All legal aspects of the so-called Peabody Fund, by which Norwood hopes to obtain a vocational school for girls, have been cleared up, and the decree has definitely determined the status of the fund, members of the Chamber of Commerce were informed last night in a report submitted by Frederick A Howard, chairman of the town affairs committee.
The report, which indicated that the trustees of the fund and the committee are going ahead with plans for the proposed building, is as follows:
“A survey of the work done by the trustees of the fund and Peabody School fund committee indicates that rapid progress is being made toward the actual preparation for the plans and building of the Peabody vocational guidance school.
“The petition for re-assignment of funds brought to the supreme court by Simmons College was dismissed and the case returned to ‘the Suffolk Probate court, where the will was originally probated, and its terms interpreted to provide that the income of the fund be turned over to the town of Norwood for the purpose of building and equipping a vocational training school, the character, and standard of which to be adequate to carry out Mr. Peabody’s will.
“In order that the Peabody school be a tax-free institution, the corporation must return any and all income to the town for expenditures of the project and thus be considered public funds.
“The trustees held a meeting for the purpose of gaining information from the court as to what will be considered adequate as to building and to request approval’ for an appropriation to be made of the sum of $2000 for the services of an expert, which sum was approved.
“All legal aspects of the case have been cleared up and the decree has definitely determined the status of the fund and the trustees were directed to go ahead with all plans for the actual work.
“As the result of some fine work done by Mr. Barrett of the town affairs committee, it was found that a similar project was completed in the town of Northampton. The committee in charge was instrumental in having legislation passed whereby the funds expended were considered public funds and the state reimburses the town of Northampton each year one-half of its yearly expenditures. It is believed that this might also be done in Norwood’s case, particularly where a precedent has now been established.
“At this time, the trustees and the committee are meeting to work out the details for going ahead with plans for construction and estimates for designing.”
🏫 If this post brought back memories of Norwood’s classrooms, corridors, or teachers, please like, comment, and share it — on your wall, in alumni groups, or on your social media. Every share helps preserve our town’s educational legacy.