In July 1875, eighteen Ash Valley residents petitioned for the formation of a school district. The Board of Supervisors tabled it. The petition failed to enumerate how many children resided in the valley. Of note, the majority of the petitioners were bachelors. A year later, a new petition was submitted that informed the Board there were fifteen children in the valley—the petition was approved.

Sometime in the late 1870s, the residents worked together to construct the schoolhouse. Records are not clear, but between 1917 and 1919 the school was closed. In July 1920, the residents requested the school be re-established and the request was granted. In 1923, the school closed again, as Julia A. Norwood, County Superintendent of Schools stated there was not a sufficient number of students. Norwood, on an optimistic note, ordered that the school’s fixtures and equipment remain in tact. The records, again, do not indicate when the school re-opened. At the County Board of Supervisor’s meeting of August 20, 1929 the minutes state: “Mrs. Mary Bath, Mr. & Mrs. J.T. Bath of Ash Valley appeared before the Board in the interest on emergency school at Ash Valley. It appearing that the proper showing had been made for this school, Mr. Bath is advised that a teacher would be designated.” This problem occurred again in 1934, when the school trustees were not able to secure a teacher and it was designated as an “emergency class.” The Board hired Jessie B. Madison for its teacher. The school closed for a final time in 1941. The last students to graduate were John Bath and Martha Bath in 1938. In September 1946, the Board of Supervisors declared the school as surplus property and ordered its sale, yet no buyers came forward.

It should be noted the school is located on a 40 acre parcel that also contains the Ash Valley Cemetery.

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While sifting through my Lassen County Schools file, I came across something that caught my attention. It was a telegraph envelope addressed to J.B. Spalding, a Lassen County High School Trustee. Someone wrote on the envelope “Please Preserve.” The above illustration was the content of the telegram from Lassen County Superintendent of Schools, J.F. Dixon.

It should be noted that Professor Frank C. Schofield was hired as the first Principal/Instructor for the Lassen County High School in the fall of 1903. A second instructor, George Barton assisted. In an 1906 account spoke highly of Schofield: “Under his efficient management rapid progress has been made in all departments, and the attendance has largely increased, the number of pupils registered the first year having been but forty, which in the second year sixty names appeared on the roll.” Among other items, Schofield oversaw the construction of the high school.

In June 1910, Professor Schofield surprised the community that he was leaving for Palo Alto, California to take year sabbatical from teaching. Was the above undated telegram the impetus?  We may never know. Schofield never returned to Lassen and spent the rest of his educational career in Palo Alto where he died in 1935.

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It is “Pomp and Circumstance” season across the country. Locally, it began with the commencement ceremony at Lassen College on May 27. It was then followed by the various elementary school districts and culminating with the high schools—Big Valley, Herlong, Lassen and Westwood. Congratulations to all those graduates, especially since they experienced some challenging times that few had ever to deal with—Covid 19. Do I have any wisdom to share? Well maybe and it might not be the best, since it was a long time ago when I graduated from Lassen High, I think the wisest decision is just not to say anything.

Tim

Some things never change and politics and schools is one. I can verify this first hand, having served as a trustee on the Lassen College Board. The stories I could write about that ten year tenure—Mormon Massacre anyone?

Today’s story is about an odd short-lived  or should I say  a ghost school district in Big Valley—Pioneer. Its name is rather peculiar since a half dozen schools in that region had already been established.

On August 23, 1887, residents on the west side of the Pleasant Butte School requested that a new district be established on the grounds: “The School House being so situated now that the greater portion of the Schollars in the Division we mention cannot attend the greater portion of the time on account of the Sloughs being full of water.” On September 27, 1887, Myra Parks, Lassen County Superintendent of Schools, informed the Lassen County Board of Supervisors that she personally inspected the conditions and recommended the Pioneer District be formed, that creating a new district would not be detrimental to Pleasant Butte. In October 1887, the request was granted.

Then things got weird. In January 1888, the Pleasant Butte School District residents on the east side petitioned the Board of Supervisors to rescind its action that had created the Pioneer School. They stated that the original petition provided “fake, fraudulent and misleading facts.”   At the February 1888 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, approved their request and the Pioneer School District was abolished.

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In the fall of 1882, W.H. Sifford led the effort for a new school district on the west side of Honey Lake.  The two nearest schools were nearly five miles away in either direction—Milford to the south and Lake to the north. In May 1883, the Oak Grove School District became a reality. The nucleus of the student population came from Clark, Decious and Raker families. It should be noted that the Wales, Wilburs, Lindsay, Fisher and Grass families also contributed to the student population. Like so many rural schools in 1920, the enrollment had declined to such an extent it was closed.  In 1922, with no indication that the school would be resurrected,  it was annexed to the Lake School District. The school was torn down in February 1926.

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