Redmond's School Board Told Two Girls to Pay Up—or Stay Out

A small-sized sensation is brewing at the town of Redmond over the alleged action of the school board in its refusal to allow two genteel-looking young ladies to become pupils at the district school unless their guardians consent to pay the district tuition fee, and many of the residents are so aroused that they have appealed to County School Superintendent Layhue and Prosecuting Attorney Hastie for relief. Mr. Hastie and Mr. Layhue will go into the matter, and it may be that the school board will be compelled by the court, if necessary, to allow the young ladies to enter the schools. The latter say that when they go to boarding schools they expect to pay tuition fees, but they are opposed to spending money for that purpose in order to enter a free school. Miss Sarah Hunsacker and Miss Ellen Miller are the young ladies who are having the trouble. The Redmond school board refuses them admission to the school on the ground that they are residents of another school district, and for that reason have no right to enter the Redmond school. The young ladies say that the board of education is composed of wise men, but they insist that they are the best judges of where they live, and that Redmond is most certainly their home. Notwithstanding the fight which has been made in the young ladies' favor, they were kept out of school, the board insisting that they must pay if they desired to enter. At last Miss Hunsacker saw that the board would not yield, and rather than neglect her education she consented to pay the tuition, which the school board fixed at $6 a term, $3 to be paid at the end of the first half of the term and the balance at the close of the school. But Miss Hunsacker nevertheless insisted that the school board's action was outrageous, and she joined in the appeal to Superintendent Layhue. Last Friday the superintendent paid Redmond a visit and investigated the trouble. He found that Miss Miller had gone to Redmond three years ago to make her home with her brother-in-law, Dr. H. A. Beegler, who conducts a store at Redmond. Her parents lived in another school district, but the young lady called Redmond her home. When she asked to be allowed to enter the school she was rejected for the reasons given. Miss Hunsacker, Mr. Layhue learned, had resided with her uncle, W. K. Fiekes, at Redmond, since last September, and the board in refusing to allow her to enter the school gave the same reasons advanced when Miss Miller was told to 'keep out.' Mr. Layhue, in speaking of the matter yesterday, said: 'I made the best investigation possible and it is apparent that the young ladies make Redmond their home. I have consulted with the prosecuting attorney, and at his request will write out the results of my investigation and submit them to him for an opinion.'