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School Board for London,
Victoria Embankment, W.C.
31st October, 1900.
Sir,
Fulham Langford Road School.
I am instructed to report to the Board of Education, that on
the 24th instant, on account of the presence of Diphtheria, an
order was received from the Sanitary Authority for class-room "H"
of the above school to be closed for a period of 14 days, and also
for the exclusion from the school of all the children living in the
same houses as the children attending the class-room mentioned.
On inquiry, it is found that only five cases of Diphtheria have
occurred in class.room " H," which has an attendance of 111
children. Under the circumstances, the Board are of opinion that
the steps taken are unnecessary, and a doubt exists as to whether
in such a case as this, children can legally be excluded from obtaining
proper educational advantages, when not residents in infected
houses. lam therefore directed to appeal to the Board of Education
against the action of the Sanitary Authority in the matter.
The Secretary,
Board of Education,
Whitehall, S.W.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
G. H. CROAD,
Clerk to the Board.
Before explaining the circumstances that led me to advise the
Sanitary Authority to close the class-room in question, I will briefly
deal with the prevalence of Diphtheria in the district during the
past three months.
In the first eight months of the year, although there was more
Diphtheria, proportionally, in Fulham, than in the rest of London,
there was no exceptional prevalence of the disease compared with
the corresponding period of the two previous years, the cases
notified representing an annual rate per 1,000 of the estimated
population.