Queen Anne Parents Freeze the School Fund
Residents obtain an injunction to stop the school board from spending building money on other warrants, charging that children are stuck in a ruinous board structure.
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The suit of the residents of Queen Anne Hill to test the legality of the action of the board of education in applying for current expenses the $25,000 which it is allowed to levy for new sites and buildings was entered in the superior court yesterday, and Judge Osborn granted a temporary injunction restraining the county treasurer from paying out any portion of the moneys of the Seattle school district for any purpose other than the purchase of school sites and the erection of school buildings.
The injunction was granted on application of J. W. Clise, who filed a long complaint alleging that the board of education intended to call on the treasurer to divert school funds from the use originally intended.
In his complaint Mr. Clise recites that the treasurer now has on hand $193,438.62, proceeds of the taxes, and that this was intended for the purchase of a site and erection of a school on Queen Anne Hill. Instead of using the money for that purpose, Mr. Clise contends the treasurer is about to expend large sums in payment of warrants drawn for other purposes.
Mr. Clise is a resident of Queen Anne and states that the people of that section are not provided with proper school sites. He says the present school is a rough board structure, which is dilapidated and ruinous to the children.
Motion to dissolve the injunction will be heard Monday.
“He says the present school is a rough board structure, which is dilapidated and ruinous to the children.”
School funding fights are not new: in 1893, Queen Anne residents went to court to keep building money from being diverted. The complaint's image of children in a "rough board structure" still echoes in debates over school facilities and public trust.
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