During the summer of 1908, the people who had taken up homesteads in the settlement that came to be known as Rexboro felt that appropriate steps must be taken to care for the education of their children. During the summer a board of trustees had been elected, but the minutes of the meeting of November 14, 1908 records "its purpose was to elect two trustees to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of York and Smith". It would seem that the school issue had stirred up a real controversy in the settlement for the secretary recorded that "after heated discussion H.T. Smith and Buck declared the following elected: Walter Margerison and J. Haddock." In the minutes of a meeting held two weeks later one reads that "the meeting of November 14 was disputed and the Department of Education had ordered a new election for November 28". Interest in the school was keen and the settlers evenly divided on who should be responsible for guiding the affairs of the new district.
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ADDENDUM- GW
The school was closed in 1948. The building was sold to Dave Giles who renovated it into a house and kept it at the same location for several years. Eventually he moved the building to the Lac Ste. Anne Trail north of Township Road 534 and still occupies it.
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Prominent in the discussions at the meetings for organizing the district and building the school were R. McClelland, H. Rendall, A. Bennett, H.T. Smith, G. Merryweather, Ed York, A.E. Buck, W. Margerison, J. Bell, G. Braithwaite, and T.R. Reninger.
The first annual meeting was held at the Rexboro Post Office on January 5, 1909, with R. McClelland in the chair. A discussion of the extent and the boundaries took place and recommendations to the Department agreed upon. The centre of the original Rexboro District was somewhere along the present Darwell road.
The ratepayers agreed "that the sum of $800.00 to $1000.00 be expended for a proposed frame building and equipment." The new board consisting of Walter Margerison, J.C.Haddock, H.T. Smith with H. Rendall as secretary met after the annual meeting to plan their meeting with the Department of Education. In April the board decided to buy two acres of land on the SE corner of section 24, township 53, range 5 at the price of $20.00 per acre. He supported the board's choice and in September, word from the Department confirmed approval of the site. On September 29, the board measured and staked out the site and began arrangements for the sale of debentures. However, there must have been further protests for the minutes of December 23 record that the final approval from the Department was a two-acre site on the SE corner of section 25.
The board took the necessary steps to raise $800.00 by sale of debentures and instructed the Secretary to find a buyer. They also decided that a tax of two and one-half cents an acre be levied on all land within the district and tax notices be sent out as soon as possible.
Plans for the erection of the school were made. The grounds had to be brushed and a basement eight feet square and four deep dug. The sum of seven dollars was allotted to pay for a man and a team to do this work.
The erecting of the school building was dealt with after the annual meeting of 1910. At that time tenders were opened. Tenders for the hauling of lumber and supplies, bought at Graham Bros., Stony Plain, and shipped to Fallis via Grand Trunk Pacific Railway were considered. F. Smith (NE14-53-5-W5) bid to haul from Fallis to the site for $2.40 per thousand board feet and $5.00 for all other supplies was accepted. Mr. Rendall's (SE20-53-4-W5) tender for erecting the building for $200.00 won approval and R. McClelland's $25.00 bid for erecting the stable was accepted. The secretary was instructed "to get proper forms and have all signed by respective contractors before work commenced."
In March the board began to look for a teacher. Offers of $55.00 a month and $750.00 a year were made. The first authorization for paying a teacher was made at a July meeting, "that the board pay Mr. Hassan, school teacher, to the end of June." In November the board decided that the district could not afford $70.00 a month after December and the secretary was to notify Mr. Hassan of their decision. Mr. Hassan stayed on in Rexboro through this difficult period. He resigned in December, 1912, and the board decided to close the school in April.
In the spring of 1913 the board, responding to the ratepayer's demands for a lady teacher, hired a Mrs. Kinch. She could also do the janitor work. Paying the teacher was often difficult, but in September, the board authorized payment of $180.00 for the first quarter of her contract. She was asked "to teach without fail until June 30". She apparently left for greener pastures for a Miss Swales was in charge of the school by February 28. In 1915 an agreement was signed for one year with Miss Stella Munn at $750.00 and caretaking at $40.00.
The year 1916 was a time of crisis for the district. The Department had included the western sections in the new Fallis School District. The centre of the Rexboro District was now in the the centre of Whitewood Lake two miles east. Plans were made for moving the building to a new location. School was closed, the teacher given thirty days notice, and tenders called for the moving of the building. H. Smith offered two acres of land at the corner of SW21-53-4-5 just south of the lake and the board accepted. Mr. Schulte's tender of $280.00 for moving school and outbuildings was accepted. Taxes would be eight cents an acre.
Prominent in school affairs in the period were S. Reninger, J. Haddock, Hugh Conn, Jocelyn Walker, Edwin Creasey, A. Bennett, W. Henry, E.L. Baugh, Mr. Mudie, Mrs. Walker, and Mrs. A. McClelland.
To cover the cost of moving the buildings, new debentures totalling $350.00 were sold. Mrs. E. Margerison recalls seeing Mr. Schulte's team of ponies pulling the school building along the three mile route.
School opened again in the early summer with Miss Aldridge in charge but her stay was short for the board signed a contract with a Miss Mamie Simpson for the period August 15, to December 15 at the "sum of $60.00 a month flat rate and a fee of one dollar a week for janitorship." Among teachers who had charge of the school for short periods were Miss Miller, Edgar Mills, Miss McOwen, who left to attend Normal School, Miss McFadyn, and Miss Shernack.
In 1920, conditions for teachers were improving for the board signed a contract with a Miss Lillian Johnston at $1,000.00 a year. Agreement to pay the teacher on a monthly basis was also made. However, with the depression in agriculture in the west, in September, 1921, the board was allowed to engage Miss Jenny Mondy for six months at $840.00 per annum.BR>
Before the annual ratepayers meeting in January, a new blow struck the district. For some time the board had engaged and paid Charlie Gauthier for transporting the pupils from the northern part of the district to the school. Rexboro was notified that they would lose the northern sections and these would be included with Darwell. The Department ruling prompted the ratepayers to threaten the Department with the indefinite closure of the school unless additonal assessable acreage was given Rexboro in return. They unanimously registered disapproval of the way the Department acted in taking away the area.
In the same year an agreement with the neighbour on the east, Sylvan S.D., was worked out and the children of the district could attend Rexboro School for twenty cents per day per pupil.
During the 1920s and 1930s the affairs of the district were handled by Fraser Kerr, W.H. Margerison, C.H. Tilby, James Veitch and H. Smith as trustees. Mrs. Anna McClelland was secretary until 1924 when she moved away. Mrs. E. Margerison remained secretary from that day until the enlarged school units were established.
School during the last years of Rexboro, as an independent district, was conducted by Miss Murray, Miss Perry, and for a lengthy period by Ray Ohlsen of Duffield.
In the depression of the thirty's schools were having problems in financing operations. Plans for consolidation of schools in rural areas were in the making. After 1936, the government system of the enlarged school units for administering education in the province was adopted. Rexboro District became part of the Stony Plain School Division. The local boards lost control of school affairs and soon faded from the scene. Teachers who continued to hold classes in the one-room schools under the direction of the Divisional Board were Harold Anderson, Miss Dickie, Miss Cheshire, Miss Roseborough and Miss Livingstone. After World War II, Rexboro School was closed and the children taken by bus to Seba Beach. The building was sold and removed and the centre of a once very active little community was no more.