
 In another boys' toilet no floor drain to the sewer was pro- 
 vided. This made it virtually impossible for the janitor to wash 
 
 97 
 C of C 7 
 
the floor and fixtures with a hose, and whenever an overflow of 
 any kind occurred it became necessary for the janitor to re- 
 move the water with a mop. 
 
 It is recommended that new toilet fixtures be of the automatic 
 flushing type previously described, and that no doors be placed 
 on the individual stalls of the boys' toilets. 
 
 Sanitary J)rhikhi(/ Fountain* Should lit Supplied in All 
 Schools. 
 
 Very poor drinking facilities were found in a large num- 
 ber of schools. In one. with an enrollment of over 400 children, 
 the drinking facilities were limited to a wash basin faucet on 
 each of two floors and children were supposed to supply their 
 own drinking cups. In another school at which a recess oc- 
 curred during the visit, children were observed drinking from 
 a common faucet in the basement. Little children could not 
 reach this faucet with their mouths and the janitor had pro- 
 vided a small box for them to stand on. Similar conditions were 
 observed in several other schools. There is no good reason why 
 these conditions should exist. The cost of supplying proper 
 drinking fountains is not a large one. 
 
 Cloth Filters Should Be Placed Over Fresh Air Inlets. 
 
 Several of the Harrisburg schools are provided with a 
 fan system of hot-air heating. In only one case has provision 
 been made for a filter to remove particles of dust from the fresh 
 air. Nearly all the fresh air intakes are located close to the 
 ground level. In some cases, notably at the Technical High 
 School, dust from an adjoining street may be blown into the 
 inlet. That considerable amounts of dust are blown into the 
 rooms with the fresh air, was evident from the discoloration on 
 the classroom walls about the fresh air inlets. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the desirability of .air 
 washers as a part of all new ventilation installations. A cheese 
 cloth filter is admittedly a poor substitute for an air washer 
 and not entirely sanitary, but all fan systems should at least 
 be provided with this poor substitute. 
 
 98 
 
Ill 
 
 PURCHASE, STORAGE AND ISSUANCE OF 
 SUPPLIES 
 
 Organization 
 
 Present Organization. 
 
 Although the problem of purchasing, storing and issu- 
 ing supplies has in a general way been delegated to the secre- 
 tary, who in turn has delegated certain functions to a clerk, 
 still the real authority rests in the board, operating through its 
 committees. The committees are the actual buying officials. 
 They approve all purchase orders and contracts, suggest modes 
 of purchasing, etc. The purchasing clerk, acting for the secre- 
 tary, l^is only very limited powers. His powers are in fact so 
 small that he is really no more than a secretary to the commit- 
 tees having to do with the purchasing. Aside from committees, 
 the entire force having to do with the purchase, storage and 
 issiumce of supplies consists of one full-time clerk and one part- 
 time laborer. The laborer is used almost entirely in deliver- 
 ing supplies to the various schools, and in packing, unpacking 
 and storing supplies at the central storeroom. 
 
 The functions ordinarily belonging to the office of a purchas- 
 ing agent or storekeeper have been delegated in such an in- 
 definite manner that responsibility for the proper performance 
 of such functions is sadly lacking. It should be added, how- 
 ever, that considering this absence of real responsibility and 
 the lack of incentive which usually accompanies lack of re- 
 sponsibility, the work of purchasing, storing and issuing sup- 
 plies has been fairly well handled. Many points criticised in 
 the following paragraphs have long been recognized by those di- 
 rectly connected with these functions, but they have been with- 
 out sufficient authority to make the desired changes. 
 
 Proposed Reorganization. 
 
 Nearly every phase of the study of the purchasing prob- 
 lem of the Harrisburg school district as discussed below discloses 
 
 99 
 
the need of some one official who can relieve the board commit- 
 tees of much of the work now attempted by them, and who 
 should be held responsible for all purchases and for the care 
 and distribution of commodities purchased in other words, the 
 need of one real purchasing agent. The purchasing problem in 
 itself is not large enough to require the full time of any one 
 official. Neither are the duties of storing and issuing supplies 
 extensive enough to warrant a special position of storekeeper. 
 It is believed, however, that the combined work of these two 
 positions is large and important enough to warrant the crea- 
 tion of such a joint position. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the board authorize the 
 position of purchasing agent and storekeeper, to be attached 
 to the office of the secretary. 
 
 A purchasing agent necessarily exercises considerable power, 
 and the appointment should be made only after ample delib- 
 eration. If he is watched and controlled, he is more likely to 
 be efficient and careful than inefficient and wasteful. Tn- 
 watched, he may remain efficient, but may become corrupt ; if 
 allowed to become careless, he has nlmndant opportunities both 
 for inefficiency and corruption. However, no purchasing agent 
 can either do himself justice or bring about the best results if he 
 is unduly hampered or bound by petty restrictions. In the past 
 the board has endeavored to concern itself with every little pur- 
 chase. If a purchasing agent should be 1 appointed, he should 
 be free to exercise his own judgment in all matters on which 
 either the board as a whole or individual members are not quali- 
 fied to pass expert opinions. If the right kind of a man be 
 appointed, he himself would be the first one to wish to refer to 
 the board for advice or assistance. He himself would be apt to 
 urge the establishment of limitations to his own powers which 
 might well be defined by the size of contracts or orders. When 
 the powers of such an official have been so defined, he should 
 be unhampered in his duties, but in turn he should be* held 
 strictly accountable for results. It is firmly believed that the 
 greatest improvement in the purchasing methods of the Harrs- 
 burg school district are possible through the elimination of the 
 
 100 
 
 
board supervision of purchases and the definite location of such 
 responsibility with one efficient employee. 
 
 The creation of the proposed position does not necessarily 
 mean a corresponding' increase in expense. Much of the work 
 properly belonging to such a position is now being ably per- 
 formed by the one purchasing clerk. An increase in authority 
 and responsibility would not necessarily greatly increase the 
 work. Likewise, the recommendations made in this section of 
 the report would not increase the need of laborers, except per- 
 haps the permanent employment of the one man who now de- 
 rotes the greater part of his time to working for the board. 
 
 Purchasing 
 
 General Piircliasiny Procedure. 
 
 The board has adopted a rule whereby every purchase 
 must be approved by a committee of the board before the sec- 
 retary may issue the official order. Except in rare emergen- 
 cies, this rule is observed. The board has also adopted a rule 
 whereby bids shall be asked for on every purchase the estimated 
 amount of which is over $300. As a matter of fact, bids are 
 asked for on many purchases amounting to much less than $300. 
 
 Fuel, text books, general educational and office supplies, labo- 
 ratory equipment and supplies, printing, janitor supplies, etc., 
 in fact, almost all supplies needed by the school district with 
 the exception of -repairs, emergency and contingent items, are 
 purchased before or immediately after the beginning of each 
 fiscal year. Estimates of quantities to be needed for the entire 
 ensuing year are requested of the heads of all divisions of the 
 school district usually during March and April. These esti- 
 mates are assembled according to the general class or nature of 
 supplies on separate schedules which are sent to several deal- 
 ers, with the request that they submit bids on any or all items. 
 In this way approximately 90 per cent, of the entire purchases 
 are made on or about the beginning of each fiscal year. 
 
 In every case, however, the purchase order is prepared by 
 the secretary and submitted for approval to the proper com- 
 mittee of the board before being issued. When approved, the 
 
 101 
 
original copy of the order is sent to the vendor, the duplicate 
 being retained by the secretary. 
 
 The procedure adopted of securing detailed estimates or re- 
 quisitions of supplies to be needed for each fiscal year is a good 
 one. These estimates appear to be prepared after a careful 
 study, and so may be used conveniently both in preparing the 
 budget and in purchasing in quantities hir<r<- enough to take mi- 
 vantage of lower prices. 
 
 For various reasons, but primarily because of the lack of a 
 suitable storehouse, it has become customary to purchase only 
 those exact quantities shown in the estimates. For example, if 
 871 books of a certain "kind were requested by the several princi- 
 pals, the purchase order placed would usually be for that exact 
 quantity. While it is true that most of the principals make an 
 allowance for emergencies and unforeseen conditions in pre- 
 paring their estimates, still it is also true that these estimates 
 sometimes fall short, with the result that supplemental requisi- 
 tions must be made. In such cases no difficulty is experienced 
 providing the books or supplies requisitioned if they should 
 happen to be available in the central store. However, this is 
 not always the case. Hence supplemental purchase orders must 
 be prepared. The present procedure, which requires official 
 sanction of the supply or of the building committee and of the 
 board as a whole before the order is placed, is not well adapted 
 adequately to meet such emergencies. In fact, it might easily 
 take from four to six weeks to secure supplies or books which 
 were wanted for immediate use. Such delays are not always 
 avoidable where the supplies or books requested are of an un- 
 usual nature, but they are unnecessary and in many instances 
 expensive when the supplies wanted are articles provided in 
 the standard classification. Examples have been cited where 
 the introduction of a regularly prescribed course of instruc- 
 tion has been postponed or greatly inconvenienced through de- 
 lay in obtaining additional text books or supplies. This seems 
 entirely unnecessary, especially in view of a ruling that a text 
 book once adopted shall not be discontinued or discarded for a 
 period of five years. Under such conditions it is false economy 
 to confine the purchase of standard articles to just the quantity 
 
 102 
 
specified in estimates made months prior to the beginning of the 
 school year. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that standard books and commod- 
 ities be purchased in sufficient quantities so that a reasonable 
 stock may be carried in the general store. While it is, of course, 
 inadvisable to tie up large sums in stores, still the quantity pur- 
 chased should be large enough to provide for a fair increase over 
 the quantity estimated. Any balances on hand at the end of a 
 year would be always available and should be considered in pre- 
 paring contracts for the subsequent year. 
 
 Although the secretary actually prepares all purchase orders, 
 he is not authorized to issue them until they have been favor- 
 ably acted upon by the respective committee of the board. This 
 ruling applies not only to the large so-called annual contracts, 
 but to the smallest purchase amounting to only a few cents. 
 iAs a matter of fact, this custom or rule is strictly observed, 
 except in eases of rare emergency when the secretary arbitrarily 
 assumes the right of issuing the order rather than incur the 
 extra expense or undergo the annoyance which a delay might 
 cause. 
 
 The two committees before which most of the prospective pur- 
 chases must be presented are the committee on text books and 
 supplies and the committee on buildings and grounds. They 
 meet only on call, usually about four times each fiscal year. It 
 can be seen therefore that, theoretically, the bulk of the board's 
 purchases must be made not in accordance with actual necessi- 
 ties, but more at the convenience of the board. It has been 
 stated that members of committees show a willingness to con- 
 vene whenever the necessity is explained, but nevertheless it is 
 only natural that the secretary and his employees should hesi- 
 tate about asking for special committee meetings. As the result 
 of such a procedure, it is evident that many requisitions must 
 be unduly held up. No person can anticipate with any fine 
 degree of accuracy the needs of any large department or organi- 
 zation for any long periods of time. 
 
 When the committee has approved a request, instructions may 
 either be issued at once to the secretary to purchase, or the mat- 
 ter may be referred for action to the board as a whole. This 
 
 103 
 
means an addition;)] delay. There is no uniformity as to the 
 procedure followed by the committee, the action in many in- 
 stances being very inconsistent. For example, a purchase 
 amounting to a hundred or more dollars may he acted upon 
 finally by the committee, while a small purchase of a few dol- 
 larse may be referred to the board as a whole. Again, the pur- 
 chase of miscellaneous janitors' supplies, the estimated cost of 
 which does not exceed $10. may be approved by any one mem- 
 ber of the board without action either by a committee or the 
 board. All approved requisitions are handed to th; secretary 
 who alone has the right to issue the official orders. When a 
 requisition is once signed by a member, the secretary must make 
 the purchase, in many cases of a specially named vendor, 
 even if he believes the purchase unnecessary or has other plans 
 under way for meeting the request. The board cannot hope to 
 operate the school district efficiently unless it employs subordi- 
 nates to whom may be delegated the responsibility of at least 
 the more unimportant purchases. Janitors' supplies amount- 
 ing to less than $10 can scarcely be considered an important 
 item. Moreover, the approval of one member of the board would 
 ordinarily have no more relation to the propriety of such action 
 than that of a responsible employee in the secretary's office. 
 
 Objections to the present method of requiring board approval 
 of all purchases may be summarized as follows : 
 
 It causes unnecessary delays. 
 
 Resulting delays may lead to additional expense. 
 
 There is no consistency in methods of approval or disapproval. 
 
 Board members are not always acquainted with facts. 
 
 Responsibility for efficient purchasing is not definitely lo- 
 cated. 
 
 Lack of responsibility leads to indifference. 
 
 Interference with plans is possible. 
 
 It wastes time of board needed for more important matters. 
 
 In view of these objections, which are not conteracted by any 
 important advantages, it is recommended that the approval by 
 members of the board of the ordinary purchases not covered 
 by annual contract or special conditions be entirely eliminated, 
 unless such action be desired by the purchasing agent himself. 
 
 104 
 
Standardization of Supplies and Specifications. 
 
 The supplies more commonly used by the school district 
 have been grouped according to the following main classes: 
 
 Text books. 
 
 Janitors' supplies. 
 
 General educational supplies. 
 
 The various items falling in these classes have been standard- 
 ized and a rule established that purchases and issues be limited 
 accordingly. The board is to be commended for this standard- 
 i/ation which appears to be unusually satisfactory to the con- 
 suming units and which ought to lead to economy. If the rec- 
 ommendations made in this report for the centralization of pur- 
 chasing functions be adopted, one of the main duties of the pur- 
 chasing offices should be a further study and careful selection of 
 standard commodities best adapted for the general use of the 
 school district, together with the revision and extension of ex- 
 isting standards in order that they may conform with the chang- 
 ing conditions of the district. 
 
 It, is evident that a large amount of time and study has also 
 been given to the preparation of descriptions of the standard 
 articles which are purchased under the so-called contracts. 
 While these descriptions cannot in the majority of cases be con- 
 sidered as complete specifications adequate for large purchasing 
 problems, still considering the lack of centralization of pur- 
 chasing functions and the comparatively small quantities pur- 
 cluised of many supplies the board is to be commended on the 
 steps which it has already taken to standardize commodities, 
 and to express these standards or brief specifications in terms 
 by which a general inspection as to quality may be made. Each 
 Mi-ticU' bought under the annual contracts is described in some 
 detail on the proposal sheets. These descriptions, although lim- 
 ited in many cases to a trade designation, to an "or equal" 
 clause, to a specific analysis, or to merely a special qualifica- 
 tion, such as "clear and soft," "clear for filtering," "good qual- 
 ity," etc., are in the majority of instances, if followed by a care- 
 ful inspection or test, adequate for the size of the purchasing 
 problem at hand. 
 
 105 
 
Indefinite specifications affect prices for the reason that ven- 
 dors by not knowing exactly what is wanted are apt to fix a 
 higher price in order to "feel safe." Some of the supplies used 
 by the school district are purchased in quantities large enough 
 to warrant the preparation and use of more complete specifica- 
 tions, and the enforcement of inspections and tests adequate to 
 insure that the deliveries actually conform with these specifica- 
 tions. Such specifications have already been adopted in many 
 of the larger cities and might be used to great advantage in Ilar- 
 risburg. 
 
 Requisitions and Estimates. 
 
 The board instead of using one standard requisition has 
 adopted three very large, cumbersome and expensive forms. A 
 different form is used in requisitioning each of the following 
 kinds of supplies, whether these supplies be in store or are to be 
 purchased : 
 
 Text books. 
 
 Janitors' supplies. 
 
 Educational supplies. 
 
 No general requisition form has been adopted for use in re- 
 quisitioning miscellaneous items not properly falling under one 
 of the above groups. One of the three forms would still be used 
 in such cases. 
 
 Each of these forms has lists of all of the standard articles or 
 supplies adopted by the board printed thereon. The main use 
 made of the forms is prior to the beginning of each fiscal year 
 when estimates of all of the supplies to be needed for the ensu- 
 ing year are listed on the respective requisitions. At that time 
 quantities of a large number of the articles in each list would be 
 needed. These lists or estimates are thus cumulated and pur- 
 chase orders placed. However, there are many occasions during 
 the year when only one item, which may or may not be included 
 in the lists of standard articles, would be required. In such 
 cases, one of the above-named forms would still be used either 
 by confining the request to the one specific article in the list or 
 by adding the unclassified item at the bottom of the form, 
 
 106 
 
There is no special blank requisition form which may be used 
 for miscellaneous articles, repairs, unusual services, etc. 
 
 The argument was advanced that the printed lists were de- 
 cided advantages in securing sufficient and accurate description 
 as to what was actually wanted, and also as limitations as to 
 what might be requisitioned without special authority. There 
 is no doubt whatever but that the lists of standard articles are 
 of great use, but there is no need why they should form a part 
 of each and every requisition. Instead, one list of standard com- 
 modities should be furnished each employe having authority to 
 requisition, and this should serve for the entire year. 
 
 Requisitions are prepared in duplicate, not by carbon process, 
 but by copying the information on a stub. This is an unneces- 
 sary duplication of work and should be prevented by the use of 
 carbon paper. 
 
 In the appendix to this report is described in more detail the 
 form of a standard requisition which it is believed to be well 
 adapted for the use of all branches of the school district. This 
 form is in blank, requiring a brief description of the articles 
 needed. 
 
 If it were possible to supply at the same time all or nearly all 
 of the articles asked for on the requisition, it might be possible to 
 extend the use of the requisition to that of a stores invoice. This 
 procedure is found in some municipalities, but is gradually being 
 superseded by a procedure calling for both a requisition and a 
 stores invoice. This is the method which it is believed should be 
 adopted by the Harrisburg school district and which is sub- 
 stantially as follows : 
 
 Requisitions should be prepared in duplicate by the teacher 
 or other employee desiring the supplies, materials, services, or 
 repairs. The original copy should be submitted to and approved 
 by the principal of the school or head of the department or di- 
 vision of the work before being sent to the secretary. If the 
 request be approved by the secretary, the requisition should then 
 be referred to the purchasing agent or storekeeper for action. 
 Requisitions should be numbered consecutively as issued, and 
 should provide a space for showing the number of the resulting 
 stores invoice, or if shipment be made direct instead of from 
 
 107 
 
stores for a brief reference to the purchase order, invoice or 
 other document. The original copy should be attached to the 
 respective stores invoice and filed in the office of the storekeeper. 
 
 Competitive Bidding. 
 
 When the annual estimates have been received by the sec- 
 retary, they are assembled and listed on separate schedules ac- 
 cording to the class of supplies. Each of these schedules, there- 
 fore, shows quantities of the items listed thereon which it nas 
 been estimated will be sufficient to meet the needs of the entire 
 school district for the ensuing fiscal year. Copies of schedules, 
 together with a circular letter requesting bids, are then sent 
 to all dealers in Harrisburg and to others in various cities who 
 are known to be interested in the sale of the items listed on the 
 schedule. The rules of the board also require that the proposed 
 purchases be advertised in two daily papers in the city of Har- 
 risburg once each week for three weeks prior to the date fixed 
 for receiving bids. 
 
 The extent to which competitive bidding is invited is well 
 illustrated by the following table, showing the approximate num- 
 ber of invitations which were sent out and number of bids which 
 were received in connection with the so-called annual contracts 
 for the last fiscal year: 
 
 Number of Number of 
 
 Supply Schedule. Dealers In- Bids Re- 
 
 vited. ceivecl. 
 
 Janitorial supplies, 80 22 
 
 Biological supplies, 8 5 
 
 Electrical supplies, 8 5 
 
 Supplies for chemical laboratories,.... 10 6 
 
 Supplies for physics laboratories, .... 15 9 
 
 Supplies for copper and brass rooms, . . 5 4 
 
 Supplies for w r ood room, 5 4 
 
 Supplies for mill room, 5 4 
 
 Lumber, 8 6 
 
 General educational supplies, 40 6 
 
 Drawing supplies, 12 10 
 
 Fuel, . ... 18 2 
 
 108 
 
Printing. 12 4 
 
 Repair work (special jobs) estimated,. 
 
 Average, 20 3 
 
 In this way competitive bidding has been extended as far as is 
 practicable. The board is to be complimented for its efforts to 
 interest dealers in the business of the school district, not only 
 by advertising the proposed purchases, but by sending proposal 
 blanks to all known to deal in the commodities to be purchased. 
 In the extent of inviting competitive bidding, the Harrisburg 
 school district is far in advance of the average school district or 
 municipality. 
 
 Proposals. 
 
 The proposal blank used is a mimeographed form on 
 which are listed in detail the estimated quantities to be needed 
 for the ensuing year of all commodities of the same gene)';)] na- 
 ture. Each commodity is described briefly in- accordance with 
 the specifications already described. In some instances it was 
 noted that separate proposal sheets had been prepared for the 
 same class of commodities which were to be delivered at two or 
 more points. This seems unnecessary and inadvisable, inas- 
 much as several different delivery points may conveniently !>e 
 shown on the one proposal sheet, and more especially since the 
 increased quantities resulting from such a consolidated pro- 
 posal should tend toward lower prices. In general however, 
 the method of preparing and submitting proposals is a good one. 
 
 ( 1 <>u tracts. 
 
 The board seldom enters into contracts in the purchase 
 of supplies. The so-called contracts which are used are nothing 
 more than an expression of willingness usually in writing 
 on the part of the vendor to furnish the articles listed on the 
 proposal at a stated price. Xeither the board nor the vendor- 
 agrees definitely to purchase or to sell. Hence, not even a con- 
 tingent liability results. When the lowest bidder lias been as- 
 certained, a notice to that effect is sent him. This notice is fol- 
 lowed by a purchase order. 
 
 109 
 
Formally executed contracts arc very advisable in many in- 
 stances. By agreeing to accept a definite quantity at a fixed 
 price, the vendor can plan accordingly. Instead of guessing 
 the quantity to be purchased and the market conditions, the ven- 
 dor can usually compute accurately and offer better prices. 
 
 Contracts are of little value it' the delivery is to be imme- 
 diate. In spite of the fact that the board has only very limited 
 storage rooms, it has been customary to purchase nearly every- 
 thing for immediate delivery. It is believed that in the making 
 of formally executed contracts for the purchase of more com- 
 monly used commodities, deliveries may be secured at the con- 
 venience of the board and much storage expense be eliminated. 
 However, the matter of entering into contracts should be left 
 to a large degree to the purchasing agent, who should know the 
 peculiarities of existing market conditions, storage situations, 
 and other conditions having a direct bearing on the advisability 
 of long term contracts, Annual contracts are largely used by 
 many municipalities in making purchases of over $500 where 
 the deliveries are to be made at various times throughout the 
 year, and they have been found to be profitable. It is therefore 
 recommended that the proposed purchasing agent be instructed 
 to consider the advisability of using them in the purchase of at, 
 least the more important commodities. All contracts should be 
 approved by the board. 
 
 Purchase Orders. 
 
 The board has adopted its own purchase order, which is, 
 in form, little more than a special sheet of correspondence paper. 
 It is hardly adequate and should be changed so as to provide 
 spaces and columns for the insertion of such information as is 
 needed on every purchase order. The style of form recom- 
 mended for use is described in the appendix to this report. 
 
 Purchase orders are prepared in duplicate, the original being 1 
 sent to the vendor and the duplicate copies being retained in 
 the secretary's files. At the present time purchase orders are 
 not registered, nor is any use made of the orders in posting the 
 amounts of the contingent liabilities resulting therefrom to the 
 respective appropriation accounts, even though in the majority 
 
 110 
 
of cases the estimated or actual amount of the order is unknown. 
 Under the proposed accounting system, however, it will be neces- 
 sary for an estimated or actual amount to be shown on at least 
 the duplicate copy of each order, and for these amounts TO be 
 both entered in a register of orders and posted to the respective 
 account in the appropriation ledger. The use of a register 
 of orders is described more fully in the appendix to this report. 
 From this register it will be possible at all times to learn the 
 total amount and details of contingent liabilities resulting from 
 unfilled orders, which amount will also act as a control over the 
 amount of such liabilities posted to the appropriation ledger. 
 
 Inspection of Supplies. 
 
 Inspection is a much more important function than most 
 Iniying officials are willing to grant. This is truer of public 
 activities than of private concerns. The best price in the world 
 is of little use if the goods delivered are not as ordered. Fur- 
 thermore, the word "inspection" means more than counting. 
 Inspection should be made by experienced men. The inadequacy 
 of the present method of inspecting repairs and certain supplies 
 delivered at school buildings has already been discussed in con- 
 nection with the payment of bills. The procedure recommended 
 in connection with the proposed invoice calls for certain certifi- 
 cates which, if truthfully signed, should practically assure thor- 
 ough inspections. 
 
 However, when responsibility for the purchase, custody and 
 issuance of supplies shall have been definitely fixed, the official 
 to whom such a responsibility has been delegated should be held 
 absolutely accountable for the proper inspection of all supplies 
 He in turn cannot make all inspections himself, so naturally 
 must delegate some inspection responsibility to other employees. 
 There is no use of establishing standards, of preparing specifica- 
 tions, or of naming definite quantities unless every reasonable 
 effort be made to see that the quantities and qualities shown on 
 the invoices are correct, not only with the official orders or speci- 
 fications, but as to actual delivery. The need for inspection of 
 deliveries is brought out in the case of recent deliveries of coal 
 at the Technical High School. Inspection of the bins at this 
 
 111 
 
plant showed that a large amount of coal, apparently No. 1 
 buckwheat mixed with very fine coal either river or screening 
 had been delivered. Examination of the bills showed that 
 the board had been billed for pea coal at the contract price for 
 pea coal. 
 
 The inspection of supplies should be one of the most import- 
 ant functions of an auditing division, but where the business of 
 the district or municipality is not large enough to warrant it. 
 the establishment of such a separate organization is not always 
 possible. In lieu of an independent inspection by an auditor, 
 this function should be delegated to the purchasing agent and 
 his subordinates, whose transactions may be supervised by the 
 secretary through an occasional test and "checking up." 
 
 Purchase of Coal. 
 
 Purchase of coal presents a problem of enough import- 
 ance to warrant special consideration. The coal bills of the 
 school board for the past three years have averaged $13,300. 
 representing annual purchase of about 3.000 gross tons at an 
 average cost of $4.43. 
 
 It is well known that the quality of coal of different kinds 
 varies greatly. Large consumers have therefore found it neces- 
 sary to devise special methods of securing coals of desired qual- 
 ity. Two methods of purchase have come into wide use in re- 
 cent times 
 
 1 Purchase by specifications in which standards for heat con- 
 tent, percentage of ash, and miscellaneous physical and 
 chemical properties are defined, and compensation based 
 upon the extent to which these standards are ap- 
 proached in the coal delivered. 
 
 2 Purchase direct from the mines, experience having shown 
 that certain coals from known localities best suit the 
 conditions of operation. 
 
 The former method is especially useful in the case 1 of anthra- 
 cite coals whose "steaming" properties are easy to define ir 
 terms of certain properties determinate by laboratory tests. 
 This method is commonly used by public agencies, which are 
 
 112 
 
 
usually required to make their purchases under open competi- 
 tion. 
 
 The latter method is now used largely by private concerns, 
 especially by consumers of bituminous coals. In a number of 
 cases it has replaced the so-called "B. T. U. method" which 
 came into popular use some years ago. 
 
 It is believed that the coal purchase problem of the Harris- 
 burg; school board can be solved best by a judicious combina- 
 tion of certain features of both systems without the extremes of 
 either. Purchase of coal by specifications is cumbersome and 
 expensive and economically justified therefore only where very 
 large amounts of coal are purchased and where the cost of the 
 machinery necessary to sample and test the coal can be reduced 
 to a very small percentage of the purchase amounts. Inquiry 
 was made into certain of the conditions in the Harrisburg coal 
 market and into facilities for having tests made by established 
 laboratories. It is not believed that the school board would be 
 warranted in making its coal purchases on "specifications," as 
 that term is commonly used. It is believed, however, that a cer- 
 tain minimum quality of coal can be assured in a simple man- 
 ner. 
 
 It has been found by experiment that the heating value of 
 anthracite coals can usually be determined roughly if the per- 
 centage of ash is known. Thus, (100 per cent. per cent, of 
 ash) X 149 rr the B. T. IT. per pound of coal within a few per 
 cent. The determination of ash in a sample is a relatively sim- 
 ple matter and can be done by a private laboratory at a rela- 
 tively small cost. 
 
 It is therefore suggested that the board insert a clause in its 
 fuel proposal giving it the right to reject, at the expense of the 
 contractor, or to accept with certain reductions in price any 
 coal in which the percentage of ash, as determined by laboratory 
 test (on the dry basis), exceeds the following limits: 
 
 Kind of Coal. Maximum Per Cent. Ash. 
 
 Broken, , 11 
 
 Egg, 14 
 
 Stove, 15 
 
 Pea, ]8 
 
 Buckwheat No. 1, 2 or 3, 21 
 
 113 
 C of C -8 
 
If the board should decide to accept coal of poorer quality 
 than that indicated in the above table, it is suggested that pre- 
 vious stipulation be made for a reduction in price of 2 per cent, 
 for each per cent, of ash in excess of the limiting value. 
 
 These measures may not be effective during present market 
 conditions, but when normal times have been restored they 
 should be quite effective. 
 
 It is recommended in another chapter of this report that the 
 board employ a competent superintendent of buildings. It is 
 believed that such an officer should be able, through careful su- 
 I XT vision of the unloading of the coal cars and by means of oc- 
 casional sieving and ash tests, to help the board greatly in the 
 solution of its fuel problem without much additional expenditure 
 for sampling arid testing. If in the judgment of the building 
 superintendent inferior coal is contained in a car load about to 
 be delivered, samples can be taken and a rough test of the qual- 
 ity made before deliveries have proceeded to a great extent. 
 
 I f rice Records. 
 
 At the present time no adequate price records are kept. 
 The accepted quotation sheets are preserved in the secretary's 
 office, but as these are numerous and are filed away according to 
 years and commodities they cannot be made to serve as con- 
 venient records either of prices or bidders. 
 
 In all well regulated purchasing departments it is customary 
 to have constantly available for reference purposes a convenient 
 card record of each commodity, showing general information re- 
 garding date of purchase, quantity purchased, name of vendor, 
 price and other pertinent information concerning market and de- 
 livery conditions, etc. Such a record is very valuable and should 
 be maintained by the man designated as purchasing agent. This 
 record might also be made to serve as a convenient record of 
 responsibile bidders. 
 
 Claimants ' Ledger. 
 
 In many city departments, and particularly in purchas- 
 ing offices, it has been found very convenient to maintain a so- 
 called claimants' ledger. Such a ledger, which is merely a 
 
 114 
 
chronological record of the transactions with each vendor, has 
 little or no real accounting value, but is frequently of great 
 value for general reference purposes. 
 
 No record of this nature is kept at the present time. How- 
 ever, from observations made during the survey, it is believed 
 that the advantages to be gained by such a ledger would war- 
 rant the small amount of work necessary for its maintenance. 
 
 Stores 
 
 (rcncral Description of the Stores Situation. 
 
 The secretary has delegated the functions of receiving, 
 storing and issuing supplies to the' same clerk who is acting as 
 purchasing agent. In this work the clerk has the part-time 
 assistance of one laborer. The stores which are under the direct 
 supervision of this clerk are of a varied nature, covering prac- 
 tically all of the standard articles used by the district. The 
 amount carried on hand varies greatly according to the season 
 of the year. This stock, which is scattered in various rooms 
 in at least two buildings, is designated as the " general stores" 
 and is the stock from which the small miscellaneous requisitions 
 received during the year are filled, so far as the stock on hand 
 permits. 
 
 Stocks of the ordinary educational supplies are also carried 
 at nearly all of the school buildings. These supplies are under 
 the custody of the principals. Within each school building other 
 substores of special supplies may be kept by the teachers of 
 various courses of instruction, such as drawing, music, etc. In 
 the two high schools there are several small stocks of special sup- 
 plies under the custody of as many special instructors. Over 
 these several storerooms and closets there is no centralized con- 
 trol. When once the supplies have been sent to the different 
 storage points usually in quantities sufficient to last for a year 
 they are recorded as expenditures and are in no way con- 
 trolled by the records in the secretary's office. Each employee 
 having to do with the receipt, custody and issuance of supplies 
 has adopted his own individual methods, there being absoluteely 
 no uniformity as to forms, records or procedures. Neither is 
 
 115 
 
the value of these supplies known or considered in any way as 
 an asset. 
 
 General Procedure in Issuing iS'/ 
 
 Requisitions are used. only for requesting text books, edu- 
 cational supplies and janitors' supplies and only when the sup- 
 plies are to be issued from the general stores. No special re- 
 quisition form is required for all other supplies or services, the 
 requests being expressed on a special ' * janitors ' supply ' ' form or 
 by telephone, by verbal communication or by means of special 
 memoranda. The requisitions for text books and the educational 
 supplies must be signed by the principal and be approved by 
 the supervisor before they will be considered by the secretary. 
 No special approval is needed for other requisitions. 
 
 When requisitions are received at the secretary's office, they 
 are turned over to the purchasing clerk. If the supplies re- 
 quested are in stock, deliveries are made at once. Deliveries 
 of text books and educational supplies are covered by a special 
 form called "receipt to the secretary. " This form, which acts in 
 the nature of a stores invoice, is prepared in the office of the 
 secretary. It is made in triplicate, not by carbon process, but 
 by copying the data on three identical forms connected by per- 
 forations, Two of these copies accompany the delivery, One 
 signed copy is returned to the secretary, where it is used solely 
 for posting to the supply ledgers or sheets kept with each school. 
 On each of these forms is printed the entire standard list of 
 books and supplies. The use oi: these forms, which are unneces- 
 sarily expensive, requires an unwarranted amount of dupli- 
 cated work. They should be discontinued and superseded by a 
 small simple stores invoice form which would cover the issu- 
 ance of all kinds of supplies. Such a form is described in the 
 appendix. 
 
 In the issuance or purchase of text books and educational sup- 
 plies, still another expensive form and much unnecessary dupli- 
 cation of work might easily be eliminated. The form referred 
 to, which is almost an exact copy of the regular requisition for 
 these classes of supplies, is used solely by teachers in informing 
 the principles of their needs. This form is prepared in dnpli- 
 
 116 
 
cate likewise by stub one copy of which is sent to the prin- 
 cipal, who accumulates the quantities shown on the several 
 teachers' requisitions and prepares one consolidated requisition 
 sent to the secretary. The extent to which this duplication of 
 work is carried is well illustrated as follows : If a teacher 
 should need rulers, the request would be expressed on two cop- 
 ies of a form, one copy of which w r ould be sent to the principal 
 of the building. The principal in turn would copy this request 
 twice on another form, one copy of which would be sent to the 
 secretary. When delivery is made, the secretary must bill or 
 invoice these rulers on three copies of another form, each copy 
 of which is prepared separately. In the preparation of these 
 nine copies, no use is made of the carbon process. 
 
 Although the greater portion of educational supplies and text 
 books needed by each school is covered by the one general re- 
 quisition received prior to the beginning of the school year, 
 still shortages and changes in local conditions frequently neces- 
 sitate many other supplementary requisitions, which at the pres- 
 ent time are sent to the secretary at various times throughout 
 a year or month. This lack of a definite date on which action 
 may be taken on a large number of similar transactions greatly 
 increases the work of the secretary and his assistants. A defi- 
 nite date should be fixed in each month on which all requisi- 
 tions for the ordinary supplies should be submitted. This 
 should apply equally to janitorial supplies and all of the educa- 
 tional supplies and text books, the need for which is not an ac- 
 tual emergency. In case of real emergencies, requisitions should 
 be permissible at any time. Care should be taken to see that the 
 emergency clause, which is frequently used as a guise to cover 
 inexcusable and unnecessary requisitions, is not abused. By 
 thus establishing such a definite date each month, it should be 
 possible to arrange for a fixed delivery route. 
 
 Stores Invoice. 
 
 Aside from the cumbersome and expensive form called 
 "receipt to the secretary" already described and the discontin- 
 uance of which is recommended, the board has no standard 
 stores invoice from such as would be necesary if stores are to be 
 controlled and proper expense accounts maintained. The sug- 
 
 117 
 
gested form of stores invoice, together with its procedure, are 
 discussed in the appendix. 
 
 Stores Control. 
 
 By stores control is meant the location of responsibility 
 for stores on hand and a current distribution of the value 
 of the stores issued. Issues either convert stores into expenses 
 or indicate transfers of responsibility. A record of both of the 
 transactions is necessary. 
 
 The absence of real central responsibility for the custody of 
 stores, the failure to support many issues by an adequate receipt, 
 the almost entire lack of stores records, etc., all contribute to the 
 present lack of stores control. This condition has not been par- 
 ticularly evident in the past owing to the fact that the board 
 has not been in receipt currently of adequate financial informa- 
 tion. However, it should be remembered that without such an 
 accounting control of stores it never will be possible for the 
 board to know either the amount of its assets and liabilities or 
 the true monthly operating costs of the various branches of its 
 educational activities. 
 
 At present all purchases are considered solely as expendi- 
 tures, the total amount of which is the only guide or indication 
 of the operating expenses. Hence, if monthly statements \vere 
 prepared, the amount of the monthly expenditures would have 
 to be considered also as the monthly expenses. The bulk of the 
 purchases are made during two or three months of the year. 
 Monthly statements prepared under the present system therefore 
 would show expenses for these two or three months entirely out 
 of proportion with the balance of the year. They would be in- 
 correct and valueless for comparative or administrative pur- 
 poses. The need for correcting this system is obvious. 
 
 Still another bad feature of the present lack of control is the 
 possibility of actual loss. This possibility exists because em- 
 ployees, pupils or others may withdraw various articles either 
 from the general stores or from the substores in the school 
 buildings without first having received special authority to sup- 
 port such action. As no stores records are kept, it would be 
 practically impossible to locate the responsibility for any un- 
 usual losses or discrepancies which might develop. 
 
 118 
 
The establishment of an adequate stores control is not as 
 difficult as might be imagined. The first step is necessarily a 
 detailed inventory, the total value of which should be recorded 
 in a controlling account in the general ledger called "stores." 
 If desired because of substores maintained at the various school 
 buildings subsidiary controlling accounts may be set up. These 
 accounts should be debited each month with the total value of 
 items received into the stores. The amount of new purchases 
 could be ascertained from a special "stores" column in the reg- 
 ister of accounts payable. Returns to stores or transfers from 
 one point to another should be covered by special documents, 
 these transactions being journalized at the end of each month. 
 The credits to the controlling stores account should be secured 
 from the monthly totals of the register of stores invoices and 
 from the transfer documents. Separate registers should be pro- 
 vided for each storehouse, but in the case of the small sub- 
 stores maintained at the schools these registers need not be more 
 than a simple record of the issues. The balance of any controll- 
 ing stores account should therefore represent at all times the ac- 
 tual value of the stores on hand. The form of both the stores in- 
 voice and register is described in the appendix to this report. 
 
 Stores Records. 
 
 Aside from a special record of supplies of a certain kind 
 maintained by the principal, records to show the quantity and 
 nature of stores are almost entirely lacking. Only by making 
 physical inventories could the amount of stores be ascertained. 
 If anything verging on a real stores control is to be maintained, 
 it will be necessary for certain controlling and detailed records 
 to be kept. The controlling records should be the account in the 
 general ledger called "stores" and any subsidiary accounts 
 which would be maintained for the substores, such as those at the 
 two high schools. Wherever a stores problem is presented, de- 
 tailed stock ledgers should be maintained, a separate card or 
 sheet being prepared for each commodity carried in stock. These 
 ledger accounts should be opened with the inventory, and should 
 be currently debited with all receipts. The credit postings 
 would be made from the stores invoices. 
 
 119 
 
Need for Better Storage Facilities. 
 
 One of the principal reasons for the present unsatisfac- 
 tory stores situation is the lack of an adequate general store- 
 house. The four supply rooms which are now used are entirely 
 unsatisfactory. They are too small, not adapted for the hand- 
 ling and storing of supplies and too scattered. 
 
 Careful consideration has been given to several possibilities 
 for improving the present situation. The one which is believed 
 to be the best solution of the storehouse problem also provides 
 for the great need of more space for the administrative office. 
 
 The following elements are embodied in this plan: 
 
 1 The removal of the two model classes which now occupy 
 the class-rooms on the first floor of the rear Stevens 
 Building. 
 
 For the present these may be moved upstairs; ulti- 
 mately provision for model schools could be made in 
 connection with the new building program. 
 
 2 The conversion of the entire first floor of the rear Stevens 
 Building into a storeroom. 
 
 3 The removal of two and possibly all of the classes on the 
 second floor to neighboring buildings where room is 
 known to exist. 
 
 4 The removal of the Teachers' Training School to another 
 building as soon as room can be provided by the new 
 building program. 
 
 5 The removal of the office of the superintendent of schools 
 to the room now used by the Training School. 
 
 This scheme would provide fairly good storage facilities close 
 to the central office and at a minimum cost. It would also pro- 
 vide the room in the administrative office which will be neces- 
 sary to accommodate the additions to the staff recommended in 
 this report. 
 
 The remodelling of the storeroom could be done during the 
 coming summer. The removal of the Training School to an- 
 other building could probably not be effected before the com- 
 pletion of one of the proposed new buildings. 
 
 120 
 
IV 
 FINANCES AND ACCOUNTS 
 
 Organization 
 
 Present Organization, 
 
 The following excerpts from the school law show in a 
 general way the foundation upon which the accounting system 
 of the Harrisburg school district has been developed : 
 
 Section 314 ". . . . He (the secretary) shall keep a correct 
 and proper record of all the proceedings of the board, and 
 shall prepare such reports and keep such accounts as are 
 required by the provisions of this act . . . . " 
 
 Section 317. " . . . . He (the secretary) shall furnish, when- 
 ever requested, any and all reports concerning the school 
 affairs of the district, on such forms and in such manner 
 as the state board of education or the superintendent of 
 public instruction may require." 
 
 Section 319. "He (the secretary) shall be the custodian of 
 
 all the records, papers, office property of the 
 
 school district . . . . " 
 
 Section 320. "He (the secretary) shall keep correct accounts 
 with each receiver of taxes, school treasurer, or school tax 
 collector of the district, reporting a statement of the fi- 
 nances of the district at each regular meeting of the board, 
 which statement shall be entered in full upon the minutes. ' ' 
 
 Section 323. "He (the secretary) shall perform such other 
 duties pertaining to the business of the district as are re- 
 quired by this act or as the board of school directors may 
 direct." 
 
 Section 321. "The treasurer of each school district shall re- 
 ceive all state appropriations, district school tax and other 
 funds belonging to the school district, and pay out the same 
 
 121 
 
on proper orders approved by the board of school diivr- 
 tors, signed by the president " 
 
 Section 325. "The treasurer shall .... at the end of each 
 month make a report to ..... the secretary of the board 
 of school directors of the amount of funds received and 
 dispersed by him during the month." 
 
 Section 328. "The school treasurer shall perform such other 
 acts and duties pertaining to the district as the board of 
 school directors may direct, or as may be required by him 
 by law " 
 
 It is very evident from the above provisions that the law in- 
 tends the secretary to be the accounting officer of the school 
 district. It is likewise clear that the collection, custody and 
 disbursement of funds are vested in the school treasurer. 
 
 The board of directors, acting in accordance with a right ex- 
 pressed in section 404 of the school law, has also delegated to 
 the secretary many other duties pertinent to the management 
 of school affairs. This section of the law is as follows: 
 
 "The board of school directors in every school district 
 in this Commonwealth may adopt and enforce such reason- 
 able rules and regulations as it may deem necessary and 
 proper, regarding the management of its school affairs and 
 the conduct and deportment of all superintendents, teach- 
 ers and other appointees or employees during the time 
 they are engaged in their duties in the district " 
 
 In delegating duties under the provisions of this rule, the 
 board seems to have arbitrarily assigned most of them to the 
 secretary, apparently without first having studied the individual 
 problems, with the view of ascertaining the amount of work 
 involved, or the proper allocation. Hence, the secretary now 
 acts as purchasing agent, storekeeper and paymaster, compiles 
 miscellaneous educational statistics, arranges for the printing 
 and sale of bonds, keeps the bond and other financial records, 
 directs the treasurer in investment matters, exercises a certain 
 amount of supervision over the repair work, and performs 
 
 122 
 
many other duties, besides acting as the accounting officer of the 
 board. In the performance of this work the secretary has the 
 assistance of one full-time clerk, and the part-time assistance of 
 one stenographer and one clerk. Each one of these employees 
 has more or less to do with the board's accounts. 
 
 The school treasurer, who is also the collector of school taxes 
 and city treasurer, maintains a separate organization, employ- 
 ing several clerks. The treasurer is paid two salaries for his 
 two ex officio positions, and is allowed to select and pay his 
 own employees. Aside from the collection of school taxes, only 
 a small portion of the time of one 'clerk is spent on educational 
 work. 
 
 The accounting system which has been developed under the 
 present organization is lacking in so many of the essentials of 
 modern accounting that it can scarcely be called a ''system." 
 This situation can hardly be attributed to the secretary's office, 
 which is no larger than when the Harrisburg school district was 
 only one-half of its present size. Even if the employees of this 
 office were practical accountants and clothed with the authority 
 necessary to prescribe and enforce modern accounting proce- 
 dures, they would not under the present organization be able 
 to carry out the principles of such a system unless a correspond- 
 ing decrease of other duties was arranged, or a more equitable 
 allocation of functions brought about. Neither can the treas- 
 urer be blamed for the present situation. He is merely follow- 
 ing the procedure adopted by his predecessors. The fault lies 
 with the board for its failure to demand complete financial in- 
 formation, which could be obtained only by means of a com- 
 plete accounting system, and for not arranging for an organi- 
 zation capable of maintaining such a system. 
 
 In subsequent paragraphs, it will be shown that at present 
 many of the most important records to be found in modern 
 bookkeeping from a general ledger to detailed expense ledg- 
 ers are missing. It will also be shown that in lacking many 
 principles of modern accounting, the present system fails to 
 provide currently much of the information and many of the 
 controls which are absolutely essential to the efficient adminis- 
 tration of the school district. 
 
 123 
 
Proposed Reorganization. 
 
 It is believed that one of the greatest needs of the school 
 district is an entirely new system of accounts, the principles of 
 which are outlined in the appendix to this report. It is like- 
 wise believed that such a system should be in charge of a prac- 
 tical accountant, one who fully understands the principles of 
 double entry, fund and proprietary accounting. The creation 
 of such a position is therefore recommended. This accountant, 
 who should be subordinate to the secretary, should be granted 
 full authority to prescribe and enforce the use of forms and 
 procedures necessary for the success of the system, and in turn 
 should be held responsible for the preparation of periodical bal- 
 ance sheets and other financial statements, and for the main- 
 tenance of all records necessary to produce this information. 
 While the accountant should be unhampered by work not di- 
 rectly allied to accounting, it is believed that if a new system 
 is installed, he would have time materially to assist on other 
 general clerical work which might be assigned to him by the sec- 
 retary. 
 
 It is also believed that by making the following changes in con- 
 nection with the office of treasurer, the creation of the position 
 of accountant need not necessarily mean an additional expense 
 to the school district. 
 
 The school treasurer is paid an annual salary of $1,300. As 
 has already been stated the work actually performed in connec- 
 tion with this office consumes only a small portion of the time 
 of one clerk. While some of this work would be eliminated by 
 the proposed new system, other duties requiring even more time 
 would be delegated to the treasurer. The consolidation of all of 
 the work directly connected with receipt, custody and collection 
 of cash (other than the collection of the taxes which should re- 
 main with the collector of city taxes) should require only a rela- 
 tively small portion of the time of one clerk. In some munici- 
 palities it has been found economical and equally satisfactory 
 to have a local bank act as treasurer. In these cities banks have 
 been willing to act in this capacity without additional compen- 
 sation. It is possible that such an arrangement might be made 
 in Harrisburg. If so, the salary now paid to the school treasurer 
 
 124 
 
would be available to apply toward the proposed position of ac- 
 countant. But whether or not the board is able to secure a bank 
 to act as treasurer, the position of accountant should be created. 
 The organization which would result from the application of 
 the above recommendations would be practically as follows: 
 
 Secretary's office 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Accountant. 
 
 Purchasing agent or storekeeper. 
 -Stenographer (part time). 
 Board 1 Tax collector's office 
 
 Collector of school taxes. 
 
 Clerks. 
 Treasurer's office 
 
 Bank as treasurer (without compensation). 
 
 Present and Proposed Accounting Systems 
 
 Description of General Books of Account. 
 
 The general books of acount of the district are practi- 
 cally limited to an appropriation ledger maintained by the secre- 
 tary, another appropriation ledger and journal maintained by 
 the treasurer, and a bond ledger kept by the secretary. 
 
 The two appropriation ledgers are practically identical. They 
 carry the same appropriation accounts, to which postings are 
 made from the same documents, namely, the approved budget 
 and schedules of warrants. The treasurer's ledger is used in 
 preparing the monthly statement of appropriation, the secre- 
 tary's being used solely in verifying the treasurer's report. 
 There is absolutely no need of this duplication of work. The 
 treasurer's records should be confined to those having to do with 
 the collection, custody, and disbursement of cash. Appropria- 
 tion ledgers are not necessarily cash records; it is recommended 
 therefore that the treasurer's appropriation ledger be discon- 
 tinued. 
 
 The journal maintained by the treasurer is in the nature of a 
 day book, in which financial transactions, regardless of the funds 
 
 125 
 
affected or the nature of the transaction, are recorded chrono- 
 logically. It is an inadequate record. 
 
 The bond ledger is large and cumbersome and should be su- 
 perseded by a more convenient record to be kept by the treasurer. 
 
 While it is possible by completing certain entries, by accumu- 
 lating the data shown on various scattered documents, or by 
 making special inquiries, to furnish other financial data, still the 
 general records fail to show currently and compactly any infor- 
 mation other than the expenditures and unexpended balances of 
 appropriations and amounts of cash on hand. The accounts by 
 Avhich the cash balances are ascertained are so incomplete and so 
 foreign to approved methods, that the}' would scarcely be under- 
 stood by one unfamiliar with the system. Hence, it may be 
 stated that the permanent records of the district are practically 
 limited to appropriation accounts. Such accounts are necessary 
 and should be kept in detail, but it is a physical impossibility for 
 one duplicated set of appropriation ledgers to serve as an ac- 
 counting system which will furnish the necessary information to 
 assist the board or its executives in properly directing the activ- 
 ities of any department or division. 
 
 These general books are maintained in the single entry system, 
 a system seldom found in progressive municipalities. Contrary 
 to the old belief, a single entry system is much more confusing 
 and difficult to understand and more cumbersome and laborious 
 in the end than the approved double entry method. It would be 
 very uncommon to find a progressive, successful, commercial en- 
 terprise, even one much smaller in scope of work than the Har- 
 risburg school district, which was still clinging to single entry 
 bookkeeping methods. 
 
 Funds. 
 
 The few accounting records which are kept do not make 
 adequate distinction between the different funds at the disposal 
 of the school district, namely, 
 
 General operation fund. 
 Construction funds. 
 Sinking funds. 
 Teachers' retirement fund. 
 126 
 
 
The financial statements rendered to the board, based on the 
 existing records, are very confusing, the transaction of the gen- 
 eral, construction and sinking funds being included in the same 
 statement and report. For example, the treasurer's report for 
 the month of January includes in one statement expenditures 
 chargeable to operating, construction and sinking funds. Again, 
 the "statement of assets and liabilities" prepared by the audi- 
 tors and included in the annual report for 1916, makes no fund 
 distinction. It becomes difficult, therefore, to arrive at a clear 
 understanding of the condition of the various funds. 
 
 Investigation of the treasurer's records and procedure fol- 
 lowed in connection therewith shows that all of the cash belong- 
 ing to the general operating fund and that raised from the sale 
 of bonds for specific construction purposes is included in the 
 one general bank account. In the same account are also in- 
 cluded certain sinking fund moneys which are being held for 
 the redemption of bonds which are due and payable. The cash 
 account, being composed of so many different funds is very mis- 
 leading. 
 
 The proposed system provides that separate accounts, docu- 
 ments and statements be maintained and prepared for each fund. 
 The advisability of such a method is evident when it is recalled 
 that each fund has been raised for a separate and distinct pur- 
 pose and expenditures chargeable to it should be limited and 
 accounted for accordingly. There is no reason why these trans- 
 actions should be consolidated, and every reason why they should 
 1><- maintained separately. 
 
 The present fund accounts fail to take into consideration the 
 contingent liability which always results from the issuance of a 
 purchase order. Whenever separate appropriation accounts are 
 established by the budget or by the sale of bonds, it is essential 
 that an accurate record be kept of all encumbrances against each 
 authorization to spend. Accounts which reflect unexpended bal- 
 ances are useful as guides to limit payments while accounts which 
 reflect unencumbered balances are useful as guides to limit the 
 incurrence of liabilities and hence are even more important. 
 The proposed system calls for the posting of the amounts of all 
 purchase orders as well as approved invoices, to the appropria- 
 
 127 
 
tion and fund accounts chargeable, thereby enabling both the 
 unexpended and unencumbered balances of all accounts to be a 
 matter of current information, 
 
 Revenue and Expense Basis versus Receipts and Payments. 
 
 The accounts of the board are now on a receipt and pay- 
 ment basis. For example, the purchase of a large number of text 
 books to be used during a period of years would lie included in 
 the operating cost of the department for the year or month in 
 which they were purchased. Similarly, any monthly cost state- 
 ments prepared under the present system, must include in the 
 operating costs of the month large amounts for more or less 
 permanent property. The same procedure would be followed in 
 the purchase of the year's supply of various kinds of supplies 
 kept in the storeroom, in the acquisition of furniture, and of 
 various other kinds of equipment. 
 
 Nearly every successful business man insists upon monthly 
 statements, showing, in comparative form, the costs of actully 
 operating each branch of his business. Operating costs, in order 
 to be of any value, must be confined to expenses and must include 
 all expenses, but they must exclude any and all permanent prop- 
 erty and equipment and also supplies or material purchased in 
 quantities to be carried in store until used. Similarly revenues 
 should be recorded as of the time they accrue and become re- 
 ceivable instead of only at the time they are received. Thus 
 operating statements should set forth the amount of revenues ac- 
 crued and expenses incurred instead of merely receipts and 
 payments. 
 
 Expense Records. . 
 
 The board is practically without true expense ledgers 
 from which the cost of its various activities could be ascertained. 
 Each annual report contains statements of expenditures, but the 
 titles under which they are reported correspond exactly with the 
 budget appropriations, so that they show no more than the 
 amount of expenditures chargeable to the various appropriations. 
 An analysis made of the expenditures so reported shows that even 
 these statements are misleading and inadequate for administra- 
 
 128 
 
tive purposes. Instead of currently furnishing information as to 
 the nature and amounts of expenses incurred, the statements are 
 available only at the end of the fiscal year when it is too late to 
 prevent abuses or unnecessary expense, and even then they 
 would be practically unintelligible unless supplemented by much 
 detailed information as to what items were included under the 
 different headings. Aside from special information with respect 
 to fuel or partial repairs, these records also fail to show the costs 
 of the different schools. Under the present system, it would be 
 absolutely impossible to secure even approximate school costs 
 without making detailed analysis of bills and payrolls. This is 
 not done. 
 
 Even the statements purporting to show the costs of repairs, 
 and actually headed " report on building repairs" are merely 
 distributions of the expenditures chargeable to the appropriation 
 account "buildings and furniture," which include many items 
 absolutely foreign to repairs, such as gas, insurance, furniture, 
 telephone, etc. The actual cost of repairs is therefore not 
 known. Neither can the records show, except upon an analysis 
 of the paid bills, the total costs of important items of expense, 
 such as insurance or fuel, or even personal service. In fact, it 
 would be difficult to find a system of accounts which so com- 
 pletely fails to provide expense information. 
 
 The need of expense ledgers is strongly emphasized in the 
 preparation and submission of the annual reports required by 
 the state and federal educational authorities. These reports 
 must show the expense of the district, segregated according to 
 specific accounts. In the preparation of the statements the sec- 
 retary has no cumulation records upon which to work. Instead, 
 he must make a detailed analysis of all bills which have been 
 paid. This is done at the end of the year by means of large 
 sheets on which the amount of each paid bill is distributed ac- 
 cording to the titles called for in the reports. Such work nat- 
 urally requires a large amount of time. If the information so 
 secured is of value to the state and federal authorities it should 
 be infinitely more valuable to the local board, especially if it 
 were available currently. 
 
 129 
 
 C of C 9 
 
An expense ledger which it is believed should be adopted by 
 the board is briefly described in the appendix to this report. If 
 the procedure outlined in connection with this ledger is care- 
 fully observed, it will be possible to secure, not merely at the 
 end of the year, but within a few days after the end of each 
 calendar month, the operating cost of each organization unit. 
 Moreover, it will be possible for each school or other organization 
 unit costs to be further segregated according to whatever ex- 
 pense items the board may desire, such as repairs, printing, per- 
 sonal services, supplies, fuel, etc. Any expense classification 
 which is established should conform, so far as may be consist- 
 ent, with the state and federal classification, and should be ad- 
 hered to from year to year in order to be of the greatest value 
 for comparative purposes. The maintenance of such expense re- 
 cords would naturally require some additional clerical work, but 
 the results obtained would certainly justify it. 
 
 Assets and Liabilities. 
 
 One of the aims of every well regulated accounting system 
 is to maintain records which will show at all times, and accord- 
 ing to funds, what is owned and what is owed, this information 
 to be summarized in a general ledger. As has already been stated, 
 no such ledger is provided for in the present system. Only by 
 analyzing or segregating the information scattered in various 
 places and shown on miscellaneous records and documents would 
 it be possible to ascertain the assets and liabilities of the school 
 district. The following sample balance sheet is presented for 
 the purpose of showing specifically the kind of information 
 which the present records fail to show, but which under the pro- 
 posed system would be available whenever desired. 
 
 Following the balance sheet the character of the various items 
 therein are discussed. 
 
 130 
 
Balance Sheet 
 
 Current Assets. 
 
 Cash 
 In bank. 
 In hand. 
 
 Amounts due the school dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Revenues receivable. 
 Accounts receivable. 
 
 Stores. 
 Advances. 
 
 Capital Assets. 
 
 Cash in reserve in general 
 treasury. 
 
 Work in progress. 
 
 Lands. 
 
 Structures and 
 provements. 
 
 Equipment. 
 
 other im- 
 
 Current Liabilities and Re- 
 serves. 
 
 Immediate demands for cash. 
 
 Accounts payable. 
 
 Bank overdrafts. 
 
 Interest on funded debt 
 
 due and payable. 
 Cash reserves. 
 
 Capital funds. 
 
 Sinking funds. 
 
 Special and trust funds. 
 Loans to be repaid from cur- 
 rent revenues. 
 Reserves against assets other 
 
 than cash. 
 
 For uncollectible taxes. 
 
 For rebate on taxes. 
 
 For interest on funded debt 
 accrued not due. 
 
 For unaccrued taxes. 
 Current surplus. 
 
 Capital Liabilities and Reserves. 
 
 Loans to be repaid from sale 
 
 of bonds. 
 Bonded debt. 
 
 Bonds issued. 
 Less bonds unsold. 
 
 Bonds outstanding. 
 
 Less sinking fund reserves. 
 Net bonded indebtedness. 
 Due to other accounts. 
 Reserves. 
 
 For depreciation of capital 
 
 assets. 
 Capital surplus. 
 
 131 
 
Sinking Fund Assets. Sinking Fund Liabilities and Re- 
 
 Gash in reserve in general serves. 
 
 treasury. Due to other accounts. 
 
 Amounts due the school dis- 
 trict. Reserves to retire bonds when 
 Investments. due. 
 
 Special and Trust Fund Assets. Special and Trust Fund Liabili- 
 
 Cash in reserve in general 
 
 treasury. Due to other accounts. 
 
 Amounts due the school dis- Reserves for special and trust 
 
 trict. , funds. 
 
 Cash: 
 
 One of the most serious defects in the accounting system 
 is its failure to control or even fully to reflect the cash transac- 
 tions of the district. Without a certain amount of analysis it is 
 impossible to ascertain from the books of account the following 
 information. 
 
 Amount of cash on deposit with each bank. 
 
 Amount of cash in each sinking fund. 
 
 Amount of cash undeposited. 
 
 Amount of cash receipts. 
 
 Amount of cash disbursements. 
 
 The failure to establish ledger accounts with each bank, fund, 
 or official charged with the handling of cash, makes it necessary 
 in order to obtain facts regarding cash both to scan through 
 various records and to segregate the entries recorded therein. 
 The secretary cannot tell how much cash should be in the hands 
 of the treasurer unless the treasurer himself furnishes certain 
 information. The treasurer, in turn, in order to ascertain the 
 amount of cash on deposit with any one bank, must refer to the 
 bank pass book or else analyze and cumulate entries shown in 
 the journal. Both the secretary and treasurer, in order to know 
 the amount of the disbursements for any month, must total the 
 several schedules of warrants which have been prepared for pay- 
 
 132 
 
meiit. Many similar evidences are to be found of lack of ready 
 information concerning cash. 
 
 One of the first steps to be taken by the board in perfecting 
 its accounting: system should be the establishment of cash con- 
 trolling' accounts. These could be established by first ascertain- 
 ing- just how much cash is actually held by the board and then 
 setting up these amounts, by funds, in the general ledger. These 
 accounts should be debited with receipts and credited with dis- 
 bursements, both transactions being controlled through independ- 
 ent reports and procedures. The balance of each cash account 
 would therefore show the amount which should actually be on 
 hand or in bank and would serve as a check over all employees 
 charged with the custody of cash. 
 
 Amounts Duf the School District: 
 
 The amounts due the school district consist principally of 
 taxes receivable. There are, however, a few small miscellaneous 
 accounts receivable, such as result from unpaid tuition, miscel- 
 laneous sales, etc. However small these amounts may be, they are 
 assets and should be both a matter of record and of control. 
 The methods to be used in accounting for these amounts are 
 fully discussed under the heading "revenues and revenue ac- 
 counting. ' ' 
 
 Stores: 
 
 In another section of this report the lack of stores control 
 is discussed at length. This defect is of great importance from 
 an accounting standpoint, inasmuch as no complete financial re- 
 cords may be maintained or comprehensive statements prepared 
 until a current record is maintained of stores received, issued 
 and carried in stock. The "stores" account in the general led- 
 ger should be debited, first, with the present value of stores on 
 hand as ascertained from a physical inventory, and,, second, with 
 purchases of all equipment and supplies to be carried in stores. 
 The credits to the account would be the monthly value of stores 
 issued, as shown in the register of stores invoices. The balance 
 of the account would therefore show, at all times, the value of 
 assets which are in the nature of stores. 
 
 133 
 
Advances: 
 
 By an "advance" is meant cash which may be loaned or 
 advanced to employees, vendors or to other funds. It always 
 represents an asset of one fund and may appear as a liability of 
 the other fund to which the advance was mad* 1 . 
 
 Work in Progress: 
 
 At certain times the board may have assets in the nature 
 of buildings, equipment, etc., which are in process of construc- 
 tion. In their incomplete state they cannot always be conven- 
 iently classified as structures, equipment, etc. ; hence a general 
 ledger account should be provided, to which may be currently 
 charged expenditures for uncompleted work which, however, in- 
 creases the permanent assets. Until such time as the improve- 
 ment shall have been completed and the account cleared by a 
 transfer to the permanent property account, work in progress 
 would represent an unclassified asset. 
 
 Lands .-Structures and Other Improvements: 
 
 It was roughly estimated that the value of lands and 
 school buildings owned by the Harrisburg School District is 
 $1,550,000. There is nothing, however, in any of the present 
 records to support this estimate, it being stated that no real ap- 
 praisals had ever been taken, in spite of the fact that such valua- 
 tions must be shown in the annual reports furnished to the 
 state and federal educational authorities. Few business houses 
 or corporations would admit that such statistics were not avail- 
 able. In fact, it is very improbable that they would be success- 
 fully operated if their permanent assets were not a matter of 
 record. It is therefore recommended that the board authorize a 
 complete appraisal of all its lands and buildings. When made, 
 such values should be classified and recorded in the general led- 
 ger under accounts called "lands" and "structures and other 
 improvements," respectively. The details thereof should be re- 
 corded in subsidiary property ledgers. Subsequent debits would 
 consist of new acquisitions and the credits would be for losses, 
 condemnations, sales, transfers, depreciation, etc. 
 
 134 
 
Equipment: 
 
 Under the heading "equipment" should be included fur- 
 niture, books, apparatus and all similar property which form an 
 important asset of the board. According to the annual report of 
 1916, the estimated amount of such assets was $135,000.00. As 
 in the case of lands and buildings, this sum is only a guess, no 
 inventory or valuation having been made. Control over this 
 equipment, which is scattered throughout several school build- 
 ings and offices and used by thousands of pupils, teachers, jani- 
 tors and others, is almost entirely lacking. Losses and destruc- 
 tion may or may not be unavoidable ; transfers from one point 
 to another may or may not be authorized; much equipment 
 claimed to be unfit for further service may or may not be worth- 
 less, yet neither the board, the secretary nor any other employee 
 has any way of knowing that all of such transactions are being 
 currently brought to their attention. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that a complete inventory be 
 taken of all equipment belonging to the district. In such an in- 
 ventory equipment should be valued in detail and the total 
 amount posted to the debit of a controlling account in the gen- 
 eral ledger called "equipment." This account should be sup- 
 ported by detailed subsidiary ledgers in which the location and 
 personal responsibility for each piece of equipment would be 
 fixed. For example, certain sections of the ledger would list all 
 equipment charged to the principal of the Lochiel School build- 
 ing to the office of the superintendent, etc. If advisable, further 
 card records might be kept to show the total quantities and lo- 
 cation of each piece of the different kinds of equipment. New 
 acquisitions would be currently debited both to the controlling 
 and subsidiary accounts. Likewise, losses, destruction, transfers, 
 etc., would be shown through special condemnation and other 
 reports, and would be promptly credited to the respective ac- 
 counts. 
 
 The task of taking such an inventory is a large one. How- 
 ever, when once completed and the result made a matter of re- 
 cord, it would be comparatively easy to maintain a perpetual con- 
 trol over all equipment belonging to the district. The good re- 
 sults of equipment control becomes very evident upon adoption. 
 
 135 
 
In fact there is a decided tendency to lower the cost of equip- 
 ment by conserving what is already on hand. 
 
 Sinkiiuj Fund Assets and Liabilities: 
 
 At the time of this survey sinking fund information was 
 not obtained without a large amount of detailed work. In fact, 
 investments amounting to $15,000 did not appear in any per- 
 manent record. Although the detailed sinking fund records 
 should be kept by the treasurer, they should be controlled in the 
 general ledger maintained by the accountant. Sinking fund as- 
 sets may be of three sorts: (1) cash; (2) investments; and (3) 
 amounts due from other sources. Separate general ledger ac- 
 counts should therefore be carried for each group. 
 
 Special and Trust Fund Assets and Liabilities: 
 
 At various times throughout the year the board ma}" 
 have assets in the way of cash or property which cannot be used 
 for educational purposes, but which are being held in trust or 
 for special purposes. The special and trust fund assets should, 
 however, be recorded in the general ledger. 
 
 I in mediate Demands for Cash: 
 
 Efficient management of any business can hardly be 
 maintained if there are no means of knowing at all times the 
 amount of liabilities w r hich are due and payable. For that rea- 
 son general ledger accounts should be carried to cover accounts 
 payable, bank overdrafts, interest on funded debt, and other sim- 
 ilar items. It is extremely doubtful if the exact amount of such 
 liabilities of the school district is ever known by the board. The 
 "accounts payable" account could be maintained easily by 
 means of the proposed register of accounts payable and the reg- 
 ister of warrant-checks. The former w r ould furnish the total 
 amount of invoices approved, while the latter w r ould show* the 
 amounts which were paid. The difference or balance, therefore, 
 w r ould show the amount of approved invoices still unpaid, or the 
 accounts payable. Similar procedures should be followed with 
 respect to all immediate demands for cash. 
 
 126 
 
Reserves: 
 
 By "cash reserves' 7 is meant cash or investments which, 
 while properly belonging to other funds, have not yet been 
 turned over. As such, it represents both a liability and an asset, 
 the latter being included in the "amounts due the school dis- 
 trict." Other reserve accounts should be carried to show the es- 
 timated or actual liabilities which will eventually result from 
 uncollectible taxes, rebates on taxes, unaccrued interest, unae- 
 cnicd taxes, depreciation, etc. As such, they represent reserves 
 for losses or expenses which should be taken into consideration 
 in connection with the respective assets, such as revenues re- 
 ceivable, cash, etc. For example, it would be manifestly unfair 
 Mnd misleading to set up as an asset the entire amount of the 
 tax levy, knowing at the same time that such an amount will not 
 prove to be fully collectible. 
 
 Loan* : 
 
 Loans are positive liabilities and should be constantly a 
 matter of record. At the present time the amount of loans is re- 
 flected solely by minutes of the board and by copies of the notes, 
 neither of which an- adequate evidences of indebtedness at fu- 
 ture dates when the loans may have been liquidated. 
 
 [>in Other Accounts: 
 
 Under this heading should be reported by funds any 
 amounts included in the assets of the respective fund in the na- 
 ture of cash, investments or other assets which properly belong 
 to another fund. For example, in the current fund may be in- 
 cluded cash which has not yet been turned over to the teachers' 
 retirement fund. As such, it is a liability of the current fund and 
 an asset of the special or trust fund shown under the heading of 
 "amounts due." 
 
 Surplus: 
 
 The surplus account should represent the excess of the 
 assets of any fund over its liabilities. In case there should be a 
 deficit instead of a surplus a "deficit" account should be carried. 
 
 137 
 
These accounts should be of especial interest to the members of 
 the board. 
 
 Bonded Debt: 
 
 The general ledger should contain an account to show the 
 gross bonded indebtedness. 
 
 Revenues and Revenue Accounting 
 
 Description of Revenues. 
 
 The following table shows the nature and amount of the 
 revenues of the school district for the years 1915-1916: 
 
 Real estate taxes, 
 
 Personal taxes, 
 
 State appropriation 
 
 Interest on sinking funds, 
 
 Interest on bonds 
 
 Premium on bonds 
 
 Tuition 
 
 Rent of school buildings, . 
 
 Sales, miscellaneous, 
 
 Fines, 
 
 Fire loss 
 
 Use of water, 
 
 Refunds 
 
 Forfeit, 
 
 1915. 
 
 $423,568.39 
 
 7,352.00 
 
 46,888.65 
 
 5,773.76 
 
 358.87 
 
 3,202.27 
 
 1,423.30 
 
 225.00 
 
 395.81 
 
 13.00 
 
 360.55 
 
 2.00 
 
 121.10 
 
 1916. 
 
 $416,769.20 
 
 6,985.00 
 
 46,335.50 
 
 4,629.90 
 
 514.25 
 
 3,050.30 
 
 449.50 
 
 116.70 
 
 16.00 
 
 5,755.72 
 
 25.16 
 500.00 
 
 $489,684.70 $485,147.23 
 
 The school tax, which is the principal source of revenue, is 
 fixed and accounted for in accordance with a procedure which is 
 discussed in detail in subsequent sections of this chapter. 
 
 The state appropriation is an amount fixed by the state in ac- 
 cordance with certain educational statistics. 
 
 Interest represents the earnings of the cash deposits and in- 
 vestments both of the general and sinking funds. 
 
 138 
 
Premiums realized on bond sales are collected through the 
 Secretary who at the present time handles all matters relating- 
 to bonds. 
 
 Tuition is charged non-resident pupils according to the fol- 
 lowing rates : 
 
 High School $7 . 50 per month 
 
 Eighth Grade, 4.00 " " 
 
 Sixth and Seventh Grades, 3.00 " 
 
 Fourth and Fifth Grades, 2.00 " 
 
 First, Second and Third Grades, 1.50 " 
 
 Rent of school buildings is collected through the secretary. 
 The only two buildings which are rented, and the prevailing- 
 rates, are : 
 
 Shimmel Building, $5.00 per night 
 
 Technical High School, 7.50 (free entertainment) 
 
 Technical High School 25.00 (admission charged) 
 
 "Sales" cover cash realized from the sale of miscellaneous 
 property, waste material, etc., and minor damages done to 
 school property, such as books, desks, laboratory equipment, 
 etc. 
 
 "Fines" cover all amounts collected in prosecutions made in 
 connection with the compulsory education laws. The custom- 
 ary fine, which is $2.00, is collected by the aldermen and turned 
 over to the secretary. 
 
 "Fire losses," "refunds," "forfeits," etc., are self-explana- 
 tory. 
 
 Method of Determining the Amount of the School Tax, 
 
 The following excerpts from the school law show the au- 
 thority and regulations under which the school taxes are levied 
 and collected: 
 
 Section 501. "All taxes required by any school district in this 
 Commonwealth, in addition to the State appropriation, shall 
 be levied by the board of school directors therein." 
 
 139 
 
Section 537. "In all school districts of the second, third and 
 fourth class, all school taxes shall be levied and assessed 
 by the board of school directors therein, during the month 
 of April or May each year, for the ensuing fiscal year." 
 
 Section 539. ". . . . The city clerk or other proper official, 
 shall annually, on or before the first day of April .... 
 furnish to each school district of the second class .... 
 a properly certified duplicate of the last adjusted valua- 
 tion of all real estate, personal property and occupations 
 made taxable in such school district " 
 
 Section 546. * ' In all school districts of the second class .... 
 as soon as the school tax is assessed and levied by the board 
 of school directors, the secretary shall compute and enter 
 the same, stating the amount of school tax to be collected 
 on the duplicate .... a certified copy of which shall 
 then be furnished by the board of school directors to the 
 
 tax collector in each district In all school districts 
 
 of the second, third or fourth class, all tax duplicates shall 
 be furnished, as herein provided, to the tax collector on or 
 before the first Monday of July each year." 
 
 Section 549. "Each collector of school taxes in every school 
 district of the second, third or fourth class .... shall, 
 on or before the first Monday of July in each year, be fur- 
 nished with his tax duplicate, and a proper warrant, signed 
 by the president and attested by the secretary of the board 
 of school directors .... authorizing and directing him 
 to collect the school taxes set forth in his duplicate, ac- 
 cording to law." 
 
 Section 553. ' ' In all school districts of the second .... class 
 .... every collector of school taxes shall make a writ- 
 ten report to the secretary of the board of school directors 
 at the end of every month of the amount of taxes collected 
 by him during the said month, furnishing the names of the 
 taxables from whom the same has been collected." 
 
 The school tax therefore is based upon the property valua- 
 tions as determined by the city assessors. 
 
 140 
 
 
In the city of Harrisburg it is the intent of the law that as- 
 sessment of property be at full value. This is an ideal which 
 should be attained, but it is frankly admitted that property is 
 actually assessed at little more than half its value, or at least 
 on a fluctuating basis. 
 
 If assessors are allowed to establish a variable basis, many 
 irregularities are certain to creep into the assessments. More- 
 over, a low valuation means a high tax rate. Taxpayers are 
 prone to consider the tax rate and amount of the tax rather 
 than the assessed value of the property. Hence when the school 
 board feels the need of asking for permission to issue bonds and 
 is required to submit the proposition to a general vote of the peo- 
 ple, the tax rate is a very important factor in the result of the 
 vote. Comparison of the school tax rate of the Harrisburg 
 School District with that of other cities must not be overlooked. 
 Much lower rates in other cities might play an important part 
 in the defeat of a bond issue proposition, as well as cause gen- 
 eral dissatisfaction to the residents of Harrisburg; yet, as a 
 matter of fact, these low rates might be almost entirely due to 
 a more equitable assessment of property, on a 100 per cent, 
 basis. A general revision of assessment methods Avould add 
 materially to both the revenue and borrowing capacity of the 
 school district, and result in a more equitable distribution of the 
 tax burden. As the school district is by far the largest single 
 unit within the city government relying upon the tax levy for 
 its support, the board might very well interest itself in a strong 
 effort to obtain more uniformity and fairness in the determina 
 tion of property valuations. 
 
 On a date prior to the submission of the duplicate tax-books 
 to the board of school directors, the amount of money which is 
 believed to be necessary for the operation of the schools district 
 is fixed by the board. By deducting from this sum, estimates 
 of the state appropriation and of the amount of miscellaneous 
 revenues that will be received, the sum which it will be neces- 
 sary to raise from taxation is ascertained. Also prior to the 
 submission of the duplicate tax-books, the city assessors furnish 
 the board with the total amount of the city's assessed valuation. 
 With these two amounts at hand the secretary computes the 
 millage tax-rate. 
 
 141 
 
I'n /><//( ion of Tax Rolls. 
 
 When the assessment lists or duplicate tax books nave 
 fteen received from the city, the secretary computes the school 
 tax on each piece of property, entering the several amounts in 
 the duplicate tax-books. A warrant with the amount left blank 
 but signed by the president of the board and attested by the sec- 
 retary, is then prepared and sent to the treasurer as authority 
 and order for him to collect the school taxes. 
 
 The state law also specifies that : ' ' Each male resident or 
 inhabitant, over twenty-one years of age, in every school district 
 of the second class .... shall annually pay .... for the use 
 of the school district .... an occupation tax of at least one 
 dollar." 
 
 The procedure followed in levying this tax is substantially as 
 follows : In preparing the duplicate tax-books, the assessors place 
 a small distinctive check mark opposite the name of each prop - 
 erty owner against whom it is believed to be legal to levy tne 
 occupation tax. By means of this check mark, the secretary 
 levies the dollar tax in a column provided for that purpose in 
 the duplicate tax-book. No proof is made of the correctness of 
 the work of the assessors in designating the occupation taxpay- 
 ers, or of the secretary in properly levying the tax. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, many persons owning several pieces of property in 
 different wards are frequently assessed an occupation tax in con- 
 nection with each piece of property. This leads to many adjust- 
 ments, annoying to the taxpayer, the treasurer and the board 
 of directors. Similarly, there is no assurance whatever that all 
 persons named by law as taxable have been so designated or 
 taxed. 
 
 It is also legal to collect the occupation tax from all males over 
 twenty-one years of age who do not own property, and hence do 
 not appear on the assessment rolls. The state law specifies tftat 
 the levying of the tax on such non-property owners shall be done 
 1 'by the proper assessors of the school district." The assessors, 
 however, have no knowledge of non-property owners, and hence 
 do not comply with the above provision of the law. The board 
 of directors in order to take advantage of the additional revenue 
 possible through this provision, has instructed the treasurer to 
 
 142 
 
prepare a list of non-property owners from the election regis- 
 tration lists. This has been done and a special occupation tax- 
 book, containing approximately 15,000 names, is the result. This 
 book, which is not totaled or verified in any way, remains with 
 the treasurer. It is not even # submitted to the board or secretary 
 for examination. Occupation taxes are therefore levied in two 
 sets of books the regular property owners' tax-book and in a 
 special non-property owners' book. 
 
 It might be added that the legality of such a non-property 
 owners' occupation tax record, not prepared by the city assess- 
 ors in accordance with the law, might be subject to investigation. 
 In any event, efforts should be made to have this work done by 
 the proper authorities. 
 
 One of the most surprising features observed in connection 
 with the preparation of the tax rolls is the fact that no one 
 knows the exact amount of the original school tax levy. Hence 
 in preparing the warrant ordering the treasurer to make collec- 
 tions, no amount can be specified. In other words, the treasurer 
 is ordered to collect taxes the exact amount of which no one 
 knows. 
 
 The amount of the original tax levy is unknown, mainly be- 
 cause no one has taken the trouble to total the tax lists after the 
 secretary has computed and entered the amounts of the individ- 
 ual taxes. Theoretically, the total tax actually levied should 
 equal the amount estimated as necessary to be raised by taxation. 
 In other words, the multiplication of the millage rate by the as- 
 sessed valuation, .plus the amount of the personal taxes, should 
 result in the exact amount of the levy. Likewise the sum of the 
 computations entered on the duplicate tax roll by the secretary, 
 plus personal taxes, should equal the total levy. This theory 
 however does not apply, for the reason that many changes are 
 usually made in the assessments lists after a total assessed valua- 
 tion figure upon which the millage rate is fixed has been fur- 
 nished the school district, and before the individual, computa- 
 tions have been made by the secretary. Moreover many mistakes 
 are liable to occur in making the thousands of computations. 
 
 There is very little control over the taxes, it being possible for 
 the treasurer to collect them, retain portions thereof, or divert 
 
 143 
 
same to purposes other than those specified by law, without any- 
 one having knowledge of the fact. This situation should not be 
 allowed to exist. The recommendation is therefore made, that all 
 completed tax rolls be verified and totaled before being sent to 
 the treasurer for collection. The total amount should be shown 
 in the warrant ordering the treasurer to collect, and be set up in 
 the general ledger, in a controlling account called "taxes receiv- 
 able." This account would control the collections of the treas- 
 urer and would show at all times the "tax receivable" asset of 
 the school district. 
 
 Collection and Accounting of Taxes. 
 
 All current taxes, both real and personal, are collected by 
 the city and school treasurer acting as collector of school taxes. 
 Until a comparatively recent date each collector was required 
 by law to collect all of the taxes appearing on his tax rolls. This 
 meant that each retiring collector must take with him his own 
 tax-books and endeavor to collect all back taxes. This law has 
 very properly been changed. When delinquent taxes have been 
 converted into property liens, the tax records are cleared and 
 the work of collecting on the liens is given to the secretary of the 
 board. Hence, at the present time there are three officials 
 charged with the duty of collecting taxes; namely, the present 
 treasurer, the former treasurer and the secretary. This is a 
 poor allocation of work. A much more preferable way would be 
 for all taxes, whether current, delinquent or in the shape of 
 liens, to be collected through the one official, the collector of 
 school taxes, who is amply paid for such work. 
 
 The collection of the occupation tax levied on property own- 
 ers does not present many difficulties for the reason that the col- 
 lector very properly refuses to accept the amount of the prop- 
 erty taxes unless accompanied by the dollar personal tax. 
 
 The collection of the occupation taxes, however, with respect 
 to non-property owners, presents a more difficult problem, for 
 the reason that the cost of enforcing collection is usually entirely 
 out of proportion with the amount of the tax. That compara- 
 tively little attention is paid to the collection of these taxes is 
 
 144 ' 
 
illustrated by the fact that for the past year only about $8,000 
 were collected of the total levy amounting to nearly $15,000. 
 
 When taxes are collected, the collector retains the stub of the 
 tax receipt, on which is shown only the gross amount of the pay- 
 ment. No distinction is made on this stub between the amounts 
 of the real and personal taxes or the interest, or penalty which 
 may have accrued thereon. From these stubs the payments are 
 individually entered in the tax-books opposite the description ox 
 the respective properties. No cash book or other record of in- 
 dividual collections is maintained. Instead, the stub receipts are 
 totaled at the end of each day, the amount thereof being entered 
 
 in the journal or day book, solely as "taxes year " 
 
 Hence, there is no way of knowing the amount of real taxes, per- 
 sonal taxes or penalties which have been collected for any per- 
 iod, other than by totaling the respective columns in the several 
 tax-books. Penalties or interest represent revenues over and 
 above the tax levy and have no accounting relation thereto. 
 They should therefore be recorded and reported separately. The 
 absence of a cash book makes the receipt stub (itself incomplete) 
 the sole posting medium, both to the tax-book and cash record or 
 journal. Loose stubs which are easily lust or misplaced, should 
 not serve as permanent records for the support of annual col- 
 lections amounting to several hundred thousands of dollars. 
 
 The use of a register of receipts is suggested for improving 
 the methods of recording tax collections. In this book should be 
 entered each collection as received. The information shown in 
 the book should be as brief as possible. Separate columns should 
 be provided for real taxes, personal taxes and penalties, both 
 for the current and for all prior years collectively. At the end 
 of each day, the totals of these columns would show the total 
 collections already distributed according to revenue accounts, 
 which amounts should be entered in total to a summary cash 
 book. 
 
 In connection with the school tax problem, special attention 
 is called to section 553 of the school law, which is not strictly 
 observed. This section is in part, as follows : 
 
 "In all school districts of the second, third and fourth 
 class .... every collector of school taxes shall make a 
 
 145 
 C of C 10 
 
written report to the secretary of the board of school direc- 
 tors at the end of every month of the amount of taxes col- 
 lected by him during the month, furnishing the names of the 
 taxables from whom the same had been collected " 
 
 By this section the collector would be legally required to re- 
 port to the secretary in detail every tax collected, giving tne 
 name of the taxpayer and the amount of the tax, thereby prac- 
 ticnlly duplicating the amount of work now necessary in the col- 
 lection of school taxes. It would, in fact, require him to copy 
 in some detail most of the records which he now maintains. It 
 would even require him to elaborate greatly on his own records. 
 The secretary and the boards have no interest whatever in the 
 individual taxes that are paid. It makes no difference to them 
 whether John Jones pays his taxes in September or October, or 
 whether John Roe paid $30 or $40 school tax. In fact, abso- 
 lutely no practical use would or could be made of such an elab- 
 orate report, If such a report were used as the means of estab- 
 lishing a control over the tax collections, there would be less ob- 
 jection to the law, but inasmuch as no more control would result 
 than is now obtained by the annual audit of the tax-books, it is 
 believed that the above provision is unnecessary. 
 
 Tax Adjustments. 
 
 No matter what methods are employed, or how much care 
 may be taken in the preparation of tax rolls, there is every likeli- 
 hood that mistakes will be made. These naturally lead to ad- 
 justments. At the present time overpayments are refunded by 
 action of the board, the warrant being charged to the ''contin- 
 gent" appropriation. Errors detected before payment usually 
 consist of: (a) errors in assessed valuation; (b) errors in com- 
 putation; (c) errors in occupation taxes. 
 
 Errors in assessed valuation are adjusted by action of the city 
 board of tax revisions, no record of them being furnished the sec- 
 retary or board of school directors. Errors in computation are 
 corrected by action of the board of school directors, while errors 
 in the occupation taxes may be adjusted either by action of the 
 school directors or directly by the treasurer. Due to the lack of 
 
 146 
 
a real general ledger, no journal or ledger adjustments are 
 made, the book entry being merely in the tax lists. 
 
 Hider the proposed accounting system, all adjustments must 
 be currently reported to the secretary, in order that the neces- 
 sary historical data may be properly recorded. Each adjust- 
 ment or if a register of adjustments be used, the monthly total 
 of all adjustments should be journalized, the entry being: 
 
 Dr. Revenue Real Estate Taxes 
 Revenue Personal Taxes 
 To Taxes Receivable Real Estate 
 Taxes Receivable Personal. 
 
 Collection of Miscellaneous Revenue. 
 
 The miscellaneous revenues of the board consisting of all 
 revenues other than taxes, are collected almost entirely through 
 the secretary. It is the secretary who must see that tuitions are 
 paid ; who must arrange for sales and actually make resulting col- 
 lections; who must see that the board is reimbursed for the use 
 of the various school buildings; in fact, aside from the taxes 
 payable only at the office of the tax collector, the state ap- 
 propriation and interest on deposits, the secretary acts as col- 
 lector of practically all school moneys. The collection of 
 revenues, however, should be one of the principal functions of 
 the treasurer. It is not in accordance with good accounting and 
 auditing principles for the secretary, who should act as the gen- 
 eral accountant of the board, to make collection of those bills 
 or accounts which he himself may have prepared or authorized. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the board change its rules 
 and regulations so that the treasurer will be required to perform 
 Ibis most important function which properly belongs to his of- 
 fice; namely, the collection of school funds. At the same time 
 the board should see that these transactions are fully controlled 
 by the accounting records of the secretary. 
 
 The secretary has adopted no stated procedure of forms by 
 which collections shall be turned over to him, or by him to the 
 treasurer. Principals and teachers remit money collected by 
 them usually at the end of a term or the school year. The sec- 
 
 147 
 
retary remits to the treasurer at irregular intervals and in va- 
 rious ways. 
 
 As an aid in reporting and controlling cash collections, a spe- 
 cial form should be used by all employees authorized to receive 
 school money. It should be made in triplicate by the transmit- 
 ting official. The original copy should be sent to the treasurer 
 with the cash. The duplicate copy should be sent at the same 
 time to the secretary as the medium for making the accounting 
 entries and of establishing control, while the triplicate copy 
 would remain as the file copy of the transmitting official. 
 
 Before a non-resident pupil may be legally accepted in any of 
 the city schools, a formal application must be favorably aded 
 upon by the board. Whenever necessary, however, in order not 
 to inconvenience the pupil, the secretary grants a temporary 
 permit, pending the action of the board. Although the rules 
 and regulations specify the monthly rate to be charged, they fail 
 to state whether or not it is payable in advance. As a result, 
 it has become customary for the secretary to prepare the tuition 
 bills at his convenience, usually once a quarter, and they are not 
 sent in advance with the natural result that some tuitions are 
 never paid. If a non-resident pupil desires to enter one of the 
 city's schools, it is usually with the intention of receiving at 
 least a full term's instruction. It is recommended, therefore, 
 that beginning with the next school year, all tuition be payable 
 in advance and at a full term rate. Bills should be prepared and 
 registered by the secretary and be made payable to the treas- 
 urer. 
 
 The board, through the teachers and principals, charges small 
 fees or penalties for breakage of equipment, damage to or loss of 
 text books, etc. These penalties are included under the head- 
 ing "fines." Under this heading are also included the various 
 charges that are made for the use of text books by pupils during 
 the summer. In every case the amount of the "fine" is deter- 
 mined by the teacher or principal. In the elementary schools, 
 the amount of these "fines" is very small, the total for the entire 
 year seldom exceeding a few dollars. The principals retain 
 these collections until the end of the school year, when thov are 
 transmitted to the secretary. 
 
 148 
 
Iii the two high schools, however, the "fines" are more fre- 
 quent and in larger amounts. For some reason perhaps because 
 of the lack of petty cash funds the principals of the high schools 
 are not required to transmit or report the amount of the "fines" 
 either to the secretary or treasurer, but are allowed to spend 
 them as petty cash funds. Many small miscellaneous purchases 
 are made therefrom. At the Central High School the amount of 
 this fund is usually more than seventy-five dollars. Such a 
 system, whereby the central office is not even advised as to the 
 amount and nature of either the receipts or expenditures, pre- 
 vents the general books from reflecting true data regarding both 
 revenues and expenses. 
 
 Each of the high schools should be provided with a petty 
 cash fund, and principals, teachers and all other employees 
 should be required to deposit all collections with the treasurer, 
 reporting the nature and amount of the collections to the secre- 
 tary by means of the special form already proposed herein. In 
 the case of the two high schools, this should be done at the end 
 of each calendar month. In the elementary schools, the amount 
 of fines is probably too small to warrant more than one report 
 at the end of each term. 
 
 The board has not adopted a special bill form or invoice, the 
 secretary merely preparing bills on ordinary letterheads. Bills 
 are neither registered nor numbered; and, as they are not pre- 
 pared in duplicate, there is no convenient method of ascertain- 
 ing at any time, either the nature or amount of the outstanding 
 accounts receivable. Moreover, except by relying on memory, 
 there is no positive way of knowing whether or not bills have 
 been actually rendered. Through the lack of complete account- 
 ing records, there is every possibility of bills being entirely 
 overlooked or neglected until the account has become uncollect- 
 ible. It is true that the accounts receivable are comparatively 
 small, but they should be even more carefully controlled and re- 
 corded than the bills rendered against the board. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the board adopt both its own 
 bill form and a special "register of accounts receivable." Bills 
 should be prepared whenever the cash payment is not coincident 
 with the service or sale. They should be prepared in duplicate 
 
 149 
 
by the secretary, the original being sent to the debtor and the 
 duplicate to the treasurer. It is believed that, inasmuch as the 
 secretary would maintain the register of accounts receivable, no 
 copy of the bill need be retained in this office. If, however, the 
 secretary desires a file copy, the bill may be prepared in tripli- 
 cate. On the face of the proposed form it should be stated that : 
 ' * All bills are payable at the office of the treasurer. ' ' 
 
 Revenue Control. 
 
 Since the exact amount of the tax levied for any year is 
 not known, it naturally follows that the amount of uncollected 
 taxes at times of the year, a very large and important asset 
 must likewise be unknown just as the amount of miscellaneous 
 accounts receivable is also unknown. This situation is unneces- 
 sary and should be remedied. 
 
 As a means of controlling revenues the nature and exact sum 
 of all amounts due the board should first be ascertained. These 
 sums should then be set up in the general ledger under such 
 controlling accounts as "taxes receivable current year." "taxes 
 receivable prior years," and "accounts receivable." When- 
 ever a new tax list becomes due and payable, or when the total 
 of all the bills for services or material sold which have been reg- 
 istered during a month have been ascertained, these amounts 
 should be journalized and debited to the respective controlling 
 accounts, the entry being: 
 
 Dr. Taxes Receivable Current year 
 Taxes Receivable Prior years 
 Accounts Receivable 
 To Revenues. 
 
 The cash collections for each month would provide the corres- 
 ponding credit, the entry being : 
 
 Dr. Cash ( Treasurer ) 
 
 To Taxes Receivable Current Year 
 Taxes Receivable Prior Years. 
 Accounts Receivable. 
 
 In this way the balance of each controlling account would re- 
 flect the total of the uncollected bills in the hands of the treas- 
 
 150 
 
urer and would give the amount of the assets of this nature to 
 be shown on the monthly balance sheets. 
 
 Cash. 
 
 Aside from miscellaneous slips or personal memoranda, 
 the cash collections made by the secretary are not recorded. In- 
 stead they are held in the safe pending the convenience of the 
 secretary when they are personally handed to the treasurer with 
 a brief description as to the nature of the receipts. This descrip- 
 tion may be either verbal or in writing, depending upon the num. 
 ber of the transactions. The treasurer records all receipts in the 
 so-called journal or day book. This book covers all kinds of 
 transactions, whether they be of cash or not. It is a most in- 
 complete record and apparently of little accounting value. A 
 real cash book, or a compact and complete record of receipts and 
 disbursements is not to be found either in the office of the secre- 
 tary or the treasurer. 
 
 The forms of cash records which are believed to be adapted to 
 the needs of the Harrisburg School District are briefly described 
 in the appendix to this report. 
 
 Petty Cash. 
 
 The board has not authorized petty cash funds although 
 petty payments are made frequently by the secretary. Such 
 payments cover postage, carfare, cartage, expressage, freight, 
 etc. "Whenever occasion arises for making these small cash pay- 
 ments, the secretary draws from the cash which has been re- 
 ceived from tuition and other sources and not yet turned over 
 to the treasurer. At various times throughout the year, the secre- 
 tary draws a warrant for the amount of the petty payments and 
 reimburses this undeposited fund. This method is believed to 
 be wrong in principle. All cash receipts should be currently de- 
 posited with the treasurer and any petty payments should be 
 made from a petty cash fund operated under the approved im- 
 prest system which is substantially as follows: 
 
 An estimate should first be made of the amount which will 
 cover the petty payments for a fixed period to be adopted as a 
 standard unit say one month. A warrant should then be drawn 
 
 151 
 
for this amount and be charged in the general ledger to an ac- 
 count called "petty cash." The cash received from this warrant, 
 which would constitute the petty cash fund, should be kept un- 
 der the custody of the secretary, principal or other employee. 
 No payments should be made from this fund unless properly sup- 
 ported by a receipt. On the last day of each month, these re- 
 ceipts should be assembled and a warrant prepared for the total 
 amount. This voucher- warrant should show a distribution of the 
 payments according to the various expense accounts affected, the 
 accounts being charged accordingly. The original ' ' petty cash ' ' 
 account in the general ledger would remain unchanged. The 
 cash received from the new warrants should be applied to reim- 
 burse the petty cash fund, which would therefore, at all times 
 equal the original sum, either in cash or in receipts. By such 
 a method the secretary and others if necessary will always have 
 available cash for making small and emergency payments. Petty 
 cash funds, while very desirable are frequently abused, in that 
 many payments are made from them which should properly be 
 covered by separate warrants. Definite rules should, therefore, 
 be established and observed, whereby the nature and size of pay- 
 ments to be made from petty cash may be regulated. 
 
 Expenditure Documents (Other Than Payrolls) 
 
 Form and Use of Present Invoice. 
 
 While the board has adopted a specially printed form 
 which might serve as its own invoice, still it is not so used, nor 
 is it well designed for the purpose. Although in form it is in the 
 nature of the ordinary commercial invoice, it is used merely as 
 a voucher or cover for approved invoices. Instead of sending 
 copies of this form to the vendor with the purchase order with a 
 request that he submit bills on it, vendors are allowed to render 
 their own invoices. When these are received and have been ap- 
 proved, all invoices in favor of the same vendor are pasted on 
 one of the school district invoice forms, on the back of which is 
 indicated the total amount of the voucher and the appropriation 
 account to which it is chargeable. The printing on the front or 
 fa co of the form is never used and might be entirely eliminated. 
 
 152 
 
In the appendix to this report is described in detail the style 
 of invoice which it is believed the Harrisburg school district 
 should adopt. The procedure recommended in connection with 
 this form calls for the preparation of all invoices in duplicate 
 and only 011 the form prescribed by the board. Upon receipt 
 from the vendor one copy of the invoice should be sent at once 
 to the employee of the school district who is to receive the ma- 
 terial or inspect the service, with instructions that if the invoice 
 is correct as to quantity and quality the special certificate to 
 that effect, which is provided for on the form, be signed, and 
 that the invoice be then returned to the office. U.pon further 
 certification by the secretary or his clerks as to the correctness 
 of prices and extensions, the original invoice would become an 
 invoice-voucher and be the copy which eventually would be at- 
 tached to the warrant-check. The duplicate copy would re- 
 main in the secretary's office as evidence of outstanding in- 
 voices until the approval has been completed, when it could be 
 used for general expense distribution and other purposes and be 
 then filed according to vendor or in any other manner which 
 might be found to be more convenient. The reverse side of the 
 proposed invoice form provides special columns by means of 
 which a distribution of the amount of the invoice according to 
 funds and appropriations may be made. This feature would 
 Eliminate the present necessity of requiring separate invoices to 
 be rendered for the different funds and appropriations which 
 may be chargeable. 
 
 Approval of Invoices. 
 
 Final approval of invoices rests with the board. Ven- 
 dors render but one copy of invoices direct to the office of the 
 secretary. If the material or services billed thereon have been 
 delivered or rendered at the building in which both the store- 
 house and secretary's office are located, examination of the cor- 
 rectness of the invoice is done by the secretary or by one of the 
 employees attached to his office. In such cases the examination 
 or inspection, which is indicated by an approval on the face 
 of the invoice, seems to be adequate. Likewise, whenever ma- 
 terial or supplies are delivered direct to one of the several school 
 
 153 
 
buildings, the methods of approving invoices are in general to 
 be commended. In such cases, the invoice is sent to the point of 
 delivery where approval is made by the teacher or other em- 
 ployee for whom the purchase was made. 
 
 In the case of repairs, however, the method of approving in- 
 voices is most inadequate. No field inspection whatever is made 
 by anyone connected with the central office. Instead, it has 
 been customary for janitors, principals and others to telephone 
 usually upon the request of someone in the central office 
 information regarding the repair work which has been clone. 
 Such information from employees who frequently are not quali- 
 fied to pass upon repair work is sometimes no more than "work 
 has been done." Whether or not the quantity and quality of 
 service rendered or of the materials used are in any way com- 
 mensurate with the services and materials actually invoiced, or 
 even whether the repair work has been satisfactorily completed, 
 is not a matter of positive information at the time the invoice 
 is passed for payment. Upon such information the secretary 
 must approve repair invoices. 
 
 The board has adopted a rule whereby the committee on fi- 
 nance shall receive, examine and recommend for payment all 
 bills and claims against the board on the Thursday preceding 
 the first Friday of each month. A rule has also been adopted 
 whereby bills and claims will be considered for payment by the 
 board as a whole only at the first meeting of each month, which 
 is on the first Friday. This means that the secretary must see 
 that all claims or bills covering materials or services rendered 
 in any one month are properly prepared and presented on or 
 before the Thursday preceding the first Friday of the month 
 in order to insure payment before another month has elapsed. 
 In case the first Friday falls on the first day of the month, bills 
 must be prepared and submitted to the finance committee on 
 the last day of the month. In this way, unless a vendor's bill 
 is received by the board not later than the afternoon of the 
 last day of a month, it cannot be paid until the early part of 
 the second succeeding month. This is hardly fair to the ven- 
 dor. Instead of causing vendors to become so provoked with the 
 "red tape" and special rules and regulations that they will 
 
 154 
 
have little or no desire to compete for the business of the school 
 district, every effort should be made to interest them and to 
 deal with them in the businesslike manner which they have a 
 right to expect. 
 
 It would seem fairer and much more businesslike if the board 
 would determine upon a definite date each month on which 
 payment of all approved invoices on which no cash discount is 
 to be allowed would be made. Although such a move would 
 necessitate a radical- change in the present procedure of the 
 board, it can be readily effected as hereinafter outlined. Even 
 if it be held that the law requires the board to approve claims, 
 that can be made a matter of simple formality. (In fact, that 
 is about all it is now). 
 
 Before presentation to the board for approval each bill has 
 been certified as correct, the prices having been verified by the 
 purchasing clerk, and the quantity and quality so far as pos- 
 sible under the present organization by an employee who has 
 first-hand knowledge of the facts. If responsibility were prop- 
 erly located, the bills at this time would not need to be sub- 
 jected to a further detailed scrutiny by the members of the com- 
 mittee. Yet, as a matter of fact, the secretary is required to 
 read to the committee on finance not merely the total amount 
 but the details of each bill. Such a procedure might be of value 
 if the members of the committee were in a position to know 
 the particulars of the indebtedness, but inasmuch as each mem- 
 ber of the board presumably has other interests to which he 
 must devote the greater portion of his time the approval or 
 examination of the bills made in committee meetings can be no 
 more than perfunctory. Moreover, although the secretary 
 reads or explains many of the details of the bills, the official 
 approval as recorded in the minutes specifies only the total 
 amounts chargeable to the various appropriations. The mem- 
 bers of the committee seldom take the trouble to ascertain 
 whether or not the total of the bills read or explained by the 
 secretary actually agrees with the total amount of payments 
 which have been officially approved. It would be a simple mat- 
 ter to include in the total amount acted upon by the committee 
 doubtful bills, the details of which had not been read to or ex- 
 
 155 
 
ami HIM! by the committee. The members of the committee can 
 scarcely be blamed for lack of interest in the monotonous read- 
 ing of the uninteresting details of bills of which they know lit- 
 tle and which have already received the approval of the secre- 
 tary th e one employee of the board who is best qualified under 
 the present methods to make such an approval. With few ex- 
 ceptions therefore the approval of bills by the finance committee 
 is decidedly perfunctory, the one signature or approval that of 
 the secretary being usually the deciding factor. 
 
 The approval by the board as a whole on the day following 
 action by the committee on finance is likewise perfunctory. In 
 this case, the bills are not read in detail, but are brought to the 
 meeting so as to be available for inspection by members of the 
 board if desired. Upon motion, the bills chargeable to each ap- 
 propriation are approved in total, the approval being based 
 mainly on the previous approval of the committee on finance. 
 
 In neither of the above steps is there any real examination of 
 the correctness of the bills. The members of the board do not 
 have the time necessary to examine the material received or 
 services rendered. Furthermore, unless they should be particu- 
 larly interested in some special project purchase or repair 
 they would hardly be in a position to pass understandingly on 
 the merits of the bill or claim. In any event it hardly seems 
 necessary for bills to be acted upon (1) by the secretary acting 
 for the board; (2) by the finance committee of the board, and 
 (3) by the board as a whole. 
 
 Location of responsibility is what is most needed with respect 
 to the payment of bills. It is therefore recommended that as a 
 part of the installation of the proposed accounting procedure 
 outlined in this report responsibility for the approval of each 
 financial transaction be definitely located and evidenced by a 
 signed certificate on the face of the document to be acted upon. 
 In other words, it is recommended that the approval of bills 
 be expressed 
 
 1 On the face of the invoice. 
 
 a By the receiver of the goods, as to quantity and quality, 
 b By a clerk, as to prices, extensions, postings, etc. 
 
 2 On the face of the warrant-check. 
 
 156 
 
a By the secretary, as to general correctness of all the 
 invoices covered by the warrant and of the warrant 
 itself. 
 
 b By the president of the board acting for the board as 
 a whole as to correctness of warrant and supporting 
 signatures. 
 
 c By the treasurer upon order of the board, as to suf- 
 ficiency of funds. 
 
 This change in procedure would detract little or nothing from 
 the real powers of the board, nor would it increase in any way 
 the liability for errors or abuses, for it should be borne in mind 
 that the board would have already acted upon the propriety of 
 all annual contracts or purchases of any great size. The re- 
 sponsibility for the placing of small minor orders and for the 
 correctness of invoices as to prices, extensions, quantity and 
 quality of goods could without a doubt be safely delegated to 
 responsible employees in possession of the facts, especially when 
 the evidence of correctness would be further substantiated by 
 the signature of the secretary, the president of the board and 
 the treasurer before payment was actually made. 
 
 Another serious defect in the present method of approving 
 bills is the liability of the board to take advantage of the custom- 
 ary discount which is allowed for prompt payment. Because 
 of the fact that the board acts on bills only on the first Friday 
 of each month, many bills containing a clause specifying a 2 
 per cent, discount if paid within ten days must await the regu- 
 lar meeting night at least thirty days later, and as a result the 
 board is seldom able to take advantage of cash discounts. 
 
 Every business man knows the value of discounts. Many 
 private concerns attempt to finance the operation of the pur- 
 chasing department solely with discounts taken, and many con- 
 cerns succeed in this respect two or three times over. 
 
 The importance of the delegation of specific responsibility by 
 the board to its employees is brought out many times through- 
 out this report. In no respect is it more important than in the 
 payment of bills. With the elimination of board approval, bills 
 might be paid at any time during the month, thereby enabling 
 
 157 
 
a substantial saving to be made through cash discounts. While 
 it is true that the greater portion of the school district's pur- 
 chases are made under annual contracts or agreements which 
 may not permit of a cash discount, still there is little doubt but 
 that the discounts which might be taken on the current pur- 
 chases made throughout the year would at least cover a con- 
 siderable portion of the salary of the purchasing agent. 
 
 Registration and Accounting of Approved Invoices. 
 
 The amounts of approved invoices are not posted to any 
 of the general books of account, the first real accounting con- 
 sideration given them being at the time the warrants are posted 
 to the appropriation ledgers. Neither are approved invoices 
 numbered or registered. Several invoices in favor of the same 
 vendor may be grouped and paid by the one warrant, or in case 
 they are chargeable against two or more appropriations they 
 may be included under any one of as many warrants. Hence 
 there is no convenient way of locating specific invoice informa- 
 tion. As soon as an invoice has been approved, it becomes a posi- 
 tive liability and should be treated accordingly. Under the 
 present system, however, bills are not so treated and it is not 
 possible to tell at any time the amount of accounts payable. 
 
 The proposed accounting system includes a register of ac- 
 counts payable, in which each approved invoice should be en- 
 tered. The sheets of this loose-leaf register should provide spe- 
 cial columns by means of which the amount of each approved 
 invoice may be currently distributed both according to funds 
 and appropriations, and by means of insert sheets according to 
 any expense classification which may be decided upon. It 
 should be borne in mind that these various segregations should 
 be made currently and not at the end of each month or year 
 w r hen there would be a rush of other business. The monthly to- 
 tals of these columns would provide the amounts to be posted 
 to the various controlling accounts in the general and subsid- 
 iary ledgers. 
 
 As a safe and convenient means, both of lessening the amount 
 of clerical work and of providing reliable control, it is recom- 
 mended that each invoice be numbered and registered con- 
 secutively as approved. 
 
 158 
 
Warrants. 
 
 The board has adopted a special form of warrant which is 
 merely an order on the treasurer (signed by the secretary and 
 president of the board) to pay a certain sum of money to the 
 person or persons specified. Upon the designation of a bank, 
 the signature of the treasurer converts the warrant into a 
 check. Neither the warrant nor the stub show the particulars 
 of the bills which are being paid. Under the present procedure 
 whereby the invoices are sent to the vendor with the warrant- 
 check, the present form is adequate except that it is necessary 
 to repeat on the stub much of the information shown on the 
 warrant. However, in connection with the proposed accounting 
 system the use of a more approved form of warrant-check is 
 recommended. The advantages of a form which is much more 
 complete and adequate in every way are discussed in a subse- 
 quent section. 
 
 When the invoices have finally been approved by the board, 
 the secretary prepares the warrants. Although there are many 
 instances where two or more invoices are in favor of the same 
 vendor but chargeable to different appropriation accounts, a 
 separate warrant is drawn for each appropriation. In this way 
 it sometimes happens that five separate warrants may be pre- 
 pared in any one month for the same vendor. If it were pos- 
 sible for any vendor to furnish material or services, a portion 
 of the cost of which might be chargeable to each appropriation 
 account established by the budget, the present method would 
 require the preparation in a single month of as many warrants 
 in favor of one vendor as there were appropriation accounts. 
 The amount of unnecessary work resulting from this system is 
 too great to be overlooked. Not only in the preparation of the 
 warrant-checks, but in the many duplicated signatures on the 
 part of the secretary, the president of the board and the treas- 
 urer this unnecessary work is evident. 
 
 Under the proposed system of accounting, especially by the 
 use of the proposed warrant-checks, it will be necessary to pre- 
 pare but the one monthly warrant for all invoices in favor of 
 the same vendor which are payable from the same "funds." 
 
 159 
 
When the warrants have been signed by the secretary and 
 president of the board, the names of the payees and amounts of 
 the warrants are listed on schedules arranged according to ap- 
 propriation accounts chargeable. These schedules are used both 
 by the secretary and treasurer as the medium for posting the 
 charges to the respective appropriation ledgers. This step will 
 not be necessary under the proposed system. Instead, appro- 
 priations would be charged from the approved invoices recorded 
 in the register of accounts payable. The treasurer, on the 
 other hand, would record each warrant in the register of re- 
 ceipts and disbursements solely by funds. 
 
 When the warrants have been converted into checks by the 
 signature of the treasurer they are returned to the secretary's 
 office, where the checks are attached to the rspective approved 
 invoices and vouchers. All of these documents are then mailed 
 to the vendors, with the request that payment be acknowledged 
 and the invoices or vouchers returned to the secretary. By such 
 a procedure the board is releasing from its possession, for the 
 time being at least, every document which it has in support of 
 such disbursement of school funds. Each year there are sev- 
 eral instances where it has been impossible to obtain the return 
 of the original invoices. In such cases an attempt is made to 
 obtain a duplicate receipt, but such attempts frequently result 
 only in acknowledgment of the total payment. Sometimes not 
 even an acknowledgment is received. Too much care cannot be 
 taken to secure and retain every document in support of the 
 disbursement of school funds. Moreover, if such a situation is 
 allowed to continue it will be an impossibility to prepare com- 
 plete expense records. 
 
 By using the proposed warrant-check there will no longer be 
 any need of sending to the vendor any more than the warrant- 
 check itself, on which wall be listed each invoice which is being 
 paid. At the same time a copy of the warrant-check will be 
 retained and be filed with the original supporting invoices. En- 
 dorsement of the check would automatically acknowledge re- 
 ceipt of payment. 
 
 Practically all of the w r ork of paying bills, even to the extent 
 of mailing the checks to the vendors, is done by the secretary, 
 
 160 
 
Under the present system this may to a certain extent be ad- 
 visable, but if the recommendations made throughout this report, 
 especially those with regard to the use of the warrant-check 
 form, are adopted the function of disbursing school funds should 
 be delegated to the treasurer. This means that when the war- 
 rants had been signed by the treasurer, they would be mailed 
 dirctly to the vendors by him instead of being sent to the secre- 
 tary for distribution. 
 
 For some reason the secretary instead of the treasurer speci- 
 fies on each warrant by means of a rubber stamp the bank 
 on which the warrant is to be drawn. While this procedure may 
 have been authorized by the treasurer, still the designating of 
 the bank is a function belonging entirely to the treasurer him- 
 self. 
 
 Warrants covering approved invoices must be signed by the 
 secretary and by the president of the board before being sent 
 to the treasurer. The secretary signs in ink. Both the presi- 
 dent of the board and the treasurer use a rubber stamp fac- 
 simile under the plea that a pen and ink signature would con- 
 sume too much time. This practice is to be condemned. It is 
 recommended that the board adopt a rule providing that all sig- 
 natures on the warrant-checks be made in ink. 
 
 Payrolls and Payroll Accounting 
 
 Time Records. 
 
 The use of time records at present is limited to the teach- 
 ing force and to the one form called "report of lateness and 
 absence of teachers." No detailed records whatever are kept 
 to cover the time worked by the janitors, repairmen or general 
 office employees. Although the number of employees whose time 
 is not entered daily in a time record is comparatively small, 
 there should be no exception made in their cases. Payrolls for 
 these particular employees must now be prepared from general 
 observation, supplemented by miscellaneous information re- 
 ceived either verbally or by means of various unofficial docu- 
 ments. 
 
 161 
 C of C 11 
 
Inasmuch as over 60 per vcent. of the budget of the Harris- 
 burg school district is for personal services, the payment for 
 which should be based on properly certified time records, it is 
 recommended that a time record be kept for every employee of 
 the department, the time being entered daily. 
 
 It is the present practice at the end of each pay period for the 
 principal of each school to prepare from the "report of late- 
 ness and absence of teachers" a summary report called "ab- 
 stract of report of lateness and absence." This report is sent 
 to the office of the secretary and is used as the basis for pre- 
 paring the payrolls. It shows the names of all teachers, together 
 with details of lateness and absence and the names of substitute 
 teachers. In case a teacher has neither been late nor absent, no 
 time is shown. Except with respect to the time worked by substi- 
 tute teachers, the report is a negative time report. It is also a 
 statistical document showing information which is copied subse- 
 quently both in a large bound book called "consolidated report 
 of lateness and absence" and also on a special report form 
 which is sent to the superintendent of schools. There are thus 
 in the secretary's office three separate records of lateness and 
 absence. It is suggested that the board should discontinue all 
 these forms and authorize the use of a combination time record 
 and time report to be used by the head of each school or other 
 organization unit. On this form, which should be prepared in 
 duplicate by carbon process, the principal or head of each office 
 should record each day the time worked by each employee as- 
 signed to his unit, together with any statistical or other infor- 
 mation which might be desired. At the end of each pay period, 
 the time earned, the absences, etc., should be totalled and shown 
 in the special columns provided for the purpose. The orig- 
 inal copy should then be certified as correct and sent to the 
 office of the secretary. In this way the one form will take the 
 place of both the report and the abstract of lateness and ab- 
 sences, and will at the same time furnish the secretary's office 
 with as much payroll information as is now shown by the two 
 forms. 
 
 Any statistics needed by the superintendent could readily be 
 compiled from the time report, which would be always on file 
 
 162 
 
iii the secretary's office. Any cumulative record of absent days 
 which may be needed by the payroll clerk in computing amounts 
 earned, etc., may be easily secured through small personnel cards 
 on which only the absent days need be recorded. 
 
 Pay Period. 
 
 The school year consists of 190 school days. It is divided 
 into nine school months of twenty teaching days and one month 
 of ten days. The ten-day month is -<\\ ways the first month of the 
 school year. 
 
 All employees of the board are paid monthly, the teachers 
 being paid according to school months and all others by the cal- 
 endar month. By such an arrangement payrolls must be pre- 
 pared at various dates throughout the year, the school month 
 having no direct relation to the calendar month. No advantage 
 whatever can be seen in this arrangement. It fails to provide 
 for definite dates of payment and causes additional work and 
 annoyance. If the board were to demand monthly cost and ex- 
 pense data, the present pay periods would work to a decided 
 disadvantage for the reason that the teachers' payroll, covering 
 time in two calendar months, would necessitate complicated and 
 detailed analysis in order to ascertain the amounts chargeable to 
 the operations of the respective months covered by each school 
 month payroll. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the board amend its rules 
 and regulations so that all payrolls shall be prepared on a cal- 
 endar month basis. 
 
 Form of Payroll. 
 
 The only information shown on the present payroll form 
 is 
 
 Pay period. 
 
 Name of employee. 
 
 Number of days' time to be deducted. 
 
 Net amount payable. 
 
 The following important information is lacking: 
 
 1 Salar}^ rate by means of which computations may be 
 audited. 
 
 163 
 
2 Gross amount of time worked which is also necessary 
 
 in order to complete an audit. 
 3 Amount actually deducted from the salary of a teacher 
 
 to be applied to the teachers' retirement fund. 
 4 Percentage of retirement fund deduction. 
 
 For convenience in computing the amounts earned, the pay- 
 roll clerk has prepared a key chart or roster of all employees, 
 showing each name and salary rate authorized, retirement fund 
 deduction, and the net amount payable, providing there be no 
 special or unusual deductions. This roster, supplemented by tin; 
 time records, is the basis on which the names, deductions and net 
 amounts payable are copied on the payroll. A variation from 
 the amounts shown on the key chart becomes necessary only if 
 deductions are to be made. A payroll is the voucher for personal 
 service and should therefore contain every evidence of correct- 
 ness of the amounts shown thereon. 
 
 In the appendix to this report a form of payroll which it is 
 believed is well adapted for use by the Harrisburg school dis- 
 trict is described in detail. It is recommended that this form 
 supersede the one now in use. 
 
 Preparation of Payrolls. 
 
 The work of preparing payrolls has been delegated to one 
 of the clerks attached to the secretary's office. The payrolls are 
 in two main groups, viz., those for teachers and those for jani- 
 tors. 
 
 No payroll whatever is prepared for the miscellaneous em- 
 ployees who do not fall into either one of the above groups, such 
 as the secretary, superintendent, tax collector, treasurer, repair- 
 men, stenographers, clerks, etc. The secretary merely prepares 
 warrants for their .salaries, the amounts being computed mainly 
 from observation. This method is to be condemned, particularly 
 in view of the fact that no time records are maintained for 
 these employees. These salary warrants simply stand on the re- 
 cords as disbursements in no way supported by evidence of cor- 
 rectness. Any audit attempted of these disbursements must nat- 
 
 164 
 
urally be incomplete. They should be included in the payroll 
 system the same as other employees. 
 
 Payrolls are prepared in duplicate, not by means of a carbon 
 process, but by copying full details to a duplicate stub payroll 
 sheet. This means that every payroll sheet must be written 
 twice. Xeither of these two copies ever leaves the secretary's 
 office, nor is any special use whatever made of the stub copy. 
 It is therefore very evident that the preparation of the stub copy 
 is an unnecessary duplication of work. It should be discon- 
 tinued at once. If a duplicate payroll be considered necessary, it 
 should be made by carbon process. 
 
 There is a general lack of certificates, both on the abstracts of 
 time worked and on the payrolls, by which responsibility for the 
 correctness of the information shown thereon may be definitely 
 located. Although the abstract is signed by the principal, his sig- 
 nature is not preceded by any statement or certificate by which 
 real responsibility may be established. The payroll calls for no 
 certificates whatever either by the clerk preparing it, by the sec- 
 retary, or by any member of the board. 
 
 The proposed payroll procedure calls for adequate -certificates 
 on both time reports and payrolls, not only by the persons hav- 
 ing first-hand knowledge of the facts, but also by those employees 
 having to do with the preparation of the payrolls and those held 
 responsible for the disbursement of school funds. 
 
 From the schedules of salary warrants, detailed postings are 
 made both by the secretary and treasurer to the respective ac- 
 counts in the appropriation ledgers. This duplication of post- 
 ing is the extent of the payroll accounting and is one of several 
 unnecessary steps which should be eliminated. Aside from the 
 preparation of the warrants, the names and amounts shown on 
 the payrolls are written at least five times 
 
 On the payroll. 
 
 On the payroll stub. 
 
 On the schedule of payroll warrants. 
 
 In detailed postings to the appropriation ledger maintained 
 by the treasurer. 
 
 In detailed postings to the appropriation ledger main- 
 tained by the secretary. 
 
 165 
 
The board has over 300 employees, so that compliance with the 
 above procedure necessarily means a vast amount of work, most 
 of which is believed to be a needless duplication. The proposed 
 payroll procedure would red net 1 this work to the preparation of 
 one single detailed record, viz., the payroll. The elimination of 
 four of the above steps would be accomplished as follows: 
 
 The payroll stub would be eliminated and a copy of the pay- 
 roll still be secured by using a sheet of carbon paper. 
 
 The schedule of payroll warrants would be superseded by a 
 copy of the payroll itself. 
 
 The appropriation ledger maintained by the treasurer is be- 
 lieved to be an entirely unnecessary duplication of work 
 and its discontinuance is recommended. 
 
 The postings to the appropriation ledger, which should still 
 be maintained by the secretary, would bo only in monthly 
 totals instead of each payroll warrant. 
 
 The distribution of payrolls according to expense accounts, 
 appropriations and funds would be shown by entries of the total 
 amouunt of- the payroll in the register of accounts payable and 
 register of receipts and disbursements, respectively. By apply- 
 ing the proposed in lieu of the present procedure, it is believed 
 that the work of preparing and accounting of payrolls would be 
 reduced 50 per cent. 
 
 Methods of Determining 'Retirement Fund Deductions Faulty. 
 
 According to the rules and regulations of the school dis- 
 trict, all teachers are compelled to contribute to the teachers' re- 
 tirement fund a certain percentage of the salary earned, this 
 amount not to exceed $50 in any one year. The board of school 
 directors is also required to appropriate annually to the retire- 
 ment fund an amount equal to that contributed by all teachers. 
 Deductions from the teachers' salaries are made by means of the 
 payroll. HoAvever, neither the individual deductions nor the 
 total amount of such deductions are shown on the payroll, this 
 document recording only the net amounts earned. Hence, in 
 order to learn the amounts which had been contributed during 
 any pay period, it would be necessary to refer to the payroll key 
 
list or roster already mentioned. This key list is merely a mem- 
 orandum list, showing the names and salary rates of all teach- 
 ers, together with the amounts of their respective retirement 
 fund deductions, providing full time has been earned. The 
 amounts shown in the "retirement fund deduction" column re- 
 main the same throughout the year, no changes being made on 
 account of absence or reduction of the regular monthly salary. 
 It is from the total of this column that the amount of the war- 
 rant to be drawn in favor of the retirement fund is ascertained. 
 This column, although it may show the amount of the retire- 
 ment fund warrant for the current month, cannot be used to 
 verify or substantiate the warrants drawn during previous 
 months, for the reason that changes are constantly occurring in 
 the personnel list. It certainly should be possible to verify from 
 the permanent records of the school district every cent which has 
 been contributed by each teacher, as well as the total amount 
 contributed by all, especially as this latter amount determines 
 how much shall be contributed or appropriated by the board. 
 
 The method employed in ascertaining the amount of the 
 monthly warrant to be drawn in favor of the retirement fund is 
 also faulty in that the same retirement fund deduction is shown 
 on the key list or chart opposite the name of each teacher 
 throughout the year, regardless of the actual amount of salary 
 earned or paid. 
 
 The proposed payroll procedure with respect to retirement 
 fund deductions requires that the payroll show the gross amount 
 earned as well as the respective rate of retirement fund deduc- 
 tion for each employee. With these two factors at hand the ex- 
 act retirement fund deduction may be computed and be shown 
 in the special column provided for that purpose. The gross 
 amount earned, less deductions, will show the net amount pay- 
 able, while the total of the retirement fund column for all pay- 
 rolls will represent the true amount actually contributed. 
 
 Need of Annual Salary Rate for Teachers. 
 
 The rules and regulations of the school district make nec- 
 essary an unwarranted distinction in the method of computing 
 the amounts earned by teachers in the elementary schools and 
 
 167 
 
those earned by all other classes of teachers, although they all are 
 required to teach the same number of days each school year. 
 According to these rules the annual salaries earned by the high 
 school and special teachers "shall be divided into ten equal pay- 
 ments, the payments to be made at the end of each school 
 month." The elementary teachers, however, are paid according 
 to the actual time worked. In other words, although all teach- 
 ers are employed for nine and a-half school months, the high 
 school and special teachers are paid c.n a ten months' basis. The 
 injustice of such a distinction is illustrated in the first school 
 month of the year, consisting of ten working days. For this first 
 month an elementary teacher whose salary is on the basis of $800 
 per year would receive $42.10, while a high school or special 
 teacher whose salarj^ might be the same would receive $80. Sim- 
 ilarly, a special teacher appointed after the beginning of the 
 school year at the annual salary of $1.000 who worked three days 
 in a school month would be paid $5.16 per day, or at the rate of 
 $103.20 per school month, but if this same teacher worked the 
 entire month she would receive but $100. Such complications in 
 computing amounts earned naturally cause an increased amount 
 of clerical work and cause much confusion and annoyance to all 
 who are affected by these unequal rulings. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that all employees be appointed 
 and paid according to a uniform fixed annual salary rate.* 
 
 Disbursement and Accounting of Payrolls. 
 
 When the payrolls have been completed, the secretary pre- 
 pares and signs a separate pay warrant for each employee. The 
 warrants are then listed on a schedule, and after having been 
 signed by the president of the board are sent to the treasurer to- 
 gether with a copy of the schedule. The treasurer retains the 
 schedule, but returns the warrants, after having countersigned 
 each one by means of a rubber stamp. The teachers are then re- 
 quested to call at the secretary's office for their- respective checks 
 and to acknowledge receipt on the face of the payroll. As a 
 matter of fact, not over 85 per cent, of such receipts are actually 
 secured, for the reason that many checks are delivered by proxy. 
 
 *Since the survey was started, the board has substantially adopted 
 the above recommendation. 
 
 168 
 
The treasurer should be the disburser of school funds, and in 
 such capacity should see that all checks are properly delivered. 
 So long as the secretary continues to perform such functions, a 
 situation exists whereby one official has charge of the prepara- 
 tion and audit of payrolls, the preparation of warrants, and the 
 payment of employees. From an accounting and auditing view- 
 point it is most unsound. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that all pay checks be delivered 
 to tlic employees by the treasurer. It is fully as easy for the 
 employees to call at the treasurer's office as at the office of the 
 secretary, even if the treasurer should not adopt a more approved 
 method of delivering the pay checks at the various schools. 
 
 The logical method of disbursing payrolls would be for the 
 secretary to prepare one warrant for the total of all payrolls for 
 a calendar month. This warrant, which should be made payable 
 to the treasurer as paymaster, should be deposited in a separate 
 checking account, against which individual paymasters 7 checks 
 would be drawn. Such account would then be in reality a re- 
 serve to care for- the payrolls; the balance thereof would at all 
 times represent the outstanding pay checks. Aside from the pro- 
 per allocation of functions secured by this proposed method, a 
 great saving of time would be made in the maintenance of the 
 books of account. The proposed method would necessitate the 
 signing by three officials of but one monthly warrant instead of 
 over three hundred, and would decrease proportionately the 
 number of accounting transactions which must be recorded in 
 the general books of account. The large amount of time which 
 would be saved by the adoption of this method must be evident. 
 
 School Debt 
 
 Tfinporo)'!/ Loans. 
 
 The attached table and chart are presented for the pur- 
 pose of showing the increase in the expenditures of the school 
 district for the last twenty years, and particularly for the pur- 
 pose of explaining the conditions which led to the practice of 
 negotiating temporary loans each year in order to meet the oper- 
 ating expenses. 
 
 169 
 
It will be noticed that prior to the year 1911, the amount of 
 the annual receipts was more than sufficient to meet expendi- 
 tures. During the year 1911, however, the school code changed 
 the beginning of the fiscal year from June 1, to July 1. This 
 resulted in the fiscal year 1911 having thirteen instead of twelve 
 months. No provision had been made in the budget of that year 
 to meet the additional month's expenses, with the natural result 
 that the expenditures exceeded the receipts. The amount of 
 this deficiency was $57,342.84. To meet this deficiency the board 
 negotiated temporary loans drawing interest at the rate of 5 per 
 cent. However, no provisions were made in subsequent budgets 
 to take up this deficiency, with the result that loans have been 
 necessary each year in order to meet the expenses. The total 
 amount of interest paid on these loans for the past five years is 
 $6,283.00. With the exception of the interest paid on the orig- 
 inal note, this expenditure seems to have been unnecessary. 
 
 The present school board is to be commended for its action in 
 including in the tax rate for the year 1916-17. an additional mill 
 for the purpose of caring for approximately one-half of the 
 amount of the deficiency. This step is liable to draw much un- 
 warranted criticism, but it should result in an ultimate decrease 
 of expense by at least the amount of interest. 
 
 The practice of issuing notes in order to meet current operat- 
 ing expenses is universally admitted to be wrong. The board 
 should continue its efforts to reduce the deficiency, which would 
 have been taken care of in 1912, by including in next year's tax 
 rate a sufficient millage to cover the balance and thereby place 
 the school district upon a sound financial basis. Thereafter the 
 current operating expenses should properly be paid from the 
 current receipts without the additional millage (except, of 
 course, for increased school population and school functions). 
 
 170 
 
 
Comparative Statement of Hie Annual Receipts and Expendi- 
 tures of the Harrubnry School District for the 
 Past Twenty Years. 
 
 b <ri 
 +j 
 
 1-1 <K 
 H 
 
 1898 
 1899 
 1900 
 1901 
 1902 
 1903 
 1904 
 1905 
 1906 
 1907 
 1908 
 1909 
 1910 
 1911 
 1912 
 1913 
 1914 
 1915 
 1916 
 1917 
 
 .2 
 I" 
 
 $24,258,120 
 
 6 
 
 24,502,709 
 
 6 
 
 24,241,690 
 
 6 
 
 25,538,741 
 
 6 
 
 26,712,425 
 
 6 
 
 28,061,538 
 
 6 
 
 30,256,750 
 
 6 
 
 31,700,000 
 
 7 
 
 32,094,465 
 
 7 
 
 40,000,000 
 
 6% 
 
 40,000,000 
 
 6Vi 
 
 41,000,000 
 
 6% 
 
 46,000,000 
 
 6% 
 
 46,750,000 
 
 7% 
 
 46,750,000 
 
 7% 
 
 49,000,000 
 
 8 
 
 49,450,000 
 
 sy 2 
 
 49,750,000 
 
 sy 2 
 
 50,500,000 
 
 8% 
 
 
 10 
 
 o c 
 
 r. - 
 -?= o 
 
 187 718 37 
 
 184 420 73 
 
 
 
 187 227 52 
 
 184 661 83 
 
 
 
 224 679 71 
 
 216 417 89 
 
 
 
 200 619 64 
 
 193 123 82 
 
 
 
 294 407 51 
 
 284 673 64 
 
 
 
 275 496.19 
 
 270,834.43 
 
 
 
 327,086.99 
 397 842 29 
 
 326,472.16 
 371,571.25 
 
 
 
 334,826.59 
 388 920 29 
 
 315,012.32 
 322,704.07 
 
 
 
 
 436,473 34 
 
 356145.49 
 
 
 
 420,351 49 
 
 324 938 57 
 
 
 
 344 577 82 
 
 401 920 66 
 
 
 
 400,277.79 
 451,986.04 
 478,323.36 
 486,122.56 
 492,805.61 
 
 502,719.26 
 538,136.08 
 546,802.31 
 562,482.01 
 606,218.38 
 
 83,895.84 
 95,800.00 
 79,500.00 
 88,000.00 
 115,000.00 
 
 1,104.16 
 1,661.01 
 745.00 
 1,187.33 
 1,585.50 
 
 Bonded Indebtedness. 
 
 The gross amount of the bonded indebtedness of the 
 school district is $984,000. Of this amount, $147,000 is covered 
 by long-term bonds. Since 1903 a modification of the old law 
 provided that "all bonds issued by any school district .... 
 shall be made payable and become due at stated periods, -not ex- 
 ceeding thirty years after the date thereof . . . . " The intent 
 of this law was undoubtedly that all bonds issued after the date 
 specified should be straight serial bonds, whereby an equal 
 amount would become due and payable each year. The school 
 district has complied with the general expression of the law by 
 issuing what are called "thirty -year serial bonds." However, 
 the peculiar manner in which the so-called serial bonds were 
 issued has made it necessary to provide special sinking funds 
 for each issue. 
 
 171 
 
This situation was brought about by the fact that the bonds 
 frequently do not begin to be redeemable until five years after 
 date of issue, and also by the fact that the number and value of 
 the bonds redeemable each year are not uniform. To illustrate: 
 The issue of January, 1915, for $99,000 provides that no bonds 
 shall fall due until 1920, at which time $16,000 may be redeemed. 
 For each succeeding year until 1945 $3,000 fall due. In the last 
 year $11,000 must be redeemed. Similarly, the issue of April, 
 1912 for $78,000 provides that $13,000 arc iv<|. -finable in 1917; 
 $2,000 annually for ten years, and $3,000 for the last fifteen 
 years. Under this system, which calls for a fixed appropriation 
 to the sinking fund each year, it naturally becomes necessary for 
 a separate sinking fund to be carried for the entire life of the 
 bond issue, even though the annual installment be accurately 
 computed and properly transferred to the respective sinking 
 fund each year. Aside from complying with the wishes of pros- 
 pective purchasers of the bonds, there is no advantage to be ob- 
 tained by varying from the method of establishing uniform an- 
 nual redemptions. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that future bond issues be ar- 
 ranged in such denominations and sold under such conditions 
 that after the first installment of bonds has been redeemed the 
 same amount will fall due each year. Any adjustments neces- 
 sary in order to provide for uniform annual redemptions and 
 installments should be covered in the first installments which fall 
 due. Such a method would obviate the necessity of maintaining 
 sinking funds for serial issues after the first installment of bonds 
 has been redeemed. In case the first bonds of a series would 
 be made payable one year after issue, there would be no need 
 whatever of a sinking fund. 
 
 When the bonds have been paid and cancelled, they are sont 
 to the secretary, w r ho destroys them. Similar methods are used 
 in connection with interest coupons. Cancelled bonds and inter- 
 est coupons are equivalent to cancelled checks and should be re- 
 tained to support the disbursement of funds. A convenient 
 method of preserving interest coupons is to maintain a special 
 blank-book in which spaces are provided for the pasting of the 
 coupons for each bond. By means of such a book the blank 
 
 172 
 
spaces always represent the coupons which are due and payable, 
 hut which have not been presented for payment. 
 
 Sinking Funds. 
 
 The following table shows the sinking fund cash as of 
 February 1, 1917, as per the records of the secretary and the 
 treasurer's monthly report: 
 
 Bond Issue. Treasurer's Report. Secretary's Records. 
 
 January 1, 1901 $16,065.00 $17,665.00 
 
 April 1. 1903 9.573.62 13,006.95 
 
 April 1, 1905 3,166.63 5.999.96 
 
 January 1, 1908 } in "m Tl 6,066.64 
 
 October 1, 1908 \ 5,000.00 
 
 October 1, 1909, 5,066.62 4,933.28 
 
 April 1, 1910 300.00 11,100.00 
 
 April 1, 1911 2,400.00 
 
 April 1, 1912, 10,400.00 13.000.00 
 
 April 1, 1914, 6,000.00 5,100.00 
 
 June 1, 1915, 3,300.00 6,600.00 
 
 General Fund, 16,120.00 
 
 Not named (Union Trust Co.), 3,668.77 
 
 $83,793.95* $90.871.83 
 *Report shows $83,993.95 an error of $200. 
 
 From this table it can be seen that the amounts reported as 
 belonging to the various sinking funds vary considerably in 
 every instance; also that there is a total net difference of $7,- 
 077.88. These differences are due to three main causes 
 
 1 The budget appropriation to sinking funds for the year 
 1916-1917 amounting to $45,766.65, although distrib- 
 uted according to the respective sinking funds by the 
 secretary, was not* so allocated by the treasurer but was 
 credited in total to the so-called general sinking fund. 
 
 2 A few investments belonging to certain sinking funds were 
 
 transferred to other funds for cash. Such transfers were 
 
 made on the records of the secretary, but were ignored 
 
 by the treasurer. This causes a large difference owinsr 
 
 173 
 
to the fact that the treasurer does not keep any record 
 of investments. 
 
 3 During the present fiscal year certain long term bonds fell 
 due, but because of insufficient balances in the respective 
 sinking funds redemption was made in part from the 
 general operating fund. The amount of this warrant 
 drawn on the general fund was included in the general 
 sinking fund by the treasurer, but shown merely as a 
 deficit by the secretary. 
 
 The need for a complete new installation of adequate sinking 
 fund records is apparent. 
 
 The board has adopted a policy whereby all interest earned by 
 any of the sinking funds, instead of being considered as an in- 
 come of such fund, reverts to the general operating fund. Hence 
 all cash actually in the sinking funds was originally received 
 from budget appropriations. This method, while unusual, is not 
 unsound so long as the amount of the annual installment ac- 
 tually appropriated is sufficient to retire the bonds at maturity. 
 Moreover, since it will not be long before the long term bonds 
 will have been fully redeemed and particularly since serial 
 bonds, which must be issued from now on, require no sinking 
 fund, no recommendations are made for a change in the present 
 procedure of allowing sinking fund interest to revert to and re- 
 main in the general operating fund. 
 
 Of late years it has been customary to contribute annually to 
 the sinking funds of the long term bond issues an amount equal 
 to at least 4 per cent, of the original issue. This method has 
 not been followed throughout the life of the issue, with the re- 
 sult that when certain bonds recently fell due there was insuf- 
 ficient cash in the respective sinking funds to meet the amount 
 of the redemptions. To meet this deficiency all of the available 
 sinking funds for all bond issues of dates prior to 1901 were 
 used. It was even necessary to borrow a considerable amount 
 from the general operating fund. For this reason there is no 
 cash in the sinking funds for bonds amounting to $115,000 
 which will fall due during the years 1921 and 1922. For the 
 same reason there now exists in these sinking funds a deficit 
 of $23,677.89, representing the cash borrowed from the general 
 fund. 
 
 174 
 
Two statements are included herein which purport to show 
 the outstanding bonds, .together with the status of each respec- 
 tive sinking fund. Assuming that the data which was furnished 
 is correct, computations' have been made and included in the 
 statements to show the surplus, deficit, amounts to be contrib- 
 uted, etc. These statements reveal the following interesting 
 facts, which should be carefully considered by the board : 
 
 In every case the amounts of the annual installment to the 
 sinking fund of the serial bond issue have been correctly com- 
 puted. These amounts, if appropriated, will be sufficient to re- 
 tire all bonds at maturity. Reference to the statement shows 
 that in two instances the amounts held are more than sufficient, 
 while in one case there is a small deficit. These differences are 
 explained as follows: The surplus of $2,040.23 which appears in 
 the sinking fund for the issue of April, 1903, resulted from the 
 fact that two bonds which were not legally due for several years 
 were as a matter of accommodation to the purchaser redeemed 
 long before the date of maturity. These redemptions appar- 
 ently were made from general operating fund cash, no subse- 
 quent adjustment having been made. Although this amount 
 should be repaid to the general fund, still it is believed that it 
 is permissible to apply this surplus to the deficit which exists 
 in other sinking funds. In 1907 the board contemplated a bond 
 issue of $49.000 to be dated January 1. 1907, and in the budget 
 provided as the first installment the sum of $1.666.66. The con- 
 templated issue was not made until January 1, 1908 and the 
 amount was increased to $69,000. For that year a further ap- 
 propriation of $2,933.34 was made. Since that date the annual 
 appropriation has been $2,300. By this arrangement the ap- 
 propriation to this sinking fund began one year before the bonds 
 were issued. Consequently there is a surplus of $2,300 in this 
 fund. Other bonds to the amount of $42,000 were issued in the 
 same year. How r ever, the first installment was not paid until 
 one year later. Hence there will be a deficit in this sinking fund 
 of $1.633.40. 
 
 The statement of the long term bonds show r s for comparative 
 purposes the amount which should be in the sinking funds if the 
 cash had been invested at the rate of 3 per cent., providing the 
 
 175 
 
resulting' interest had been allowed to remain as an income of 
 the sinking fund, also the amount which should be available if 4 
 per cent, of the original bond issue had been contributed an- 
 nually. The latter method is wrong for the reason that in no 
 case would the amount accumulated be the exact sum needed for 
 redemption purposes. It would either result in a surplus or a. 
 deficit, either one of which would cause complications. For tho 
 purpose of showing the actual deficit more correctly, it has been 
 figured on a 3 per cent, actuarial basis. It thus appears that the 
 amount of money which should have been in all sinking funds 
 for the long term bonds February 1, 1917 is $113,454.81. Against 
 this amount there was actually on hand $25,665, leaving a de- 
 ficit of $87,789.81. This amount must be available in the years 
 1921 and 1922. It is perhaps too large to warrant an attempt 
 to cover it in the tax levy. Such a step would mean that for 
 each of the next four years approximately $26,000 would have 
 to be appropriated simply to care for the long term bonds. If 
 this is not done, an alternative would be to contribute during 
 the few remaining years the customary 4 per cent, of the original 
 issue and then arrange to secure the balance by the issuance of 
 special refunding bonds. 
 
 A large sum of money has recently been obtained from the sale 
 of real estate originally bought from the proceeds of bond issues. 
 In order to decrease the amount of this refunding bond it may 
 be advisable to allow this sum to apply in the amount of the 
 sinking fund deficit. 
 
 The average yearly balances in the serial bond sinking funds 
 are too small to warrant their being invested in bonds or other 
 long term securities. The secretary's records, however, show 
 that at the present time there is in the sinking fund for the 
 bond issue of 1901 a balance of $25,665. Of this amount only 
 $8,000 has been invested; the balance therefore is only earning 
 2 per cent. Investments in city or local industrial bonds should 
 draw at least 4 per cent, interest, and there is no apparent reason 
 why large sinking fund balances which will not be needed for a 
 period of years should be kept on deposit earning only 2 per 
 cent. The sinking funds of the non-serial bond issues ought to 
 be made to practically double the present earnings. 
 
 176 
 
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 178 
 
Auditing 
 
 The school law states that the finances of every school district 
 of the second class shall be properly audited by two competent 
 persons to be appointed by the court of common pleas of the 
 county in which the district is located. Every year since this 
 law went into effect the court has appointed the same two men. 
 
 In complying with that part of the law which states that ' ' two 
 competent persons ' ' shall be appointed to make the annual audit, 
 the court has selected a salesman and a retired railway clerk. 
 While satisfaction has been expressed in many quarters as to the 
 thoroughness of this audit, still it cannot be expected that men 
 not specially trained in accounting and auditing are best quali- 
 fied to render such service. While they may be thoroughly con- 
 scientious in their work and while they may detect many errors 
 and fully carry out the expression of the law, still it is true that 
 untrained men are not the best auditors. It is therefore sug- 
 gested that the court be asked to appoint as school auditors men 
 specially trained in that line of work. They should be in a posi- 
 tion to render helpful constructive suggestions and recommenda- 
 tions. 
 
 The procedure now followed by the board and its committees 
 in concerning itself with every small purchase and payment is 
 criticised elsewhere in this report, and recommendations are 
 made for the delegation of responsibility to other executives, 
 thereby leaving the board free to confine its efforts to matters 
 of legislation to the passing of judgment upon matters of pol- 
 icy, etc. If such recommendations are adopted, the current audit 
 now maintained by the board would be eliminated. As" a mat- 
 ter of fact, the audit and approval of the board and its commit- 
 tees are based mainly on the secretary's approval. As this official 
 is- in direct touch with all of the activities of the district, his 
 approval is of value and should be continued. By centering re- 
 sponsibility and by definitely stating and limiting this responsi- 
 bility, there will be less need than ever of board approval. It is 
 desirable that the secretary representing the board incorporate 
 a certificate of audit in his approval of documents. 
 
 179 
 
V. 
 
 TEACHERS' RETIREMENT FUND 
 
 Establish 1 1 ic tit <ni<] M(tn<t</< m< /// nf UK Fund. 
 
 In the year 1908 Harrisburg availed itself of the state law 
 of 1907, whieh authorized any city in Pennsylvania to establish 
 a retirement fund. Practically all public school teachers, about 
 235 in number, have become members of the fund which actually 
 started operations on September 1, 1908. The fund is managed 
 by a retirement board consisting of five persons, two of whom 
 are members of the board of school directors; two others are 
 elected by the teachers, and the fifth is the president of the board 
 of school directors. An annuity of half of the final salary (min- 
 imum $300, maximum $800) is paid on retirement after reaching 
 the age of sixty and completing thirty years of service (twenty 
 years of which must have been passed in the schools of Harris- 
 burg) . Proportional benefits are paid at disability. 
 
 Contributions and Method of Financing. 
 
 The teachers contribute to the fund 2 per cent, of their 
 salaries if they have taught ten years or less, and 3 per cent, if 
 they have taught more than ten years. No teacher contributes 
 annually more than $50. The city contributes, by means of an- 
 nual appropriations, an amount equal to that contributed by 
 the teachers. From this income the annual pension payments 
 are made. The amounts which have not been expended during 
 the year remain in the fund as a reserve until they too shall be 
 needed for the payment of pensions. 
 
 Financial Operations of the First Seven Tears. 
 
 During the first seven years the fund accumulated a bal- 
 ance of $50,000. The rate at which the amount was accumu- 
 lated, however, decreased rapidly because the number of annui- 
 tants and the amount of annual disbursements during that per- 
 
 180 
 
 
iod increased. Each year a greater proportion of the income 
 was expended and a smaller proportion was set aside, as shown 
 in the following table. 
 
 Percentage of 
 Year Number of Annuitants Income Expended 
 
 1908 7 21 
 
 1909 12 42 
 
 1910 15 43 
 
 1911 . 17 46 
 
 1912 18 50 
 
 1913 19 49 
 
 1914 21 49 
 
 1915 24 52 
 
 The Financial Prospects of the Fund. 
 
 The disbursements of the fund will continue to increase 
 more rapidly than the income. In a few years a point will be 
 reached when 100 per cent, of the income, not 21 per cent, as in 
 1908, or 52 per cent, as in 1915, will be expended and when, in 
 addition, the reserve will have to be drawn upon until the fund 
 is altogether depleted. The main cause of the annual increase 
 of disbursements is the fact that each year a greater number of 
 annuities is added to the retirement list on account of new re- 
 tirements than the number terminated on account of death. 
 
 The managers of the fund are gravely mistaken when they 
 believe that the number of deaths among annuitants will soon 
 offset the number of new retirements. It usually takes a fund 
 from sixty to seventy years before the balance is reached. The 
 contributions of the teachers and the school district to the Har- 
 risburg fund, however, are so inadequate (about 5 per cent, of 
 the payroll) that the fund would never survive as long as sixty 
 or seventy years it will be depleted within the twenty years 
 unless it is actuarially reorganized on an adequate basis. 
 
 Can the Fund Continue a Separate Existence? 
 
 But even on an actuarial basis it may prove difficult to 
 make the fund financially stable because the membership of the 
 fund may not be large enough (only about 300 members) to 
 
 181 
 
safeguard it against wide accidental variations in the mortality 
 rate among the members. Another and perhaps a better means 
 to save the beneficiaries from disappointment would present 
 itself if the bill now under consideration (Senate No. 273) pro- 
 viding for the establishment of a state-wide sound retirement 
 fund in Pennsylvania would become a law. This bill provides 
 that any already existing local fund in the state may join the 
 state fund if two-thirds of the teachers in the particular city 
 vpte in favor of the merger. 
 
 182 
 
APPENDIX "A" 
 
 1917-1918. 
 
 Estimated Receipts. 
 
 Real Estate Tax 10 mills, $518,000.00^ 
 
 State Appropriaton, * . 45,000.00 
 
 Personal Taxes, 7,000.00 
 
 Interest, . . 3,500.00 
 
 Tuition, 2,000.00 
 
 $575,500.00 
 Estimated Expenditures. 
 
 Superintendent, $3,500.00 
 
 Secretary, - 2,000.00 
 
 Treasurer, 1,300.00 
 
 Tax Collector, 3,400.00 
 
 Clerks, 3,660. 00 
 
 Teachers This Year, . $293,000.00 
 
 Increase, -. 16,231.75 
 
 New Teachers, 5,000.00 
 
 Teach, extra time, 3,000.00 
 
 312,231.75 
 
 Janitors, 31,000.00 
 
 State Tax on Bonds, 4,000.00 
 
 Interest on Bonds, 37,450.00 
 
 Sinking Funds General, $10,000.00 
 
 1901 1,600.00 
 
 1903, 3,433.33 
 
 1905, 2,833.33 
 
 Jan. 1908, 2,300.00 
 
 Oct. 1908, 1,633.33 
 
 1909, 1,866.66 
 
 1910, 10,300.00 
 
 1911, 2,400.00 
 
 183 
 
1912, $2,600.00 
 
 1914, 3,000.00 
 
 1915, 3,300.00 
 
 $45,266.65 
 
 Buildings, 30,000.00 
 
 Technical High School, 7,000.00 
 
 Text Books, 13,000.00 
 
 Supplies and Fuel, 25,000.00 
 
 Printing and Advertising, .- 2,000.00 
 
 Teachers' Retirement Appropriation, 7,000.00 
 
 Medical Inspection, 2,500.00 
 
 Public Library, 5,000.00 
 
 Open Air Schools, ( 1,800.00 
 
 Domestic Arts., '. 800.00 
 
 Dental Clinic, 500.00 
 
 Contingent, 5,000.00 
 
 $548,408.40 
 
 Estimated Receipts, $575,500 . 00 
 
 Estimated Expenditures, 548,406 . 40 
 
 $27,091 . 60 
 
 Statement of Condition at End of Tear. 
 
 Estimated Real Estate Taxes, $515,000.00 
 
 Received to March 1, 1917, 474,593.52 
 
 Outstanding, 40,406.48 
 
 Cash in Bank, March 1, 1917 100,000.00 
 
 Estimated Receipts to July 1, 1917, 25,000.00 
 
 $125,000.00 
 Estimated Expenditures March 1 to July 1, 1917 : 
 
 Teachers' Wages $118,249.18 
 
 Janitors' Wages, 9,372.96 
 
 Bills, 12,000.00 
 
 Salaries, 6,828.24 
 
 184 
 
State Tax, $3,600.00 
 
 Interest, 16,000.00 
 
 Teachers' Retirement,. 4,061.43 
 
 Public Library, 2,084.04 
 
 172,195.85 
 Estimated Deficit, 47,195.85 
 
 Cr. 
 
 Deficit Last Year, $115,000.00 
 
 Paid on Bonds No Sinking Fund, 23,677.88 
 
 $138,677.88 
 Estimated Surplus of Receipts: 
 
 Over Expenditures, ... $41,233.35 
 
 Sale of Church, 21,000.00 
 
 Sale of 1/2 Reily plot, 41,000.00 
 
 103,233.35 
 
 Estimated Deficit, $35,444.53 
 
 Debt Statement. 
 
 Indebtedness, July 1, 1916, $1,117,100.00 
 
 Bonds Redeemed to February 1, 1917, 124,500.00 
 
 $992,600.00 
 Sinking Funds, 102,871.83 
 
 Net Bonded Debt, $889,728.17 
 
 Assessed Valuation, $51,865,638.00 
 
 Borrowing Capacity, 1,037,312.76 
 
 Net Bonded Debt, 889,728.17 
 
 Net Borrowing Capacity, 147,584.59 
 
 Next Year's Sinking Fund, 45,266.65 
 
 Total Borrowing Capacity, $192,851 . 24 
 
 185 
 
APPENDIX "B" 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF RECORDS AND PROCEDURE RELAT- 
 ING TO CENTRAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM. 
 
 In the following pages are briefly described the records and 
 procedure which are recommended for adoption by the board 
 in connection with the proposed accounting system. The sys- 
 tem proposed is a concise one and contains no record or docu- 
 ment which can t>e dispensed with if an effective control is to be 
 maintained over the accounts and finances of the board. It is a 
 system which has already been installed and is in successful 
 operation in various city departments throughout the country. 
 The system is fully described, not with the expectation that it 
 will cover each point of discussion or meet every feature of the 
 local conditions, but in the belief that it may be used as the 
 guide for making a much needed reorganization of the account- 
 ing forms and methods now in use. 
 
 The system is based on the use of the following documents: 
 
 Requisitions. 
 Stores invoices. 
 Purchase orders. 
 Payrolls. 
 Invoice-vouchers. 
 Warrant-checks. 
 Registered bills. 
 
 All of the above documents are registered originally in one 
 or more of the following registers: 
 
 Register of stores invoices. 
 Register of orders. 
 Register of accounts payable. 
 Register of warrant-checks. 
 Register of accounts receivable. 
 Register of receipts. 
 
 186 
 
 
From the original documents and registers the following sub- 
 sidiary records are written up: 
 
 Appropriation ledger. 
 
 Claimants' ledger. 
 
 Expense ledger. 
 
 Property and equipment ledger. 
 
 Cash book. 
 
 The totals of the registers at the end of each month are posted 
 through the general journal to the general ledger of the depart- 
 ment. From the general ledger and subsidiary ledgers* the fol- 
 lowing financial statements are prepared: 
 
 Balance sheet. 
 
 Statement of revenues and expenses. 
 
 Fund statement. 
 
 Statements of receipts and disbursements. 
 
 Statement of appropriation balances. 
 
 A detailed description of the various forms of records and 
 the procedure relating to their use follows. 
 
 Requisition. 
 
 A standard form of requisition on the purchasing agent 
 should be provided. 
 
 Requisitions should be prepared in duplicate by carbon pro- 
 cess in the various divisions or institutions of the department. 
 They should contain the following information: 
 
 Requisition series number. 
 
 Name of bureau, division, etc., originating. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Purpose for which required. 
 
 Name and title of person to whom delivery is to be made. 
 
 Point of delivery. 
 
 Date on or before which delivery is required. 
 
 Quantity and unit. 
 
 Description of requirements. 
 
 Estimated cost. 
 
 187 
 
Certificate of necessity by originating bureau head, etc. 
 Names and addresses of possible vendors. 
 Code number of appropriation chargeable. 
 
 After being certified in the originating division, requisitions 
 should be submitted to the responsible official for approval. 
 
 If the items requisitioned are to be purchased and if sufficient 
 funds are available, the approved requisition should then be 
 sent to the purchasing agent, who should proceed to obtain the 
 necessary bids by the use of official quotation sheets or other- 
 wise, prior to issuing a purchase order. When the order is 
 issued the requisition number will be shown on the order and a 
 memorandum of the order number will be inserted on the re- 
 quisition, together with the date the order was issued and the 
 name of the vendor. 
 
 If the items requisitioned are to be supplied from the store- 
 house, the approved requisition should be sent to the store- 
 keeper for action. Cross reference of document numbers should 
 be shown both on the requisition and on the resulting stores- 
 invoice. 
 
 FurcJiase Orders. 
 
 All purchase orders should originate in the purchasing 
 agent's office after quotations have been obtained and the ven- 
 dor from whom the goods are to be purchased has been decided 
 upon. 
 
 Each order should be prepared in quadruplicate by carbon 
 process, a different color of paper being used for each of the 
 four copies. The orders should be made up in pads by the print- 
 ers before delivery and should be punched so that they may be 
 used in loose-leaf binders if desired. 
 
 The information to be shown on the purchase order is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Order number. 
 
 Name and address of vendor. 
 Name of consignee. 
 . Point of delivery. 
 Date of order. 
 
 188 
 
 
Code number of appropriation chargeable. 
 
 Number of requisition upon which order originated. 
 
 Quantity and unit. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Price per unit. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Certificate of purchasing agent. 
 
 Certificate of departmental accounting officer. 
 
 After the orders are prepared, the original, duplicate and 
 triplicate copies should be sent to the accounting officer, while 
 the quadruplicate copy should be retained by the purchasing 
 agent. 
 
 The reason for requiring that all purchase orders be sent to 
 the accounting officer is to enable this official to encumber the 
 estimated amount thereof on the appropriation ledger so that the 
 department may know at all times the amounts of its contingent 
 liabilities and that overencumbrances of appropriations may be 
 prevented. 
 
 To insure the transmission of all orders to the accounting 
 officer for registration, a note should be printed on the face of 
 each order stating that no order is valid until signed by the ac- 
 counting officer. 
 
 After encumbrance on the appropriation ledger the original 
 copy of the order should be transmitted to the vendor, the dupli- 
 cate should be retained by the accounting office for registration, 
 and the triplicate should be returned to the purchasing agent. 
 Upon receipt of triplicate copy the purchasing agent may trans- 
 mit the quadruplicate copy of order to the person to whom de- 
 livery is to be made. 
 
 Register of Orders. 
 
 In order to control the incurrence of liabilities, provision 
 should be made for the registration of each order before it is 
 issued. The department becomes liable as soon as an order is 
 issued, and the respective appropriations therefore should be 
 encumbered accordingly, otherwise effective accounting control 
 cannot be maintained. The information to be recorded on the 
 register of orders is as follows: 
 
 189 
 
Ovder number. 
 
 Date of issuance of order. 
 
 Requisition number. 
 
 Name of vendor. 
 
 Nature of order. 
 
 Code number of appropriation chargeable. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Invoice number. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 The number of the invoice resulting from the issuance of an 
 order cannot be entered until delivery is made. 
 
 If the number of appropriation accounts is not too large, a 
 distribution of orders, according to appropriations, may be con- 
 veniently secured by means of a columnar insert sheet or by 
 providing sufficient distribution columns in the register. The 
 sole purpose of such an arrangement would be to avoid the ne- 
 cessity of posting each order to the appropriation ledger, using 
 monthly total instead. 
 
 It should be possible for the department to know at all times 
 not only the amount of expenditures which have been made to 
 liquidate orders filled, but also the amount of orders outstand- 
 ing. This record will provide the means for ascertaining this in- 
 formation. 
 
 As soon as a purchase order is received by the accounting of- 
 fices it should be registered a basis will thus be afforded for es- 
 tablishing the necessary reserves to show liabilities incurred by 
 the department on contracts and open-market orders. 
 
 Appropriation Ledger. 
 
 This ledger should be loose-leaf in form and should contain a 
 separate sheet or sheets for each appropriation. 
 
 In respect to each account, the following information should 
 be shown at the top of each sheet: 
 
 Department, bureau, division, office, function or sub- 
 function. 
 
 Date of original appropriation. 
 Title of appropriation. 
 
 190 
 
Code number of appropriation. 
 
 Amount of original appropriation. 
 
 Particulars of modification of original appropriation. 
 
 Transfers to or from other appropriations. 
 
 Revenues creditable to appropriation. 
 
 Balance of appropriation after modification. 
 
 In the body of the ledger sheet the following information will 
 be provided for in columnar form : 
 
 Date. 
 
 Name of vendor. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Invoice number. 
 
 Order number. 
 
 Amount of invoice. 
 
 Unexpended balance. 
 
 Reserve for contracts and open-market orders. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Contract or order number. 
 
 Amount of contract or order. 
 
 Amount of orders cleared. 
 Unencumbered balance. 
 
 Before purchase orders are issued or contracts are certified, 
 the necessary entries should be made in the columns provided 
 for that purpose under the heading of "reserve for contracts 
 and open-market orders." As invoices are received and regis- 
 tered, entries should be made in the respective columns. 
 
 If it be found possible to provide for a distribution of the 
 orders placed and liquidated, as suggested under the heading 
 "order register." it might not be necessary to post each separ- 
 ate order to the appropriation ledgers, excepting at the end of 
 the year or when appropriation balances are getting low. 
 
 Invoices received for supplies delivered or services rendered 
 represent a definite liability. As orders or contracts are filled, 
 invoices should be submitted covering the amount of supplies, 
 etc., delivered or services rendered. Such invoices when 
 charged to an account in the appropriation ledger therefore can- 
 
 191 
 
eel the encumbrances already entered in the "amount of order 
 or contract" column. As invoices liquidating orders or contracts 
 are entered, the amount liquidated should be entered in the col- 
 umn headed "amount of orders cleared." 
 
 Receipts which are in the nature of refunds of amounts pre- 
 viously charged against appropriations should be entered in red 
 ink in the column headed "amount of invoice." 
 
 For various reasons, such as in the case of partial shipments,, 
 invoices may be received for amounts which differ from the orig- 
 inal amount of the order or contract. In such cases the amount 
 to be inserted in the "orders cleared" column should be the ex- 
 act amount of order previously charged, the unfilled balance of 
 the order being re-entered in the ' ' amount of contracts or orders 
 registered" column. The amount of cancellations of orders 
 should be entered in the "orders cleared" column. 
 
 Postings to this ledger should be made from the registered 
 copies of orders, contracts and invoice-vouchers. 
 
 If such procedure is followed it will be possible at any time 
 to ascertain the condition of each appropriation, not only as to 
 the balance unexpended, but also as to the unencumbered bal- 
 ance i. e., the balance of the appropriation which would remain 
 if all orders and contracts were filled completely. 
 
 Payrolls. 
 
 A standard payroll form should be designated and in- 
 stalled. This form should show the following information : 
 
 Name of the department, bureau, division, institution, etc. 
 Period covered by payroll. 
 Name (of each employee). 
 Title. 
 
 Rate of pay. 
 Time worked. 
 Gross amount earned. 
 Deductions. 
 Net amount payable. 
 
 Distribution of amount payable according to appropria- 
 tions chargeable. 
 
 192 
 
Instead of attempting to make the payroll serve as a posting 
 medium for cost or expense accounting purposes, time reports 
 should be submitted by every employee for the period corres- 
 ponding to that covered by the payroll which would show the 
 distribution of the time of each employee according to the stand- 
 ard classification of expenditures. Postings should be made 
 from these time reports to the various accounts in the expense 
 ledger in order that the amounts chargeable may be distributed 
 accurately to the respective organization units and functions 
 or activities. 
 
 The standard form of payroll should be used by all organiza- 
 tion units, and as far as possible should be prepared by author- 
 ized persons who can certify to the correctness of the data shown 
 thereon. In every case the exact time shown on the payroll should 
 be supported by detailed time reports, certified as correct by 
 the person in cha-rge having a direct knowledge of the facts. 
 
 The certificates on the payroll should cover the following 
 points : 
 
 That the amounts stated on the payroll are properly charge- 
 able against the appropriation or fund specified. 
 
 That no part of the several amounts charged on the pay- 
 roll have been included or paid on previous payrolls. 
 
 That there is on file evidence that each person named on the 
 payroll was duly elected or appointed to the positions in- 
 dicated. 
 
 That there is on file a duly certified report covering the 
 time worked as shown on the payroll. 
 
 That payment of the total amount shown on the payroll will 
 not exceed the unencumbered balance of the respective 
 appropriations chargeable. 
 
 Invoice-Vouchers. 
 
 At the time purchase orders are transmitted to vendors 
 blank copies of the invoice form (original and duplicate) should 
 be enclosed. In rendering bills the vendor should prepare the 
 invoice in duplicate, giving the following information : 
 
 193 
 C of C 13 
 
Name and address of vendor. 
 
 Date of invoice. 
 
 Number of order (under which deliveries are being 
 
 made). 
 
 Particulars of deliveries. 
 Amount of each item. 
 Total amount of invoice. 
 
 On the reverse side of the invoice-voucher standard certifi- 
 cates and columns for the distribution of the total amount of the 
 invoice according to appropriations chargeable and the expense 
 classification should be printed. These certificates should be 
 signed by the person to whom delivery is made and also by the 
 responsible supervising official, who should insert the fund dis- 
 tribution and the expense classification before transmitting the 
 copy of the invoice-voucher to the accounting officer. 
 
 The adoption of such a system will enable the accounting offi- 
 cer to audit claims currently from day to day instead of hav- 
 ing them pile up monthly or semi-monthly as at present. 
 
 With respect to invoices on which a cash discount for prompt 
 payment may be obtained, it should be possible for the account- 
 ing officer, as soon as he has completed the audit, to proceed im- 
 mediately to draw a warrant-check therefor and transmit it to 
 the proper officers for signature and transmittal to vendor. 
 
 All invoices not subject to a cash discount should be paid at a 
 fixed time once each month. Under such conditions audited in- 
 voices may be accumulated so that one warrant-check may be 
 prepared covering all invoices rendered by the same vendor 
 during a given month. 
 
 The main advantages to be derived from the use of a stand- 
 ard form of invoice-vouchers are: 
 
 Assurance of uniform certifications as to delivery and in- 
 spection. 
 
 Ability to follow up deliveries and hence take advantage of 
 discounts. 
 
 Charges can be entered on the books within the appropriate 
 fiscal period. 
 
 194 
 
Audit, filing- and general accounting work is facilitated. 
 Accounting officer receives immediate advice of claims in- 
 curred. 
 
 Register of Accounts Payable. 
 
 This register should be a loose-leaf record in which all 
 invoice-vouchers are entered immediately after audit. The es- 
 sential information to be recorded in respect to each claim is as 
 follows : 
 
 Order number. 
 
 Invoice-voucher number. 
 
 Warrant-check number. 
 
 Date of invoice. 
 
 Date of registration of invoice. 
 
 Name of claimant. 
 
 Nature of claim. 
 
 Amount of claim. 
 
 Code number of appropriation chargeable 
 
 The distribution of each invoice-voucher by class of fund and 
 the main classifications of expenditure should also be shown. 
 
 The record will disclose at all times the condition of accounts 
 payable, i. e., whether they have been audited only or warranted 
 for payment. Incidentally, the record will help to prevent dupli- 
 cate payments. In addition, this register will furnish totals for 
 posting to the general ledger controlling accounts and will prove 
 the accuracy of the postings to the appropriation ledger. 
 
 Warrant-Check. 
 
 Warrant-checks should be drawn in the accountant's office 
 immediately after the invoice-voucher has been audited, when 
 a cash discount is offered for prompt payment. At the end of 
 each month, warrant checks should be drawn for all audited in- 
 voice-vouchers on which discount has not been allowed, i. e.. for 
 all accounts not previously paid. Only one warrant-check should 
 be prepared in payment of all the claims (invoice-vouchers) of 
 the same vendor received during the preceding month. 
 
 195 
 
Warrant-checks should be prepared in duplicate by carbon 
 process. The original should be divided into two parts by a per- 
 foration, the upper portion being a statement of invoices, while 
 the lower portion forms the warrant authorizing the treasurer 
 to pay the vendor the sum of the invoices listed on the upper 
 portion of the sheet, and later becomes a check. 
 
 The information to be shown on the upper portion of the 
 warrant-check is as follows : 
 
 Number of warrant. 
 Date of invoice. 
 Invoice number. 
 
 Particulars of invoice. 
 
 \ 
 
 Code number of appropriation chargeable. 
 Amount of invoice. 
 Total of all invoices. 
 
 On the lower portion of the warrant-check would be shown : 
 
 Check number. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Name of payee. 
 
 Amount (in words and figures). 
 
 Signature of fiscal officers. 
 
 Signature of treasurer. 
 
 All of the above information, except the signatures, will also 
 appear on the duplicate copy of the warrant-check. In addition, 
 space will be provided on the duplicate for certification as to the 
 verification of calculations, and approval for payment. 
 
 After the warrant-checks have been drawn and signed by the 
 fiscal officers, they become an order on the treasurer to pay. 
 The procedure to be followed should be for each warrant to be 
 sent to the treasurer for signature and registration before issu- 
 ance. The warrant-check should be so designed that the signa- 
 ture of the treasurer converts the warrant into a check on a 
 designated bank. 
 
 A space should be provided on the duplicate warrant-check for 
 certification by the accounting officer to the effect that the in- 
 voice-vouchers are correctly listed and charged, and that there 
 
 196 
 
are unencumbered appropriations sufficient to cover the total 
 amount of the warrant. It is only upon such certification that 
 the treasurer should sign a warrant. 
 
 The duplicate of the warrant-check should be filed by the 
 Hccouiiting officer with the copy of the order and the invoice- 
 vouchers. 
 
 After registration by the treasurer, the warrant-check should 
 be mailed directly to vendors or handed out to claimants who 
 may call at his office to collect. 
 
 The use of the proposed warrant-check would save much cleri- 
 cal work, and would 
 
 Secure an exact copy of the payment document. 
 Eliminate letters or advices of transmitted in connection 
 
 with the mailing of remittances. 
 Greatly facilitate the audit of claims. 
 Simplify filing procedure. 
 
 Register of Warrant-Checks. 
 
 A register of warrant-checks and withdrawls from banks 
 should be installed in the office of the treasurer. In this record, 
 all warrant-checks signed by the treasurer should be recorded 
 before issuance. The following information should be shown in 
 respect to each warrant-check: 
 
 Warrant-check number. 
 Voucher number. 
 Name of payee. 
 
 Code number of appropriation chargeable. 
 Amount of warrant-check. 
 
 Distribution of amounts (by banks on which checks are 
 drawn). 
 
 Claimants ' Ledger. 
 
 A claimants' ledger, in card form, giving brief details of 
 all financial transactions with each creditor, should be adopted. 
 This record should show the following information : 
 
 Name and address of creditor. 
 Date of invoice* 
 
 197 
 
Particulars of invoice. 
 Amount of invoice. 
 Date of warrant-check. 
 Amount of warrant-check. 
 Amount of adjustment authorities. 
 
 These cards, if posted currently, will show, at all times, the 
 amount due to each creditor, and in addition the amount of 
 business transacted with a vendor during a given period. They 
 will also form a valuable record for reference purposes, and will 
 tend to reduce duplicate payments. 
 
 Registered Bill. 
 
 A standard form of registered bill should be used for 
 billing amounts due to the department for all classes of revenue 
 or accounts receivable for which it is not necessary to provide 
 special forms. 
 
 Registered bills should be prepared in duplicate. The infor- 
 mation to be inserted thereon is as follows : 
 
 Registered bill number. 
 Date. 
 
 Classification of revenue or account receivable. 
 Name and address of debtor. 
 
 Description of work performed or supplies furnished. 
 Amount of bill. 
 
 Code number of appropriation or fund account to be 
 credited. 
 
 All such bills should be cleared over the desk of the account- 
 ing office if they are not prepared directly under his supervis- 
 ion. 
 
 Register of Accounts Receivable. 
 
 This register should be used to record all amounts accru- 
 ing to the department. Every bill for an amount due should be 
 cleared through the accounting officer, if not rendered by him 
 directly. The information to be recorded on this register is as 
 follows : 
 
 198 
 
Date. 
 
 Name of debtor. 
 Particulars of account. 
 Period covered. 
 Amount of accrual. 
 
 Distribution of accrual (according to period covered, 
 etc.) 
 
 In every case hills should be recorded in this register before 
 issuance. 
 
 Expense Ledger. 
 
 In order that details of expenditures may be available for 
 the guidance of administrative officials and for the preparation 
 of special statements to the state and federal educational bu- 
 reaus, it is necessary to operate an expense ledger. This record 
 should be loose-leaf in form, a separate sheet being provided for 
 each functional group of accounts appearing in the standard 
 classification of expenditures. The information to be recorded 
 in this ledger is as follows : 
 
 Department or function. 
 
 Bureau or subfunction. 
 
 Title of account. 
 
 Code number of account. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Description of expenditure. 
 
 Reference. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Debit. 
 
 Credit. 
 Distribution. 
 
 The distribution should be shown in a series of columns at the 
 right-hand side of each sheet. In these columns the expenses 
 incurred will be analyzed in accordance with the standard classi- 
 fication of expenditures. 
 
 Postings to this ledger are from three sources: 
 199 
 
Invoices mid payrolls registered in the register of accounts 
 
 payable. 
 
 Distribution of stores issued. 
 Register of accounts receivable. 
 
 The majority of the items posted to this ledger are debits. 
 If, through clerical errors or otherwise, a credit entry is neces- 
 sary, it should be entered in the col inn n headed "credits" and 
 extended to the right in the appropriate column, in red ink. 
 
 Register of Receipts. 
 
 A register of receipts should be used to record all moneys 
 received irrespective of the nature of receipt. This record 
 should be ruled to show the following information : 
 
 Date of receipt. 
 
 Reference to charge (registered bill number, etc.) 
 
 Name of payor. 
 
 Amount received. 
 
 Distribution. 
 
 The distribution will be made in several cash columns bearing 
 headings corresponding to the kinds of receipts most frequently 
 received. Further blank headed columns should be provided 
 for special receipts of an infrequent nature. A column should 
 be left at the extreme right of the sheet in which to insert the 
 title of the fund to be credited in respect to items not analyzed 
 specifically. 
 
 Cash Book. 
 
 A cash book should be maintained by the treasurer. This 
 cash book should be written up daily, the necessary entries being 
 obtained as regards receipts from the register of receipts, and as 
 regards disbursements from the register of warrant-checks. Only 
 the daily totals from these two registers should be entered in the 
 cash book information required as to details can always be ob- 
 tained by direct reference to the registers. 
 
 The cash book should balanced and the balance verified by 
 means of counting the cash on hand with the treasurer, and ob- 
 
 200 
 
 
taining a certificate as to the balance at bankers. This work 
 should be performed either by the auditor or the accounting of- 
 ficer. If an independent auditor is available it would be pref- 
 erably performed by such an official. 
 
 Property and Equipment Ledger. 
 
 The property and equipment ledger should be in loose- 
 leaf form and should contain an account for each parcel of real 
 estate, building or other improvement, and each inventory of 
 equipment, classified as desired. 
 
 It should be designed to record the following information re- 
 garding all property of the department: 
 
 Description of property (class, location, dimensions, etc.) 
 
 Probable life. 
 
 Date of acquisition or construction. 
 
 Original cost or appraised value. 
 
 Additions (purchases). 
 
 Deductions (sales, transfers, losses, etc.) 
 
 Depreciation (or appreciation). 
 
 Repairs (description, cost and date made). 
 
 These accounts should be opened originally from data collected 
 by the several persons under whose jurisdiction the property is 
 held and used. Subsequently these accounts may be augmented 
 by charges for invoices, payrolls, and original warrants as addi- 
 tional property is acquired by purchase or construction. The 
 should be divided into the following main divisions: 
 
 1 Real estate sites and buildings This division should con- 
 tain an account for each piece of property consisting of 
 or occupying a parcel of land identified by description 
 and map of boundary, as well as of buildings or other 
 structures situated thereon. It should show the cost of 
 purchase and construction, and all outlay constituting 
 the total cost of acquisition, betterments, and extensions 
 as they have severally ensued, as well as the provision 
 for depreciation consequent upon use, age, and obso- 
 lescense. 
 
 201 
 
2 Portable property and equipment of all kinds This divi- 
 sion should contain accounts of each character of chattel 
 listed and classified upon schedules or inventories cur- 
 rently prepared, corrected and recast as changes occur. 
 
 3 Work in progress This division should contain accounts 
 with all properties included in division 1 insofar as 
 they relate to the various stages and particulars of con- 
 struction, which, when completed, would be transferred 
 in a suitable summary form to division 1. 
 
 General Journal. 
 
 A general journal should be provided. This may be in 
 loose-leaf form, in which case it would consist of journal vouch- 
 ers each on a separate sheet consecutively numbered, or, if pre- 
 ferred, a bound book may be used. 
 
 The information in respect to each journal entry would be as 
 follows : 
 
 Journal voucher entry number. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Fund affected. 
 
 Particulars of entry. 
 
 Subsidiary ledger. 
 
 Posted by. 
 
 Amount Debits. 
 Credits. 
 General ledger. 
 
 Posted by. 
 Amount Debits. 
 Credits. 
 
 Certification as to correctness by accounting officer. 
 Approval by fiscal officer. 
 
 The form of journal should provide for showing the entries 
 relating to the general and subsidiary ledgers in parallel col- 
 umns. All postings to the general ledger should be made through 
 the general journal. 
 
 202 
 
 
General Ledger. 
 
 A general ledger containing controlling accounts over all 
 other financial records should be installed and operated. 
 The uses and purposes of a general ledger are 
 1 To make available in a single record all the facts necessary 
 to inform those in administrative control concerning the 
 true financial. condition of the department and the re- 
 sults of operating its various functions. 
 
 2 To obtain control over the accuracy of all other depart- 
 mental financial records and reports. 
 
 In order that business transactions may be summarized, two 
 groups of accounts should be maintained in the general ledger 
 one relating to proprietary transactions, and the other to fund- 
 ing operations. 
 
 The first group should show what the department owns, what 
 it owes, and what the results of its operations have been, ex- 
 pressed in terms of revenue, expense, surplus or deficit. The sec- 
 ond group should show the resources available and appropria- 
 tions or authorizations to incur liabilities against such resources. 
 In other words, the general ledger should contain all summary 
 and other accounts necessary to produce a complete balance sheet 
 and operation statement of the department. 
 
 As a saving can be effected by standardizing the ruling of the 
 general and various subsidiary ledgers, it is suggested that stand- 
 ard forms of debit and credit ledger sheet and analytical ledger 
 sheet be adopted. These could be used not only for the general 
 ledger, but also for subsidiary ledgers, or any other purpose re- 
 quired. The ledger sheets should be printed in loose-leaf form 
 so as to permit of arrangement in any manner desired. It is 
 recommended that after the sheets forming the new general led- 
 ger are settled, the loose-leaf sheets on which such accounts are 
 written up be bound in permanent form. 
 
 Statement of Appropriation Balances. 
 
 A special form of statement of appropriation balances 
 should be devised and installed. 
 
 203 
 
This should show with respect to each appropriation the fol- 
 lowing information : 
 
 Amount of appropriation modified to date. 
 
 Total amount of expenditures charged. 
 
 Amount of unexpended balance. 
 
 Amount of reserve for contract and open-market orders. 
 
 Amount of unencumbered balance. 
 
 Copies of this statement should be submitted to the adminis- 
 trative officials of the department at the end of each month or as 
 soon as possible thereafter. 
 
 Financial Statements. 
 
 In addition to the monthly statement of appropriation 
 balances, the accounting officer should prepare at designated per- 
 iods the following statements showing the financial condition of 
 the department for submission to the administrative officials : 
 
 Balance sheet. 
 
 Statement of revenues and expenditures. 
 Statement of receipts and disbursements. 
 Fund statement. 
 
 The necessary data for the preparation of these statements 
 will be obtained from the general ledger 'and other subsidiary 
 records after trial balances have been prepared, proving the 
 accuracy of the accounts as posted. 
 
 The balance sheet is a summary statement showing at a cer- 
 tain date and hour the estimated values of property and the 
 amounts due from debtors, on the one side, and, on the other 
 side, the amounts due to creditors, the difference between the two 
 sides also being arrived at in order .to show the approximate sur- 
 plus or deficit. 
 
 The statement of revenues and expenditures should show rev- 
 enues accrued through the levying of taxes, etc., or from charges 
 for privileges and servces; the cost of administration, operation 
 and maintenance of the department and the excess of revenue 
 over cost, or the excess of cost over revenue. 
 
 204 
 
 
The statement of receipts and disbursements should be an 
 analytical summary showing the various classes of receipts and 
 disbursements during a fiscal period. The information for this 
 statement should be obtained from the records of the treasurer. 
 
 The fund statement should show the unencumbered balances of 
 authorizations to incur liabilities and the contingent liabilities 
 on contracts and orders' on the one hand, offset by the resources, 
 actual and prospective, which should be available by the time the 
 contingent liabilities mature into actual liabilities. The details 
 of the unencumbered balances and the contingent liabilities are 
 carried in the appropriation ledgers and other records in which 
 liabilities are recorded. 
 
 All of these records are controlled by means of accounts car- 
 ried in the general ledger. 
 
 Stores Accounts. 
 
 Proper records, including standard forms and procedure, 
 should be established to control the receipt, storage and con- 
 sumption of supplies and materials. 
 
 No goods should be received except by a consignee duly au- 
 thorized by an official order to receive, and no supplies or ma- 
 terial should be issued from a storehouse except upon receipt of 
 a requisition approved by some authorized person. As supplies 
 or materials are issued, they should be billed by means of a stores 
 invoice to the person who is entitled thereto as evidenced by the 
 requisition. Special stores transfer sheets should be provided for 
 use when transferring stores from one point to another. 
 
 Advice of goods received from vendors should be prepared and 
 transmitted to the accounting officer for each delivery. 
 
 A stores ledger should be maintained by the accounting officer 
 which should show the quantity, kind and value of all material 
 or supplies received and issued, and the quantity on hand at any 
 time. A card index ledger is the most suitable for this purpose. 
 The person in physical charge of the stores should be required 
 to maintain currently stock cards showing the quantity of each 
 class of material received and issued, together with the quantity 
 on hand at any given time. 
 
 205 
 
All receipts and issues of supplies and materials should be re- 
 ported to the accounting officer periodically, and persons to 
 whom goods are issued should be required to account therefore 
 through an adequate system of consumption records. 
 
 By such methods only can control be obtained over supplies 
 and materials. An efficient system of stores record is invaluable 
 at budget-making time to insure proper appropriations being 
 made. 
 
 Cost Records. 
 
 With a view to securing information essential to control 
 over the efficiency of departmental forces, a suitable system of 
 .cost records should be established. Considerable time should be 
 devoted to the design of such a system and to the writing of a 
 tentative procedure governing the use of forms and the compila- 
 tion of costs and statistics therefrom. 
 
 The objects to be attained by the installation and operation of 
 such a cost system are briefly as follows: 
 
 1 To ascertain the total and unit cost of each class of work 
 performed. 
 
 2 To show the quantity of each class of work performed. 
 
 3 To show separately the three main elements of expense en- 
 tering into the cost of each class of work, namely, 
 a Salaries and wages, 
 b Material charges, 
 c Plant and equipment charges. 
 
 4 To show comparatively the cost of performance of each 
 group of workers. 
 
 5 To secure by interpretation of this data information as to 
 the efficiency of performance by departmental forces, 
 thus facilitating administrative control. 
 
 6 To show when taken in conjunction with records of cur- 
 rent conditions the adequacy of the service rendered to 
 the public. 
 
 206 
 
7 To permit a determination of the point beyond which it 
 will be undesirable, from an economic point of view, to 
 continue maintenance work, or, in other words, the time 
 when replacement must be contemplated. 
 
 8 To provide data on which departmental budget estimates 
 may be based. 
 
 Classification of Expenditures. 
 
 It is very desirable, if all the essential data required by 
 administrative officials are to be available, that an adequate 
 classification of expenditures be established. Such classification 
 forms the framework of the accounting structure and upon it 
 the value of the whole accounting system largely depends. 
 
 The classification should be constructed so as to permit of the 
 segregation of expenditures according to the functions or activi- 
 ties of the department and should be subdivided, under such 
 functions or activities, according to the character of expenditure 
 incurred. 
 
 207 
 
APPENDIX "C 
 
 
 
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 208 
 
FORM NO. 2 (1 copy) 
 REQUISITION FOR SUMMER REPAIRS. 
 
 (front) 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 Harrisburg, Pa. 
 
 Repairs, Alterations and Improvements 
 
 School Building 
 
 For the year beginning July 1, 191 
 
 Note opposite each item of repairs required, the extent and 
 location of such repairs. 
 
 EXTERIOR OF BUILDING 
 
 Pointing up brick work. 
 
 Repairing frame work. 
 
 Painting frame work. 
 
 Repairing roof. 
 
 Painting roof. 
 
 Repairing gutters, leaders and cornices. 
 
 Improvements required snow guards, storm doors, storm 
 
 FENCES AND OUTBUILDINGS. 
 
 Repairing fence. 
 
 Painting fence. 
 
 Repairing and painting outbuildings. 
 
 YARDS AND SIDEWALKS 
 
 Grading. 
 Flagging. 
 
 209 
 
 C of C 14 
 
FORM NO. 2 
 
 (Reverse side.) 
 
 INTERIOR OF BUILDING 
 
 (Indicate by floor number and room number where work is to 
 be done.) 
 
 Repairing plaster walls. 
 Repairing woodwork. 
 Fainting plaster walls. 
 Painting woodwork. 
 Repairing flooring. 
 
 HEATING AND VENTILATING SYSTEM 
 SANITARY SYSTEMS 
 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 
 MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 Principal. 
 
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 210 
 
 
FORM NO. 3 (In triplicate) 
 OPEN ORDER TO MAKE REPAIRS 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION, 
 
 121 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, Pa, 
 
 191. 
 
 M _ 
 
 Please repair at the School. No 
 
 the following, and charge to the board of education: 
 
 Bills passed by superintendent 
 on fifteenth of each month. 
 
 Supt. of Buildings and Grounds. 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION, 121 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg r 
 
 Pa., 191 
 
 *NOTE TO PRINCIPAL. 
 
 Allow M 
 
 To repair at the School. No 
 
 the following and sign below on satisfactory completion of workr 
 
 *NOTE This permit must be shown to the principal before starting 
 work and on ico'mpletion of work signed by him and returned to this 
 office with bill. 
 
 I certify the above has been repaired, 
 
 permit must be shown to the 
 iipletion of work signed by 
 
 Principal. Supt, of Buildings and Grounds. 
 
 Triplicate copy is in the form of stub which remains in the 
 order book. When the principal's copy is returned signed it is- 
 pasted over the stub for reference. 
 
 211 
 
FORM NO. 4 (In duplicate) 
 WORK ORDER ON DEPARTMENT REPAIRMEN 
 
 (Front) 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
 Harrisburg, Pa. 
 
 .191 
 
 Work Order No. 
 
 To 
 
 Please have the following work done for the 
 _ School: 
 
 Detail specification 
 
 Enter on the other side of this sheet an itemized state- 
 ment of labor, materials, etc., used in the above work, 
 except cost, and return same to this office when work is 
 completed. 
 
 Supt. of Buildings and Grounds. 
 
 212 
 
 
FORM NO. -4 
 
 (Reverse Side) 
 
 Work commenced 
 
 Work finished 
 
 Date. 
 
 Labor 
 
 Total. 
 
 Workmen. 
 
 Time 
 Hours. 
 
 Per 
 
 Hour. 
 
 Amoun 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Material 
 
 
 
 Quantity 
 
 ' Description. 
 
 Price 
 Per 
 
 Ajmount. 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 Incidentals 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total Cost 
 
 
 
 213 
 
FORM NO. 5 
 
 MONTHLY REPORT ON JANITOR SERVICE BY 
 PRINCIPALS 
 
 To the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds: 
 
 According to the Rules and Regulations of the Board, I here- 
 with submit the following report of the work of the janitor, and 
 
 the condition of the 
 
 School building for the month ending , 19 : 
 
 1. Care of toilets and basements 
 
 2. Care of floors 
 
 3. Condition of the walls and windows 
 
 4. Heating and ventilating _ 
 
 5. Care of school furniture 
 
 6. Care of yard 
 
 7. General helpfulness - 
 
 . Recommendations and suggestions : 
 
 Principal. 
 
 Ratings should be by percentages, thus "very good" 90% -100%, etc. 
 
 214 
 
FORM NO. 6 
 JANITOR'S MONTHLY REPORT 
 
 To the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds: 
 
 I herewith submit monthly report of my work as janitor of 
 
 tin 
 
 .... school for the month of 
 
 191. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ending _ 
 
 tElectric power meter, beginning of month ., 
 
 ending 
 
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 Remarks: 
 
 Signed Janitor. 
 
 "Can be obtained roughly from 'wheelbarrow loads used. 
 tTo be read with inspector of .company. 
 
 Entries must be made daily and report must remain at building 
 for inspection until completed. 
 
 215 
 
EXHIBIT NO. 7 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF OPERATING ITEMS FOR 
 CRITICAL ANALYSIS 
 
 (Column headings for chart) 
 
 Name of school. 
 
 Volume of building, cubic feet. 
 
 Number of classrooms, including equivalent of auditorium, 
 
 gymnasium, etc. 
 Proper number of seats. 
 Heating system. 
 
 Total grate area in furnaces, square feet. 
 Total grate area under boilers, square feet. 
 Total radiation, square feet. 
 Direct. 
 Indirect. 
 
 Annual coal consumption. 
 Tons. 
 
 Cost per ton. 
 Total cost. 
 Cost per cubic foot. 
 Cost per classroom. 
 Cost per square foot of radiation. 
 Electrical light and power. 
 
 Connected lighting load, k. w. 
 Connected power load, k. w. 
 Annual consumption of electricity. 
 For light k. w. hours. 
 
 Total cost. 
 
 For power k. w. hours. 
 Total cost. 
 
 216 
 
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