No plumbing, no funding

Looking Back

By ANNEMARIE SCHUETZ
Posted 3/4/20

In 1919, the New York State Education Department lowered the boom.

Funding was cut for the Hankins and Fremont Center School Districts and would not be reinstated until they updated the schools …

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No plumbing, no funding

Looking Back

Posted

In 1919, the New York State Education Department lowered the boom.

Funding was cut for the Hankins and Fremont Center School Districts and would not be reinstated until they updated the schools with “sanitary indoor toilets.” 

“In failing to carry out the order,” says the Basket Historical Society’s newsletter The Echo, “the trustees were carrying out the wishes of the voters of their school districts,” from a vote the previous fall. 

It’s likely that taxpayers were happy with the existing outhouses and water pumps.

After World War I, there was an increased interest in sanitation, so maybe that is what led to the State Education crackdown. Did they ever get indoor toilets? Did State Education relent and fund them anyway? Hard to say. Records at the Basket Historical Society only note a water system approved 23-14 in the Hankins School District in 1932. 



world war i, hankins, fremont center school districts, new york state education department

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