The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903 Page: 43
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Educational Eforts in Saun Fernando.
During 1831 there was collected by voluntary subscription 59
pesos, 7 reales, and from slaughter fees (producto de la came) some
162 pesos. The expenses that year were 135 pesos, the salary of
the assistant for nine months, and five month's salary for a new
teacher at 25 pesos a month. Other expenses for repairs left the
fund with 30 pesos, 6 reales in cash. The notes by this time
amounted to 270 pesos. For 1832 there are some new items among
the receipts, such as a voluntary contribution of 100 pesos, donated
by Dofia Gertrudis Perez, through her husband, Jose Casiano, and
a loan of 50 pesos to the school fund from another branch of the
municipal revenue. Contributions for that year added to the fund
90 pesos, 5 reales. From it were paid salaries to the extent of 435
pesos and expense of repairs, 13 pesos, 4 reales, leaving a balance
of 296 pesos, 5 reales, of which only about 80 pesos were in cash.
By the end of 1833 this cash balance amounted to 9 pesos only,
although but 250 pesos had been paid out for salaries. Resort had
again been had to borrowing from another fund, to eke out even
this smaller sum. In 1834 only 144 pesos were paid to the assist-
ant, but again it was necessary to borrow. At the close of that
year the account of the school fund terminates, but receipts given
by Bruno Huizar, as teacher, show that he was paid as late as Jan-
uary 31, 1835.1
The "Ordinance for the Primary School of this City" (San
Fernando de Bexar)2 deserves more than the passing notice permit-
ted by the limits of this article. At the very beginning the relig-
ious foundation of the school system is marked by selecting the
Child Jesus as the patron saint of the establishment and dedicating
the twenty-fifth of December to a special celebration in his honor.
Each year the teacher was to invite the parents of the pupils to
contribute to the expenses of this occasion. The pupils were to
address each other as "Citizen So-and-so," reserving "Seior" for
the teacher and other elders. The two vacations of each year were
'The above facts are gleaned from the accounts of the school fund from
1828-1834, inclusive, contained in the Bexar Archives, supplemented by
occasional references to the minutes of the a'yuntamiento during the years
1830-32, and to receipts for salary given by the teachers.
'Drawn up by Juan de Beramendi, Refugio de la Garza, the parish
curate, and Josh Maria Balmeceda, March 13, 1826. MSS. Bexar Archives.
See Appendix C.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 6, July 1902 - April, 1903, periodical, 1903; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101028/m1/47/?rotate=270: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.