The Amenia School District No. 43 records consist of meeting minutes, officers, teachers, students, financial records, and school building inspections.  The material dates from 1911 throughout 1936.  The majority of the material contains letters to the school district regarding teachers, salary, inspections, censuses and students. There are some gaps in the collection.  Various district reports and election material can be found in the Cass County Superintendent of Schools Records (Mss 89) covering 1905 to 1963.  The records for District No. 28 cover 1905 to 1951.

The Meeting Minute Series consists of all meetings held from 1911 to 1932. They also contain reports from the treasurer and clerk.  Described in the meeting minutes are who attended, who wrote the minutes, and what was discussed.  The meetings were rated annual, regular, or special depending on the circumstance.  There are some gaps in the meeting minute series particularly from 1915 to 1923.

The Officers Series contains local appointments needing to be filled and instructing them to take the positions offered. The dates range from 1925 to 1934.  The treasurer and clerk reports are also found here. The treasurer reports deal with all financial aspects of the school.  The rest of the school’s financial records are located within the financial series.  The clerk reports deal with everything pertaining to the school.  This includes how much money was spent on teachers, how much money was obtained through loans, tuition, number of students, and even number of books collected.  Additional information can found in the Cass County Superintendent of Schools Records.

The Teachers Series primarily holds all letters, applications and resignations sent to the Amenia School District clerk, Ms. Lundwall. The letters are requesting an application or a listing of any open positions; spanning from 1927 to 1934. Teacher contracts date from 1922 to 1934. The series contains the Teacher’s Insurance and Retirement plans. These contracts explain how long the teacher has been working and the pay received, dating from 1896 to 1929. Placed in this series are the teacher salaries ranging from 1926 to 1934. Subsequent data containing disputes, contracts, and letters concerning teacher salary are found in the financial series. Also, this series holds the letters of resignation from teachers.

The Student Series includes censuses taken of all children in the district. The censuses covers from 1926 to 1931.  However, there are more undated censuses. This series also contains a filing of tuition payments, who has paid, and who must still pay.  The tuition dates range from 1925 to 1934. Some of this information and reports are also undated.

The Financial Records Series contains a broad spectrum of records.  There are petitions and letters to obtain a school bus and driver.  Several insurance companies documents are located in this series, namely Atna Insurance Co., 1932; Baker Insurance Agency, 1931 to 1934; Providence Washington Insurance Co., 1933 to 1935; State Fire and Tornado Fund, 1934; and Western National Fire Insurance Co., 1933 to 1936.  This series includes a listing of public funds used in 1923, tax levees during 1922 to 1934, and Workmen’s Compensation from 1922 to 1934.  More information dealing with teacher salary and disputes are also found in this series, encompasses from 1920 to 1933.  Placed in the financial series are letters related to the Federal Emergency Relief Fund, enacted in 1934.  Also, there are letters dealing with a budget proposal between Amenia and the Cass County area.  These letters and disputes date from 1933 to 1935.

The School Building Series consists of an inventory, labor inspections, and new laws being disputed. The inventory is an evaluation of teachers’ abilities, number of books, how much equipment, and standard kept. Only one date is given, 1927.  Labor inspections were made and letters written regarding a man, Mr. J.W. Hodges, who was not registered with the county to work at the Amenia School District.  Letters contain rebuffing from the county superintendent for not fully employing or without authorizing this man with the Cass county office.  This happened in 1934.  Also, letters disputing new laws are found in this series.  These new laws primarily are concerned with tax reduction, common school transportation, tuition, money spent on textbooks, health inspections, disbursement school funds, and meetings.  These bills and letters are dated 1933. 
 

Amenia School District  |  Education | Cass County