The Arduous Task of Bringing EDUCATION to Texas

*Last week ended with the following: The plan was commonly called the “Community System.” It lasted only one year. Kaufman County maintained several schools under this system, but no record is available to chronicle their successes or failures.*

In the year 1877, 36 school districts applied to the county judge by petition for the organization as a “school community.” The order in which they applied by number is the following: Lawrence, New Hope, Lone Elm, Wilson Chapel, Jones & Lindsey, Cedar Grove, Terrell Institute, Arcadia, Forney, College Mound, Prospect, Johnson’s Point, Lone Oak, Kemp, Baker’s Prairie, Rains, Friendship, Elmo, Kaufman S., Batchlor, Portmess, Paschall, Burnett, Gray’s Prairie, W. A. Culberson, Pleasant Grove, Turner’s Point, New Salem, McArthur, Prairieville, Mt. Olive, Pyle Prairie, Buie, Warsaw, Liberty, and Terrell—with a grand total of children of scholastic age of 6 to 18 years of 2029. 1,377 of those were born in Texas, 650 born in other states, and 2 born in foreign countries.

In the years of 1876 and 1877, certificates were issued to teachers of PUBLIC SCHOOLS in Kaufman County as follow: James Harper, John B. Kyser, Miss M. L. Taylor, C. A. Crow, J. J. Ball, J. W. Swindall, J. M. Reagan, W. J. Green, D. M. George, W. A. Hart, Miss Sue Dickerson, Rev. Ed Hudson, J. T. Burnett, D. H. Swindall, G. W. Elliiott, J. T. Cannon, W. A. Culberson, S. H. Walker, W. S. Miller, S. H. Ewing, G. S. Nutting, E. B. Thompson, T. B. Dunis, L. L. Bartlett, and R. P. Decherd.

The Constitutional Amendment of 1883 made a number of important changes in the school system. It allowed counties to organize districts outside the towns and permitted a public education for the children in the rural communities.

The Constitutional Amendment exempted incorporated cities and towns from this tax limitation, thus constituting separate or independent school districts, thus providing a more rapid development of good schools in the cities and towns than was possible in the rural districts!

The State provided the sum of $12,631.50 for division among the various Community schools in Kaufman County, and $369.50 was provided from the county school funds. Approximately $4.50 per student was paid to each “Community.”

It should be of interest, so the following names and total scholastic populations will be listed. These were called Free School Communities.

(Mike, Janet, Walter, George, Jeff: I hope you appreciate how long it took me to “re-type in” all these notations!) Forney 131, Stevenson 14, East Fork 35, Arcadia 24, Union Ridge 39, Lone Elm 39, Valley View 55, Bacholar Creek 40, Rose Hill 34, Bell 40, Turners Point 85, Prairieville 26, Dry Creek 21, College Mound 24, Elmo 74, Independence 32, Able Springs 45, Cedar Grove 44, Oak Grove 50, New Hope 14, Paradise 30, Johnson’s Point 42, Baker’s Prairie 45, Friendship 30, Prairie View 46, Red Oak 22, Willow Fork 75, Shiloh 29, Wilson Chapel 65, Bowie 37, Cottonwood 19, Prairie Chapel 21, Black Jack Grove 41, New Salem 43, Mt. Olive 57, Warsaw 32, Lone Oak 69, Grays Prairie 65, Pyle Prairie 44, Pleasant Grove 20, Kaufman 217, Egypt 29, Red Bank 33, Charity-Hardin 43, Terrell 138, Twelve Mile Prairie 18, Bradley 39, Ayers Chapel 28, Flat Rock 33, Pleasant Valley 24, Long Prairie 23, New Jaru’lem 19, Garrett 40, Mt. Arthens 19, Trinity 29, Little High Point 31, Center Point 14, Liberty 11, Sabine 38, Jones-Lindsey 38, Buffalo 27, Woods Chapel 13, Alma 26, Union Hill 64, Lawrence 64, Pleasant Springs 26, Duck Creek 20, County Line 6. The unfortunate result for the County was in the organization of too many districts!

In 1884, the School Law was re-written; the position of State Superintendent of Schools was re-established by statutory law; the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction was made official. The County Court, consisting of the County Judge and County commissioners, became the Board with the County Judge as an ex-officio County Superintendent of Schools.

Kaufman County was one of the 125 counties, which reverted to the “district system” in 1884. Kaufman, Terrell, and Poetry were among the 1st Districts, which were incorporated for school purposes. Other independent districts in the order of their incorporation were the following: FORNEY, Crandall, Mabank, Kemp, Lawrence, Elmo, and Phenix (Stubbs).

In January of 1885, the County Commissioners Court established and defined the boundaries of the 1st 63 Common School Districts. 33 additional districts were established by 1897 for a total of 96 White and Negro districts.