This article was written for San Benito County CattleWomen in 2012 by member Martha Tobias and was presented at one of the organization’s early county history events. It is being shared for publication at BenitoLink’s request in celebration of San Benito County’s 150th anniversary. It was edited by BenitoLink Co-Editor Leslie David with Martha Tobias’ permission.
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Educating children in San Benito County has long been a source of pride for county residents. The first school in the county was started in San Juan Bautista around 1840 for the sons of Spanish landholders. The first school district was organized in 1852 and encompassed most of what is now San Benito County, before we were separated from Monterey County 1874.
In the 1870s, schools began sprouting up throughout the county. The Homestead Act of 1862 made available 160 acres to individuals over the age of 18. They were required to live on the land for five years and make improvements, prior to filing for the deed of title. Homesteaders staked their claims on 160-acre “farms” throughout the county. Numerous small, makeshift schools held classes in adobe buildings, log cabins, farm sheds and private homes until more permanent arrangements could be built. These schools represented an assurance to the homesteading families that their children would have access to a better life through better education. The Homestead Act and the rural schools provided homesteading residents an avenue for pursuing the American dream. The schools also provided an identity for the communities and served as a public meeting place.
In 1868, when San Benito County was still part of Monterey County, a tax was approved to build a new school in San Juan and the district was so large that property owners over 100 miles away were taxed. The new, two-story building had a cupola, shutters framing more than 21 windows, an ornate front porch and cost $4,000 to build. Also in 1868, the San Benito district was formed out of the San Juan District. In 1869, four more districts were formed: Hollister, Pacheco, Jefferson and Fairview. Lone Oak school district was next in 1870, followed by Santa Ana, Tres Pinos, Eerie, Lone Tree and Union in 1873.
When San Benito County was officially established in 1874, the first superintendent of schools was elected and he found the districts in the new county to be rather “disorganized.” H.Z. Morris recorded observations which stated that “the schools had never been visited by the Monterey County Superintendent, the trustees were in charge and all the schools were without a copy of the school laws to guide them.”
Also in 1874 three more districts were formed: Bear Valley, Gabilan and Yanitos. By 1875, the county had 18 districts with the addition of Bitterwater, Paicines and Willow Creek. By 1879, 24 districts were in existence. The last one-room school district to be formed was Southside in 1925.
In the early years of the county, schools opened, combined and closed as needed to accommodate families where there were children of school age.
In 1881, there were 1,195 children attending school in the county. By 1884, that number decreased by 52 to 1,143 students. By 1890, the number increased by 245 to 1,388.
County records reveal the constantly changing number of schools. In 1884, there were 33 schools; in 1890 there were 43; in 1900 there were 48. By the early 1900s, many of the rural schools were closing as homesteaders realized they could not make a living on 160 acres. As they had proven their homestead claim, they were able to sell their land and move on. Mines that provided employment in remote areas of the county were also closing.
The small, wood frame one-room schoolhouses were simple structures. Some had a bell tower, most had matching windows on either side, all had wood stoves for heat and a front or back porch where firewood was stored. Sanitary facilities consisted of privies or outhouses. Schools were located where water could be drawn from a well or a constant water source.
[Editor’s note: There are seven schools still operating in the eastern and southern side of San Benito County: Bitterwater-Tully, Cienega, Jefferson, Panoche, Southside, Tres Pinos and Willow Grove. There is also a one-room schoolhouse at the Historical Park located next to Bolado Park in Tres Pinos.]
Early era county residents noted that schools were located about every five miles because that was about as far as children could travel in a day by foot or horseback. A minimum of five pupils was required to conduct a schoolroom.
George Meideros went to the Tres Pinos School in the late 1920s. He recalled that he and his younger sister started school the same year because she wanted to go. Keeping attendance high enough to generate funding was important. Although many students missed school during harvest periods, children from harvest-working families helped increase daily attendance. When school populations were in danger of dropping below the minimum required number, trustees would seek a teacher with children to help bolster the attendance levels.
Schools were named by various methods. Some were named after Indian tribes such as Anzar, Ausaymas and Paicines. Some were named after the host family such as Garcia, Green, Pacheco, Tully, Villa and Vega.
Others were named after surrounding vegetation: Cottonwood, Live Oak, Lone Tree, Oak Grove, Willow Grove and Vineyard.
Some were named after the valleys, rivers, roads, mines and water resources: Bear Valley, Bitterwater, Cherry Hill, Fairview, Junction, New Idria, Pine Flat and Round Springs.
The Spreckels School was named after the Spreckels sugar family and was located in the north end of the county on Lake Road. It had the distinction of being built on skids so it could be towed to follow the sugar beet crop rotation, enabling children to continue their schooling.
The San Benito County Board of Education was established in April 1880. The board’s priorities included defining the subjects to be taught, selecting the textbooks for teachers and students to use and reviewing all pupils’ examination papers every June after teachers had graded them.
The board was also responsible for providing the examinations for teacher certification for the applicants who did not have a college diploma. These examinations were held twice a year and were three-day affairs.
Exam questions covered the subjects that they were to teach and the methods for teaching them. Instructors were to be knowledgeable in arithmetic, reading, grammar, spelling, geography, United States history, vocal music and, of course, penmanship. Seventh and eighth grade teachers needed to understand algebra, natural philosophy, physiology, English literature, composition, bookkeeping, the United States Constitution, California state laws, civil government and industrial drawing.
If a teaching applicant provided 85% correct answers, they were given a “first class” certification. Those with only 80% correct answers were given a “second class” certification. Certification levels determined teacher placement and pay level. Applicants who provided less than 80% accurate answers were encouraged to continue their studies. San Benito County did have a reciprocal teacher certification system with several neighboring counties as there were schools located beyond the county line but were only accessible by roads in the county.
In 1880, the average monthly income for a teacher was $67.31; in 1928 it was between $140 and $150. A dollar in 1880 is estimated to be worth $27.56 today, so teachers earned approximately $3,858 to $4,134 a month in today’s dollars.
The school year schedule varied by district. By the 1920s, all the schools were targeted to open between August 27 and September 17. The opening dates differed based on the local crop harvest, where many older children were counted on to help out. Christmas break could last two or three weeks depending on the school. Easter rated a week off of school and schools closed for the summer in early or late June. Holidays included two days at Thanksgiving and one day each for New Year’s Day and Memorial Day. Trustees of each school could authorize other holidays. Districts prone to flooding might tailor their schedule to avoid holding school during the wettest weeks of the winter. Thus some schools had a 9.5-month school year and others had a 10-month school year.
Early era residents made sure their children got to school. Richard Caldera and his two sisters, who lived in Browns Valley, used to attend the Cottonwood School, traveling every day by horseback. Paul McKenna also recalls riding horseback to and from the school. He mentioned that he rode a small bay mustang mare who could outrun most of the other kids’ horses, but also dump him off whenever she felt like it.
Edna Butterfield, who attended Live Oak school, recalled her brother and sister rode horses to school but because she was younger, her parents made her walk. She also recalls her parents dropping off hay for the horses at the school.
Ernie Bettencourt, who attended San Justo and Olympia Schools, recalled his travel to and from school with a horse and surrey. Here’s one story he told on himself: “My horse was afraid of trucks and cars. Sometimes on the way to school, a truck would go by and I would end up playing hooky because the horse would run out into a field and I was afraid of tipping over if I turned around.”
Stories about recess certainly reflect simpler times. Residents recalled that the schools didn’t have much of a play yard or play equipment. Boys played marbles in the dirt under the shade trees and sometimes they brought out their pocket knives and entertained themselves playing “mumbly-peg.”
- Enos Silva, who attended Olympia School, recalled that he learned to dance during recess as the teacher gave dance lessons.
- Jean Harland recalled school days at Anzar when boys scared girls with snakes, but somehow the girls would always get even. She also recalled the teacher reading Zane Gray stories to the students in the afternoon.
- Jane Hogan Churchill went to Fairview School and recalled that one of their pastimes was to sit by the road and listen for cars.
- Anna Sabbatini went to Pacheco School and remembered May Day celebrations where students would dance around the maypole with streamers. They also played baseball and hopscotch on a regular basis.
- Bill Hawkins went to Ausaymas School and recalled playing tackle football with no pads of any kind and that they played softball and hardball.
- Peggy Bettencourt attended Emmet and then Willow Grove Schools. She recalled that they played a lot of baseball and used cow pies as bases. They played on a farmer’s field and had to move the game whenever he drove his cows through the area.
Both women and men taught at schools throughout the county. In the early years, few teachers had the benefit of a college education, but most had the primary or secondary certification from the county. As teachers were assigned to their positions, in some districts they were encouraged to sign up for homesteads by their host families. Before they moved on, they were able to sell the land to a local family and earn a little savings.
In some cases, single female teachers married into local families and a homestead became part of an existing family ranch.
In the early days, there were stories of teachers who were strong disciplinarians. The teacher at the first school in San Juan was a former soldier who used disciplinary methods he learned in the Army. If the boys misbehaved, he would hit them on the hands with a wood mallet.
At the Poverty Hill—later Enterprise—School [in the Sunnyslope area of Hollister] one story was passed down over the years. On a given day, a “particularly incorrigible” student was tied with a rope to a fence post in the schoolyard. Fingernail inspections were also conducted. Dirty nails meant a “popping” on the hands with a ruler and getting sent out of class to wash again.
Bill Hawkins recalled his principal in detail. “She was a large, imposing woman who could quiet a room by stepping inside the door and raising her eyebrows,” he said. “When her eyebrows went up, everything got real quiet.”
“Every student in those days knew trouble at school meant getting your britches warmed at home,” said Paul McKeena who attended Cottonwood School.
His aunt, Kathleen McKenna, taught at Fairview School. One year on the first of May, she came to school and had very few pupils in class. She discovered that all the older boys had gone “catfishing.” She rounded up some parents and they went down to the creek and found the hooky players in swimming trunks. They were promptly escorted back to school.
Tom Clay was a teacher who had been assigned to work at various schools in the San Benito district. He was specifically asked to come to the Jefferson School where some rowdy older boys had gotten to be too much for the faculty to handle. Clay, who was usually seen smoking a small pipe, walked into school the first day, pulled out a revolver, set it on the desk and then proceeded to teach school. Records indicate that there were no further problems and that Clay later became the district superintendent.
In 1949, the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito, were part of a unification committee, which authorized a study to evaluate the condition of schools in each county. The picture painted of the condition of our rural schools was a grim one. Improvements to buildings and schoolyards had been minimal during the Depression and World War II years. Schools were just getting back on track to address shortcomings. The study recommended closing or “unifying” all the rural schools in the county.
Howard Harris, who was involved in the unification committee, recalled that residents resented the tri-county study’s conclusions because it created a situation where people outside the county were making decisions for us. The battle to “unify” schools lasted nearly 20 years as the School District Organization Act of 1950 required county schools to keep holding elections until unification was accepted by voters. In 1966, the voters rejected unification by a 2-to-1 margin.
Then a bill called the Field Act came into play. The 6.3-magnitude Long Beach earthquake of 1933, in which over 230 school buildings were destroyed or rendered unsafe in Southern California, brought forth a law mandating earthquake-resistant construction for school buildings. In 1940, the 7.1 Imperial Valley earthquake provided a real-world test: reinforced or new buildings suffered much less damage and proved safer for their occupants.
For various reasons, many school districts delayed upgrading their existing buildings. However, changes made to the law in 1967 and 1968 set specific deadlines to ensure the needed upgrades would occur. State funding made it feasible to build new schools rather than trying to retro-fit and maintain various older, smaller schools. Districts made their own decisions about which schools to combine. This partly explains why smaller schools still exist in the county today. Our rural schools still have a great reputation of preparing students for continuing their education, as they did in the early days, and a good education is still part of the American dream.
Martha Tobias and Leslie David want to thank the San Benito County Historical Society, which helped Martha find most of the information in this article and provided the photos. The Historical Society Research room is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The San Benito County Historical Society is a donor supported nonprofit organization.
The Historical Village, also operated by the Historical Society is located within the San Benito County Historical Park, 1 mile south of Tres Pinos on Hwy 25. The Visitor Center is free and open on Saturdays from 11am-3pm.
Sources
San Benito Historical Society Research Room
Paul McKeena history, July 12, 1983
San Benito County School Facilities Master Plan, April 1988
Evening Free Lance, May 8, 1965
Evening Free Lance, May 1, 1967
County Board of Education record journals
1880 to 1897
1897 to 1914
1914 to 1928
1929 to 1956
BenitoLink thanks Martha Tobias for sharing this report.
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