History of Lauderdale County School District | Page 82

In basic agreement with Gill on the problem facing the county school is M.C. Welch of
Toomsuba, chairman of the Citizens Study group, an organization working to improve the
county schools. “At present, our schools are unable to give high school students a variety of
courses necessary to education, whether the student plans to go on to college or go out and start
making a living,” Welch said. Welch feels that the limited curriculum handicaps the potential
college student by omitting advanced science and foreign language; and handicaps the potential
breadwinner to whom vocational training would mean money in the bank.
Meridian Star, October 26, 1959

Our County Schools: 2 - Lauderdale, Collinsville Crowded
(Editor’s Note – This is the second in a series on the Lauder County School System. In the next several article, each
school will be examined individually. Today, Lauderdale and Collinsville are discussed.)
By Jack Wardlaw, Meridian Star Staff Writer

A tour of each Lauderdale County school revealed certain problems in physical facilities
as well as a lack of specialization in the curriculum. At Lauderdale, the most serious problems
are overcrowding and an inadequate light system, according to Principal J.B. Gill. The school
now serves 303 pupils in average daily attendance with 15 teachers. The school was somewhat
smaller in the past, but consolidation of other small school in the area into Lauderdale has
brought on some crowding. To ease the pressure, a former home for teachers has been
reconverted for use as first and second grade classrooms. Despite the lack of room, grades are
kept separate and each grade has a teacher. In some other schools, two grades are taught in the
same room and the teacher must divide her time between the two.
Poor Lighting – The lighting problem concerns Gill most. The old-fashioned plastic
fixtures give inadequate light, and to improve them would require a rewiring of the whole
building. According to a study by the Mississippi Power Company, more than twice as much
light is needed in some cases. In a classroom described by Gill as typical, the company
measured an average of 12 to 15 foot-candles of light. A schoolroom should have 50 footcandle, Gill said, and 35 is the minimum requirement. In that classroom, the highest
measurement registered as 27 foot-candles near the window. The lowest was three. In the
auditorium, where student do their library work as result of the lack of space, the lighting worse.
At one point in the auditorium, .7 of a foot-candle was registered.