208 Wis. 257 | Wis. | 1932
Provision is made for the establishment of district schools and compulsory attendance is required of children of the age of seven years and upwards to fourteen or sixteen, according to certain circumstances not material here. In the practical handling of the problem which presents itself in carrying out our scheme of education in relation to children of kindergarten age, the matter is placed in the keeping of the board. It is the board which is first to determine whether or not there shall be a kindergarten. The statute contemplates the reasonableness of provision for a kindergarten population. It places the duty on the district to establish one when a sufficient attendance is assured. The legislature provided in the section under consideration that in the event the board did not establish and maintain a kindergarten on its own motion when the situation warranted it, that it might be required to do so upon a proper petition, that such kindergarten shall constitute a part of the public schools of the district and shall not thereafter be discontinued unless the kindergarten enrolment for the preceding year shall have been less than fifteen.
The first step in the proceeding is the petition. This must be signed by the parents of at least twenty-five children residing not more than one mile from the school building. The
This construction of the statute results in the necessity of holding that the petition was not sufficient in that it fails in this guaranty of a warrantable attendance. The form of the order entered here also suggests the propriety of the observation that, when the duty to establish a kindergarten becomes fixed, the board is entitled to a reasonable time to arrange matters and to secure the necessary paraphernalia and the proper teacher for the kindergarten. Under the law as it exists, it would seem that the raising of the money to meet this situation would have to be provided for by vote of the district. A reference to statutes similar to ours passed by other states discloses that provision is generally made for the raising of the funds. Sec. 1011 (8) of the Revised Code of Arizona of 1928 provides, . and, in the event of the establishment of any such kindergartens, may secure funds for their maintenance as other school funds are secured.” The California law (Political Code), sec. 1616, provides for .the raising of money by levy to be made by the board of supervisors of the county, and similar provisions are found in many other states. Our statutes provide that such kindergarten shall constitute a part of the public schools of the district. This would seem to indicate that the legislature expected that the funds would be raised according to law in the same way that the usual funds for the running of the schools are raised.
By the Court. — The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, with directions to dismiss the petition.