This Day in History: 1933-01-09
The Hooks Township Board of Education considered how to meet the increased costs of sending pupils from Mahwah to the Ramsey High School. The Ramsey School Board had recently announced a hike in tuition rates from $120 a year per pupil to $125. Since about 150 pupils attended Ramsey High, this meant a total cost of $750. Also the Board had to deal with the recent increase in train fare from Mahwah to Ramsey. The cost of a twenty-five ride ticket had gone up three cents per ride. This came to $9.00 per week. The Board decided to make a formal complaint to the Erie Railroad that they not able to pay the increase. At a time when tax collections were way down because of the depression and teachers were being forced to accept a pay cut of 10%, the school budget simply could not absorb any increases in expenses.
(Bristow)