Did we even have these votes or were bonds just bought by generous individuals?
From what I can remember, the parents paid for everything their child needed for school. Not tax payers.
I know some taxes were spread across to the schools but not like it is today.
I remember the first day of school my dad had to write out a check for book fees. This helped pay for books in the class rooms and at the end of the year, if the books had damage, you paid another fee. The only thing free was in elementary school. We had a fresh pack of crayons and two pencils waiting for us at our desk on the first day. Pens were a no no.
Everyone would keep our learning tools under our desk in a pencil box like this old one.
There were no free lunches. If you forgot your lunch money, you were able to charge lunch for the day but they would pin a big note to your shirt telling your parents to pay up. You could actually find the lunch menu for the week in the local news paper and you could decide to eat school food or bring your own. There was one lunch line and the only choice you had was white milk or chocolate milk. The lunches were also cooked right there in the kitchen and most of the time it was actually good.
I remember when clubs, athletics, and PTA’s would get invovled in fund raisers to raise money for the things they needed such as equipment or uniforms. When it was time for a field trip, It was up to the parents to pay for their child to go. If they didn’t pay, the student had to stay in class. I had to do this once because I forgot my permission slip. The students that did not get to go on the field trip usullly spent the day having fun helping around the school or watch a movie. Now days, they would not dare leave a kid behind. They would never hear the end of it from a mouthy parent if they did.
Rules were rules and everyone knew it. The parents usually never argued to the teachers unless there was a question about at grade.
One more thing, We would start our day with the pledge to our flag. Not sure sure if they still do.
It was even written inside the pencil boxes.
Note: My husband being older than me, just informed me that I had it lucky. He said they had to use cigar boxes and didn't get chocolate milk!
