i ->- THE GIFT OF 1.A Cornell University Library arW38119 Code of public instruction of the state 3 1924 031 757 655 olin.anx T^ Cornell University Library The original of tiiis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031757655 CODE PUBLIC INSTRUCTION^ STATE OF NEW YORK : CONTAINING THIE Ij-A."W"S JLlSrX) 33 EC I S I OISTS REIiATING TO COMMON SCHOOLS, WITH COMMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS. EDITED BY JAMES E. KIRK, COUNSBLLOB-AT-LAW. UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF ' ANDREW S. DRAPER, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OP PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. ALBANY, N. Y.: WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 1887. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, BY WEED, PARSONS & COMPANY, In the office of the Librarian in Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. The Legislature of 1856 directed the publication of a revised edition of the school statutes, with the decisions of the Superin- tendents of Common Schools, in one volume, and entitled sneh book the " Code of Public Instruction." In 1864 an act was passed known as the " Consolidated School Act," which revised and brought together in compact and systematic form the laws relating to common schools. Copies of this act together with brief comments, forms and decisions of the Department and courts, were directed to be prepared and dis- tributed throughout the school districts of the State, but owing to a failure in making the necessary appropriation, it was not issued until 1868, and then as the Code of that year. The edition was again revised in 1879, but by private enterprise. Twenty years have elapsed since the Code was put in possession of the school districts. During that period very many of the sec- tions of the Consolidated School Act have been amended, in some cases several times, and additional acts have been passed by the Legislature. There have also been decisions bearing upon the subject, rendered by the various courts of the State, and a large body of opinions covering every phase of the school laws, written by the State Superintendents of Public Instruction. These progressive changes in the law made the use of former editions inadequate to the necessities of the present time, and created a general demand for a new Code. It has been the purpose of the editor in preparing this work to make such an arrangement that the law bearing upon a given subject may be easily ascertained and comprehended. To that end an en tirely new plan has been adopted, the principal feature of which is the division iv Pkeface. of Part II into chapters treating separately the more important sub- jects embodied in the law, in each of which every thing bearing upon a particular subject, either in the way of statute law, decis- ions of the courts, annotations, directions or forms, are grouped under their proper headings. This book will be distributed among the school districts at the expense of the State, by the provisions of chapter 672, Laws of 188T. The editor in preparing this work has had in mind the wants both of the legal profession and of school officers througliout the State. While he has aimed to embrace within its limits the entire body of the law bearing upon the subject, it has also been his desire to present the matter in such a way that it can be comprehended by those who have not had a legal training. Its preparation has in- volved a great amount of labor, both of investigation and arrange- ment, in which he has received the valuable aid and advice of the Hon. Andrew S. Draper, State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion. Realizing that he has probably fallen short of his intention, yet, if he is correct in believing, as he does, that the book will meet the demands of the public, he will feel amply rewarded. JAMES E. KIRK. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. ^ Pages. Text of the genekal laws applying to common schools 1-119 PART II. Appeals 130-129 Blind 130-138 Clerk of District 139-144 Collector 145-146 Deaf and Dumb 147-158 Fines and Penalties 159-165 Librarian and Libraries 166-179 Meetings 180-197 Reports 198-216 Schools 317-324 School Commissioners and Commissioner's Districts 225-843 School Districts 244-357 School-Houses and Appendages 258-273 School-House Sites ; 373-287 State School Moneys 388-811 State Superintendent op Public Instruction 313-332 Supervisors •. 323-327 Taxes (assessment and collection) 828-377 Teachers 378-405 Teachers' Institutes 408-411 Town Clerk 413-415 Trustees 416-430 Trust Funds 431^36 Union Free Schools 437-461 PART III. American Museum op Natural HistoIiy 483-485 Cornell University 486-488 State Normal Schools 463-483 Ti Table of Contents. PART rv Pages. Digest of DEcrsroN s op State Supemntendbnts 489-794 PART V. Special Local Acts 795-983 Note.— In Part II, the Roman characters denote the title of the Consolidated School Act, from which the sections following such characters have been taken. PART I. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL ACT OF 1864, AS AMENDED, AND OTHEE GEKERAL SCHOOL LAWS NOW IN FOKOB. Oliap. 555. AN ACT to revise and consolidate the General Act relating to Public Instruction. Passed May 3, 1864 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New Yorh^ represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : TITLE I. OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, HIS' ELECTION AND GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES. * Skotion 1. The office of State Superintendent of Pub- state su- lic Instruction .is continued and the term of said office ent!"'?"''" shall be three years, comtnencing hereafter on the seventh a',fd term day of April. Such Superintendent shall be elected by ot office, joint ballot of the senate and assembly on the second "Wednesday of February next preceding the expiration of the term of the then incumbent of said office, and on the second Wednesday of February next after the occur- rence of any vacancy in the office. *As amended byseo. 1, chap. 75, Lawa of 1883, and by sec. 1, chap, 591, Lawa of 1886, TITLE 1. Deputy superin- tendent. Vacancy. Salary. Clerk hire Seal. Copies of papers on file under seal to be evidence. Superin- tendent's ex oflficio duties. Superin- tendent's general supervis- ion. Institution for deaf Consolidated School Act of 1864. *8 2. He shall appoint a deputy ; and in case of a vacancy in the office of Superintendent the Deputy inay perforin all the duties of the office until the day herein- before fixed for the commencement of the term of said office- In case the office of both Superintendent and Deputy shall be vacant, the governor shall appoint some person to perform the duties of , the office until the super- intendent shall be elected and his term of office com- mence, as hereinbefore provided. _ 8 3 The Superintendent's office shall continue to he m the state hall, and maintained at the expense of the state. +§ 4 His salary shall be five thousand dollars a year, payable quarterly, by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller. , , , j 18 5. He may appoint as many clerks as he may deem necessary, but the comi^ensation of sucli clerks ehall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of nine thousand dollars in any one year, and shall be payable monthly by the treasurer, on the warrant of tlie comptroller, and the certificate of the Superintendent. § 6. The seal of the Superintendent, of which a descrip- tion and impression are now on file in the office of the secretary of state, shall continue to be his official seal,_and when necessary, may be renewed from time to time. Copies of all papers deposited or filed in the Superintend- ent's office, and of all acts, orders and decisions made, by him, and of the drafts or machine copies of his official letters, may be authenticated under the said seal, and when so authenticated, shall be evidence equally with and in like manner as the originals. 1§ 7. The Superintendent shall be, ex-officio, a trustee of Cornell University, and of the New York State Asylum for Idiots, and a Regent of the University of the State of New York. He shall also have general supervision over the state normal schools at- Brock port, Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, Oswego and Potsdam,- and over any other state normal schools which may hereafter be estab- lished ; and he shall provide for the education of the Indian children of the state, as required by chapter sev- enty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six. " 8. The institution for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, the New York institution for the blind, and all •As amended by sec, 2, chap. 75, Laws of 1883. t As amended by sec. 1, chap. 567, Laws of 187.'5. i As amended by sec. 2, chap. 5H7, Laws of 1875. y As amended by sec. 3, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. Of Superintendent of Public Instruction. other similar institntion?, incorporated, or that may be '■^''■''"^ '• hereafter incorporated, shall be subject to the visitation biind!™^ of the superintendent of public instruction, and it shall be his duty : 1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures Superm. of each institution, and the systems of instrnction pursued dulfes!'^ therein, respectively. 2. To visit and inspect the schools helonging thereto, and the lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 3. To ascertain, by a comparison with other similar institutions, whether any improvements in instruction and discipline can be made; and for that purpose to ap- point, from time to time, suitable persons to visit the schools. 4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions and to the legislature, such improvements as he shall judge expedient. 5. To make an annual report to the legislature on all ?"Pf '"", the matters before enumerated, and particularly as to the report an- condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, ""*"y- and their treatment in respect to board and lodging. *§ 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this state Terms of^ and upwards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this state for three years immediately preceding the application, or, if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have been resident in this state for three years immediately preceding the application, shall be eligible t6 appointment as state pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institutions of this state, authorized by law to receive such pupils; and ail blind persons of suitable ago and similar qualifications shall be elegible to appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of New York or in the village of Batavia, as follows : All such as are residents of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk and Eichmond shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the city of New York ; those who reside in other counties of the state shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia. All such appointments, with the exception of those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, shall be made by the superintendent of public instruction upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the parents or guardians of the applicants ♦As amended by sec. 4, chap. 567, Laws o£ 1875, and by sec. 1, chap. 615, Laws Ot 1886. NOTB.— See chap. 166, Laws of 1870. Consolidated School Act of 1864. state pu- pils; ac- commoda- tion, com- pensation, etc. Term of in- struction. Time of admission. School visitor. Superin- tendent to visit the common schools. are able to bear a portion of the expense, lie may impose conditions whereby some proportionate share of ex- pense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such manner and at such times as the superintendent shall designate, which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he shall deem it expedient to do so. § 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institu-^ tions aforesaid, shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition ; and the directors of the institution shall receive for eat-h pupil so provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quarterly payments, to be paid by the' treasurer of the state, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institution, on his presenting a bill showing the actual time and number of such pupils attend- ing the institution, and which bill shall be signed by the president and secretary of the institution and verified by their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such pupils shall be Jive years; but the superintendent of pub- lic instruction may, in his discretion, extend the term of any pupil for a period not exceeding three years. The pupils provided for in this and the preceding section of this title, shall be designated state pupils ; and all the existing provisions of law applicable to state pupils now in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided for. § 11. The superintendent of public instruction may make such regulations and give such directions to parents and guardians, in relation to the admission of pupils into either of the above named institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the same at irregular periods. § 12. The superintendent may, in his discretion, ap- point persons to visit and examine all or any of the com- mon schools in the county wherein such persons reside, and to report to him all such matters respecting their condition and management and the means of improving them as he shall prescribe ; but no allowance or com- pensation shall be made to such visitors for their services or expenses. §13. So often as he can, consistently with his other duties, he shall visit such of the common schools of the state as he shall see fit, and inquire into their course of instruction, manageriicnt and discipline, and advise and encourage the pupils, teachers and officers thereof. Of Sdperintendent of Public Instruction. * § 14. He shall submit to the legislature an annual re- Annual port containing : report. 1. A statement of the condition of the common schools of. the state, and of all other schools and institutions under his supervision, and subject to his visitation as superintendent. 2. Estimates and accounts of expenditures of the school moneys, and a statement of the apportionment of school moneys made by him. 3. All such matters relating to liis office, and all such plans and suggestions for the improvement of the schools and the advancement of public instruction in the state as he shall deem expedient. f § 15. He may grant under his hand and seal of office, S'g'^."^'"" a certificate of qualification to teach, and maj- revoke the same. While unrevoked, such certificate shall be con- clusive evidence that the person to vsrhom it was granted is qualified by moral character, learning and ability to teach any common school in the state. Such certificate may be granted by him only upon examination, fie shall Examina- determine the manner in which such examination shall be "tatJcer- conducted, and may designate proper persons to conduct tifloate. the same, and report the result to him. He may also ap- point times and i)laces for holding such examinations, at least once in each year, and cause due notice thereof to be given. He may also issue temporary licenses to teach, ^0^^°™"'^ limited to any school commissioner district or school dis- trict, and for a period not exceeding six months, wiien- ever in his judgment, it may be necessary or expedient for him to do so. §16. Upon cause shown to his satisfaction, he may ''^'^y: annul annul any certificate of qualification granted to a teacher cates. by a school commissioner, or declare any diploma issued by the state normal school ineffective and null as a quali- fication to teach a common school within this state, and he may reconsider and reverse his action in any such matter. §17. He shall prepare and keep in his office alpha- 1^'^'^"' betical lists of all persons who have received, or shall re- holding ceive, certificates of qualification from iiimself, or diplo- tiAcater mas of the s'tate normal school, with the dates thereof, *"'' "'"■■ and shall note thereon all annulments and reversals of * NoTB.— Seo. 11, chap. 815, Laws of 1881, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 621, Laws of 1881. provides that the atinual report shall be presented to the legislature within ten days alter the commencement of the session. ■t As amended by sec. 5, chap. S67, Laws of 1875. Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE 2. mal school diplomas. Superin- tendent may re- move school commis- sioners or other school offi- cers. Shall pre- pare regis- ters, blanks, etc. such certificates and diplomas, with the date and causes thereof, together with such otlier particulars as he may deem expedient. § 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school commissioner, or other school ofBeer, has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the superintendent, the superintendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, whicli order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner or other school officer from his office. § 19. He shall prepare suitable registers, blanks, forms and regulations for making all reports and conducting all necessary business under this act, and shall cause the same, with such information and instructions as he shall deem conducive to the proper organization and govern- ment of the common schools, and the due execution of their- duties by school officers, to be transmitted to the officers and persons intrusted with the execution of the same. TITLE II. School commis- sioners. School I commis- sioner dis- tricts. How elected. OF THE SCHOOL COMMISSIONEES, THEIE ELECTIOST, POWERS AND DUTIES. Section 1. The office of school commissioner is con- tinued, and the present incumbents shall continue in office in their respective districts, for the residue of the terms for which they were elected or appointed. *§ 2. The districts as organized under existing laws and as recognized in the election of school commissioners at the annual election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall continue to be held and regarded as the school com- missioner districts in this state, except as the same shall be altered or modified by the legislature. t§ 3. The school commissioner for each school com- missioner district shall be elected by the electors thereof by separate ballot, at the general election, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and triennially thereafter.^and the ballots shall be indorsed " school com- ■" The laws regulating the election of and missioner. • NOTE.-Cities electing superintendents, etc., are not includad in ,.nm ?i{: LawTot S."- ^'' """P- ™' ^''^^ "' "^^: "^ amended byTec. l" cTa™: t As ameuded by sec. 1, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. t Of School Commissioners. canvassing the votes for county officers shall apply to '^^^^^ ^ such elections. And it shall further be the duty of county county clerks, and they are hereby required, as soon as they shall cenfey'to have official notice of the election or appointment of app^"'" school commissioner, tor any district m tueir county, totheeiec- for«ard to the superintendent of public instruction aappo?nt- duplicate certificate of sucli election or appointment, at-™^^°g. tested by tlieir signature and the seal of the county. sioner. § 4. The term of office of such commissioner shall com- Term of mence on the first day of January next after his election, ''^''^' and shall be for three years and until his successor quali- fies. Every person elected to the office, or appointed to fill a vacancy, must take the oath of office prescribed by office." the constitution, before the county clerk, or a judge of a court of record, and file it with the county clerk, within ten days after the commencement of the term, or after notice of his appointment; and if he omit so to do, the office shall be deemed vacant. § 5. A commissioner may, at any time, vacate his office, Commu- by filing his resignation with the county clerk. His resign, removal from the county, or his acceptance of the office of supervisor, town-clerk or trustee of a school district, J^^'®^ shall vacate his office. *§ 6. The county clerk, so soon as he has official or How va- other notice of the existence of a vacancy in the office of oiSJe'of commissioner, shall give notice thereof to the county school judge, or, if that office be vacant, to the superintendent sioner of public instruction. In case of a vacancy, the county * " judge, or, if there be no county judge, then the superin- tendent shall appoint a commissioner, who shall hold his office until the first of January succeeding the next gen- eral election, and until liis successor, who shall be chosen Bio™"eTec- at such general election, shall have qualified. A person tedtofiii , , " „,, 1 Ti 1 1 1 1 -^ n> 1 r .1 vacancy to elected to nil a vacancy snail hold the oihce only tor the hold only . J , "^ "'for the unexpired term. unexpired +S 7. After the first day of October, eighteen hundred J;^''™- , J • 1 i .c i."^ 1 • • ° 1 n • Salary of and eighty -nvc, every school commissioner shall receive school an annual salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly gfo'SS'^" out of the free school fund appropriated to this purpose, ^l^^^^-ig or to the support of common schools. from tree :[:§ 8. Whenever a majority of the supervisors from all tSnd° the towns composing a school commissioner district shall supervis- . T- ors to in- * As amended by sec. 1, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. t As amended by sec. 1, cbap. 84, Laws of 1867, and sec. 3, chap. 1, Laws of 1881, and by sec. S, chap. 310, Laws of 1885. i As amended by sec, 6, chap. S6T, Laws of 1875, and sec. 6, chap. 340, Laws of 1885. TITLE 2. crease salary of commis- sioner. How assessed. Commis- sioner's expenses $300. Superin- tendent may with- hold com- mission- er's salary. Commis- sioner to serve for another. Not to act as aj^ent for author or pub- lisher, etc. Duties of school commis- sioner. To define district boundaries, Consolidated School Act of 1864. adopt a resolution to increase the salary of their school commissioner beyond the one thousand dollars payable to him from the free school fund, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county to give effect to such resolution, and they shall assess the increase stated therein upon the towns composing such commissioner district, ratably, according to the corrected s^aluations of the real and personal estate of such towns. *§ 9. The board of supervisors shall annually audit and allow to each commissioner within the county tlie fixed sum of two hundred dollars for his expenses, and shall assess and levy that amount annually, by tax, upon the towns composing his district. § 10. Whenever the superintendent of public instruc- tion is satisfied that a school commissioner has persistently neglected to perform his duties, he may withhold his- order for the payment of the whole or any part of such commissioner's salary as it shall become due, and the sal- ary so withholden shall be forfeited ; but the superin- tendent may remit the forfeiture, in whole or in part, upon the commissioner disproving or excusing such neglect. § 11. A commissioner, upon the written request of the commissioner of an adjoining district, may perform any of his duties for him, and upon requirement of the state superintendent of public instruction must perform the same. § 12. No school commissioner shall act as agent for any author, publisher or bookseller, nor directly or indirectly receive any gift, emolraient, reward or promise of reward, for his influence in recommending or procuring the use of any book, or school apparatus, or furniture of any kind whatever, in any common school, or the purchase of any book for a district library. Any one who shall procure or solicit a violation of this provision, or of any part thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any'such violation shall subject the guilty commissioner to removal from his oflice by the superintendent of public instruction. § 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his duty : tl. From time to time to inquire and ascertain whether the boundaries of the school districts within his district are definitely and plainly described in the records of the * As amended by sec. 2, chap. 84, Laws ot 1867. t As amended by sec. 7 chap. 567, Laws ot 18T5. Of School Commissionees. proper town clerks ; and in case the record of the bound- ^^^^"^ ^• aries of any school district shall be found defective or indefinite, or if the same shall be in dispute, tlien to cause the same to be amended, or an amended record of the boundaries to be made. All necessary expenses incun-ed Expense of in establishing such amended records, shall be a cliarge bound£ upon the district or districts affected, to be audited and "es. allowed by the trustee or trustees thereof, upon tlie certi- ficate of the school commissioner. 2. To visit and examine all the schools and scliool dis-To visit tricts witliiu his district as often in each year as shall be ^"'.L *!?■ I'll * •■ Ti I ttrnins practicable ; to inquire into all matters relating to the sciioois. management, the course of study and mode of instruction, and the text-books and discipline of such schools, and the condition of the school-houses, sites, out-buildings and appendages, and of the district generally ; to examine the district libraries ; to advise with and counsel the trus- Libraries, tees and other officers of the districts in relation to their?,'-''?"?!: duties, and particularly in respect to the construction, etc. warming and ventilation of school-houses, and tlie im- proving and adorning of the school grounds connected studies, therewith ; and to recomniend to the trustees and teach- ers the pi'oper studies, discipline and management of the schools, and the course of instruction to be pursued. *3. Upon such examination, to direct the trustees to To direct make any alteration or repair on the school-house or out- make re- " buildings which shall, in his opinion, be necessary to theP*"'^- health or comfort of the pupils, but the expense of mak- ing such alterations or repairs shall, in no case, exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless an additional sum shall be voted by the district. He may also direct the *L*^ '*'''«<'* . , , "' . . •' , , . abatement trustees to abate any nuisance in or upon the premises, of nuis- provided the same can be done at an expense not exceed- ^'"'^' ing twenty-five dollare. t4. By an order under his hand, reciting the reason or To con- reasons to condemn a school house, if he deems it wholly fcimoi""*' unfit for use and not worth repairing, and to deliver tliC*""^®^- order to the trustees, or one of them, and transmit a copy to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Such order, if no time for its taking effect be stated in it, shall take effect immediately. He shall also state M-hat sum, not Mayesti- exceeding eight hundred dollars, will, in his opinion, be [fe'ue^ssaiy necessary to erect a school-house capable of accoinmodat- p°hoo?-'' ~~ ■ bouse. • As amended by sec. 2, ch. 40H. Laws of IS67. tAs amended by sec. 'Z, ob. 106, Laws of 18(>7, and by cb. 593, Laws of 1887. - 2 10 TITLE 2. Trustees to call special lueetiag. Trustees to build school- house and levy tax lor same if district neglect. To exam- ine and license teachers. Re-exam- ine. To exam- ine charges aerainst teachers. Annul cer- tificates. Consolidated School Act of 1864. ing the children of the district. Immediately upon the receipt of said order, the trustee or trustees of such dis- trict shall call a special meeting of the inhabitants of said district for the purpose of considering the question of building a school-house therein. Such meeting shall have power to determine the size of said school-house, the material to be used in its erection, and to vote a tax to build the same ; but such meeting shaU have no power to reduce the estimate made by the commissioner aforesaid by more than twenty-five per centum of such estimate. And where no tax for building such house shall have been voted by such district within thirty days from the time of holding the first meeting to consider the question, then it shall l^e the duty of the trustee or trustees of such district to contract for the building of a school-house capable of accommodating the children of the district, and to levy a tax to pay for the same, which tax shall not exceed the sum estimated as necessary by the commis- sioner aforesaid, and which shall not be less than such estimated sum by more than twenty-five per centum thereof. But such estimated sum may be increased by a vote of the inhabitants at any school meeting subse- quently called and held according to law. *5. To examine persons proposing to teach common schools within his district, and not possessing the superin- tendent's certificate of qualification or a diploma of the state normal school, and to inquire into their moral fit- ness and capacity, and, if he find them qualified, to grant them certificates of qualification, in the forms which are or may be prescribed by the superintendent. 6. To re-examine any teacher holding his or his prede- cessor's certificate, and if he find him deficient in learn- ing or ability, to annul the certificate. 7. To examine any charge affecting the moral character of any teacher within his district, first giving such teacher reasonable notice of the charge, and an opportunity to defend himself therefrom ; and if he find the charge sus- tained, to annul the teacher's certificate, by whomsoever granted, and to declare him unfit to teach ; and if the teacher held a certificate of the superintendent, or a di- ploma of the state normal school, to notify the superin- tendent forthwith of such annulment and declaration. 188i. For additional duties, see chapter 318, Laws of 1883, chap. 30, Laws ol Of State and othbk School Moneys. 11 8. And, generally, to nse his utmost influence and '^^''^''^ '■ most strenuous exertions, to promote sound education, elevate the character and qualifications of teachers, im- prove the means of instruction and advance the interests of the schools under his supervision. § 14. Every school commissioner shall have power tOgj°^g°'^jg take affidavits and administer oaths in all matters pertain- take amda- ing to common schools, but without charge or fee ; and, under the direction of the superintendent of public instruction, to take and report to him the testimony in any case of appeal. *§ 15. The commissioners shall be subject to such rules fhi''Llfpe'r° and regulations as the superintendent of public instruc- jjf'pybfic' tion shall from time to time prescribe, and appeals from'?struo- their acts and decisions may be made to him, as herein- after provided. They shall, whenever thereto required by the superintendent, report to him, as to any particular annually, matter or act, and shall severally make to him annually, ®"'' to the twentieth day of August in each year, a report in such form, and containing all such particulars as he shall prescribe and call for ; and, for that purpose, shall pro- cure the reports of the trustees of the school districts from the town clerks' offices, and after abstracting the necessary contents thereof, shall arrange and indorse them properly, and deposit them with a copy of his own abstract thereof in the office of the county clerk ; and the clerk shall safely keep them. TITLE III. OF THE STATE AND OTHER SCHOOL MONEYS, THEIR AP- PORTIONMENT AND DISTRIBUTION, AND, HEREIN, OF TRUSTS AND GIFTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF COMMON SCHOOLS. FIRST AETICLE. Of the state school moneys and their apportionment iy the superintendent of public instruction, amd 'payment to the county and city treasurers. f Section 1. There shall be raised by tax, in the present state tax and each succeeding year, upon the real and personal sSppo'rt of estate of each county within the state, one mill and one- ^°^°°'^- *As amended by sec. 3, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. t As amended by sec. 3, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 12 Consolidated School Act of 1864 Clerk of board of supervis- ors may not omit to include the state school tax. How mon- ey to be deposited. Treasurer to report. Bank book. Warrants and re- ceipts; how drawn and en- tered. Comptrol- ler may withhold" moneys from counties. Treasurer and super- intendent fourth of a mill upon each and every dollar of the equal- ized valuation of suL-h estate, for the support of common schools in the state ; and the proceeds of such tax shall be apportioned and distributed as herein provided. § 2. JSTo clerk of any board of supervisors, or other person who shall make out the tax list or assessment roll of any town, shall omit to include and apportion among the moneys to be raised thereby the amount hereby re- quired to be raised for the support of schools, by reason of the omission of the board of supervisors to pass a resolution for that purpose. * § 3. The moneys so raised shall be paid into the state treasury, and the treasurer may transfer them from one depository to another, by his draft, countersigned and entered by the superintendent of public instruction. On the first working day of each month the treasurer shall make to the superintendent of public instruction a writ- ten statement of the condition of the free school fund, showing the amount received and paid during the preced- ing month, and the balance remaining on hand. The bank in which such moneys are deposited shall furnish the superintendent of public instruction a book, in which the officers of such banks shall make entries of all sums deposited therein by the treasurer, from time to time, to the credit of said free school fund. No such money shall be paid out of the treasury except upon such warrant of the superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller, referring to the law under which it is drawn. The super- intendent shall countersign and enter all checks drawn by the treasurer in payment of his M'arrants, and all receipts of the treasurer for such money paid to the treas- urer, and no such receipt shall be evidence of payment unless it be so countersigned. f § 4. The comptroller may withhold the payment of any moneys, to which any county may be entitled, from the appropriation of the incomes of the school fund and the United States deposit fund for the support of com- mon schools, until satisfactory evidence shall be furnished to him that all moneys required by law to be raised by taxation upon such county, for the support of schools throughout the state, have been collected and paid, or accounted for to the state treasurer ; and whenever, after the first day of March in any year, in consequence of the *A8 amended by sec. 8, chap. 56V, Laws of 18T5. tAs amended by sec. 3, chap. 40iS, Laws of 1867. tAs amended by sec. i, chap. 106, Laws of 1867. Of State and other School Moneys. 13 failure of any county to pay such moneys on or before ^iy bor-^ that day, there shall be a deficiency of moneys in therowmon- treasury applicable to the payment of school moneys, to^*"^' which any other county may be entitled, the treasurer and superintendent of public instruction are hereby authorized to make a temporary loan of the amount so detieient, and such loan, and the interest thereon at the rate of twelve per cent per annum, until payment shall be made to the treasury, shall be a charge upon the county in default, and shall be added to the amount of state tax, and levied upon such county by the board of supervisors thereof at the next ensuing assessment, and shall be paid into the treasury in the same manner as other taxes. § 5. The moneys raised by the state tax or borrowed state as aforesaid to supply a deficiency thereof, and such moneys, portion of the income of the United States deposit fund as shall be appropriated, and the income of the common school fund, when the same are appropriated, to the sup- port of common schools, constitute the state school moneys, Apportion, and shall be divided and apportioned by the superintend- ^p"'/,',^ ent of public instruction, on or before the twentieth day tendent. of January in each year as follows: and all moneys so^^iiedto apportiohed, except the library moneys, shall be applied wages, exclusively to the payment of teachers' wages. * § 6. He shall apportion and set apart from the in- income of come of the United States deposit fund so appropriated, states de- the amounts required to pay the annual salaries of the •'°^"' '""'^' school commissioners elected or elective under this act, to be drawn out of the treasury and paid to the several commissioners, as hereinbefore provided ; and he shall also apportion to each of the cities of the state, and to each of the incorporated villages of the state having a population of five thousand and upwards, wiiich, under a. special act, employs a superintendent of common schools, tioned ; or a cleric of the board of education, who does the duty vluagc^'' of supervision, out of the income of the said fund, and I^JS"? if insufficient the deficiency out of the free school fund tencfentot so appropriated, the sum of eight hundred dollars, and ^ in case any city is entitled to more than one member of assembly according to the unit of representation adopted * A3 amended by chap. 374, Laws of 1ST6. and by sec. 1, chap. 340. Lawg 1885. This sei'tioti was changed by sec. 3, chap. 1, Laws of 1881, wbicli reads as follows; § 3. In making the annual apportionmflnt of school moneys, the superin- tendent of public instruction shall hereafter i? com- , ,,,.•',. . 1 , ^. missionerg. mtendent may, m his discretion, upon the recommendation „ ^. . of the school commissioner having jurisdiction over the the pay- district in default, direct that the money so equitably ap-"^h°ra' portioned shall be paid in satisfaction of teachers' wages ^'j^"^^' earned by a teacher not qualified in accordance with the teacher provisions of the law as hereinafter set forth. a du?y quallBed ' teacher. ♦As amended by sec. 1, chap. 27, Laws 1880. 16 Consolidated School Act of 1864 Moneysap- § H- If monc}' to wliich it IS Dot entitled, or a larger m excess ^"™ ^^^^^ ^* ^^ entitled to, shall be apportioned to any may bare- couDtj, or part of a county, or school district, and it shall the"su%r-'^ not have been so distributed or apportioned among the intendent. (Jjgtricts, or expended, as to make it impracticable so to do, the superintendent may reclaim such money or excess, by directing any officer in whose hands it may be to pay it into the state treasury, to the credit of the free school fund ; and the state treasurer's receipt, countersigned by the superintendent, shall be his only voucher ; but, if it be ■When im- impracticable so to reclaim such money or excess, then the praoticabfe superintendent shall deduct it from the portion of such moneys™ couuty, part of 3, couiity or district, in his next annual apportionment, and distribute the sum thus deducted, equitably among the counties and parts of counties, or among the school districts in the state entitled to participate in such apportionment, according to the basis of appor- tionment in ■which such excess occurred. Deflcieu- § 12. If a less sum than it is entitled to shall have been supplied apportioned by the superintendent to any county, part of men'toi'ap- ^ county or school' district, the superintendent may make ment°°" ^ supplementary apportionment to it, of such a sum as shall make up the deficiency, and the same shall be paid out of the contingent fund, if sufficient, and, if not, then the superintendent shall make up such deficiency in his next annual apportionment. § 13. As soon as pos.-ible after the making of any an- to"^!!^''/ nual or general apportionment, the superintendent shall trelsirer, Certify it to the county clerk, county treasurer, school commis- ' commissioners and city treasurer or chamberlain in every ■ county in the state ; and if it be a supplemental apportion- ment, then to the county clerk, county treasurer and school commissioners of the county m which the neighbor- hood or the school-house oi the district concerned is situate. Momiys *§ 14. The moneys so annually apportioned by the appo?- ^ superintendent shall be payable on the first day of A])ril payaweonnext after the apportionment, to the treasurers of the dayo™' several counties and the chamberlain of the city of Kew April. York, respectively; and the said treasurers and cham- berlain shall apply for and receive the same as soon as payable. * As amended by sec. 10, chap. 567, Laws of 1876. Of State and othee School Moneys; Teusts, etc. 17 TITLE 3. SECOND AETIOLB. Of trusts for the ienefit of common schools, and of town school funds, fines, penalties amd other moneys held or given for their henefit. §15. Keal and personal estate maybe granted, con-Keaiand veyed, devised, bequeathed and given in trust and in esS"" ' perpetuity or otherwise, to the state, or to the snperin- f,l^^^ "^^ , tendent of public instruction, for the support or benefit the benefit, of the common schools within the state, or within any mon ' part or portion of it, or of any particular common school ^''''°°'''- or schools within it ; and to any county, or the school commissioner or commissioners of any county, or to any city or any board or officers thereof, or to any school commissioner district or its commissioner, or to any town or supervisor of a town, or to any school district or its trustee or trustees, for the support and benefit of common schools witliin such county, city, school commissioner district, town or school district, or within any part or portion thereof respectively, or for the support and benefit of any particular common school or schools therein. § 16. No such grant, conveyance, devise or bequest -^^"'^5 f"J* shall be held void for the want of a named or competent want of trustee or donee, but where no trustee or donee or an in- doneef °^ competent one is named, the title and trust shall vest in the people of the state, subject to its acceptance by the legislature; but such acceptance sliall be presumed. § 17. The legislature may control and regulate the \ur^i^ execution of all. such trusts; and the superintendent of pont™i public instruction shall supervise and advise tlie trustees, late trusts, and hold them to a regular accounting for the trust prop- superin- erty and its income and interest, at sucli times, in such requfre *° forms and with such authentications as he sliaU from t™8tees to ., account. time to time prescribe. § 18. The common council of every city, the board of certain supervisors of every county, the trustees o'f every village, aSfboHrdg tiie supervisor of every town, the trustee or trustees of fru»is°e"c. every school district, and everj' other officer or person to superio-' who shall be thereto required by the superintendent of public instruction, shall, on or before tlie thirtieth day of September next, report to him whetlier any, and if any, what, trusts are held by them respectively, or by any otlier body, officer or person, to their information or belief, for 8 18 Consolidated School Act of 1864. school purposes, and shall transmit therewith an authen- ticated copy of every will, conveyance, instrument or paper embodying or creating the trust ; and shall, in like manner, forthwith report to him the creation and terms of every such trust subsequently created. Gospel 8 19 Every supervisor of a town shall, by the thirtieth and school ,o»o,i j. i.j.i.1, • j. j i. lota. day of September next, report to the supermtendent whether there be, within the town, any gospel or school lot, and if any, shall describe the same, and state to what iTse, if any, it is put by the town ; and whether it be leased, and if so, to whom, for what term and upon what rents ; and whether the town holds or is entitled to any land, moneys or securities arising from any sale of such gospel or school lot, and the investment of the proceeds Siereof, or of the rents or income of such lots and in- vestments, and shall report a full statement and account of such lands, moneys and securities. § 20. Every supervisor of a town, shall in like manner thSSds by the thirtieth day of September next, report to the =£-1^"? superintendent whether the town has a common school the poor, fund ongmated under the act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor," passed April 27, 1829, and, if it have, the fuU particulars thereof, and of its in- vestment, income and application, in such form as the superintendent may prescribe, superin- § 2 1. In rcspect to the property and funds in the two "po^^to*" ^^st sections mentioned, the superintendent shall, at the the legis- next sessiou of the legislature, and annually thereafter, include in his annual report a statement and account Superin- thereof. And to these ends, he is authorized, at any cmae can'^rMuire ^"*^ from time to time, to require from the supervisor, report board of town auditors, or any officer of a town, a report pervisor or as to any f act, or any information or account, he may officer.'"'"' deem necessary or desirable. Penalties § ^^' Whenever, by_ any statute, a penalty or fine is andflnes, imposcd for the benefit of common schools, and not ex- and ^por-pressly of the common schools of a town or school dis- poned, trict, it shall be faken to be for the benefit of the common schools of the county within which the conviction is had ; and the fine or penalty, when paid or collected, shall be paid forthwith into the county treasury, and the treasxirer shall credit the same as school moneys of the county, unless the county comprise a city having a special school g.ct, in which case he shall report it to the superintend- ent, who shall apportion it upon the basis of population Of State and other School Moneys; Tkusxs, etc. 19 by the last census, between the city and the residue of ^"^^ ^■ the county, and the portion belonging to the city shall be paid into its treasury. § 23. Every district attorney shall report, annually to District the board of supervisors, all such fines and penalties im- repo™*^ posed in any prosecution conducted by him during the peniiwes previous year ; and all moneys collected or received by *? super- him or by the sheriff, or any other officer, for or on account of such tines and penalties, shall be unmediately paid into the county treasury, and the receipt of the county treasurer shall be a sufficient and the only voucher for such mon^s. § 24. whenever a fine or penalty is inflicted or imposed Fines and for the benefit of the common schools of a town or school to wlsom district, the magistrate, constable or other officer, collect- '""'*■ ing or receiving the same, shall forthwith pay the same to the county treasurer of the county in which the school- house is located, who shall credit the same to the town or district for whose benefit it is collected. If the fine or penalty be infiicted or imposed for the benefit of the com- mon schools of a city having a special school act, or of any part or district of a city, it shall be paid into the city treasury. § 25. "Whenever, by this or any other act, a penalty or penalties fine is imposed upon any school district officer for a vio- districts, lation or omission of official duty, or upon any person for any act or omission within a school district, or touching property or the peace and good order of the district, and such penalty or fine is declared to be for, or for the use or benefit of the common schools of the town, or of the county, and such school district lies in two or more towns or counties, the town or county intended by the act shall be taken to be the one in which the school-house, or the school-house longest owned or held by the district is, at the time of such violation, act or omission. § 26. Any district attorney, sheriff, justice of the peace, m?nt! p^eai police justice or other magistrate or .officer, who shall *"^y '°''- embezzle, or willfully withhold from or omit to pay into the county treasury any money received or collected in payment or satisfaction, in whole or in part, of any fine or penalty in the four last preceding sections mentioned, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any fine imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the county. 20 Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE 3. THIED AETICLE. Of the apportionment of the state school moneys, mid of otiier school moneys by the school commissioners, cmd their payment to the supervisors. Apportion- | 27. The scliool commissioner, or commissioners of each SShoor connty, shall proceed, at the county seat, on the third ramSis-'''^ Tuesday of March in each year, to ascertain, apportion sioners. ^nd divide the state and other school moneys,as follows : Library 1. They shall Set apart any library moneys apportioned by the superintendent. Shall set 2. From the other moneys apportioned to the county, ey*'sp™°-"' *li®y ^^ ®®* apart and credit to each separate neighbor- aiiy appor- hood and school district the amount apportioned to it by thTliyer- the State superintendent, and to every district which did intendent. ^^^^ participate in the apportionment of the previous year, and which the superintendent shall iiave excused, such equitable sum as he shall have allowed to it. Hetum of 3. Tliey shall procure from the treasurer of the county edmoneys a transcript of the returns of the supervisors hereinafter vtaors'*'^ required, showing the unexpended moneys in their hands applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and to library purposes, and shall add the whole sum of such moneys to the balance of tiie state moneys to be apportioned for teacliers' wages. The amounts in each supervisor's hands shall be charged as a partial payment of the sums appor- tioned to the town for library moneys and teachers' wages respectively. Eehirns 4. ,They shall procure from the county treasurer a full urer'or*^ Hst aud Statement of all payments to him of moneys for peiiaiti^. ^"^ O"^ account of fines and penalties, or accruing from any other source, for the benefit of schools and of the town or towns, district or districts for whose benefit the same were received. Such of said moneys as belong to a particular portimed. district, they shall set apart and credit to it ; and such as belong to the schools of a town, they shall set apart and credit to the schools in that town, and shall apportion them together with such as belong to the schools of the county, as hereinafter provided, for the payment of teach- ers' wages. Of Appoetionment by School Commissioners. 21 fpl TT P 9 *5, They shall apportion library moneys to the school Apponion- districts, and parts of school districts, joint with parts in ifbZry'^ any city or in any adjoining county, which shall be enti- 'noneys ac- tled to participate therein as hereinafter specified, in pro- aggreeate portion to the aggregate number of days of attendance of ot'chu*""^ children in each between the ages of five and twenty-one '^"°- years, as the same shall appear from the reports of the trustees for the last preceding school year. 6. They shall apportion in like manner and upon the EemaiDirg same basis, until the apportionment of the year eighteen ™°'"'xs- hundred and sixty-six, the remaining unapportioned moneys among such school districts and parts of school districts. fT. In the apportionment of eighteen hundred and P^JLo*^'^ eighty-nine, and in every subsequent apportionment, they shall apportion all of such remaining unapportioned moneys, in like manner and upon the same basis, among such school districts and parts of districts in proportion to the aggregate number of days of attendance of the According pupils resident therein, between the ages of five and gate^mfm- twenty-one years, at their respective schools during the of a°*end-^ last preceding school year. The aggregate number ofance. days of attendance of the pupils is to be ascertained from the records thereof kept by the teachers as hereinafter prescribed, by adding together the whole number of days' attendance of each and every such pupil in the district or part of a district. 8. They shall then set apart to each town the moneys so set apart and apportioned to each separate neighbor- hood ; to each district the school house of which is therein, and to eacli part of a joint district therein the school house of which is located in a city or in a town in an ad- joining county. 9. They shall sign, in duplicate, a certificate, showing certiacate the amounts apportioned and set apart to each separate ^^^p^^^j neighborhood, school district and part of a district, and the towns in which they are situated, and shall designate therein the source from whicli each item of the aggregate to each district and town was derived; and shall forthwith deliver one of said duplicates to the treasurer of the county and transmit the other to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 10. They shall certify to the supervisor of each town certify to * As amended \?y chap. 603, Laws of 1887. t A» amended by sec. 1, chap. 493, Laws of 1881, and see. 4, chap. 340, Laws of 1885, and chap. 602, Laws of 1887. 22 Consolidated School Act of 1664. the^u^er- *^® amount of school moneys so apjjortioned to bis town, visor"''*''" and the portions thereof to be paid by him for library- purposes and for teachers' wages, to eaeli such distinct separate neighborhood, district and part of a district. Erroneous § 28. If in their apportionment, through any error of SS"how the commissioners, any district shall have apportioned to remedied, jj. ^ larger or a less share of the moneys than it is entitled to, the commissioners may in their next animal apportion- ment, with the approbation of the superintendent, correct the error by au equitable deduction from or augmentation of the share of such district, whatdia- § 29. No district or part of a district shall be entitled tied'to" '' to any portion of such school moneys on such apportion- moneys. nient unless the report of the trustees for the preceding school year shall show that a common school was sup- ported in the district and taught by a qualified teacher for such a term of time as would, under section seven of this title, entitle it to a distributive share under the appor- tionment of the superintendent. Supervisor ff gQ Qq receiving the certificate of the commissioners, to make o . i n j! _l"L • i i /» i* apportion- each Supervisor shall forthwith make a copy thereof for Setoe" his own use, and deposit the original in the office of the onginai. Jerk of his town ; and the moneys so apportioned to his town shall be paid to. him immediately on his com- phance with the requirements of the next section, and not before. fogfvJ'^" *§ 31- Immediately on receiving the commissioners' bonds. certificate' of apportionment, the county treasurer shall require of each supervisor, and each supervisor shall give to the treasurer, in behalf of the town, his bond, with two or more sufficient sureties, approved by the treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the amount of the school moneys set apart or apportioned to the town, and of any such moneys unaccounted for by his predecessor, condi- tioned for the faithful disbursement, safe-keeping and accounting for such moneys, and of all other school moneys, that may come into his hands from any other source. If the condition shaU be broken, the ' county treasurer shall sue the bond in his own name, in behalf of the town, and the money recovered shall be paid over to the successor of the supervisor in default, sach successor vaca'?cy°in having first given security as aforesaid. Whenever the B^e1-vLr.o'^^''<^f.*^."P'^^^i^°^ s^^l^ become vacant, by reason of the expiration of his term of service or otherwise, the *Ab amended by seo. II, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. Of Appoetionment by School Commissioners. 23 county treasurer shall require the person elected or ap- ''^'^'"'^ ^• pointed to fill such vacancy to execute a bond, witli two or more sureties, to be approved by the treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the sum of the school moneys remaining in the hands of the old supervisor, when the office became vacant, conditioned for the faithful disburse- ment, safe-keeping and accounting for such moneys. But the execution of this bond shall not relieve the super- visor from the duty of executing the bond first above mentioned. § 32. The refusal of a supervisor to give such security gfv" ^J.^ shall be a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed on his con- rityamis- viction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common „^"^*"°'^" schools of the town. Upon such refusal, the moneys so judg" may set apart and apportioned to the town shall be paid to and pf^°'n'to disbursed by some other officer or person to be designated whomthe ■ 1 1 1 1' I'l moneys by the county ."judge, under such regulations and with set apart such safeguards as he may prescribe, and the reasonable tioned^to'' compensation of such officer or person, to be adjusted by shiu'be'' the board of supervisors, shall be a town charge. paid. TITLE IV. OE TfiE DrsBUESEMENT OF THE SCHOOL MONEYS BY THE SOPERVISOES, AND OP SOME OF THEIR SPECIAL POWERS, DUTIES AND LIABILITIES UNDER THIS ACT. Section 1. The several supervisors continue vested with supervis- the powers and charged with the duties formerly vested trustees ot in and charged upon the trustees of the gospel and school fchSoi*"'^ lots, and transferred to and imposed upon tow^n super- '""^i intendents of common schools by chapter one hundred and eighty-six, of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty -six. §2. The several supervisors continue vested with the Po^ers^^ powers and charged with the duties conferred and im-mer acts, posed upon the commissioners of common schools by the act of eighteen hundred and twenty-nme, entitled "An act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor." § 3. A supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his Embezzie- own private use any money or security received by him moneys by under any provision of this act, including the two preced- ^l^"'^' ing sections of this title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 24 Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE 4. ^^^ ^^^ gj^g iinposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit ot the common schools of the town. To make a § 4. Oil the first Tuesday of March in each year, each moneys°fn Supervisor shall make a return in writing to the county hands treasurer for the use of the school commissioners, showing the amounts of school moneys in his hands not paid out on the orders of trustees for teachers' wages, nor drawn by them for library purposes, and the districts to which they stand accredited (and if no such money, remain in his hands, he shall report that factj ; and thereafter he shall not pay out any of said moneys until he shall have received the certificate of the next apportionment ; and the moneys so returned by him shall be re -apportioned as hereinbefore directed, ^^"neglect. § '^- "^"^ Supervisor who neglects to make the said re- turn, or shall make a false return, shall forfeit twenty -five dollars, to be recovered by his successor in oiEce, or if he be re-elected, by the county treasurer of the county in which the town lies, for the benefit of the common schools of the county. pra^dHtfes. § ^- ^^ ^^ *^^ ^"*y <^^ every supervisor : How to *1. To disburse the sebool moneys in his hands, appli- the'^slfhooi cable to the payment of teachers' wages, upon and only for tcKch "PO" '^'"^ written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority ers'wages. of the trustees, in favor of qualified teachers, or upon the order of the trustee of a separate neighborhood in favor of any teacher of a school in an adjoining state, recoijnized by him and patronized by the inhabitants of such neigh- borhood. Such teacher shall be deemed a qualified teacher. Library f2. To disburso the library moneys upon, and only money. ;jpon, the Written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority of the trustees. To pay to 3. In the case of a union free school district, to pay ^rlr'orT over all the school money apportioned thereto, whether s'JhOTi^™ fo'" ^^^ payment of teachers' wages, or as library moneys, district, to the treasurer of such district, upon the order of its board of education. acc'So" 4. To keep a just and true account of all the school money°s°' ™oneys received and disbursed by him during each year, reo^eived and to lay the same, with proper vouchers, before the bUrsel^ board of town auditors at each annual meeting thereof, roents. 5_ To have a bound blank book (the cost of which sliall * As amended by sec. 12, chap. 567, Laws or 1875. t As amended by see. 13, chap. 587, Laws ot 1875. Of the Duties of the Town Clbek, 25 be a town charge), and to enter therein all his receipts and disbursements of school moneys, specifying from whom and for what purposes they were received, and to whom and for what purposes they were paid out ; and to deliver the book to his successor in oflBce. 6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his^°goJf„t office, to make out a just and t^e account of all school w'"i ">» moneys theretofore received by him and of all disburse- and notify ments thereof, and to deliver the same to the town clerk, relso"°" to be filed and recorded, and to notify his successor in "i«f«ofc office of such rendition and filing. 7. So soon as the bond to the county treasurer, by the third article of the third title of this act required, sliall have been given by him and approved by the treasurer, „ T ■ ^ . To DrocurQ to deliver to his predecessor the treasurer's certificate of predeces- these facts,- to procure from the town clerk a copy of Ids coun**'and predecessor's account, and to demand and receive from ^^™^°^.^g him aiw and all school moneys remaining in his hands, moneys. 8. Upon receiving such a certificate from Iiis successor, '^'^^y^ f and not bef ore,_ to pay to him all school moneys remain- cesser ing in his hands, and to forthwith file the certificate in remaning the town clerk's office. haSds. 9. By his name of office, when the duty is not elsewhere to sue for imposed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and for- cover^pen- f citures imposed for violations of tliis act, and for any de- »"'J8 ?"<» fault or omission of any town officer or school district ures. board or officer under this act; and after deducting hisTo™po''j' costs and expenses, to report the balances to the school commis- • ■ sioner. commissioner. 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erec- Erection 1 • p 1 1 T^ • .1 • 1 • 1 *^^ altera- tion or alteration of a school district, as in the sixth title tion of a of tliis act provided, and to perform any other duty which llst^ot. may be devolved upon him by this act, or any other act relating to common schools. TITLE V. OF THE DUTIES OF THE TOWN CLERK UNDER THIS ACT. Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town clerk of ^^^^ °' each town : cierk. 1. Carefully to keep all books, maps, papers,and rec- ords of his office touching common schools, and forth- with to report to the supervisor any loss of or injury to any of them which may happen. 4 26 TITLE 5. Town clerk to report names of district officers to commis- sioners. To distrib- ute blanks and circu- lars from superin- tendent of public in- struction. Account to be kept by. To record descrip- tions of school district. Consolidated School Act of 1864. 2. To receive from the supervisor the certificates of apportionment of school moneys to the town, and record them in a book to be kept for that purpose. 3. Forthwith to notify the trustees of the several school districts and separate neighborhoods of the filing of each such certificate. *4. To see that the trustees of the school districts and separate neighborlioods make and deposit with him their annual reports within the time prescribed by law, and to deliver them to the school commissioner on demand; and to furnish the school commissioner of the school commis- sioner district in which his town is situated the names and post-oflice address of the school district oflBcers re- ported to him by the district clerks. 5. To distribute to the trustees of the school districts and separate neighborhoods all blanks and circulars which shall be dehvered or forwarded to him by the state super- intendent or school commissioner for that purpose. 6. To receive from the supervisor, and record in a book kept for that purpose, the annual account of the receipts and disbursements of school moneys required to be sub- mitted to the town auditors together with the action of the town auditors thereon, and to send a copy of the ac- count and of the action thereon, by mail, to the superintend- ent of public instruction, whenever required by him, and to file and preserve the vouchers accompanying the ac- count. _ 7. To receive and to record, in the same book, the super- visor's final account of the school moneys received and disbursed by him, and deliver a copy thereof to such supervisor's successor in office. 8. To receive from the outgoing supervisor, and file and record in the same book the county treasurer's certi- ficate that his successor's bond has been given and ap- proved. 9. To_ receive, file and record the descriptions of the school districts and neighborhoods, and all papers and pro- ceedings delivered to him by the school commissioner pur- suant to the next title of this act. _ 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erec- tion or alteration of a school district, as in the next title of this act provided. fll. To receive and preserve the books, papers and * As amended by sec. 5, chap. 647, Laws Of 1865. tOriglnal sub-division 11 strlok«n out by sec. 18, chap. 647, Laws ot 1865. FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF SoHOOL DiSTEIOTS. 27 records of any dissolved school district, whieli shall be ^0"^^. °' ordered, as hereinafter provided, to be deposited in his serve „•«?«« records of Omce. dissolved 12. To perform any other duty which may be devolved '^^'"'='- upon him by this act, or by any other act touching common schools. § 2. The necessary expenses and disbursements of the ehlrees town clerk, in the performance of said duties, are a town ^^^ »^- charge, and shall be audited and paid as such. peuses. TITLE YI. OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION AND ALTERATION OF SOHOOL DISTEIOTS AND SEPARATE NEIGHBORHOODS. Section 1. It shall be the duty of eacli scliool commis- ^one"''' sioner, in respect to the territory within his district: ''e^'eft" 1. To divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient school dis- number of school districts, and alter the same as herein '"°'^' provided. 2. In conjunction with the commissioner or commis- T^se'"* sioners of an adjoining school commissioner district ortricts. districts, to set off joint districts composed of adjoining parts of their respective districts. 3. To set oft by itself any neighborhood adjoining any To set off other state of the Union, where it shall be found most So<&.''°'^" convenient for the inhabitants to send their children to a school in such adjoining state. 4. To describe and number the school districts, and To number joint districts, and to deliver, in writing, to the town scdbe*dis- clerk the description and number of each district lying '"ots. in whole or in part in his town, together with all notices, consents, and proceedings relating to the formation or alteration thereof, immediately after such formation or alteration. Every joint district shall bear the same number in every school commissioner district of whose territory it is in part composed. 5. To deliver to the town-clerk of the town in which J" •J®?'"*'' it lies, in whole or in part, a description of each sucli tion of separate neighborhood. ShbOT- * § 2. With the written consent of the trustees of all '•°'"'- the districts to be affected thereby, he may, by order, a^Mcis'^ alter any school-district within his jurisdiction, and fix, ^*J^^°' by said order, a day when the alteration shall take effect, trustees. * As nmended by sec. 5, chap. 406, Laws of 18ST. 28 Consolidated School Act of 1864. wl^^'! Jl * § 3. If the trustees of any such district refuse to con- Wnen trus- o " i jlm • i i i i i ■ j tees refuse sent, he may make and. tile with the town-clerk his order consent, making the alteration, but reciting the refusal, and direct- ing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dissent- ing district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not less than throe months after the notice in the next section mentioned. Procedure +8 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, rusaiof he shall give at least a week s notice in writing to one or tKftera- more of the assenting and dissenting trustees of any dis- scToofdis- *^''^*' ^^ districts to be affected by the proposed alterations, trict. that at a specified time, and at a named place within the town in which either of the districts to be affected lies, he wiU hear the objections to the alteration. The trus- tees of any district to be affected by such order may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. At the time and place mentioned in the notice, the com- missioner or commissioners. Math the supervisors and town-clerk, if they shall attend and act, shall hear and decide the matter ; and the decision shall be final unless duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed with and recorded by the town clerk of the town or towns in which the district or districts to be affected shall lie. fuplrwsor § ^- '^^'^ Supervisor and town clerk shall be entitled and town each to One dollar and fifty cents a day, for each day's cleric. . . . ,,,it.'t 1 , -, '^ service in any such matter, to be levied and paid as a charge upon their town. ot°j^nt'°° § ®" Whenever it may become necessary or convenient districts, to form a school district out of parcels of two or more school commissioner districts, the commissioners of such districts, or a majority of them, may form such district ; and the comniissioners within whose districts any such school district lies, or a majority of them, may alter or dissolve it. ordteso'iS § 7. If a school Commissioner, by notice in writing, Mon^of a shall require the attendance of the other commissioner or district, commissioners, at a joint meeting for the purpose of alter- ing or dissolving such a joint district, and a majority of all the commissioners shall refuse or neglect to attend, the commissioner or commissioners attending, or any one * As amended by sec. 6, °n- such list mentioned. To pur- -j-S. To purchase or lease a site for the district school- feM?s?tes, house or school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to build, hire or purchase such school-house as may be so designated, and to keep in repair and fur- nish such school-house with necessary fuel and append- ages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but such expense shall not exceed fifty dollars in any one year, unless authorized by the district or by law. To have 6. To have the custody and safe keeping of the dis- the'sc^^ooi- *^^^* school-house or houses, their sites and appurten- house. ances. To insure 7. When thereto authorized, by a meeting of the dis- house.'etc. trict to iusure the school-house or school-houses, and their * As amended by sec. 13, chap. 408, Laws of 1867. t As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. etc, Of the Teustees, their Powers aijd Duties. 45 furniture, and the school apparatus, in some company '^^'^^^ '• created by or under the laws of this state, and to comply with the conditions of the policy, and raise the premiums by a district tax. 8. To insure the district library in such a company, in To insure a sum fixed by a district meeting, and to raise the pre- ' ™'^' mium by a district tax, and comply with the conditions of the policy, *9. To contract with and employ all teachers in the J^^^g^^'^^^^j district school or schools, but no person who is within be within two degrees of relationship by blood or marriage to any gre°es of such trustee shall be so employed, except with the ap- gyp'to"' proval of two-thirds of the voters of such district pres- trustees. ent,and voting upon the question,at an annual or special meeting of the district, nor shall any sole trustee of a fei*no™to district make any contract for the employment of .a^^pj^y teacher in and for said school district beyond the close of for more the school term commencing next preceding the expiration Je™ be? of his term of office, except with the approval of ay°°,^jtru3 majority of the voters of such district present, and voting of ocace. upon the question at an annual or special meeting of the Trustees district ; nor shall the trustees of any school district make'con- having three or more trustees make any contract e^p'oyf for the employment of a teacher or teachers for more ment of ,1 •¥, , T,.-.. teacher for than one year m advance. Any person employed m dis- longer than regard of the foregoing provisions shall have no claim for ^fV^^t wages against the district, but may enforce the specific the persons contract made against the trustee or trustees consenting i™ii'sref^ to such employment as individuals. foregoLS'* f 10. To pay toward the wages of such teachers as are payment qualified, the public moneys apportioned to the district e^^^es. and legally applicable thereto, by giving them orders on the supervisor therefor, and to collect as herein provided, the residue of such wages by district tax. fll. To divide such public moneys apportioned to the ^^e pumfe district, whenever authorized by a vote of their district, into money two or more portions for each year ; to assign and apply one JTartstor of such portions to each term during which a school shall ^*°^ '*""■ be kept in such district, for the payment of teachers' wages during such term ; and to collect the residue of such wages not paid by the proportion of public money allotted for that purpose, by district tax as herein pro- vided. * As amended by sec. 9, ohap. 617, Laws of 1865, and by chap. 261, Laws of 1879. t As amended by sec. 13, chap. 106, Laws of 1867. 46 Consolidated School Act of 1864. ^TiTLE 7. j2_ j£ ^YiQ library money apportioned to the district be library less than three dollars, to apply it to the payment of money for , i j teachers' teachers wages. whfn^ess 1^. To draw upon the supervisor for the school and than $3. library moneys, in the manner and form prescribed by subdivisions one and two of section six of title four of this act. tax°?OT°' * 1*- -A-fter having paid toward the wages of such teacher's teachcrs as are qualified, the public moneys of the district to^Sve *°'^ legally applicable thereto, by giving them orders on the therefor Supervisor therefor, to collect the residue of such wages by a district tax, or, if the same shall have been already collected, to give such teacher an order on the district collector for the balance of his or her wages still remain- ing unpaid. Moneys fg 50. The trustccs may expend in necessary and proper can 'ex-^ repairs of each school-house under their charge a sum not outvote^f exceeding twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may district also expend a sum, not exceeding fifty dollars, in the Repairs, erection of necessary outbuildings, when the district is outbuud- wholly unprovided with such buildings, upon the direction ""s^' of the school commissioner in whose district such school- house is situated, or of the state superintendent of public instruction. They may also make any repairs, and abate Nuisances, any nuisances, pursuant to the direction of the school commissioner as hereinbefore provided, and provide fuel, pails, brooms and other implements necessary to keep the school-house or houses clean and make them reasonably comfortable for use, and not provided for by a vote of Fiiei, etc the district ; and may also provide for building fires and Cleaning cleaning the school-room by arrangement with the teacher room"'" or otherwise. They shall provide the bound blank-books Books for for the entering of their accounts and the keeping of the oountr" school lists, the records of the district, and the proceedings of district and trustee meetings, and they may expend in Dictionary, the piirchasc of dictionary, maps, globes or other school tto'*''**"^' apparatus, a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars in any one Temporaiy year. Whenever it shall be necessary for the due aecom- TOoms' modatbn of the children of the district, they may hire temporarily any room or rooms for the keeping of schools therein. Any expenditure made or liability incurred in pursuance of this section shall be a charge upon the dis- trict. *As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. t As amended by see. 14, chap. 40B, Laws of 1867; by seo. 19, chap. 567, Laws of 1875; by aeo. 1, chap. 179, Laws of 1884, and sec. 1, chap. 292, Laws of 1886. Of the Trustees, theik Powers and Duties. 47 § 51. When trustees are required or authorized bylaw, j/^y raise' or by a vote of their district, to incur any expense for ^ny legal such district, and when any expenses incurred by tlieni tax. are made, by express provision of law, a charge upon such district, they may raise the amount thereof by tax in the same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been voted by a district meeting. § 62. The trustees, or any one of them, if not forbidden hoSse^ by another, may freely permit the school-house, when not t^gt®"' °' in use for the district school, to be used by persons assem- may be bling therein for the purpose of giving and receiving "nstrac- instruction in any branch of education or learning, or in branch o?^ the science or practice of music, learning or * § .53. They shall procure two bound blank books for Ti^tees to the district, and when necessary, others in their place. £Jcount In one of them, at or before each annual district meeting, books, etc. they shall enter at large, and sign a statement of all mov- able property belonging to the district, and their accounts of all moneys received or drawn for or paid by them, and they shall deliver this book to their successors. In the other, the teachers shall enter the names of the pupils attending school, their ages, the names of the persons who send them, and the number of days each pupil at- tends ; and also the facts and the dates of each inspection of the school by the school commissioner or other official visitor, and any other facts and in such form as the super- intendent of pubUc instruction shall require; and each teacher shall, by his oath or affirmation, verify his entries Teacher in such book, and the entries shall constitute the school i?'Jfand*P lists from which the average daily attendance shall be verify reo- determined ; and such oath or affirmation may be taken trusteed by the district clerk, but without charge. Until the ^^?;"t °°J|j. teacher shall have so made and verified such entries, the er until trustees shall not draw on the supervisor for any portion verified.^ of his wages. § 54. If any portion of the moneys apportioned to tte^^^o^ district shall not be paid, by the supervisor, upon the due urer and requirement of the trustees, they shall forthwith notify tenleliTot the treasurer of the county, and the superintendent of ^thheid public instruction, of the fact. by^super- § 55. The trustees shall, once in each year, render to to render the district, at its annual district meeting, a just, full andaj^af^^J true account in writing, under their hands, of all moneys eys receiv- received by them respectively for the use of the district, p^d"eto. "As amended by sec. 15, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. 48 Consolidated School Act of 1864. his office, etc, TITLE 7. ^jj^ q£ ^jj^g manner in which the same shall have been ex- pended, and showing to which of them an unexpended balance, or any part thereof, is chargeable ; and of all drafts or orders made by them upon the supervisor, col- lector, or other custodian of moneys of the district ; and a full statement of all suits and proceedings brought by or against them, and of every special matter toucbing the condition of the district. Out-going g 56. An outgoing trustee shall forthwith pay, to his my ^y° successor or any other trustee of the district in office, any hfssuo^*° such unexpended balance, or part of such balance, re- cessor. maining in his hands. Penalty § 57. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to or"lg"ed? render such account shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. accOTrnt!"^ Every trustee who shall neglect or refuse to pay over any balance so found in his hands, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the schools of the district, and shall be sued for by the supervisor of the town in which the school-house or school-house longest owned or held by the district is. Forfeits § 58. By a willful neglect or refusal to render such v.. „«„ account, a trustee also forfeits any unexpired term of his ofliee, and becomes liable to the trustees for any district moneys in his hands. Trustees § 59. The trustces in office shall sue for and recover former*"^ any district moneys in the hands of any former trustee, trustee, qj. of his personal representatives, and apply them to the use of the district. To report *§ 60. The trustees of each school district shall, be- ?o oommis- twccu the .twentieth day of August and the last Tuesday twranthe °^ August, in each year, make and direct to the school twentieth commissioner a report in writing, dated on the twenty- gust and" first day of August of the year in which it is made, and Tu*esd?y o£ shaU sign and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk of the eacl^year *own in which the school-house of the district is situated; and every such report shall certify. Items In 1. The whole time any school has been kept in their report. district during the year ending on the day previous to the date of such report, and distinguishing what portion of the time such school has been kept by qualified teachers, and the whole number of days including holidays, in which the school was taught by qualified teachers. *As amended by sec. 16, chap. 406, Laws of 186T, by chap. 413. Laws of 1883, and sec. 1, cnap. 49, Laws of 1884. NOTE— Trustees to report annually, number of children of school age vaccinated. See, chap. 438, Laws of 1860. Of the Trustees, their Powers and Duties. 49 2. The amount of their drafts upon the supervisor, for /^™„t qj the payment of teachers' wages during such j'ear, and tlie drafts amount of their drafts upon him for the purchase of books eiT°sor?^ and school apparatus during such year, and tlie manner in wliich such moneys have been expended. *3. The number of children taught in tlie district Attend- school or schools during such year by qualified teachers, cwidreu. and the sum of the days' attendance of all such children upon the school. fi. The number of children residing in the district on Number of the thirtieth day of June previous to the making of such residing in report, and the names of the parents or other persons *''« district With whom such children did respectively reside, and the thirtieth of number of children residing with each. vioustr' 5. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in ™poJ.°^ "^® addition to the public money paid therefor, the amount Amount of taxes levied in said district for purchasing school- ^g^ers' house sites, for building, hiring, purchasing, repairing wages, and and insuring school-houses, for fuel, for district libraries, expenses, or for any other purpose allowed by law, and such other information in relation to the schools and the district as the superintendent of public instruction may, from time to time, require. :]:§ 61. The annual reports of trustees of school dis- children tricts, of children residing in their district, shall include in'trustees' all over five and under twenty-one years of age, who shall ''^p"'' have been, on the thirtieth day of June last preceding the date of such report, actually in the district, comprising a part of the family of their parents or guardians or em- ployers, if such parents, guardians or employers reside at the time in such district, although such residence was temporary ; but such report shall not include children be- longing to the family of any person who shall be an in- habitant of any other district in this state, in which such children may by law be included in the reports of its trustees; nor any children who are supported at a county poor-house or an orphan asylum ; nor any Indian children r6siding on reservations where schools provided by law for their education are taught. § 62. Where a school district lies in two or more joint dis- counties, its trustees shall make such an annual report forportS"^*" each part of it lying in a different county, and file each ^^gio""^' • As amended by sec. 11, chap. 647, Laws of 1865. t As amended by sec. 7, chap 413, Laws of 1883. t As amended i)y sec. 8, chap. 413, Laws of 1883, 7 50 Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE 7. Separate neighbor- hood, re- port of its trustees. False re - port, and penalty iu the office of the clerk of the town in whicli the part of the district to which it especially relates lies ; and such reports shall be in the form and contain all such special matters as the superintendent of public instruction shall from time to time prescribe. * 63. The trustee of every sejjarate neighborhood shall, every year, within the time aforesaid, inhke manner make his annua] report to the school commissioner, and file it in the office of the clerk of the town of which the neigh- borhood is a part. Such report shall specify the whole amount of public moneys received during the year, and from what public officer, and the manner in which it was expended ; the whole number of such children as can be included in the district trustees' report residing in the jieighborhood on the thirtieth day of June previous to the making of the report ; and any other matters which the superintendent of public instruction may require. § 64. Every trustee of a school district or separate neighborliood, who shall willfully sign a false report to a school commissioner, with the intent of causing such school commissioner to apportion to his district or neigh- borliood a larger sum than its just proportion of school moneys ; or in the case of a trustee of a separate neigh- borhood, with intent to procure from the state superin- tendent of public instruction a larger allowance to the neighborhood, shall for each offense forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Such penalties, and any fines which shall be imposed for the misdemeanor, are for the benefit of the common schools of the county. SEVENTH AETICLE. Of the assessment of district taxes, and the collection of such taxes ; and herein of the collector, his powers, duties and liability. § 65. "Within thirty days after a tax shall have been voted by a district meeting, the trustees shall assess it, and make out the tax hst therefor, and annex thereto their - warrant for its collection. But they may at the same Say b^""^" time assess two or more taxes so voted, and any tax or nndef-^ne **^®^ ^^^^ ^""^ authorized to raise without such vote, and warrant, make out One tax list and one warrant for the collection * As amended by sec. 9, chap. 413, Laws of 18S3. ~" nent of taxes by trustees. Two or Of the Assessment of District Taxes. 51 of the whole. They shall also prefix to their tax list a '^^''^^^ ''• heading showing for what purpose the different items of the tax is levied. * § 66. School district taxes shall be apportioned by the trustees upon all real estate within the boundaries of the district which shall not be by law exempt from taxation, except as hereinafter provided, and such property shall be assessed to the person or persons or corporation owning or possessing the same at the time such tax list shall be made out; but land lying in one body and occupied by the same person, either as owner or agent for the same how m^o principal,' or as tenant under the same landloi-d, shall, °"'- though situated partly in two or more school districts, be taxable in that one of them in which such occupant re- JfSid°" sides. This rnle shall not apply to land owned by iion-resi- !fj5|'°°'"' dents ot the district, and which shall not be occupied by an agent, servant or tenant residing in the district. Such unoccupied real estate shall be assessed as non-resident, Non-resi- and a description thereof shall be entered in the tax list, dent lands. The trustees shall also apportion district taxes upon all {)ersons residing in the district, and upon all corporations iable to taxation therein, for the personal estate ow^ned personal by them and liable to taxation. They shall also appor- estate, tion the same upon non-resident stockholders in banks or banking associations situated in their districts for the ^'"'''®'°* amount of stock owned by them therein, and upon indi- vidual bankers doing business in their district in accora- ance with the provisions of chapter seven hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. § 67. The valuations of taxable property shall be ascer- valuation, tained, so far as possible, from the last assessment-roll of jained™"^ the town, after revision by the assessors ; and no person shall be entitled to any reduction in the valuation of such property, as so ascertained, unless he shall give notice of his claim to such reduction to the trustees of the district be- fore the tax list shall be made out. § 6S. "Where such reduction shall be duly claimed, and of reduc where the valuation of taxable property cannot be ascer- ^°^°^ ""^ tained from the last assessment roll of the town, the trus- tees shall ascertain the true value of the property to be taxed from the best evidence in their power, giving notice to the persons interested, and proceeding in the same man- • Aa amended by sec. 20, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. 52 IITLE 7. Equaliza- tion of valua- tions. Person working land on sliares lia- ble. Taxable lU' habitants. Of tenant at will, etc., liabil- ity of the owner. _. Consolidated School, Act of 1864. ner as the town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxabl property. * § 69. When a district embraces parts of more than one town, it shall be the duty of the supervisors of such towns so in part embraced, upon receiving a written notice from the trustee or trustees of such district, or from three or more persons liable to pay taxes upon real_ estate therein, to meet, at a time and place to be named in such notice, which time shall not be less than five or more than ten days from the service thei-eof, and a place within the bounds of the towns so in part embraced, and proceed to inquire and determine whether the valuation of real prop- erty upon the several assessment rolls of said towns are substantially just as compared with each other, so far as said districts are concerned, and if ascertained not to be so, they shall determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of such district lying in different towns, and the trustees of such district shall thereupon assess the proportion of any tax thereafter to be raised, according to the determina- tion of such supervisors, until new assessment rolls of the town shall be perfected and filed, using the assessment rolls of the several towns to distribute the said proportion among the persons liable to be assessed for the same. In cases when such supervisors shall be unable to agree, they shall summon a supervisor from some adjoining town,, •who shall unite in such inquiring, and the finding of a majority shall be the determination of such meeting. § 70. Any person Avorking land, under a contract for a share of the produce of such land, shall be deemed the possessor, so far as to render him liable to taxation there- for in the district "where such land is situate. § 71. Every person owning or holding any real property "within any school district, "who shall improve and occupy the same by his agent or servant, shall, in respect to the liability of such property to taxation, be considered a tax- able inhabitant of such district, in the same manner as if he actually resided therein. § 72. "Where any district tax, for the purpose of pur- chasing a site for a school-house, or for purchasing or building, keeping in repair, or furnishing such school- ' house with necessary fuel and appendages, shall be law- fully assessed, and paid by any person on account of any real property "whereof he is only tenant at "will, or for ■• As amended by sec. 31 , chap. 567 , Laws of 1875. Oii' TUE Assessment of Distbict Taxes. 53 TIT! E 7 three years, or for a less period of time, such tenant may charge tlie owner of such real estate with the amount of the tax so paid by him, unless some agreement to the con- trary shall have been made by such tenant. § 73. Every taxable inhabitant of a district who shall when ex. have been, within four years, set oif from any other dis- taxfo™"" trict without his consent, and shall, within that period, have house!" actually paid in such other district, under a lawful as- sessment therein, a district tax for building a school-house, shall be exempted by the trustees of the district where he shall reside from the payment of any tax for building a school-house therein. § 74. When any real estate within a district, so liable to on non- taxation, shall not be occupied and improved by the owner, fan^*"'' his servant or agent, and shall not be possessed by any ten- ant, the trustees of any district, at the time of making out any tax list by which any tax shall be imposed thereon, shall make and insert in such tax list a statement and de- scription of every such lot, piece or parcel of land so owned by non-residents therein, in the same manner as required by law from town assessors in making out the assessment roll of their towns ; and,if any such lot is known to belong j,jgQ_ . to an incorporated company liable to taxation in such dis- rated com- trict, the name of such company shall be specitied, and the p*°'®*' value of such lot or piece of land shall be set down oppo- site to such description, which value shall be the same that was affixed to such lot or piece of land in the last assessment roll of the town ; and if the same was not separately valued in such roll, then it shall be valued in proportion to the valuation which was affixed in the said assessment roll to the whole tract of which such lot or piece shall be part. * § 75. If any tax on real estate placed upon the tax forlturn list and duly delivered to the collector, or the taxes upon ^J-"^'^®^^ non-resident stockholders in banking associations organ- methMi of ized under the laws of congress, shall be unpaid at the '^™"* "™ time the collector is required by law to return his war- rant, he shall deliver to the trustees of the district an ac- count of the taxes remaining due, containing a descrip- tion of the lands upon which such taxes were unpaid as the same were placed upon the tax list, together with the amount of the tax so assessed, and upon making oath before any justice of the peace or judge of court of record that the taxes mentioned in any such account re- * As amended by sec. 22, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 1, chap. 250, Laws of 1883. 54 Consolidated School Act of 1864-. TITLE 7. ^^.^ unpaid, and that, after diligent efforts, he has been- unable to collect the same, he shall be credited by said. trustees with the amount thereof. Trustees § 76. Upon receiving any such account from the col- Htotreas- lector, the trustees shall compare it with the original tax coSnty ^'^''' ^"'^» ^^ ^^^^y ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ *''^^® transcript, they shall add to such account their certificate, to the effect that tliey have compared it with the original tax list and found it to be correct, and shall immediately transmit the account, affidavit, and certificate, to the treasurer of the county. Treasurer *| 77. Out of any moueys in the county treasury raised thet^e^, for contingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to the tScount''^ collector the amount of the taxes so retm-ned as unpaid, before the and if there are no moneys in the treasury applicable to supervis- such puTposo, the board of supervisors at the time of shainevy levying Said unpaid taxes, as provided in the next section, tax, etc. shall pay to the collector of the school district the amount thereof by voucher or draft on tlie county treasurer iii the same manner as other county charges are paid, and the collector shall be again charged therewith by the trustees. County 4. fi fjg^ Such account, affidavit and certificate shall be treasurer ,,t"i, i/. ii -i p to lay the laid by the county treasurer before the board ot super- before'the visors of the couuty, who shall cause the amount of suelx ora^their unpaid taxes, with seven per cent of the amount in addi- powers tion thereto, to be levied upon the lands on which the and duties ■ .' j j -r • i ii n i /• thereon, same were imposed ; and it imposed upon the lands ot any incorporated company, then upon such company' ; and when collected the same shall be returned to the county treasurer to reimburse the amount so advanced,, with the expenses of collection ; and if imposed upon the stock of a non-resident stockholder in a banking associa- tion organized under the laws of congress, then the same, with seven per cent of the amount in addition thereto,, shall be a lien upon any dividends thereafter declared upon such stock, and upon notice by the board of super- visors to the president and directors of sucii bank, of suck charge upon such stock, the president and directors shall thereafter withhold the amount so stated from any future dividends iipon such stock, and shall pay the same to the collector of the town duly authorized to receive the same, may makT § '^^- -^^J person whose land^ are included in any such payment, account may pay the tax assessed thereon to the county *As amended by sec. 1, chap. 455, Laws of 18S0, and by sec. 1, chao 333 Laws of 1887. + As amended by sec. 23, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 2, chap 250 Laws of 1883. Of the Assessment ok District Taxes. 55 teeasurer, at any time before the board of supervisors before said shall have directed the same to be levied. levy. § 80. The same proceedings iu all respects shall be had jProoeed- for the collection of the amount so directed to be raised county'" by the board of supervisors as are provided by law in re-'*^®^- lation to county taxes ; and, upou a similar account, as in the case of county taxes of the arrears thereof uncol- lected, being transmitted by the county treasurer to the eomptroUer. the same shall be paid on his warrant to the treasurer of the county advancing the same ; and the amount so assumed by the state shall be collected for its benefit, in the manner prescribed by law in respect to the arrears of county taxes upon laud of non-residents ; or if any part of the amount so assumed consisted of a tax upon any incorporated company, the same proceedings may also be had for the collection thereof as provided by law in respect to the county taxes assessed upon such com- pany. * § 81. The warrant for the collection of a district tax S^r'S'tn^ i shall be under the hands of tiie trustees, or a majority of effect ot. them, with or without their seals ; and it shall have the like force and effect as a warrant issued by a board of supervisors to a collector of taxes in the town ; and the collector to whom it may be delivered for collection shall be thereby authorized and required to collect from every person in such tax list named, the sum set opposite to his name, or the amount due from any jserson or persons spe- cified therein, in the same manner that collectors are authorized to collect town and county charges. t§ 82. A warrant for the collection of a tax voted by^f}.\f»''^ the district shall not be delivered to the collector until the warrant, thirty-first day after the tax was voted. A warrant for tlie collection of any tax not so voted may be delivered to the collector whenever the same is completed. X § 83. Within such time, not less than ten days, as the ^o^ixecme trustees shall allow him for the purpose, the collector, a bond. before receiving the first warrant for the collection of money, shall execute a bond to the trustees, with one or more sureties, to be approved by a majority of tlie trustees, in such amount as the district meeting shall have fixed, or if such meeting shall not have fixed the amount, then iu such amount as the trustees shall deem reasonable, con- » Aa amended by sec. 18, chap. 406, L.aws of 1867. t As amende* by sec . 19, chap. 408, Laws of 1867. t As amended by sec. 24, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and by sec. 1, chap. 334, Laws of 1887. 56 Consolidated School Act of 186-4. TITLE 7. ^:ii(.;Q^g(j fQj, the due and faithful execntion of the duties of his office. The trustees upon receiving said bond, shall if they approve thereof, indorse their approval thereon, and beSfed" forthwith deliver the same to the town clerk of the town derk**"^" in which said collector resides, and said clerk shall file the same in his office and enter in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, a memorandum showing the date of said bond, the names of the parties and sureties thereto, the amoimt of the penalty thereof, and the date and time of filing the same, and said town clerk is authorized to receive Clerk's fee as a fee for such filing and memorandum,the sum of twenty- bond""^ five cents, which sum is hereby made a charge against the school district interested in said bond. Collector * § 84. The collector, on the receipt of a warrant for tUfcer- '" the collection of taxes, shall give notice to the tax payers tfoes"°' of the district, by publicly posting written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, notices in at least three public places in such district, one of which shall be on the outside of the front door of the school-house, stating that he has received such warrant and will receive all such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to him, within two weeks from the time of posting said notice. Such col- lector shall also give a like notice, either personally or by mail, at least ten days previous to the expiration of the two weeks aforesaid, to the ticket agent at the nearest station of any railroad corporation assessed for taxes, upon the tax list delivered to him with the aforesaid warrant, and no school collector shall be entitled to recover from any railroad corporation more than one per cent fees on the taxes assessed against such corporations, unless notice shall have been given as aforesaid, and in case the whole amount of taxes shall not be so paid in, the collector shall Fees. forthwith proceed to collect the same. He shall receive for his services on all sums paid in as aforesaid, one per cent, and upon all sums collected by him after the expi- ration of the time mentioned, five per cent, except as hereinbefore provided, and in case a levy and sale shall be necessarily made by such collector, he shall be entitled to traveling fees, at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the school-house in such district. ma"be es- t § 85. Any collector to whom any tax list and warrant eouted In may be delivered for collection, may execute the same in town, etc. any other district or town in the same county, or in any other county where the district is a joint district and com- posed of territory from adjoining counties, in the same * As amended by chap. 33, Laws of 187Y. Note— For the collection of taxes against railroad companies, see chap. 675, Laws of 1881, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 319, Laws of 18^. t As amended by sec. 20, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. Of the Assessment of District Taxes. 57 rnym r n* 7 manner and with the like authority as in the district in which the trustees issuing the said warrant may reside, and for the benefit of wliich said tax is intended to be collected ; and the bail or sureties of any collector, given for the faithful performance of his official duties, are hereby declared and -made liable for any moneys received or collected on any such tax list and warrant. *§ 86. If the sum or sums of money, payable by any Trustees person named in such tax list or rate bill shall not be paid fSr^npaid by him or collected by such warrant within the time therein 'l^fai'" limited, it shall and may be lawful for the trustees to renew cases, such warrant in respect to such delinquent person ; or in case such person shall not reside within their district at the time of making out a tax list, or shall not reside therein at the expiration of such warrant, or in ease the property assessed be real estate belonging in an incorporated com- pany, and no goods or chattels can be found whereon to levy the tax, the trustees may sue for and recover the same in their name of office. ■f% 87. Whenever the trustees of any school district Trustees shall discover any error in a tax list made out by them, ™ct en-or they may, with the approbation and consent of the super- 1" tax list intendent of public instruction, after refunding any amount of superin- that may have been improperly collected on such tax list, '®"''«°'- if the same shall be required by him, amend and correct such tax list, as directed by the superintendent, in con- formity to law ; and whenever more than one renewal of a warrant for the collection of any tax list may become J^™°„®g necessary in any district, the trustees may make such renewal further renewal, with the written approbation of the super- «.nsentot visor of any town in which a school-house of said district ^"p®"'^"'^" shall be located, to be indorsed upon such warrant. :]:§ 88. The collector shall keep in his possession all custody ot moneys received or collected by hiixi by virtue of any Se'roiieo^ warrant, or received by him from the county treasurer or*"""- board of supervisors for taxes returned as unpaid, to be by him paid out upon the order of a majority of the trus- tees; and he shall report in writing at the annual meet-pona™' ing, all his collections and disbursements, and shall pay ^jy^Jf' . over to his successor in office, when he has duly qualified and given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the district. Collector § 89. If by the neglect of any collector any moneys to make shall be lost to any school district, which might have been "^s^"^ * As amended by sec. 25, chap. 567, Laws of 1875. + As amended by sec. 22, chap. 408, Laws ot 1807. t As amended by sec. 3, chap. 333, Laws of 1887. 8 56 CoNSOLinATED School Act of 1864. '''''^^'- collected within the time limited in the warrant delivered to him for their collection, he shall forfeit to such district the amount of the moneys thus lost, and shall account for and pay over the same to the trustees of such district, in the same manner as if they had been collected. Trustees 8 90 For the recovery of all such forfeitures, and of all recXr" bakuccs, in the hands of the collector, which he shaU have miouect neglected or refused to pay to his successor, the trustees, or's hands, jq their name of office, shall have their remedy upon the official bond of the collector, or any action and any remedy given bylaw ; and they shall apply all such moneys, when recovered, in the same' manner as if paid without suit. Trustee to *§ 91. Within fifteen days after any tax list and war- ^* son may From what. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Superin- tendent's decision final. Power of superin- tendent. OS APPEALS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC IN8TEU0- TION. Section 1. Any person conceiving himself aggrieved in consequence of any decision made : 1. By any school district meeting ; _ 2. By any school commissioner or school commis- sioners and other officers, in forming or altering, or re- fusing to form or alter, any school district, or in refusing to apportion any school moneys to any such district or part of a district ; 3. By a supervisor in refusing to pay any such moneys to any such district ; 4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to pay any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuitously into any school ; 5. By any trustees of any school district library con- cerning such library, or the books therein, or the use of such books; 6. By any district meeting in relation to the library ; 7. By any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, may appeal to the superintendent of public instruction, who is hereby authorized and required to examine and decide the same ; and his decision shall be final and conclusive, and not subject to question or re- view in any place or court whatever. § 2. The superintendent, in reference to such appeals, shall have power ; 1. To regulate the practice therein. Miscellaneous Peovisions. 77 2. To determine whether an appeal shall stay proceed- •v^henlp- insrs, and prescribe conditions upon which it shall or shall peai shall °^ , atay pro- not so operate. ceedings. 3. To decline to entertain, or to dismiss an appeal, when when ap- it shall appear that the appellant has no interest in the Sot bl en- matter appealed from, and that the matter is not a mat- 'ertained. ter of public concern, and that the person injuriously affected by the act or decision appealed from is incompe- tent to appeal. 4. To make all orders, by directing the levying of taxes or otherwise, which may, in his judgment, be proper or necessary to give effect to his decision. § 3. The Superintendent shall file, arrange in the order superin- of time, and keep in his office, so that they may be at all shaii me times accessible, all the proceedings on every appeal to"'"'®''*' him under this title, including his decision and orders founded thereon ; and copies of all such papers and pro-^°f;^^,^°^ ceedings, authenticated by him under his seal of onice,maybe shall be evidence equally with the originals. seal. TITLE XIII. MISCELLAJSTEOUS PEOVISIONS. Section 1. Whenever the share of school moneys, or school any portion thereof, apportioned to any town, school ^enSs district or separate neighborhood, or any money to which fogg"^*''' a town, school district or separate neighborhood would have been entitled, shall be lost, in consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school commis- sioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town, school district or separate neighborhood so losing the same, the full amount of such loss, with interest thereon. § 2. Where any penalty for the benefit of a school dis- Penalty for trict, or of the schools of any school district, town, proiloute. school commissioner district or county, shall be incurred, and the officer or officers whose duty it is by law to sue for the same shall willfully and unreasonably refuse or neglect to sue for the same, such officer or officers shall forfeit the amount of such penalty to the same use, and it shall be the- duty of their successor or successors in office to sue for the same. 78 Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE 13. Penait for ' § ^' ^^J Person who shall willfully disturb, in- dfsturwng'" terrupt or disquiet any district school or school meeting Ichooi "^ in session, or any persons assembled, with the permission meeting, of ^he trustees of the district, in any district school- house, for the purpose of giving or receiving instruction in any branch of education or learning, or in the science or practice of music, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars, for the benefit of the school district. Procedure. § 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the district, or the teacher of the school, and he shall have power, to enter a complaint against such offender before any justice of tlie peace of the county, or the mayor or any alder- man, recorder or other magistrate of the city,wherein the offense was committed. The magistrate or other ofiicer before whom the complaint is made shall thereupon by his warrant, directed to any constable or person, cause the person complained of to be arrested and brought before him for trial. If such person, on the charge being stated to him, shall plead guilty, the magistrate shall convict him ; and, if he demands a trial by the magistrate, shall summarily try him ; and, if he demands a trial by jury, the magistrate shall issue a venire, and impanel a jury for his trial, and he shall be tried in the same manner as in a court of special sessions. Penalty. § 5. If any person convicted of the said offense,do not immediately pay the penalty, with the costs of the prose- cution, or give security to the satisfaction of the magis- trate for the payment thereof within twenty days, the magistrate or other officer shall commit him to the common jail of the county, there to be imprisoned until the penalty and costs be paid, but not exceeding thirty days. a°aS § ^' "'■" ^"y action against a school ofrlcer or oflicers, in- schooi eluding supervisors of towns, in respect of their duties "'""'"° and powers under this act, for any act performed by virtue of or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the superin- tendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff, in cases where the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial that the defendants acted in good faith. But this pro- vision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superin- tendent. oGQcers. * As amended by see. 24, chap. 406, Laws of 1867. MlSOELLA.NE01J8 PeOVISIONS. 79 * §7. Whenever the trustees of any school district or/JJ^^g'^y any school district officer or officers have been or shall be school instructed by a resolution of the district at a meeting coste^nd called for that purpose, to defend any action brought afiow'eli.^ against them, or to bring or defend an action or proceed- ing touching any district property or claim of the district, or involving its rights or interests, or to continue any such action or defense, all their costs and reasonable ex- penses, as well as all costs and -damages adjudged against them, shall be a district charge and shall be levied by tax. If the amount claimed by them be disputed by a district meeting,it shall be adjusted by the county judge of any county in which the district or any part of it is si tuated. § 8. Whenever such trustees or any school district officer Without shall have brought or defended any such action or pro- of''^f5't^ct, ceeding, without any such resolution of the district meet- expenses ing, and after the final determination of sucli suit or pro- °^p" " ceeding shall present to any regular meeting of the in- habitants of the district an account in writing of all costs, charges and expenses paid by him or them, with the items thereof, and verified by his or their oatli or affirmation, ' and a majority of the voters at such meeting shall so direct, it shall be the duty of the trustees to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable property of said district, in the same manner as other taxes are by law assessed and collected ; and when so collected, the same shall be paid over, by an order upon the collector, to the officer or officers entitled to receive the same ; but this pro- vision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintend- ent of public instruction. f § 9. Whenever an officer or officers mentioned in the ^^t^f ^ last preceding section of this act shall have complied with fuse, what the provisions of said section, and the inliabitants shall have refused to direct the trustees to levy a tax for the payment of the costs, charges and expenses therein men- tioned, it shall be lawful for him or them then and there to give notice orally and publicly, that he will appeal to the county judge of the county, and in case of his disability to act in the matter by reason of being disqualified or other- wise, then to the district attorney of the county in which the school-house of said district is located ; from the refusal of said meeting to vote a tax for the payment of said claim, and the inhabitants may then and there or at any subsequent * As amended by chap. 174, Laws of 1878. t As amended by sec. 1, chap 746, Laws of 1871. 80 Consolidated School Act of 1864. district meeting, appoint one or more of the inhabitants of the district to protect the rights and interest of the district upon said appeal ; and the officer or officers before men- tioned, shall thereupon within ten days, serve upon the clerk of said district (or if there be no such clerk, upon the town clerk of the town), a copy of the aforesaid account so sworn to, together with a notice in writing, that on a certain day thei-ein specified he or they intend to present such account to the county -iudge or to the district attorney, as the ease may be, for settlement. And the clerk shall record such notice, together with the copy of the account, and the same shall he subject to the inspection of the in- habitants of the district. And it shall be the duty of the person or persons appointed by any district meeting for that purpose, to appear before the county ]udge,or the dis- trict attorney, as the case may be, on the day mentioned in the notice aforesaid, and to protect the rights of the district upon such settlement ; and the expenses incurred in the performance of this duty shall be a charge upon said district, and the trustees, upon presentation of the ac- coiint of such expenses, with the proper voucher therefor, may levy a tax therefor, or add the same to any other tax to be levied by them ; and their refusal to levy said tax for the payment of said expenses, shall be subject to an appeal to the superintendent of public instruction. *§ 10. Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due proof of service of the notice and copy of the account, the county judge shall examine into the matter and hear the proofs and allegations propounded by the parties, and de- cide by order wliether or no the account, or any and what portion thereof, ought justly be charged upon the district, with costs and disbursements to such officer or officers, in his discretion, which costs and disbursements shall not ex- ceed the sum of thirty dollars, and the decision of the county judge shall be final ; but no portion of such account shall be so ordered to be paid which shall appear to such judge to have arisen from the willful neglect or misconduct of the claimant. The account, with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness thereof. The county judge may adjourn the hearing from time to time, as justice shall seem to require. _ § 11. It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district, within thirty days after service of a copy of such 'As amended by chap, 5U, Laws ot 1671, Miscellaneous Peovisions. 81 order upon them or upon the district clerk, and notice '^^^^^ "" thereof to them or any two of them, to cause the same to be entered at length in the book of records of said dis- trict, and to raise the amount thereby directed to be paid, by a tax upon the district, to be by them assessed and levied in the same manner as a tax voted by the district. § 12. For tlie support of the Indian schools, already Indian established and which may be established, under authority ^° of chapter seventy-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, the superintendent of pubhc instructioh, in his annual general apportionment of the state school moneys appropriated for the support of common schools, shall make an equitable apportionment, as provided by section six of title three of this act ; and the moneys which shall be thus apportioned, and those which have been apportioned for their support, under authority of section four, chapter seventy-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and iifty-six, shall be paid out of the treasury for expenditures authorized by law and actually incurred in the support of such schools, upon the warrant of the superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller. § 13. The superintendent of public instruction, so soon p^JjU<»- as may be after the passage of this act shall prepare and this stat- cause to be printed, and distribute among the school dis- "'^®' *'*'■ tricts of the state, to eac;h one copy, an edition of this statute, with brief annotations embodying such of the decisions of the courts of the state, and of the superin- tendents of common schools and the superintendents of public instruction as are applicable thereto, and such com- ments, explanations and instructions as he shall deem necessary or expedient, and the same shall be deposited with the district clerk, and kept by him for the use of the inhabitants. . § 14. All provisions of law repugnant to or incon- sistent with the provisions of this act, arc hereby re- pealed, saving always all rights of action vested under such prior provisions, and proceedings commenced for the assertion thereof ; but nothing herein contained, unless it be so expressed, shall be construed, unless by inevitable implication, to revive any act or portion of an act hereto- fore repealed ; nor to impair or in any manner afEect or change any special law touching the schools or school sys- tem of any city or incorporated village of the state. 11 82 Consolidated School Act of 1864. TITLE la. The rate bills here- tofore au- thorized by special acts abol isbed. Local tax o£ city cannot be increased. The iAJoo following paragraphs, amendatory of the Gen- eral School Act, hut not of any particular title thereof, were passed as sections 26 amd 27, of chap. 406, Laws of 1867. Hereafter all moneys now authorized by any special acts to be collected by rate bill for the payment of teach- ers' wages, shall be collected by tax, and not by rate bill. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to authorize the common council of any city, to increase the local city tax for the support of the schools therein, be- yond the amounts they are now authorized by law to raise for local school purposes, and such local tax shall be reduced in such city, by an amount -equal to the amount it shall receive by the additional tax authorized by this act, for the support of schools in the state generally. SEPIEITI iCTS OF CEIERU IPPIICIITIOI. Chap. 261. AN ACT to provide for the better education of the children in the several orphan asylums in this state, other than in the city of New York. Passed April 10, 1850. The People of the State of New Torh, represented in Senate and Assembly^ do enact as follows : Section 1. The schools of the several incorporated or- to partioi- phan asylum societies in this state, other than those in the SfsMbu'^*'* city of New York, shall participate in the distribution of *'°J,,°' ""^ the school moneys in the same manner and to the same money, extent in proportion to the number of children educated therein, as the common schools in their respective cities or districts. i< 2. The schools of said societies shall be subject to the Rules and rules and regulations of the common schools in such cities Sent of. or districts, but shall remain under the immediate man- agement and direction of the said societies as heretofore. Ohap. 185. AN ACT to provide for the care and instruction of idle and truant children. Passed April 12, 1853. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate ana Assembly, do enact as follows : Idle and Section 1. If any child, between the ages of five and 'j,"?.?* fourteen years, having suiScient bodily health and mental be brought capacity to attend the public schools, shall be found wan- justice of dering in the streets or lanes of any city or incorporated etc.''*^''^' 84 Geneeai. Acts Relating to Schools. "tsssi"^' village, idle and truant, without any lawful occupation, any justice of the peace, police magistrate, or justices of the district courts in the city of New York, on complaint thereof by any citizen on oath, shall cause such child to be brought before him for examination, and shall also cause the parent, guardian or master of such child, if he or she have any, to be notified to attend such examina- tion. And if, on such examination, the complaint shall be satisfactorily established, such justice shall require the parent, guardian or master to enter into an engagement in writing, to the corporate authorities of the city or vil- lage, that'he will restrain such child from so wandering about, will keep him or her on his own premises, or in some lawful occupation, and will cause such child to be sent to some school, at least four months in each year, until he or she becomes fourteen years old. And such Security, justice may, in his discretion, require security for the faithful performance of such engagement. If such child has no parent, guardian or master, or none can be found, or if such parent, guardian or master refuse or neglect, within a reasonable time, to enter into such engagement. When and to give such security, if required, such justice shall, be'c'oi^^^ by warrant under his hand, commit such child to such initted. place as shall be provided for his or her reception, as here- inafter directed. ottheploT § ^- ^^ ®"*^'^ engagement be habitually or intentionally to bring violated, an action may be brought thereon by the over- seers of the poor, or either of them, of such city or village, in the name of the corporate authorities thereof, and on proof of such habitual or intentional violation the plain- tiff shall recover therein a penalty of not more than fifty dollars, with costs. And thereupon the magistrate, or court before whom such recovery shall be had, shall, by warrant, commit such child to the place so provided for bis or her reception, as aforesaid, puoe'to be § ^" '^^^® Corporate authorities of every city and incor- iiiovided porated village shall provide some suitable place for the chUdren°' reception of every child that may be so committed, and for the employment of such child in some useful occupa- tion, and his or her instruction in the elementary branches of an English education, and for his or her proper sup- port and clothing. Every child so received shall be kept in such place until discharged by the overseers of the poor or the commissioner of the alms-house of such city or village, and may be bound out as an apprentice by them Idle and Tkuant Childeen. 85 or either of them, with the consent of any justice of tlie i856.' peace, or any of the aldermen of the city, or any truslectfoJn^^o^t of the incoi'porated village where he may be, in the same ^f appiea- manner, for the same periods, and subject to the same provisions in all respects as are contained in the first ar- ticle and fourth title of the eighth chapter, and second part of the Revised Statutes, with respect to children whose parents have become chargeable on any city or town. § 4. The expenses of providing and maintaining such Expenses, place for the reception, clothing, support and instruction fraye'd^,' of such children shall be defrayed' in the same manner as charges for the support of paupers chargeable upon such city or village : and the corporate authorities of every city and village shall certify to the board of supervisors of the county, at their annual meetings, the amount necessary for said purposes, which amount the said supervisor shall cause tio be levied and collected as part of the taxes for the support of the poor, cliargeable to such city or village. § 5. It shall be the duty of all police officers and con- Duty of stables, who shall find any child in the condition described Pgl'*'® in the first section of this act, to make complaint to a justice of the peace, as provided in the said section. § 6. The fees of justices, for services performed under ^^^^ this act, shall be the same as allowed by law in cases of vagrancy, and shall be paid by the city or village in which they were rendered. § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.* Cliap. 71. AN" ACT to facilitate education and civilization among the Indians residing in this State. Passed April 1, 1856; three-fifths being present. Tke People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction Duty of shall be charged with providing the means of education int^endent' for all the Indian children in the State. He shall cause instru''o!° to be ascertained the condition of the various bands in the tion. 'This act, though unrepealed, would seem to be superseded by chapter 421, Laws of 1874, 86 General Acts Relating to Schools. ^^im.''^' state in respect to education ; he shall establish schools in such places and of sach character and description as he shall deem necessary ; he shall employ superintendents foi- such schools, and shall, with the concurrence of the comptroller and secretary of state, cause to be erected, where necessary, convenient buildings for their accommo- dation. iQdiana to § 2. In tlie discharge of the duties imposed by this act, co-operate. ^^^ ^^^^ Superintendent shall endeavor to secure the co- operation of all the several bands of Indians, and for this purpose shall visit, by himself or his authorized agent, all the reservations where tliey reside, lay the matter before them in public assembly, inviting them to assist either by appropriating their public moneys to this object, or by setting apart lands and erecting suitable buildings, or by furnishing labor or materials for such buildings, or in any other way which he or they may suggest as most effectual for the promotion of this object. ' Indian title § 3. In any contract which may be entered into with tected.'"^°" said Indians, for the use or occupancy of any land for school grounds, sites or buildings, care shall be taken to protect the title of the Indians to their lands, and to re- serve to the state tlie right to remove or otherwise dispose of all improvements made at the expense of the state. Children to § 4. The Indian children in the state, between the ages fic^money' of four and twenty-one years, shall be entitled to draw public money tiie same as white children. The Superin- tendent shall cause an annual enumeration of said Indian Eniinier- children to be made, and shall see that the public money, at'o°- to which they are ratably entitled, is devoted exclusively to their education. *5^«»ap-^ § 5. To carry into effect the provisions of this act, the propnate . ^^^^ ^^ g^^ thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of the sui-plus income of the United States deposit fund, to be paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptrol- ler, from time to time, to the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 7o°"etek'ln § ^- ^^^ Superintendent shall take and file in his office and aied. vouchers and receipts for all the expenditures made under this act, subject to the inspection of the joint committee to examine the accounts of the auditor aiid treasurer ; and shall annually report to the legislature all his doings, by virtue of tlie authority vested in him ; and for this pur- pose said Superintendent may require full and detailed reports, in such form as he may prescribe, from those An Act foe a General Vaccination. 87 having the immediate supervision of any Indian schools *^%66,*^' in this state. § 7. This act shall take effect immediately. Chap. 488. AN ACT to encourage and provide for a general vacci- nation in this state. Passed April 16, 1860 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assemhly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The trustees of the several common school children districts in this state, and the proper local boards of com- Seen vlc-^ mon school government in the several cities of the state, ^°*'^'^ are hereby directed and empowered, under the provisions excluded hereinafter set forth, to exclude from the benefits of the common common schools therein any child or any person who has®"'^*"''^' not been vaccinated, and until such time when said child or person shall become vaccinated. § 2. The said trustees or local board may adopt a reso- Trustees lution to carry into effect the power conferred by the first resoiuUon' section hereof ; and whenever they shall do so they shall to carry thereupon give at least ten days' notice thereof, by posting fo^nsoTflret the same in two or more public or conspicuous places ^°"*'°''' within the limits of their school government, and shall, in said notice advertise due provision for the vaccination of any child or person of suitable age, who may desire to attend the common school, and whose parents or guard- ians are imable to procure vaccination for them or for the children of suitable age of such parents, as by reason of poverty may be exempted from taxation in such school districts. § 3. The said trustees or board may, in their or its dis- Trustees cretion, appoint some competent physician and fix the "^^J "P^iy. compensation for his services, the duty of which physician s'cian to shall be to ascertain the number of children or persons in children.* the school district or subdivision of city school government, being of an age suitable to attend the common school, whoTiave not been already vaccinated, and also to furnish to the said trustees or said board a list of the names of all such children or persons. It shall also be tlie duty of said physician to provide himself with good and reliable vac- cine virus wherewith to vaccinate such of the number of General Acts Relating to Schools. ^'^i'^^"' children or persons aforesaid as have not been vaccinated according as the trustees or board shall direct, and to Physician thereupon give certificates of vaccination when required, cerfificates which Certificate shall be evidence thereof, for the pur- of^^ccina- gg Qf a^ compliance with section first hereof. Expenaes. § 4. The ncccssary expenses incurred by the provisions of this act shall be included and collected in the annual tax bill of the district, town, village or city, as may be proper, according to law. Beportsof § 5. The trustees of the several school districts of this """"""" state are hereby required, to include in their annual report, the number in their several districts between the ages of five and twenty-one years, who are vaccinated and the number un vaccinated. trustees. *Cliap. 761. A.N ACT authorizing the taxation of stockholders of banks, and the surplus funds of savings banks. Passed April 23, 1866. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : stookhoid- Section .1. No tax shall hereafter be assessed upon the taxed on Capital of any bank or banking association organized under f aiue ot^ ^Q authority of this state, or of the United States, but the place of stockholders in such banks and banking associations shall banks!^^ ° be assessed and taxed on the value of their shares of stock therein ; said shares shall be included in the valuation of the personal property of such stockholder, in the assess- ment of taxes at the place, town or ward where such bank or banking association is located, and not elsewhere, whether the said stockholders reside in said place, town or ward, or not, but not at a greater rate than is assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individuals in Real estate this state. And in making sucli assessment there shall also be taxed. ° be deducted from the value of such shares such sum as is in the same proportion to such value as is the assessed value of the real estate of the bank or banking associa- tion, and in which any portion of their capital is invested, in which said shares are held, to the whole amount of • Note.— Section 7 of this act repealed by sec. 56, chap. 371, Laws of 1875. Taxation of Stockholdees of Banks. 89 the capital stock of said bank or banking association. And *'''^^.'"' provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to exempt from taxation the real estate held or owned by any such bank or banking association ; but the same shall be subject to state, county, municipal and other taxation to the same extent and rate and in the same maimer as other real estate is taxed. § 2. Every individual banker doing banking business individual under the lavfs of this state, is hereby required to declare deoiar™ *° upon oath before the assessor the amount of capital invested o^""a1 aSd in such banking business, and each one hundred dollars of shares oi such capital for the purpose of this act, and for the pur- pose of taxation shall be held and regarded as one indi- vidual share in such banking business, and such shares are hereby declared to be personal property. If such banker have partners he shall declare upon oath before the asses- sor the number of shares held by each of them in such banking business, ascertained as above provided, and the shares so held by any partner shall be included in the valu- ation of his taxable property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school district or ward where such individual banker is located, and not elsewhere ; and such individual banker shall pay the same and make the amount so paid a charge in his accounts with such partners; and if such individual banker have no partners he shall beheld to be sole owner of all the shares in such business of bank- ing, and the same shall be included in the valuation of his personal property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school district or ward where his bank is located, and not elsewhere. 8 3. Thei'e shall be kept at all times in the office where List of the . 1 " 1 i p 111 11' . i* names and the business ot such bank or banking association, organ- residences to ized under the authority of this state or of the United g^f^g^ States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the*>8kept. names and residences of all the stockholders therein, and of the number of shares held by each ; and such list shall be subject to the inspection of the officers authorized to assess taxes during the business hours of each day in which business may be legally transacted. § 4. Sections ten and eleven of chapter ninety-seven of the session laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-five are hereby repealed. § 5. W hen the owner of stock in any bank or banking Non-resi- association, organized under the laws of this State, or of er'stax" the United States, shall not reside in the same place fg"^^^? where the bank or banking association is located, the 12 90 General Acts Kelating to Schools. '^^mi'^- collector ana county treasurer shaU, respectively, have the same power as to collecting the tax to be assessed by this act, as they have by statute, when the person assessed has removed from the town, ward or county in which the assessment was made ; and the county treasurer, receiver of taxes, or other officers authorized to receive said tax from the collector, may all or either of them have an action to collect the tax from the avails of the sales of his shares of stock and the tax on the share or shares of said stock shall be and remain a lien thereon till the pay- ment of said tax. Bank § 6. For the purpose ot collecting such taxes, and in Smfretain addition to any other law of this state, not in conflict dividend, ^^jth the constitution of the United States, relative to the imposition of taxes, it shall be the duty of every such bank or banking association, and the managing officer or officers thereof, to retain so much of any dividend or dividends belonging to .such stockholder as shall be nec- essary to pay any taxes assessed in pursuance of this act, until it shall be made to appear to such officers that such taxes have been paid. Chap. 694. AN ACT in relation to the valuation of the property of railroad companies in school districts, for the purpose of taxation. Passed April 23, 1867; three- fifths being present. The People of the State of New Yorh, represented m Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Duty of *SECTio]sr 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, '°r"rs^to ■within fifteen days after the completion of their annual apportioQ assessment list, to apportion the valuation of the property the"prop°' of each and every railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe- ^Sh-oid, line company as appears on such assessment list, among taiesraph, the Several school districts in their town, in which any por- and pipe- tioii of said property is situated, giving to each of said dis- panies." tricts their proper portion, according to the proportion that the value of said property in each, of such districts bears . to the value of the whole thereof in said town. " As amended by sec. 1, obap. 114, Laws of 1884. CoMPULsoEY Education Act. 91 *§ 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing, and shall *"^is?4"^' be signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, and ^entto'be shall set forth the mimber of each district and the amount in writinK of the valuation of the property of each railroad, telegraph, fl"edwith telephone and pipe-line companies apportioned to each of '°^" "'*''' said districts ; and such apportionment shall be filed with the town clerk by said assessors, or one of them, within five days alter being made; and the amount so apportioned to each district shall be the valuation of the property of each of said companies, on which all taxes against said compa- nies in and for said districts shall be levied and assessed, until the next annual assessment and apportionment. fl 3. In case the assessors shall neglect to make such ^fy^Ipp^- apportionment it shall be the duty of the supervisor ot^°^^^^ the town, on the application of the trustees or board of neglect, education of any district, or of any railroad, telegraph, telephone or pipe-line company, to make such apportion- ment in the same manner and with the like effect as if made by said assessors. § 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish toTuraith to the trustees or board of education of each district, a cer- statement tified statement of the amounts apportioned to such district, "f appor- and the name of the company to which the same relates, to trustee. f § 5. In case any alteration shall be made in any school when district affecting the property of any railroad, telegraph, ^iS^uft l" telephone or pipe-line company, the officer making such made, alteration shall, at the same time, determine what change in the valuation oi said property in such district would be just, on account of the alteration of district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. Chap. 421- AN ACT to secure to children the benefits of elementary education. Passed May 11, 1874; three-fifths being present. The Pemle of the State of New Fork, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. All parents and those who have the care of pi'"^')*" children shall instruct them, or cause them to be instructed, structed at * As amended by sec. 2, chap. 4U, Laws of 1884. t As amended by sec. 12, chap. 340, Laws of 1885, 92 Genbeal Acts Eelating to Schools. Employ- ment of cbildrea under 14 years of age pro- hibited. °^%-4'''' in spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, geography school or and arithmetic. And every parent, guardian or other for^aulast person having control and charge of any child between uweeks^Q ^^q j^ggg ^f gjght and fourteen years shall cause sncli child eao year. ^^ ^^^^^^^ g^^g public or private day school at least four- teen weeks in each year, eight weeks at least of which at- tendance shall he consecutive, or to be instructed regularly at home at least fourteen weeks in each year in spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, geography and arith- metic, unless the physical or mental condition of the child is such as to render such attendance or instruction inex- pedient or impracticable. *§ 2. No child under the age of fourteen years shall be employed by any person to labor in any business whatever during the school hours of any school day of the school term of the public school in the school district or the city where such child is, unless such child shall have attended some public or private day school where instruction was given by a teacher qualified to instruct in spelling, reading, writing, geography, English grammar and arithmetic, or shall have been regularly instructed at home in said branches by some person qualified to instruct in the same, at least fourteen weeks of the fifty-two weeks next preced- ing any and every year in which such child shall be em- ployed, and shall, at the time of such employment, deliver to the employer a certificate in writing, signed by the teacher or a school trustee of the district or of a school, and countersigned by such officer as the board of educa^ tion or public instruction, by whatever name it may bo known in any city, incorporated village or town, shall des- ignate, certifying to such attendance or instruction ; and any person who shall employ any child contrary to the provisions of this section, shall, for each offense, forfeit and pay a penalty of fifty dollars to the treasurer or chief fiscal ofiicer of the city, or supervisor of the town, in which such offense shall occur ; the said sum or penalty, when so paid, to be added to the public school money of the school district in which the offense occurred. Truateesof t§ ^- 1* shall be the duty of the trustee or trustees of dlstrictto every school district, or public school, or union school, or examine of Officers appointed for that purpose by the board of edu- report cation or public instruction, by whatever name it may be onhia'aift. known, in every town and city, in the month of Septem- * As amended by sec. 1, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. t As amended by sec. Z, chap. 372, Lawa of 1876. CoMP0L8OET Edfoation Aot. 93 ber and of February ot each year, and at such other times ^^im!^^' as may be deemed necessary, to examine into the situation of the children employed in all manufacturing and otlier establishments in such school district where children are employed ; and in case any town or city is not divided into school districts, it shall for the pui-poses of the ex- amination provided for in this section, be divided by the school authorities thereof into districts, and the said trus- tees or other officers as aforesaid notified of their respect- ive districts on or before the first day of January of each year ; and the said trustee or trustees, or other officers as aforesaid, shall ascertain whether all the provisions of this act are duly observed, and report all violations thereof to the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of said city, or super- visor of said town. On such examination, the proprietor, superintendent or manager of said establishment shall, on demand, exhibit to said examining trustee, or other officers as aforesaid, a correct list of all children between the ages Wst of of eight and fourteen years employed in said establish- em'pio|ed. ment, with the said certificates of attendance on school or of instruction. §4. Every parent, guardian or other person having chiwren control and charge of any child between the ages of eight 'empora- and fourteen years, who has been temporarily discharged charged from employment in any business, in order to be afforded p™"nfe"nt an opportunity to receive instruction or schooling, shall 'oif^^f"** send such child to some public or private school, or shall cause such child to be regularly instructed as aforesaid at home for the period for which such child may have been so discharged, to the extent of at least fourteen weeks in all in each year, unless the physical or mental condition of the child is such as to render such an attendance or in- struction inexpedient or impracticable. *§ 5. The trustee or trustees of any school district or Trustees to public school, or the pi-esident of any union school, or act. such officer as the board of education of said city, incor- porated village or town may designate, is hereby author- ized and empowered to see that sections one, two, three, four and five of this act are enforced, and to report in wi-iting all violations thereof to the treasurer or chief fis- cal officer of his city, or to the supervisor of his town ; any person who shall violate any provision of sections one, three and four of tliis act shall, on written notice of such violation from one of the school officers above named, for- * As amended by sec. 3, chap, 3TS, Laws of 1876, 94: General Acts KELATmG to Schools. CHAP. 421, 1874. Penalties for viola- tions. Their ap- plication feit, for the first offense, and pay to the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of the city, or to the supervisor of the town in which he resides, or such offense has occurred, the sum of one dollar, and, after such first offense, shall, for each succeeding offense in the same year, forfeit and pay to the treasurer of said city or supervisor of said town, the sum of five dollars for each and every week, not exceeding thirteen weeks in any one year, daring which he_, after written notice from said school officer, shall have failed to comply with any of said provisions ; the said penalties^ when paid, to be added to the public school money of said school district in which the offense occurred. § 6. In every case arising under this act where the parent, guardian or other person having the control of any child between the said ages of eight and fifteen* years, is unable to provide such child for said fourteen: Text-books weeks with the text-books required to be furnished to en- ohu^?eL able such child to attend school for said period, and shall so state in writing to the said trustee, the said trustee shall provide said text-books for said fourteen weeks at the public school for the use of such child, and the expense of the same shall be paid by the treasurer of said city or the supervisor of said town on the certificate of the said trustee, specifying the items furnished for the use of such child. f § 7. In case any person having the control of any child, between the ages of eight and fourteen years, is unable to induce said child to attend school for the said fourteen weeks in each year, and shall so state in writing to said trustee, or said other officers appointed by the board of education or public instruction by whatever name it may be known, the said child shall, from and after the date and delivery to said trustee, or other officer as aforesaid, of said statement in writing, be deemed and dealt with as an habitual truant, and said person shall be relieved of all penalties incurred for said year after said date, under sec- tions one, four and five of this act, as to such child. t § 8. The board of education or public instruction, by truaQte."^ whatever name it may be called, in such city and incor- porated village, and the trustees of the scliool districts and union school in each town, by an affirmative vote of a majority of said trustees, at a meeting or meetings to Truant childreu. Rules * So in the orleinal. t As amended by sec. 4, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. t As amended by sec. 6, chap. 372, Laws of 1876. OoMPTJLSOET Education Act. 95 be called for this purpose, on ten days' notice in writing "^^ii^i.^^^' to each trustee, said notice to be given by the town clerk, are for each of their respective cities and towns hereby authorized and empowered and directed, on or before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy -seven, to make all needful provisions, arrangements, rules and regulations, concerning habitual truants and children be- tween said ages of eight and fourteen years of age, who may be found wandering about the streets or public places of such city or town during the school hours of the school day of the term of the public school of said city or town, having no lawful occupation or business, and grow- ing up in ignorance ; and said provisions, arrangements, rules and regulations shall be such as shall, in their judg- ment, be most conducive to the welfare of such children, and to the good order of such city or town ; and shall provide suitable places for the discipline and instruction and confinement, when necessary, of such children, and may require the aid of the police of cities, or incorporated villages, and constables of towns, to enforce their said rules and regulations, provided, however, that such provi- sions, arrangements, rules and regulations shall not go into effect, as laws for said several cities and towns, until ^pprg^ai they shall have been approved, in writing, by a justice of 9^°^*^^ the supreme court for the judicial district in which said the 3u- city, incorporated village or town is situated ; and, when court! so approved, he shall file the same with the clerk of the said city, incorporated village or town, who shall print the same, and furnish ten copies thereof to each trustee of each school district, or public or union school of said city, incorporated village or town. The said trustee shall keep one copy thereof posted in a conspicuous place in or copy on upon each school-house in his charge during the school house, terms each year. In like manner the same in each city, incorporated village or town may be amended or revised, Amend- within six months after the passage of this act, and there- ™®°'^- after annually as the trustee or trustees of any school district or public school, or the president of every union school, or the board of eduction or public instruction, or by whatever name it* may be known, in any city, incor- porated village or town, may determine. § 9. Justices of the peace, civil justices and police jus- Justices to tices shall have jurisdiction, within their respective towns dfctloQ'*" and cities, of all oflEensesand of all actions for penalties or fines described in this act, or that may be described in 96 Geneeal Acts Relating to Schools. CHAP. 27 jars. fines said provisions, arrangements, rules and regulations author- Aotionsforized by section eight of this act. All actions for fines and penalties under this act, shall be brought in the name of the treasurer or chief fiscal officer of the city or supervisor of the town to whom the same is payable, but shall be brought by and under the direction of the said trustee or trustees, or said officer designated by the board of educa- tion. § 10. Two weeks attendance at a half-time or eveiiing school shall, for all purposes of this act, be counted as one week at a day school. § 11. This act shall take effect on the first day of Jan- uary, eighteen hundred and seventy-five. Evening schools, Chap. 27- *AN ACT to designate the holidays to be observed in tlie acceptance and payment of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes, and relating to the closing of public offices. Passed February 33, 1875. The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Holidays. f Seotion 1. The following days and half-days, namely : The first day of January, commonly called New Tear's day; the twenty-second day of February, known as Washington's birthday ; the thirtieth day of May, known as Decoration day ; the fourth day of July, called Inde- pendence day ; the first Monday of September, to be known hereafter as Labor day ; the twenty-fifth day of December, known as Christmas day ; any general election day in this state ; every Saturday from twelve o'clock at noon until twelve o'clock at midnight, which is hereby designated a half-holiday ; and any day appointed or rec- ommended by the governor of this state, or the president of the United States, as a day of thanksgiving, or fasting and prayer, or other religious observance, Siall, for all purposes whatever as regards the presenting for payment or acceptance, and of the protesting and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks and prom- issory notes made after the passage of this act, be treated •As amended by sec. 2, ch. 30, Laws of 1881, and by oh. S t As amended by sec. 1, ch. 30, Laws of 1881, and by ch. i 19, Laws of 1887. 9, Laws of 1887. CONCEENING HOLIDAYS. 97 and considered as the first day of the week commonly' ™W5.^' called Sunday, and as public holidays or half-holidays ; J°^b|^ and all such bills, checks and notes otherwise presentable Sunday "^ for acceptance or payment on any of the said days shall days* "' be deemed to be payable and be presentable for accept ance or payment on the secular or business day next suc- ceeding such holiday ; but in the case of a half- holiday shall be presentable for acceptance or payment at or before twelve o'clock noon of that day. Provided, how- Protest on ever, that for the purpose of protesting or otherwise hold- next^suc- ing liable any party to any bill of exchange, check or os^^'^b. Eromissory note, and which shall not have been paid efore twelve o'clock at noon on any Saturdy, a demand of acceptance or payment thereof may be made and notice of protest or dishonor thereof may be given on the next succeeding secular or business day. And provided, fur- ther, that when any person shall receive for collection any check, bill of exchange or promissory note, due and presentable for acceptance or payment on any Saturday, such person shall not be deemed guilty of any neglect or omission of duty, nor incur any liability in not presenting for payment or acceptance, or collecting such check, bill of exchange or promissory note on that day. And pro- vided further, that in coustruing this section every Satur- day, unless a whole holiday as aforesaid, shall until twelve o'clock noon be deemed a secular or business day. And the days and half days aforesaid shall be considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays or half-h olid ays, for all purposes" what- soever as regards the transaction of business in the public oflices of this state, or counties of this state. On all other days, or half days, excepting Sundays, such oflSces shall be kept open for the transaction of business. § 2. Whenever the first day of January, the twenty- when faii- second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the Sunday, fourth day of July or the twenty-fifth day of December ^Sil^ shall fall upon Sunday, the Monday next following shall holiday, be deemed a public holiday for all or any of the purposes aforesaid ; provided, however, that in such case all bills of exchange, checks and promissory notes, made after the jassage of this act which would otherwise be presentable Protest to 'or acceptance or payment on the said Monday shall be neS sue-"" deemed to be presentable for acceptance or payment on busfnefs the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday, ^^y- I General Acts Eelating to Schools, CHAP. 322, 1875. Ohap. 323- AN ACT relating to free instruction in drawing. Passed May 14, 1875; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Drawing SECTION 1. In eacli of the state normal schools the taught in coiirse of studj shall embrace instruction in industrial or normal free hand drawing. In schools § 2. The board of education in each city in this state in cities, gjiall cause free instruction to be given in industrial or free hand drawing in at least one department of the schools under their charge. In union § 3. The board of education of each union free school mstiicts""' district incorporated by special act of the legislature, shall state su- cause free instruction to be given in industrial or free hand ent'may"*' drawing in the schools under their charge, unless excused excuse therefrom by the superintendent of public instruction. § 4. This act shall take effect October first, eighteen hundred aud seventy- five. POWER OP UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SELL OR EX- CHANGE REAL ESTATE : ALSO CONCERNING REDUCTION OP NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF BOARDS OF EDUCATION. The following powers were conferred upon boards of supervisors by subdivision 28, section 1, chap. 482, Laws of 1875: To author- *To authorize boards of trustees or of education in Ifr\*x-°^*^*any union free school districts, or trustees of common ?elfe^state. ^^hool districts, established in conformity to the general ■ or to any special law of the state on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the district, voting on the question at a duly called meeting, to sell or exchange real estate belonging to the district, for the purpose of improving or changing school-house sites and to increase or diminish the number of members of said boards. * As amended by sec. 1, chap. 339, Laws of 1878. Foe Eelief of School Disteicts. 99 CHAP. 219, 1877. Chap. 219. AN ACT for the relief of school districts wishing to con- tract with boards of education of cities, to educate their children in city schools. Passed May 3, 1877. The People of the State of New York, represented vn Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : * Section 1. Whenever any school district adjoining a Trustees city or village of six thousand inhabitants, by a vote of apoweredby majority of the qualified voters of such district, shall f^^'g^^^^'^' empower the trustees thereof, tlie said trustees shall enter to contract into a written contract with the board of education of of educa- such city or village, whereby all the children of such dis- or'vinage^ trict may be entitled to be taught in the public schools of (^pjilan^i such city or village, for a period of not less than twenty- inhabi- eight weeks in any school year, upon filing a copy of such teach the contract duly certified by the trustees of such school dis- theirdfs-"* trict, and by the secretary of the board of education of Jl'"* '"f^,, said city or village, in the office of the superintendent of schools oi public instruction ; such school district shall be deemed or'vinage. to have employed a competent teacher for such period, and shall be entitled to receive one distribution district quota each year, during which such contract shall be re- newed and continued. *§ 2. The board of education of any city or village, so Board of contracting with any school district, shall report the to report" number of persons of school age in such district, together **°- with those resident in the city or village, the same as though they were actual residents of the city or village, and shall report for the pupils attending the city or vil- lage schools from such district to the superintendent of public instruction, the same as though they were residents of such city or village. § 3. It shall be the duty of the superintendent ofsuperin- public instruction to give to school commissioners such gf "e ?n-' *° directions as may, in his judgment, be required and^J^^^^j^ proper, in relation to the reports to be made by the trus-s'onersin f '^ ..' 1 J- . ■ . . 1, 1 • • relation to tees ot such districts to school commissioners. reports. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. * As amended by chap. 396, Laws of 1879. 100 Gbnekal Acts Relating to Schools. CHAP. 413. 1877. Chap. 413. AN ACT to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools. Passed June 5, 1877; three-fifths heing present. The People of the State of New Torh, represented iji Senate and Assenibly, do enact as follows : Text- * Section 1. The boards of education or such bodies as i'gMMin^^' perform the functions of such boards in the several cities, and use of. yi^^ges and union free school districts of this state shall have power and it shall be their duty to adopt and desig- nate text-books to be used in the schools under their charge in their respective districts. In the other school districts in the state the text-books to be used in the schools therein shall be designated at the first annual school meeting held after the passage of this act by a two-thirds vote of all the legal voters present and voting at such school meeting. When § 2. When a text-book shall have been adopted for use not to^be in any of the public or common schools in this state, as b'y'otherr* provided in the first section of this act, it shall not be law- in five f ul to Supersede the text-book so adopted by any other book within a period of five years from the time of such adoption, except upon a three-fourths vote of the board of education, or of such body as perform the functions of such board, where such board has made the designation, or upon a three-fourths vote of the legal voters present and voting at the annual school meeting in any other school district. Penaityfor § 3. Any persou or persons violating any of the pro- v^o atmg yjgjQjjg Qf ^]^jg ^g^^ BhaM be liable to a penalty of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for every such violation, to be sued for by any tax payer of the school district, and recovered before any justice of the peace, said fine, when collected, to be paid to the collector or treasurer for the benefit of said school district. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 'As amended by aec. 1, chap. 437, Laws of 1884. Election of Officees. 101 CHAP. 248. 1878. Chap. 248- AN ACT in relation to the election of oflScers in certain school districts. Passed May 13, 1878; three-fiftlis being present. The People of ike Slate of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows ; Section 1. In all school districts in this state in which ?'*^*',?°^ the number of children of school age exceeds three hun- ^ * ° " dred, as shown by the last annual report of the trustees to the school commissioner, all district officers, except the treasurer and collector of union free school districts, shall be elected by ballot. *§ 2. Such election shall be held on the "Wednesday ^'h'°*'°Si next following the last Tuesday in August in each year, J''j?™ between the hours of twelve o'clock mid-day and four o'clock in the afternoon at the principal school-house in the district, or at such other suitable place as the trustees may designate. When the place of holding such election is other than at the principal school-house, the trustees shall give notice thereof, by the publication of such notice at least one week before the time of holding such election, in some newspaper published in the district, or by posting the same in three conspicuous places in the district. The trustees may, by resolution, extend the time of holding the election from four o'clock until sunset. § 3. The trustees or board of education, or such of inspectors, them as may be present, shall act as inspectors of elec- tion, and immediately after the close of the polls shall proceed to canvass the votes and declare the result. If any such district shall have but one trustee, the district clerk shall be associated with him as inspector. If a ma- jority of the trustees shall not be present at the time for opening the polls, those in attendance may appoint any of the legal voters of the district present, 'to act as inspectors in place of the absent trustees. If none of the trustees shall be present at the time for opening the polls, the legal voters may choose three of their number to act as inspectors. *Aa amended by chap. 405, Laws of 1879; chap. 115, [Laws of 1883, and chup. 413, Laws of 1883. 102 General Acts Eelating to Schools. ^%^8.^'^" § i. The trustees shall, at the expense of the district, Truateesto provide a suitable box in which the ballots shall be de- Eaiiot^box. posited as they are received. Such ballots shall contain the names of the persons voted for, and shall designate the office for which each one is voted. The ballots may be either written or printed, or partly written and partly printed. Duties of § 5. The district clerk, or clerk of the board of educa- «'«'■''■ tion, as the case may be, shall attend the election and record in a book to be provided for that purpose the name of each elector as he deposits his ballot. When the polls shall have been closed the inspectors shall first count the ballots to see if they tally with the number of names recorded by the clerli. If they exceed that mimber, enough ballots shall be withdrawn to make them corre- spond. Any clerk who shall neglect or refuse to record the name of a person whose ballot is received by the in- spectors, shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars, to be sued for by the supervisor of the town. If the district clerk or clerk of the board of education shall be absent, or shall be unable or shall refuse to act, the trustees, inspect- ors of election, or board of education shall appoint some person to act in his place, wfien § 6. If any person offering to vote at any such election chafienged. shall be challenged as unqualified by any legal voter, the chairman of the inspectors shall require the person so offering to vote to make the following declaration : " I do declare and affirm that I am an actual resident of this school district, and that I am legally qualified to vote at this election." And every person making such declara- tion shall be permitted to vote ; but if any person shall refuse to make such declaration, his ballot shall not be re- f(frfai86^ ceived by the inspectors. Any person who, upon being or'inega™ ^"^ challenged, shall willfully make a false declaration of voting. his right to vote at such election, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six months nor more than one year. Any person who shall vote at such election, not being duly qualified, shall, though not challenged, forfeit the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for by the sii- pervisor of the town for the benefit of the school or schools of the district, concerning § 7. All disputes Concerning the validity of any such tioVto be election, or of any votes cast thereat, or of any of the the*"u'*er" ^^^^ ^^ *^® inspectors or clerk, shall be referred to the Women as School Trustees. 103 Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose decision in i*™- the matter shall be final. Such Superintendent may, in of Pubuo his discretion, order a new election in any district. tfon^""" § 8. The persons having the highest number of votes, Result, respectively, for the several offices shall be declared oCaiea!" elected, and the clerk shall record the declaration of the inspectors. In case two persons shall have an equal num- ber of votes for the same office, the inspectors of election shall immediately choose one of such persons. If the in- spectors cannot agree, the clerk shall decide the matter. § 9. The annual meetings in the several districts shall ^°gt"i„- be held as now provided by law for the purpose of trans- acting all business except the election of officers. *§ 10. This act shall not apply to cities nor to union ^^f^pJIa free school districts whose boundaries correspond with from the those of an incorporated village, nor to any school district of "IS act. organized under a special act of the legislature, in which the time, manner and form of the election of district offi- cers shall be different from that prescribed for the elec- tion of officers in common school districts, organized under the general law, nor to any of the school ■ districts in counties of Richmond, Suffolk, Chenango, Westchester, Warren and Erie. Chap. 9. AN -ACT to declare women eligible to serve as school trustees. Passed February 13, 1880; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate a/nd Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifica- tions now required by law. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. •As amended by chap. 405, Laws of 1679; chap. 527, Laws of 1880; chap. 331, Laws of 1882; chap. 89, Laws of 1B84, and chap. 199, Laws of 1886. 104 General Acts Kelating to Schools. CHAP. 210. 1880. Chap. 310- AN ACT to provide for the dissolution of union free school districts in certain cases; Passed May 8, 1880; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in Senate and Assembly , do enact as follows : f Section 1. In any union free school district established boaJd°of under the laws of this state, it shall be the duty of the Sn^a^ppi?" board of education, upon the application of fifteen resi- clii me*e°- dent tax payers of such district, to call a special meeting ing to pass JQ the manner prescribed by law, for the purpose of deter- qSe^tionot mining whether application shall be made in the manner o£'l?smc°° hereinafter provided, for the dissolution of such union free school district, and for its reorganization as a com- mon school district or districts. When *§ 2- Whenever, at any such meeting called and held maM'^Jy as aforesaid, it shall be determined by a majority vote of to'disaowe, the legal voters present and voting, to be ascertained by me?t*g'to taking and recording the ayes and noes, not to_ dissolve wltwa**^ such union free school district, no other meeting for a three similar purpose shall be held in said district within three y^"^- years from the time the first meeting was held, and when- ittwo- ever, at any such meeting called and held as aforesaid, it to toloive* ^^ be determined by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters board 9f ' present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and record- mustVre- ing the ayes and noes, to dissolve such union free school board°o£ district, it shall be the duty of the board of education to aupervia- present to the clerk of the board of supervisors a certified fled copy, copy of the call, notice and proceedings, and the said caii.notioe, ^^^^ gj^^j^ jg^y the same before the board of supervisors at Siipervis- their next meeting. If the board of supervisors shall ap- proval, prove of the proceedings of said meeting, the clerk shall certify the same to the board of education. When to Such approval shall not take effect until the day pre- take effect, gg^jj^g t^e last Tuesdav of August next succeeding ; but after that date such district shall cease to be a union free SSr'di?e°S school district. tbatJJ® of § ^' -""^ ^^^ union free school district dissolved under a dissolved the foregoing provisions shall have been established bv district ° ° ^ 1. dfatrtcthad *^ amended by sec. 15, chap. 413, Laws of 1883. Dissolution of Union Free School Distbicts. 105 the consolidation of two or more districts, it shall be law- ''^iSso.™' f ul for the board of supervisors to direct that its territory been form- be divided in two or more districts to correspond, so far two or" as practicable, with the districts theretofore consolidated. ™istriots be §4. If there shall be, in such dissolved union free^J™^^^'^*" school district, an academy which shall have been adopted aame as as the academic department of the union free school, soiidated?" under the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred if an and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- g^l^'i^een four, it shall, upon the application of a majority of the *^°g*?<^ '' surviving resident former trustees or stockholders, be trains- * transferred by the board of education to said former trus- informer tees or stockholders _ ^rSnai § 5. ihe board oi supervisors may make its approval ot approval the proceedings of any such meeting held as aforesaid con- visors!*'" ditional upon the payment, by the district which has been most greatly benefited by the consohdation in the way of buildings and other improvements to the other district or districts into which the said union free school district is divided, of such sum or sums of money as they may deem equitable. § 6. All moneys remaining in the hands of the treasurer hand^to b" of the union free school district when the order of disso- tioned. lution shall take effect shall be apportioned equitably among the several districts into which such union free school district is divided, and shall be paid over to the col- lectors of such districts when they shall have been elected and have qualified according to law. § *7. The district or districts formed by the dissolution ^etfngs. of such union free school district shall hold its or their annual meeting or meetings on the last Tuesday of Au- gust next, after the dissolution of such union free school district, and shall elect officers as now required by law. § 8. If the board of supervisors shall not approve the p proceed- proceedings of any such meeting, held as aforesaid, for not ap- the purpose of dissolving a union free school district, no So°oUie'r other meeting shall be held in such district, for a similar g^e^heif iif purpose, within three years from the time the first meet- three , i ^ ', 1 T ■' years. mg was held. § 9. Whenever the proceedings of a meeting, held as Sssoiution aforesaid, for the purpose of dissolving a union f ree *o^ej.F53™ school district, shall have been approved by the board of tendent of supervisors and shall have been certified by the clerk of atruction. said board to the board of education, it shall be the duty • As amended by sec. 16, chap. 113, Laws of 1883. 14 106 Geneeal Acts Eelatdtg to Schools. ^fsso.^"' of the board of education of the district affected forthwith to notify the superintendent of public instruction, and to furnish him copies of the call, notice, proceedings of the meeting, and proceedings of the board of supervisors taken thereon. Chap. 540- AN ACT in relation to the valuation of the property of the president, managers and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in school districts, for the purpose of taxation. Passbd June 1, 1880 ; three-fifths being present. The Feoyle of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows ; Assessors SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, to appor- ^itiiin fifteen days after the completion of their annual tion valua- , . «/ , , 4 , „ , tion assessment list, to apportion the valuation of the property severS of the president, managers, and company of the Delaware di3t??ct3. ^^^ Hudson Canal Company, as appears on such assess- ment list, among the several school districts in their town in which any portion of said property is situated, giving to each of said districts their proper portion, according to the proportion that the value of said property in each of such districts bears to the value of the whole thereof in said town. To be In § 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing, and shall writing, jjg signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, and shall set forth the number of each district, and the amount of the valuation of the property of the president, managers and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- Fiiedwith pany, apportioned to each of said districts; and such town clerk apportionment shall be iiled with the town clerk, by said assessors, or one of them, within five days after being made; and the amount so apportioned to each district shall be the valuation of the property of said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, on which all taxes against said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in and for said districts shall be levied and assessed until the next annual assessment and apportionment, to make""^ § 3. In casB the assessors shall neglect to make such •>ame In apportionment, it shall be the duty of the supervisor of the case of nag- ^.q^jj^ qq ^jjg apphcation of the trustees or board of eduea- Payment of Salaeies. lOY tion of any district, or of the said Delaware and Hudson °%?; ^" Canal Company, to make such apportionment, in the same lect by manner and with like effect as if made by said assessors. °'^'®^^°™ § 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish certified to the trustees or board of education of each district a to^bl^u?- certified statement of the amounts apportioned to such "jusfe'^a. district, and the name of the company to which the same relates. § 5. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, once in Certified each year, furnish to the agent of the said Delaware and apponion- Hudson Canal Company and to the trustees or board of fi^ufghed* education of each school district to which any portion of tbecom- said appropriation belongs, a certified copy of said appor- ''*°^' tionment. § 6. In case any alteration shall be made in any school ^^°\. district, affecting the property of the said Delaware and is made Hudson Canal Company, the officer making such altera- dist5k!t°' tion shall at the same time determine what change in the valuation of the said property in such district would be just, on account of the alteration of such district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. § 7. This act shall take effect immediately. Oliap- 1. AN ACT to provide for the deficiency in the revenue of the United States deposit fund, and for the payment of the salaries of school commissioners. Passed January 15, 1881 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented m /Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The sum of seventy-six thousand nine hun- $76,957.77 dred and fifty-seven dollars and seventy-seven cents is ate'™''''" hereby appropriated from any moneys in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to supply the deficiency in the revenue of the United States deposit fund on the thirtieth day of September, eighteen hundred and eighty. § 2. The salaries now due and hereafter to become duecommis- to the several school commissioners of the state shall be IJSSs to paid out of any unexpended balances in the treasury cred-''«P*''i- ited to the free school fund. 108 CHAP. 643. 1881. Superin- teodent to set apart a sum sufficient to pay salaries of school commis- sioners from the free school fund. General Acts Eelating to Schools. § 3. la making the annual apportionment of school mon- eys, the superintendent of public instruction shall hereafter set apart a sum sufficient to pay the salaries of the several school commissioners from the free school fund, instead of from the United States deposit fund as heretofore. § 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. Boards of supervis- ors may divide school commis- sioner dis- tricts con- taining' more than two hun- dred school districts. Chap. 543. AN ACT to amend chapter four hundred and eighty-two of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled "An act to confer on boards of supervisors further pow- ers of local legislation and administration, and to regu- late the compensation of supervisors," as amended by chapter five hundred and twelve of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty. Passbd June 16, 1881; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Chapter four hundred and eighty-two of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled "An act to confer on boards of supervisors further powers of local legislation and administration, and to regulate the compensation of supervisors," as amended by chapter five hundred and twelve of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, is hereby further amended by adding thereto the following additional subdivision to section one of said act: 36. To divide any school commissioner district which contains more than two hundred school districts and to erect therefrom an additional school commissioner district, and when such district shall have been formed, a school commissioner for said district shall be elected in the way and manner now provided by law for the election of school commissioner. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. Payment of Taxes by Eaileoad Companies. 109 CHAP. 675. 1881. • Chap. 675. AN ACT to facilitate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies. Passed July 25, 1881; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New YorTc, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: *Seotion 1. It shall be the duty of the school collector School in each school district in this state, except in the counties to deliver of New York and Kings, within five days after the receipt ?o*Jount°y by such collector of any and every tax or assessment roll of treasurer his district, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer ta3for'as- of the county in which such district, or the greater part agl1"a1;°' thereof, is situated, a statement showing the name of each '^l^^t^.^^ ' ' . . , , 6>,, ,, , companies railroad company appeanng m said roll, the assessment |n their against each of said companies for real and personal prop- erty respectively,and the tax against each of said companies. It shall thereupon be the duty of such county treasurer, ?r°^i?er immediately after the receipt by him of such statement ™^st^ ^^ from such school collector, to notify the ticket agent of any notify the such railroad company assessed for taxes at the station ^ent'ot nearest to the oflBceof such county treasurer, personally or ™°§ J*^_ by mail, of the fact that such statement has been filed with pany. him by such collector, at the same time specifying the amount of the tax to be paid by such railroad company. § 2. Any railroad company heretofore organized,or which ^^""a* y may hereafter be organized, under the laws of this state, may pay may within thirty days after the receipt of such statement fles^o "^ by such county treasurer, pay the amount of tax so levied treasurer, or assessed against it in such district and in such statement mentioned and contained, with one per centum fees thereon, to such county treasurer, who is hereby author- ized and directed to receive such amount and to give proper receipt therefor. § 3. In case any railroad company shall fail to pay such Collector tax within said thirty days, it shall be the duty of such tax after county treasurer to notify the collector of the school dis-''""y^*y» trict in which such delinquent railroad company is assessed, of its failure to pay said tax, and upon receipt of such notice it shall be the duty of such collector to collect such unpaid tax in the manner now provided by law, together with five per centum fees thereon; but no school collector shall collect by distress and sale any tax levied or assessed * As amended by sec. 1, chap. 319, Laws of 1882. 110 General Acts Relating to Schools. cHf|^3i8- in his district upon the property of any railroad company until the receipt by him of such notice from the county treasurer. Amount § 4:. The several amounts of tax received by any county paid treas- treasurer in this state^ under the provisions of this act, of pa?dover^ and from railroad companies, shall be by such county leotoJ^ treasurer placed to the credit of the school district for or on account of which the same was levied or assessed, and on demand paid over to the school collector thereof, and the one per centum fees received therewith shall be placed to the credit of, and on demand paid to, the school collec- tor of such school district. § 5. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to hinder, prevent or prohibit any railroad company from payins; its school tax to the school collector direct, as now provided by law. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. Chap. 318- AN ACT to regulate the instruction of common school teachers in academies and academical departments of union schools. Passed June 7, 1883. The People of the State of New Yorh, represented in Senate and Assemily, do enact as follows : Appropri- Section 1. The appropriation provided by chapter fnciudein-four hundred and twenty-five of the laws of eighteen b?regentg hundred and seventy-seven, for the instruction in unwereity academies and union schools in the science and practice of common school teaching, shall be deemed to include, and shall include, the due inspection and supervision 6i such instruction by the regents of the university, and the expenses of such inspection and supervision for the pres- ent and each succeeding fiscal year shall be paid out of said appropriation on vouchers certified by the regents of the university. ciMsea § 2. Each class organized in any academy or union visitation school under appointment by the regents of the university, cora''mi°a°' for instruction in the science and practice of common sinner. school teaching, shall be subject to the visitation of the school commissioner of the district in which such Insteuction of Common School Teacheeb. Ill CHAP. 318. academy or union school is situated ; and it shall be the ^^' duty of said commissioner to advise and assist the P''inci- °jj'j^yj°,'_ pals of said academies or union schools in the organiza- sioner. tion and management, and in the final examination of said classes, and after the close of the term of instruction of said classes to make to the regents of the university, in the manner to be prescribed by them, a report in re- gard to the instruction of said classes, and the qualifica- tions of the individual members thereof. § 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided scholars by law, in a class organized for instruction in the science Se deemafi and practice of common school teaching, v?ho shall have ^JmcL^nt passed the examination, known and designated as the re-'earuing ^ . , T • • ,• • • r i- T-ii-i to teach gents preliminary exammation, in arithmetic, JliUglish common grammar, geography and spelling, and who, in addition, ^"""oo'^- shall have passed the final examination prescribed for such classes by the said regents, including an examination in the history of the United States, the principles of civil government and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed to have sufficient learning to teach in the common schools of the state ; and to each such scholar the regents of the Eegenta to university shall grant a testimonial which, when indorsed Sfaifand by any school commissioner, shall constitute a certificate j^g""®' of qualification and license to teach in the common schools thereof by of his district for a period of one year from the date of^mmis- such indorsement ; and at the expiration of the period ^'o^e""- named in said license, and at successive expirations thereafter, said certificate may be re-indorsed by any school commissioner, and at his discretion constituted a license to teach in the common schools of his district for a period not to exceed three years after each re-indorsement. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 112 General Acts "Relating to Schools. CHAP. 414. Chap. 414. AN ACT to amend section sixteen of chapter one hun- dred and seveuty-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, entitled "An act to provide for a more thorough supervision and inspection of common schools, and further to amend the statutes relating to public instruction in the state." Passed May 16, 1883; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of Mew York, represented in. Senate and Assembl/y, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and seventy-nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty- six is hereby amended so as to read as follows : Cities hav- § 16. The Several cities which already or which shall penntend- hereafter, under special acts, elect superintendents of entof common schools, or whose board of education choose pot to be_ clerks doing the duty of supervision under direction of commf8-"'t^6 board of education, shall not be included in any com- triot*"^ "^'^ missioner's district created by this act or authorized to he formed by the board of supervisors ; and the several boards of supervisors in counties in which such cities are joined supervis- to towns in the formation of an assembly district may divide divide the county, exclusive of such cities, into school fnto°oom- commissioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but di3tric?a!' °*^ town shall be divided in forming such districts. Cliap. SO- AN ACT in relation to the study of physiology and hy- giene in the public schools. Passed March 10, 1884; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate am.d Assembly, do enact as follows : Local au-- SECTION 1. Provision shall be made by the proper local to make^ school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools ?o?Itudy supported by public money, or under state control, in oio'^^'and P^y®i°^°Sy and hygiene, with special reference to the iiygiene. effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. Eelief op Non-Resident Tax Payees. 113 § 2. 1^0 certificate shall be granted to any person to issi. teach in the public schools of the state of 'New York after ^^^^^j*j^_^ the first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, «at,es to 11 , 1 a ' J* I •.••!• t6fl.Cii muse who has not passed a satisfactory examination in physi- pass exam- ology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of ihu'study. alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. Cliap. 413. AN ACT for the relief of non-resident tax payers who, or whose children or wards, are attendants at any free school. Passed May 31, 1884; three-fiftlis being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : *SEOTio])f 1. Pupils attending any free school, whether Non-resi- the same be organized under chapter five hundred and aSSject to^ fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, the pay- entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general tuition acts relating to public instruction," or under any special *°®^' act applying to a village or city, if residing out of the districts where said schools are kept, shall be subject to the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper au- thorities ; provided, that if such non-resident pupils, their Deduction parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the^j^^^™^® support of said schools in the said districts, on account of ph, parent owning property therein, the amount of any such tax paid fa/p^s' by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guardian, during t?i^t where the same school year in which the charge for tuition was pupji at- incurred, shall be deducted from such charge for tuition, aohooi. Cliap. 280- AN ACT to provide for the taxation of forest lands in the counties known as the Forest Preserve. Passed May 5, 1886; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. All wild or forest lands belonging to, orforeit"' which may hereafter be acquired by the state within the {.l"^!'" ^® * As amended by sec 11, chap. 340, Laws of 188B. 15 114 General Acts Relating to Schools. ^°iM6.^°- limits of the Forest Preserve, as established by chapter two hundred and eighty-three of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, shall be assessed and taxed at a like valuation and at a like rate as those at which similar lands of individuals within such counties are assessed and taxed, subject, however, to the provisions of this act. On or before August first in every year the assessors oi to file copy the town within which the lands so belonging to the meXrofi State are situated shall file in the office of the comptrol- comptroi- ^'^'^1 ^^^ ^"^ ^^® office of the forest commission, a copy ler and of the assessmcnt-roll of the town which, in addition to commis- the Other matters now required by law to be stated What as- '^^^rein, shall state and specify which and how much, if se3sment- any, of the lands assessed are forest lands, and also, and state.'*"" separately, which and how much, if any, of the lands as- sessed are lands belonging to the State ; such statements and specifications to be verified by the oaths of a major- Oomptroi- ity of the said assessors. The comptroller shall there- correct as- upon and before the first day of September following, sessment. and after hearing the assessors and the forest commis- sion if they or any of them so desire, correct or reduce any assessment of state lands which may in his judg- ment be in unfair proportion to the remaining assess- ments of lands within the town, and shall in other re- spects approve the assessment and communicate such ap- proval, and no such assessment of state lands shall be valid for any purpose until the amount of the assessment is so approved by the comptroller, and such approval, attached and deposited with the assessment-roll of the town and therewith delivered by the assessors of the town to the supervisor of the town, or other officer au- thorized to receive the same from the assessors. No tax Tax for the for the erection of a school-house or opening a road shall rschool-"^ ^® imposed upon state lands, unless such erection or house. opening shall have been first approved in writing by the How pay- f orest commission. Payments of the taxes which may telesto'be be imposed according to law and the provisions of this made. act Upon lands so belonging to the state shall in every year be made by the treasurer of the state upon the certificate of the comptroller as to the lawful and just amount of such taxes, by allowing to the treasurer of the county in which any such lands may be situate a credit of the amount of such taxes due upon such lands upon the amount payable by such county treasurer in such year to the state for state taxes; providing, however, that no Employment and Pat of Teachees. 115 fees shall be allowed by the comptroller to the county mi. treasurers in adjusting their accounts for such portion of the state tax as is so paid. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. Chap. 335- AN ACT in relation to the employment and pay of teachers in the public schools. Passed May 16, 1887; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, all^«^°!^»"- officers or boards of officers who shall employ any teacher hiring, to teach in any of the public schools of this state shall, at the time of such employment, make and deHver to such teacher, or cause to be made, and delivered, a memoran- dum in writing, signed by said oflScer, or by the mem- bers of said board, or by some person duly authorized by said board, to represent them in the premises, in which the details of the agreement between the parties, and par- ticularly the length of the term of employment, the amount of compensation and the time or times when such com- pensation shall be due and payable, shall be clearly and definitely set forth. But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to abridge or otherwise affect the term of employment of any teacher now or hereafter employed in the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any provision of special laws concerning the employment or removal of teachers now in force in any particular locality. § 2. The pay of any teacher employed in the public Pay of- schools of this state shall be due and payable at least as often as at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 116 General Acts Eelating to Schools. CHAP. 540. 1887. Chap. 538. AN ACT in relation to health and decency in the school districts of this state. Passed June 7,'1887; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate am,d Assembly, do enact as follows : Sew'and SECTION 1. From and after the first day of September, division eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, the board of eduea- blToon-*" tion, or the trustee or trustees having supervision over struoted. ^^^ gchool district of this state, shall provide suitable and convenient water-closets or privies for each of the schools under their charge, at least two in number, which shall be entirely separated each from tlie other and having separate • means of access, and the approaches thereto shall be sepa- rated by a substantial close fence not less than seven feet in height. It shall be the duty of the oiBcers aforesaid to keep the same in a clean and wholesome condition, and a failure to comply with the provisions of this act on the part of the trustees shall be sufficient grounds for removal from office, and for withholding from the district any Tax for. share of the public moneys of the state. Any expense incurred by the trustees aforesaid in carrying out the requirements of this act shall be a charge upon the dis- trict, when such expense shall have been approved by the school commissioner of the district within which" the school district is located ; and a tax may be levied there- for without a vote of the district. Oliap. 540- AN ACT to provide for the establishment of evening schools for free instruction in industrial drawing. Passed June 7, 1887; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate a/nd Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The board of education, or other body hav- sohools^for ing supervision of the public schools in any city or union Code of Public Insteuction. 117 free school district in this state, is hereby authorized to "^il^'. °"" establish and maintain evening schools for free instruction dra^lg*' in industrial drawing, whenever the city authorities in any city or the qualified electors duly convened in any union free school district shall so direct, and shall make provision for the maintenance of such schools. In addition to the powers now conferred by law upon the authorities of any city, or upon the electors of any union free school district in the state, such authorities and such electors shall also have power, whenever they shall think it advisable, to raise such moneys as shall be necessary to carry out the purposes of this act. § 2. This act shall take efEect immediately. Chap. 673. AN ACT to provide for the distribution of the Code of Public Instruction to the several school districts of the state, and making appropriation therefor. Passed June 24, 1887. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The state superintendent of puoiic instruc- Code of tion is hereby direct to deUver or cause to be delivered struotion," one copy of the Code of Public Instruction, the amended distributed, and annotated edition of eighteen hundred and eighty- seven, substantially bound in law sheep, to each of the several school districts of the state. The copies of said to be the Code so distributed shall be the property of the several fheSnc"! school districts receiving the same, and there shall be plainly inscribed on the outside of the cover of each book the following words, namely : This Code is the property of school district number , town of , county of ; the blank spaces being filled in by the number of the district and the names of the town and county where said book shall belong. § 2. The trustees of each school district are hereby made ou"t^*|||ng the custodians of the Code of Public Instruction belong- of. ing to such school district, and shall deliver the same to their successor or successors in ofiice. And in case such p oaae of copy of said Code shall have been lost or destroyed through replaced. ' or by means of the fault or negligence of the trustees, the 118 General Acts Relating to Schools. '^'^li^'. ^^' trustees so permitting the same to be lost or destroyed shall, at their own expense, procure a copy of the latest edition of the Code of Public Instruction and deliver the same to their successor or successors in office in lieu of the copy so lost or destroyed, for^faifure § ^" -^^^^J trustee who fails to comply with the pro- of trustees visions of the foregoing section shall forfeit the sum of to comply, twenty-five dollars. This penalty shall be sued for by the trustees of the district and shall be used in the purchase of books for the district library, but the state superintend- tionof*" ^^t of public instruction may, upon the application in ™o°e^sre- -^vriting of the trustees of the district, indorsed by the penalties, school commissioner of that commissioner district, direct that it be applied toward the payment of teachers' wages. Appropria- § 4. The sum of eighteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, to defray the expense of carrying out the provisions of this act, which shall be paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, upon vouchers approved by said superin- tendent. § 5. This act shaU take effect immediately. tioQ for. CHap. 675. KE ACT to provide plans and specifications for the use of trustees in the erection of school-houses, and making an appropriation therefor. Passed June 34, 1887. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Plans for SECTION 1. The State Superintendent of public instruc- hmfdings. tion is hereby authorized and directed to procure archi- tect's plans and specifications for a series of school build- ings, to cost sums ranging from six hundred to ten thousand dollars, together with full detail working plans and directions for the erection of the same. After pro- curing said plans and specifications, he shall accompany the same with blank forms for builders' contracts and with suggestions in relation to the preparation of the grounds and the arrangement of the building with regard to lighting, heating, ventilating and the health and con- Eepoet of Superintendent. 119 venience of teachers and pupils, and then pubHsh the ^^tw.™' whole in convenient form for distribution to trustees and Arrange- .1 1 . p ,1 ment of others having use tor the same. plans, etc. § 2. The sum of two thousand five hundred dollars, or Appropria- so much thereof as may be necessary, payable out of the*'°°*°''- free school fund, is hereby appropriated for carrying out the purposes of this act. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. Oliap. 710. AN ACT to amend chapter five hundred and eighty-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six, entitled "An act to provide for and define the public or legis- lative printing." Passed June 35, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New Torh, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. * * * * * * § 2. Section eight of chapter five hundred and eighty- eight of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six is " hereby amended so as to read as follows : § 8. In addition to the usual number of regular reports made by the state officers and institutions, there shall be printed as extra copies of legislative documents for the use of the respective departments, institutions and boards : * * * * of the report of the superintend- ent of public instruction, fifteen thousand copies, all bound in cloth, to be distributed by that ofiicer as follows : eleven thousand three hundred copies for the school districts of the state, being one copy for each school district ; nine hundred copies to school commissioners and city superin- tendents of schools ; two hundred copies to the state nor- mal and training schools ; three hundred copies to acade- mies and high schools ; one thousand copies to members and officers of the legislature and state officers ; one thou- sand copies for the use of the state superintendent of pub- lic instruction ; also three hundred copies printed on forty-four pound calendered paper and bound in leather, for exchange with the superintendents of public instruc- tion of the states and territories, and for distribution among public libraries. * * * * 120 Geneeal Acts Relating to Schools. Chapter 800, Laws of 1866, as amended, is printed in the chapter on School-house Sites, at page 279. The general acts relating to the State Normal Schools are printed in the chapter on State Noemal Schools, at page 463. PART II. APPEALS. ON APPEALS TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUC- TION. Title XII. Section 1. Any person conceiving liimself aggrieved in conse- quence of anj' decision made : 1. By any school district meeting ; 2. By any school commissioner or school commissioners and other oflScers, in forming or altering, or refusing to form or alter, any school district, or in refusing to apportion any school moneys to any such district or part of a district ; 3. By a supervisor in refusing to pay any such moneys to ■a.ny such district ; 4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to pay any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuitously into any school; 5. By any trustees of any school district library concerning such library, or the books therein, or the use of such books ; 6. By any district meeting in relation to the library ; Y. By any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, may appeal to the superintendent of public instruction, who is hereby authorized and required to examine and decide the same ; and his decision shall be final and conclusive, and not sub- ject to question or review in any place or court whatever. § 2. The superintendent, in reference to such appeals, shall have power : 1. To regulate the practice therein. 122 Appeals. 2. To determine whether an appeal shall stay proceedings, and prescribe conditiona upon which it shall or shall not so operate. 3. To decline to entertain, or to dismiss, an appeal, when it shall appear that the appellant has no interest in the matter appealed from, and that the matter is not a matter of public concern, and that the person injuriously affected by the act or decision appealed from is incompetent to appeal. 4. To make all orders, by directing the levy of taxes or other, wise, which may in his judgment, be proper or necessary to give effect to his decision. § 3. The superintendent shall file, arrange in the order of time, and keep in his office, so that they may be at all times accessible, all the proceedings on every appeal to him under this title, in- cluding his decision and orders founded thereon ; and copies of all such papers and proceedings, authenticated by him under his seal of office, shall be evidence equally with the originals. The right of appeal to the school department was first given in 1832. It has since remained with the head of the department, except for the short period from 1841 to 1847, during which appeals were in the first instance brought to the county superintendents, from whose decisions an appeal could be brought to the Superintendent. The supreme court, in 3 Denio, 177, declare that " this provision was intended as a cheap and expeditious mode of settling most, if not at all, of the difficul- ties and disputes arising in the course of the execution of the law organizing and regulating common schools. The legislature has virtually declared that, where a party will forego that convenient method of adjusting such a contro- versy as the present, and resort to the ordinary courts, it shall be at his own expense as regards costs." In 11 Wend. 91, the coart made substantially the same remarks when refusing to give relief by an action of trespass against trustees for their proceedings in selling the plaintiff's property under a tax list and warrant which were in more than one respect erroneous. A further rea- son for preferring the remedy by appeal, to a common law action is, that the Superintendent can dispose of all the questions connected with the case in a single decision; where a proceeding is wrong, he cannot only reverse it, but direct the appropriate remedy so as to redress all persons who have been injuri- ously affected; while an action at law inures only to the benefit of the person who brings it, and only gives pecuniary damages, without substituting a cor- rect proceeding in the place of an erroneous one. No person can sustain an appeal unless he is aggrieved, that is, injured in his rights by the act or decision of which he complains. Generally, every inhabitant of a district is aggrieved by the wrongful act or omission of a trus- tee or school commissioner, by which money or property is disposed of, or not secured for the benefit of the district. But no one is aggrieved by another being included in a tax list, although other inhabitants are by the omission of one who should be taxed; and appeals may be made by trustees in behalf of their district whenever they are aggrieved. Before giving the rules which have been made to regulate the practice upon appeals, it is proper to call attention to some general principles in relation to the mode of drawing them up. In the first place, the department wants facts, Appeals. 123 and not arguments, far less injurious imputations upon the motives of parties. The facts should be distinctly averred, so that an indictment for per j ury would lie if they are willfully misstated. Therefore, they should not be stated by way of recital under a "whereas," or in any similar indirect way. Every material fact should be stated with all practicable particularity as to time, qualities, numbers, etc. Where a statement is ambiguous or doubtful in mean- ing, that construction is adopted which is most unfavorable to the party mak- ing it. The appellant should make out his own case; so that if no answer is put in, the Superintendent will have, m the appeal itself, all the facts to inform him what order ought to be made. In the bringing and answering of appeals, it is recommended that the mat - ters be written upon paper, ruled as paper is ruled for legal pleadings. Such paper is kept by all stationers and booksellers, and is known as law-paper or legal cap. The several sheets should be written, as lawyers write their papers, on both sides, so that the bottom of the first page is the top of the second, and the sheets fastened with tape, or attached by paste, at the ends, and not at the sides. Manuscript arranged in this fashion is more easily handled, folded and filed. They should be smoothly folded, and indorsed with the title of the case, briefly stating the substance of the appeal or answer, with the name of the par- ties, and the district, town and county affected. The party sending an appeal or answer must also indorse on the paper his post-office address. RULES OP PRACTICE. Pursuant to the authority conferred by section 2, title XII, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, the State Superintendent has, by an order dated July 15, 1887, established the following rules to regulate the practice in appeals : 1. An appeal must be in writing, addressed "To the Superintendent of Public Instruction," and signed by the appellant. When made by the trustees of a district, it must be signed by all the trustees, or a reason must be given for the omission of any, verified by the oath of the appellant, or of some per- son acquainted with such reason. 3. A copy of the appeal, and of all the statements, maps and papers intended to be presented in support of it, with the affidavit in verification of the same, t must be served on the officer or officers whose act or decision is complained of, or some of them; or if it be from the decision or proceeding of a district meet- ing, upon the district clerk or one of the trustees, whose duty it is to cause information of such appeal to be given to the inhabitants who voted for the decision or proceeding appealed from. Immediately after the service of such copy, the original, together with an affidavit proving the service of a copy thereof, and stating the time and manner of the service and the name and official character of the person upon whom such service was made, must be transmitted to the Department of Public Instruction at Albany. If an answer is received to an appeal which has not been transmitted to the department, such appeal will be dismissed. 3. Such service must be made by delivering a copy of the appeal to the party to be served, personally, or in case he cannot be found in the commis- sioner district in which he resides, after due diligence, by delivering the same at his residence to some person of suitable age and discretion, between six o'clock in the morning and nine o'clock in the evening. 4. After such service the original must be sent to the Department of Public Instruction within thirty days after the making of the decision or the perform- ance of the act complained of, or within that time after the knowledge of the cause of complaint came to the appellant, or some satisfactory excuse must be rendered, in the appeal, for the delay. 5. The party on whom the appeal was served must, within ten days from the time of such service, answer the same, either by concurring in a statement of facts with the appellant, or by a separate answer. Such statement and answer must be signed by all the trustees or other officers whose act, omission 124 Appeals. or decision is appealed from, or a good reason on oath must be given for the omission of the signature of any of them. Such answer must be verified by oath, and a copy served on the appellants, or some one of them. 6. So far as the parties concur in a statement, no oath will be required to it. But all facts, maps or papers, not agreed upon by them and evidenced by their signature on both sides, must be verified by oath. 7. All oaths required by these regulations may be taken before any person authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, or to take affidavits. 8. A copy of the answer, and of all the statements, maps and papers intended to be presented in support of it, must be served upon the appellants, or some one of them, within ten days after service of a copy of the appeal, unless further time be given by the State Superintendent, on application, in special cases; but no replication or rejoinder shall be allowed, except by permission of the State Superintendent; in which case such replication and rejoinder shall be duly verified by oath, and copies thereof served on the opposite party. 9. Proof of service of copies of the appeal, answer and all other papers intended to be used on the hearing of the appeal, in the manner prescribed by rule 3, must, in all cases, accompany the same; and when the service is other than personal, the affidavit of service must state facts showing due diligence in the effort to obtain personal service. 10. When any proceeding of a district meeting is appealed from, and when the inhabitants of a district generally are interested in the matter of the appeal, and in all cases where an inhabitant might be an appellant had the decision or proceeding been the opposite of that which was made or had, any one or more of such inhabitants may answer the appeal, with or without the trustees. 11. Where the appeal has relation to the alteration or formation of a school district, it must be accompanied by a map, exhibiting the site of the school- house, the roads, the old and new lines of districts, the different lots, the particular location and distance from the school-houses of the persons aggrieved, and their relative distance, if there are two or more school-houses in question. Also a list of all the taxable inhabitants in the district or terri- tory to be affected by the question, showing in separate columns the valuation of their property, taken from the last assessment-roll, and the number of children between five and twenty-one belonging to each person, distinguishing the districts to which they respectively belong. 12. An appeal of itself does not stay proceedings. If the party desires such stay, he should apply for it by petition duly verified. The Superintendent will grant a stay or not, as in his judgment it may be proper, or may subserve the interests of either party or the public; and may direct a copy of the peti- tion to be served on the opposite party, and a hearing of both sides before deciding upon the application. 13. When a party, appellant or respondent, appears in person, his name and post-office address must be indorsed on each paper filed on such appeal in the Department. When a party appears by an attorney, the name and post- office address of the attorney must be so indorsed. 14. The decision of the Superintendent in every case will contain the order, or directions, necessary and proper for giving effect to his decisions. 15. A certified copy of the decision upon the appeal will be forwarded by the Superintendent to the clerk of the school district in which the appeal arose, whose duty it will be to file the same in his office as a public record. Appeals. 125 COMMISSIONERS TO TAKE TESTIMONY. Title II. § 14. Every school commissioner shall have power to take affi- davits and administer oaths in all matters pertaining to common schools, but without charge or fee ; and, under the direction ot the superintendent of public instruction, to take and report to him the testimony in any case of appeal. It was not the design of this section to supersede the present mode estab- lished by regulation of presenting testimony upon appeals in the form of written affidavits, but to enable the Superintendent to obtain additional light, where the written evidence is conflicting, ambiguous or otherwise unsat- isfactory, by the oral examination of witnesses before a commissioner. Where the Superintendent conceives this necessary or desirable, an order will be made in the case, referring it to the proper commissioner to hear and report all testimony which may be produced before him by the respective parties to the appeal, or the testimony of particular witnesses named in the order, or testimony in relation to particular issues specified. The range of inquiry will be limited by the terms of the order. Upon receiving the order, the commissioner will give notice to both parties of the time and place at which he will hear the evidence to be produced by them respectively, if the reference is general, or of the witness named, or in relation to particular issues or subjects of inquiry, if the reference is limited in either respect. At the time and place appointed, the commissioner will administer an oath to the witnesses in the following form: You swear (or declare and affirm) that the evidence you shall give upon this hearing, under the ©rder of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on the appeal of (reciting the title of the proceeding as the same is given in the entitling of the order), shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. The evidence of each witness on his direct examination should be reduced to writing. It should then be read over to him, and any additions or correc- tions he desires to make should be stated {without erasing any thing that has been written), and should then be subscribed by the witness and certified by the commissioner, before the witness is cross-examined. The cross-examina- tion is to be taken, corrected, subscribed and certified in the same manner. At the conclusion of the examination the commissioner should indorse or underwrite upon the original order. "The execution of this order appears by the depositions hereto annexed. A. B., Commissioner." He should then append to the order, and return therewith to the Superintendent, the deposi- tions in the follovring form; [Title of the case as in the order.] Depositions taken on the day of , at , under an order of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- ftion, dated , before A. B., school I commissioner for the commis- J sioner district of county. C.' D., a witness produced, was duly sworn by said commissioner, and on being orally examined by for the appellant (or respondent), deposed as follows: I reside in the town of ; I was present at a meeting held in District No. , on the 10th day of May, 1887, etc. 126 Appeals. On hearing the above read, tlie witness further deposed: I want to be understood that I was not present at the meeting (give the additions and cor- rections of the witness to his testimony as reported). (Signed.) C. D. Subscribed and sworn to this ) day of , before me, J A. B., Oommismner. On being cross-examined by for the respondent (or appellant) the witness above named deposed: I saw James Jones at the meeting to which I have testified. He was outside of the building when the meeting was organized, etc. The commissioner has no power to compel the attendance of witnesses. If any of those named in the order do not appear, he should take and report the evidence of the parties, showing the fact of their refusal or any reason for non-attendance. ENFORCING SUPERINTENDENT'S DECISIONS. Title I. § 18. "Whenever it shall he proven, to his satisfaction, that any school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty * * * of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the superintendent, the superintendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, v^hich order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner or other school officer from his office. Where the person disobeying the Superintendent's order or decision is an officer not subject to removal by the Superintendent, such as supervisor or town clerk, the procedure is by mandamus. COSTS AND EXPENSES IN APPEALS AND OTHER PROCEEDINGS BY OR AGAINST SCHOOL OFFICERS. Title XIII. § 6. In any action against a school officer or officers, including supervisors of towns, in respect of their duties and powers under this act, for any act performed by virtue of or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the Appeals. 127 plaintifE, in cases where the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial that the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent. § 7. Whenever the trustees of any school district or any school district officer or officers have been or shall be instructed by a resolution of the district at a meeting called for that purpose, to defend any action brought against them, or to bring or to defend an action or proceeding touching any district property or claim of the district, or involving its rights or interests, or to continue any sueh action or defense, all their costs and reasonable expenses, as well as all costs and damages adjudged against them, shall be a district charge and shall be levied by tax. If the amount claimed by them be disputed by a district meeting, it shall be adjusted by the county judge of any county in which the district or any part of it is situated. {As amended hy chap. 174, Laws of 1878.) § 8. "Whenever such trustees or any school district officer shall have brought or defended any such action or proceeding, without any such resolution of the district meeting, and after the final determination of such suit or proceeding shall present to any regular meeting of the inhabitants of the district an account in writing of all costs, charges and expenses paid by him or them, with the items thereof, and verified by his or their oath or affirmation, and a majority of the voters at such meeting shall so direct, it shall be the duty of the trustees to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable property of said district, in the same manner as other taxes are by law assessed and collected ; and when so collected, the same shall be paid over, by an order upon the collector, to the officer or officers entitled to receive the same ; but this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent of public instruction. § 9. Whenever an officer or officers mentioned in the last pre- ceding section of this act shall have complied with the provisions of said section, and the inhabitants shall have refused to direct the trustees to levy a tax for the payment of the costs, charges and expenses therein mentioned, it shall be lawful for him or 128 Appeals, them then and there to give notice orally and publicly, that he will appeal to the county judge of the county, and in case of his disabihty to act in the matter by reason of being disqualified or otherwise, then to the district attorney of the county in which the school-house of said district is located; from the refusal of said meeting to vote a tax for the payment of said claim, and the inhabi- tants may then and there, or at any subsequent district meeting, ap- point one or more of the inhabitants of the district to protect the rights and interests of the district upon said appeal ; and the officer or officers before mentioned, shall thereupon, within ten days, serve upon the clerk of said district (or if there be no such clerk, upon the town clerk of the town), a copy of the aforesaid account so sworn to, together with the notice in writing, that on a certain day therein specified he or they intend to present such account to the county judge or to the district attorney, as the case may be, for settlement. And the clerk shall record such notice, together with the copy of the account, and the same shall be subject to the inspection of the inhabitants of the district. And it shall be the duty of the person or persons appointed by any district meeting for that purpose, to appear, before the county judge, or the district attorney, as the case may be, on the day mentioned in the notice aforesaid, and to pro- tect the rights of the district upon such settlement; and the expenses incurred in the performance of this duty shall be a charge upon said district, and the trustees, upon presentation of the ac- count of such expenses, with the proper voucher therefor, may levy a tax therefor, or add the same to any other tax to be levied by them ; and their refusal to levy said tax for the payment of said expenses shall be subject to an appeal to the superintendent of public instruction. {As amended by sec. 1, chop. 746, Zaws of 1871). § 10. Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due proof of service of the notice and copy of the account, the county judge shall examine into the matter and hear the proofs and allegations propounded by the parties, and decide by order whether or no the account, or any and what portion thereof, ought justly to be charged upon the district, with costs and disbursements to such officer or officers, in his discretion, which costs and disbursements shall not exceed the sum of thirty dollars, and the decision of the county Appeals. 129 judge shall be final ; but no portion of such account shall be so ordered to be paid which shall appear to such judge to have arisen from the willful neglect or misconduct of the claimant. The account, with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness thereof. The county judge may adjourn the hearing from time to time, as justice shall seem to require. {As amended hy chap. 514, Laws o/'1874.) § 11. It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district, within thirty days after service of a copy of such order upon them or upon the district clerk, and notice thereof to them or any two of them, to cause the same to be entered at length in the book of records of said district, and to raise the amount thereby directed to be paid, by a tax upon the district, to be by them assessed and levied in the same manner as a tax voted by the district. POWER OF MEETING TO VOTE TAX FOR COSTS AND EXPENSES. Title YII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present ; ******* 14. To vote a tax to replace moneys of the district, lost or embezzled by district officers ; and to pay the reasonable expenses incurred by district officers in defending suits or appeals brought against them for their official acts, or in prosecuting suits or appeals by direction of the district against other parties. 17 BLIND. The New York Institution for tlie Blind, incorporated by chapter 214, Laws of 1831, is the only institution to which pupils are appointed by the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. Title I. § 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this State and up- wards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this State for three years immediately preceding the application, or, if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have been resident in this State for three years im- mediately preceding the application, shall be eligible to appoint- ment as State pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institutions of this State, aiithorized by law to receive such pupils ; and all blind persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be eligible to appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of New York or in the village of Batavia, as follows : All such as are residents of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Suf- folk and Eichmond shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the city of New York ; those who reside in other counties of the State shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the vil- lage of Batavia. All such appointments, with the exception of those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, shall be made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a portion of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some propor- tionate share of expense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such man- ner and at such times as the Superintendent shall designate. Blind. 131 which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he shall deem it expedient to do so. {As amended ly sec. 4, chap. 567, Laws ofl^lb, and hy sec. 1, chap. 615, Laws of 1886.) § 10. Each pupil so received into either of the institutions aforesaid, shall be provided with board, lodging and tuition ; and the directors of the institution shall receive for each pupil so provided for, the sum of dollars per annum, in quarterly payments, to be paid by the treasurer of the State, on the war- rant of the comptroller, to the treasurer of said institution, on his presenting a bill showing the actual time and number of such pupils attending the institution, and which bill shall be signed by the president and secretary of the institution and verified by their oaths. The regular term of instruction for such pupils shall be five years ; but the Superintendent of Public Instruction may, in his discretion, extend the term of any pupil for a period not exceeding three years. The pupils provided for in this and the preceding section of this title, shall be designated State pupils ; and all the existing provisions of law applicable to State pupils now in said institutions shall apply to pupils herein provided for. § 11. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may make such regulations and give such directions to parents and guar- dians, in relation to the admission of pupils into either of the above named institutions, as will prevent pupils entering the same at irregular periods. All the acts upon this suhject inconsistent with this act were repealed. From 1870 up to the time of the amendment of 1875, the appointments were made under the provisions of chapter 166, Laws of 1870, as amended by chapter 166, Laws of 1871. The provisions of this chapter in some particulars differed from those of the General School Act. But section 9, title 1, of the General School Act, was amended and re-enacted in 1875, and again in 1886. This makes it a later law than that of 1870, and the appointment of State pupils is now made under the sections of this title whenever its provisions conflict with those of the act of 1870. The applicants must have the following qualifications: 1. Age. "Of suitable age " is the language of section 9, title 1, of the Con- solidated School Act, and "between eight and twenty-five years of age," is fixed by chapter 166, Laws of 1870. The question arises, does the former act, as amended in 1886, repeal that part of the act of 1870 fixing the age of appli- cants ? It is not necessary, however, to determine this question, as the Depart- ment holds that from the age of eight to twenty-five is a " suitable age" for appointment. This will satisfy the requirements of both statutes. 2. The person appointed must be a resident of this State, and shall have been such resident for three years immediately preceding the application; or, if a 132 Blind. minor whose parent or parents, or if an orphan whose nearest friend shall have been resident in this State for three years immediately preceding the application. TERM. The term of State pupils in the New York Institution for the Blind is fixed hy chapter 166, Laws of 1870. The Superintendent can appoint for a term not exceeding five years, and may extend such term of appointment from time to time upon the recommendation of the board of managers of the institution for such further term as they may deem advantageous in each individual case. Chapter 166, Laws of 1870, as amended by Section 1, Chaptee 166, Laws OF 1871. Section 1. The managers of the New York Institution for the Blind ar& hereby authorized to receive, upon the appointment of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, made for a term not exceeding five years, all blind per- sons, residents of the counties of New York and Kings and Queens and Suf- folk, between eight and twenty-five years of age, who, in the judgment of the board of managers of said institution, shall be of suitable character and capacity for instruction, and shall have charge of their maintenance, education and support, and shall receive conipensation therefor from the State in the same manner as is now provided by law. The term of such appointments may be extended, from time to time, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on the recommendation of the board of managers of the said New York Insti- tution for the Blind, for such further period as they may deem advantageous in each individual case. § 2. Application for admission into the institution shall be made to the board of managers, and each application shall set forth the age, the fact of blindness, and that the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and State claimed as his or her residence, with such other information as the board may require; and each application shall be sworn to by the applicant, or his or her parents or guardian, and shall be signed by at least one member of the board of supervisors of the county in which the applicant may reside, and also be recommended by the president and superintendent of the said institu- tion, and transmitted by the said institution to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 8 3. The supervisors of the county of New York or Kings, Queens and Suf- folk, from which State pupils shall be sent to and received in the said institu- tions, whose parents or guardians shall, in the opinion of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, be unable to furnish them with suitable clothing, are hereby authorized and directed, in every year while such pupils are in said institution, to raise and appropriate fifty dollars for each of said pupils from said counties, respectively, and to pay the sum so raised to the said institution, to be by it applied to furnishing such pupils with suitable clothing while in said institution. § 4. If in any year hereafter there shall be any surplus of the amount above required to be paid yearly by the said counties for clothing ior pupils from said counties, respectively, then such surplus shall be deducted pro rata the ensuing year from the amount above required to be paid by the said counties respectively. CLOTHING. Chapter 900, Laws of 1839, provided that " the supervisors of any county in this State (from which State pupils may be sent and received into said institu- tion, whose parents or guardians are unable to furnish them with suitable clothing) are hereby authorized and required, while such pupils are under instruction, to raise a sum of money for this purpose, not exceeding twenty Blind. 133 dollars in any one year for eacli pupil from said county." Chapter 351, Laws of 1863, increased this amount to $30. Section 8 of chapter 166, Laws of 1870, as amended (above printed), fixed the amount to be raised for clothing at $50. The following forms of application, appointment and notification have been prescribed by the State Superintendent: APPLICATION. To the Managers of the Institution for the Instruction of at The undersigned, desiring to procure the admission of as a State pupil, into the institution above named, for the purpose of receiving the benefits of education, would submit the fol- lowing statement of facts: State the real and full name of applicant. Answer. State the residence of applicant, as follows: State, County, Town or city. Note. — (Name street and number.) How long has applicant lived in the State of New Tork ? Answer. How long in the county above named ? Answer. State full names of parents, guardians or nearest relative of applicant. Answer. State the residence of the above named parents, guardian or nearest relative as follows: State, County, Town or city. State how long the above named parents, guardian or nearest relative have lived in the State of New York. Answer. How long in the county above named. Answer. When was the applicant born ? Answer. State where. Answer. Is the applicant of good moral character; free from disease; and does he possess intellectual faculties capable of instruction ? . Answer. 134 Bliitd. Has the applicant ever been a pupil in any institution for the blind, and if so, what one, and for how long ? Answer. Has the applicant, or the parents, relative or guardian- above named, suf- ficient pecuniary ability to pay for any portion of the board, tuition or cloth- ing of said applicant at said institution ? Answer. State any other fact, or facts, connected with the history of applicant, that will aid in determining this application. Answer. Dated at this day of 188 . Note. — It is desired that the application and affidavit be made by the parents, guardian or some relative of applicant, but when not practicable so to do, may be made by a party who has knowledge of the facts. If not made by the parent, state how the person making the application became conversant with the facts. State of New Yobk, ) . County of r*'" The undersigned, being duly sworn, says that is the parent, guardian or relative of applicant above named, and that the above statement signed by is true to the best of knowledge and belief. Sworn to before me this ) day of 188 . ) Certificate of Alderman, Supervisor, Town Clerk or Overseer of the Poor. The undersigned hereby certifies that he has satisfactory evidence for believing that the foregoing statement is correct, and would recommend the application to the favorable consideration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. To the Honorable Superintendent of Piiblia Instruction, Albany, N. Y. The undersigned hereby recommend that the above named applicant, be appointed a pupil in the Institution for the Instruction of at for the term of years, from and that clothing be furnished by Principal or Superintendent. FORM OP APPOINTMENT. '■} State of New York. Depabtment of Public Instbtjction, Sxjpebintendent's Office, Albany, ,18 . , Sib. — 1 have this day selected the following named persons as State pupils in tlie , for the term of year each, from the date set oppo- site their respective names, to be educated and supported therein during that period at the expense of the State. Clothing will be furnished by the in each case unless otherwise specially noted. Blind. 135 NAMES No. Age. RESIDENCE. From what date appointed. Town. CJounty. Remarks. Respectfully yours, To State Superintendent. NOTIFICATION TO BOARDS OP SUPERVISORS. State op New York. Department op Public Instruction, Superintendent's Oppice, Albany, , 18 . To the Board of Supervisors of the County of I have this day appointed , of , in your county, , for the term of years, from the , to he educated and supported during said a State pupil in the day of , 18 term at the expense of the State. The parents of said pupil being unable to provide clothing, it will be your duty, under existing provisions of law, to appropriate the sum of $50 during each year for which said pupil ha been selected, for the purpose of provid- ing said pupil with clothing. (Ohap. 166, Laws o/1870.) The institution will draw on your county treasurer some time after the month of February in each year for the amount so raised. Yours respectfully, State Superintendent SUPERINTENDENT TO INSPECT INSTITUTION, AND REPORT. § 8. The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, the New York Institution for the Blind, and all other similar institutions, incorporated, or that may be hereafter incorporated, shall be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and it shall be his duty : 1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures of each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued therein, respectively. 2. To visit and inspect the schools belonging thereto, and the lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 136 BLiifD, 3. To ascertain, by a comparison with other similar institu- tions, whether any improvements in instruction and discipline can be made; and for that purpose to]appoint, from time to time, suitable persons to visit the schools. 4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions and to the legislature such improvements as he shall judge expedient. 5. To make an annual report to the legislature on all the mat- ters before enumerated, and particularly as to the condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment in respect to board and lodging. HISTORICAL. The New York Institution for tlie Blind was incorporated by chapter 214, Laws of 1831. The difEerent acts which led up to the present law for the ap- pointment and support of pupils therein are as follows: Chapter 316, Laws of 1834. This act authorized the institution to receive from each of the eight senate districts, four indigent pupils between eight and twenty-five years of age, on the same terms as the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, during a period not exceeding five years, to be supported, educated and instructed in some useful trade. Chapter 326, Laws of 1836, as amended by chapter 399 of 1836, appropriated $12,000 to procure a site and erect buildings, on condition that $8,000 should be raised in New Tork for the same purpose. The managers were required annually, February 1, to make under oath to the legislature a report of their proceedings, and of the disposition of the moneys paid to them from the treasury of the State. Provision was also made for four additional pupils from each senate district. Chapter 300, Laws of 1839. Eight additional puprls were to be admitted, and an appropriation of $15,000 was made to complete the buildings. The Commissioners of Common Schools were required to apportion to the institution according to the number of pupils, without regard to age. An extension of any pupil could be granted with the approbation of the Superintendent of Common Schools, and the Insti- tution was subjected to the visitation and inspection of the Superintendent. Chapter 333, Laws of 1853. The institution was permitted to receive four indigent pupils from each of the thirty-two senate districts of the State. By the same act the charter was continued in force without limitation of time. Chapter 539, Laws of 1855. Provision was made for the reception into the institution of every indi. gent blind person in the State, between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend, shall have been a resident in this State, and who may make application for that purpose, there to be instructed in literary or school education, and in some Blind. 137 trade or employment, now or hereafter to be tauglit and carried on in said institution, provided his or her application be first approved by the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. Chapter 744, Laws of 1867. By section 22 of this chapter, the territory from which State pupils cguld be appointed to this institution was limited to the counties of New Tork and Kings. THE NEW YOEK STATE INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND AT BAT A VIA. Chapter 744, Laws of 1867, as amended. The sections of this chapter providing for the instruction of the blind in this institution are as follows : Section 1. All blind persons of suitable, age and capacity for instruction, who are legal residents of the State, shall be entitled to the privileges of the New York State Institution for the Blind, without charge, and for such period of time in each individual case as may be deemed expedient by the board of trustees of said institution ; provided, that whenever more persons apply for admission at one time than can be properly accommodated in the institution, the trustees shall so apportion the number received that each county may be represented in the ratio of its blind population to the total blind population of the State ; and provided further, that the children of citizens who died in the United States' service, or from wounds received therein during the late rebel- lion, shall take precedence over all others. § 2. Blind persons from without the State may be received into the institu- tion upon the payment of an adequate sum, fixed by the trustees, for their boarding and instruction ; provided that such applicant shall in no case exclude those from the State of New York. 55 3. Applications for admission into the institution shall be made to the board of trustees in such manner as they may direct, but the board shall require such application to be accompanied by a certificate from the county judge or county clerk of the county, or the supervisor or town clerk of the town, or the mayor of the city, where the applicant resides, setting forth that the applicant is a legal resident of the town, county and State claimed as his or her residence. (Aa amended by cluipter 616, Laws of 1872.) § 4. The primary object of the institution shall be to furnish to the blind children of the State the best-known facilities for acquiring a thorough educa- tion, and train them in some useful profession or manual art, by means of which they may be enabled to contribute to their own support after leaving the institution ; but it may likewise, through its industrial department, pro- vide such of them with appropriate employment and boarding accommodations as find themselves unable, after completing their course of instruction and training, to procure these elsewhere for themselves. It shall, however, be in no sense an asylum for those who are helpless from age, infirmity, or other- wise, or a hospital for the treatment of blindness. § 8. The board of trustees shall have charge of all the affairs of the institu- tion, with power to make all necessary by-laws and regulations for their gov- ernment and the proper management of the institution, as well as for the admission of pupils, and to do all else which may be found necessary for the advancement of its humane design. § 13. When any blind person shall, upon proper application, be admitted into the institution, it shall be the duty of his or her parents, guardians or 138 Blind. other friends, to suitably provide such persons with clothing at the time of entrance and during continuance therein, and likewise to defray his or her traveling expenses to and from the institution at the time of entrance and dis- charge, as well as at the beginning and close of each session of the school, and at any other time when it shall become necessary to send such person home on account of sickness or other exigency. And whenever it shall be deemed necessary by the trustees to have such person permanently removed from the institution, in accordance with the by-laws and regulations thereof, the same shall be promptly removed, upon their order, by his or her parents, guardians or other friends. § 14. If the friends of any pupil from within the State of New York shall fail through neglect or inability, to provide the same with proper clothing, or with funds to defray his or her necessary traveling expenses to and from the institution, or to remove him or her therefrom, as required in the preceding section, the trustees shall furnish such clothing, pay such traveling expenses, or remove such pupil to the care of the overseers of the poor of his or her township, and charge the cost of the same to the county to which the pupil belongs, provided that the annual amount of such expenditiures on account of any one pupil shall not exceed the sum of sixty dollars. And in case of the death of any pupil at the institution, whose remains shall not be removed or funeral expenses borne by the friends thereof, the trustees shall defray the necessary burial expenses, and charge the same to his or her county as afore- said. Upon the completion of their course of training in the industrial depart- ment, the trustees may furnish to such worthy poor pupils as may need it, an outfit of machinery and tools for commencing business, at a cost not exceeding seventy -five dollars each, and charge the same to the proper county, as afore- said. (As ameiided hy chapter 463, Laws o/1873.) § 15. On the first day of October in each year, the trustees shall cause to be made out against the respective counties concerned, itemized accounts, sep- arate in each case, of the expenditures authorized by the preceding section of this act, and forward the same to the board of supervisors chargeable with the account. The board shall thereupon direct the county treasurer to pay the amount so charged to the treasurer of the institution for the blind, on or before the first day of March next ensuing. § 22. The New York Institution for the Blind, shall continue to have the eustody, charge, maintenance and education of all such pupils as are now entrusted to them by the State, and of any others who may be appointed prior to the opening of the State institution at Batavia; and shall receive compen- sation from the State for the maintenance, education and support of said pupils in the same manner as is now, or has heretofore been provided, and shall receive the same amount per capita from the counties from which said pupils are respectively appointed as is now paid, for their clothing, until such period as the New York State Institution for the Blind shall be ready to receive such pupils, and shall then, without reference to the term of years for which said pupils have been appointed under existing laws, and received by said New York Institution for the Blind, transfer said pupils to said State institution; provided, however, that they shall retain and continue to receive all pupils heretofore appointed or hereafter to be appointed from the counties of New York and Kings under the appointment of the Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction, in like manner as is now provided by law to be received, mamtained and educated by the said New York Institution for the Blind, which shall be compensated for their maintenance and education by the State; and for their clothing by the counties from which they are appointed, in like manner as is now done, CLERK OF DISTRICT. ELECTION OF. Title YII. § 15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to vote, when assembled in any annual meeting or any other neighborhood meeting duly called by the commissioner, pursuant to the first or ' third sections of this title, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present . ******* 2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and to fill vacancies in oflice. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ******* 2. If the district clerk be absent, to appoint a clerk for the time. The clerk provided for in this subdivision 3 is not a district clerk, but a clerk of the district meeting. He holds his oflSce only during the absence of the district clerk, and performs only the duties pertaining to the meeting at which he is appointed. Upon retiring from his appointment the records to the meeting kept by him must be turned over to the district clerk whose duty it is to record them in the record book. 4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their first meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except as hereinafter provided. The clerk may be elected in any manner by which the will of the majority can be ascertained. In common school districts under the general law, when 140 Cleek of DrsTEiCT. the number of cliildren of school age does not exceed three hundred a major- ity vote is required to elect. In districts where the number of such children exceeds three hundred the clerk must be elected by ballot, and a plurality vote is suflacient. {See 6ha/p. 348, Laws of 1878.) QUALIFICATION OF. § 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resident of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its meet- ings. Under the provisions of chapter 9, Laws of 1880, women are eligible to serve as district clerk. TERM. § 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year within the meaning of the following provisions : ******* The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold his office, unless removed, during his term of office and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. § 26. The terms of all officers elected at the first meeting of a newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next thereafter. (J.s amended hy see. 4, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) CLERK TO NOTIFY PERSONS ELECTED. § 28. It shall be the duty of the district clerk, and of the neighborhood clerk, or of any person who shall act as clerk at any district or neighborhood meeting, when any officer shall be elected, forthwith to give the person elected notice thereof in writing ; and such person shall be deemed to have accepted the office, unless within five days after the service of such notice, he shall file his written refusal of it with the clerk. The presence of any such person at the meeting which elects him to office shall be deemed a sufficient notice to him of his election. {As amended hy sec. 11, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) APPOINTMENT TO PILL VACANCY. § 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector, or librarian, may be supplied by appointment under the hands of the trustees of the district, or a majority of them, and the appointees Clerk of Disteict. 141 shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of the district, and until others are elected and take their places. When the clerk is holding over there is no vacancy in the office so that the trustees can appoint, § 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith filed by the supervisor or trustees making it in the office of the district clerk, -who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- ment to the person appointed. It is the duty of the district clerk to be present at every district meeting and record the proceedings. The question frequently arises as to when the term of the old clerk expires, and that of the newly elected clerk commences. The language of section 35 is that the clerk "shall hold his office unless removed, during his term of office, and until his successor shall he elected or appointed." This must be read as though the words ' and shall accept and enter upon the duties of his office ' were added to the section. By section 38 it is made the duty of the clerk "forthwith" to notify in writing the person elected to a school office, and such person shall be deemed to have accepted, unless within iive days after such notice he shall file his written refusal of it with the clerk. The word ' ' forthwith " has been held to mean within twenty-four hours. The presence of such person at the meeting which elects him shall be deemed a sufficient notice to him of his election, and amounts only, under the statute to notice. It is not necessarily an acceptance of the office. He may still take the five days to Consider whether he will accept it or not. If, for instance, on the fifth day after notice, he concludes not to accept, he is to file his written refusal mith the clerk. If he happens to be a person elected at the annual meeting as successor to the former clerk and a different person, the clerk with whom he must file his refusal is the old clerk who is still holding over. It is the duty of the old clerk to be present and act as such at the annual meeting, and to continue so acting throughout the session, unless the person elected clerk shall be present at the meeting and then and there notify the meeting of his acceptance. In such case his term of office would commence immediately upon his acceptance. If there is no formal acceptance the old clerk should give the notices of election and continue his duties as clerk until the expiration of the five days thereafter, when the law deems the newly elected officer to have accepted, unless he shall have in the meantime filed a written refusal. In case such written refusal is filed within the five days then the old clerk will continue to hold over until a successor shall be elected or appointed according to law, DUTIES OF. § 36. The neighborhood clerk shall keep a record of the pro- ceedings of his neighborhood, and of the reports of the trustees, and deliver the same to his successor. In case such neighborhood shall be annexed to a district within the State, its records shall be filed in the office of the clerk of such district. § 37. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : 1. To record the proceedings of his district in a book to be 242 Cleek of Distkict, provided for that purpose by tlie district, and to enter therein true copies of all reports made by the trustees to the school com- missioner. % To give notice, in the manner prescribed by the sixth section of this title, or by the inhabitants, pursuant to such section, of the time and place of holding special district meetings called by the trustees. 3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place of any ad- journed meeting, when the meeting shall have been adjourned for a longer time than one month, in at least four of the most public places of such district, at least five days before the time appointed for such adjourned meeting. 4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting. 5. To give notice immediately to every person elected or ap- pointed to office of his election or appointment ; and also to report to the town clerk of the town in which the school-house of his district is situated, the names and post-office address of such officers, under a penalty of five dollars for neglect in each instaDce, {As amended hy sec. 10, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) 6. To notify the trustees of every resignation duly accepted by the supervisor. 7. To keep and preserve all records, books and papers belong- ing to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor. For a refusal or neglect so to do, he shall forfeit fifty dollars for the benefit of the district, to be recovered by the trustees. 8. In case his district shall be dissolved, to obey the order of the commissioner or commissioners as to depositing the books, papers and records of his office in the town clerk's office. 9. To attend all meetings of the board of trustees when notified, and keep a record of their proceedings in a book provided for that purpose. 10. To call special meetings of the inhabitants whenever all the trustees of the district shall have vacated their office. The office of district clerk is an important one. It sliould always be filled by a person of intelligence, wbo will take pride in carefully and correctly in- scribing and preserving the district records. A clerk who discharges his duty in this respect with neatness and fidelity will have an honorable memorial of himself to endure as long as the district exists. The district meeting has power to vote a tax to purchase a book for the purpose of recording the pro- ceedings of the district. If the meeting neglects to provide the book, the trustee can purchase it and include the expense in his tax list. This book is Clerk of District. 143 not to answer the purpose of a book of minutes only, but in it must be recorded tlie proceedings of the district. While the law specifies some of the things that must be entered in the record, every act of an official nature should be recorded therein, unless it is something that the law directs to be entered in .the record book kept by the trustee. The clerk's records are only prima, facie evidence, and their correctness can be inquired into by extrinsic evidence. But it frequently occurs that after a term of years the only evidence remain- ing on many subjects in the history of the district is that contained in the clerk's record. This shows the importance of a full and correct record. A careless or incompetent clerk can oftentimes, by what appears to be a slight error or omission, change the whole meaning and effect of a resolution, order or proceeding. The following are some of the important duties of the clerk: Boundaries. — The law requires that a commissioner's order forming or alter- ing a district shall be filed with the town clerk. The experience of years under the district system shows that these records are poorly kept. The town clerk does not record them in any book of records, but merely places the order on file. The result is that after a few years it is impossible in a large majority of cases to find any record whatever of the district boundaries. The district clerk is an officer more directly interested in this matter than the town clerk. His book of records can and should commence with the order forming the district. While the law directs the original order to be filed with the town clerk, an exact copy can be made of the original and recorded in the district clerk's book. Make this a certified copy by having the commissioner who made it sign it after it has been transcribed. The commissioner will willingly do this, for a record in case the original is destroyed. Another reason for this record is the convenience to residents of the district, and more especially to the trustee. One of the most prolific sources of dispute in a district is that of the boundary lines. The question frequently arises at the district meeting, and the newly elected trustee finds the question of his right to tax certain lauds on account of disputed boundaries a perplexing one. If the clerk's record contained the boundaries certified to by the commissioner, all questions arising thereupon could be quickly settled. Resolutions. — Every resolution at a district meeting should be reduced to writing, and in case of its adoption it should be accurately recorded by the clerk with the vote theieon. This is especially advisable in the case of resolu- tions to change or designate the school-house site, to build new, or repair old school buildings. In fact every resolution directing the raising and expendi- ture of money should be recorded. Orders. — All orders made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, school commissioner or trustee, the clerk should record in this book. The consent of commissioner or supervisor when necessary to any proceeding or act, can better be recorded than to be given upon separate pieces of paper which are almost certain to be lost. The original orders of the trustee for special meetings can be made in the record book; the purposes for which the meeting is called set out in full, can be copied by the clerk for service upon the voters of the district. This will prevent a dispute or misunderstanding as to the purposes of the meeting. Proceedings of meeting. — The clerk should keep all the proceedings of district meetings in the record book. In districts where the attendance will allow it, he should make a list of the voters in attendance, and, when possible, the way th^y voted upon questions before the meeting. The law requires (sec. 19, title VII), he should make this record of a vote to raise a tax by install- ments. When any person offering to vote is challenged, this fact should be recorded, with the action taken thereon. The law does not require it, but the clerk will find it to his advantage to read the minutes to the meeting for its approval or correction before the adjournment. If a mistake has occurred in keeping the minutes, it can better be corrected at the time than at a subsequent meeting. 144 Cleek of District. Reports. — An important part of the clerk's duties is that directed by sub- division 1 of sec. 37. "* * * to enter therein true copies of all reports made by the trustees to the school commissioner ." An annual report is made by the trustees to the commissioner. It is of great importance that the statistical history of the district be preserved, and the- entering of copies of these reports is the best possible means of so doing. It will also afford a means of comparing the report made to the annual meeting with the report made to the commissioner. The trustee is required to make an annual report to the district meeting. If the clerk records this, it will enable any inhabitant of the district who may have been absent from the meeting to inspect the report. This would be a great protection to a district against a trustee who is inclined or attempts to evade making a full and correct report. On the other hand, it is a great pro- tection to a trustee who has discharged his whole duty against the allegations of maliciously inclined persons who might circulate a rumor that the trustee had not reported, as required by law. It may also be necessary to prove the facts at a remote period of time ; and the way to avoid controversy in respect to them is always to act upon the presumption that controversy will arise, and to prepare the evidence in advance to meet it. The habit of doing this wiU, of itself, do much to preclude all opportunity for cavil. Chapter 348, Laws of 1878. By section 1 of this chapter the clerk ' ' in all school districts in the State in which the number of children of school age exceeds three hundred, as shown by the last annual report of the trustees to the school commissioner * * * shall be elected by ballot." Sec. 3 maizes it the duty of the clerk when there is only one trustee to be associated with such trustee as inspector of election. Sec. 5 provides in reference to the clerk's duties as follows : § 5. The district clerk, or clerk of the board of education, as the case may be, shall attend the election and record in a book to be provided for that purpose the name of each elector as he deposits his ballot. When the polls shall have been closed the inspectors shall first count the ballots to see if they tally with the number of names recorded by the clerk. If they exceed that number enough ballots shall be withdrawn to make them corre- spond. Any clerk who shall neglect or refuse to record the name of a person whose ballot is received by the inspectors, shall be liable to a fine of twenty -five dollars, to be sued for by the super- visor of the town. If the district clerk or clerk of the board of education shall be absent, or shall be unable or shall refuse to act, the trustees, inspectors of election, or board of education shall appoint some person to act in his place. CROSS REFERENCES. 1. For duties of clerk in giving notice of meetings, see chapter on " Meet- ings. ^ .,!;. ^°^ refusal of clerk to serve when elected or appointed, see chapter on " Fines and Penalties." (Section 34, M«ie vii.) COLLECTOR. ELECTION OF. Title VII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when dnly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present. ****** 4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their first meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacant, except as hereinafter provided. BAIL. 5. To lix the amount in which the collector shall give bail for the due and faithful performance of the duties of his office. By section 83 of this title, the collector, within ten days after having received notice, and before any warrant is placed in his hands for the collec- tion of money, must execute a bond in the amount fixed by the meeting, con- ditioned for the faithful discharge of his oflBcial duties. If the meeting omit to pass any resolution fixing the amount of bail, the trustees must fix it at such sum as they deem reasonable. QUALIFICATION OF. § 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resident of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its meetings. By the provisions of chap. 9, Laws of 1880, women, if qualified voters at school meetings in the district, can hold the office of collector. TERM. § 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year within 19 146 Collector. the meaning of the following provisions ; * * * The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold his office un- less removed, during his term of office, and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. § 26. The term of all officers elected at the first meeting of a newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August, next thereafter. i_As amended by § 4, cha^. 413, Laws of 1883.) VACATES HIS OFFICE. § 29. The collector vacates his office by not executing a bond to the trustees, as hereinafter required, and the trustees may sup- ply the vacancy. APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. § 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector, or librarian, may be supplied by appointment under the hands of the trustees of the district, or a majority of them, and the appointees shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of the district, and until others are elected and take their places. § 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith filed, by the supervisor or trustees making it, in the office of the district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- ment to the person appointed. CROSS REFERENCES. The duties of school distract collectors are confined to the collection of dis- trict taxes and the custody of the same until legally paid out. The chapter on Taxes treats fully of the subject, and to avoid repetition a cross reference is made thereto for the duties of a district collector. DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. LiaJbUity of sureties. — Collector's sureties not liable for any breach of con- dition happening after the expiration of the term of his office, although the officer may be continued in office under the same or a new appointment or election. (Overton -v. Oarrert,_ 5 Lans. 1.56, Sup. Ct., 1871.) Bond. — Collector has no right to execute a warrant until he has given a bond. (WoodhuU v. Bohenblost, 4 Him, 399, Sup. Ct., 1875.) Default. — A collector is not in default for not giving a bond, before the trust- ees have limited the time and fixed the amount in which it is to be given. (Id.) A collector is not in default concerning any moneys collected or to be collected by him, until an order is drawn upon him by the trustees for the same. (Id.) DEAF AND DUMB. Title I. § 9. All deaf and dumb persons resident in this State and up- wards of twelve years of age, who shall have been resident in this State for three years immediately preceding the application, or, if a minor, whose parent or parents, or, if an orphan, whose nearest friend shall have been resident in this State for three years immediatelj' preceding the application, shall be eligible to appointment as State pupils in one of the deaf and dumb institu- tions of this State, authorized by law to receive such pupils ; and all blind persons of suitable age and similar qualifications shall be eligible to appointment to the institutions for the blind in the city of New Tork or in the village of Batavia, as follows : All such as are residents of the counties of New Tork, Kings, Queens, Suffolk and Richmond shall be sent to the institution for the blind ia the city of New York ; those who reside in other counties of the State shall be sent to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia. All such appointments, with the ex- ception of those to the institution for the blind in the village of Batavia, shall be made by the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion upon application, and in those cases in which, in his opinion, the parents or guardians of the applicants are able to bear a por- tion of the expense, he may impose conditions whereby some proportionate share of expense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians, or friends, in such manner and at such times as the Superintendent shall desig- nate, which conditions he may modify from time to time, if he shall deem it expedient to do so. {As amended by sec. 4, chap. 667, Laws of 1875, and by s State where. Answer. Is the applicant of good moral character; free from disease; and does he possess intellectual faculties capable of instruction ? Answer. Has the applicant ever been a pupil in any institution for the , and if so, what one, and for how long ? Answer. Has the applicant, or the parents, relative or guardian above named, suf- ficient pecuniary ability to pay for any portion of the board, tuition or cloth jng of said applicant at said institution 1 Answer. State any other fact, or facts, connected with the history of applicant, thai will aid in determining this application. Answer. DBAf AND Dumb. 151 Dated at this day of 188 . Note— It is desired that the application and aSBdavit be made by the parents, guar- dian or some relative of applicant, but when not practicable so to do, may be made by a party who has knowledge of the facts. If not made by the parent, state how the person making the application became conversant with the facts. State of new York, County of The undersigned, being duly sworn, says that is the parent, guardian or relative of applicant above named, and that the above statement signed by is true to the best of knowledge and belief. Sworn to before me this ) day of 188 . \ Oertiflcate of Alderman, Bu/permsor, Town Clerk or Overseer of the Poor. The undersigned hereby certifies that he has satisfactory evidence for believing that the foregoing statement is correct, and would recommend the application to the favorable consideration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. To the Honorable Superintendent of Public Instruction, Albany, N. T. The undersigned hereby recommend that the above named applicant, be appointed a pupil in the Institution for the instruction of at for the term of years, from and that clothing be furnished by Principal or Superintendent. FORM OP APPOINTMENT. State of New York. Department op Public Instruction, ) Superintendent's Office, V Albany, , 188 . ) Sir. — I have this day selected the following named persons as State pupils in the , for the term of year each, from the date set opposite their respective names, to be educated and supported therein during that period, at the expense of the State. Clothing will be furnished by the , in each case, unless otherwise specially noted. NAMES. No. Age. RESIDENCE, From what date appointed. Town. County. EespectfuUy yours, To £^ate Superintendent. 152 Deaf and Dumb. NOTICE TO SUPERVISORS. State of New Yobk. Department of Public Insteuction, SUPEBIlStTBNDBNT'S OFFICE, Albany, , 188 To the Board of Supervisors of the county of i I have this day appointed ,of , in your county, a State pupil in the , for the term of years, from the day of , 18 . to be educated and supported during said term at the expense of the State. The parents of said pupil being unable to provide clothing, It will be your duty, under existing provisions of law, to appropriate the sum of $30 during each year for which said pupil ha been selected, for the purpose of provid- ing said pupil with clothing. (Ohap. 386, Laws of 1864.) The institution will draw on your county treasurer some time after the month of February in each year, for the amount so raised. Yours respectfully, DUTIES OP SUPERINTENDENT Title I. § 8. The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, the New York Institution for the Blind, and all other similar institutions, incorporated or that may be hereafter incorporated, shall be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and it shall be his duty : 1. To inquire, from time to time, into the expenditures of each institution, and the systems of instruction pursued therein, respectively. 2. To visit and inspect the schools belonging thereto, and the lodgings and accommodations of the pupils. 3. To ascertain, by a comparison with other similar institutions, whether any improvements in instruction and discipline can be made ; and for that purpose to appoint, from time to time, suit- able persons to visit the schools. 4. To suggest to the directors of such institutions, and to the legislature such improvements as he shaU judge expedient. 6. To make an annual report to the legislature on all the mat- ters before enumerated, and particularly as to the condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment in respect to board and lodging. Deaf ajjd Dumb. 153 HISTORICAL. The different acts whicli have led up to the present law upon the subject are given here as a matter of reference, and are as follows: THE NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB. This institution was incorporated by chapter 264, Laws of 1817. By chap- ter 238, Laws of 1819, it received from the State $10,000, and by chapter 250, Laws of 1821, $2,500. The following statutes are those in their chronological order providing for the appointment and support of pupils therein: Chapter 234, Laws of 1822. The directors of the institution are directed to receive therein four indigent deaf arid dumb persons between the ages of ten and twenty -five years from each of the eight senate districts of the State. The term of instruction is fixed at three years. The pupils to be selected upon the certificate of the over- seers of the poor, and to be supported by the State at the expense of $150 per year. The supervisors of each county are authorized to send additional pupils, one for each member of assembly, at $150 per year, to be levied and collected in the same manner as moneys raised by the sixth section of the act for sup- port of common schools. Chapter 166, Laws of 1825, Provides that whenever there is a vacancy in the number of pupils allowed from a senate district, such vacancy can be filled by appointment from some other senate district. The term is also extended to four years. Chapter 97, Laws of 1827, Provided that the directors could continue in the institution pupils not exceeding eight in number for a period not exceeding two years to the time already allowed. Ten thousand dollars is also appropriated for the purchase of a site and the erection of a building. The money was not to be paid until the Superintend- ent of Common Schools should approve the price of the ground and the plan of the buildings. The second section of the act subjected the institution to the supervision and visitation of the Superintendent of Common Schools, in terms nearly the same as in the present law, and provided that no money should be paid for the support of pupils until the directors of the institution had filed in the office of the Secretary of State their assent to the provisions of the second section of the act, and their ' ' consent at all times to permit the inspection and inquiries herein directed." This consent was given in the following terms, and filed in the Secretary's office April 25, 1827: Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, ) City of New York. ) Whereas, the legislature of the State of New York did, on the 23d day of March, 1827, pass an act entitled "An act to provide for the building an asylum for the deaf and dumb in the city of New York," and whereas the second section of the said act is in the following, to- wit: "And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Superintend- ent of Common Schools, from time to time, to inquire into the expenditures of the said institution and the system of instruction pursued therein; to visit and inspect the schools and the lodging of the pupils; to ascertain, by a com- 154 Deaf and Dumb. parison with other similar institutions, whether any improvements can be made, and for that purpose appoint such and so many persons as he shall, from time to time, deem necessary, visitors of the said schools; to suggest to the directors and the legislature such improvements as he shall deem expedi- ent, and to report annually to the legislature on all the matters aforesaid, and particularly the condition of the schools, the improvement of the pupils, and their treatment in respect to their hoard and lodging. And that no money shall he paid out of the treasury pursuant to this act, until the directors of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in the city of New York shall have filed their assent to the provisions of this section, under their corporate, seal, in the office of the Secretary of State, and shall thereby consent at all times to submit to tbe inspection and inquiries herein directed." Now, therefore, be it known that the directors of the said institution have assented, and by these presents do assent, to the provisions of the second section of the aforesaid act, and have accordingly directed the same to be signed by the president of the institution, and sealed with their seal, and the same to go into operation when the asylum is built. Done and subscribed in the city of New York this twenty-third day [l. 8.J of April, 1837. SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, President. Attest: Sajtobl Akerlt, Secretwry. Chapter 170, Laws of 1830. The number of indigent pupils allowed from each senate, district is increased by three from each such district. The expense not to exceed $180 per year for such pupils. The pupils are to be known as State pupils, and the term of instruction to be five years. Chapter 109, Laws of 1833. The directors of the institution are authorized to receive five indigent pupils from each of the senate districts of the State, in addition to the number now provided for by law, at an annual expense not exceeding $130 for each pupil. Chapter 338, Laws of 1836. The directors of the institution are authorized to receive three indigent deaf-mute pupils from each of the senate districts of the State, in addition to the number now provided for by law, at an annual expense not to exceed $130 for each pupil. The pupils are designated as State pupils. The term is fixed at five years. Chapter 344, Laws of 1838. Section 1. " No deaf and dumb person shall be entered upon the list of State pupils to be educated, under twelve years of age." The directors are also authorized, with the consent of the Superintendent of Common Schools, to continue any State pupil under instruction, for a term not exceeding two years beyond that now provided by law. Chapter 174, Laws of 1840, Authorizes the directors to receive one indigent deaf-mute pupil from each of the senate districts of the State in addition to the number now provided for by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Superintendent of Common Schools. Deaf and Dumb. 155 Chapteb 14, Laws of 1845, Authorizes the directors to receive four indigent deaf-mute pupils from each of the senate districts of the State in addition to the number now pro- vided for by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Super- intendent of Common Schools. Chapter 97, Laws of 1858. The directors are authorized to receive from each of the senate districts of the State one indigent deaf-mute pupil in addition to the number now author- ized by law, to be selected by and subject to the supervision of the Superin- tendent of Common Schools. Chapter 373, Laws of 1854. This chapter provided for the appointment of every indigent deaf and dumb person resident of this State, between twelve and twenty-five years of age upon substantially the same terms and conditions now embraced in section 9, title 1, of the General School Law. The sum to be paid annually by the State for the tuition and board of such pupils was fixed at $150 each. The term of instruction was fixed at five years. INSTITUTION FOR THE IMPROVED INSTRUCTION OF DEAF MUTES, NEW YORK CITY. Chapter 180, Laws of 1870. Section 1. Sections 1 and 3 of an act entitled "An act to provide for the care and education of indigent deaf mutes under the age of twelve years " passed April 25, 1863, are severally hereby amended by adding to and insert- ing therein after the words " New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb," wherever the same occur in said sections, respectively, the words following, viz.: " or in the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes." § 3. All provisions of law now existing, fixing the expense of the board, tuition and clothing of children under twelve years placed in the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, shall apply to children who may, from time to time, be placed in the said institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes, in the same manner, and with the like effect, as if said last-mentioned institution had also originally been named in the acts fixing such compensation, and as if said acts had provided for the payment thereof to the institution last mentioned, and the bills therefor properly authenticated by the principal or one of the otficers of the said last mentioned institution shall be paid to said institution by the counties, respectively, from which such children were severally received, and the county treasurer or chamberlain, as the case may be, is hereby directed to pay the same on pre- sentation, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the proper county. § 3. Sections 9 and 10, of title 1, of an act entitled "An act to revise and oonsolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," passed May 3, 1864, are hereby amended so that the same shall extend and apply to the said ' ' Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes " in the like manner, and with the like effect, as if said last-mentioned institution, as well as the others therein mentioned, had originally been named in the said sections, respectively. 156 Deaf akd Dumb. the lb couteulx st. mary's institution for the improved instruction of deaf-mutes, at buffalo. Chaptek 670, Laws of 1872. Section 1. Sections 9 and 10, of title 1, of an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to the public instruction," passed May 2, 1864, are hereby amended so that the same shall extend and apply to the Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of deaf- mutes in the city of BufEalo, in the like manner and with the like effect as if said institution had originally been named in the said sections, respectively. CENTRAL NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT ROME. Chapter 13, Laws of 1876. Section 1. The Central New York Institution for Deaf-mutes, at Rome, is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages of twelve and twenty -five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make such appointment to the aforesaid institution, and, in his discretion, to date back the first thirty appointments to the first day of October, 1875. Chapter 355, Laws of 1880. Section 1 . It shall be lawful for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to continue at the Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Rome, New York, for a period not exceeding three years, for the purpose of pursuing a course of studies in the higher branches of learning, such pupils, not exceed- ing twelve in number, as may have completed their full term of instruction and who may be recommended by the trustees of said institution. WESTERN NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT ROCHESTER. Chapter 331, Laws of 1876. Section 1. The Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Roches- ter, is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the fiuperintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments to said institution in the same manner and upon the same conditions as to the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. § 2. Supervisors of towns and wards and overseers of the poor are hereby authorized to send to the Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, deaf and dumb persons between the ages of six and twelve years, in the same man- ner and upon the same conditions as such persons may be sent to the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, under the pro- visions of chapter 325 of the Laws of 1868. Under the provision contained in section 1, "and the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments to said institution in the same manner and upon the same conditions as to the New York Institu- tion for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb," the State Superintendent has held that this institution is entitled to a high class, the same as the New York Institution, under chapter 272, Laws of 1854, and has appointed pupils thereto. Deaf and Dumb. 157 st. joseph's institute for the improved instruction of deaf-mutes, at fordham. Chapter 378, Laws of 1877. Section 1. The St. Joseph's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes, at Fordham, in the county of Westchester, is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who may. be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make such appointment to the aforesaid institution. NORTHERN NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR DEAF-MUTES, AT MALONB. Chapter 375, Laws of 1884. Section 1. The Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Malone, is hereby authorized to receive deaf and dumb persons, between the ages of twelve and twenty-five years, eligible to appointment as State pupils, and who may be appointed to it by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to make appointments to the aforesaid institution. § 3. Supervisors of towns and wards and overseers of the poor are hereby authorized to send to the Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes, deaf and dumb persons between the ages of six and twelve years, under the pro- visions of chapter 335 of the Laws of 1863, as amended by chapter 313 of the Laws of 1875, provided that before any pupils are sent to said institution the board of State charities shall have made and filed with the Superintendent of Public Instruction a certificate to the effect that said institution has been duly organized and is prepared for the reception and instruction of such pupils. COUNTY PUPILS. Chapter 335, Laws of 1863, as Amended by Chapter 180, Laws of 1870, and Chapter 548, Laws op 1871, and Chapter 313, Laws op 1875. Section 1. Whenever a, deaf-mute child, under the age of twelve years, shall become a charge for its maintenance on any of the towns or counties of this State, or shall be liable to become such charge, it shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor of the town, or of the supervisors of such county, to place such child in the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, or in the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, or in the Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, in the city of Buffalo, or in the Central New York Institution for Deaf-mutes, in the city of Rome, or in any institution of the State for the education of deaf-mutes. § 3. Any parent, guardian or friend of a deaf-mute child within this State, over the age of sis years and under the age of twelve years, may make appli- cation to the overseers of the poor of any town, or to any supervisor of the county where such child may be, showing by satisfactory affidavit, or other proof, that the health, morals or comfort of such child may be endangered, or not properly cared for, and thereupon it shall be the duty of such overseer or supervisor to place such child in the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, or in the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, or in the Le Couteulx St Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-mutes, in the city oi Buffalo, or in the Central New York Institution for Deaf-mutes, in the city of Rome, or in any institution in the State for the edu- cation of deaf-mutes. 158 Deaf and Dumb. § 3. The cMldren placed in said institutions, in pursuance of the foregoing sections shall be maintained therein at the expense of the county from whence they came, provided that such expense shall not exceed $300 each per year, until they attain the age of twelve years, unless the directors of the institution to which a child has been sent shall find that such child is not a proper subject to remain in said institution. g 4. The expenses for the board, tuition and clothing for such deaf-mute children, placed as aforesaid in said institutions, not exceeding the amount of $300 per year, above allowed, shall be raised and collected as are other ex- penses of the county from which such children shall be received ; and the bills therefor, properly authenticated by the principal or one of the officers of the institution, shall be paid to said institution by the said county ; and its county treasurer or chamberlain, as the case may be, is hereby directed to pay the same on presentation, so that the amount thereof may be borne by the proper county. Chapter 333, Laws of 1833. The following section of the above chapter is still in force: § 4. It shall be the duty of the overseer of the poor in each town to furnish the Superintendent of Public Instruction with a list of the deaf and dumb persons in their respective towns, so far as they can ascertain them, with such particulars in relation to the condition of each as shall be prescribed by the Superintendent. FINES AND PENALTIES. Title III. § 22. Whenever, by any statute, a penalty or fine is imposed for the benefit of common schools, and not expressly of the com- mon schools of a town or school district, it shall be taken to be for the benefit of the common schools of the county within which the conviction is had ; and the fine or penalty, when paid or collected, shall be paid forthwith into the county treasui-y, and the treasurer shall credit the same as school moneys of the county, unless the county comprise a city having a special school act, in which case he shall report it to the superintendent, tvho shall apportion it upon the basis of population by the last census, between the city and the residue of the county, and the portion belonging to the city shall be paid into its treasury. § 23. Every district attorney shall report, annually to the board of supervisors, all such fines and penalties imposed in any prosecution conducted by him during the previous year ; and all ir.oneys collected or received by him or by the sheriff, or any other officer, for or on account of such fines and penalties, shall be immediately paid into the county treasury, and the receipt of the county treasurer shall be sufficient and the only voucher for such moneys. § 24. "Whenever a fine or penalty is inflicted or imposed for the benefit of the common schools of a town or school district, the magistrate, constable or other officer, collecting or receiving the same, shall forthwith pay the same to the county treasurer of the county in which the school-house is located, who shall credit the same to the town or district for whose benefit it is collected. If the fine or penalty be inflicted or imposed for the benefit ot the 160 Fines and Penalties. common schools of a city having a special school act, or of any part or district of a city, it shall be paid into the city treasury. § 25. Whenever, by this or any other act, a penalty or fine is imposed upon any school district officer for a violation or omis- sion of official duty, or upon any person for any act or omission within a school district, or touching property or the peace and good order of the district, and such penalty or fine is declared to lie for, or for the use or benefit of the common schools of the town, or of the county, and such school district lies in two or more towns or counties, the town or county intended by the act sliall be taken to be the one in which the school-house, or the school- house longest owned or held by the district is, at the time of such violation, act or omission. § 26. Any district attorney, sheriff, justice of the peace, police justice or other magistrate or officer, who shall embezzle, or will- fully withhold from or omit to pay into the county treasury any money received or collected in payment or satisfaction, in whole or in part, of any fine or penalty in the four last preceding sec- tions mentioned, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any fine imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the county. It will be seen from the foregoing sections that aU fines and penalties for the benefit of common schools, whether they be for the schools of the county, town or district, must be paid by the officer collecting the same to the county treasurer, who is required by sub. 4, sec. 27, title 3, to make a statement of the same for the use of the school commissioners in their apportionment of the public moneys. The school commissioners apportion these fines and penalties the same as the other public moneys, excepting in cases where the law pro- vides that the particular fine be for the benefit of some particular town or dis- trict. {See State Salwol Moneys.) In which case it is apportioned to only such town or district. In all cases in which a fine or forfeiture is imposed, and the amount is fixed, or may be ascertained by evidence, suit may be brought before any justice of the peace ; or in case of embezzlement, or withholding money, where the amount may be large, before a county court, or the supreme court. It is to be hoped that there will be no occasion to prosecute for these penal- ties and forfeitures, nor to punish for misdemeanors. It is, however, enjoined upon the people, and especially upon school ofiicers, to see that the laws be obeyed, and the offices be faithfully administered. If, unfortunately, it becomes necessary to prosecute a suit for any penalty it should be done promptly. Though the limitation of time in which to bring suits for the penalties or forfeitures mentioned in the foregoing seems to have been, in the new Code of Civil Procedure (see § 888), extended to ten years, yet there is no reason or excuse for not taking action at once where action is required. A reference to the several sections of the law Imposing penalties and for- feitures will show by whom the prosecutions are to be made. Pines and Penalties. 161 Sub. 9, sec. 6, title 4 makes it the duty of the supervisor, when the duty is not elsewhere imposed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and forfeit- ures imposed for violations of the General School Act. (See Supervisors.) In the cases in which penalties are provided for neglect of duty or violation of the school laws, several are declared to be misdemeanors. A misdemeanor Is any crime or ofEense less than a felony. A felony is any crime punishable by death or imprisonment in a state prison. As the school law in these several sections has not in every case prescribed the fine or penalty to be inflicted for the misdemeanor, we must look to the Penal Code for instructions. The following sections of the same are appli- cable: S 117. A public offloer, or person holding a public trust or employment, upon whom any duty is enjoined by law, who willfully neglects to perform the duty, is guilty of a misdemeanor. This and the preceding section do not apply to cases of ofScial acts or omissions, the prevention or punishment of which is otherwise specially provided by statute. § 155. Where the performance of any act is prohibited by a statute, and no penalty tor the violation of such statute is imposed in any statute, the doing such act is a mis- demeanor. § 15. A person convicted of a crime declared to be a misdemeanor, for which no other punishment is specially prescribed by this Code, or by any other statutory provision In force at the time of the conviction and sentence, is punishable by Imprisonment in a penitentiary, or county jail, for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than Ave hundred dollars, or by both. An indictment for a crime, other than murder, must be found within five years after its commission, except where a less time is prescribed by statute. {Code of Criminal Procedure, § J.43.) But an indictment must be found by a grand jury, and any person cogni- zant of the facts can appear before them and testify in any case of misde- meanor; or he may procure the aid of the district attorney, who can issue subpoenas to bring witnesses before the jury. Title VII. FOR REFUSAL TO SERVE AS SCHOOL OFFICER. § 34. Every person chosen or appointed to a school district office, who, being duly qualified to fill the same, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit five dollars ; and every person so chosen or appointed, who, not having refused to accept the office, shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duty thereof, shall by such neglect or refusal vacate his office and shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the common schools of the town. The law regards every person as under an obligation to bear his part in the burden of personal service to the public, or to indemnify it by a fine. Mere unwillingness to abstract the necessary time from the labors of his ordinary calling is not a suflBcient cause; it is for him to determine whether the pay- ment of the fine, or the injury to his business, or love of ease, will be the greater damage, and to meet the one or the other according to his election. The presumption is that, if sufficient cause existed, the supervisor would have accepted the resignation of the oflScer who is sued; and it lies upon him to show the cause, not upon the plaintifE to disprove the existenee of any. It is for the tribunal before which any delinquent oflScer is tried to deter- mine whether the refusal or neglect to serve was willful. 21 162 PiiTES AND Penalties. § 35. But the supervisor of the town wherein any such per- son resides may accept his written resignation of the office, and the filing of such resignation and acceptance in the office of the district clerk shall be a bar to the recovery of either penalty in the last preceding section mentioned ; or such resignation may be made to and accepted by a district meeting. Where a district meeting accepts the resignation of any school officer, it is not necessary to file a written resignation with the district clerk. The records of the meeting will be sufficient evidence of the fact. Title XIII. Section 1. Wlienever the share of school moneys, or any por- tion thereof, appropriated to any town, school district or separate neighborhood, or any money to which a town, school district or separate neighborhood would have been entitled, shall be lost, in consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school commissioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town, school district or separate neighborhood so losing the same, the full amount of such loss with interest thereon. § 2. Where any penalty for the benefit of a school district, or of the schools of any school district, town, school commissioner district, or county, shall be incurred, and the officer or officers whose duty it is by law to sue for the same, shall willfully and unreasonably refuse or neglect to sue for the same, such officer or officers shall forfeit the amount of such penalty to the same use, and it shall be the duty of their successor or successors in office to sue for the same. Whenever any penalty or forfeiture is declared to be for the benefit of a district, it is the duty of the trustees to sue for and enforce its collection. Whenever any penalty or forfeiture is declared to be for the benefit of a town, it is the duty of the supervisor to prosecute. ■ Trustees may prosecute their predecessors in office for money embezzled or unlawfully used or withheld. Trustees may prosecute collectors and their bail for moneys lost to the dis- trict by the neglect of the collectors, or which are embezzled by them. Supervisors may prosecute their predecessors in office for penalties and forfeitures incurred by them, and for moneys embezzled or unlawfully used or withheld. Trustees may prosecute district clerks, and supervisors, town clerks, for money lost by their willful neglect of duty. A public officer is bound to give to his official duties the same care and attention that a prudent man would give to his private business. FiKES AND Penalties. 163 An officer who comes short of this is guilty of a ■willful neglect of duty. EOE DISTUEBHiTG SCHOOL MEETING. § 3. Any person who shall willfully disturb, interrupt or dis- quiet any district school or school meeting in session, or any per- sons assembled, with the permission of the trustees of the district, in any district school-house, for the purpose of giving or receiving instruction in any branch of education or learning, or in the science or practice of .music, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for the bene- fit of the school district. {As amended hy sec. 24, chap. 406, Zaws of 1867.) § 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the district, or the teacher of the school, and he shall have power, to enter a com- plaint against such offender before any justice of the peace of the county, or the mayor or any alderman, recorder or other magis- trate of the city, wherein the offense was committed. The magis- trate or other officer before whom the complaint is made shall thereupon by his warrant, directed to any constable or person, cause the person complained of to be aiTested and brought before him for trial. If such person, on the charge being stated to him, shall plead guilty, the magistrate shall convict him ; and, if he demands a trial by the magistrate, shall summarily try him ; and, if he demands a trial by jury, the magistrate shall issue a venire, and impanel a jury for his trial, and he shall be tried in the same manner as in a court of special sessions. § 5. If any person convicted of the said offense, do not imme- diately pay the penalty, with the costs of the prosecution, or give security to the satisfaction of the magistrate for the payment thereof within twenty days, the magistrate or other officer shall commit him to the common jail of the county, there to be im- prisoned until the penalty and costs be paid, but not exceeding thirty days. The three preceding sections are a substitute for the act of 1845 forbidding the disturbance of evening schools. The provisions of the sections of the present law are plain and unmistakable. Every person who violates them for- feits twenty-five dollars. It is suggested that, when the school-house is used for any other purpose than a district school, it would be proper to obtain the written permission of the trustees, as a safeguard against misunderstanding and forgetfulness. . Fines and penalties are imposed by other sections of the general school act 164 Fines and Penalties. and separate acts, and wliicli are placed in full in the several chapters upon the respective subjects, the following being cross references to the same. CLEEK OF DISTKICT. Title VI, § 12. The clerk, or other person, refusing to obey an order to deposit the books, papers and records of a dissolved district with the town clerk incurs a penalty of fifty dollars. Title VII, § 37, subd. 5. If a district clerk neglects to give notice to all per- sons elected or appointed to ofBce, and to report their names, and post office address, to the town clerk, he forfeits five dollars in each instance. Title VII, § 37, subd. 7. If the district clerk neglects to keep and preserve all books and records, and deliver them to his successor, he forfeits fifty dol- lars for the benefit of the district, to be recovered by the trustees. COLLECTOR. Title VII, § 89. A collector whose neglect to collect money causes a loss to the district is liable for sach loss, and forfeits the amount to the district. {See Taxes.) PERSONS GENERALLY. Title VII, § 14. Any person making a false declaration of his right to vote at a district meeting is guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to imprisonment for not less than six months and not more than a year. Any person not quali- fied to vote, who votes at a district meeting, forfeits five dollars, to be sued for by the supervisor, for the benefit of the schools of the town. Chap. 413, § 3, Laws of 1877. Any person violating the provisions of the act to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools is liable to a penalty of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars, to be sued for by any tax payer of the district, for the benefit of the district. Chap. 421, Laws of 1874. Penalty against persons for violation of Compul- sory Education Act. Chap. 248, Laws of 1878. For illegal voting after challenge, under this act, a person is guilty of misdemeanor, punishable in jail for not less than six months nor more than one year. For illegal voting without being challenged shall forfeit ten dollars. SCHOOL COMMISSIONER. Title II, § 10. If a school commissioner neglects his duty the Superintend- ent of Public Instruction may withhold the whole or a part of his salary. Title II, § 12. If a commissioner acts as agent for the sale of books, he may be removedf from ofiSce by the Superintendent. He is also guilty of a misde- meanor. SUPERVISOR. Title III, § 32. The supervisor who refuses to give a bond for the school moneys paid into his hands commits a misdemeanor. Title IV, § 3. The supervisor who embezzles any money or security received by him is guilty of a misdemeanor. Title IV, § 5. The supervisor who neglects to make an annual report or who makes a false report to the county treasurer of the school moneys in his hands incurs a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by his successor in oflice, or by the county treasurer. * TAXABLE INHABITANT. Title VII, § 5. Any taxable inhabitant refusing to give the notice of a dis- trict meeting, under article first of title seven, forfeits five dollars (See '' t.) FiN-ES AND Penalties. 165 TEUSTEES. Title VII, § 43. The trustee who applies, or directs, or consents to the appli- cation of any public money to the payment of the wages of an unqualified teacher, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (See, also. Teachers.) Title VII, § 57. Every trustee, who refuses or neglects to render his annual account in writing to the district meeting, forfeits twenty-five dollars ; and every trustee, who refuses to pay over to his successor any balance of money in his hands, forfeits t>venty-five dollars. He also forfeits his office and becomes liable for the money in his hands. {See, also, Reports.) Title VII, § 64. Every trustee who signs a false report, with intent to obtain from a commissioner a larger sum than is legally due the district, forfeits twenty-five dollars, and commits a misdemeanor. (See, also. Reports.) Title VIII, § 6. The trustees are liable to the district, and the librarian to the trustees, for loss of books, or damage to them, caused by their neglect of duty. {See, also. Librarian and Libraries.) Title VIII, § 11. The fines imposed by the general instructions as to the management and care of libraries are legalized, and may be recovered by the trustees in an action of debt. {See, also, Librarian and Libraries.) Title VIII, § 13. If the trustees refuse to make a report of the condition of the library, at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the library money may be withheld from the district, and the trustee is liable therefor to the district. {See, also, Librarian and libraries.) Chap. 413, Laws of 1877. Against trustee for violation of Text-Book Act. Chap. 672, Laws of 1887. A trustee who through his fault or negligence permits the copy of the Code of Public Instruction (1887), belonging to his district, to be lost or destroyed, forfeits twenty-five dollars. TJTRRARTAlSr AND LIBRARIES. ELECTION OP LIBKAEIAN. TlTl,E YII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the votes of those present : 4. To choose * * * a librarian, at their first meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except as hereinafter provided. QUALIFICATIONS OF. § 24. Every district and neighborhood officer must be a resi- dent of his district and neighborhood, and qnahfied to vote at its meetings. Under the provisions of chapter 9, Laws of 1880 women are eligible to serve as district librarians. By section 23, no trustee can bold the office of librarian. TERM OP OFFICE. § 25. * * * The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is one year. Every district and neighbor- hood officer shall hold his office unless removed, during his term of office, and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. The last two sentences of this section include the office of librarian. § 26. The term of all officers elected at the first meeting of a newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next thereafter. LlBEAEIAN AND LiBEAEIES. 167 APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. § 32. Any vacancy in the office of district clerk, collector or librarian, may be supplied by appointnaent under the hands of the trustees of the district, or a majority of them, and the appointees shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of the district, and until others are elected and take their places. Under this section, and by the last sentence of section 25, if the annual meeting passes without an election, all the officers of the district, whether holding by election or appointment, will legally retain office until their suc- cessors are elected or appointed and take their places. When the librarian is holding over there is no vacancy that can be filled by appointment. But if the annual meeting was not held at the time fixed by law, or a librarian was not elected, a district meeting if regularly called can elect a librarian in the place of the person holding over. This can be done, not on the ground that a vacancy exists, but under the authority of section 10 of this title. § 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith filed by the supervisor or trustees making it, in the office of the , district clerk, who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- ment to the person appointed. The appointment should not only be filed by the district clerk, but for the purposes of future use or to prove his title to the office, it should be recorded in the clerk's record book. The original appointment can as well be made in the record book as upon separate paper. The law requires that notice of such appointment shall immediately be served upon the person appointed. DUTY OF. § 38. The librarian, subject to the provisions of this act, shall have the charge and supervision of the district library. REMOVAL FROM OFFICE. The district librarian can be removed from his office by the State Superintend- ent under section 18, title ii (see chapter on State Superintendent). He can also be removed by the trustees of the district under section 5, title viii. LIBEAEIES. LIBRARY MONEY. Title III. Section 7, referring to the State Superintendent, reads: " He shall set apart from the income of the United States deposit fund, for and as library money, such sum as the legislature shall appropriate for that purpose." Section 8, same title, provides that the Superintendent shall apportion the library moneys separately, among the counties of the State according to their respective population, etc. The manner of this apportionment is treated of in the chapter on " State School Moneys." 168 LiBEAEIAN AND LlBEAKIES. Tlie amount to be annually appropriated by tbe legislature for scbool dis- trict libraries was first fixed by chapter 337, Laws of 1838, at |55,000. By sec- tion 3, title viii of tlie General School Law, as amended by section 37, chapter 567, Laws of 1875 the amount was reduced to |50,000, at which sum it still remains. DISBURSEMENT OP LIBRARY MONEY. Title IV. § 6. It is the duty of every supervisor : *** * ****** 2. To disburse the library moneys upon, and only upon, the written orders of a sole trustee, or a majority of the trustees. {As amended by sec. 13, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) Title VII. TAX FOR. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ***** * * * 9. To vote a tax, not exceeding ten dollars, in any one year, for the purchase of such books as they shall direct for the district library, and such further sum as they shall deem necessary for the purchase of a book- ease. Under this subdivision a district meeting can authorize the levying of a tax not exceeding $10, for the purchase of library books, and a further sum for a book-case. All duly qualified voters at school district meetings can vote upon the question when the action is taken under this subdivision. DUTIES OF TRUSTEES CONCERNING LIBRARY. § 4:9. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : ******** INSURANCE. 8. To insure the district library in such a company in a sum fixed by a district meeting, and to raise the premiums by a dis- trict tax, and comply with the conditions of the policy. The words " such a company" refer to a " company created by or under the laws of this State," mentioned in the preceding subdivision. RESPECTING LIBRARY MONEY. 12. If the library money apportioned to tlie district be less than three doUars, to apply it to the payment of teachers' wages. LlBEAEIAir AND LiBEAEIES. 169 13. To draw upon the supervisor for the school and hbrary moneys in the manner and form prescribed by subdivisions one and two of section six of title four of this act. The following title is devoted entirely to the subject of school district libra- ries, and the application of library moneys. Title VIII. Seotion 1. The taxable inhabitants of each school district in the State shall have power, when lawfully assembled in any dis- trict meeting, to levy a tax on the district, not exceeding in any one year the sum of fifty dollars, for the purchase of such books as they shall direct for the district library, and such further sum as they may deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case. All books and cases which may have been or shall be purchased with moneys raised by such taxes, or with moneys apportioned to the district for library purposes, and all books which have been given to and accepted by the trustees for the library, shall compose the library of the district. This section does not repeal subdivision 9, section 16, title vii. If it is desired to levy over $10, and not exceeding $50, the authority to do so is given in this section, and taxable inhabitants only can vote upon the question. This is the only place in the General School Laws of the State as they stand at pres- ent where a vote upon any question at a district school meeting whatever is limited to the " taxable inhabitants." The language ' ' for the purchase of such books as they shall direct for the district library," shows the intention of the law to be that the district meeting shall select or designate the particular books to be purchased. This will be a difficult matter unless some system is followed. A list of suitable books should be caref ull.v prepared by some person or persons con- versant with literary matters. This list can be submitted to the meeting, and the designation made therefrom. The meeting cannot delegate the power to a committee. But a committee can be appointed to prepare a list, and the meeting designate the books on such list. § 2. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, directed to be distributed to the several school districts of this State, by the fourth section of chapter two hundred and thirty-seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall continue to be applied to the pur- chase of books for the district libraries. The sum directed to be distributed by the section cited was fifty-five thousand dollars. The amount was changed to fifty thousand dollars by an amendment in 1875, without correcting the incongruity of the reference. The selection of books for the district library is devolved by law upon the trustees ; and when the importance of this most beneficent and enlightened 23 170 Librarian and Libraries. provision for tlie intellectual and moral improvement of tlie iuliabitants of the several districts of both sexes and all conditions is duly estimated, the trust here confided is one of no ordinary responsibility, In reference to such selections, but two prominent sources of embarrassment have been experienced. The one has arisen from the necessity of excluding from the libraries all works having directly or remotely a sectarian tendency, and the other from that- of recommending the exclusion of novels, romances and other fictitious creations of the imagination, including a large proportion of the lighter literature of the day. The propriety of a peremptory and uncompromising exclusion of those catchpenny but revolting publications which cultivate the taste for the marvelous, the tragic, the horrible and the supernatural — the lives and ex- ploits of pirates, banditti and desperadoes of every description — is too obvious to every reflecting mind to require the slightest argument. If any case of improper selection of books should come before the Super- intendent, by appeal from any inhabitant, such selection would be set aside ; and if it appears from the reports which, according to regulation, must be made, that such books have been purchased, the school commissioner will be bound to withhold the next year's library money from such district until they are replaced by works of equal cost and better character. In regard to works of a sectarian character which there is considerable disposition to smuggle into district libraries, the following general rules, promulgated by Superintendent Randall several years ago, may be regarded as expressing the settled principles of the Department: "1. No works written professedly to uphold or attack any sect or creed In our country, claiming to be a religious one, shall be tolerated in the school libraries ; "2. Standard works on other topics shall not be excluded because they incidentally and indirectly betray the religious opinion of their autiior; "3. Works avowedly on other topics, which abound in direct and unreserved attacks on, or defense of, the character of anyrellgious sect, or those which hold up any relig- ious body to contempt or execration, by singling out or bringing togethei only the darker parts of its history or character, shall be excluded from the school libraries. In the selection of books for a district library, information, and not mere amusement, is to be regarded as the primary object. Suitable provision should, however, be made for the intellectual wants of the young, by furnish- ing them with books which, without being merely juvenile in their character, are within their comprehension, and sufficiently entertaining to excite and gratify a taste for reading. It is useless to buy books which are not read. The indifference which is manifested in respect to many of the district libraries shows that in point of fact their volumes are little sought for. This could hardly be the case, if the annual additions were of a kind to interest the young. If we can succeed in making eager readers of the youthful generation, they will take care of the libraries in the future. § 3. But whenever the- number of volumes in the district library of any district numbering over fifty children, between the ages of five and sixteen, shall exceed one hundred and twenty- five, or of any district numbering fifty children or less between the said ages, shall exceed one hundred volumes, the inhabitants of the district qualified to vote therein may, at a special or annual meeting duly notified for that purpose, by a majority of votes, appropriate the whole or any part of the library money belonging to the district for the current year to the purchase of maps, globes, blackboards, or other scientific apparatus for the use LlBEAEIAN AND LiBEAKIES. 171 of the school; and iu every district having the required number of volumes in the district Hbrary, and the maps, globes, black- boards and other apparatus aforesaid, the said moneys, with the approbation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be applied to the payment of quaUfied teachers' wages. This section was a part of section 136 of chapter 480, Laws of 1847. The so-called free school law of 1851 required the enumeration of all children be- tween the ages of four and twenty-one, and declared the schools free to all between those ages. But this section was not amended by that law, and has remained unaltered ever since. In order, therefore, to authorize a district to apply its library money to the purchase of scientific apparatus, or with the approbation of the State Superin- tendent, to paying teachers' wages, it must number over fifty children between the ages of five and sixteen, and actually have in its library over one hundred and twenty-five volumes, or over one hundred volumes if the number of children between those ages be less than fifty. The mere fact that the dis- trict has at some previous time possessed the requisite number of volumes is not suflBcient. On mailing an application to the State Superintendent, the facts must be established by an affidavit, stating the number of children, and the number of volumes actually in the library, and enumerating what maps, globes, and other scientific apparatus have been procured and are actually in use in the school. The vote of a district and the permission of the State Superintendent relate only to the application of library money for the current yea/r, and must be annually renewed to justify any diversion of it from the purchase of books. § 4. When the library money apportioned to a district in any year shall be less than three dollars, the trustees may apply it in payment of qualified teachers' wages. The annual apportionment made by the school commissioners will show what is the amount of library money-belonging to each district. If it is less than $3, then the trustees may give an order for it on the supervisor in part payment of the wages of a qualified teacher. § 5. The trustees of every school district shall be trustees of the library of such district, and the property of all books therein, and of the case and other appurtenances thereof, shall be deemed to be vested in such trustees so as to enable them to maintain any action in relation to the same. It shall be their duty to preserve such books and to keep them in repair ; and the expenses incurred for that purpose may be included in any tax list to be made out by them as trustees of a district, and added to any tax voted by a district meeting, and shall be collected and paid over in the same manner. Tlie librarian of any district library shall be subject to the directions of the trustees thereof, in all matters relating to the preservation of the books and appurtenances of the library, and 173 LiBRAEIAlf AND LiBEAEIES. may be removed from office by tbem for willful disobedience of such directions or for any willful neglect of duty. Being required to prMewe the books belonging to the library, the trustees must have power to do all that is necessary to their preservation. If the peo- ple neglect or refuse to vote a tax to buy a book-case, the trustees may buy one, on the ground that a library cannot be preserved without a book-case capable of holding the books. They are also to cause the books and case when injured to be repaired as soon as may be, and to provide sufficient wrapping paper to cover their books, and the necessary writing paper to enable the librarian to keep minutes of the delivery and return of books. These are proper expenses for the preservation and repair of the books, and are to be defrayed by a tax on the district, which is to be added by the trustees to any tax voted by a district meeting. It is not necessary that the tax to defray these expenses should be voted by the inhab- itants of the district; it is to be assessed and collected in the same manner as a tax for building or repairing a school-house, or for furnishing it with neces- sary fuel and appendages. The trustees bf each school district are required, at the time of making their annual reports, to deliver to the school commissioner a catalogue containing the titles of all the books in the district library not previously reported with the number of volumes of each set or series, and the condition of such books, whether sound, or injured or defaced. This catalogue must be signed by them and by the librarian. § 6. Trustees shall be liable to their successors, and the librarian shall be liable to the trustees, for any neglect or omission of their respective duties, by which any book shall be lost, destroyed or damaged, to the amount of such damage and the value of the book so destroyed or lost. There is great reason to fear that the duties of trustees, in respect to the preservation of the libraries in good condition, are often criminally neglected. They ought to investigate its condition as soon as they come into office, ascer- tain who has the custody of or is responsible for every book upon its catalogue, and see that it is returned in due time to the librarian, or that the proper fine for its detention is imposed and collected. If their predecessors cannot pro- duce or account for the books, they should be prosecuted for the value of such as may be missing. It is believed that the loss of many books, and the injury of others, are owing to neglect of the trustees to provide for them a proper book-case. Books that are tumbled promiscuously into an old trunk or dry goods box, and stowed away in a garret, are not kept and preserved. A book-case well filled with good books is a valuable ornament in any room. The librarian of any district which has a library of two or three hundred well selected books ought to consider himself the most favored man in his neighborhood. § 7. AH moneys recovered unaer the last preceding section, and all moneys received upon any policy of insurance procured upon the library, and aU fines and penalties imposed by or in pursuance of this title, shall be applied, by the trustees, in the purchase of books for and in the reparation and care of the library. LtBEAItlAN AND LiBEAEIES. 173 § 8. Any two or more adjoining districts, with tlie consent of all the commissioners of the school commissioner districts within which they lie, may, by a majority of votes in their several dis- tricts, unite their libraries, and apply their hbrary moneys and funds to the care, reparation and augmentation of their joint library so formed. All the trustees of such districts shall be trustees of such library, with all the powers, duties and habilities conferred and imposed by this title upon the trustees of a Hbrary of a district, and the librarian shall be appointed by them, and have the powers and be subject to the duties and liabilities conferred and imposed by this title upon the librarian of a district ; but upon the ques- tion of his appointment or removal, and upon any other question which may arise in the board of trustees, the trustee or trustees of each district shall have one vote only. AU the districts owning such library shall be considered as a school district, and the hbrary as a school district library, within the meaning of the subsequent provisions of this title. § 9. The agreement forming a joint library may be terminated by the votes of all the several districts that made it, or by the votes of any one or more of them less than the whole, provided a majority of the school commissioners, within whose districts the school districts lie, advise and consent thereto, or the Superintend- ent of Public Instruction so" order. § 10. When such an agreement shall be dissolved, the trustees of the several districts (the trustee or trustees of each district hav- ing only one vote) shall divide the library and all the joint funds on hand, including all fines and penalties incurred, among the several districts; and if they cannot agree, then such division shall be made by the commissioners within whose districts the school districts lie, or by some officer or person selected by the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. § 11. The general regulations respecting the preservation of school district libraries, the dehvery of them by hbrarians and trustees to their successors in office, the use of them by the inhab- itants of the district, the number of volumes to be taken by any one person at any one time or during any term, the periods of their return, the fines and penalties that may be imposed by the trustees of such libraries for not returning, for losing or destroy- 174 LiBEAEIAK AND LiBEAEIES. ing, any of the books therein, or for soiling, defacing or injuring them, heretofore framed by the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, are continued in force, and he may, from time to time, amend, annul or add to them, and shall, from time to time, furnish printed copies of the regulations in force, and of such amendments, annul- ments and additions, to the trustees of such libraries ; and all such regulations shall be obligatory upon all persons and officers having charge of such libraries, or using or possessing any of the books thereof. Such fines may be recovered in an action of debt, in the name of the trustees of any such library, of the person on whom they are imposed, unless such person be a minor ; in which case they may be recovered of the parent or guardian of such minor, unless notice in writing shall have been given by such parent or guardian to the trustees of such library, that they will not be responsible for any books delivered to such minor. And persons with whom such minors reside shall be liable, in the same manner and to the same extent, in cases where the parent of such minor does not reside in the district. REGULATIONS OP THE SXTPEKIUTENDBNT MADE IN PUBSTJANCB OF THE ABOVE PBOVISION. 1. The librarian is required, whenever any library is purchased and taken charge of by him, to make out a full and complete catalogue of all the books contained therein. At the foot of each catalogue he is to sign a receipt in the following form: I, A. B. , do hereby acknowledge that the books specified in the preceding catalogue have been delivered to me by the trustees of school district No. , in the town of , to be safely kept by me, as librarian of the said district, for the use of the inhabitants thereof, according to the regulations prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to be accounted for by me, according to the said regulations, to the trustees of the said district, and to be delivered to my successor in office. Dated, etc. A correct copy of the catalogue and receipt is then to be made, to which the trustees are to add a certificate in the following form; We, the subscribers, trustees of school district No. , in the town of , do certify that the preceding is a full and complete catalogue of books in the library of the said district, now in possession of A. B., the librarian thereof, and of his receipt thereon. Given under our hands, this day of , 18 The catalogue having the librarian's receipt is to be delivered to the trus- tees, and a copy having the certificate of the trustees is to be delivered to the librarian for his indemnity. 3. Whenever books are added to the library, a catalogue, with a similar receipt by the librarian, is to be delivered to the trustees, and a copy, with a LlBEAKIAJT AND LiBEAEIES. 175 certificate of the trustees that it is a copy of the catalogue delivered them by the librarian, is to be furnished to him. Every catalogue received by trustees is to be kept by them carefully among the papers of the district, and to be delivered to their successors in oifioe. 3. Whenever a new librarian shall be chosen, all the books are to be called in. For this purpose the librarian is to refuse to give out any books for fourteen days preceding the time so prescribed for collecting them together. At these periods, they must make a careful examination of the books, compare them with the catalogue, and make written statements, in a, column opposite the name of each book, and its actual condition, whether lost or present, and whether in good order or injured, and, if injured, specifying in general terms the extent of such injury. This catalogue, with the remarks, is to be delivered to the successors of the trustees to be kept by them; a copy of it is to be made out and delivered to the new librarian, with the library, by whom a receipt, in the form above prescribed, is to be given, and to be delivered to the trus- tees. Another copy, certified by them as before mentioned, is to be delivered to the librarian. 4. Trustees on coming into oflice are to attend at the library for the purpose of comparing the catalogue with the books. They are at all times when they think proper, and especially on their coming into office, to examine the books carefully, and note such as are missing or injured. For every book that is missing, the librarian is accountable to the trustees for the full value thereof, a.nd for the whole series of which it formed a part; such value to be determined by the trustees. He is accountable, also, for any injury which a book may appear to have sustained by being soiled, defaced, torn or otherwise. And he can be relieved from such accountability only by the trustees, on its being satisfactorily shown to them that some inhabitant of the district has been charged or is chargeable for the books so missing, or for the amount of the injury so done to any work. It is the duty of the trustees to take prompt and efficient measures for the collection of the amount for which any librarian is accountable. , 5. The librarian must cause to be pasted iii each book belonging to the library a printed or written label, or must write in the first blank leaf of each book, specifying that the book belongs to the library of school district No. , in the town of , naming the town and giving the number of the dis- trict; and he is on no account to give out any book which has not such printed or written declaration in it. He is also to cause all the books to be covered with strong wrapping paper, on the back of which is to be written the title of the book, and its number in large figures. As new books are added, the numbers are to be continued, and they are in no case to be altered; so that if a book be lost, its number and title must still be continued on the catalogue, with a note that it is missing. The librarian must keep a blank book, that may be made by stitching together half a dozen or more sheets of writing paper. Let those be ruled across the width of the paper, so as to leave five columns of the proper size for the following entries, to be written lengthwise of the paper: In the first column, the date of the delivery of any book to any inhabitant; in the second, the title of the book delivered, and its number; in the third, the name of the person to whom delivered; in the fourth, the date of its return; and in the fifth, remarks respecting its condition, in the following form: Times ot Delivery. Title and No. Book. To whom . When Returned. ConditloD. 1883, June 10. History of Va. 43, T. Jones. 20th June. Good. As it will be impossible for the librarian to keep any trace of the books with- out such minutes, his own interest to screen himself from responsibility, as 176 LiBEAEIAlT AND LiBEAEIES. well as his duty to the public, will, it is to be hoped, induce him to be exact in making his entries at the time any book is delivered, and, when it is re- turned, to be equally exact in noticing its condition, and making the proper minute. A fair copy of the catalogue should be kept by the librarian, to be exhibited to those -who desire to select a book; and, if there be room, it should be fastened on the door of the case. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE USE OP THE BOOKS IN DISTRICT LIBRARIES, PRESCRIBED BT THE SUPERINTENDENT OP PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. I. The librarian has charge of the books, and is responsible for their pres- ervation and delivery to his successor. II. A copy of the catalogue required to be made out by articles one and two of the preceding regulations is to be kept, by the librarian, open to the inspee. tion of the inhabitants of the district at all reasonable times. It will be found convenient to affix a copy of it on the door of the book-case containing the library. III. Books are to be delivered as follows: 1. Only to inhabitants of the district; 2. Only one can be delivered to an inhabitant at a time; and any one having a book out of the library must return it before he can receive another; 3. No person upon whom a fine has been imposed by the trustees, under these regulations, can receive a book while such fine remains unpaid; 4. A person under age cannot be permitted to take out a book, unless he resides with some responsible inhabitant of the district; nor can he then receive a book, if notice has been given by his parent or guardian, or the per- son with whom he resides, that they will not be responsible for books delivered such minor; ' 5. Each individual residing in the district, of sufficient age to read the books belonging to the library, is to be regarded as an inhabitant, and is en- titled to all the benefits and privileges conferred by the regulations relative to district libraries. Minors will draw in their own names, but- on the responsi- bility of their parents or guardians; 6. Where there is a sufficient number of volumes in the library to accommo- date all residents of the district who wish to borrow, the librarian should per- mit each member of a family to take books, as often as desired, so long as the regulations are punctually and fully observed. But where there are not books enough to supply all the borrowers, the librarian should endeavor to accommo- date as many as possible, by furnishing each family in proportion to tjie num- ber of its readers or borrowers. IV. Every book must be returned to the library within twenty days after it shall have been taken out; but the same inhabitant may again take it unless application has been made for it while it was so out of the library by any per- son entitled, who had not previously borrowed the same book, in which case such applicant shall have a preference in the use of it. And wh^e there have been several such applicants, the preference shall be according to the priority in time of their applications, to be determined by the librarian. Upon applica- tion to the Superintendent, the time for keeping books out of the library will be extended to a perio^ not exceeding twenty-eight days, where sufficient rea- sons for such extension are shown. V. If a book be not returned at the proper time, the librarian is to report the fact to the trustees; and he must also exhibit to them every book which has been returned injured, by soiling, defacing, tearing or in any other way, before such book shall again be loaned out, together with the name of the inhabitant in whose possession it was when so injured. VI. The trustees of school districts being, by virtue of their office, trustees of the library, are hereby authorized to impose the following fines: LiBKAEIAN AND LiBEAEIES. 177 1. For eacli day's detention of a book, beyond the time allowed by these regulations, six cents; but not to be imposed for more than ten days' detention; 3. For the destruction or loss of a book, a fine equal to the full value of the book, or of the set, if it be one of a series, with the addition to such value of ten cents for each volume. And on the payment of such fine, the party fined shall be entitled to the residue of the series. If he has also been fined for detaining such book, then the said ten cents shall not be added to the value; 3. For any injury which a book may sustain after it shall be taken out by a borrower, and before its return, a fine may be imposed of sis cents for every spot of grease or oil upon the cover, or upon any leaf of the volume; for writ- ing in or defacing any book, not less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the book; for cutting or tearing the cover or the binding, or any leaf not less than ten cents, nor more than the value of the book; 4. If a leaf be torn out, or so defaced or mutilated that it cannot be read, or if any thing be written in the volume, or any other injury done to it which renders it unfit for general circulation, the trustees will consider it a destruc- tion of the book, and shall impose a fine accordingly, as above provided in case of loss of a book; 5. When a book shall have been detained seven days beyond the twenty days allowed by these regulations, the librarian shall give notice to the bor- rower to return the same within three days. If not returned at that time, the trustees may consider the book lost or destroyed, and may impose a fine for destruction, in addition to the fines for its detention. VII. But the imposition of a fine, for the loss or destruction of a book, shall not prevent the trustees from recovering such book in an action of replevin, unless such fine shall have been paid. VIII. When, in the opinion of the librarian, any fine has been incurred by any person under thege regulations, he may refuse to deliver any book to the party liable to such fine, until the decision o£ the trustee upon such liability be had. IX. Previous to the imposition of any fine, two days' written or verbal no- tice is to be given by any trustee or the librarian, or any other person author- ized by either of them, to the person charged, to show cause why he should not be fined for the alleged offense or neglect; and if, within that time, good cause be not shown, the trustees sball impose the fine herein prescribed. No other excuse for an extraordinary injury to a book, that is, for such an injury as would not be occasioned by its ordinary use, should be received, than the fact that the book was as much injured when it was' taken out, by the person charged, as it was when he returned it. As such loss must fall on some one, it is more just that it.should be borne by the party whose duty it was to take care of the volumes than by the district. Negligence can only be prevented, an^ disputes can only be avoided by the adoption of this rule. Subject to these general principles, the imposition of all or any of these fines is dis- creiionary with the trustees, and they should ordinarily be imposed only for mllful or culpably negligent inj uries to books, or where the district actually sustains a loss or serious injury. Reasonable excuses for the detention of the books beyond twenty days should in all cases be received. X. It is the special duty of the librarian to give notice to the borrower of a book that shall be returned injured, to show cause why he should not be fined. Such notice may be given to the agent of the borrower who returns the book, and it should always be given at the time the book is returned. XI. The librarian is to inform the trustees of every notice given by him to show cause against the imposition of a fine ; and they shall assemble at the time and place appointed by him, or by any notice given by them, or any one of them, and shall hear the charge and defense. They are to keep a book of minutes, in which every fine imposed by them, and the cause, shall be entered and signed by them, or the major part of them. Such original minutes, or a copy certified by them, or the major part of them, or by the clerk of the dis- trict, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that a fine was imposed, as stated in such minutes, according to these regulations. 23 178 LiBEAEIAN AND LlBEAEIES. XTI. It sliall be the duty of trustees to prosecute promptly for the collection of all fines imposed by them. Fines collected for the detention of books, or for injuries to them, are to be applied to defray the expense of repairing the books in the library. Fines collected for the loss or destruction of any book, or of a set or series of books, shall be applied to the purchase of the same or other suitable books. XIII. These regulations being declared by law " obligatory upon all persons and officers having charge of such libraries, or using or possessing any of the books thereof," it is expedient that they should be made known to every borrower of a book. And for that purpose, a printed copy is to be affixed conspicuously on the case containing any library, or on one of such cases if there be several, and the librarian is to call the attention to them of every person, on the first occasion of his taking out a book. The offices of trustee and librarian are incompatible, and cannot be held by the same person. {8ec. 23, third article of title VII.) § 12. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, whenever he may deem proper, may require the trustees of any such library to make to him or to the school commissioner, a report showing the contents and condition of the library, the fines imposed, and any other information which he may deem proper touching the library, or its management, and shall prescribe the form, contents and au- thentication of such report. And may impose it as a duty upon the teacher employed in any district, under the direction of the trustees, to assist them making such examination, and when such direction is given, the teacher may close the school one day for the purpose of making such examination, and the same shall not be accounted as lost time. § 13. If any such trustees willfully neglect or refuse to make any such report, the Superintendent shall cause aU library moneys to be withholden from the district until the report be made and considered by him, and such moneys shall, if he see cause, be forfeited by the district, in which case they shall be apportioned among the school districts of the county in which the library is situated, other than such school district. And any trustee or trus- tees, through whose neglect or refusal such moneys shall be lost to the district, shall forfeit and pay to the district twice the amount of such moneys, for the benefit of the library of the dis- trict, and such forfeiture may be recovered by his or their success- ors in ofiice. § 14. Tiie Superintendent, whenever thereto requested by the trustees of any district school library, may select the library, or books for the library of the district, and cause the same to be delivered to the clerk of the county. , LlBEAEIAN AND LlBEAEIES. 179 § 15. The act entitled " An act to provide for the distribution of standard works of American authors among the hbraries of dis- trict schools," passed April twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty- six, is hereby repealed. CROSS REFERENCES. For the election of librarian in districts of over 300 children of school age, see chap. 248, Laws of 1878. For penalty against librarian upon his refusal to serve, see chapter on Fines and Penalties. MEETINGS.^ FIRST MEETING IN NEW DISTRICT OR NEIGHBORHOOD. Title VII. Section 1. Whenever any school district or separate neighbor- hood shall be formed, the commissioner or any one or more of the commissioners within whose district or districts it may be, shall prepare a notice describing such district or neighborhood, and appointing a time and place for the first district or neighbor- hood meeting, and deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district or neighborhood. As soon as the order forming a school district takes effect the school com- missioner or commissioners are compelled to call a meeting of such district for the purpose of perfecting a district organization. The notice for the meeting is required to state the time and place therefor, and to describe such district. The description must be the same as that contained in the order of formation which is by metes and bounds. The object of this is to inform the inhabitant who serves the notice, without recourse to any other document, over what ter- ritory he is to search for the persons upon whom service must be made; and, in the second place, that the inhabitants can easily and plainly see that they are included within the territory of the new district, thereby cutting ofE all chance for dispute on the question. Form of Notice. To , a taxable inhabitant of District No. in the town of Whehbas, By an order of the school commissioner for the commis- missioner district of the county of , which order is dated the day of , and took effect on that day (or on the day of , specify- ing the day, which must precede the date of the notice), a school district is formed, numbered No. , and bounded and described as follows, viz.: Beginning (give flie description the same as in the order of formation). You are hereby required to notify every person residing in the territory above described who is entitled to vote at school district meetings, under sec- tion 12, Title VII, of the General School Law, that the first district meeting of said district is hereby appointed to be held at the house of , at o'clock of the day of , 18 , for the purpose of electing officers, voting taxes, and transacting such other business as is permitted by law. You are required by law to read this notice in the hearing of each inhabi- Meetings. 181 tant qualified to vote at school meetings, or, in case of liis or her absence from home, to leave a copy of so much thereof as relates to the time and place of such meeting at the place of his abode, at least six days before the time of the meeting. Dated this day of A. B., School Commissioner. It is eminently desirable that the notice should be so broad that no person hearing it shall have the slightest ground for professing to be surprised at any business which can by possibility be presented at the meeting. This is a rule that is applicable to all notices for all meetings. It is not to be forgotten that the object of the foregoing notice is merely to assemble the inhabitants as the local legislature, and that when so assembled their powers are defined, not by the notice but by the statute. § 2. It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify every other inhabitant of the district or neighborhood, qualified to vote at the meeting, by reading the notice in his hearing, or in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the time, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his abode at least six days before the time of the meeting. In computing statute time,#the first day, or the day on which the time begins to run, is to be excluded. (10 Barb. 117.) The notice under this sec- tion must be six full days, exclusive of the d8,y of service, and must therefore be given as early as the seventh day before the meeting. It is always important that the persons on whom and the manner in which the notice has been served should be verified by proper evidence, which can be preserved. In reference to a similar notice under the school law of Massa- chusetts, the supreme court of that State says: "When the selectmen direct a warrant for calling a school district meeting to a proper j)erson, he is made a returning oflioer for that occasion. All returning officers are ministerial, and are bound to set forth in their returns all the acts done by them, that the proper tribunal may judge of their efficiency. They are not competent to judge of the legality of a notice or service; and a return that a precept had been legally served, or that the duty enjoined by a warrant had been didy per- formed, would most clearly be insufficient." To obviate this objection, it would be well for the inhabitant who gives notice of the meeting to frame his return in substantially the following manner: "Pursuant to the within hotice, I have notified the inhabitants qualified and residing as therein described, at least six days before the time of the meeting, in the following manner, viz, : by reading the notice in their hear- ing — John Doe, Charles Davis, etc. (naming them in full); by leaving a copy of so much of the within as relates to the time and place of meeting at their respective places of abode, they being absent from home — Robert Kidd, Henry Hunter, etc., etc." This return, when indorsed upcm the notice and signed by the inhabitant making it, should be produced at the meeting and filed with the records of the district. It constitutes the appropriate evidence of the service of notice; but it is not to be inferred that in its absence secondary evidence may not be received to support the proceedings of the meeting, whose jurisdiction depends upon facts, and not upon mere evidence. The presumption of regu- larity in the service of the notices will hold until rebutted by evidence to the contrary. ' 182 Meetings. It is proper to remark that the notice should be given to every inhabitant having any pretension to a right to vote, although the person giving it may deem his qualifications insufficient. Giving him notice determines nothing as to the right; and it is better to err by giving the notice to persons not entitled to vote than to fail to notify any person who may be so legally entitled. § 3. In case sncli meeting shall not be held, and in the opinion of the commissioner, it shall be necessary to hold such meeting before the time herein fixed for the first annual meeting, he shall deliver another such notice to a taxable inhabitant, of the district or neighborhood, who shall serve it as hereinbefore provided. The law is mandatory as to the commissioner giving the notice of a first meeting; but if for any reason such meeting is not held by the inhabitants, it is discretionary with the commissioner whether or not to deliver another such notice. The necessity for holding such meeting will depend largely upon the time that must elapse before the annual meeting and the necessity, or desire of the district, as to immediate organization and preparations for establishing a school. SPECIAL SCHOOL MEETINGS. § 6. A special district meeting shall be held whenever called by the trustees. The notice thereof shjftl state the purpose for which it is called, and no business shall be transacted at such special meeting, except that which is specified in the notice; and the district clerk, or if the office be vacant, or he be sick or absent or shall refuse to act, a trustee or some taxable inhabitant, by order of the trustees, shall serve the notice upon each inhabitant of the district qualified to vote at district meetings, at least five days before the day of the meeting, in the manner prescribed in the second section of this title. But the inhabitants of any dis- trict may, at any annual meeting, adopt a resolution prescribing some other mode of giving notice of special meetings, which reso- lution and the mode prescribed thereby shall continue in force until rescinded or modified at some subsequent annual meeting. {As amended by sec. 15, chap. 567, Zaws of 1875.) § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : 1. To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such districts whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper. 2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings in the manner prescribed in the sixth section of this title, if there be Meetings. 183 no clerk of the district, or ho he absent or incapable of acting, or shall refuse to act. § 37. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : 2. To give notice, in the manner prescribed by the sixth sec- tion of this title, or by the inhabitants, pursuant to such section, of the time and place of holding special district meetings called by the trustees. * * * * * ■ * * 10. To call special meetings of the inhabitants whenever all the trustees of the district shall have vacated their office. § 4. When the' clerk and all the trustees of a school district shall have removed from the district, or their office shall be vacant, so that a special meeting cannot be called, as hereinafter provided, the commissioner may in like manner give notice of and call a special district meeting. A special district meeting is one other than the annual meeting. The power to call such meeting rests with the trustees, or, if their offices are vacant, with the district clerk, or, if the offices of trustees and clerk are vacant, with the school commissioner. It is a power which should be Exercised with great judgment. The occasion for a special meeting must be of enough importance to warrant the trustees in assembling the inhabitants, for this cannot be done without considerable trouble and inconvenience. On the other hand, the trustees should not neglect to call a special meeting when the interests of the district plainly demand it, or when petitioned by a respectable number of the inhabitants. Motices and their service. — The notices for the special meeting must state the purposes for which it is called, and no business can be transacted thereat which is not mentioned in the notice. This affords protection to the inhabit- ants against any surprise and undue advantage. Although the law (sec. 3, title VII) makes it the duty of the inhabitants qualified to vote to attend every district meeting duly called, it is not always the case that these meetings are well attended. It would be unfair to put it within the power of a small minority to attend a meeting called for the supposed purpose of voting a tax for teach- ers' wages or of approving of the employment of a person as teacher who was within the prohibited degrees of relationship to the trustee, and then change the school-house site to a part of the district where it would be greatly unsat- isfactory to a majority of the inhabitants and where it would never have been put had the meeting been well attended. To guard against such cases of injustice this provision was incorporated into the section by the amendment of 1875. A special meeting has sometimes been held and an attempt made 'o enlarge upon the powers of the meeting by adjourning to a future day and directing the clerk to post or serve notices of such adjourned meeting embody- ing a new or additional purpose. This cannot be legally done. The meeting can be adjourned from time to time, but it cannot enlarge upon the purposes for which it was originally called. The notice for the special meeting should be made in writing, and, as recom- mended in the chapter on Glerk of District, the better way is to record it in the clerk's book of records. It is made the duty of the clerk to serve the 184 Meetings. notice in the manner directed in section two of this title. If the office of clerk be vacant, or if the clerk cannot or will not serve them, the trustee may serve them himself or he can order a taxable inhabitant to make the service. This is an important duty, and too great care cannot be exercised in giving ample notice of every special meeting. The clerk is authorized to give such notices upon a verbal direction of the trustees ; but there can be no excuse for the omission to put those directions in writing, upon the records, either in the form of an order or of minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of the trustees. In the personal service of notice, the clerk cannot act by deputy ; but no objec- tion is perceived to his employing an agent to leave written notices at the houses of those whom he may find absent from home. The proper course, however, would be for the clerk to provide himself with a sufficient number of written notices before starting upon his rounds. In this way he would secure the giv- ing of notice at the earliest practicable time, and would avoid the trouble of obtaining any other evidence of service than his own official return. This mode of giving notice may be changed by an annual meeting. There are districts covering so extensive a territory or containing so large a population that to serve a notice upon each voter would be a difficult, task. For this rea- son it is placed within the power of an annual meeting to prescribe some other method. The language of the statute gives great discretionary power to the meeting as to the mode it shall prescribe. It must, however, be such that the notice will reach the inhabitants — by advertising and posting the notices for a reasonable time before the meeting. If there is a newspaper published in the district the call should be inserted therein. ANNUAL MEETING. In Neighbobhoods. § 8. The annual meeting of each neighborhood shall be held on the last Tuesday of August in each year, at the hour and place fixed by the last previous neighborhood meeting, or, if such hour and place has not been .so fixed, then at the hour and place of such last meeting ; or, if such place be no longer accessible, then at such other place as the trustees, or if there be no trustees, the clerk shall in the notices designate. {As amended hy sec. 7, oJiap. 647, Laws of 1865, and hy see. 2, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) A neighborhood has no school-house in which to hold the meeting, for this reason the place must be designated by a previous meeting or by the trustee. In School Districts. § 9. An annual meeting of each school district shall be held the last Tuesday of August in each year, and unless the hour and the place thereof shall have been fixed by a vote of a previous district meeting, the same shall be held in the school-house at seven o'clock in the evening. If a district possesses more than one school-house, it shall be.held in the one usually employed for that purpose, unless the trustees designate another. If the dis- trict possesses no school-house, or if the school-house shall be no Meetings. 185 longer accessible, then the annnal meeting shall be held at such place as the trustees, or if there be no trustee, the clerk shall designate in the notice. {As amended ly sec. 16, chap. 667, Loms of 1875, and hy sec. 3, cAop. 413, Laws of 1883.) § 37. It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district : ****** 3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place of any adjourned meeting, when the meeting shall ha^^e been adjourned for a longer time than one month, in at least four of the most public places of such distiict, at least five days before the time appointed for such adjourned meeting. 4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting. The law fixes the time for the annual meeting, and its regularity does not depend upon any call by trustees or notice by clerk. The clerk, however, is directed to post four notices at least five days before the meeting. Seven o'clock in the evening and at the school-house the statute says the meeting must be held, unless a previous annual meeting shall have designated some other place and time of day. The hour of holding the meeting must be strictly observed. No authority exists for holding the meeting before the designated hour, and no legal obligation rests tipon the inhabitants who may have assem- bled" at such time to wait for others before organizing and commencing the proceedings. § 10. Whenevier the time for holding the annual meeting in school districts shall pass without such meeting being held in any district, a special meeting shall thereafter be called by the trustees or by the clerk of such district, for the purpose of transacting the business of the annual meeting ; and if no such meeting be called by the trustees or the clerk within twenty days after such time shall have passed, the supervisor or the superintendent of public instruction may order any inhabitant of such district to give notice of such meeting in the manner provided in the second section of this title, and the officers of the district shall make to such meet- ing- the reports required to be made at the annual meeting, sub- ject to the same penalty in case of neglect ; and the officers elected at such meeting shall hold their respective offices only until the next annual meeting and until their successors are elected and shall have qualified as in this act provided. There ought to be no occasion to call Into use the provisions of this section. Every year there are districts where the annual iueeting is not held. This arises both from mistakes as to the time, and a general apathy on the subject. An attempt may have been made to hold the meeting, but through ignorance 5J4 186 Meetings. of the law a wrong date was selected. The proceedings of such a meeting are void, and a special meeting will have to be called under this seition to transact the business of the annual meeting. GENEBAL PEOVISIONS. § 5. Every taxable inhabitant to whom a notice of any district meeting shall be delivered for service, pursuant to any provision of this article, who shall refuse or neglect to serve the same, as hereinbefore prescribed, shall forfeit five dollars for the benefit of the district. It will be observed that this section imposes a penalty for every refusal to serve a notice for any district meeting properly delivered to an inhabitant. It is co-extensive with the preceding section. A doubt whether the commis- sioner is legally entitled to his office will not excuse a refusal, if he be an offi- cer de facto, holding under color of election and exercising the duties of the office. It is not for a ministerial officer to judge of the validity of the election of an officer de facto ; for example, a -district clerk should serve a notice signed by persons recognized and acting as trustees, though he deems them to have no title to the office, and regards the notice as invalid. (7 Johns. 552.) § 7. The proceedings of no neighborhood or district meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it shall appear that the omission to give such notice was willful and fraudulent. The provision to cure the defect of notice relates to the mode and extent of service, and not to the insufficiency of the matter contained in the notice itself. It was intended for cases where through accident or mistalie the proper legal notice has not been given to all who are entitled to it ; but it cannot be con- strued to extend to cases in which no attempt is made to give the notice required by law to any of the inhabitants. Where the clerk of a district undertakes to give a notice in the manner provided by the statute, and .has failed, uninten- tionally, to serve such notice on all the persons entitled to receive it, or where such notice is imperfectly served, the proceedings of the meeting will not be void on that account. They may, however, be set asid6_ on appeal, on showing sufficient cause. § 11. "Whenever any district or neighborhood meeting shall be duly called, it shall be the duty of the inhabitants qualified to vote thereat to assemble at the time and place fixed for the meet- ing. § 12. Every person of full age residing in any neighborhood or school district, and .entitled to hold lands in this State, who owns or hires real property in such neighborhood or school dis- trict liable to taxation for school purposes, and every resident of such neighborhood or district who is a citizen of the United Meetings. 1S7 States above the age of twenty-one years, and wlio is the parent of a child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding, and every snch person not being the parent who shall have permanently residing with him or her such child or children, and every such resident and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no other, shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such neighborhood or district. {As amended by sec. 7, chap. 406, Laws of 1867, am,d ly sec. 2, chap. 492, La/ws of 1881, and hy sec. 1, chap, 655, Laws o/'' 1886.) Under ■sliis section there, are four different And distinct qualifications that will entitle a person, possessing any one or more of them, to vote at school meetings: 1. Every person (male or female) of full age, who is a resident of the dis- trict, entitled to hcjd lands in this State, who either holds or hires real estate in the district liable to taxation for school purposes. 2. Every resident (male or female) of the district, who is a citizen of the United States, 31 years of age, and who is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the o teachers; or if A. and B. taught together twelve weeks, then C. and D. twelve weeks, and finally E. and F. four weeks, they are to report lu such case only tioo teachers. This item forms a basis for the distribution of a part of the school money, and will not admit of errors. "2. The number of children over five nod under twenty-one years of age residing in the district on the 30th day of June, 1M7." An actual census must be taken, and none under five or over twenty-one years of age should be reported. The penalty fixed by law for a false report, as to the number of children in the district, is twenty-five dollars, to be col- lected from the trustees making such report. In making up this number, and the " schedule" which follows the statistical part of their report, trustees will consult sections 61, 63, 63 and 64, in article 6 of title 7 of this act. In regard to the enumeration (called for in section 61) of children of school age, in the employment of persons residing permanently or temporarily in dis- tricts other than where the parents and guardians of such children reside. 208 Rbpoets. trustees frequently find diificulty in deciding when certain persons in the dis- trict come within the statute. It is impossible to lay down a rule with the requisite precision to meet all cases. Each individual case must necessarily rest upon the particular circumstances attending it. In a general way, how- ever, it may be said that if the child of school age is actually in a particular district, composing a part of the family of an employer who resides perma- nently or temporarily in such district and such employment is in good faith and constitutes the principal reason of such child being a part of said family, and is not a mere convenience incident to another principal matter, namely, the attendance at school, then such child should be enumerated in that district and not in the other district where his parents or guardians may reside. If the employment is not real and substantial and is only'a pretense or cover to secure free tuition, then the child should not be enumerated in that district. Whether a case belongs to the one or the other of these two classes, is for the trustees to determine, after fairly considering the facts and circumstances bearing upon the points above suggested. "3. The number of private aohools vrithin the district (not including colleges, iDcor- porated academies or seminaries);" and, " 4. The Dumber of pupils over five and under twenty-one years of age, registered as having attended such private schools some portion of the school year ciosing with August 20, 1887." In reporting the number of private schools, and of the pupils attending them, there has heretofore been great neglect on the part of some district officers. Trustees should talce pains to ascertain the facts fully, and report them correctly. " 5. Tile whole time the school was taught during the school year ending with August 80, 1887." "6. The whole time the district school was taught by teachers while didy Hcejiaed during said year." The whole time, in weeks and days, during which school has been kept by duly licensed teachers should be carefully stated. It is important also that the dates on which each teacher commenced and closed his service be given. These dates can be obtained from the school register, kept by the teachers, as shown by the affidavits made by them at the close of the register. In cases where the teacher has attended a teachers' institute held in the county during a term of school, and the trustees have paid such teacher full wages for the entire time spent at the institute, include such time in items "5" and "6"; also in item " 18. " "7. The names of the teachers who taught the district school during the school year commencing August 21, 1886, and clo.siog with August 20, 1887, and of the author, ities by whom they were severally licensed, and the dates of the beginning and ending of the services of each, and the time of service of each, while duly lieertsed, etc." Do not fail to write the first Christian name of each teacher in full, and to state by whom each teacher was licensed. This is an easy matter, if trustees, as they should, refuse to hire any teacher who cannot show his license. There is evidence in this department that, in some few Instances, persons asking employment as teachers inform trustees that they are duly licensed, when they are not. It is therefore suggested that, before hiring a teacher, trustees require him to show his license, and that they examine it for the purpose of knowing that the time for which it. was granted has not expired. This is a safe precaution, to which an honest applicant for any school will not object. Attention is particularly called to the following sections of the school act, viz. : Sections 7 and 29 of title 3; and sections 43 and 43 of title 7. Those children only are of school age, who are over Jive and tinder twenty- one years of age. Kepoets. 209 " 8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the district, attended the district school some portion of the school year ; and "9. The number of children of school age, who, wkile residing in other districts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the school year." Trustees will, in stating t]ie " number of children of scliool age, who, while residing in the district, attended the district school," keep in view and make the distinction, in their report, between those who, while attending school, were residents of their district, and those who were not residents of it; and, in the ' ' schedule " at the close of their report, they will give the number, and the names of the parents or guardians, of those children onl^ who resided in the district on the 30th day of June, 1887. This information will be indispensable to* the school commissioner, for the purpose of apportioning to every district its just share of the public money. "10. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the district school some portion of the year." The number to be reported under this item, is the sum of the numbers reported under items " 8 " and "9." "11. The average daily attendance of children of school age, residing In the district while attending the school; and, "U. The averaue daily attendance of children, of school age, attending the school, but residirvg in other districts while so attending." The average daily attendance of children of school age residing in, the dis- trict while attending the school, and of the children of school age attending the school, but residing in other districts while so attending, must be given. Trustees must not include the attendance of any children whOe they were under five years of age, nor the attendance of any pupil after they became twenty-one years of age. In cases where there are children who have attended certain departments of the school not taught by duly licensed teachers, the attendance of such pupils should not be reported for the time during wliich they have attended such departments, unless they have at the same time attended some depart- ment of the school which was taught by a duly qualified and licensed teacher. The Rule for finding the average daily attendance, in each case, is simply this: 1. Add together atlihe days' attendance of all th,e children over five and under twenty-one years of age, who, while residing in the district, attended the district school, and divide the sum by the whole number of days on which the school was actually taught as stated in item "16." (Trustees will not include for ito pur- pose, in the whole number of days on which school was actually taught, any days, whe ther they be legal holidays or other days, on which the school did not hold its regular session ; since no attendance of pupils will be found on the registers for those days.) 2. Add together the days' attendance of all the non-resident pupils over Jive and under twenty-one yea/rs of age, who, while residing in other districts, attended the district school, and divide the sum by the number of days school was aetiuUly taught as stated in item " 16." When a fraction is contained in the average daily attendence, write it as a common and not a decimal fraction; thus 230 120-150ths, not 330.8. Do not re- duce the fraction to the lower terms. All children of over five and under twenty-one years of age, residing in the county in which the school-house stands, are to be reported, as regards their number and attendance, to the commissioner in whose commissioner district the school-house is situated. Whenever a school shall be closed during the whole time a teachers' insti- tute is in session in the county, in any school term, such school shall be al- lowed the same average pupil attendance during such time as was the average during that part of the term when the school was not thus closed." {Sec. 5, 27 210 Hepoets. title 11, General School Laws.) In this case .the amount of such allowance will be determined and the apportionment made by first dividing the aggregate attendance of the term by the number of days the school was actuaUy in ses- sion during that term; the average thus ascertained will be multiplied by the number of days the school was thus closed, and the product added to the aggregate daily attendance during the school year. This last sum divided by the number of days the school was actually in session during the school year, will give the average daily attendance, which will be the basis for the appor- tionment of that part of the public money for that school, which is distributed on average daily attendance. On the other hand, if the school is continued during the session of the in- stitute, the trustees act in direct violation of the statute, which commands that " all schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included within the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed during the time a teachers' institute shall be in session in the same county in which such schools are situated." The district thus offending " shall not be allowed any public money based upon average pupil attendance during the days the school was thus kept in session." In such case, the aggregate attendance at the schools during the days the institute was in session, is to be subtracted from the whole aggregate attendance of the year, and the remainder will be divided by the whole number of days the school Was actually kept in session duriug the year, to ascertain the average daily attendance, on which the apportionment of public money is based. In case the school is closed during some of the days, but not during all the days a teachers' institute is in session in the county, the daily attendance dur- ing the days the school is thus in session will be excluded from the dividend, and the divisor will be the number of days the school was actuaUy in session during the school year. And in this case, no average daily attendance will he allowed for those days the school was closed, for the reason that the statutory condition on which such allowance is authorized, namely, that the school shall be closed during the time (i. «., the whole time) a teachers' institute is in ses- sion in the county, was not performed. Note. — The foregoing in reference to the average attendance during the time a teachers' institute was held in the county, is taken from a circular issued by the Superintendent, October 20, 1885. By the amendment of 1887, providing for a different basis of apportionment of that part of the public money apportioned by commissioners, to take effect in 1889, the necessity for ascertaining the average attendance is done away with, so far as it is. wanted for the apportionment of the public moneys. The Superintendent will un- doubtedly continue to require trustees togive the average attendance in their reports as a matter of statistics. "13. The whole number of days' attendance at the district school of Ml the children of school age, reiiMng in the digtrict while attending the school." Trustees will be careful and include in item 13 the attendance of those- children OTily, who. while attending their school, redded in their district. This is, or will be, after the school year closing August 20, 1887, the most important item reported, as the public money is, under subdivisions 5 and 7, section 27, title 3 of the General School Law, as amended in 1887, apportioned by school commissioners to the districts in proportion to the aggregate num- ber of days of attendance of the pupils resident therein between the ages of five and twenty-one years. " 14. The whole number of days' attendance at the district school, of all the children of school age, remding m other districts while attending the school." It is very important to report correctly, under item 14, the attendance of those children only who, while attending school, resided in other school districts. Reports. 211 Trustees must not include under either item 13 or 14 the attendance of any children who were not of school age at the time of such attendance. In many- districts there will be pupils who became five or twenty-one years of age dur- ing the school year. In such cases trustees should include under these items the attendance of such pupils for that time only while they were over five and under twenty-one years of age. "15. The whole number of days' attendaoce of all the children of school age who attended the school." The number of days to be reported in item 15 will be found by adding together the two numbers reported in items 13 and 14. "16. The whole number of days on which school was actually taught during the school year; that Is, was open for the iusCructioii of pupils, a duly licensed teacher having been present each day." Include under this item all the days on which the district school was taught by a duly qualified teacher, whether they be ordinaiy week-days or holidays. "17. The number of holidays, during the terras of school, occurring on the regular school days, but during which the school was not taught." Holidays occurring in vacations, or on days on which the school would not be taught were they not holidays, are not to be included in this item. 'IS. The number of other week days, during the terms of school, on which school was not taught." Under this item trustees will report Saturdays and other week-days on which school was not taught, occurring during the terms of school, but not in vacations. Include also, those holidays occurring during the terms of school, which were not reported under item " 16" or " 17." Vacations a weelc or more, occurring during the terms of school, are not to be included in the time reported in item " 16," " 17" or " 18." The remaining items called for are easily given by the trustees, and need no explanation here to enable trustees to make their report. The importance of correct answers is urged upon the trustees. It is especially important that trustees report the actual number of volumes in the district library, and their estimated value. If the district has no library, write the word ' ' none " in the first blank space in item " 30. " In all cases they will state the value of the school-house site and of the school-house respectively, according to their best judgment. Do not fail to give the assessed valuation of all the property taxable in the district. Trustees are urged to give correctly every item called for in the blank for report. The questions on page 3 of the blank have been added mtiinly for the purpose of affording the school commissioner and the department additional information in regard to the affairs of the various districts. A full and correct report in regard to every item called for by the blank for the report must be insisted upon by the school commissioners and by the depai'tment, In filling the blank spaces at the close of the report, give the name of post- office, that the commissioner may know where to address the trustees, in case he shall desire so to do. All blanks, registers, and other documents for school districts are sent to the town clerk; and the trustees should call for them if not received in time. If they fail to receive them, simply because they have not called on the town clerk for the same, they will not therefore be relieved from any responsibility of having the register kept, and of properly making their annual report. It is quite important that the names of school district officers and their post- office address be known at the department, and by the school commissioners. 213 Repokts. tliat communications may be sent to any of tliem by mail. In view of this, tbe law now requires tbe district clerk to report to tbe town clerk, imme- diately after each, annual school meeting, the names and post-office address of the district officers. Trustees should see to it that the clerk of their district complies with the law in this respect. In making out the report, the trustees should, if po.ssible, meet together. As a precaution, it is earnestly urged that they complete their report and deposit it in the office of the town clerk before the annual meeting. In all cases the outgoing trustee should hand over to his successor in office circulars and all other documents and papers relating to the district. FOR JOINT DISTRICTS. In joint districts lying in one county, i. e., districts lying in two or more school commissioner districts but in the same county, the report must be made to the commissioner in whose commissioner district the school-house of the district is situated. Section 62 of title VII requires that in joint districts lying m two or more counties the "trustees shall make such an annual report for each part of it lying in a different county, and file each in the office of the clerk of the town in which the part of the district to which it especially relates lies." If a district does not lie wholly in one county, and the children to be re- ported do not all reside in the same county, trustees will make to the commis- sioner, in whose commissioner district the school-house stands, a full " financial " report, and also a full " statistical " report, except that it must be a report in regard to those children only who reside in his county, but they will include all these, even though some of them may reside in some other commissioner district of his county. They will make to each other commis- sioner in any county other than that in which the school-house stands, and in whose commissioner district any portion of their school district is situated, a report showing the length of time the school shall have been taught, by duly licensed teachers, during the said school year; the number of children of school age who reside in that part of their school district which lies in his commissioner district; the number of children of school age who, at any time during the year while residing in that part of their district, shall have attended their school; and also the number of children residing in other school districts lying in any town in his commissioner district, who shall have attended their school for any length of time during the year, being at that time of school age. They will also make out the average daily attendance, in each case, so that, in each report, it shall relate to those children only who are therein re- ported. It is believed that the proper course for the trustees to pursue in making their annual report to the commissioner will be shown by the following example, which is designed as a guide for trustees ot joint districts lying partly in two or more counties. Example. ' There is a certain school district. No. 7, lying partly in the town of Antwerp, in the second commissioner district of Jefferson county, partly in the town of Theresa, in the third commissioner district of Jefferson county, and also partly in the town of Rossie, in the first commissioner district of St. Lawrence county. We will suppose for our purpose, that the school-house stands in Rossie, and that the following statement shows the other facts as regards children and their residence and attendance, from which the trustees are to make their report. Suppose, also, that the form of the district and the relative position of the school-house and the town and county lines are correctly shown by the following Eepoets. DIAGRAM. 213 St. Lawrence County. First Commissioner District , School Commissioner. Town of ROSSIE. School □ House. JEFFERSON Third Commissioner District. , School Commissioner. Town of THERESA. COUNTY Second Commissioner District. , School Commissioner. Town of ANTWERP. In Rossie. The number of children of school age residing in said district No. 7 and In Rossie, June 30, 18 , was ... 18 The number of children of school age, who, while residing ia the district, attended said school during the year, was 13 They attended said school in the aggregate 1,850 days. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other districts In Hossle, attended said school during the year, was 6 They attended said school in the aggregate 725 c In Antwerp. The number of children of school age, residing In said district and In Ant- werp, June 80, 18 , was 15 The number of children of school age, who while residing In the district, attended said school during the year, was 10 They attended said school in the aggregate 1,325 days. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other districts in Antwerp, attended said school during the year, was 3 They attended said school In the aggregate 375days. In Theresa. The number of children, of school age, residing in said district and in Theresa, June 30, IS , was 12 214 Eepoets. The number of children, of school age, who, while residing in the district, attended said school during the year, was , „.„ . ^ They attended said school in the aggregate . . . . I,8o0 days. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other school districts in Theresa, attended said school during the year, was 4 They attended said school in the aggregate .. .••••■.• S.Sdays. The whole number of days on which school was actually taught dunng the school year, that is, was open for the instruction of pupils, a duly licensed teacher having been present each day (as given in item 17), was 150 Now, how shall the trustees make their annual report, as regards the num- her of children and their attendance ? They would report to the commissioner of the first commissioner district of St. Lawrence county, as follows: "8. The number of children, of school age, who, while residing in the dis- trict, attended the district school some portion of the school year, was. 13 "9. The number of children, of school age. ■who,whiU reading in other dis- tricts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the school year, was • v*j'"j"V' ^■" ^ "10. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the dis- trict school some portion of the year, was (13 and 6 are) ... 19 "H. The average daily attendance of children, of school age, residing in the district while attending the school, was (1850-150 or 12 50-150 is; 13 50-150 "12. The average daily attendance of children of school age, attending the school, but residing in other districts, while so attending, was (735-150 or 412.3-150 is) . ■ ^■•, , ,; 4125-1)0 "13. The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school, of all the children of school age residing in that part of the district lying in the town of Kossie l,850days And in the "schedule " at the close of the report, they would specify and report only the eighteen children residing in school district No. 7 and in the town of Rossie, June 30, 18 . ' They would report to the commissioner of the second commissioner district of Jefferson county, as follows: "8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the dis- trict, attended the district school some portion of the school year, was. 10 "9. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in other dis- tricts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the school year, was 3 "10- The whole number of children of school age, who attended the dis- trict school some portion of the year, was (10 and 3 are) 13 "11. The average daily attendance of children of school age, residing in the district while attending the school , was (1225-150 or 8 25-150 is) 8 85-150 "12. The average daily attendance of children of school age. attending the school, but residing in other districts while so attending, was (375-150 or 2 75-150is).. 275-150 ' '13. The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school of all the ciiildren of school age residing in that part of the district lying in the town of Antwerp I,225day3. In the " schedule " at the close of their report, they would specify and report only the fifteen children residing in district No. 7 and in the town of Antwerp, June 30, 18 . They would report to the commissioner of the third commissioner district of Jefferson county, as follows: "8. The number of children of school age, who, while residing in the dis- trict, attended the district school some portion of the school year, was. 9 "9. The number of children, of school age, who, while residing in other districts, attended the district school in this district some portion of the school year, was 4 "W. The whole number of children, of school age, who attended the dis- trict school some portion of the school year, was (9 and 4 are) 13 **11. The average daily attendance of children, of school age, residing in the district while attending the school, was (1250-150 or 8 5()-150 is) . . . 8 50-150 "12. The average daily attendance of children of school age, attending the school, hut residing in other districts while so attending, was (575-150 or 3125-150is) 3135-150 ' ' 13. The whole number of days of attendance, at the district school, of all the children of school age residing la that part of the district lying in the town of Theresa l,250days. Eepoets. 215 In the "schedule" at the close of their report, they would specify and report only the twelve children residing in district No. 7 and in the town of Theresa. These three reports would he on separate papers, and would be filed with the res'^ective town clerks. TRUSTEES' REPORT TO THE DISTRICT MEETING. Title VII. § 55. The trustees shall, once in each year, render to the dis- trict, at its annual district meeting, a just, full and true account in writing, under their hands, of all moneys received by them respect- ively for the use of the district, and of the manner in which the same shall have been expended, and sliowing to which of them an unexpended balance, or any part thereof, is chargeable ; and of all drafts or orders made by them upon the supervisor, collector, or other custodian of moneys of the district ; and a full statement of all suits and proceedings brought by or against them, and of every special matter touching the condition of the district. If the trustees keep a book as directed by section 53 of this title, and pre- serve and file all vouchers, the presentation of their account will be ^n easy matter. It would be well for the meeting to select some man in whom they have confidence to examine the account of the trustees and report to the in- habitants the result of his investigation. The account must be in writing and filed with the clerk of the district. It will be well for the clerk to copy the same in full in his book of records with the minutes of the annual meeting. The account should be given to the meet- ing before the other business is transacted as the action of the meeting may in several respects depend largely upon the condition of the affairs of the dis- trict as contained in the report. PENALTIES. § 57. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to render such account shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. Every trustee who shall neglect or refuse to pay over any balance so found in his hands, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars. Tliese penalties are for the benefit of the schools of the district, and shall be sued for by the super- visor of the town in which the school-house or school-house longest owned or held by the district is. § 58. By a willful neglect or refusal to render such account, a trustee also forfeits any unexpired term of his office, and becomes liable to the trustees for any district moneys in his hands. 216 Reports. COLLECTOR'S REPOET. Title YII. § 88. * * "■ * nnd he shall report in writing at the annual meeting, all his collections and disbursements, and shall pa^- over to his successor in office, when he has duly qualified and given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the district. If the collector refuses to make this report he is guilty of a misdemeanor under section 117 of the Penal Code. (See Fines and Penalties.) CROSS REFERENCES. Title III, § 7. The supervisor cannot apportion any public money to a district unless the report has been made according to law. {See State School Moneys.) Title III, § 17. Supervisors are required to report to Superintendent con- cerning trust funds. {See I'rusts.) Title III, § 19. Supervisors are required to report concerning gospel and school lots. (See Trusts.) Title III, § 39. The school commissioner cannot apportion public money to a district that has not made the report required by law. (See State School Moneys.) Title IV, § 4. Supervisors are required to make a report to the county treas- urers on the first Tuesday of March, concerning the public moneys in their hands. (See State School Moneys.) Title VIII, § 13. Trustees must report the condition of the district library when required by the Superintendent. (See lAbraries.) Title IX, § 15. The board of education of a union free school district is required to report to annual meeting an estimate of expenses for the coming year. {See Union Free ScJiools.) Title IX, § 35. The board of education of a union free school district must 'report same as trustees of common school districts to school commissioners. (See Union Free Schools), chapter 319. Laws of 1877, sections 3 and 3. Boards of education of any city or village of six thousand inhabitants are to report the children of school age residing in an adjoining district, the trustees of which district had entered into a contract with said city or village whereby the children of the school district may be entitled to be taught in the public schools of such city or village, for a period of not less than twenty-eight weeks in any school year. The Superintendent can also give to commissioners directions concerning such reports. Title XI. Trustees are required to make report to school commissioner whether or not the school was closed during a teachers' institute and whether or not the wages of teachers were paid for such time. (See Teachers' Institutes.) SCHOOLS. Title VII. § 39. Common schools in the several school districts of this state shall be free to all persons over five and under twentj^-one years of age residing in the district as liereinafter provided ; but non-residents of a district, if otherwise competent, may be admit- ted into the school of a district, veith the written consent of the trustees, or of a majority of them, upon such terms as the trustees shall prescribe ; provided that if such non-resident pupils, their parents and guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the support of said schools in the district, on account of owning property therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guardian, during the current school year, shall be deducted from the charge for tuition. {As amended by sec. 3, chap. 528, Laws of 18S1.) The language of the first part of this section is substantially that of the free school law of 1849, with the exception of the words " as hereinafter provided," which qualifying phrase was inserted in section 1, chapter 151, Laws of 1851, and it was thereinafter provided that the schools should not be more free than they had been prior to 1849. Chapter 406, Laws op 1867. § 26. Hereafter all moneys now authorized by any special acts to be collected by rate bill for the payment of teachers' wages, shall be collected by tax and not by rate bill. The schools of each district are directly under the management of the trus- tees. The State and district provide the means, but the trustees must take charge of the details of the school organization and government. Their con- trol in this respect is so great that the character of the school will depend upon the trustees who have charge of it. 28 218 Schools. Time of School. — Every school district must maintain a school for at least twenty-eight weeks in each year. Beyond this the trustees have control of the time the school shall be taught. They will always consider the educational, needs of the children of the district and be guided thereby rather than by the matter of expense. They can divide the year into terms, and even the hours of school are not fixed by law and cannot be regulated by a district meeting. For many years six hours each day is the time universally adopted as the hours of school. Instruction. — The method of imparting instruction belongs exclusively to the teacher. The training and experience of the teacher, certified to by a duly constituted authority, raises the presumption that he is better qualified to judge as to the proper studies for pupils to pursue and the methods of instruction to be employed. Discipline. — The rules for the government and discipline of the school are made by the trustees, although the teacher may be charged with their execu- tion. Upon these subjects the trustees must use a reasonable discretion or their actions will be set aside by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is a subject which is not regulated by statute, but the law upon the different branches thereof is found in a long line of decisions by the dif- ferent Superintendents. The right to enjoy the benefit of common schools, established for all the inhabitants is, as is well put in 8 Gush. {Mass. E.), 164, "a common, not an exclusive personal right; then, like other common rights, that of way. for instance, it must be exercised under such limitations and restrictions that shall not interfere with the equal and co-extensive rights of others. Take the case of contagious disease: Can it be doubted that the presence of a pupil infected could be lawfully prohibited, not for any fault or crime or wrong conuuct, but simply because his attempt to insist on his right to attend, under such circumstances, would be dangerous and noxious, and so an interruption of the equal and common right ? " In that case, the court held that the trus- tees have the right to exclude a child for open, gross immorality, manifested by licentious propensities, language, manners and habits, though not mani- fested by acts of licentiousness or immorality within the school, deeming it " as necessary, in the unreserved intercourse of pupils of the same school, as well without as within its precincts, to preserve the pure minded, ingenuous and unBtispecting children of both sexes from the contanainating influence of those of depraved sentiments and vicious propensities and habits, as from those infected with contagious diseases." The analogy suggests the rule. Children may be excluded, not for punish- ment merely, but for the protection of others from such injurious example and influence as would entirely defeat the purposes for which schools are instituted. It is to be remembered that among the objects of instruction ia not only to deter from vice, but to reclaim those who are capable of reforma- tion, and to correct bad habits which may result from parental neglect, or, what is more deplorable, from parental example. To deal gently with the erring, and especially with erring children, is the dictate of humanity, policy and duty. To abandon them to their evil courses is a step involving the most serious responsibility, never to be taken until remonstrance and persuasion have been exhausted. Such violent insubordination against reasonable and proper regulations of the school as to render it impossible to maintain necessary discipline and order will justify the trustees in the expulsion of a pupil; but it is their duty to see, before resorting to the final extremity, whether there may not be fault on the side of the teacher as well as the pupil, and to endeavor, in such case, to reconcile the difference, without impairing the self-respect of either party. Children have rights as well as their elders; they are as keenly sensible of oppression, and naturally revolt against power, wantonly exercised for the sake of exhibiting itself. Being the weaker party, they suffer in their school days a great deal of injustice and often of outrage. The best of teachers have human infirmities, and their trying calling tends to aggravate them. It Schools. 219 is for the trustees to temper power witli benignity, and administer justice in the spirit of tolerance and mercy. Non-reddents. — The absolute right to attend the district schools is given only to resident children. Non-resident children may be admitted to the schools of a district upon the written consent of the trustees, and upon such terms as they shall prescribe. This power to admit non-residents is vested excl usively with the trustees. ' ' Upon such terms as the trustees shall pre- scribe " has reference principally to a charge for tuition. It does not follow that a tuition fee must' be charged. The trustees can admit them free, or can charge such amount for tuition as they may deem reasonable. A refusal to admit upon any terms can be made. Pupils are not to be encouraged to with- draw from the school of their own district. By doing so, they enfeeble its organization, and diminish the inducements of their parents and friends to exert their influence to maintain a good school in their own district. Chapter 413, Laws of 1884. Section 1. Pupils attending any free school, whetiier the same bo organized under chapter five hundred and fifty-live of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to re- vise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- tion," or under any special act applying to a village or city, if residing out of the districts wliere said schools are kept, shall be subject to the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper authorities; provided that if such non-resident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the snpport of said schools in the said districts, on account of owning prop- erty therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guardian, during the same school year in which the charge for tuition was incurred, shall be deducted from such charge for tuition. {As amended by sec. 11, chap. 340, Lawsofim?>.) The law of 1884 is broader in its application than the amendment of 1881 to section 39, and was enacted so as to apply to all free schools and to more defi- nitely fix the tax which should offset the charge for tuition. If a non-resident pupil attends the public school in a district, and such pupil, his parent or guardian, owns property and pays taxes upon it in such district, the amount of such tax must be deducted from the charge for tuition of the pupil. It /must be a tax levied during the same school year in which the charge for tuition occurred. TiTLK yii. § 40. If a school district include a portion of an Indian reser- vation, whereon a school for Indian children has been established by the superintendent of public instruction, and is taught, the school of the district is not free to Indian children resident in 230 Schools. the district or on the reservati. >ii, nor shall they be admitted to such school except by the permission of the superintendent. Tte Indian race lias never been recognized by law as entitled to the riglits and privileges of citizenship. They have asserted their nationality, and the State and United States have treated with them as with independent tribes or nations. They are aliens on their native soil. They are permitted to reside on what are called reservations of land which have been sold, subject to their occupancy, to purchasers who are tempted to use various arts to turn their right of reversion into possession. They are the wards of the State, which has made ample provision for their education. Evening schools. — The common school districts in the State have little if any demand for evening schools. But in the larger towns and cities, particularly in manufacturing places, the evening school is becoming more popular every year. Unless such schools are established under special acts, the law applies to them the same whether in the country or town. The districts have the right to maintain evening schools and the inhabitants may vote taxes to defray the expenses thereof where the schools are conducted under the supervision of the trustees. They are to be considered as a continuation of the day schools and a report must be made for them accordingly. A pupil attending both the day and evening school can be enumerated but once for that day; those attend- ing the evening and not the day school may be included in the trustees' report of aggregate and average attendance. STUDIES. Chaptbb 30, Laws of 1884. Section 1. Provision shall be made by the proper local school authorities for instructing all pupils in all schools supported by public money, or under state control, in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. Tlie language of this act is very broad, and its provisions apply to all dis- trict schools, union free schools, public schools organized under special statutes in cities and villages. Normal schools, Indian reservation schools, and separate neighborhood schools. It applies to all pupils in the above-named schools, to State pupils in all institutions for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, and blind, and to pupils in such asylum schools ars share -in the apportionment of the public school money. The common English branches have always been the studies prescribed by trustees, and recognized by all other school officers higher in authority, until it has in reality become the unwritten law of the State that they shall not only be taught but shall take precedence of all other branches in the common schools. The Department has frequently been called upon to instruct trustees not to allow the teaching of some academic study to the exclusion or detri- ment of the common English branches, but ruling that trustees have the authority to permit the teaching of some of the higher branches, when it can be done without interfering with the instruction which should be given in spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, arithmetic and geography. In the act commonly known as the compulsory education act passed in 1874, these are the studies that all parents and those who have the care of children are required to instruct or cause them to be instructed in. Schools. 221 schools for colored children. TlTLTS X. Section 1. The school authorities of any city or incoi"porated village, the schools of which are or shall be organized under title nine of this act or under special acts, may, when they shall deem it expedient, establish a separate school or separate schools for the instruction of children and youth of African descent, resi- dent therein, and over live and under twenty-one years of age ; and such school or schools shall be supported in the same manner and to the same extent as the school or schools supported therein for white children, and they shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, and be furnished witli facilities for instruc- tion equal to those furnished to the white schools therein. § 2. The trustees of any union school district, or of any school district organized under a special act, may, when the inhabitants of any such district shall so determine, by resolution at any annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, establish a separate school or separate schools for the instruction of such colored children resident therein, and such schools shall be supported in the same manner, and receive the same care, and be furnished with the same facilities for instruction as the white schools therein. § 3. No person shall be employed to teach any of such schools who shall not, at the time of such employment, be legally qualified. § 4. Section one hundred and forty-seven of chapter four hun- dred and eighty^ laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, is hereby repealed. The common schools of all the districts not mentioned in this title are as free to children and youth of African descent, as to those of any other race. HISTORICAL. Schools were maintained from the early periods of our colonial history down to a time within the present century by religious and charitable societies, the liberality of communities and private enterprise. The tend ency, however, was toward the higher or academic education of the chil- 222 Schools. dren of opulent parents and not for a general education of the masses. To Gov. Geoi-ge Clinton is due the credit of first successfully calling public attention to the necessity of the establishment of common schools through- out the State, in his annual message to the legislature of 1795. The sug- gestion met with an immediate response in the passage of a law, entitled ' ' An act for the encouragement of schools. " This act, crude and inadequate for any extended or general system as it must necessarily seem viewed through, the light of subsequent years, was the foundation of our present common school system. By it the first State aid was given toward the maintenance of common schools; $50,000 was appropriated annually for five years, " for the purpose of encouraging and maintaining schools in the several cities and towns in this State, in which the children of the inhabitants residing in the State shall be instructed in the English language, or be taught English Grammar, Arithmetic, Mathematics and such other branches of knowledge as are most useful and nec- essary to complete a good English education. "' In addition to the State money, the act required the supervisors of each county to raise by tax on each town a sum equal to oue-hal f of that apportioned to it by the State to be applied in the same manner. Commissioners were to be chosen by the towns, and trustees by the school districts, and annual reports were required and provided for. Under this primitive system reports were first received in 1798 which show that in sixteen out of twenty-three counties there were 1,353 schools in opera- tion and 59,660 children in attendance at some time during the year. In 1800 the appropriation expired, and though repeated attempts were made to renew it, they all failed and the system was practically abandoned. The efforts for the next few years seem to have been directed entirely toward raising moneys with which to aid the schools. In 1801 lotteries, known as " Literature Lotteries" were established and operated until 1821 when all lotteries were prohibited by the Constitution. A part of the revenue from these lotteries was invested and ultimately became a part of the common school fund. By chapter 66, Laws of 1805, 500,000 acres of vacant and un- appropriated lands of the State were directed to be sold and the proceeds to form a fund which should be invested and remain so until the income therefrom amounted to $50,000. June 19, 1813, an act was passed entitled "An act for the establishment of common schools," which was revised and amended by an act passed April 15, 1814, entitled ' An act for the better establishment of common schools. This act provided a system which was sub.stantially retained until 1840. The principal features of which were the establishment of the ofllce of State Superintendent of Common Schools — town and district officers — defining the duties of school officers — providing for the apportionment and distribution of the income of the common school fund, which had amounted to the required fifty thousand dollars, and directing that it should be used for teachers' wages only, the balance necessary for this purpose to be raised by rate-bill — requir- ing the towns to raise by tax for school purposes a sum equal to that received from the State — and directing reports to be made annually to the State Super- intendent. This system was constantly being amended and improved, especially under the supervision of Gideon Hawley, the first Superintendent of Common Schools. Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining reports. In 1821 the last report by the Superintendent before that office was abolished showed in 545 towns, 6,323 districts, from 5,489 of which returns had been received, and that of 317,633 children between the ages of 5 and 15, 304,549 had been taught during the year. The amount of public money had also increased so that the districts received during 1830 in all $306,348, of which $59,930 were contributed from the State treasury — an equal amount raised by tax upon the several towns, by the boards of supervisors; and the residue received from the avails of local funds, especially appropriated to common schools. The next permanent fund was created by an act of Congress, June 23, 1836. The surplus revenues of the United States were distributed' amoung the differ- Schools. 323 ent States, New York receiving about $4,000,000. From the income of this fund the legislature annually appropriates a sum for the benefit of common schools. The advancement of the common school system was gradual through a long- term of years. Some of the best efforts of the brightest intellects in the State's history were directed toward its improvement. While no entire change was made, amendment followed amendment, schools multiplied, and appropriations increased. In 184.5, at a meeting of the State Convention of County Superintendents, the first public advocacy from high official quarters was made (for free schools. There had been an increasing disapproval of the rate-bill system for several '' years, and many acts had been passed by the legislature granting to societies and communities the privilege to maintain free schools. Wherever this ex- periment was tried, it met with a success which became contagious until through- out the whole State for a period of over twenty years, the subject was not only earnestly discussed, but became one of heated and bitter controversy. . An attempt was made by the advocate of free schools to embody into the Constitution of 1846 a section that " The legislature shall provide for the free education and instruction of every child of the State in the common schools now established, or which shall hereafter be established therein," but met with failure. On the 26th of March 1849, the "Act establishing free schools throughout the State," was passed. The rate-bill was not abolished and the only light in which the schools could be considered free was that an additional amount for their support was required to be raised by town taxation, on the supposition that in this way they could be maintained without raising much if any balance by rate-bill. Before this act went into operation it was submitted to a vote of the people at the annual election of that year and received in its favor a majority of 157,921. From the very beginning it met with the bitterest opposition. At the next session of the legislature the opposition to this law had become so general and intense that the question of its repeal was submitted to the voters of the State in the annual election of 1850. Notwithstanding the strong opposition, there was a majority of twenty-five thousand in favor of the free school system. The free school advocates had in the campaign made pledges to secure amendments and modifications to the law which would remove its niost obnoxious features without sacrificing the cardinal principle of free schools. April 13, 1851s an " Act to establish free schools throughout the State," was passed. This provided for the raising of an annual State tax of |800,000, to be distributed among the school districts in addition to the Incomes of the permanent funds. The prevailing idea seemed to be that by increasing the State aid the schools would be free. The eiiort was directed toward releasing towns from a local tax and receiving in lieu thereof aid from the State treasury. While the increase of public moneys did lessen the local burden, the schools were not made literally free, as the rate- bill was retained, and deficiencies levied upon the parents of all children attending the schools. The schools were not free but the slow march toward the end was steadily moving on. Other important changes in the school laws now followed. In 1853 the union free school act was passed, which gave to districts the power to change their organization, or to several districts to unite, and maintain free schools. In 1854 the oflBce of State Superintendent of Public Instruction was created and the duties theretofore performed by the Secretary of State as ex officio Superintendent of Common Schools since 1821, then devolved upon that oflScer. In 1856 the oflSce of school commissioner was created and his powers and duties defined. In 1864 a general revision of the School Laws wa,s made and the act known as the "Consolidated School Act" passed. This with the amendments to it, and some separate acts, constitutes the general school law of to-day. The sec- 234 Schools. tion of the law of 1849 declaring the common schools free to all children between the ages of 5 and 21 was ingrafted into the consolidated act. Still the rate- bill was retained and the schools were only free in name. While the law required trustees to exempt indigent parents from the payment of tuition fees upon the rate-bill, and to collect the same from the taxable inhabitants of the district, the official returns made to the Department showed that in a large majority of the 11,000 districts no such exemptions were made, and that between 40,000 and 50,000, children were kept out of the schools on account of the inability of their parents to pay their portion of the rate-bills. Finally in 1867, after years of struggling to eliminate this most obnoxious feature of our school system, the rate-bill was abolished. No feature of the system had been so prolific of disputes and controversies, none imposed more perplexing duties upon trustees, or more odious burdens upon the poor. By this most important act since 1814, the schools were made free in fact as well as name. The State tax was increased to one and one-fourth mills, and a dis- trict tax provided for in cases where the public money was not sufficient to support the schools. It required long years to educate the public mind up to this point, but now that the system has been adopted and fully tested, no power will ever be great enough in the State to overthrow it, and our free common school system stands to-day the pride of the State and the admiration of the world . DECISIONS OP THE COURTS. The Board of Education of the city of Brooklyn possesses full legislative authority, in the exercise of its discretionary powers, to maintain separate schools for the education of white and colored children in that city, and hence, the power to exclude one class from the schools designed for the other, and the laws permitting such regulations, are not in violation of the Federal or State Constitution. So held on motion for ma?idamus to compel the principal of a public school exclusively for white children, to admit the relator, a col- ored girl, to its school. (93 If. Y. 438.) SCHOOL COMISSIONER AND COM- MISSIONER DISTRICTS Title II. Section 1. The office of school commissioner is continued, and the present incumbents shall continue in office in their respective districts, for the residue of the terms for which they vere elected or appointed. The office of school commissioner was created by chapter 179, Laws of 1856. This chapter provided for the appointment of the first incumbents of the office by the boards of supervisors, and abolished the oflice of town super intendent of common schools for the several towns in such commissioner's district as soon as the commissioner was appointed and qualified. ELIGIBILITY. A school commissioner cannot hold any other school oflSce. To be legally qualified for the office of commissioner, a person must be a citizen of the United States, 21 years of age, and a resident of the county in which the school commissioner district is situated. It is not necessary that he be a resident of the commissioner district; a residence in the county is sufficient. Women eligible. — Chapter 9, Laws of 1880, provides that "no person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer * * * by reason of sex." A school commissioner is a school officer, because his election and official functions are provided for by the General School Laws, as a part of the statutory machinery for the maintenance of the public school system of the State. The fact that a woman cannot vote for school commissioner is not a legal objection to her right to hold the office. The statute declares that she can hold the office, and tlSs is a matter within the constitutional powers of the legislature. She cannot vote for school commissioner because that officer is elected at a general election, and the State Constitution expressly limits the right of suffrage at such elections to male citizens. COMMISSIONER DISTRICTS. § 2. The districts as organized under existing laws, and as rec- ognized in the election of school commissionei-s at the annual election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall continue to be held and regarded as the school commissioner districts in this 29 226 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. State, except as the same shall be altered or modified by the legislature. Scliool commissioner districts were first establislied by chapter 179, Laws of 1856. The act created such districts, generally corresponding with assem- bly districts, and conferred upon boards of supervisors the power to make a division of their counties in certain cases into such districts. Tliis section (3) provided that the districts as they existed at the annual election of 1863, should continue to be the school commissioner districts of the State, except as they might be changed by the legislature. The last clause of this section toolt from boards of supervisors the power they had before pos- sessed, to create or alter such districts. After the passage of the Consolida- ted School Act in 1864, the power to create or alter school commissioner districts rested exclusively with the legislature until 1881, when chapter 543 of that year restored to the boards of supervisors the power to divide a dis- trict under certain circumstances. Chapter 483, Laws of 1875. Section 1 . Further powers of local legislation and administra- tion are hereby conferred on the boards of supervisors in the several counties of this State, except in cities whose boundaries are the same as those of the county, to make and administer, within their respective counties, laws and regulations as follows : **«** * ** 36. To divide any school commissioner district which contains more than two hundred school districts and to erect therefrom an additional school commissioner district, and when such district shall have been formed, a school commissioner for said district shall be elected in the way and manner now provided by law for the election of school commissioner. {Added by Oha/p. 543, Lams of 1881.) Chapter 414, Laws op 1888. Section 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and seventy- nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows : § 16. The several cities which already or which shall hereafter, under special acts, elect superintendents of common schools, or whose board of education choose clerks doing the duty of super- vision under direction of the board of education, shall not be included in any commissioner's district created by this act or authorized to be formed by the board of snpervisors ; and the several boards of supervisors in counties in which such cities are joined to towns in the formation of an assembly district may School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 227 divide the conntj, exclusive of such cities, into school commis- sioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but no town shall be divided in forming such districts. It was probably not noticed by tbe person who framed this act or by the legislature that section 16, chapter 179, Laws of 1856, had been repealed or this chapter would not have been enacted in this form. That is immaterial, how- ever, as it is a law complete in itself. It provides two things: 1. Cities that elect superintendents of common schools under special acts, or whose boards of education employ clerks doing the duty of supervision, shall not be included in any school commissioner district. 3. The boards of supervisors of counties containing such cities joined to towns in the formation of an assembly district, may divide the county exclu- sive of such cities into school commissioner districts. The districts as organized in the different counties on the first day of Janu- ary, 1888, are as follows: ALBANY COUNTY. First District. Towns of Bethlehem, Coeymans, New Scotland. Second District. Towns of Berne, Rensselaerville, Westerlo. Third District. Towns of Knox, Guilderland, Watervliet. The city of Albany is organized under a special school act. The city of Cohoes is organized under a special school act. ALLEGANY COUNTY. First District. Towns of Allen, Almond, Angelica, Belfast, Birdsall, Burns, Caneadea, Clenterville, Granger, Grove, Hume, New Hudson, Eushford, West Almond. Second District. Towns of Alfred, Alma, Amity, Andover, Bolivar, Clarksville, Cuba, Friendship, Genesee, Independence, Scio, Ward, Wellsville, Willing, Wirt. BROOME COUNTY. First District. Towns of Chenango, Colesville, Conkliu, Kirkwood, Fenton, Sanford, Windsor. Second District. Towns of Barker, Binghamton, Lisle, Maine, Nanti- coke. Triangle, Union, Vestal. The city of Binghamton is organized under a special school act. CATTARAUGUS COUNTY. First District. Towns of Allegany, Ashford, Ellicottville, Farmersvllle, Franklinville, Freedom, Hinsdale, Humphrey, Ischua, Lyndon, Machias, Olean, Portville, Yorkshire. Second District. Towns of Carrolton, Coldspring, Conewango, Dayton, East Otto, Great Valley, Leon, Little Valley, Mansfield, Napoli, New Albion, Otto, Perrysburgh, Persia, Randolph, Red House, Salamanca, South Valley, CAYUGA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Brutus, Cato, Conquest, Ira, Mentz, Monte- zuma, Sennett, Sterling, Throop, Victory. Second District. Towns of Aurelius, Fleming, Genoa, Ledyard, Locke, Moravia, Niles, Owasco, Scipio, Sempronius, Summer Hill, Spring- port, Venice. The city of Auburn is organized under a special school act. 238 School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. PiBST District. Towns of Busti, Chautauqua, Clymer, Frencli Creek, Harmony, Mina, Sherman. Second District. Towns of Arkwright, Hanover, Pomfret, Portland, Kipley, Sheridan, Villenova, Westfield. Third District. Towns of Carroll, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Ellery, EUi- cott, Ellington, Oerry, Kiantone, Poland, Stockton. The city of Dunkirk is organized under a special school act. The city of Jamestown is organized under a special school act. CHEMUNG COUNTY. Comprises a single district. The city of Elmira is organized under a .special school act. CHENANGO COUNTY. First District. Towns of Columbus, Lincklaen, New Berlin, North Nor- wich, Norwich, Otselic, Pharsalia, Pitcher, Plymouth, Sherburne, Smyrna. Second District. Towns of Afton, Bainbridge, Coventry, Greene, Ger- man, Guilford, McDonough, Oxford, Preston, Smithville. CLINTON COUNTY. First District. Towns of Ausable, Black Brook, Daunemora, Peru, Plattsburgh, Saranac, Schuyler Falls. Second District. Towns of Altona, Beekmantown, Champlain, Chazy, Clinton, Ellenburgh, Mooers. COLUMBIA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Ancram, Claverack, Clermont, Copake, Galla- tin, Germantown, Greenport, Livingston, Taghkanick. Second District. Towns of Austerlitz, Canaan, Chatham, Ghent, Hills- dale, Kinderhook, New Lebanon, Stockport, Stuyvesant. The city of Hudson is organized under a special school act. CORTLAND COUNTY. First District. Towns of Cincinnatus, Cortland ville, Freetown, Harford, Lapeer, Marathon, Virgil, Willett. Second District. Towns of Cuyler, Homer, Preble, Scott, Solon, Taylor, Truxton. DELAWARE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Colchester, Deposit, Franklin, Hamden, Han- cock. Mason ville, Sidney, Tompkins, Walton. Second District. Towns of Andes, Boviua, Davenport, Delhi, Harpers- field, Kortright, Meredith, Middletown, Roxbury, Stamford. DUTCHESS COUNTY. First District. Towns of Amenia, Beekman, Dover, East Fishkill, Fish- kill, LaGrange, Northeast, Pawling, Pine Plains, Stanford, Union Vale, Wappinger, Washington. Second District. Towns of Clinton, Hyde Park, Milan, Pleasant Valley, Poughkeepsie, Redhook, Rhinebeck. The city of Poughkeepsie is organized under a special school act. ERIE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Alden, Amherst, Cheektowaga, Clarence, Grand Island, Lancaster, Newstead, Tonawanda. School Commissioneh and Commissioner Districts. 229 ERIE COV'NTY — Uoniinued. Second District. Towns of Aurora, East Hamburg, Eden, Elma, Evans, Hamburg, Marilla, Wales, West Seneca. Third District. Towns of Boston, Brant, Golden, Concord, Collins, Hol- land, Nortb Collins, Sardinia. The city of Buffalo is organized under a special. school act. ESSEX COUNTY. First District. Towns of Chesterfield, Elizabethtown, Essei, Jay.Keene, Lewis, North Elba, St. Armand, Willsborough, Wilmington. Second District. Towns of Crown Point, Minerva, Moriah, Newcomb, North Hudson, Schroon, Ticonderoga, Westport. FKANKLIN COUNTY. First District. Towns of Bellmont, Brighton, Burke, Chateaugay, Duane, Franklin, Harrietstown, Malone. Second District. Towns of Bangor, Bombay, Brandon, Constable, Dick- inson, Fort Covington, Moira, Waverly, Westville. FULTON COUNTY — Comprises a single district. GENESEE COUNTY — Comprises a single district. OKEENE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Athens, Cairo, Catskill, Halcott, Hanter, Jewett, Lexington. Second District. Towns of Ashland, Coxsackie, Durham, Greenville, New Baltimore, Prattsville, Windham. HAMILTON COUNTY — Comprises a single district. HERKIMER COUNTY. First District. Towns of Fairfield, Herkimer, Little Falls, Manheim, Newport, Norway, Ohio, Russia, Salisbury, Wilmurt. Second District. Towns of Columbia, Danube, Frankfort, German Flats, Litchfield, Schuyler, Stark, Warren, Winfield. JEFFERSON COUNTY. First District. Towns of Adams, Brownville, Ellisburgh, Henderson, Hounsfield, Lorraine, Rodman, Worth. Second District. Towns of Antwerp, Champion, Le Ray, Philadelphia, Rutland, Watertown, Wilna. Third District. Towns of Alexandria, Cape Vincent, Clayton, Lyme, Orleans, Pamelia, Theresa. The city of Watertown is organized under a special school act. KINGS COUNTY. Comprises a single district, excluding Brooklyn. The city of Brooklyn is organized under a special school act. LEWIS COUNTY. First District. Towns of Greig, High Market, Lewis, Leyden, Lyons- dale, Martinsburgh, Osceola, Turin, West Turin. Second District. Towns of Croghan, Denmark, Diana, Harrisbugh, Low- ville, Montague, New Bremen, Pinckney, Watson. 230 School Commissioner and Commissioner Disxeicts. LIVINGSTON COUNTY. FiKST District. Towns of Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Grove- land, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, York. Second District. Towns of Mount Morris, North Dausville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta. MADISON COUNTY. First District. Towns of Brookfield, De Ruyter, Baton, Georgetown, Hamilton, Lebanon, Madison, Nelson. Second District. Towns of Cazenovia, Fenner, Lenox, Smithfield, Stock- bridge, Sullivan. MONROE COUNTt First District. Towns of Brighton, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Mendon, Pen- ' field, Perrinton, Pittsford, Rush, Webster. Second District. Towns of Clarkson, Chili, Gates, Greece, Hamlin, Ogden, Parma, Riga, Sweden, Wheatland. The city of Rochester is organized under a special school act. MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Comprises a single district. NEW YORK city is organized under a special school act. NIAGARA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Cambria, Lockport, Pendleton, Royalton,. Wheatfield. Second District. Towns of Hartland, Lewiston, Newfaue, Niagara, Por- ter, Somerset, Wilson. The city of Lockport is organized under a special school act. ONEIDA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Deerfield, Floyd, Marcy, New Hartford, Whitestown. Second District. Towns of Augusta, Bridgewater, Kirkland, Marshall,. Paris, Sangerfield, Vernon, Westmoreland. Third District. Towns of Camden, Florence, Verona, Vienna. Fourth District. Towns of Annsville, Ava, Booneville, Forestport, Lee, Remsen, Steuben, Trenton, Western. The city of Utica is organized under a special school act. The city of Rome is organized under a special school act. ONONDAGA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Camillus, Clay, Elbridge, Lysander, Salina, Van Buren. Second District. Towns of Geddes, Marcellus, Onondaga, Otisco, Skan- eateles, Spafford, TuUy. Third District. Towns of Cicero, De Witt, Fabius, Lafayette, Manlius, Pompey. The city of Syracuse is organized under a special school act. ONTARIO COUNTY. First District. Towns of Farmington, Geneva, Gorham, Hopewell, Man- chester, Phelps, Seneca. Second District. Towns of Bristol, Canadice, Canandaigua, East Bloom- field, Naples, Richmond, South Bristol, Victor, West Bloomfield, School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 231 ORANGE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Blooming Grove, Cornwall, Highlands, Monroe, Montgomery, Newburgh, New Windsor. Second District. Towns of Chester, Crawford, Deerpark, Goshen, Green- ville, Hamptonburgh, Minisink, Mount Hope, Wallkill, Warwick, Wawayanda. The city of Newburgh is orgailized under a special school act. ORLEANS COUNTY — Comprises a single district. OSWEGO COUNTY. First District. Towns of Granby, Hannibal, New Haven, Oswego, Scriba, Volney. Second District. Towns of Amboy, Constantia, Hastings, Palermo, Parish, Schroeppel, West Monroe. Third District. Towns of Albion, Boylston, Mexico, Orwell, Redfield, Richland, Sandy Creek, Williamstown. The city of Oswego is organized under a special school act. OTSEGO COUNTY. First District. Towns of Cherry Valley, Decatur, Exeter, Maryland, Mlddlefield, Otsego, Plainfield, Richfield, Roseboom, Springfield, West- ford, Worcester. Second District. Towns of Burlington, Butternuts, Edmeston, Hart- wick, Laurens, Milford, Morris, New Lisbon, Oneonta, Otego, Pitts- field, Unadilla. PUTNAM COUNTY — Comprises a single district. QUEENS COUNTY. First District. Towns of Flushing, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay. Second District. Towns of Hempstead, Jamaica, Newtown. The city of Long Island City is organized under a special school act. RENSSELAER COUNTY. First District. Towns of Brunswick, Grafton, Hoosick, Lansingburgh, Petersburgh, Pittstown, ' Schaghticoke. Second District. Towns of Berlin East Greenbush, Qreenbush, Nassau, North Greenbush, Poestenkill, Sandlake, Schodack, Stephen- town. The city of Troy is organized under a special school act. RICHMOND COUNTY — Comprises a single district. ROCKLAND COUNTY — Comprises a single district. ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY. First District. Towns of DeKalb, De Peyster, Fine, Fowler, Gouverneur, Hammond, Macomb, Morristown, Oswegatchie, Pitcairn, Rossie. Second District. Towns of Canton, Clare, Clifton, Colton, Edwards, Hermon, Lisbon, Madrid, Norfolk, Pierrepont, Russell, Waddington. Third District. Towns of Brasher, Hopkinton, Lawrence, Louisville, Massena, Parisliville, Potsdam, Stockholm. The city of Ogdensburg is organized under a special school act. 232 School Commissioner and Commissioner Disteicxs. SARATOGA COUNTY. First District. Towns of Ballston, Charlton, Clifton Park, Galway, Half. moon, Malta, Milton, Providence, Stillwater, Waterford. Second District. Towns of Corintli, Day, Edinburgh, Greenfield, Hadley, Moreau, Northumberland, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Wilton. SCHENECTADY COUNTY — Comprises a single district. The city of Schenectady is organized under a special school act. SCHOHARIE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Broome, Blenheim, Conesville, Esperance, Gil- boa, Middleburgh, Schoharie, Wright. Second District. Towns of Carlisle, Cobleskill, Pulton, JefEerson, Rich- mondville, Seward, Sharon, Summit. SCHUYLER COUNTY — Comprises a single district. SENECA COUNTY — Comprises a single district. STEUBEN COUNTY. First District. Towns of Avoca, Bath, Bradford, Campbell, Cohocton, Dausville, Fremont, Howard, Prattsburgh, Pulteney, Thurston, Ur- baija, Wayland, Wayne, Wheeler, Second District. Towns of Addison, Cameron, Canisteo, Caton, Corning, Erwin, Greenwood, Hartsville, Hornby, Hornellsville, Lindley, Rath- boneville, Troupsburgh, Tuscarora, West Union, Woodhull. SUFFOLK COUNTY. First District. Towns of Easthampton, Eiverhead, Southampton, South- old, Shelter Island. Second District. Towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip, Smithtown. SULLIVAN COUNTY. First District. Towns of Bethel, Cohocton, Delaware, Forestburgh, High- land, Lumberlaud, Mamakatiug, Thompson, Tusten. Second District. Towns of Callicoon, Fallsburgh, Fremont, Liberty, Neversink, Rockland. TIOGA COUNTY — Comprises a single district. TOMPKINS COUNTY. First District. Towns of Danby, Enfield, Ithaca, Newfield, Ulysses. Second District. Towns of Caroline, Dryden, Groton, Lansing. ULSTER COUNTY. First District. Towns of Hurley, Kingston, Kingston City, Saugerties, Ulster. Second District. Towns of Esopus, Gardner, Lloyd, Marbletown, Marl- borough, New Paltz, Plattekill, Rosendale, Shawangunk. Third District. Towns of Denning, Hardenburgh, Olive, Rochester, Shandaken, Wawarsing, Woodstock. WARREN COUNTY — Comprises a single district. School Commissiokek and Commissionek Disteicts. 233 washington county. First District. Towns of Argyle, Cambridge, Easton, Fort Edward, Greenwich, Jackson, Salem, White Creek. Second District. Towns of Dresden, Fort Ann, Granville, Hampton, Hart- ford, Hebron, Kingsbury, Putnam, Whitehall. WAYNE COUNTY. First District. Towns of Butler, Galen, Huron, Lyons, Rose, Savannah, Sodus, Wolcott. Second District. Towns of Arcadia, Maoedon, Marion, Ontario, Palmyra, Walworth, Williamson. WESTCHESTER COUNTY. First District. Towns of East Chester, Mamaroneck, New RocheUe, Pel- ham, Rye, Scarsdale, Westchester. Second District. Towns of Greenburgh, Harrison, Mount Pleasant, North Castle, Ossining, White Plains. Third District. Towns of Bedford, Cortlandt, Lewisboro, New Castle, North Salem, Poundridge, Somers, Yorktown. The city of Yonkers is organized under a special school act. WYOMING COUNTY. First District. Towns of Attica, Bennington, Covington, Middlebury, Orangeville, Perry, Sheldon, Warsaw. Second District. Towns of Arcade, Castile, Eagle, Genesee Falls, Gaines- ville, Java, Pike, Wethersfield. YATES COUNTY — Comprises a single district. ELECTION OF. § 3. The school commissioner for each school commissioner district shall be elected by the electors thereof, by separate bailor, at the general election, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and triennially thereafter, and the ballots shall be indorsed " school commissioner." The laws regnlating the elec- tion of and canvassing the votes for county officers shall apply to such elections. And it shall further be the duty of county clerks, and they are hereby required, as soon as they shall have official notice of the election or appointment of a school commissioner, for any district in their county, to forward to the superintendent of public instruction a duplicate certificate of such election or appointment, attested by their signature and the seal of the county, {As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 406, Laws of 1S67.) The portion of this section relating to ballots for school commissioner is superseded by subdivision 1, section 9, art. II, title IV, chapter 6, part I, Revised Statutes, as amended by section 1, chapter 553, Laws of 1880. " The names of the persons voted for by any elector at any election for any local office, in whose election all of the voters of a county have the right alike to participate, except representatives in congress, senators and members of assembly, shall be upon one ballot, which ballot shall be endorsed "County." « * « 30 234 School Commissionek and Commissioner Districts. From tliese two acts it would appear that in counties where but one school commissioner is elected, and his district is coterminous with the county, the name of the person voted for shall be placed upon the ballot indorsed " County." In all other districts section 3, title II, of the Consolidated School Law applies, and separate ballots are required endorsed "School Commissioner." TEEM — OATH OF OFFICE. § 4. The term of office of such commissioner shall commence on the first day of January next after his election, and shall be for three years and until his successor qualifies. Every person elected to the office, or appointed to fill a vacancy, must take the oatli of office prescribed by the constitution, before the county clerk, or a judge of a court of record, and file it with tlie county clerk, within ten days after the commencement of the term, or after notice of his appointment ; 'and if he omit so to do, the office shall be deemed vacant. The followiiug oath is prescribed by section 1, article 13, of the State Con- stitution : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm, an the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of school commissioner according to the best of my ability. And I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have not directly or indi- rectly paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, or offered or promised to contribute, any money or other valuable thing as a consideration or reward for the giving or withholding a vote at the election at which I was elected to said office, and have not made any promise to influence the giving or with- holding any such vote." Sworn before me this day of , 18 . This oath or affirmation must be subscribed and taken before the county clerk, or a judge of a court of record. It cannot, therefore, be taken before any other officer. If the oath be not filed within ten days, then the office is vacant, as the previous incumbent cannot hold over longer than ten days, and the vacancy must be filled under the provisions of section 6. VACATES HIS OFFICE. § .5. A commissioner may, at any time, vacate his office, by fil- ing his resignation with the county clerk. His removal from the county, or his acceptance of the office of supervisor, town-clerk or trustee of a school district, shall vacate his office. APPOINTMENT OF. § 6. The county clerk, so soon as he has official or other notice of the existence of a vacancy in the office of commissioner, shall give notice thereof to the county judge, or, if that office be va- cant, to the superintendent of public instruction. In case of a School Commissioner and Commissioner Disiricts. 235 vacancy, the county judge, or, if there be no county judge, then the superintendent shall appoint a commissioiiei-, who shall hold his office until the first of January succeeding the next general election, and until his successor, who shall be chosen at such gen- eral election, shall have qualified. A person elected to fill a va- cancy shall hold the oflice only for the unexpired term. (As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) There is au apparent conflict between this section and section 4. In section 4 it is provided that a commissioner may hold over after the expiration of his term of office for a period not exceeding ten days, until his successor qualifies. In section 6 it is provided that a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold his office until the first day of January succeeding the next general election, and until his successor shall have qualified. It will be observed that the first sentence of section 4, if taken alone, would make all commissioners hold over until their successors qualified. But in the same section is embodied the law on the subject of a person, elected or appointed, qualifying, and but one sentence is used for this purpose. The last part of this sentence declares that if a per- son does not qualify as therein directed the office shall be deemed vacant. Section 6 does not change this provision. It merely provides as does the first sentence of section 4, that the commissioner shall hold over until his succes- sor qualifies. But how and when shall he qualify, and what if he fails to qualify V For this we must go back to section 4, and find it in the last sen- tence. The law upon this point will apply to all alike; the same to the succes- sor of a person who had been appointed as to the successor of one whose reg- ular term had expired. The sentence on that subject cannot be divided. It will, therefore, follow that a.ll incumbents of the office can hold over until their successors qualify, provided they qualify within ten days, and if they fail to qualify within that time the office becomes vacant. SALARY. § 7. After the first day of October, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, every school commissioner shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly out of the free school fund appropriated to this purpose, or to the support of common schools. (As amended hy sec. 1, c/iap. 8i, Laws of 1867, and sec. 3, chap. 1, Laws of 1881, and hy sec. 5, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) The annual salary of a school commissioner fropi the State moneys was first fixed at $500 — chap. 84, Laws of 1867, increased it to $800 — and sec. 5, chap. 840, Laws of 1885, raised it to $1,000, where it still remains. § 8. Whenever a majority of the supervisors from all the towns composing a school commissioner district shall adopt a resolution to increase the salary of their school commissioner beyond the one thousand dollars payable to him from the free school fund, 236 School Commission kk aitd Commissionee Districts. it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county to give effect to such resolution, and they shall assess the increase stated therein upon the towns composing such commissioner dis- trict, ratably, accoi-ding to the corrected valuations of the real and personal estate of such towns. {As amended hy sec. 6, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and sec. 6, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) The supervisors, under this section, can increase the salary of a commissioner beyond the $1,000 he receives from the State to such amount as they may desire. The increase authorized by this section is entirely separate and independent from the $200 directed to be paid them for expenses in section 9. § 9. The board of supervisors shall annually audit and allow to each commissioner within the county the fixed sum of two hun- dred dollars for his expenses, and shall assess and levy that amount annually, by tax, upon the towns composing his district. {As amended by sec. 2, chap. 84, Laws of 1867.) § 10. Whenever the superintendent of public instruction is sat- isfied that a school commissioner has persistently neglected to per- form his duties, he may withhold his order for the payment of the whole or any part of such commissioner's salary as it shall become due, and the salary so withholden shall be forfeited ; but the superintendent may remit the forfeiture, in whole or in part, upon the commissioner disproving or excusing such neglect. DUTIES. § 11. A commissioner, upon the written request of the commis- sioner of an adjoining district, may perform any of his duties for him, and upon i-equirement of the state superintendent of pubhc instruction must perform the same. The jurisdiction of the school commissioner is strictly limited to the district for which he is elected. But the commissioner may at times be necessarily absent, or he may from sickness or injury be unable to perform his duties, or he may be incapacitated by some legal disability. In such cases his written request will authorize a conunissioner in an adjoining district to act for him. The Superintendent of Public Instruction can require a commissioner to per- form any of the duties pertaining to the office for a commissioner in an adjoin- ing district. But whenever a commissioner is so called upon to exercise any powers or perform any duties out of his own jurisdiction, and the acts are of an impor- tant and permanent character, such as ought to be recorded or be put in writ- ing, as for instance, granting certificates, or alterations of districts, he should in every instrument recite the written request or requirement under which he is acting, substantially or in full. It would also be advisable to file such writ- School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 237 ten request or requirement in the office of tlie county clerk, for safe-keeping and future reference, in case any question should arise as to the validity of his acts. This section provides for the contingency cited under section 13, title I, bet- ter than the appointment of a visitor would do, as the visitor cannot be vested with any legal powers, such as the statute here confers upon the school com- missioner of an adjoining district. § 12. No school commissioDer shall act as agent for any author, publisher or bookseller, nor directly or indirectly receive any gift, emolument, reward or promise of reward, for his influence in recommending or procuring the use of any book, or school appa- ratus, or furniture of any kind whatever, in any common school, or the purchase of any book for a district library. Any one who shall procure or solicit a violation of this provision, or of any part thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ; and any such violation shall subject the guilty commissioner to removal from his office by the superintendent of public instruction. Commissioners must not have any pecuniary interest in the matter of recom- mending or securing the sale of text-books, school apparatus or furniture, or any book for a district library. For a violation of this section the penalty against the commissioner is removal from office, and the person who solicits a violation is guilty of a misdemeanor. The present law relieves commissioners not only from numerous importu- nities, but from the imputation of recommending text-books on account of self-interest. Commissioners are not forbidden to interest themselves on these subjects. What the law forbids is that they shall " directly or indirectly receive any gift, emolument or reward " for so doing. It is one of their duties to examine and advise as to text-books, school apparatus and furniture. It is very desirable that the books used in the same school should be uni- form; but it is not desirable, among the first acts of a new school commis- sioner, that a general change of text-books should be made. Reforms in the school depend more upon the teacher than upon the influence of any series of books. § 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his duty: The subdivisions of this section enumerate some, but not all, of the duties and powers of commissioners. The majority of the subdivisions are upon sub- jects which in the arrangement of this work have been placed in chapters. A reference only is here made to the chapters where they can be found with the annotations thereon. 1. To inquire as to the records of school district boundaries, and when necessary to amend the same. (See School Districts.) 2. To visit and examine all the schools and school districts within his district as often in each year as shall be practicable; to inquire into all matters relating to the management, the course of 238 School CoionssioNEK and Commissioner Districts. study and mode of instruction, and the text-books and discipline of sueli schools, and the condition of the school-houses, sites, out- buildings and appendages, and of the district generally ; to exam- ine the district libraries ; to advise with and counsel the trustees and other officers of the districts in relation to their duties, and particularly in respect to the construction, warming and ventila- tion of school-houses, and the improving and adorning of tlie school grounds connected therewith ; and to recommend to the trustees and teachers the proper studies, discipline and manage- ment of the scliools, and the course of instruction to be pursued. 3. Upon such examination to direct alterations or repairs upon the school- house or out-buildings, and the abatement of any nuisance upon the school" house premises. {See School-Souses and Appendages.) 4. May condemn a school-house. (See School-Souses and Appendages.) 5. To examine and license persons proposing to teach in the common schools within his district. {See Teachers.) 6. To re-examine a teacher and annul his certificate. (See Teachers.) 7. To examine charges affecting the moral character of any teacher, and to annul the teacher's certificate if the charges are sustained. (See Teachers.) 8. And, generally, to use his utmost influence and most stren- uous exertions, to promote sound education, elevate the character and qualifications of teachers, improve the means of instruction, and advance the interests of the schools under his supervision. Subdivisions 2 and 8 will be considered together. The duties of commis- sioners comprised in subdivision 2 may be stated under two heads: 1. Visiting and examining the schools. 2. Advising and counseling trustees and other school officers. Each commissioner is required to visit all the schools in his district each year, as often as is practicable. The greatest number of districts to be visited by any one commissioner is one hundred and ninety-eight; and, in most cases, is less than one hundred; in some, a few more. The object of a commissioner's visit is two-fold. He must first obtain a knowledge of the schools of his district and familiarize himself with their actual condition. In this respect he is an inspector and should go into the different school districts and schools unheralded and unexpected. There is a natural and perhaps commendable spirit among trustees, teachers and pupils to malce a good impression upon the commissioner, but this should not be done by placing tlie school upon dress parade. No unusual drill or preparation should be given the pupils because of an expected visit of the commissioner. If the time is set for his visit, and the teacher is so informed, the chances are that the commissioner will find the school on the day of his visit in a flourish- ing condition such as it had not attained upon any day previous and will not continue for another day of the whole term. Upon such a visit has an actual linowledge of the school been obtained ? Certainly not. But why is it essen- tial that he should see the schools in their every day routine? Because he can then, and then only, report to his superior, the Superintendent of Public In- struction, the true condition of the common schools, and this knowledge can be School Comhissioner and Commissioner Districts. 239 conveyed througli the Superintendent to tlie Legislature that the State may have a correct basis upon which to malse the laws governing the common- school system. And in the second place, the commissioner acts not only as an examiner but he is the supervising and advising officer of his district. In order to give correct and valuable advice concerning the conduct of the school he must know its true condition. A visit without notice will often disclose conditions concerning which the commissioner ought to be Informed, but which might be disguised or con- cealed from him if his visit were anticipated. He will find that he will be greatly assisted in liis examination if prepara- tory to his visit he should ascertain from the teacher the number of classes, the studies pursued by each, the routine of the school, the successive exer- cises of each class during each hour of the day, the play-spells allowed, etc., and thus obtain a general knowledge of the school, which will be found greatly to facilitate his subsequent duties. Every commissioner is enjoined to call for and examine the list of scholars in the book which the statute re- quires the teacher to keep, in order that he may see whether the names are correctly and neatly entered. He should be particular in his examination of the record of attendance, and, in case it be not kept according to the plan pre- scribed in the directions accompanying the register, he should call the atten- tion of the teacher to his omission or neglect, and instruct him how to keep it correctly. Young teachers often find difficulty in following the plainest rules, and the commissioner will serve tliem and the people of the districts by exact- ing from the teachers constant care as to the safety, neatness and correctness with which they keep the school registers. The commissioner should not omit to inform them of their duty to keep the registers under lock and key, and, at the close of their schools, to make oath to their being correctly kept, and to deliver them in good order to the district clerk. The commissioner will then hear each class recite the ordinary lesson of the day. The class will then be examined on the subjects of study. Generally it will be better to allow the teacher to conduct the exercises and examina- tions, as the pupils will be less lil^ely to be intimidated, and an opportunity will be given to judge of Ms qualifications. To enable him to compare the school with itself at another time, and with other schools, and to comply with the regulations hereinbefore contained re- specting the annual reports, the commissioner should keep notes of his obser- vations, and of the information he obtains on all the subjects on which he is required to report; and he should particularly note any peculiarities which seem to require notice, in the mode of instruction, in the government and dis- cipline of the school, and in the appearance of the pupils in respect to their cleanliness of person and neatness of apparel. 3. Advising and consulting with the officers of the district. This duty is, by the act, especially enjoined upon commissioners. The law, in the broadest terms, requires them to advise and counsel the trustees and other school officers in relation to all their duties. The performance of this duty will demand great care and circumspection. It should be constantly borne in mind that the office of an adviser and coun- selor is to ascertain facts and learn the true condition of things, and then to suggest and propose improvements and rem^ies. Interrogatories judiciously aimed at abuses, errors, mistakes and omissions will call attention to them as clearly as if they were condemned outright, and at the same time give no offense. The advice and counsel needed will generally relate to proper studies; the discipline and conduct of the school; the course of instruction; the elementary books; the erection of school-houses, and the ability of the district to maintain a school. 1. The Proper Studies. — These vary with the age and advancement of the scholars. The great object of the common schools is, unquestionably, to instruct the youth of the State in the ordinary branches of a good English education. To spell, to read and write, should be the first care. As soon as 240 School Commissiokek akd Commissioner Disthicts. a child can write, spelling and writing should be one exercise. The meaning of the words spelled should also be explained to the scholar, as a great assist- ance to the memory. Correct spelling and a. clear comprehension of the words are essential to good reading. A distinct articulation of every syllable is the most important requisition. A correct and not too forcible accent, an utter- ance neither too rapid nor too slow, and a clear understanding of the subject, are important requirements. The commissioner will carefully note the capabilities of the scholars and their grade of improvement, and advise that no studies be imposed or per- mitted until the pupil can enter upon them understandingly. 2. The Discipline and Conduct of the School. — The commissioner cannot too strongly inculcate the necessity of a punctual and continuous attendance dur- ing school hours for the whole term. Teachers should be advised to insist upon this. The first hour of a session, in the morning or afternoon, should not be interrupted by the noisy dropping in, every few minutes, ol truant and tardy children. The interruption is not the worst of the evil. The want of punctuality involves the loss of time that should be applied to study; and the tardy and irregular attendants soon lag behind their associates, become dis- heartened, relax their efforts, and acquire habits of irregularity, insubordina- tion and negligence, which mark their character through life. Order and system should prevail in the whole conduct of the school. The routine of recitations and other exercises should be regular and seldom changed. The people should give a ready obedience to the commands of the teacher, and a strict compliance with rules and regulations should be exacted. Pupils should be instructed that those commands, rules and regulations are not im- posed upon them as a restraint or humiliation, but for their good, as the best means of expediting the sole business of the school, the acquisition of knowl- edge and the formation of character. The commissioners should also observe whether the teachers possess the respect of their scholars, and whether their deportment in and out of the school is such as to deserve it. They should particularly note how the authority of the teacher is maintained; whether it is the result of a mild and conciliatory but firm and steady government, or whether it is an unwilling submission to arbitrary rule and the fear of the rod. 3. The Course of Instruction. — The order of studies which long experience has decided to be the best, and which is generally followed, is the alphabet, spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, history and grammar. To learn the names of things is among the earliest efforts of the infant mind. It is the work of several years to master the simplest combination of language. In teaching the elements of knowledge, therefore, great discretion and discrimi- nation are necessary in graduating instruction to the capacity of pupils. Pri- mary books should contain only familiar household words and the commonest forms of speech. When these have been mastered others of a higher grade should be substituted. The four simple rules of arithmetic are easily taught, not by arbitrary rules and a few examples, but by constant practice and repetition, with blocks or balls, by which the numbers are presented to the eye. The little boy who sells newspapers, or peddles peanuts ox apples,- will learn in a few weeks all the combinations of simple numbers less than one hundred. Make a purchase of him, and hand him a quarter of a dollar, and he will make his computation and give you the change as promptly as the readiest bank teller. Geography, by means of maps, charts and globes, may be taught at a very early age. The study of history and geography may be combined. In the course of the reading lessons and during the lesson in history, whenever a place is named the pupil should be required to point it out on the map. A daily newspaper may be of essential service in teaching geography and cur- rent history. The use of a map, with a daily paper, will very soon make the pupils acquainted with all the principal commercial ports and political divisions of every part of the world. Geography and history, thus learned, would be indelibly impressed upon the memory. Biography, however, has a charm for School Commissioner and Commissioker Districts. 241 the very young, and many brief narratives might be made a part of the school exercises. Grammar, treating of the structure and composition of language, is a diiBcult study, and should not be undertaken till the mind of the pupU has attained a maturity and strength capable of comparing, analyzing and combining phrases and sentences. To read, to speak and to write, correctly and elegantly, may all be learned without consulting a grammar. But a knowledge of English grammar is a very important part of a good common education, and its study is a useful exercise of the intellectual powers. 4. Books of Blementa/ry Instruction. — Within the last few years a great im- provement has been made in elementary books. A great many series of books elucidating and illustrating every branch of education in our common schools have been published. None of them are so defective as to demand their exclu- sion from the schools, and none of them are so superior to others as to merit exclusive recommendation. A teacher is very poorly qualified who cannot use any set of text-books with advantage. Chapter 413, Laws of 1877, has divested trustees of school districts of the pow- ers concerning text-books which they held under previous expositions of the law. The power and duty of designating these is now devolved upon the legal voters. Whenever the commissioner finds in any school a number of pupils of the same grade using different books, and classed separately, he should show how, if all had the same books, one . class and one recitation would suffice for all, and the teacher's corrections and observations, repeated to several classes, might be limited to one, and valuable time of pupils and teacher be saved. As under the act above cited the inhabitants have the exclusive po?ver in the matter of the text-books, it becomes the duty of the commissioners to try and reach the inhabitants by personal visitations at their homes, or by gathering them together for that purpose, and urging upon them attention to the duty imposed by the law referred to. In cities and large villages, the adoption of uniform text-books is a pecu- niary advantage to the people, particularly to the transient population that frequently move from one district to another, and are generally least able to purchase new books. But the positive necessity of uniformity is less apparent in rural districts. The inhabitants there do not often change their residence. It is not well to be indifferent as to the merits of the text-books, but to exer- cise judgment in recommending them. Let parents understand that while the interests of their children command the first attention, the subject of expenses receives also a fair consideration. Their confidence and co-operation will thus be secured. School-Houses and Grounds. — Commissioners are directed to advise with trustees concerning the school-houses and grounds. This subject is treated of at length in another chapter. {See ScJtool- Souses and Appendages.) Subdivisions. — A whole volume is contained in the directions to commis- sioners is this subdivision. Commissioners who will faithfully obey its injunc- tions are the men needed. No other civil officer in this State is directed by law to go so far beyond tbe discharge of certain fixed routine duties as the school commissioner. It has long been the hope of the Department to place this office out of the reach of men who seek to obtain it as a reward for party service, and who hold it for the emoluments only. Upon the success of such an effort and the election of competent and willing men rests to an unlimited extent the success and efficiency of our common schools. A commissioner should be an educational man, and of irreproachable character. If he does not have both these qualifiications, how can he "promote sound education" and " elevate the character and qualifications of teachers?" To obey this sec- tion, H, man must bring to the office a knowledge of educational work and continue to make it a constant study. He must not aim to see with how little work he can get through his duties, but must make a continual effort to ad- vance as far as possible the interests of the schools in his district. 31 242 School Commissionek akd Commissionek Districts. § 15. The commissioners shall be subject to such rules and regu- lations as the superintendent of public instruction shall, from time to time, prescribe ; and appeals from their acts and decisions may be made to him, as hereinafter provided. * * * * The latter part of tliis section is in reference to reports. {See Reports,) REMOVAL OP COMMISSIONER. Title I. § 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the superintendent, the super- intendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner or other school officer from his office. In section 15, title II, commissioners are made subject to the rules and regu- lations of the Superintendent, and in this section (18) of title I, the Super- intendent is given the authority to remove a commissioner from office for a vpillful violation or neglect of duty or for willfully disobeying any order of the Superintendent. No commissioner will be removed without an oppor- tunity to defend himself. The practice in cases where charges for a willful violation or neglect of duty are made is the same as in the case of any school officer and is set out at length in the chapter on Superintendent of Public In- struction. If it is for a disobedience of the Superintendent's decision, order or regula- tion, the practice is for the Superintendent, upoh some proof being presented to him of the fact, to issue an order reciting the facts and directing the com- missioner to show cause before him at a stated date why he should not be removed from offifee. This can also be the practice in case of any charge against the commissioner. An opportunity will thus be afforded him to pre- pare for and make any defense he may have. The determination of the Super- intendent is final. An officer removed hy him has no appeal. CROSS REFERENCES. Title III, § 37. The commissioners of each county are required to proceed to the county seat on the third Tuesday of March in each year, to ascertain, appor- tion and divide the State and other school moneys. (See State School Moneys.) Title VI. The different sections of this title provide for the formation, disso- lution and alteration of school districts by school commissioners. (See School Districts. ) Title VII, 8 1. Commissioners must call first meeting in a new school dis- trict, or neighborhood, prepare the notice and deliver it to a taxable inhabitant to serve. Title VII, § 3. When the first meeting called for a new district or neighbor- hood is not held according to call, the commissioner may prepare a new notice and deliver it to a taxable inhabitant of the district to serve. School Commissioner and Commissioner Districts. 243 Title VII, § 18. Commissioner to give his approval to a sum larger than $500, for building a new school-house before a tax can be levied for the same.. Also his approval of the plans, so far as ventilation, heat and lighting is con- cerned. (See School-Mouses and Appendages.) Title VII, § 33. No school commissioner is eligible to the office of trustee or member of a board of education, (ilee Trustees.) Title XI. The duties of commissioners in relation to teachers' institutes are prescribed by this title. (See I'eachers' Institutes.) Title III, t? 10. The commissioner can recommend to the Superintendent that a district be allowed to participate in the public money that employed a teacher not duly qualified. (See State School Moneys.) Chapter 585, Laws of 1865, as amended by chapter 391, Laws of 1887, § 9. Commissioners are to hold examinations for candidates for appointment to free scholarships in Cornell University. (See Cornell University, page 486.) Title VII, § 4. Commissioner may call a special meeting in school district when the trustees and clerk are away, or their offices are vacant. (See Meet- ings.) Title IX, § 5. The commissioner must give to a newly formed union free school district, its number. (See Union Free Schools.) Title XI, § 14. Commissioners can take affidavits and administer oaths in all matters pertaining to common schools; and under the direction of the Super- intendent can take and report testimony in appeal cases. (See Appeals.) SCHOOL DISTRICTS. FORMATION, ALTERATION AND DISSOLUTION OF. Title VI. Section 1. It shall be the duty of each school commiesiouer, in respect to the territory within his district : 1. To divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient number of school districts, and alter the same as herein provided. 2. In conjunction with the commissioner or commissioners of an adjoining school commissioner district or districts, to set ofE joint districts composed of adjoining parts of their respective districts. 3. To set off by itself any neighborhood adjoining any other State of the Union, where it shall be found most convenient for the inhabitants to send their children to a school in such adjoin- ing State. 4. To describe and number the school districts, and joint dis- tricts, and to deliver, in writing, to the town clerk the description and number of each district lying in whole or in part in his town, together with all notices, consents, and proceedings relating to the formation or alteration thereof, immediately after such formation or alteration. Every joint district shall bear the same number in every school commissioner district of whose terrritory it is in part composed. 5. To deliver to the town clerk of the town in which it lies, in whole or in part, a description of each such separate neighbor- hood. In the formation of school districts no part of the territory of the State can be omitted from such division, and every commissioner should see that i» School Districts. 245 drawing boundary lines all the territory within his commissioner district is included in the school districts. The jurisdiction of a school commissioner to form, alter or dissolve school districts extends only over his own commissioner district. When it becomes necessary for him to act in this matter, over territory extending beyond the limits of his commissioner district, he must act jointly with the other com- missioner commissioners. Joint districts. — The statute in subdivision 3 of this section defines a district which lies in two or more commissioner districts as a joint district. A joint district may lie entirely within one county, or it may be composed of parts of two or more counties. If it lies in two or more school commissioner districts, it is a joint district, and must be formed, altered or dissolved by the joint ac- tion of all the commissioners in whose territory it lies, or of a majority of them, as prescribed in the fdllowing sections: Subdivision 4 of this section directs that the proceedings for forming, alter- ing or dissolving school districts, with a description and number of each dis- trict, shall be filed with the town clerk. When a school district lies in two or more towns, this description must be filed with the town clerk of each town in which the school district lies. All orders, either from the commissioner or the Superintendent of I*ublic Instruction, affecting such districts, must in like manner be filed with the town clerks. Description. — It is of extreme importance that the- description of a district should be so complete and definite that a surveyor, at any future day, may be able to run its boundaries without reference to any other document than the order forming, altering or describing it. For this purpose the exterior lines should be defined by reference to natural monuments, marked trees, creeks, etc. , or to township lines of historical notoriety, ^uch as the lines of the great original subdivisions into lots, or the course of highways. Where these fail, the courses and distances as ascertained by the compass and chain should be given. The practice of stating the boundary as that of ' ' the farm now in the occupation of C. D.," or by means of similar designations, frequently renders it very difficult to ascertain them, as the occupation of land is continually shifting. In Gray v. Sheldon, 8th Verm. JR. 402, a resolution "to set off Isaac Gray, Jr., to school district No. 3," was held void on the ground that school districts should be defined by geographical limits, and be made to consist of territory and not of persons. Jfumbering districts. — The school districts are known and distinguished by their numbers. Every district must be numbered. During the year 1867, the school commissioners, by direction of the depart- ment, examined into the numbering of all the school districts iu the State. Mistakes were corrected, and every district iu each town numbered in con- secutive order from number one to the highest number in the town. Care was taken that a district lying partly in two or more towns not joint, should have but one and the same number in the town where the school-house was located. Previously some districts had two or more numbers; a district lying in two or more towns had a different number in each town; and in some cases two dis- tricts had the same number. The result was confusion and error in the reports, and in the apportionment of money. The records iu the department now show the number of every district in the State. Hereafter the commissioners will promptly communicate to the department every alteration of districts, whereby a new district is formed, or two or more are consolidated, or one is dissolved and its territory annexed to other districts; and also what new number is given to any new, or consolidated district, and what changes have been made in the numbers in any town — and thus one principal and fruitful source of error and confusion will be removed. Joint districts were numbered iu the several towns in which such districts were located, and the number in each town was made the same. For example, a joint district lying in the towns of Arcadia and Lyons was given the same number in each town, to- wit: Joint district No. 5, Arcadia and Lyons. No other 2-46 School Distkicts. district in Arcadia or Lyons can be numbered 5. All districts which are not joint, but lie in more than one town must be numbered only in the town where the school-house is located. § 2. With the, written consent of the trustees of all the districts to be affected thereby, he may, by order, alter any school district within his jurisdiction, and fix, by said order, a day when the alter- ation shall take effect. {As amended hy sec. 5, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) Commissioners proceed under this section when the consent iu writing of the trustees of all the districts to be affected is given to the proposed alteration. A district is affected when the order of alteration changes the boundaries of such district so as to take territory from or add thereto. It is also affected when the order is one dissolving the district. Whenever a commissioner determines to alter any school district or districts, he should first endeavor to obtain the consent of the trustees. This consent must be in writing, and accurately state the alteration to which they consent. If a district has three trustees, their consent must be given at a regular meeting of the board. The consent of a majority at such meeting is the action of the board, and valid. Having obtained the consent of the trustees of all the dis- tricts, the commissioner next proceeds to draw and file the order. The order must recite that the consents had been given, and the written consents attached to and made a part of the order or proceeding. FORM OP CONSENT. At a meeting of the trustees of District No. , in the town of county of , called for the purpose of considering certain proposed alterations thereof, held on the day of . , at which were present J. D. and R. S., and in the absence of P. T., a trustee, who, having been duly notified of such meeting, failed to attend, it was Besohed, That the consent of the trustees of District No. , in the town of , be and is hereby given to the alteration of said district so that said district be hereafter bounded as follows: (describing the new boundaries fully). In witness whereof the undersigned, a majority of the said trustees, have hereunto subscribed our hands this day of P g' [■ Trustees. This form can be easily altered to suit any proposed alteration. A trustee cannot consent to the setting off of his own lands from one district to another. fokm of order. In the Matter of the formation (OK Alteration) of School Dis- trict No. 23, IN THE Town of CoRNWELL, County of AND THE Consequent Alteration of School District No. 5, Corn- well, AND No. 3, Moon, in said County. The consent in writing of the trustees of school district No. 5, town of Corn- well, and No. 3, town of Moon, in the county of , having been given School 'Districts. 247 to the alteration of said districts, which is herein made as will more fully ap- pear from said consents which are hereto attached and made a part of this pro- ceeding, ■ I, (Insert name), school commissioner of the commissioner district of said county, and in which commissioner district the said school districts do wholly lie, do hereby order, that a school district be and the same hereby is erected out of parts of territory heretofore forming school districts No. 5, Oornwell, and No. 3, Moon, in said county, and that said new district be known and numbered No. 33 of the town of Cornwell. The district. No. 23, Cornwell, hereby erected, shall be composed of the territory taken from the aforesaid districts, and bounded and described as follows: (give accurate description). This order shall take effect on the day of , 18 . School Commissioner, for the commissioner \ district of county, N. Y. ) The foregoing is a form where a new district is erected, and can easily be changed by the commissioner to suit any case of formation or alteration which he may desire to make. The different alterations are so numerous that to pre- scribe forms for all cases would be an endless task. It is of frequent occurrence that a whole district is to be wiped out by attach- ing parts thereof to other districts. If this is done at the same time and for the purpose of dissolving the district, it may be found best to make an order first dissolving the district and then different orders attaching the territory of the dissolved district to other districts. This method will nearly always save complications in the orders and description of boundaries. The order, when made under this section, may take effect immediately, or at some future day as the school commissioner may, in his judgment, consider the best time for all interests. A joint district can be altered under this section, but it must be done by the joint action, or order, of the commissioners, or a majority of them, in whose districts the school districts to be altered lie. § 3, If the trustees of any such district refuse to consent, he may make and file with the town clerk his order making the altera- tion, but reciting the refusal, and directing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dissenting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not less than three months after the notice in the next section mentioned. {As amended hy sec. 6, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) This section, with the following one, prescribes the proceedings to be taken when the consent of the trustees of all the districts to be affected is not ob- tained. In such cases the steps are more complicated. The proceedings through- out are purely statutory, and any failure to follow the statute strictly will vitiate the order. Although the trustees of all districts will not consent to the alteration, the school commissioner can make the order and file it with the town clerk. Two things are required to be inserted in this order, as follows: 1. The order must recite the refusal of the trustees of any district or dis- tricts to give their consent to the alteration. 2. The commissioner must direct that the order shall not take effect, as to the dissenting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not less than three months after the notice in the next section mentioned. This part of the statute is clear excepting the clause "as to the dissenting district or districts." There are some, although rare, instances in which this clause can be followed, and it seems that the Legislature must have entirely lost sight 248 School Disteicts. of the fact that it would be impossible in a large majority of the cases to make an order altering districts take effect as to one or more of the distribts immedi- ately, and as to other districts affected by the same alteration, not until over three months from the date of the order, and the notice mentioned in section 4. To illustrate: Districts Nos. 1 and 4, town of Hooper, are to be altered by tak- ing a part of the territory of No. 1 and annexing it to No. 3. The trustees of No. 1 refuse to consent to the alteration. The trustees of No. 2 consent. Now, how can the commissioner make his order to take effect as to district No. 2 immediately, and as to the " dissenting district," or No. 1, not until three months or more in the future ? How can the territory be annexed to No. 2 and. not be taken from No. 1 ? There can be instances where a district is annulled and its parts annexed to other districts in so general an order, that it can be made to take effect as to part immediately, and as to the dissenting district at a future time, as in the case of Williams v. Larkin (3 Denio, 1 14), it was held by the supreme court, where an alteration of school districts made by the proper officers affected three districts, and the trustees of two of the districts consented to the altera- tion, but the trustees of the other districts did not consent, that the alteration took effect immediately as to those districts whose trustees consented. In that case a part of District No. 14 was annexed to No. 3 with the consent of the trustees of both districts; the residue of No. 14 was annexed to No. 13 without the consent of the trustees of the latter. Judge Bronson, delivering the opinion of the court, says: "Although both alterations were made at the same time, they were not in their nature Inseparable acts, and I see jio reason why they might not take effect at different periods." It is obvious that alterations may be so connected and dependent upon each other as to render the principle of this case inapplicable. For example, so much of the order as annulled District No. 14 could not take effect until the expiration of three months, notwithstanding its trustees consented, because it was dependent upon the annexation of so much of said district as remained to No. 13. No. 14 was a district lying whoUy within one town. According to the opinion of Superintendent Spencer an order for the dissolu- tion of a joint district might be valid, although the annexation of its parts to other districts might be void ; and consequently its dissolution might take effect immediately, though the annexation of its parts to other districts might be suspended for three months. It will be seen from the foregoing that it is impossible in the great majority of cases to make the same order take effect at different times, and the depart- ment has followed the ruling that the commissioner should fix a date when the order as a wlwle will take effect, which date shall not be less than three months after the notice in section 4 mentioned. This will not be a violation of the statute, as it is nowhere directed that an order, whether the trustees consent or not, shall take effect immediately; and in this section, while it directs that the order shall not take effect "as to the dissenting district or districts," until a later day, it does not fix the time when it shall take effect as to the assenting district or districts. It must, therefore, follow that if the order is made to take effect as a whole, at a date not less than three months after the notice in section 4, the clause " as to the dissenting district or districts" will be com- plied with. § 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, he shall give at least a week's notice in writing to one or more of the assenting and dissenting trustees of any district or districts to be affected by the proposed alterations, that at a specified time, and at a named place within the town in which either of the districts to be affected Ues, he will hear the objections to the alteration. School DiSTilicTs. 249 The trustees of any district to be afEected by such order may request the super^dsor and town clerk of the town or towns ■within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. At the time and place mentioned in the notice, the commissioner or commissioners, with the supervisors and town clerks, if they shall attend and act, shall hear and decide the matter ; and the decision shall be final, unless duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed with and recorded by the town clerk of the town or towns in which the district or districts to be affected shall lie. {As amended h/ sec. 6, chtip. 647, Laws of 1865.) The first imperative duty of the commissioner, after making and filing the order of alteration, is to give at least one week's notice in writing to the trustees of all the districts afEected by the proposed alteration. This notice must state that he has made an order of alteration, reciting such order, and that at a stated time and place within the town in which either of the districts to be afEected lies, he will hear the objections to the alteration. FORM OF NOTICE. In the Matter of the Alteration OF School Districts No. 2, Town OF , AND ISO. 1, Town OF , County op Col- umbia, New York. To the trustees of school District No 2, town of , county of Columbia, N. Y. : Take notice that I, , school commissioner for the com- missioner district of Columbia county, N. Y. , in which commissioner district school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of , do wholly lie, did on the day of , 18 , make an order altering said districts ; that such order was filed in the town clerk's ofiBce (or oflBces) on the day of 18 , and is as follows (give copy of order in full) : You are also notified that on the day of ,18 , at 10 o'clock, A.M., and at theoflSce of , Esq., in , I will attend and hear objections to the foregoing oider and to the proposed alterations. You are also notified that you may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns within which your school district does wholly or partly lie, to be associated with me at such time and place for the purpose of con- firming or vacating the said order. School Commissioner for the commissioner ) district of Columhia county, N. T. f The date for the hearing of objections can be fixed by the commissioner at any time before the order is to take efEect. In fixing the time and place the commissioner should exercise a spirit of fairness toward all the interested parties, and particularly to select a place that is accessible to all parties. 33 350 School Disteicts. LOCAL BOAKD. The trustees, having received the notice of the commissioner, may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns in which their respective districts lie to be associated with the commissioner at the time and place mentioned in the commissioner's notice for the hearing of the objections. This forms what is commonly known as the local board. The request of the trustees must be made in writing. Each supervisor and town clerk should present this request with proof of service to the board, so as to establish their juris- diction to act. Any supervisor or town clerk that the trustees do not request to act, can have no voice in the proceedings of the board. Should they attempt to act without first having been requested so to do by the trustees, all pro- ceedings carried by their votes will be void for want of jurisdiction. The determination of the trustees to associate the supervisor and clerk, like every other official act, should result from the resolution of a majority, adopted at a meeting at which all are present or which the absent one has been duly notified to attend. No jurisdiction is obtained by the supervisor and clerk upon the application of less than amajority. Their want of jurisdiction vitiates the action of a board in which they may assume to take part. Upon this point the language of Vice-Chancellor Sandford (3 Sandf. Oh. B. 329) Is very instructive. Discussing the effect of certain proceedings of a church council at which a majority of the trustees were present and in which they unanimously con- curred, but in which the ministers, elders and deacons also participated, he says : ' ' The trustees in this case are by the charter the select class or body which is to exercise the corporate functions. In order to exercise them, they must meet as a hoard, so that they may hear each other's views, deliberate and then decide. Their separate action, individually, without consultation, although a majority in number should agree upon a certain act, would not be the act of the constituted body of men clothed with the corporate powers Nor would their action in a meeting of the whole body of corporators, or of another and larger class in which they are but a component part, be a valid corporate act. In thus acting they are not distinguishable from their associates, and their action is united with that of others who have no proper or legal right to join with them in its exercise. All proper responsibility is lost. The result may be the same that it would have been if they had met separately, and it may be different. In the general assemblage influences may be brought to bear upon the trustees whiph in their proper board would be unheeded ; and no one can say with certainty that their vote in the latter event would have been the same." If the trustees have given the proper notice to the supervisor and clerk, the school commissioner can at the time and place appointed proceed to act in conjunction with either of them, in case the other omits to attend. It is true that the general rule is, when persons are appointed by the law to act as special tribunals of a quasi -judicial character, then both parties are entitled to the presence of all the judges, and to have the benefits of the consultation of each with evjry other ; all must, therefore, meet together and consult, but then a majority may decide. In this case, however, though the law authorizes the trustees to apply to the supervisor and clerk, it furnishes no means of com- pelling their attendance, nor does it even in express terms declare it their duty to attend. It is only that one of them who accepts and acts under the applica- tion of the trustees who can be said to be appointed or vested with any power in the premises. The absence of the town officers from the board will not in any way prevent the commissioner or commissioners from acting, or invalidate the proceedings taken by the commissioners at the time fixed for the hearing of the objections, otherwise regular. But if the commissioners do not attend the town officers are not authorized by law to make any order in the premises, and the preliminary order must fall. Where the requisite officers are concerned, their power to adjourn from time to time would seem to be clear. School Disteiots. 251 If, at the time appointed, the commissioner fails to attend, he may give notice specifying another day and place of meeting. But the commissioner cannot postpone the time of meeting to any day later than three months after the first notice. The first order will be void, unless it is confirmed by a second order made by the board thus duly convened and formed, or by the commissioner in the absence of the other officers. The arguments for and against the proposed alteration are to be made before the board. Each member of the board has a vote upon the question as to whether the order of the commissioner shall be affirmed or vacated. Their decision is final unless duly appealed from. If they decide by a majority vote to vacate the order the whole matter terminates with such decision. A record of this action of the board must be filed in the town clerk's office. If on the other hand the board decides to confirm the order of the commis- sioner, it becomes necessary for the commissioner to make and file the final order, or the order of alteration. The board does not make the alteration. This the commissioner must do, the board xiniting with him in the order, such order reciting the first or preliminary order and all the proceedings taken thereafter, including the actions of the local board and concluding with the final order of alteration made by the commissioner. FORM OP CONFIRMATORY ORDERS. In the Matter of the Alteration OF School Districts No. 3, Town OF , AND No. 1, Town of , County of Col- umbia, New York. Whehbas, on the day of 18 , I, , school commissioner for the commissioner district of Columbia county, and in which com- missioner district school districts No. 2, town of , and No. ], town of , do wholly lie, did make and file with the town clerks of the towns of and an order altering school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of , which order was as follows (recite the first order in full) : And whereas, the trustees of district No. 3, town of , did not con- sent to the proposed alteration as set out in said order, the following proceed- ings after the making and filing of said order were duly taken, viz. : On the day of , 18 , I gave notice in writing, the proof of service of which is attached to the proceedings herein, to the trustees of said district No. 2, town of , and to the trustees of said district No. 1, town of , county of Columbia, that on the day of ,18 , at 10 o'clock a.m., at the oflfice of , Esq. , in ,1 would attend and hear the objections to the proposed alteration. In pursuance to said notice and at the said time I did attend at the office of , Esq., in At such place and time there were also present, , supervisor of the town of ; , supervisor of the town of ; , clerk of the town of ; , clerk of the town of ; all of whom produced proof that they had been requested by the trustees of the said school districts situated respectively in their said towns, to be associated with the school commissioner upon such hearing. Opportunity was given to all persons who desired to be heard to present their objections, and after due deliberation, the board by a vote of to , decided to confirm the order of the commis- sioner heretofore made on the day of , 18 Those voting in favor of such confirmation were: , supervisor of the town of ; , town clerk of the town of ; , school commissioner of district, Columbia county. Those voting against confirming such 353 School Districts. order were: , supervisor of the town of ; , town clerk of the town of Now, Therefore, in accordance with such decision of the said local board, I, , school commissioner of the district of Columbia county, do hereby order, that school districts No. 2, town of , and No. 1, town of , county of Columbia, be and the same hereby are altered in manner following, viz. (give the alteration the same as in previous order) : It is also ordered, that this order take effect on the day of , 18 . (Signed) School Gommissiqner of school commissioner districttOolumhiaaounty, N. 7., Superiyisor of the town of , Oolumhia county, N. T. Toicn Clerk of the town of . Columbia county, IT. T. The confirmatory order is the one by which the alteration is made, and the first order, merely preliminary, inchoate and of no effect whatever until the same has been duly confirmed by the local board. PAY OF SUPERVISOR AND CLERK. § 5. The supervisor and town clerk shall be entitled each to one dollar and iifty cents a day, for each day's service in any such matter, to be levied and paid as a charge upon their tovnx. JOINT ACTION OP COMMISSIONERS. § 6. Whenever it may become necessary or convenient to form a school district out of parcels of two or more school commis- sioner districts, the commissioners of such districts, or a majority of them, may form such district ; and the commissioners within whose districts any such school district lies, or a majority of them, may alter or dissolve it. The jurisdiction of a school commissioner to form or alter school districts was by section 1 of this title made to extend over his commissioner district only. School districts frequently lie in two or more commissioner districts forming , joint school districts. A joint district cannot be formed or altered without the joint action of the commissioners, or a majority of them, in whose districts such joint school district lies. If the district lies in two commissioner districts both commissioners must unite in the order. The proceedings, however, are exactly the same as under the preceding sections, except that the concurrent action of the school commissioners is required. DISSOLUTION OP JOINT DISTRICT BY DISTRICT MEETING. § 7. If a school commissioner, by notice in writing, shall require the attendance of the other commissioner or commissioners, at a joint meeting for the purpose of altering or dissolving such a joint district, and a majority of all the commissioners shall refuse or School Disteicts. 253 neglect to attend, the commissioner or commissioners attending, or any one of them, may call a special meeting of such school dis- trict, for the purpose of deciding whether or no such district shall be dissolved ; and its decision of that question shall be as valid as though made by the commissioners. This section can become operative only in the rare case where a joint district lies in three or more commissioner districts, as it is only in such cases that the majority can neglect to attend. If a majority attend they can act under the preceding section. The meeting has power only to elect to dissolve the district. It does not extend to the question of alteration. If the meeting decides to dissolve the district a record of such action must be signed by the oflBcers of the meeting, and attached to the order of the commissioner or commissioners making the dissolution ; the whole proceedings to be filed in the town clerks' offices. After the dissolution is made the territory must be annexed to another dis- trict or districts. Each commissioner has jurisdiction over the part lying in his commissioner district. DEFINING BOUNDARIES. Title II. § 13. Every commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his duty : 1. From time to time to inquire and ascertain whether the boundaries of the school districts within his district are definitely and plainly described in the records of the proper town clerks : and in case the record of the boundaries of any school district shall be found defective or indefinite, or if the same shall be in dispute, then to cause the same to be amended, or an amended record of the boundaries to be made. All necessary expenses in- curred in establishing such amended records shall be a charge upon the district or districts affected, to be audited and allowed by the trustee or trustees thereof, npon the certificate of the school com- missioner. {As amended hy chap. 567, Laws q/lSTS.) The law requires that the record of the boundaries of all school districts shall be kept in the town clerks' offices of the towns in which the districts are situated. The duty is imposed upon the school commissioner to examine these records in the town clerks' offices, and whenever he shall find a record lost or injured to malce a new record. In case the record is found to be defective or indefinite, to amend the same ; or if the boundaries are in dispute to make a new record defining such boundaries. Where, in pursuance of the provisions of this section, it becomes the duty of the commissioner to cause an amended record of the boundaries of a school district to be made, he should establish the district lines as they were before, according to the best evidence he can obtain, and his order m the matter will 254 School Distkicts. not be considered as an alteration of the district boundaries. His order should recite the fact that no alteration of district boundaries is intended to be made but that a defective record is to be amended, under the provisions of the sec- tion and title above quoted. This order should be filed in the town clerk'a office, and notice thereof should be given by the commissioner to the trustees of the affected district. The previous consent of the trustees is not necessary. The commissioner can employ a surveyor if necessary to assist him in ascer. taining and defining the boundaries, and the expense shall be a charge up6ij the district. DISSOLVED DISTEICTS, DEBTS, OFFICERS AND PROPERTY OP. Title VI. § 8. When two or more districts shall be consolidated into one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights of property possessed by the annulled districts. Where two or more districts are consolidated, the united territory forms a new district. It is necessary to elect new trustees and other district officers, and the commissioner should give the notice provided by section 1 of title vii of this act. * • The public money which either district may have in the hands of the super- visor, unexpended, becomes applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and to the library of the consolidated district, without any distinction between the inhabitants or pupils of the former districts. If there is any money due to a teacher of either district, it should be drawn before the consolidation takes effect; or so much of it as is applicable to the payment of wages during the term in which they were earned. § 9. When a district is parted into portions, which are annexed to other districts, its property shall be sold by the supervisor of the town within wliich its school-house is situated, at pubhc auc- tion, after at least five days' notice by notices posted in three or more public places of the town in which the school-house is, one of which sliall be posted in the district so dissolved. The super- visor after deducting the expenses of the sale, shall apply its pro- ceeds to the payment of the debts of the district, and apportion the residue, if any, among the owners or possessors of taxable property in the district, in the ratio of their several assessments on the last corrected assessment roll or rolls of the town or towns, and pay it over accordingly. {As amended hy sec. 14, chap. 567, Laws o/'1875.) A district is annulled only when all its parts are annexed to other districts, so that nothing of the original district remains. If any of it remains as a distinct district, although designated by a new name and" number, it is not a case of annulling. In respect to the property to be sold: Property is defined in the Code of Procedure as including lands, tenements and hereditaments, money, goods, School Distbicts. 255 chattels, things in action and evidence of debt. The only point upon which much question is likely to arise regards the library of the annulled district. A portion of the books may have been purchased with money voted by the district and raised by tax upon the district. So far as these are concerned, they undoubtedly belong to the district and may be sold when it is annulled. In respect to those which have been purchased by the library money appor- tioned from the income of the United States deposit fund, the case is different. The money of the State was appropriated to tlie support of common schools by furnishing a library, and there is nothing to imply an intention that it should ever be diverted from its public purpose by becoming private property. The , trustees of the district are made trustees of the library, but the property in it, it is declared, " shall be deemed to be vested in such trustees, so as to enable them to maintain any action relative to the same." The legislature seems to have designed hereby to confer only a qualified property, for a specific purpose, retaining the general property in the people of the State of New York, pre cisely as the property of the library of the court of appeals, of the Attorney- General, etc., is held. It is believed, therefore, that the books, so far as they have been purchased from the funds of the State, should be distributed precisely as the money itself would be if it came to the hands of the commissioner for distribution on the day of the annulling of the district ; that is, should be assigned to the respective districts to which parts are annexed, in proportion to the number of children between four and twenty-one resident in such parts, according to the last report of the trustees. The debts must be ascertained from the trustees, and the supervisor should only pay them upon the written order of a majority of the trustees. It debts are claimed which are not admitted by the trustees, the money should be retained until any legal proceeding instituted for their collection is determined. The last corrected assessment roll is that which was delivered by the assessors to the supervisor to be laid before the board of supervisors. If in the equalization by the board of supervisors the valuation of real estate has been changed, the roll as thus varied by them is to be followed in dis- tributing the money. But the completion of a new roll by the assessors, and its delivery to the supervisor, supersedes the roll of the preceding year, although the latter has been and the former has not been passed upon by the board of supervisors. (7 Wend. 89.) In a district embracing parts of more than one town, where the proportion of taxes to be assessed upon the parts of such districts lying in different towns has been established by the supervisors of such towns, under section 89 of title 7, the proceeds of the sale are to be divided between the parts of the districts in the proportion thus established, and the shares of such parts then apportioned to the owners or possessors of taxable property, as these shall appear on the last corrected assessment roll of the town in which each part lies. § 10. The supervisor of the town within which the school-house of the dissolved district was situate may demand, sue for, and col- lect, in his name of office, any money of the district, outstanding in the hands of any of its former officers, or any other person ; md, after deducting his costs and expenses, shall report the bal- ance to the schodi commissioner, wbo shall apportion the same equitably among the districts to which the parts of the dissolved district were annexed, to be by them applied as their district meet- ing shall determine. 256 School Disteicts. The collector and trustees are the only officers of a district in whose hands there can be legitimately any money; such money may be the proceeds of a tax collected but not expended. In such case, the equitable mode of distribution would be to apportion it to the districts according to the amount which the owners or possessors of taxable property set off to each have contributed thereto; the same rule would hold in regard to the proceeds of the sale of school-houses or other property acquired by taxation. In case, however, the money is applicable to the payment of the current ex- penses of schools, such as the share of a town fund, the income of a school lot or the districts' proportion of fines for gambling, under chapter 504 of the Laws of 1851, the equitable rule of apportionment is to assign it to the districts in proportion to the number of pupils resident in the parts annexed to them respectively. § 11. Though a district be dissolved, it shall continue to exist in law, for the purpose of providing for and paying all its just debts ; and to that end the trustees and other oflBcers shall con- tinue in office, and the inhabitants may hold special meetings, elect officers to supply vacancies, and vote taxes ; and all other acts necessary to raise money and pay such debts, shall be done by the inhabitants and officers of the district. Though the statute contains no limitation of the time within which the trustees of a dissolved or consolidated district are required to discharge their duties under this section, there can be no valid reason for any longer delay than may be essential to ascertain its outstanding liabilities. The pendency of liti- gation, in respect to some of them, may put it out of the power of the trustees to act immediately, and their powers doubtless continue so long as any legal liability subsists; the existence of the district is maintained for this special purpose, with power to elect officers to fill vacancies, and to vote taxes, or any other legal act necessary for the single purpose of paying its just debts. § 12. The commissioner, or a majority of the commissioners in whose district or districts a dissolved school district was, shall, by his or their order in writing, delivered to the clerk of the district, or to any person in whose possession the books, papers and records of the district, or any of them, may be, direct such clerk or other person to deposit the same in the clerk's office in a town in the order named. Such clerk or other person, by neglect or refusal to obey the order, shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be applied to the benefit of common schools of said town. The commissioner or commissioners shall file a duplicate of the order with such clerk. LOSS OF PUBLIC MONEY TO A DISTRICT. Title XIII. Section 1. Whenever the share of school moneys, or any por- tion thereof, apportioned to any town, school district or separate School Bisteiots. 257 neighborhood, or any money to which a town, school district or separate neighborhood would have been entitled, shall be lost, in consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school commissioner, town clerk, trustees or clerks of school districts, the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town, school district or separate neighborhood so losing the same, the full amount of such loss, with interest thereon, 33 SCHOOL-HOUSES AND APPEND- AGES. Title VII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ******* 7. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the district to purchase, lease or improve such site or sites, and to hire, build or purchase such school-houses, and to keep in repair and furnish the same with necessary fuel and appendages. {As amended by see. 17, chap. 567, Zaws of 1875.) § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power: ******* 5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to bnild, hire or purchase such school-honse as may be so designated, and to keep in repair and furnish such school-house with necessary fuel and appendages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but such expense shall not exceed fifty dollars in any one year, unless authorized by the district or by law. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) The order of procedure in the matter of building a new school-house can be made a very simple one, although the proceedings oftentimes become confused through the lack of proper care to take each step alone and to have' the record carefully and correctly made. In so important a matter as this every resolu- tion submitted to the meeting should be reduced to writing and recorded by the clerk. The first thing for the meeting is to decide what they propose to do. A difference of opinion in districts is the rule. Bitter controversies resulting in appeals to the State Superintendent are frequent. A resolution either to pnr- cha.se, hire or build as the case may be should first be passed upon. If the resolution be to build a new school house, the meeting can proceed at once to vote an amount for this purpose. But considering the fact that it is difficult to make plans and build to fit a certain sum, it is the better way after the meeting has voted to build, to procure plans and specifications. This may require an adjournment. Some plan for the building should be adopted by the meeting. Let the estimate be carefully made and then the amount neces- sary to build in accordance with the accepted plans, voted. The meeting should order in what manner they desire the building to be erected, whether a contract shall be let or the work be done by the trustees. School-Houses akd Appestdages. 259 The trustees can, however, let the contract for building without a resolu- tion of the meeting. The building, when completed, should be carefully ex- amined to see that it complies with the plans and specifications, and that the contractor has fulfilled his part of the contract in all particulars. If the work has not been done according to contract the building need not be accepted. Ohangea. — The question frequently arises as to what changes can be made after the district meeting has acted upon the matter of building, or when a change can be made. A district meeting has the power under subdivision 13, section 16, title 7, "to alter, repeal and modify their proceedings from time to time, as occasion may require." At any time before a contract is let, or the building commenced under the direction of the meeting, the whole matter can be altered or the resolutions to build rescinded. The am nt voted for this purpose can also be increased or diminished. This is not the case where the proceedings have been taken under section 18 of title 7, and the amount voted to be raised in installments. When in the process of building it is found that the amount voted will not be sufiicient to • build according to plans adopted, the meeting, if the job is not let to a contractor, can change the plans or vote an additional amount. Building committee. — It is an old custom to appoint a building committee. While there is no authority of law for such a committee, there can be no harm done by their appointment so long as they do not attempt to usurp the powers of the trustees. They can act as an advisory board. ' They are those inhabit- ants which the district has requested the trustees to consult with in matters where the trustees do not desire to rely exclusively upon their own judgment. But otherwise the building committee has no powers. The trustees are the agents of the district, and the only persons who can make contracts therefor. Erecting with other buildingn. — While it is very desirable that every district should own an ample and commodious school-house, entirely separate from every other building, it sometimes happens in feeble districts that the scanti- ness of their means renders it necessary to consult economy by uniting with a religious society or other association in erecting two houses under the same roof; the upper story, for example, being a church or town hail, while the lower is a school-house. No legal objection is conceived to exist to such an arrangement, provided there is no objection raised in the district to such a course, and provided the district secures, by proper covenants: Fvrat, The undivided control at all times of the school rooms and of the doors and passages affording access thereto. Second, That the other rooms shall not be used at any time during school hours for an assemblage or purpose which can distract the attention of pupils or interfere, by noise or otherwise, with their instruction. Third, That the parties using the other rooms shall pay the whole, or a definite proportion, of the expense of such repairs upon those rooms, or the roof or other parts of the building, as the district shall, from time to time, deem necessary for main- taining the school-house in good condition and protecting it from injury by leakage or otherwise. Fourth, That those parties shall pay the expense of any insurance necessary to protect the district from the increased risk of fire, caused by any use to which the other parts of the building may be put. The best mode to secure the performance of these covenants is for the district to insert them as a condition, in a lease of the rooms, to be executed by the trustees — the district retaining the general title to the site and every thing upon it — and the lease to terminate upon a breach of any of the conditions, besides authorizing, in express terms, the trustees to recover any damages the district may sustain by a failure to perfonn any of the conditions. It should also contain an express provision that whenever a district meeting shall deter- mine that the residue of the building is needed for school purposes, the same shall become its property upon payment of the then appraised value of the labor and materials used in its construction. In regard to the power to vote a tax for a school-house, the question some- times arises how far it is permissible that the house should be connected with 260 School-Houses and Appeitdages. other erections made for difEerent purposes, and subject to other control than that of the district. It is held that there can be no partnership in the erecticm of a school-house which wUl prevent the district from controlling it entirely for the purpose of a district school, and that a tax cannot be voted for a build- ing for joint use as a church and school-house, or an academy and school- house. It is not essential, however, to constitute a house, that it should include the whole of the building on wMch it is contained. Apartments, with an outer door to each, and having no communication with each other, are con- sidered as distinct houses, though they originally made but one. If, under color of this corporate power of a district,- the district should vote . to erect an expensive and ornamental building, with a view to improve the neighborhood, to enhance the value of real estate, to accommodate societies, lecturers, dramatic exhibitions, or even to have a convenient place for reli- gious meetings or public worship, or for any other use than that of a district school, it would not be within the legitimate authority of a school district, and any vote to levy a tax on the inhabitants for such purpose would be void." In that very case, however, the court sustained a tax of $1,700, voted with hb- erty of certain persons "to build a hall over the school-house, with the privi- lege of an entrance and stair- way in the front entry of said house, in consid- eration that the district may have the use of said hall, free of charge, for all school district meetings, for all examinations of its schools, and for the dehv- ery of lectures on the subject of education, no public meeting being held in said hall during the usual school hours unless by consent of the prudential committee of the district, and the proprietors of said hall insuring the whole building." {^pr&me Oov/rt of Massachusetts, 6 Mete. 510.) Recommendations concerning. — In subd. 3, § 13, title 2, it is made the duty of the school commissioner to visit all the school districts in his district and to examine into the condition of the school-houses, sites, out-buildings and appendages, and to advise with and consult the trustees and other officers of the district in relation to their duties, and particularly in respect to the con- struction, warming and ventilation of school-houses and the improving and adorning of the school grounds connected therewith. It is highly important that an earnest appeal be made to the trustees and inhabitants of the several school districts to give attention to the condition and improvement of school-houses and grounds. It is not possible to have schools high-toned and in healthy spirit where inattention to comfort and beauty exists. If any element of character unfavorable to order and progress is called into morbid activity, it may often be traced to this source. Health of body and vigor of mind should be carefully regarded. There should never be too long confinement in school rooms. Pure air is absolutely indispensable. It has been suggested, by distinguished writers on education, that six hours of daily confinement will impair the health of the great majority of pupils; that, with the very best ventilation, no school room containing a score or more of children can be as healthy as the open air; hence, that no pupil should be kept in school for a longer time than is necessary to fix his attention upon his lessons. Growth and development of body are indispensa- ble to the future well-being of the child and to realize the ideal of a well-con- stituted man or woman. To this end the enjoyment of pure, fresh air, uncon- strained attitudes of body, ample exercise and exhilarating play, are absolutely necessary; and these, the school-house, its location and grounds, should sup- ply. The mind of every chUd craves, receives and assimilates knowledge. We should so adapt our educational facilities that the desire for intellectual acquirement shall remain through Life unimpaired. But very many children are so stupefied by the noxious air which they are compelled to breathe six hours every day, their vital apparatus so wearied, that they acquire an abhor- rence of school and a disgust for study which are never eradicated. It is in the nature of things that any exertion, connected with physical suffering or oppressive sense of constraint, induces repugnance. Hence, in spite of the efforts employed to impress such children with an earnest conviction of the importance of a good education, they regard the school room as a prison, the School-Houses and Appendages. 261 vacation as a season of delight, and adult age as the era of emancipation from an arduous bondage. It is the vocation of the commissioners to discover and suggest a correction for these evils. When they visit school-houses, they should notice whether they are properly located. Many are situated on the line of the highway. They should be removed from it sufficiently far to escape its noise, dust and other inconveniences. If they are old, and a few boards aud shingles and a little paint will improve their external appearance, and make them internally more safe and comfortable, these should be applied. If the doors are broken or the seats and desks marred, they should be repaired and adapted to the physical comfort of the pupils; if the grounds need grading it should be done; if pools of stagnant water are near, they should be drained and filled; if proper fencing is required, let the subject receive prompt attention. Trees should be planted, shrubs and flowers should be set. Let free application be made of broom, brush and lime, to renovate the interior of the school room. Willing hands enough can be found in every school district to make all the improve- ments suggested, provided attention is directed to their importance. Certainly it is the school-house, if any building, which ought to be constructed and pre- served with care and surrounded with pleasant scenery. Few parents would reside in a dwelling constructed with as little regard to beauty and comfort as are many of our school-houses. They should care as well for the place where their children congregate for instruction. They should be impressed with the conviction, that there the associations of nature and art should be attractive, to secure on the part of scholars a love for their school; that associations with order and beauty give birth, in the minds of the young, to pure and holy emo- tions, whose happy influence will establish them in purity of desire and thought. The attention of trustees should be called to this subject; and, if possible, they should be induced to appoint a suitable day for making necessary improve- ments aud embellishments. § 17. No school-house shall be built so as to stand, in whole or in part, upon the division line of any two towns. § 18. No tax voted by a district meeting for building, hiring or purchasing a school-house, exceeding the sura of five hundred dollars, shall be levied by the trustees unless the commissioner in whose district the school-house of said district is situated shall certify in writing his approval of such larger sum. And no school-house shall be built in any school district of this State until the plan of such school-house, so far as ventilation, heat and lighting is concerned, shall be approved in writing by said school commissioner. But nothing herein contained shall invalidate any tax that shall or niay be hereafter levied for building or repair- ing school-houses which in other respects comply with existing statutes. {As amended hy seo. 9, chap. 406, La/ws of 1867, and by sec. 1, chap. 528, Laws of 1881, amd hy sec. 1, ch^p. 294, Laws of 1883.) The district meeting can vote any amount they desire for the erection of a new school-house, but the trustees by this section are prohibited from levying any tax for this purpose of over $500, without the approval in writing of the 263 School-Houses and Appendages. school commissioner of such, larger sum. It is the tax that is limited to $500, not the expense of building the house, which may include, in addition, the avails of the sale of the former house and site. If, after the expenditure of $500 in building the house, the tax is found in- sufficient to finish it, the commissioner may certify that a further sum necessary, specifying it, ought to be raised, and the inhabitants may vote a tax for the amount so certified. If this additional amount prove insufficient, the commissioner may again certify and the inhabitants vote a further tax. The commissioner whose certificate is to be obtained is the one having juris- diction of the town in which the school-house is to be erected. The law for- bids the division of a town in forming an assembly district or in dividing a county into school commissioner districts. Section 17 of this title also pro- vides that ' ' no school-house shall be erected so as to stand on the division line of any two towns." The limitation of this section applies only to the acJiool-Jimise. The amount of tax which may be voted for purchase or lease of site, and for repairs, furniture, fuel and appendages, is left wholly to the discretion of the district. It is not necessary that the approval of the commissioner to the tax be ob- tained before the tax can be voted. The meeting can vote it, but before it can be levied the approval must be received. The plans of a new school-house ' ' so far as ventilation, heat and lighting is concerned," must be approved by the school commissioner before the buUding can be erected. § 19. Whenever a majority of all the inhabitants of any school district entitled to vote, to be ascertained by taking and record- ing the ayes and noes of such inhabitants attending at any annual, special, or adjourned school district meeting, legally called or held, shall determine that the sum proposed and provided for in the next preceding section shall be raised by installments, it shall be the duty of the trustees of such district, and they are hereby authorized to cause the same to be raised, levied and collected in equal installments in the same manner and with like authority that other school taxes are raised, levied and collected, and to make out their tax list and warrant for the collection of such in- stallments, with interest thereon as they become payable accord- ing to the vote of the said inhabitants ; but the payment or col- lection of the last installment shall not be extended beyond ten years from the time such vote was taken ; and no vote to levy any such tax shall be reconsidered except at an adjourned general or special meeting to be held within thirty days thereafter, and the same majority shall be required for reconsideration that was had to impose such tax. For the purpose of giving effect to these provisions, trustees are hereby authorized, whenever a tax shall have been voted to be coEected in installments for the pur- pose of building a new school-house, to borrow so much of the School-Houses and Appendages. 263 sura voted as may be necessary at a rate of interest not exceed- ing six per cent, and to issue bonds or other evidences of in- debtedness tberefor, which shall be a charge upon the district and be paid at maturity, and which shall not be sold below par ; due notice of the time and place of the sale of such bonds shall be given at least ten days prior thereto. [As ameiidedhy sec. 18, chap. 567, Laws of 1875, and hy sec. 2, chap. 528, Zaws of 1881.) When an amount over $500 is voted for building, hiring or purchasing a school-house it can he raised in installments, and if it is for the purpose of building a new school-house, the trustees can issue bonds bearing not to ex- ceed six per cent interest for the payment of the several installments. When this method is adopted it is necessary that the vote at the meeting ordering it, be taken by the ayes and noes and that the same be recorded. The meaning of the statute is that the clerk shall record the name of each person voting and the way such person voted upon the question. A meeting once having taken this action the proceedings can be changed or rescinded at an adjourned meeting held -vtrithin thirty days after the meeting at which the action was taken. But if the action is not changed at an adjourned meeting within thirty days, it must stand and no subsequent meeting can alter it. The install- ments must be equal and the time for the payment of each fixed. After the amount and date 3f payment is fixed md the bonds (in cases where bonds are issued) sold it would be the greatest injustice for the district to change either the amount of the installment, the rate of interest or the date of payment. The bondholders must know upon what they can depend. As each installment becomes due the trustees must issue the tax-list and warrant for the amount of the same, including the interest due thereon. No direction or authority of the district meeting is necessary. Such authority was given when the tax was first voted. The general practice has been, and is believed to accord best with the intent of the statute, for the trustees to make out their tax-list for the first install- ment upon the taxable property as it then exists, and for their successors to make separate tax-lists thereafter upon the taxable property as it exists at the time the installments respectively become payable. Persons may thus become subject to the tax who had no means of jesisting its imposition; but the erec- tion of a school-house is to be regarded as a permanent benefit to the district, and they voluntarily assume the burden of paying for it by becoming inhabi- tants. It would seem necessary that the warrant for the collection of the last installment should be returned within ten years from the time of taking the vote, and therefore that the tax-list for it should be made out at least thirty days before that time. It will be noticed that bonds can only be issued when the tax to be raised in installments is for the purpose of building a new school-house. The tax can be raised in installments to purchase or hire a building, but the money cannot be borrowed by the trustees and bonds issued to pay the saine. The rate of interest that all bonds are to bear must be fixed by the district meeting. The trustees should sell the bonds at public sale, giving ten days' notice of such sale, and cannot sell the bonds below the par value thereof. PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR SCHOOL-HOUSES. Chapter 675, Laws of 1887. Section 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby authorized and directed to procure architect's plans and 364 School-Houses an^d Appehtdagbs. specifications for a series of school buildings, to cost sums rang- ing from six hundred to ten thousand dollars, together with full detail working plans and directions for the erection of the same. After procuring said plans and specifications, he shall accompany the same with blank forms for builders' contracts and with sug- gestions in relation to the preparation of the grounds and the ar- rangement of the building with regard to lighting, heating, venti- lating and the health and convenience of teachers and pupils, and then publish the whole in convenient form for distribution to trustees and others having use for the same. CONDEMNING SCHOOL-HOUSE. Title II. § 13. Every commissioner phaU have power, and it shall be his duty: ******* 4. By an order under his hand, reciting the reason or reasons to condemn a school-house, if he deems it whoUy unfit for use and not worth repairing, and to deliver the order to the trustees or one of them, and transmit a copy to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Such order, if no time for its taking effect be stated in it, shall take effect immediately. He shall also state what sum, not exceeding eight hundred dollars, will, in his opin- ion, be necessary to erect a school-house capable of accommodat- ing the children of the district. Immediately upon the receipt of said order, the trustee or trustees of such district shall call a special meeting of the inhabitants of said district for the purpose of considering the question of building a school-house therein. Such meeting shall have power to determine the size of said school-house, the material to be used in its erection, and to vote a tax to build the same ; but such meeting shall have no power to reduce the estimate made by the commissioner aforesaid by more than twenty-five per centum of such estimate. And where no tax for building such house shall have been voted by such district within thirty days from the time of holding the first meeting to consider the question, then it shall be the duty of the trustee or trustees of such district to contract for the building of a school- house capable of accommodating the children of the district, and School-Houses and Appekdages. 365 to levy a tax to pay for the same, which tax shall not exceed the sum estimated as necessary by the commissioner aforesaid, and which shall not be less than such estimated sum by more than twenty-five per centum thereof. But such estimated sum may be increased by a vote of the inhabitants at any school meeting sub- sequently called and held according to law. (As amended hy sec. 2, cha^. 406, Lcuws of 1867, mid chap. 592, Laws of 1887.) >i The power conferred upon the commissioner in the foregoing subdivision, though highly arbitrary, is nevertheless important and may be found in some cases indispensably necessary. It is probable, however, that the fact of such a power in reserve will render quite infrequent the occasion for its exercise. But when its exercise is found to be necessary, it should be put forth with firmness and resolution. The use of this power is generally reserved until after a district has refused to build or it becomes apparent that it is not the intention of the inhabitants to take any steps in the proper direction. The commissioner should inspect the building, and if in his opinion it is wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing, ma!ke an order condemning it. Form of Order. In the matter of condemning the school-house in school district No. , town of , county of I, A. B., school commissioner of the commissioner district of the county of , do hereby certify that I did, on the day of , 18 , make an examination of the school-house in school district No. of said town, which said school house is situated in the town and school commissioner dis- trict aforesaid. I further state that I find the said school-house ( here state the condition of the building). For these reasons I deem the said school-house wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing, and I do hereby order that the said school-house be and the same hereby is condemned. I do further certify that in my opinion the sum of $ will be necessary to erect a school-house in said district capable of accommodating the children of the district. Signed this day of , 18 . A. B., School Commissioner of the com- missioner district of Covmty. Such order must be immediately served upon the trustees of the district and a copy thereof transmitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The first duty of the trustees is to call a special meeting immediately upon the receipt of the order for the purpose of considering the question of building a new school-house. Such meeting has all the powers hereinbefore enumerated in this chapter for providing for the building of a new school-house. The tax for a new house must not be more than twenty-five per cent less than the amount certified by the commissioner. A larger amount can be voted if the meeting desires. If the district meeting does not vote a tax for building such house within thirty days from the time of holding the first meeting to consider the question, the trustees are directed to proceed with the building without a vote of the 34 266 SoHOOL-HousBS and Appendages. district. The tax-list and warrant can be issued by the trustees, but the amount must not exceed the estimate of the commissioner and must not be less than such estimated sum by more than twenty-five per cent thereof. INSURANCE. Title VII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled ill any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the votes of those present : * * * * Sr * » 11. To authorize the trustees to cause the school-house or school-houses, and their furniture, appendages and school appa- ratus to be insured by any insurance company created by or under the laws of this State. The foregoing section and sub-division thereof gives the district meeting power to authorize the trustees to insure the school-house, furniture, append^ ages and apparatus in any insurance company created by or under the laws of this State, and the following subdivision of section forty-nine makes it the duty of the trustees to procure such insurance. § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power: ******* 7. When thereto authorized, by a meeting of the district, to insure the school-house or school-houses, and their furniture, and the school apparatus, in some company created by or under the laws of this State, and to comply with the conditions of the policy, and raise the premiums by a district tax. CUSTODY AND USE OF SCHOOL-HOUSE. § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict and they shall have power : * * * * * * » 6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the district school- house or houses, their ^ites and appurtenances. § 52. The trustees, or any one of them, if not forbidden by another, may freely permit the school-house, when not in use for the district school, to be used by persons assembling therein for the purpose of giving and receiving instruction in any branch of education or learning, or in the science or practice of music. Trustees are charged with the custody of the school -house for the purpose of public instruction; and it is their duty to exercise ageneral supervision over its care and management that the instruction of the pupils in the schools shall not be embarrassed by any use of the house other than for school purposes, and that the property of the district, and the furniture, books and papers belonging to the school or the pupils shall not be destroyed or injured. Any use of the School-Houses and Appendages. 267 house in subordination to these restrictions, and not inconsistent with the main purposes^ for which it was designed, may be allowed by the trustees, or any one of them, under authority of section 53 of this title, which was passed to prevent the disputes continually arising about the right and power of the trust- ees to permit the school-house to be used for any purpose but a common school. Whenever the trustees do permit the house to be used for instruction in music, or for lectures, or for any other educational purpose, it would seem to be the duty of the trustees to require such a remuneration for the use as may be suf- ficient to clean the rooms, and to indemnify the district against casual damage and wear. There is no good reason why the expenses of the district should not be lightened by the trifling revenue derivable from the occasional use of its house, when not wanted for school purposes, and in a manner not to inter- fere with them. The trustees, however, cannot make any permanent contract for the occupation of the school-house. They can simply give a license, revoc- able at their own discretion, which they cannot by contract foreclose them- selves from exercising as the public good may require at any moment. Strictly speaking, under section 52, they can grant no right to use the district property for any other than educational purposes ; they can only by their acquiescence estop themselves from bringing an action for the act of entering the school house, which would otherwise be a trespass. Nothing should be tolerated which may give occasion to a controversy among the irihabitants. As the custody of the building is vested in all the trustees, all have the right of visiting and inspecting it at all times, and a majority of the trustees cannot exclude the third. Any onp of the trustees may prevent the school-house from being used for any purpose except the common school, by forbidding the others to give their con- sent to such use. Sdigious meetings — •, The purpose for which the use of the school-house is most frequently asked is that of holding religious meetings ; and it is also a most prolific source of dispute in the district. The department has always ruled the same upon this question. It is in the power of the trustees to grant the use of the school-house for this purpose, provided the district school is not in any way interfered with and the property of the district is not injured. The custody of the school-house is given to the trustees and a district meeting has no control over the matter. It sometimes seems that where a trustee refuses to allow the school-house to be used for this or the purpose named in section 53 against the wish of the inhabitants of the district they will direct the trustees to permit such use of the building at a district meeting, or appeal to the State Superintendent. While there is a certain respect trustees should pay to the wishes of the district they are not legally bound to obey such instructions in this matter ; neither can the Superintendent order them to allow the school- house to be so used. If, on the other hand, the power vested in the trustees is used so that injury results to the school or the district property, the Super- intendent will restrain them. So common is the desire of one class or another in a district to put school property to other than school uses, and so constant and bitter is the contro- versy engendered thereby, that it seems inevitable that the position must sooner or later be taken that school buildings must be used for no other than purely educational purposes, where objection to such other use is offered by any interested resident of the district. REPAIRS, OUTBUILDINGS AND NUISANCES. Title II. § 13. Every school commissioner shall have power, and it shall be his duty : 268 School-Houses and Appen-dages. 2. To visit and exaraiue all the schools and school districts within his district * « * * and the condition of the school-houses, sites, outbuildings and appendages * * » « 3. Upon such examination, to direct the trustees to make any alteration or repair on the school-house or outbuildings which shall, ia his opinion, be necessary for the health or comfort of the pupils, but the expense of making such alterations or repairs shall, in no case, exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless an additional sum shall be voted by the district. He may also direct the trustees to abate any nuisance in or upon the premises, pro- vided the same can be done at an expense not exceeding twenty- five dollars. (As amended by sec. 2, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) In' the same section and subdivision thereof that gives the power to district meetings to vote a tax to build is given the power to vote a tax to repair the school-house or outbuildings. (S«6. 7, sec 16, title 7.) The district meeting is not limited in the amount it can vote for the purpose of repairing. It may direct what the repairs are to consist of, or leave it to the discretion of the trustees ; the former, however, is the better plan. A meeting sometimes will order repairs wdthout voting a tax therefor. In such cases the direction of the meeting should be very plain, so that the trustees can follow it. The trustees can then, after the repairs are made, and the cost ascertained, issue their tax-list and warrant without any further direction of the meeting under the authority given them in section 51, title 1. It is the duty of the inhabitants of the district to look jealously after the interests of the children in the matter of a good, convenient, well-warmed and ventilated school-house. When this duty is disregarded) and the district meeting will not direct the proper repairs, and the trustees do not settle for the reason that the amount that they can expend on their own motion wiU not be suilicient, or that they possess the same neglectful spirit as the district, . it becomes the duty of the school commissioner to examine the premises, and if he finds the building worth repairing, to make an order in writing direpting the repairs. This order must be served on the trustees, who are bound to obey it; and for a refusal can be removed from ofSce. It may be advisable in many cases after such an order has been made by the commissioner for the trustees to call a special meeting of the inhabitants to consider the subject of repairs. The order can only provide for repairs to the cost of two hundred dollars, and this may be less than the building needs. The inhabitants, seeing that this amount vrill have to be expended, may be willing to vote an increase so that the building can be put in thorough repair. It is the ruling of the department that the order will cover all repairs in or upon the school-house or outbuildings, and will include the reseating of the school-room, where the seats are fastened to and intended to become a part of the building. Title YIL § 50. The trustees may expend in necessary and proper repairs of each school-house under their charge a sum not exceeding twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may also expend a sum, School-Houses and Appendages. 269 not exceeding fifty dollars, in the erection of necessary outbuild- ings, when the district is wholly unprovided with such buildings, upon the direction of the school commissioner in whose district such school-house is situated, or of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. They may also make any repairs, and abate any nuisances, pursuant to the direction of the school commis- sioner as hereinbefore provided, ***«***. It becomes necessary, constantlv, to make slight repairs upon tlie buildings. Windows are breaJ^ing, doors, looks, black boards, chimneys, steps and many other parts of the school-house require immediate repairing. It is the duty of the trustees to look after these matters and make the repairs. For this purpose they can use not to exceed twenty dollars, in any one year without a vote of the district meeting, and can include the amount in their tax-list. This can be expended by the trustees, also, in addition to any amount that the district meeting may have voted or the school commissioner ordered. OUT-HOUSES. The school premises should be provided with suitable out-houses for both sexes. The district meeting should make provision for the building, and the repairs necessary from time to time if not of too expensive a nature can be made by the trustees. An old dilapidated or filthy out-house is a nuisance and can be removed by order of the school commissioner (subd. 3, § 13, title 2). Alterations or repairs can also be ordered by the commissioner to the amount of two hundred dollars. This order before referred to is not confined to repairs for the school-house, but may be in part or wholly for the outbuildings. When the district is wholly unprovided with the necessary outbuildings, the trustees can expend a sum not exceeding fifty dollars upon the direction of the school commissioner in whose district the school-house is situated or of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Chapter 538, Laws of 1887. Section 1. From and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, the board of education, or the trustee or trustees having supervision over any school district of this State, shall provide suitable and convenient water-closets or privies for each of the schools under their charge, at least two in number, which shall be entirely separated each from the other and having separate means of access, and the approaches thereto shall be separated by a substantial close fence not less than seven feet in height. It shall be the duty of the oflScers aforesaid to keep the same in a clean and wholesome condition, and a failure to comply with the provisions of this act on the part of the trustees shall be 270 School-Houses and Appendages. sufficient grounds for removal from office, and for withholding from the district any share of the public moneys of the State. Any expense incurred by the trustees aforesaid in carrying out the requirements of this act shall be a charge upon the district, when such expense shall have been approved by the school com- missioner of the district within which the school district is located; and a tax may be levied therefor without a vote of the district. This chapter does not 'disturb the existing provisions of law, hereinbefore given, but makes it obligatory upon trustees to provide and keep in repair suitable water-closets or privies, and prescribes penalties for a failure so to do. From and after the first day of September, 1887, each public school in the State must be provided with at least two water-closets or privies in respect to which the statute gives the following direction : I. They shall be suitable and convenient. 3. They shall be entirely separated from each other. 3. They shall have separate means of access. 4. The approaches thereto shall be separated by a substantial close fence not less than seven feet in height. 5 . They shall be kept in a clean and wholesome condition. It is not contemplated by this act that there must be separate vaults. The two privies or water-closets can be built over the same vault, and stiU answer all the requirements of the law. The district meeting can provide for such outbuildings, but if it does not move in the matter, the trustees mtist act themselves. No excuse is suflBcient to take them out from the provisions of the statute. If it is not promptly and strictly complied with, the State Superintendent may remove them from office. And if a district is so derelict that it may neither elect trustees who will obey the law, nor at its meetings make ample provision for carrying out the direc- tions of this chapter, the public money may be withheld from such district. The expense should be provided for by the district meeting, but if no action is taken, the trustees can issue a tax list and warrant for the necessary amount, provided the school commissioner first approves of such sum. For this reason it will always be desirable first to consult with the commissioner before making the expenditur3 so that the trustees will not use a greater amount than he will approve of. SALE OF SCHOOL-HOUSE. When a district having an old school-house elects to build a new one the district meeting should direct the disposition to be made of the old building. The best way is to have the trustees sell it at public auction, and apply the proceeds toward the construction of the new one. The sale of the school-house is authorized under two other conditions, as follows: First. When a district has been annulled and all its territory annexed to other districts the supervisor of the town in which the school-house of the an- nulled district is situate is directed to sell the same at public auction, giving five days' notice of such sale. (Sec. 9, title 6. See, also, chapter on School- districts — Property of.) The proceeds are to be used for the payment of any debts owing by the district, and the residue should be apportioned among the taxable inhabitants of the district. Second. Where the site of a school-house has been changed, the sale of the old building is authorized by the following: School-Houses and appen-dages. 271 Title VII. § 21. Whenever the site of a sehool-houBe shall have been changed, as herein provided, the inhabitants of a district entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon and appur- tenances, or any part thereof, at such price and upon such terms as they shall deem proper ; and any deed duly executed by the trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance of such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate or interest of such school district in the premises, and when a credit shall be directed to be given upon such sale for the consideration money, or any part thereof, the trustees are hereby authorized to take, in their corporate name, such security, by bond and mortgage or otherwise, for the payment thereof as they shall deem best, and shall hold the same as a corporation and account therefor, to their successors in office, and to the district, in the manner they are now required by law to account for moneys received by them ; and the trustees of any such district for the time being may, in their name of office, sue for and recover the moneys due and unpaid upon any security so taken by them or their predecessors. The next section provides for the disposition of the moneys arising from the sale of the school-house. § 22. All moneys arising from any sale made in pursuance of the last preceding section, shall be applied to the expenses incurred in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting thereon a school-house, and improving and furnishing such site and house, and their appendages, so far as such application shall bo necessary ; and the surplus, if any, shall be devoted to the purchase of school apparatus and the support of the school, as the inhabitants at any annual meeting shall direct. Cross Beferences — As to what property is exempt from tax to build a new school-house, see chapter on Taxes (sec. 73, title 7). DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. A school-house built by the contributions of the inhabitants was burned by the enemy, and compensation was subsequently awarded by the government, 272 School-Houses and Appendages. the village having been in the meantime organized as a school district. Held, that the money belonged to the school district, and to those who contributed to the building. {Clumcery, 1837, Potter v. Chopin, 6 Paige, 639.) Repairs. — A vote of the district to raise a tax, directing that it shall not be levied until the repairs it is designed to pay for are made, held valid tmder 1 Revised Statutes, 478, section 61, subdivision 5. {Supreme Court, 1840, FoU somy. Streeter, 2iWend. 266.) A vote to raise $400, by tax to build a school-house, and directing the trustees to sell the old building and treat the avails as so much of the fund in hand, held, valid. (5 HUl, 46.) SCHOOL-HOUSE SITES. DESIGNATIONS OF, TAX FOE. Title VII. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assem- bled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ******* 6. To designate a site for a school-house, or, with the consent of the commissioner or commissioners within whose district or dis- tricts the school district lies, to designate sites for two or more school-honses for the district . 7. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the district to purchase lease or improve such site or sites, * * *. ' ******* § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : *■ ***** 5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district. * * * By these sections a district meeting when legally assembled has the power to designate a site for the school-house, and with the consent of the school com- missioner, two or more sites for the school-houses of the district. The trustees are made the agents of the district to carry out the instructions of the meeting in the matter. This is the power and duty of the trustees, and cannot be delegated by the meeting to other persons. The designation of a site must be made by a written resolution, in which the description u given by metes and bounds. The selection may be made in advance by the trustees or any other person, the title investigated, the price agreed on, and all preliminary terms of the purchase settled. A silrvey should be actually made, and the dimensions precisely known. The passage of a resolution designating a site will then be the formal act of the meeting. But the site will not be determined by such a vote so as to f equire a special meeting to change it, until a legal title has been acquired by the execution and delivery of a deed, or by the making of a valid contract for the purchase, which, to be 35 274 School-House Sites. binding under the statute of frauds, must be In writing, under seal, and sub- scribed by the parties to be bound thereby. There is a great difference between an additional site and an addition to a site. An additional site is a separate and distinct .site, when the district already owns one or more, thus making- two or more school-house sites in the same district. An addition to a site is neither an additional site nor a change of site; but it is merely adding more land to or enlarging the site. The dis- trict meeting can enlarge or add to the site without the consent of the com- missioner. The question frequently arises whether the district has a title to a site, so as to render a new dtsignation equivalent to an additional site requiring the consent of the school commissioner, or a change of site requiring a meeting called by special notice for that purpose. It is ordinarily started in consequence of doubts as to the title of a site actually occupied or claimed by the district, growing out of the want of a deed, or the loss of a deed without its having been recorded, where one was originally executed. A right in real estate may be acquired either by grant, by deed duly exe- cuted and delivered, or by an adverse possession of twenty years under claim of title, in which case the law presumes a grant, or by a valid contract for the conveyance, where a court of equity will enforce a specific performance, or , in the case of the public, by dedication. In reference to the first mode: In the case of occupation under a grant, it is not material that the deed has been lost, for the paper itself is but evidence of the fact, and, upon showing its loss, the existence and contents of the deed may be proved by other testimony; nor is the fact of its not having been re- corded material, for the recording act is only for the benefit of purchasers in good faith and without notice, and the possession of real estate is held by the courts to be sufficient notice to put a purchaser upon inquiry as to ihe rights of the party in possession, and to charge him with notice of all facts to which such inquiry might have led. As to the second mode of acquiring title, by adverse possession, it may be first remarked, that a niere naked possession, without any claim of right or title, will not constitute a defense against oae who can prove a better right of possession. The possession of a person who has no title, no right of posses- sion, and sets up no claim of right, will be deemed the possession of the real owner, and will inure to his benefit. Many school-house sites in the State are held by adverse possession. The school trustees sometimes failed to procure deeds of conveyance, and some- times failed to have them recorded; and so, in process of time, they have been mislaid and lost, and all evidence of their existence is gone. In all such cases, when the district has claimed title and kept possession for twenty years and upward, the title is held adversely. But there must be a claim of title, and this claim must be of the entire title, and one which necessarily excludes the idea of title in any other. A squatter's forcible entry cannot ripen into a valid title, for it lacks the element of a claim of title. It is a possession under the lawful owner only. An adverse possession must be an actual and hostile pos- session. It involves an assumption of the right to the land in question, from the time it is alleged to have commenced, and a continued holding with the assertion of right. It must be visible and notorious, and exclude the exercise of ownership by the other party, and must be hostile in such sense as to indi- cate intent to occupy exclusively. (9 Wend. 511; 9 Johns. 180; 5 Cow. 74; 17 Ba/rb. 663; 3 Smith's S. G. 39; 9 Cow. 530; 5 id. 346; id. 539; 5 Wend. 532; 9 JoJms. 174.) The district can hold oijly what has been actually occupied. If there is no written title, and reliance is placed upon possession with an assertion of title, only so much laud can be retained as is under actual improvement. If there has been possession of the house only, and the land on which it stands, then only so much land can be retained. If there has been a yard inclosed by a fence, then all the land that has been so inclosed can be retained. (1 JoJms. 158; 3 .id. 234; id. 230; 7 Wend. 63.) School-House Sites. 275 Where there has been an actual occupation of premises in any of the modes above described, an oral claim, of exclusive right is suiHcient, without the pre- tension that such claim is founded upon a written instrument, and a claim of title even under a paper altogether void and inoperative as a deed will yet characterize a possession as adverse. (34 Wend. 604.) The possession is evi- dence only of such title as the party has asserted. If, therefore, the claim has been only to hold at sufferance, or conditionally, or for a term of years, it can never ripen into a better title. If laud has been conveyed to a district to be held so long as it shall be used for a school house site or for school purposes, then uijon the abandonment of the site, and the removal of the house to some other location (and the house should be removed before the site is abandoned), the land will revert to the original grantor, or to his heirs and assigns. If adjoining land be purchased, and the house removed to the new purchase, but the former premises be still retained and used as a yard or play ground, the district will still hold it. If a house has been built upon land held under a lease, and the title has come from the lessee, then the district can hold only during the term of the lease. It behooves a district to see that land is not bought of persons who have only a life estate, or a leasehold, or any title less than a fee-simple, for it is a general rule that a man cannot grant any higher title or greater estate than he owns. A district may, in the fourth place, acquire title to a site by dedication, which means the setting apart for public use, in some solemn manner, a lot of land, for a street, or a park, or a square, or a market, or a church, or a school-house, or other public purpose. This may be done by deed, or by a map on which lots are marked off for public use. In the case of Potter v. Oliapin, 6 Pmge,6d9, the inhabitants of a village and others contributed money, labor and materials, and built a school-house for the general benefit of the inhabitants, and the court held that this was a dedication to the village public for the purposes of education, which would be upheld in equity. This dedication may be with or without writing, if it be for public, pious or charitable purposes, provided the person making- it devotes it by some open and public declaration, or refers to it in deeds, or maps, as a plot, or piece of land set apart for such use; as if a man should lay out a tract of land into city or village lots, and mark some of them "school lot," "market lot," "church lot." {See Penn. 8t. M., p. 443.) All that is required is the assent of the owner of the land, clearly manifesting his purpose to make a permanent appropriation, and the fact of its being used for the public purpose intended by the appropriation. (See 6 Sill, 412.) If the district has need of more than one site, the power to designate is qualified, and must be preceded by the consent of the school commissioner, or commissioners, within which the district, or districts, are situated. The pro- vision for more than one site and school-house is intended to obviate the in- ducements to a division of districts. There are great' advantages in large and populous districts; and it has always been the policy of the department to discourage their division, unless it becomes necessary on account of the great distance which children are compelled to travel in going to school. It may often be convenient to have a school -house for very young children separate from that attended by those more advanced. In cases of dissatisfaction with a teacher, there is the opportunity for parents to exercise a choice without the serious injury to the course of instruction which results from withdraw- ing their children entirely from the public schools. It may frequently be profitable to hire temporarily a building or rooms for an additional school- house, and the trustees should be prompt to exercise that power under the last clause of section 50 of this title. In answer, therefore, to the question, what title to a site a district should have, in order to require the consent of the commissioner to the purchase of an additional site, or a change of site requiring a meeting called by special notice for that purpose, it may Be said : "A title in fee simple or a right to 276 School- House Sites. occupy as long as the site is used for scliool purposes, or as long as a stipu- lated rent is paid; or a title by adveree possession or dedication. In these cases a district may be said to own the site, which it hardly does when a site is leased for a year or a defined term of years. Tax for dte. — It is not necessary to designate a site before laying a tax to build a school-house. (17 Wend. 437; 3 Denio, 116.) The same rule will ap- ply to a tax for the purchase of a site. The inhabitants may vote such tax as they " deem sufficient," and if, upon the selection of a site and the negotiation for its purchase, the tax is found to be, in fact, insufficient, may vote a further tax If it be found unnecessarily large, they may vote to refund the excess to the tax payers or appropriate it to any purpose for which they have power to lay a tax. The amount a district can vote for a site is unlimited, but the tax camiot be raised in installments. Lease of site. — It is not uncommon for districts to hold land under lease, granted for a consideration paid in advance, so long as the same shall be used for the site of a school-house or the purpose of a district school. It is greatly to be preferred that the district school should obtain an indefeasible estate in fee-simple, and whenever possible, it should be procured, and since the statute {cJiap. 800, Laws of 1866), has authorized the compulsory taking of land for sites, by right of eminent domain, there is no longer any necessity for leasing a site, and it is recommended to districts, whenever they cannot pur- chase an indefeasible estate in fee simple, that they resort to the law which now gives them power to select in every district the most eligible situation for their school-house. In cases where heretofore land has been leased, the question will frequently arise as to the right of the district to the school-house at the expiration of the term for which the land is held. The law is thus stated by Judge Harris (7 Barb. 266): "Any one who has a temporary interest in land, and who makes additions to it or improvements upon it for the purpose of the better use or enjoyment of it, while such temporary interest continues, may, at any time before his right of enjoyment ceases, rightfully remove such additions and improvements. If he omit to sever the addition or improvement until his right of enjoyment ceases, such omission is to be deemed an abandonment of his right, and thereafter the addition or improvement he has made becomes, to all intents, a part of the inheritance, and the tenant, as well as any other person who severs it, becomes a trespasser. I think this may now be stated to be the general rule in respect to fixtures which a tenant attaches to the freehold. To this extent has the original rule of the common law yielded to the changed condition of society. There may be exceptions to the general rule I have stated, but I think they will be found limited to cases where the removal of the additions or improvements made by the tenant would operate to the prejudice of the inheritance, by leaving it in a worse condition than when the tenant took possession. CHANGE OF SITE. § 20. So long as a district shall remain unaltered, the site of a school-house owned by it, upon which there is a school-house erected or in process of erection, shall not be changed, nor such seliool-house be removed, unless by the consent, in writing, of the supervisor or supervisors of the town or towns within which such district shall be situated, stating that in his or their opinion such removal is necessary ; nor with such consent, unless a majority of all the legal voters of said district ptesent and voting, to be ascer- School-House Sites. 277 tained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, at a special meeting called for that purpose, shall be in favor of such new site. {As m/iended hy sec. 8, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) Title. — While it is no objection to a tax that a title has not been acquired, it is the duty of the trustees not to part with the money without receiving a conveyance, and, in respect to this duty, a question frequently arises about in- cumbrances by way of mortgage. The vote appropriating money for the pur- chase of a site is to be construed as limiting the amount the district can at any time be called upon to pay for it, and therefore implies (unless the contrary expressly appears) a tiile free from any incumbrance. Where a portion of a tract subject to mortgage is purchased, the rule of law is that upon a foreclos- ure the land remaining as the property of the mortgagor shall be first sold, and if that prove insufficient to satisfy the mortgage, then that which he lias conveyed is to be sold in the inverse order of alienation; that is to say, that which he conveyed latest is to be sold first. It may frequently happen that the district will have ample security, in the land retained by the person from whom it derives title to a site, for its indemnity against a mortgage, and that the existence or a mortgage covering land greatly exceeding in value the amount secured thereby, will be but a nominal incumbrance, and no serious objection to the title. If this be clear, however, there will ordinarily be little difficulty in procuring from the holder of the mortgage a release of the site from its lien. If the trustees fail in obtaining it, they will be justified in re- quiring an express vote of the district, after laying the facts before a meeting, before paying for the site or making any expenditure or contract for building upon it. The first clause of the first sentence of this section, ' ' So long as a district shall remain unaltered," refers to the boundaries of the district. Where the boundaries have not been altered since the formation of the district, the school-house site, upon which there is a school -house erected or in process of erection, cannot be changed without the consent, in writing, of the supervisor or supervisors of the town or towns in which such district is situated. An appeal from a refusal to give such consent can be made to the State Superin- tendent. When the school-house is to be removed the consent of the super- visor or supervisors must state that such removal is necessary. It is not neces- sary that the supervisors' consent be obtained before the meeting passes the resolution to change the site; but it must be obtained before such resolutions can be carried into effect. Any alteration that has been made in the district boundaries will do away with the necessity for this consent. The site may be changed, so far as the prohibition of this section affects the question, at any time before a school-house standing thereon shall have been built or purchased. But after the site has been purchased, or the trustees have made themselves legally responsible by a valid contract to purchase it, in pursuance of a resolution of the district, it becomes an established site, so that the resolution cannot be rescinded, under the general principle that a resolution which has been executed cannot be revoked to the prejudice of those who have acquired rights under it. If the title to a site fails, the designation of a new one is not to be regarded as a change of site. The resolution in such case should recite the fact that the district is destitute of a site, in consequence of its title to one formerly occupied having failed by the termination of a lease, judgment in an action of ejectment, or whatever other circumstance may have brought it to an end. The majority requisite to a change of site is a majority of those present and voting, a$ ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes at a special meeting caUedfor that purpose. The clerk must record the names of the per- sons voting. Tie resolution designating the new site must describe the same by metes and bounds. A change of site can only be made at a special meeting called for that purpose. 278 School-House Sites. ' In a district composed of parts of two towns, both, tlie siipervisors must unite in the certiiicate; if composed of three or more, the case comes under the provision of section 37, title 17, chapter 8, part 3, of the Revised Statutes: ' ' Whenever any power, authority or duty is confided by law to three or more persons, and whenever three or more persons are authorized or required by law to perform any act, such act may be done, and such power, authority or duty may be exercised and performed by a majority of such persons or officers, upon a meeting of all the persons or officers so intrusted or empow- ered, unless special provision is otherwise made." The act in this case being of a judicial character, all must meet and confer, but a majority may decide. The certificate should state that all met. SALE OF SITE. § 21. Whenever the site of a school-house shall have been changed, as herein provided, the inhabitants of a district entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, shall liave power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon and appurtenances, or any part thereof, at such price and upon such terms as they shall deem proper; and any deed duly executed by the trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance of such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate or interest of such school district in the premises, and when a credit shall be directed to be given upon such sale for the con- sideration money, or any part thereof, the trustees are hereby authorized to take, in their corporate name, such security, by bond , and mortgage or otherwise, for the payment thereof as they shall deem best, and shall hold the same as a corporation and account therefor, to their successors in office and to the district, in the manner they are now required by law to account for moneys received by them ; and the trustees of any such district for the time being may, in their name of office, sue for and recover the moneys due and unpaid upon any security so taken by them or their predecessors. Neither the trustees nor the inhabitants have any power to sell land belong- ing to the district, unless it be the site of a school-house, for which a new one has been substituted. If any credit is to be given upon the sale, the inhabitants in district meet- ings should, by resolution, specify the exact terms thereof, and should also fix the lowest price to be accepted. When a bond and mortgage are executed, they should run, to "A. B., 0. D. and E. P., trustees of school district No. , in the town of , and their successors in office or assigns." The trustees become personally responsible to the district for the amount bid at the sale for so much cash received, unless they take a bond and mort- ' gage or some other security. This implies some pledge or obligation collateral and in addition to the personal responsibility of the purchaser, such as the School-House Sites. 279 signature of » solvent indorser, or surety to a promissory note, in accepting ■wliicli tliey are responsible for the same care whicli a prudent person would exercise in taking security for a debt due to himself. In cases of annulled districts, the supervisor of the town in which the school-house is situate is directed to sell the property of the annulled district, which includes the school-house site. {See see. 9, title 6; also eha^pter on School Districts.) § 22, All moneys arising from any sale made in pursuance of the last preceding section shall be applied to the expenses incurred in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting thereon a school-house, and improving and furnishing such site and house, and their appendages, so far as such application shall be neces- sary ; and the surplus, if any, shall be devoted to the purchase of school apparatus and the support of the school^ as the inhabitants at any annual meeting shall direct. If the money is not needed to pay for a new site or to remove or erect a school-house, it may be appropriated by the district to any purpose for which it would be authorized to levy a tax ; and in the absence of any vote by the district the trustees may appropriate it to any purpose, such as the purchase of fuel, or the rent of temporary school-rooms, for which they are authorized to levy a tax without a vote of the district. ACQUIRING TITLE TO SITE. Chapter 800,, Laws of 1866. Section I. Land for the site of a district school-house, or addi- tional land adjoining to and for the enlargement of an established site, not exceeding one acre, may be acquired in cases where the Owner or owners thereof, or some of them, shall not consent to sell the same for such purpose, or the trustee or trustees of the district cannot agree with such owner or owners, or some of them, iipon the price or value thereof, as follows : '' A petition shall be prepared for presentation to the county court of the county in wiiich the land is situated, at some regu- . lar term thereof signed by the trustee or trustees of the district, or a majority of them, setting forth that the inhabitants of the district have designated or desire to obtain the land for the site of a district school-house, or in addition to and for the enlargement of that already established as such site, describing such land by its locality and by particular metes and bounds, stating the quan- tity thereof as nearly as may be, with the name or names, and place or places of residence of the owner or owners, and. that 280 School-House Sites. the consent of snch owner or owners, or some of them, to sell such land for said purpose, cannot be obtained, or that the trustee or trustees cannot agree with him or them, or some of them, upon a reasonable price therefor, and praying for the appointment of com- missioners to appraise the same. Said petition shall be filed in the oflSce of the county clerk of the county in which the land is situa,ted, and at the time of filing thereof, or at any time afterwards, the petitioners may cause a notice of the pendency of the proceeding to be filed in said, office, which notice the county clerk shall file and record in the same manner that similar notices in actions in the supreme court are required to be filed and recorded ; which notice shall state the object of the proceeding, and contain a description of the land and the names of the parties affected tliereby. And all persons who shall acquire in whatsoever way, any title to, interest in, lien or incumbrance upon said land, after the filing of the notice of the pendency of the proceedings as aforesaid, shall be bound and affected by said proceedings in the same manner and to the same extent as if they had been named in the petition as parties thereto ; and said person shall also be bound in the same manner and to the same extent, by notice of the existence of said proceeding, whether notice of the pendency thereof has been filed or not. The petitioners may appear and prosecute such proceedings by an attorney. A copy of said petition, with a notice thereto annexed of the time and place when and where the same will be presented to said county court, addressed to the owner or owners of the re- quired lands, shall be served in all cases, except as hereinafter allowed, as follows : Upon each person to whom the notice is addressed, who resides in the county in which the land is situated,, by delivering to each such person, or in case of his absence by, leaving at his dwelling-house or usual place of abode or business, snch copy and notice, at least thirty days before the day specified in the notice for the presentation of the petition. Upon each such person who shall reside out of such county, by depositing snch copy and notice in one of the post-oflices nearest to said land, directed to such person at his reputed place of residence,, and paying the proper postage thereon, at least forty days be- School-House Sites. 281 fore the day specified in the notice for the presentation of the petition, if such place of residence be within this State, and at least sixty days before that day if such place of residence be out of this State, except that if such place of residence be in the upper peninsula of Michigan, or in any State or territory of the United States west of the Mississippi river, except the States of. Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, or any place out of the juris- diction of the United States, then at least four months before such specified day of presentation. If any such owner or owners shall reside out of the State, and shall have an agent or attorney residing therein, authorized to convey or contract for the sale of his or their interest in said lands who shall not consent, or with whom the trustee or trustees cannot agree as aforesaid, then and in that case the eervice of the copy of petition and of notice aforesaid may be made upon such agent or attorney instead of upon such owner or owners, either personally or by depositing the same in a post-office as aforesaid, directed to such agent or attorney at his place of resident, and paying postage as aforesaid, the same number of days or months before the said specified day for the presentation of the petition, as if the service were upon sucli owner or owners, as hereinbefore required. If any such owner shall be an infant, under the age of twenty-one years, such service shall be made on, his general guardian ; if there be no such guardian, on the infant, if over fourteen years of age, and if under that age, on the person with whom such infant shall reside, in each case in the same mode, and the same number of days or mouths before the specified day for the presentation of the petition, as if the service were upon an adult owner, accord- ing to the place of residence of such guardian, infant or person with whom such infant resides, upon whom ser\'ice is made. If any such owner shall be an idiot, or of unsound mind, service shall be made upon the committee of his person or estate ; or, if there be no such committee, then upon the person who shall have the care of such idiot or person of unsound mind, in the same mode and the same number of days before presentation of the petition, as in other cases. In all other cases service of copies of the petition, of notices, appointments of guardians or com- 36 282 School-House Sites. mittees, orders or other papers in the proceedings under this act, or in connection therewith, sliall be made as the court in which the proceedings are had shall direct. § 2. On presenting such petition to the county court aforesaid, on the day specified for its presentation as aforesaid, with proof of service of a copy or copies thereof and notice, and^ of other papers as hereinbefoi'e required, all persons whose estate or interest are to be affected by the proposed proceedings, relative to the land described in the petition, may appear in person or by attorney, or other proper representative, before the said court, and show cause against granting the prayer of the petitioners. The said court shall hear the proofs and allegations of the parties, and if no sufficient canse be shown against granting the prayer of the petitioners, shall make an order appointing three disinterested and suitable persons, residing in the same county, neither of whom shall be an inhabitant of the school district named in the petition, or interested in any taxable property therein, or who shall be within two degrees of relationship, by blood or marriage, to any owner of such taxable property, or to any owner of the land described in such petition, as commissioners to appraise the said land, and to award the compensation to be made to the owner or owners thereof for the same, for the purposes specified in said petition ; and the said court shall specify and appoint in such order the time and place within said school district, for the first meeting of said commissioners, and also the time and place, when and where said county court will receive the report of said com- missioners of their proceedings and award in the premises, for confirmation. § 3. The said commissioners, before entering upon their duties, shall be sworn before some officer authorized to administer oaths, ' that they will fairly and impartially view the land in. question, hear the proofs and allegations of the parties interested, and make a just and reasonable award of the compensation to be paid by the school district for the said land, to be appropriated for a site or part of a site for a district school-house, The said commis- sioners shall have power to issue subpoenas and administer oaths to witnesses, and a majority of them may adjourn the proceedings School-House Sites. 283 from time to time, if necessary. They shall also view the land in question, hear the proofs and allegations of parties, reduce the testimony given, if any, to writing ; and without nnnecessary delay they, or a majority of them, shall appraise the said land and determine and award the compensation which ought to be made therefor by said school district, to the party or parties own- ing the same. They shall make a written report of their pro- ceedings and award in the case, signed by them, or a majority of them, which shall be accompanied by the minutes of the testi- mony taken by them, and shall deliver the same to the county judge of the county on or before the day named in the order appointing them, for receiving such report for confirmation. The said commissioners shall be entitled to two dollars per day for their services, which shall be a charge upon and be paid by the school district in whose behalf the land in question has been appraised by them as aforesaid. § 4. On the day and at the time and place appointed in the order aforesaid for receiving such report, the county court afore- said, on being satisfied of the regularity and fairness of the previ- ous proceedings, shall make an order i-ecitiug the proceedings, giving a description of the land appraised, confirming the report and directing to whom the compensation awarded shall be paid, or where and with whom the same shall be deposited. A certi- fied copy of the last-mentioned order shall, without unnecessary delay, be delivered by the judge holding said county court to the trustee or trustees aforesaid, or to one of them, whose duty it shall be forthwith to cause the same to be recorded at the expense of the said school district, in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the land therein described is situated. The trustee or trustees are hereby authorized and directed, on the filing of said order with the county clerk as aforesaid, forthwith to levy a district tax for a sum sufficient to pay the compensation named in said award and the expense of recording said order. § 5. Upon said order being recorded as aforesaid, and upon the payment or deposit of the amount of compensation awarded for said land, all the right, title and interest of the owner and owners aforesaid, in and to the said land, shall vest in the school district in whose behalf -the proceedings aforesaid were instituted; and 284 School-House Sites. the trustee or trustees of such district shall be entitled to enter upon, take possession of, occupy and use said'land for the purpose set forth in their petition aforesaid ; and all land acquired by any school district pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall be, deemed to be taken for public use. § 6. The proceeds of every such award shall be divided amongst, the parties whose rights and interests shall have been sold, in pro- portion to their respective rights in the premises ; and the share of such of the parties as are of full age shall be paid to them or their legal representatives by the commissioners, or shall be brought into court for their use. § 7. When any of such known parties are infants, the court may, in its discretion, direct the share of such infants, to be paid over to the general guardian on proper security being filed, or to be invested in permanent securities at interest, in the name and for the benefit of such infants, or be deposited in some trust com- pany or savings bank to abide the further order of the court. § 8. When any of the parties whose interests have been sold are absent from the State, or are not known or named in the proceed- ings, the court shall direct the shares of such parties to be invested in permanent securities at interest, or to be deposited in some trust company or savings bank to abide the further order of the court, for the benefit of such parties, until claimed by them or their legal representatives. § 9. When the proceeds of a sale belonging to any tenant in dower, or by the curtesy, or for life, shall be brought into court as hereinbefore directed, the court shall direct the same to be invested in permanent securities at interest, so that such interest shall annually be paid to the parties entitled to such estate during tlieir lives respectively, unless such parties shall elect to accept a sura in gross in lieu thereof. § 10. The court may, in its discretion, require all or any of the parties, before they shall receive any share of the moneys arising from such sale, to give security to the satisfaction of such court to' refund the said shares with interest thereon, in case it shall there- after appear that such party was not entitled thereto. § 11. The amounts of all commissioners' fees, and of all expenses incurred by or in behalf of any school district, in pursuance of the' School-House Sites. 285 provisions of this act, shall be a charge upon such district, and be levied and collected by tax in the same manner as other district taxes are levied and collected therein. § 12. This act shall not apply to cities of more than thirty thousand inhabitants; nor shall it be lawful under this act to acquire title to less than the whole of any city or village lot, with the erections thereon, if any, nor to any premises occupied as a homestead by the owner or owners thereof, without the consent of such owner or owners ; nor beyond the corporate limits of cities, to any garden or orchard, or any part thereof, nor to any part of any yard or inclosure necessary to the use and enjoyment of build- ings, or any fixtures or erections for the purposes of trade or manu- factures, without the consent of the owner or owners thereof. § 13. Boards of education in cities of not more than thirty thou- sand inhabitants, are hereby clothed with all the powers of trustees under the act hereby amended, and the title to any and all lands acquired in any city under the provisions of said act, shall vest in the board of education thereof, or such other corporate body as is by law vested with the title to the school lands in such city. But nothing in the act hereby amended contained, shall be construed to limit or circumscribe the powers and duties heretofore lodged in such boards of education by law. § 14. The provisions of this act, and of subsequent amendments thereto, shall be extended and apply to the city of Brooklyn, and the board of education of that city is hereby clothed with all the powers of trustees under tlie provisions of this act and the amendments thereto, and the title to any and all lands acquired in said city under the provisions of this act shall vest in the board of education thereof. The proceedings mentioned in section one of this act may be authorized by a vote of said board of education, and the petition may be signed by the officers of said board. Tlie commissioners provided for in section two of this act may be inhabitants of the city of Brooklyn and owners of taxable property therein, but shall not be owners of nor interested in the property proposed to be taken, nor related to the owners of the land pro- posed to be taken. Tlie proceedings authorized by this act may be taken in the city of Brooklyn before the supreme court or city 286 ScHOOL-HorsE Sites. court of Brooklyn, and if taken in the latter court the petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of that court, and the notice of lis pendens in the office of the clerk of Kings county. The compensation named in the award, the fees of the commissioners and the costs and expenses of said board of education of the city of Brooklyn in such proceeding shall be paid by said board out of the special fund in their hands, and such fees, costs and expenses may be taxed and allowed in the final order. {Added iy § 1, chap. 121, Laws of 1S86.) § 15. The provisions of this act and subsequent amendments thereto shall be extended and apply to the city of IS^^ew York, and the board of education of that city is hereby clothed with all the powers of trustees under the provisions of this act and the amendments thereto, and the title tp any and all lands acquired in said city under the provisions of this act shall vest in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York. The pro- ceedings mentioned in section one of this act may be authorized by a vote of said board of education, and the petition may be signed by the officers of said board. The commissioners provided for in section two of this act shall be inhabitants of the city of New York, but shall not be owners of nor interested in the prop- erty proposed to be taken, not related to the owners of the land proposed to be taken. The proceedings authorized by this act shall be taken in the city of New York before the supreme court and the notice of lis pendens shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the city of New York. The compensation named in the award, the fees of the commissioners and the costs and expenses of said board of education of the city of New York, in- such pro- ceedings shall be paid by said board out of the special fund in their hands, and such costs, fees and expenses may be taxed and allowed in the final order. {Added ly chap. 318, Laws of 1S87.) The foregoing act was further amended by sections 2, 3, chapter 819, Laws of 1867, by the addition of the following sections: § 2. The act hereby amended shall apply to union free school districts and to districts organized under special laws ; and the trustees of such districts, or the boards of education organized under special laws, shall be and are hereby clothed with all the powers vested in trustees under said act. School-House Sites. 287 § 3. Nothing in this act contained shall prejudice or impair any right acquired or proceeding had or institiated, under or by virtue of the act hereby amended. DECISIONS OP THE COURTS. Mxing site. — The meeting cannot delegate their power to designate the site of a school-house. If they vote a tax to build a school-house, where the trus- tees shall think proper, the trustees are trespassers in proceeding to collect the tax. 0.8 Johns. 351; 9 Wend. 36; Supreme Court, 1837, Benjamin v. Hull, 17 id. 437.) It seems that it is not necessary to designate a site for the school-house before imposing a tax to build. {Id.; Williams v. Larkin, 8 Denio, 114.) Taxiefore acquiring title. — It is no objection to the tax that the title to the property has not been acquired. (Supreme Court, Williams v. Larkin, 3 Denio, 114.) Changing site. — Although, by Laws of 1847, chapter 480, section 73, the con- sent of the supervisor of the town is necessary to change the site of a school- house, it is not essential that such consent should have been given before the district meeting votes for such change. (17 Wend. 439; Supreme Court, 1863, Colton V. Beardsley, 38 Barh. 29.) Interest in land. Trustees of school districts may acquire an interest in land as tenants in common with others. {King v. Phillips, 1 Lansing, 431, Sup. Ct., 1868.) There is nothing in the law, or the directions of the Superintendent, or the decisions of our courts prohibiting the trustees of a school district from acquir- ing an interest in real estate as tenant in common with others. (Id.) A school district can authorize its trustees to accept a conveyance of land to he used as a school site, and to agree as part of the consideration that the district shall maintain the whole division fence between such land and the ad- joining land of the grantor. This is not beyond its power as a lease, but an obligation of the same nature as the law imposes, differing only in extent. (33 fitire, 367.) CROSS REFERENCES. Chap. 483, Laws of 1875, as amended by sec. 1, chap. 339, Laws of 1878. Boards of Supervisors can in certain cases authorize trustees and boards of education to sell or exchange the school-house site. STATE SCHOOL MONEYS. The moneys furnished by the State for the support of the common schools are divided into three classes or funds, as follows: Mrst. — The United States Deposit Fond. This fund was created by an act of Congress passed June 33, 1836, by which there were distributed among the States for safe-keeping the sufplus revenues in the United States treasury. The portion which New York received was about $4,000,000. By an act of the Legislature passed April 4, 1837, this sum was apportioned among the counties of the State, according to the population thereof , and placed in the hands of two loan commissioners in each county, who were appointed by the Governor, to be loaned therein upon bond and mortgage at interest. From the income of this fund there was appropriated for the support of common schools, by chap- ter 237 of the Laws of 1838, $165,000. This sum was annually appropriated until 1881, when, owing to a reduction in the revenue, only $75,000 was ap- propriated. Since 1881, $75,000 has been the amount annually appropriated by the Legislature from this fund for the support of the common schools; $50,000 of this amount is used for district libraries, in accordance with section 3, title 8, of the Consolidated School Act, and $25,000 for supervision in cities and villages, under section 6, title 3 of the same act. Second. — The Common School Fund. This fund had its origin in chapter 66 of the Laws of 1805, passed in response to a recommendation contained in a special message of Governor. Morgan Lewis. The act provided that " the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of the va<«int and unappropriated lands of the people of this State, which shall be first sold by the Surveyor-General, shall be and are hereby appropriated as a permanent fund for the support of com- mon schools. " No distribution was to be made until the annual revenues of the fund amounted to $50,000. It was, therefore, not until 1815, that the first distribution was made. During this period the income of the fund, which was divided among the counties on the basis of population, together with an amount required to be raised in the counties equal to the amount received, constituted the State school moneys applicable to the payment of teachers' wages, any deficiency therefor to be raised by rate-bill; The capital of the fund at its beginning, in 1805, was about $59,000, and up to 1886 it had in- creased to nearly $4,000, 000. From the revenue of the fund there is annually appropriated for the common schools, $170,000. This money is used as will be seen further on in this chapter. Third. — The Free School Fund. This fund is the amount raised annually by tax, the rate being fixed by the Legislature each year. By authority of chapter 151 of the Laws of 1851, the first State tax was levied, the law pro- viding for the sum of $800,000. This amount was annually raised until 1856, when the Legislature substituted therefor a tax of three-fourths of a mill on each dollar of valuation. In 1867, district rate-bills were abolished, and the tax increased to one and one-fourth mills on the dollar, with a view of making the proceeds of the tax, together with the revenues of the school funds, sup- port the common schools for at least twenty-eight weeks in each year, in most of the districts. State School Moneys. 289 The State school moneys do not, however, support the common schools. The halance is raised by school district tax. The amount appropriated from the free school fund for common schools was, in 1886, $3,250,000, and the same amount in 1887. The total cost of the maintenance of the common schools, for the school year ending xVugust 20, 1886, was $13,284,88(5.46. The appro- priations for the common schools by the Legislature, in 1886, were as follows : From the United States Deposit Fund $75,000 00 From the Common School Fund 170,000 00 From the Free School Fund 3,250,000 00 Total $3,495,000 00 In addition to the above, appropriations were made from the Free School Fund for normal schools, teachers' institutes and the American Museum of Nat- ural History APPOETIONMENT BY THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT. Title III. Section 1. There shall be raised by tax, in the present and each succeeding year, upon the real and personal estate of each county within the State, one mill and one-fourth of a mill upon each and every dollar of the equalized valuation of such estate, for the support of common schools in the State ; and the proceeds of such tax shall be apportioned and distributed as herein pro- vided. {As amended by sec. 3, chap. 406, Zaws of 1867.) This section is not followed. The Legislature each year fixes the rate and makes the appropriation. § 2. No clerk of any board oi supervisors, or other person who shall make out the tax-list or assessment-roll of any town, shall omit to include and apportion among the moneys to be raised thereby, the amount hereby required to be raised for the support of schools, by reason of the omission o^ the board of supervisors to pass a resolution for that purpose. § 3. The moneys so raised shall be paid into the State treasury, and the treasurer may transfer them from one depository to another, by his draft, countersigned and entered by the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. On the first working day of each month the treasurer shall make to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a written statement of the condition of the free school fund, showing the amount received and paid during the preceding montli, and the balance remaining on hand. The bank in which such moneys are deposited shall furnish the Superintendent of Fub- 37 390 State Schoql Moneys. lie Instruction a book, in which the officers of such bank- shall make entries of all sums deposited therein by the treasurer, from time to time, to the credit of said free school fund. No suoli . money shall be paid out, of the treasury except upon such "war- rant of the Superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller, re- ferring to the law under which it is drawn. The Superintendent shall coiintersign and enter all checks drawn by the treasurer in payment of his warrants, and all receipts of the treasurer for such money paid to the treasurer, and no such receipt shall be evidence of payment unless it be so countersigned. {Ametided by section 8, ohap. 567, Laws of 1875.) §4. The comptroller may withholdthe payment of any moneys, to which any county may be entitled, from the appropriation of the incomes of the school fund and' the United States deposit fund for the support of cominbii schools, until satisfactory evi- dence shall be furnished to hini that all moneys required by law to be raised by taxation lipoh Such county, for the support of schools throughout the State,' have been collected and paid, or accounted for to the State treasurer ; and whenev*er,'aftcr the first day of March in any year, in coti^eqfuence of the failure of any county to pay such moneys on or before that day, tliere shall be a deficiency of' moneys in the treasury applicable to the payment of school moneys, to which any other county may be entitled, the treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction; arp, hereby au- thorized to niake a temporary loan of the amount so deficient, and such Iqan, a^id t^e interest thereon at tte rate of twelve per cent, per ajinum, uutjl, paypieiit sJl],all be made, to the treasury, shall be a pharge upqn the co,nntyin default, and shall be added to the amount of State tax, and, levied upon such county by the board of supervisory ^tterepf at the next ensuing assessment, :and shall be pai(;i intp the tfeasur^' in same manner as the other taxes. {Amended hy section 3, cha^. 406, Laws of 1 867.) The abject of the Legislature in the preceding provision was to prevent the moneys raised for school purposes in the several counties from being, withheld from the State treasury, and being temporarily employed to supply the defi- , ciencies in the county treasuries arising from delay in the collection of taxes imposed for county purposes. It; is, therefore, required that tjie county's pro- pbrtion of the school tax shall have been actually collected, and either paid into the State treasury or accounted for — as it might be by receipts from the supervisors of their respective towns, showing the payment to them, on account of the apportionment to their towns made by the State Superintendent and the State School Moneys. 291 school commissioners, of an amount equal in the aggregate to. the school tax due from the county — before .the county treasurer is authorized to require from the comptroller a warrant for the amount apportioned to his county from ihe incomes of the school fund and United States Deposit Fund. It also subjects the county to the payment of interest upon so much of its school tax as is withheld from the State treasury, whenever it becomes necessary to malje a loan to furnish the State treasury with the funds for the payment of school moneys to any other county which is not in default, and which is therefore entitled to immediate payment. It is obviously, therefore, the duty of the county treasurer,, for the purpose of protecting his county from the liability to the payment of interest on a loan "to. be made on its account, to regard the first moneys which come into his hands from the town collectors as belonging exclusively to the school fund. Other claims may be postponed without incurring a charge for interest, while this cannot. The power and duty of the. treasurer and State Super- intendent to make loans under this section is not suspended, when, as is often the case, the Legislature extends the time for the collection of taxes. It would be most unjust-that the schools in thpse counties which have collected "their taxes promptly should suffer for want of the exercise of that power, at the expense of the counties where their collection has been delayed, either by an extension of the tinie for collection or by the return of non-resident lands. In the latter case, the county treasurer can obtain the money or a credit thereof from the comptroller, for all the arrears of taxes admitted by him, and should not j}herefore subject the school tax to any deduction or reservation on ac- count of return lands. It will be observed that the designation " school fund," , is here given to the moneys raised by State tax for the support of com- mon schools. In section six they are called the " free school fund." § 5. The nioney raised by the State tax or borrowed as afore- said to supply a deficiency thereof, and sucli portion of the in- come of the United States deposit fund as shall be appropriated, and the income of the common school fund, when the same are appropriated, to the support of common schools, constitute the State school moneys, and shall be divided' and apportioned by tlie Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before the twen- tieth day of January in each year, as follows: and all moneys so apportioned, exCept the library moneys, shall be applied exclu- sively to the payment of teachers' wages. § 6. He shall apportion and set apart from the income of the United States deposit fnnd so appropriated, the amounts required to pay the annual salaries of the school commissioners elected or elective under this act, to be drawn out of the treasury and paid to tlie several commissioners, as hereinbefore provided ; and he shall also apportion to each of the cities of the State,, and to each of the incorporated villages of the State, having a population of five thousand and upwards, which, under a special act, employs a superintendent of common schools, or a clerk of the board of education, who does the duty of supervision, out of the income of 392 State School Moneys. the said fund, and if insufficient the deiiciency out of the free school fiiud, so appropriated, the sum of eight hundred dollars , and in case any city is entitled to more than one member of as- sembly according to the unit of representation adopted by the legislature, five hundred dollars for each additional member of assembly, to be expended according to law, for the support of the common schools of the city. He shall then set apart, from the income of the United States deposit fund, for and as library moneys, such sum as the legislature shall appropriate for that purpose. He shall also set apart from the free school fund a. sum not exceeding four thousand dollars for a contingent fund. He shall then set apart and apportion, for and on account of the Indian schools under his supervision, a sum which will be equit- ably equivalent to their proportion of the State school money, upon the basis of distribution established by this act, such sum to be wholly payable oat of the proceeds of the State' tax for the support of common schools. After deducting said amounts^ he shall divide the remainder of the State school moneys into two equal parts, and shall apportion them as hereinafter specified. {As amended hy chap. 374, Laws of 1876, and chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) The first part of this section (6) has been repealed by the following: Chapter 1, Laws op 1881 § 2. The salaries now due and hereafter to become due to the several school commissioners of the State, shall be paid out of any unexpended balances in the treasury credited to the free school fund. § 3. In making the annual apportionment of school moneys, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall hereafter set apart a sum sufficient to pay the salaries of the several school commis- sioners from the free school fund, instead of from tlie United States deposit fund as heretofore. § 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hersby repealed. The Superintendent's apportionment is made as follows: Prom the United States Deposit Fund. ^xlv '^^% ^'^™ °^ $50,000 for district libraries, in accordance with section 2, title VIII of the Consolidated School Act. State School Moneys. 393 3. To each, city and village of tlie State employing under a special act a superintendent of schools, the sum of $800, pursuant to the provisions of sec- tion 6 of this title. From the Common School Fkmd. The sum of $170,000 appropriated by the Legislature for common schools. From the Free School Fund. 1. The salaries of the school commissioners. 3. The balance which may he necessary for supervision money when the United States Deposit Fund is not sufficient. 3. To each city having more than one member of assembly, $500 for each additional member. 4. A sum not exceeding $4,000 for a contingent fund. 5. An equitable sum for the support of Indian schools, upon the same basis «,s apportioned to the counties of the State. After deducting these several amounts there is a balance left. This bal- ance, of the free school fund, is added to the whole of the cominou school fund and apportioned according to the provisions of the following section: § 7. He shall apportion one-half of such remainder equally among the school districts and cities from which reports shall havQ.been received in accordance with law as follows: To entitle a district to a distributive portion or district quota, a qualified teacher, or successive qualified teachers must have act- ually taught the common school of the district, for at least the term of time hereinafter mentioned, during the last preceding school year. For every additional qualified teacher and his successors who shall have actually taught in said school during the whole of said term, the district shall be entitled to another distributive por- tion or quota; but pupils employed as monitors, or otherwise, shall not be deemed teachers. The aforementioned term, during the current school year shall be six months, and thereafter shall ibe twenty-eight weeks of five school days each, inclusive of New Year's day, Washington's birthday, the fourth day of July, Christ- mas day, and any other day which shall be, by law, declared a holiday, which shall occur during the term. A deficiency not- exceeding three weeks during the current year, or in any subse- >quent year, caused by a teacher's attendance upon a teachers' institute within the county, shall be excused. {Amended iy sec. % chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) The following existing provisions of law concerning holidays are found in Chapter 289, Laws of 1887. Section 1. Section one of ,chapter twenty -seven of the Laws of eighteen liundred and seventy-five, entitled, as amended by chapter thirty of the Laws 294 State School Mon-eys. of eighteen liundred and eighty-one, "An act to designate the holidays to be observed in the acceptance and payment of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes, and relating to the closing of public offices," is hereby further amended so as to read as follows: 8 1. The following days and half days, namely: The first day of January, commonly called New Year's day; the twenty-second day of February, known as Washington's Birthday ; the thirtieth day of May, known as Decoration Day; the fourth day of July, called Independence Day; the first Monday of September, to be known hereafter as Labor Day; the twenty-fifth day of De- cember, known as Christmas Day; any general election day in this State; every Saturday from twelve o'clock at noon until 'twelve o'clock at midnight, which is hereby designated a half-holiday; and any day appointed or recommended by the Governor of this State, or the President of the United States, as a day of thanksgiving, or fasting and prayer, oi* other religious observance, shall, for all purposes whatever as regards the presenting for payment or accept- ance, and of the protesting and giving notice of the dishonorof bills of ex- change, bank checks and promissory notes, made after the passage of this act, be treated and considered 9S the first day of the week commonly called Sun- day, and as public holidays or half- holidays; and all su,ch bills, checks and notes otherwise presentable for accepta;nce or paymeiit on any of the said days , shall be deemed to be ;f ayable and be presentable for acceptance or payment on the secular or business day nest succeeding such holiday; but in che case of a half-holids^y shall be presentable for acceptance or payment at or before twelve o'cloclc noon of that day. Provided, however, that for the purpose of protesting or otherwise holding liable any party to any bill of exchange, check or promissory note, and which shall not have been paid before twelve o'clock at noon on any Saturday, ' a demand of acceptance or payment thereof may be made and notice of protest or dishonor thereof may be given on the next suc- ceeding seculair or business day. And provided, further, that when any per- son shall receive for collection any check, bill of exchafage or promissory note, due and presentable for acceptance or payment on any Saturday, such person shall not be deemed guilty of any neglect or omission of duty, nor incur any liability in not presenting for payment or acceptance, or collecting such check,' bill of' exchange or promissory note on that day. And provideji, further,, that in construing this section every Saturday, unless a whole holiday as afore- said, shall until twelve o'clock noon be deemed a secular or business day. And the days and half days aforesaid shall be considered as the first day of the week, coihmonly called Sunday, and as public holidays or half-holidays, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the transaction of business in the public offices of this State, or counties of this State. On all other days, or half days, excepting Sundays, such offices shall be kept open for the transaction of busi- ness. § 2. Section two of said act is hereby amendea so as to read as follows: § 3. Whenever the first day of January, the twenty-second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the fourth day of July or the twenty-fifth day of December shall fall upon Sunday, the Monday next following shall be deemed a public holiday for all or any of the purposes aforesaid; provided, however, that in such case all bills of exchange, checks and promissory notes, made after the passage of this act which would otherwise be presentable for acceptance or payment on the said Monday shall be deemed to be presentable for acceptance or payment on the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday. The information upon which the Superintendent makes this apportionment is obtained from the reports of the school commissioners. The districts in order to obtain their share of this money must first make the report according to law. {See cfiapter on reports.) These reports will among other things show: 1. The number of weeks the school was taught by duly licensed teachers. 3. The number of such teachers employed for twenty-eight weeks or more during the preceding school year. The school year commences on the 31st day of August, State School Moneys. 395 and ends with tlie 20tli day of the following August. It is required by the foregoing section (7) that the district school shall have been taught by a duly licensed teacher duririg such year for at least twenty-eight weeks of five days each, inclusive of legal holidays, and the time spent by the teacher or teachers at a teachers' institute held in the county not exceeding three weeks. If one or more days during a week are lost, the time cannot be made up by teaching a corresponding number of days during another week. The weelc in which such days were lost cannot be counted as one of the twenty-eight for the reason that the twenty-eight weeks required by the statute mu>r be of," five da/ya each." Instances have been brought to the attention of the Department where the school was commenced too late to get twenty-eiglit weeks before the 20tU of August, and an attempt has been made to make the full time by teaching Saturdays, or more than five days each week, and making an extra week or two out of the Saturdays taught. But this will not answer the requirements of the . statute. Where a district has not made its full time, the case should be submitted to the State Superintendent, and if such failure is .excusable, he may, under the authority of section 10 of this title, make to it an equitable allowance. The apportionment of this ''one- half of the remainder" is for district quotas.. The amount to be apportioned is divided by the whole number of duly licensed teachers who have taught the public schools during the preced- ing school year for the term of twenty-ejght weeks or more. This gives the amount of each quota. If a district has employed a single teacher for the whole term, or has employed one or more teachers, whose terms of service make up the requisite time of twenty-eight weeks, it is entitled to a single quota. If a district has employed two or inoi-e teachers, it is entitled to an additional quota for every teacher, or successipn of teachers whose terms of service amount to twenty- eight weeks. Bvening schools, when conducted under the supervision of trustees, are con- sidered simply as a continuation of the day schools, not as separate branches of the day schools. Those persons attending the evening, and not the day schools,! may be included in the trustees' report of aggregate attendance, and public money may be drawn upon their attendance. But persons attending both the day and evening schools, should be counted but once in the report of attendance.' The amount apportioned each county for district quotas is certified to the county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioner and city treasurer or cham- berlain thereof by the Superintendent, and to the school commissioners, the number of quotas allowed each school district. § 8. Having so apportioned and distributed the said one-half, the superintendent shall apportion the other half of said re- mainder, and also the library moneys separately, among the coimties of tlie State, according to their respective population, excluding Indians residing on their reservations, as the same shall appear from the last preceding State or United States census ; but as to counties in which are situated cities having special school acts, he shall apportion to each city the part to which it shall so appear entitled, and to the residue of the county the part to whicli it, shall appear to be so entitled. If the census according to which the apportionment shall be made does not show the sum of the population of any county or city, the Superintendent shall, 296 State School Moneys. by the best evidence he can procure, ascertain and determine the population of sucli county or city at the time the census was taken, and make his apportionment accordingly. {As amended hy sec. 3, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) After having made the apportionment for the district quotas, the Superin- tendent apportions the remaining one-half, and the library money separately to the several counties, and to the cities having special school acts according to the population thereof. A census of the United States is taken every tenth year of the century, as 1810, 1820, and so on. A census of the State is taken once in ten years, also, as 1805, 1815, and so on. The population npon vfhich the apportionment must be based is the last preceding census, whether of the State or the United States. The provision in the last sentence of this section was made to meet cases which might arise from the erection of new cities, or counties, or from the alteration of their boundaries by the Legislature, thereby changing their popu- lation, after the last preceding census has been taken. A certificate of this apportionment is also sent the county clerk, county treas- urer and the school Commissioners and city treasurer or chamberlain in each county. § 9. The Superintendent shall apportion to each separate neigh- borhood which shall have duly reported, such fixed sum as will, in his opinion, be equitably equivalent to its portion of all the State school moneys upon the basis of distribution established by this act ; such sum to be payable out of the contingent fund here- inbefore established. The separate neighborhoods formed to accommodate inhabitants whose children can more conveniently attend school in an adjoining State have always been few in number. The apportionment ■ for 1887 recognized two only, one in Westchester and one in Chautauqua counties, the amount apportioned to both being $85.39. § 10. Whenever any school district or separate neigborhood shall have been excluded from participation in any apportionment made by the Superintendent, or by the school commissioners, by reason of its having omitted to make any report required by law, or to comply with any other provision of law, or with any rule or reg- ulation made by the Superintendent under the authority of law, and it shall be shown to the Superintendent that such omission was accidental or excusable, he may, upon the application of suck district or neighborhood, make to it an equitable allowance ; and if the apportionment was made by himself, cause it to be paid out of the contingent fund ; and, if the apportionment was made by the commissioners, direct them to apportion such allowance to it. State School Mokeys. 297 at their next annual apportionment, in addition to any apportion- ment to which it may then be entitled. And the Superintendent may, in his discretion, upon the recommendation of the school commissioner having jurisdiction over the district in default, direct that the money so equitably apportioned shall be paid in satisfac- tion of teachers' wages earned by a teacher not qualiiied in accord- ance with the provisions of the law as hereinafter set forth. {As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 27, Laws 18S0.) It lias been noticed that before a district can receive its share of the puljlic money, the district reports must be duly made and filed showing affirmatively that the district is legally entitled to participate. But there are many things that can cause the failure to make the report in time. The school may not have been taught tvcenty-eight weeks; or a part of the time a teacher not ■duly licensed may nave been employed. If the district has been excluded from participation in the apportionment for any of such reasons and it is shown to thp Superintendent upon affidavit that the failure was accidental or excusable, he can direct that the quota due it be paid from the contingent fund at once. But the apportionment made by the school commissioners upon the.aggregate attendance cannot be made until the next annual apportionment. It does not follow as a matter of course that the omissions will be excused by the Super- intendent. The power is not to be exercised arbitrarily and without good cause. The Superintendent does not want excuses and argument, but facts. The sickness or death of a trustee would excuse a failure to report. A deep snow, an unexpected storm, or a railroad accident would explain delay. The burning of a school-house, the sickness or death of a teacher, or the prevalence of an epidemic or contagious disease might excuse a failure to keep school for the whole twenty-eight weeks required by law. The facts must be sufficient to relieve the trustees from all blame. If they are guilty of a willful violation of duty, or of sheer neglect, the Superintendent cannot lawfully grant the dis- trict any relief. The last sentence of this section was added by the amendment of 1880. Before that there was no power to pay public money to a district that had failed to employ a duly licensed teacher. The Superintendent cannot now excuse without the recommendation of the school commissioner. This omission is a more difficult one to find an excuse for than any other. It is the duty of the trustee to know positively that the teacher has a license before the school is opened. There are, however, some cases in which it would seem that justice would require that the commissioner and Superintendent exercise this discre- tion by excusing the default and allowing the district the public money. To provide against an injustice, this part of the section was added. § 11. If money to which it is not entitled, or a larger snm than it is entitled to, shall be apportioned to any county, or part of a county, or school district, and it shall not have been so distributed or apportioned among the districts, or expended, as to make it impracticable so to do, the Superintendent may reclaim such money or excess, by directing any officer in whose hands it may be, to pay it into the State treasury, to the credit of the free school fund ; and the State treasurer's receipt, countersigned by the Superintend- 38 298 State School Moneys. ent, shall be his only voucher ; but, if it be impracticable so to reclaim such money or excess, then the Superintendent shall deduct it from the portion of such county, part of a county, or district, in his next anniial apportionment, and distribute the sum thus deducted, equitably amon^ the counties and parts of counties, or among tlie bchool districts in the State entitled to participate in sucli apportionment, according to the basis of apportionment in which such excess occurred. ,^ 12. if a less sum than it is entitled to sliall have been appor- tioned by the Superintendent to any county, part of a county or school district, the Superintendent may make a supplementary apportionment to it, of sucli a sum as shall make up the deficiency, and the same shall be paid out of the contingent fund, if suffi- cient, and if not, then the Superintendent shall make, up such deficiency in his next annual apportionment. The errors provided for by tliese two sections are clerical errors arising from wrong computations or mistakes in transcribing. The Superintendent will correct such errors as soon a.s they are brought to his notice. § 13. As soon as possible after the making of any annual or general apportionment, the Superintendent shall certify it to the county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioners and city treasurer or chamberlain, in every county in the State; and if it be a supplemental apportionment, then to the county clerk, cbunty treasurer and school commissioners of the cotmty in which the neighborhood or the school-house of the district concerned is situate. § 14. The moneys so annually apportioned by the Superintend- ent shall be payable on the first day of April next after the apportionment, to the treasurers of the several counties and the chamberlain of the city of New York, respectively ; and the said treasurers and the chamberlain shall apply for and receive the same as soon as payable. {As amended hy see. 10, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) While this section makes the State school moneys payable on the first day of April, the money cannot be paid at such time for the reason that chapter 760, of the Laws of 1873, allows a later date for the payment of all State moneys from the counties into the State treasury, and the Superintendent can- not pay out before the moneys have oeen paid in. This nrovision is as follows: "And every county shall pay its quota of State taxes into the State treasury, the one-half on or before the fifteenth day of April, and the other half on or before the first day of May, in each and every year thereafter." ^TATE School Moneys. 299 APPORTIONMENT BY THE SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. Title III. The public money apportioned to the several counties by the State Superin- tendent, according to the population thereof, must be re-apportioned by the school commissioners, to the several school districts and parts of districts in their respective counties. The commissioners are directed to make their ap- portionment at the county-seat on the third Tuesday of March. A careful ■reading of the following sections, with the explanatory notes, will enable cofla- missioners to perform this duty intelligently and without that great amount of perplexing labor incident to the method of apportionment in former years. i § 27. The school eoiiimissioner, or commissioners of each county, shall proceed, at the county seat, on the third Tuesday of March in each year, to ascertain, apportion and divide the State and other school moneys, as follows : 1. They shall set apart any library moneys apportioned by the Superintendent. 2. From the other moneys apportioned to the county, they shall set apart and credit to each separate neighborhood and school district the amount apportioned to it by the State Superintendent, and to every district which did not participate in the apportion- ment of the previous year, and which the Superintendent shall , have excused, such equitable sum as he shall have allowed to it. The Department furnishes commissioners with blanks upon which to regis- ter and certify their apportionment. The first step for the commissioners is to take the certificate made to them by the Superinteudeui and transcribe upon their own blank certificate the amounts apportioned by the Superintendent to each school district and neighborhood. The Superintendent's apportionment consists of the number of district quotas for each duly qualified teacher, having taught in the district twenty -eight weeks or more, and the amount allowed each neighborhood. He may, also, have directed the commissioners to apportion to a certain district, or districts, a specific amount to make up for a loss the pre- vious year, occasioned by a failure to report or otherwise comply with the law, and vfhich has been excused by the Superintendent. This step completed, the commissioners will divide the balance of the money between the school districts in the manner provided in the following subdivisions of section 27. 3. They shall procure from the treasurer of the county a tran- script of the returns of the supervisors hereinafter required, show- log the unexpended moneys in their hands applicable to the pay- ment of teachers' wages and to library purposes, and shall add the whole sum of such moneys to the balance of the State moneys to be apportioned for teachers' wages. The amounts in each su- pervisor's hands shall be charged as a partial payment of the 300 State School Money's. sums apportioned to the town for library moneys and teachers' wages respectively. 4. They shall procure from the county treasurer a full list and statement of all payments to him of moneys for or on account of fines and penalties, or accruing from any other source, for the benefit of schools aud of the town or towns, district or districts for whose benefit the same were received. Such of said moneys us belong to a particular district, they shall set apart and credit to it ; and such as belong to the schools of a town, they shall set apart and credit to the schools iu that town, and shall apportion them together with such as belong to the sehoolsj3f the county, as hereinafter provided, for the payment of teachers' wages. The SuperinteniJeiit's certificate shows the amount of the State moneys to be divided among the school districts. But there may be some slight change in the total before the computations can be made. The commissioners must first procure from the county treasurer transcripts and statements which will show: 1. All moneys remaining in the hands of the supervisors that have not been used from the apportionment of the previous year. 3. All fines and penalties collected for the use of the schools of county, town or district. In the first case, viz. : where there is Si balance of money in the hands of the supervisor from previous apportionment, that has not been used by the district entitled to it, the amount thereof must be added to the money apportioned to the county by the Superintendent. If it is a balance of library money, add it to the library fund; or if it is a balance for teachers' wages, add it to such fund. A district which has not used its public money before the supervisor makes his return, on the first Tuesday of March, as required by section 4, title IV, loses it, excepting that part which it will receive back in the re-apportion- ment. The money will not be drawn from the hands of the supervisor, but he will be charged for such sum iu the present apportionment, and the sum paid for such district to the supervisor decreased by the sum in his hands. In other words, the money in the supervisor's hands, not used by the district en- titled to the same, will be considered as a partial payment of the moneys ap- portioned to the district in the next apportionment. The moneys iu the supervisors' hands for fines and penalties are usually for the schools of a town or district. Such money is to be apportioned as the act under which it has been collected may direct. If there i| no direction, ex- cepting that it be for the schools of the county, town or district, as the case may be, the apportionment must be upon the same basis as the other public money. It will be made separately; places upon the blanks are prepared for this. ' 5. They shall apportion library moneys to the school districts, and parts of school districts, joint with parts in any city or in any adjoitiing county, which shall be entitled to participate therein as hereinafter specified, in proportion to the aggregate number of days of attendance of children in each between the ages of five and twenty-one years, as the same shall appear from the reports State School Moneys. 301 of the trustees for the last precedmg school year. {As amended lij chap. 602, Laws of 1887.) 6. They shall apportion in like manner and upon the same basis, nntil the apportionment of the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the remaining unapportioned moneys among such school districts and parts of school districts. Subdivision 6 is no longer operative. 7. In the apportionment of eighteen hundred and eighty-nine and in every subsequent apportionment, they shall apportion all of such remaining unapportioned moneys, in like manner and upon the same basis, among such school districts and parts of dis- tricts ; in proportion to the aggregate number of days of attend- ance of the pupils resident therein, between the ages of five and twenty-one years, at their respective schools during the last pre- ceding school year. The aggregate number of days of attend- ance of the pupils is to be ascertained from the records thereof kept by the teachers as hereinafter prescribed, by adding to- gether the whole number of days' attendance of each and every such pupil in the district, or part of a district. {As amended hy sec. 1, cJiap. 492, Laws of 1881 ; sec. 4, chap. 340, Laws of 1885, am.d chap. 602, Laws of 1887.) The apportionment of 1889, and thereafter, is to be made to the different dis- tricts in proportion to the aggregate number of days' attendance at the schools therein of the resident children of school age. The money for teachers' vrages and the library money are to be apportioned separately, but upon the same basis. It has been noted that the amount to be divided can be increased by the ad- ditions of moneys mentioned in subdivisions 3 and 4. It can also be decreased by any sum or sums which the Superintendent shall have, under section 10 of this title, directed the commissioners to make to a district on account of a failure to participate in the apportionment of the previous year, by reason of its failure to comply with some provisions of law and which failure had there- after been excused by the Superintendent. When this direction is made, de- duct such sum from the whole amount apportioned the county, and add it to the money apportioned to the district in the present apportionment. When mistakes have been made in the previous apportionment tjie commis- sioners must, under the provisions of section 38 of this title, make the proper correction. The commissioners, before proceeding to make their apportionment, should examine their statistical abstracts of the reports of the. trustees, and see that they are correct. If errors have been discovered since the abstracts have been made, let them be corrected. These preliminaries attended to, commissioners can proceed to make their computations. 303 State School Moneys. Computations. 1. Prom the reports of the trustees ascertain the whole number of days' at- tendance in the county and divide the amount of money to be apportioned by such number of days' attendance. This will give the amount for one day's attendance. 2. Taking each school district separately, multiply the amount found for one day's attendance by the whole number of days' attendance of children of school age residing in the district. The product will be the amount the school commissioners must apportion to the school district. Example. The amount of public money apportioned by the Superintendent to Wayne county, for the school year ending Ajigust 20, 1886, according to the population, for teachers' wages was $17,217 97 For libraries 508 57 The aggregate attendance at tbe schools of the county, as ascer- tained from the trustees' reports, was 1,099,694. Dividing $17,217.97 by 1,099,694 gives the sum to be apportioned for teachers' wages for one day's attendance ... .015657 Dividing |o08. 57 by 1,099,694 gives the sum of Jibrary money to be apportioned for one day's attendance ( 00046245 Prom these figures the amount for each district can be computed. Take two districts of the county; No. 6, Lyons, and No. 6, Palmyra. „ No. 6, Lyons, reports an aggregate attendance of 119,506. Multiplying!. 015657 by 119,506 gives the amount to be apportioned the district for teachers' wages $1,871 10 Multiplying $.00046345 by 119,506 gives the library money.... .. 55 26 No. 6, Palmyra, reports an aggregate attendance of 1,060. Multiplying $.015657 by 1,060 gives the amount to be apportioned this district for teachers' wages 16 59 Multiplying $.00046345 by 1,060 gives the library money for the district ; 49 8. They shall then set apart to each town the moneys so set apart and apportioned to each separate neighborhood ; to each dis- trict the school-house of which is therein ; and to each part of a joint district therein the school-honse of which is located in a city or in a town in an adjoining county. If a district, not joint, lies in two or more towns the public money is to be paid to the supervisor of the town in which the school-house of the district is situated. In joint districts lying in one county the money is paJAthe same, i. c, to the supervisor of the town in which the school-house of the district is situ- ated. In case of a joint district lying in two or more counties, the reports are made by the trustees of each part of it lying in a different county, and each is filed in the office of the clerk of the town in which the part of the district to which it especially relates lies. And the money is apportioned and palid to the supervisors according to the aggregate attendance o£ the children who reside in theii respective towns, excepting the towns, if there be more than one, of the county where the school-house of the joint district is situated; in which case all the money apportioned for the aggregate attendance of the children residing in that county as well as the money apportioned hy the Superintendent is paid to the supervisor of the town in whicn the school-house U situated. State School Moneys. 303 9. They shall sign, in duplicate, a certificate, showing the amounts appropriated and set apart to each separate neighbor- hood, school district and part of a district, and the towns in which they are situated, and shall designate therein the source from which eachitem of the aggregate to each district and town was de- rived ; and shall forthwith deliver one of said duplicates to the treasurer of the county and transmit the other to the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. 10. They shall certify to the supervisor of each town the amount of school moneys so apportioned to his town, and the portions thereof to be paid by him for library purposes and for teachers' wages, to each such distinct separate neighborhood, dis- trict and part of a district. The two subdivisions 9 and 10 direct that three certificates of the apportion- ment shall be made, for the Superintendent, county treasurer and supervisor, respectively. Blanks are sent the commissioners from the Department for this purpose. These certificates contain not only the rammissiouers' apportion- ment, but also the apportionment made by the Superintendent. The blanks in the printed forms of statements showing the amount of school moneys received and apportioned, and the blanks for special statement in re- gard to local funds, should be properly filled. The ' ' certificate " following the forma for statements should be signed by all the commissioners of the county. After making, for any supervisor, the statement of the apportionment for the school districts, the school-houses of which are in his town, and the parts of joint districts iu his town, write at the right hand of the words " Amount now in supervisor's hands," the amount reported by the county treasurer as iu his hands. Subtract, and write the balance at the right hand of the words " Balance to be drawn from county treasurer." A statement of the apportionment in the example used above would be as follows: STATEMENT. State school moneys apportioned for school year ending August 20, .1886, School District No. 6, Lyons: Fifteen district quotas apportioned by the Superintendent at $76.08, $1,141 20 Apportioned by the commissioners for teachers' wages upon the ag- gregate attendance 1 ,871 10 Apportioned by the commissioners for library money upon the ag- gregate attendance 55 26 Total amount of public money apportioned the district $3,067 56 School Distbict No. 6, Palmyra. One district quota apportioned by the Superintendent $76 08 Apportioned by the commissioners for teachers' wages upon the ag- gregate attendance 16 59 Apportioned by the commissioners for library money upon the ag- gregate attendance . . 49 Total amount of public money apportio.ied the district $93 16 304 State School Moneys. In making tlie enumeration of the school districts of each town, in the ap- portionment, arrange them according to their present numbers, in regular con- secutive order from the lowest to the highest number, inserting in its proper order the number of every district, whether any money is apportioned to it or not. In some cases there may be difBculty in identifying certain districts, since, in many instances, commissioners may have changed the district uum- ber, and inserted the new number in the abstracts, and afterward again changed the district number: making, in all, three numbers by which the district has been known. By* an examination of the blanks for the apportionment, it will appear to be necessary to give the three numbers in each case. By no other means can the Superintendent know that the apportionment is correctly made, and that the commissioners understood all the changes as they have been re- ported to the Department. Send to each supervisor, with the apportionment for his town, a blank for his use in making a copy to file with the town clerk. The apportionment should be made at the earliest possible day, and the du- plicate be sent forthwith to the Department of Public Instruction. APPORTIONMENT TO ORPHAN ASYLUMS. By the provisions of chapter 261, Laws of 1850, the incorporated orphan asylums in the State, other than those in the city of New Tork, can partici- pate in the public money. A report must, however, have been made to the commissioner, and the institution mnst, in all respects, have subjected itself to the rules and requirements of the law and regulations of the Superintend- ent respecting common schools. When this has been done the apportionment will be made to the institution in the same manner as though it were a sepa- rate school district of the county. Chapter 261, Laws of 1850. Section 1. The schools of th« several incorporated orphan asylum societies in this State, other than those In the city of New Tork, shall participate in the distribution of the school moneys, in the same manner and to the same extent, in proportion to the number of children educated therein, as the common schools in their respective cities or districts. 3. The schools of said societies shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the common schools in such cities or districts, but shall remain under the immediate management and direction of the said societies as heretofore. § 28. If in their apportionment, througli any error of the com- missioners, any district shall have apportioned to it a larger or a less share of the moneys than it is entitled to, the commissioners may in their next annual apportionment, with the approbation of the Superintendent, correct the error by an equitable deduction from or augmentation of the share of such district. The simplest method of correcting the error of an excess of money appor- tioned to one or more districts is as follows: If one district had an excess of $10; another of $6.45; a third of $4.50; and a fourth of $15; add them together, and the sum $35.95 add to and apportion with the money to be apportioned among all the districts. Then deduct from the sum thus apportioned to each district the excess paid to it the last year, and the remainder will be its share of the present apportionment. Apply the same rule in case the excess be of library money. If the error be one of deficiency in the former apportionment, the correction is made by setting apart from the money to be apportioned a sum equal to the sum of the deficiency, or several deficiencies, and then having apportioned the residue among all the districts, out of the money so set apart State School Moneys. 305 add to the sum thus apportioned to each district an amount equal to itsformer deficiency. Excepting the library money, the public money can be used for no other . purpose than the payment of teachers' wages. Trustees will see that as the public money is now apportioned upon the aggregate attendance, the longer the school is maintained in the year, and the larger the attendance, the greater will be the amount of money the district will receive. A district which has a school only twenty-eight weeks will not receive as much as one with the same number of pupils that has a school a longer time. § 29. No district or part of a district shall be entitled to any portion of sucli school moneys on such apportionment unless the report of the trustees for the preceding school year shall show that a common school was supported in the district and taught by a qualified teacher for such a term of time as would, under sec- tion seven of this title, entitle it to a distributive share under the apportionment of the Superintendent. DUTIES OF SUPERVISORS CONCERNINa THE STATE SCHOOL MONEYS. '" After all the school moneys reach the county treasurers, and the several cer- tificates of apportionment before-mentioned are made and filed, they are next paid to the supervisors of towns, and to such oflBcer of each city having a special school act, as the act shall direct. § 30. On receiving the certificate of the commissioners, each supervisor shall forthwith make a copy thereof for his own use, and deposit the original in the office of the clerk of his town ; and the moneys so apportioned to his town shall be paid to him imme- diately on his compliance with the requirements of the next sec- tion, and not before. § 31. Immediately on receiving the commissioners' certifi- cate of apportionment, the county treasurer shall require of each supervisor, and each supervisor shall give to the treasurer, in behalf of the town, his bond, with two or more sufficient sureties, approved by the treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the amount of the school moneys set apart or apportioned to the town, and of any such moneys unaccounted for by his predecessor, conditioned for the faithful disbursement, safe-keeping and accounting for such moneys, and of all other school moneys, that may come into his hands from any other source. If the condi- tion shall be broken the county treasurer shall sue the bond in his own. name in behalf of the town, and the money recovered 39 306 State School Moneys. shall be paid over to the successor of the supervisor in default, such successor having first given security as aforesaid. Whenever the olEce of a supervisor shall become vacant, by reason of the expira- tion of his term of service or otherwise, the county treasurer shall require the person elected, or appointed to fill such vacancy to execute a bond, with two or more sureties, to be approved by the treasurer, in the penalty of at least double the sum of the school moneys remaining in the hands of the old supervisor, whea the office became vacant, conditioned for the faithful disbursement, safe-keeping and accounting for such moneys. But the execution of this bond shall not relieve the supervisor from the duty of exe- cuting the bond first above mentioned. {As amended hy sec. 11, chwp. 567, Laws of 1875.) The latter part of the above section provides for the case of an incoming supervisor who takes simply the balance of moneys left in the hands of his predecessor and gives his bond for a corresponding amount. When, during Ms term, a new apportionment is made, he must execute a new bond as required in the first part of the section. This bond, as a matter of prudence, should be acknowledged before a com- missioner of deeds or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments, and the sureties should be required to indorse upon the bond an affidavit that each of them is a freeholder, and worth the amount of the penalty over and above all debts incurred or liabilities assumed by him. It is only upon such an afiB- davit that bonds required in legal proceedings are approved; and it is a matter of justice to the county treasurer that he should protect himself from personal liability for taking an insufficient bond by following the legal method of ascer- taining its sufficiency. If, after such affidavits are indorsed on the bond, the ^ county treasurer is satisfied with the sureties, he should indorse his approval. The bond to be given under this section must be renewed every year, as its penalty in each case is to be double the amount of the school moneys there to be paid. FoBM OF Bond. Know all men by these presents, that we supervisor of the town of , in the county of , and and of the town of as his sureties, are held and firmly bound unto treasurer of said county of , in the penalty of dollars and cents, to be paid to the said treasurer, his successors in office, attorney or assigns; to which pay- ment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns jointly and severally, by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated this day of , in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above bouuden supervisor, shall safely keep, faithfully disburse and justly account for all the school moneys which have or shall come into his hands, apportioned and paid from the State treasury, and all other school moneys that have or may come into his hands from any other source, then this obligation to be void, other- wise to remain in full force and virtue, State School Moneys. 307 State of Nb-w Yobk, | County, ("**■•■ the suretie s within named, being severally duly sworn, each for himself deposes and says, that he is a freeholder and is worth the sum of over and above all debts and liabilities incurred by him. Sworn before me this day ) of , 18 . [ I hereby approve the within bond as to its form and manner of execution, and the sufficiency of the sureties therein. Dated , 18 . , Treasurer of the county of Another bond must be' given by supervisors for trust funds. {See Trusts.) § 32. The refusal of a supervisor to give such security shall be a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed on his conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the town. Upon such refusal, the moneys so set apart and apportioned to the town shall be paid to and disbursed by some other oflicer or person to be designated by the county judge, under such regu- lations and with such safe-guards as he may prescribe, and the reasonable compensation of such officer or person, to be adjusted by the board of supervisors, shall be a town charge. RETURN TO COUNTY TREASURER. Title IV. § 4. On the first Tuesday of March in each year, each super- visor shall make a return in writing to the county treasurer for the use of the school commissioners, showing the amounts of school moneys in his hands not paid out on the orders of trustees for teachers' wages, nor drawn by them for library purposes, and the districts to which they stand accredited (and if no such moneys remain in his hands, he shall report that fact) ; and thereafter he shall not pay out any of said moneys until he shall have received the certificate of the next apportionment ; and the money so re- turned by him shall be re-apportioned as hereinbefore directed. § 5. Any supervisor who neglects to make the said return, or shall make a false return, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars, to be recovered by his successor in office, or if he be re-elected, by the . 308 State School Moneys. connty treasurer of the county iu which the town lies, for the benefit of the common schools of the county. This is the return mentioned in subdivision 3, section 27, title 3. Accounts and Disbdebements. § 6. It is the duty of every supervisor : 1. To disburse the school moneys in his hands, applicable t& the payment of teachers' wages, upon and only upon the written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority of the trustees, in favor of qualified teachers, or upon the order of the trustee of a separate neighborhood in favor of any teacher of a school in an adjoining State, recognized by him and patronized by the inhabitants of such neighborhood. Such teacher shall be deemed a qualified teacher. {As amended ly sec. 12, cTiap. 567, Lcms of 1875.) 2. To disburse the library moneys upon, and only upon, the written orders of a sole trustee, or of a majority of the trustees. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) 3. In the case of a union free school district, to pay over all the school money apportioned thereto, whether for the payment of teachers' wages, or as library moneys, to the treasurer of such district, upon the order of its board of education. 4. To keep a just and true account of all the school moneys re- ceived and disbursed by him during each year, and to lay the same, with proper vouchers, before the board of town auditors at each annual meeting thereof. 5. To have a bound blank book (the cost of which shall be a town charge), and to enter therein all his receipts and disburse- ments of school moneys, specifying from whom and for what purposes they were received, and to whom and for what purposes they were paid out ; and to deliver the book to his successor in office. 6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his office, to make out a just and true account of all school moneys thereto- fore received by him and of all disbursements thereof, and to de- liver the same to the town clerk, to be filed and recorded, and to notify his successor in office of such rendition and filing. 7. So soon as the bond to the county treasurer, by the third ar- ticle of the third title of this act required, shall have been given by him and approved by the treasurer, to deliver to his predecessor the State School Moneys, 309 treasurer's certificate of these facts, to procure from the town clerk a copy of his predecessor's accoTint, and to demand and re- ceive from him any and all school moneys remaining in his hands. 8. Upon receiving such a certificate from his successor, and ' not before, to pay to him all school moneys remaining in his hands, and to forthwith file the certificate in the town clerk's oflice. The law whicli governs tlie supervisorSj in tlie disbursement of ao mucli of the school moneys as is apportioned for the payment of teachers' wages, requires them to pay it upon written orders drawn upon them by a sole trustee or by a majority of the trustees of each district in favor of qualified teachers. If the order is regular upon its face — that is to say, if it bears the signature of a majority of the persons acting in fact as trustees of a district, under color of an election, in favor of a person whom it states to be a duly qualified teacher employed by them in the district during the year in which it is drawn, and in payment of his wages as siioh teacher — it is a sufficient voucher for the supervisor, and it is not for him to inquire whether the trustees have exceeded their authority or acted improperly in drawing the order. If pre- sented by any other person than the teacher in whose favor it is drawn, it should bear his written indorsement or order for payment to a specified person. FoKM OF Order. To , supervisor of the town of Pay to (or order) dol- lars and cents, on account of wages earned by h while duly qualified as a teacher in school district No. in said town, between the day of A. D. 188 and the day of A. D. 188 . Dated A. D. 188 ) * Trustee of }■ School Dist. No. \ Town of Library money may be paid to any person upon the written order of a majority of the trustees. The account to be kept under this section may be a simple cash account in which the supervisor, personally, and in his individual name, is charged with all school moneys received by him and credited with each payment, specifying the date, the person to whom and the account on which it was made. It would conduce to accuracy and convenience, in passing his accounts before the hoard of town auditors, to number each credit consecutively, and to affix the same number to the order, receipt or other voucher to be produced in proof of payment and in support of such credit. This account should be kept in a bound book, to be handed over to his successor in office, and a transcript of such account should be drawn off, and, with the accompanying vouchers, should be presented to the board of town auditors for their examination. As that examination may take place before the close of his official term, it would be well, upon its completion, to have the town auditors enter upon the original account, in the blank book, their certificate that they have examined such account and the vouchers therefor, up to and including the last preceding entry (giving its date), and have audited and allowed the same. * Insert "sole," U the district has but one trustee. 310 State School Mokets. In addition to the cash account of the supervisor personally, a continuous account is to be kept between each district and the supervisor, officially with- out break or change when a new incumbent succeeds to the office. The board of town auditors is required by law to meet annually in each, town, at the place of holding the last town meeting, on the last Thursday pre- ceding the annual meeting of the board of supervisors of the county. {Chap- ter 228, Laws of 1844.) It consists, for the purpose of examining the super- visor's account, of the town clerk and justices, or any two of the justices of the peace. The supervisor, who is ordinarily a member, cannot, of course, act in his own case. The account to be presented to them is to be accompanied by an affidavit, attached to, and to be filed with, such account, made by the person presenting or claiming the same, that the items of such account are correct, and that the disbursements charged therein have been in fact made. (Sec. 2, chap. 490, Laws o/1847.) The account to be rendered by the supervisor to his successor in office includes not only that portion thereof which has been examined by the town auditors but that also which relates to his subsequent receipts and disburse- ments. Inasmuch as it is to be filed and recorded in the office of the town clerk, it must, independent of and in addition to the original cash account, be entered upon the blank book. The object of an account book to be kept by the supervisor and to pass to his successor in office, is to enable the latter to ascertain at any future time the state of the accounts of each district with any previous supervisor at any given date. To effect this object it is essential that a separate account should be kept with the trustees of each district and separate neighborhood, regard- ing them as a perpetual corporation. It is in substance an account between the district and the town, which is not broken or affected by any change in the officers of either. It may be in the following form: Trustees of District No. 2, in account with the Supervisor of — . De. Cr. 1878 1878 July 27th. To paid Miss Anna June 7th. By cash received Davis, teacher's wages, on order of J. D. and G. from late supervisor for teachers' wages $63 80 S., trustees (Toaoher No. Do. for library 4 18 12) $42 60 1879 Sep. 8d. Paid Noah Parsons, April 2d. Cash of county teaoher'a wages, on order treasurer for teachers' of J. D. and L. M., trus- tees (voucher No. 33) 21 20 wages .-. 166 8 60 36 Do. for library Sep. 25th. Paid Z. ilf. andP. May 12th. Cash of county S., trustees, library treasurer on supple- money (voucher No. 46). 4 18 mental apportionment Oct. 22d. To copy Code of for teachers' wages 2 10 Public Instruction 3 00 Do. for library 16 The orders and other vouchers of the account of the supervisor going out of office belong to him only in his official character, and should be delivered to his successor, precisely as if he was vacating an official place of business in which such vouchers were by law required to be filed and kept. On turning them over to his successor, the latter should give to his predecessor a receipt which may be substantially in the following form: Eeceived of John Doe, late supervisor of the town of , dol- lars and cents, the balance of school moneys remaining in his hands. Also, vouchers from No. to No. , both inclusive, in support of his charges for disbursements, bearing the same numbers in his cash account, and amounting in the aggregate to the sum of dollars and cents. State School Mokets. 311 Also, one (or two or more, as tlie case may be) bound account book, one copy Hull's Treatise on Town Officers (or whatever other books, papers or other property are in his custody as supervisor). Dated E. ROB, Supermsor of The account book should contain an inventory of all books or other prop- erty which may from time to time come into the custody of the supervisor in the discharge of his duties as a school officer. DECISIONS OF THE COUETS. AsYLTJM SOCIETIBS. LAW OF 1848. The provision of chapter 75, of the Laws of 1848, 85, declaring that the orphan asylum societies of the city of Brooklyn shall participate in the distribution of the common school moneys raised in said city, is not to be construed to apply to the public moneys arising from the State fund. First, the language restricts the right to moneys raised in that city. Second, if the broader construction were given, the act would be unconstitutional. (Supreme Court, 1851, People v. Board of Education of Brooklyn, 13 Barb. 400.) The dictum of the court in No. 2 does not prevent the execution of the act, chapter 261, Law of 1850, page 500, permitting all the incorporated orphan asylums in the State to share in the distribution of the school moneys. Common School Fond. A statute (Laws of 1848, 85) authorizing an orphan asylum, whose trustees have a right to reject or admit applicants, to share in the revenues of the common school fund, is unconstitutional. Such an asylum is not a common school. (Id.) Law op 1850. Under chap. 261, Laws of 1850, orphan asylums are en- titled to share in the moneys raised by tax in school districts as well as in those raised by the State; but they must employ qualified teachers and other- wise conform to the laws of the State concerning schools. (People, ex rel. St. Thomas' Orphan Asylum, v. OlowacM, 3 Sup. Ot. Bep. 436, 1873; See p. 166, ante.) STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. Seotion 1. The office of State Superintendent of Pixblie In- struction is continued and the term of said office shall be three years, commencing hereafter on the seventh day of April. Such Superintendent shall be elected by joint ballot of the Senate and Assembly on the second Wednesday of February next preceding the expiration of the term of the then incumbent of said office, and on the second Wednesday of February next after the occur- rence of any vacancy in the office. {As wm&nded iy sec. 1, cAy sec. 1, chap. 567, Laws of 1876.) § 5. He may appoint as many clerks as he may deem necessary, but the compensation of such clerks shall not exceed in the aggre- gate the sum of nine thousand dollars in any one year, and shall be payable monthly by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comp- troller, and the certificate of the Superintendent. {As amended ly sec. 2, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) § 6. The seal of the Superintendent, of which a description and impression are now on file in the office of secretary of State, shall continue to be his official seal, and when necessary, may be re- newed from time to time. Copies of all papers deposited or filed in the Superintendent's office, and of all acts, orders and decisions made by him, and of the drafts or machine copies of his official letters, may be authenticated under the said seal, and when so authenticated, shall be evidence equally with and in like manner as the originals. State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 315 Chapter 129 of the Laws of 1838 provides that no "record, whereof a tran- script duly certified may by law be read in evidence, shall be removed by vir- tue of any subpoena duces tecum from the proper office in which such record shall be kept, » ♦ * * unless by order of some court of record, made in open court, and entered in the minutes therepf, which order shall specify that the production of such record instead of such transcript is neces- sary." The Revised Statutes, section 74, title III, chapter 7, part 3, provide that " whenever a certified copy of any affidavit, record, document, or otlier paper is declared by law to be evidence, such copy shall be certified, by the clerk or officer in whose custody the same is required by law to be, to have been com- pared by him with the original, and to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of such original ; and, if such officer have any official seal by law, such certificate shall be attested by such seal." The seventy-sixth section of the same title provides that " in all cases, where the seal of any court or of any public officer shall be authorized or required by law, the same may be affixed by making an impression directly on the paper, which shall be as valid as if made on a wafer or on wax.' § 7. The Superintendent shall be, ex officio, a trustee of Cor- nell University, and of the New York State Asylum for Idiots, and a Regent of the University of the State of New York. He shall also have general supervision over the State normal schools at Brockport, Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, Oswego and Potsdam, and over any other State normal school which may hereafter be established ; and he shall provide for the education of the Indian children of the State, as required by chapter seventy-one of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six. {As amended Tyy sec. 3, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) § 12. The Superintendent may, in his discretion, appoint per- sons to visit and examine all or any of the common schools in the county wherein such persons reside, and to report to him all such matters respecting their condition and management, and the means of improving them, as he shall prescribe; but no allow- ance or compensation shall be made to such visitors for their ser- vices or expenses. This section is copied from section 8, chapter 330, Laws of 1839. Soon after its passage visitors were appointed in all the counties of the State. The visitors did not generally enter upon the work. Of the 10,700 school districts in the State at that time, only 1,865 were visited. From twenty-three counties no reports were received. The Superintendent of Common Schools, April 13, 1840, sent to the legislature, an abstract of the reports received by him, from visitors appointed under this law, which were published in Assembly Docu- ment No. 307. The power vested in the Superintendent by this section has not since been exercised, except perhaps in a single instance in 1861, where a school commissioner, having volunteered for three months at the beginning of the war, the Acting Superintendent appointed a visitor to examine teachers and visit schools, the Superintendent issuing temporary certificates upon the 316 State Superintendent of Public Instbuction. recommendation of the visitor. In this way the patriotic impulse of the com- missioner was gratified without the sacrifice of his office, and at the same time without prejudice to the public service. The commissioner, of course, drew his salary which, by arrangement, he turned over to the visitor. § 13. So often as he can, consistently with his other duties, he sliall visit such of the common schools of the State as he shall see fit, and inquire into their course of instruction, management and discipline, and advise and encourage the pupils, teachers and officei's thereof. § 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the Superintendent, the Superin- tendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner or other school officer from his office. Any school ofiicer can be removed by the Superintendent for either of two causes: 1. The willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools. 3. The willful disobedience of any decision, order or regulation of the Superintendent. The practice where removal is sought is similar to that in appeal cases, in fact the proceedings are generally termed appeals asking for the removal of the officer against whom the charges are made. All the papers must be prepared under the rules established by the Super- intendent in cases of appeal. The petition, after distinctly stating the cliarge, should proceed with a specifi- cation of the facts by which it is established, which must be set forth with such certainty as to time, place, etc. , as to furnish the oflicer with precise information as to what he is expected to meet, and to enable him to look for repelling tes- timony. The charges must not only be distinctly alleged, but they must be specifically proved. After being verified, a copy of the afiidavits, including the jurat or certificate of the officer administering the oath, mnst be served upon the officer whose removal is sought, together with a notice of the applica- tion, which may be substantially in the following form. Sir: Take notice that the petition and affidavits, with copies of which you are herewith served, will be presented to the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion at Albany, and application thereupon made for your removal from the office of trustee of Joint. District No. , of , iu county, and , in county; and that you are required to transmit your answer to such application, duly verified, to the Department of Public Instruc- tion within ten days after the service hereof, or the charges contained iu such affidavits will be deemed to be admitted by you. A B . Post-office address, , ■ A copy of this notice, together with an affldavU proving the service thereof and of the affidavits therein referred to, and the date and manner of such State Supekiutendent of Public Instbuctioh-. 31T service, must be transmitted, with_the original affidavits, to the Department of Public Instruction. He cannot be prejudiced by any statement which he has not been called upon to answer. The form of the notice above given indicates the course of the respondent. He is to transmit his sworn answer, together with the affidavits of other per- sons, if he deems them necessary, to the department within ten days. If, for any reason, as the absence of material witnesses, he is unable to complete his defense in that time, he should before its expiration transmit his own answer duly verified, with a statement, under oath, of the facts which render it nec- essary that the time to procure further evidence should be extended, and stating the earliest day at which he expects to be dble to obtain such evidence. If a probable defense appears from his answer, and the application for further time is reasonable, an order will be made granting it. The practice generally followed in cases of disobedience of an order or decision of the Superintendent is the same as in appeals, excepting that upon filing the charges in the Department or upon his own motion, the Superintend- ent issues an order, directing the respondent to show cause before him on or before a certain day fixed in the order, why!he should not be removed from office. If no answer is made, the allegations contained in the moving papers are considered to be admitted as true, and if as such, a case is established against the officer, the Superintendent at once removes him. If, on the other hand, an answer is interposed, the questions must be decided by tl^e Superintendent after an examination presented by both sides. From an order removing a school officer by the Superintendent, there is no appeal. § 19. He shall prepare suitable registers, blanks, forms and regulations for making all reports and conducting all necessary business under this act, and shall cause the same, with such infor- mation and instructions as he shall deem conducive to the proper organization and government of the common schools, and the due execution of their duties by school officers, to be transmitted to the officers and persons intrusted with the execution of the same. The registers to be used by teachers in keeping an account of the attendance at school, and the blanks for the report of trustees to school commissioners, are prepared in July or August of each year and sent by the Department to school commissioners: by those officers they are usually transmitted to town clerks, and by town clerks to the trustees of school districts. The powers and duties of the State Superintendent are so numerous, that it is impracticable to treat of others than tjiose of a general nature under this heading. Others are herein referred to under the various headings to which they specially relate, and for convenience cross-references are made to them. CROSS REFERENCES. Appeals. Title XII. This whole title is devoted to the subject of appeals, and the Superintendent's jurisdiction and powers are found fully stated therein. 318 State Supkrinteistden't of Public IifSTKucTiox. Blind. Title I, § 9. All appointments of state pupils to the New York Institution for the Blind are made by the Superintendent under the provisions of this sec- tion, and chapter 166, Laws of 1870. Chap. 166, Laws of 1870. The Superintendent may appoint the blind pupils to the New York Institution for the Blind for a term of five years, and may under certain conditions extend such term. Title 1, § 11. The Superintendent may make regulations and directions so as to prevent pupils entering the institution at irregular periods. Cornell Univbksity. Title I, § 7. The Superintendent is made ex-officio, a trustee of Cornell Uni- Tersity. Chapter 581, Laws of 1865, as amended by chap. 291, Laws of 1887. This chapter provides for the examination of candidates for free scholarships in Cornell University, and the appointment to such scholarships. The super- intendent has charge of such examinations as well as other and important powers and duties in relation to the subject. (See page 486.) Deaf and Dumb. Title I, § 9. All appointments of State pupils to the deaf and dumb institu- tions are made by the Superintendent under the provisions of this section. He may also impose conditions whereby some proportionate share of the ex- pense of educating and clothing such pupils shall be paid by their parents, guardians or friends. Title I, § 10. The Superintendent may, in his discretion, extend the term of a pupil three years beyond the regular term of five years. Title I, § 11. The Superintendent may make regulations and directions so as to prevent pupils entering the institutions at irregular periods. Fines and Penalties. Title III, § 32. Whenever a fine or penalty for the benefit of the common schools of a county is collected and paid into the county treasury of a county comprising a city having a special school act, the Superintendent shall appor- tion the amount of such fine or penalty between the city and the residue of the county. Indian Schools. Title XIII, § 13. Directs the Superintendent to make an equitable appor- tionment to Indian schools. Chapter 71, La:ws of 1856. The Superintendent is charged with providmg the means of eduoatiofi for all the Indian children in the State. The whole chapter is a direction to the Superintendent to this end. {See page 85.) Librarian and Libraries. Title VIII, § 3. The Superintendent may approve of the application of the library money apportioned to a district to the payment of teachers' wages, under certain circumstances. Title VIII, § 9. The Superintendent may order that an agreement forming a joint library be terminated. Title VIII, § 10. When a joint library is dissolved, and the trustees cannot agree upon a division of the books, the Superintendent may select some officer or person to make such division. Title VIII, § 11. The Superintendent shall make all rules and regulations respecting the use of district libraries. State Supebintestden-t of Public Instruction. 319 Title VIII, 8 13. Tlie Superintendent may require the trustees to make such report as he snail prescribe to the school commissioner or to him concerning the district library. Title VIII, § 12. The Superintendent may impose it as a duty upon the teacher to assist in making an examination of the library; and the school may be closed one day for such purpose, without its being accounted lost time. Title VIII, § 13. Superintendent may withhold library money from a dis- trict when a report as required by him has not been made. Title VIII, § 14. When so requested by the trustee, the Superintendent may select the books for the district library and cause the same to be delivered to the clerk of the county. Meetings. Title VII, § 10. When the annual meeting in a district was not held, and if no special meeting be called by the trustees or clerk within twenty days to transact the business of the annual meeting, the Superintendent may order any inhabitant of such district to give notice of such special meeting. MiSOELLANBOTJS. Chapter 248, Laws of 1878. The Superintendent has power to decide all disputes concerning the validity of any election held under this act, or of any votes cast thereat, or of any of the acts of the inspectors or clerk, and his de- cision shall be final. He may, in his discretion, order a new election. American Museum of Natv/ral Sistory. — Chapter 248, Laws of 1886. Duties and powers of Superintendent relating to this institution. {See 'page 483.) Plans and specifications for school-houses. — Chapter 675, Laws of 1887. The Superintendent is directed to procure plans and specifications for school-houses, and publish the same in convenient form for distribution. (Seepage 118.) Code of Public Instruction.— Ch&T^teT 673, Laws of 1887. The Superintend- i ent is directed to distribute the Code of Public Instruction of 1887, to the school districts of the State. (See page 117.) Reports. Title I, § 14. The Superintendent shall submit to the legislature an annual report. The items of such report. are enumerated in the subdivisions of this section. Title VII, I 60, sub. 5. The Superintendent may require trustees to report any information he may desire concerriing the common schools of their dis- trict. Title VII, g 63. Superintendent may prescribe the form and subject matter of all reports from trustees of joint districts lying in two or more counties. Title VII, 55 63. The Superintendent may require reports from trustees of separate neighborhoods upon such matters as he shall prescribe. School Commissioner, Title II, § 6. The Superintendent can appoint school commissioners In case of a vacancy in that oflBce when there is no connty judge to make the appoint- ment. (See School Commissioner.) Title II, § 10. Superintendent may withhold the salary of a school commis- sioner when that officer persistenly neglects to perform his duties; he may also remit such forfeiture. (See School Commissioner.) Title 11, § 13. Superintendent may remove a school commissioner from office, for a violation of this section which forbids him to act as agent for any author, publisher or bookseller, or directly or indirectly receive any gift, emolument, reward or promise of reward, for his influence in recommending 320 State SuPERiNTEjirDENT of Public Instkuctioh. or procuring the use of any book, or school apparatus, or furniture of any kind whatever, in any common school, or the purchase of any book for a dis- trict library. Title II, § 14. Superintendent may direct school commissioner to take and report to him testimony in any case of appeal. {See, also. Appeals.) Title II, § 15. To prescribe rules and regulations for school commissioners, and to require them to make report to him as to any particular act or matter that he may desire. {See, also. Reports.) SCHOOL-HOTJBRS AND APPENDAGES. Title VII, g 50. The Superintendent may direct the trustees to expend a sum not exceeding |50 in the erection of necessary outbuildings, when the district is wholly unprovided with such buildings. State Normal Schools. The powers and duties of the Superintendent are found in the chapter on State Normal Schools. {See page 463.) State School Monbts. Title III, § 3. Must unite with State Treasurer in transferring the State moneys from one depository to another. Title III, § 3. No state school moneys are paid out except upon the warrant of the Superintendent, countersigned by the comptroller. Title III, § 8. The Superintendent shall countersign and enter all checks drawn by the treasurer in payment of his warrants, also all receipts of the treasurer for moneys paid to the treasurer. Title III, § 4. The Superintendent and the Comptroller are authorized to make a loan when a county has not paid into the state treasury by the first day of March of each year, the moneys required by law to be raised by taxation upon such county, and such loan shall be a charge upon the county in default. Title III, § 5. The state school moneys shall be apportioned by the Superin- , tendeut on or before the twentieth day of January in each year. Title III, §§ 6, 7, 8 and 9, direct the manner of the apportionment by the Superintendent. Title III, § 10. The Superintendent may make an equitable allowance to any district or neighborhood that was excluded from participation in any appor- tionment by reason of its having omitted to make any report required by law, or to comply with any other provisior^ of law, or with any rule or regulation made by the Superintendent under the authority of law, where it shall be shown to him that such omission was accidental or excusable. He may also direct that the money so equitably apportioned be paid in satisfaction of teachers' wages earned by a teacher not duly qualified. Title III, § 11. The Superintendent may reclaim any money apportioned to any county, or district not entitled to such money, when not impracticable to do so. If paid into the State treasury the Superintendent countersigns the Treasurer's receipt for the same. If it be impracticable to reclaim such money he shall deduct it in his next annual apportionment. Title III, § 13. When a less amount has been apportioned to any county or district than it was entitled to, the Superintendent may make a supplemental apportionment to be paid from the contingent fund, if sufficient, and if not, then to be made up in his next annual apportionment. Title III, § 13. The Superintendent certifies his annual apportionment, as soon as made, to the county clerk, county treasurer, school commissioners and city treasurer or chamberlain, in every county in the State. He certifies a sup- plemental apportionment to the county clerk, county treasurer and school com- missioners of the county in which the district or neighborhood is situated. State Supekintendent of Public Instruction'. 321 Title III, § 28. Superintendent may give his approval so that school commis- Bioners can correct errors made by them in their apportionment. Title XIII, § 12. Directs the Superintendent to make an equitable apportion- ment to the Indian schools. Tbachekb. Title I, § 15. The Superintendent may grant under his hand and seal of office, a certificate of qualification to teach in the public schools of the State, and may revoke the same. Title I, S 16. He may for cause annul any certificate held by a teacher. Title I, § 16. He shall keep in his office alphabetical lists of all persons who have received, or shall receive certificates of qualification from himself or diplomas of any normal school of the State. Tbachekb' Institutes. Title XI, § 3. The Superintendent shall advise and direct commissioners in relation to giving notice of a teachers' institute. Title XI, § 3. The Superintendent shall- advise aud co-operate with the com- missioners in fixing the times and places of holding institutes. He shall have power to employ, or cause the school commissioner to employ suitable persons to conduct the institute. He shall visit, or cause to be visited by persons employed in the Department, such and so many of the institutes as he possibly can. He shall establish the basis upon which the yearly appropriation for the support of teachers' institutes shall be distributed. Title XI, § 4. The Superintendent may establish such regulations in regard to certificates of qualification, issued by commissioners, as will furnish incen- tives and encouragement to teachers to attend the institutes. Title XI, § 5. The Superintendent may include a district in his apportion- ment of public moneys that has complied with the requirements of the law concerning teachers' institutes, and which shall in other respects be entitled to be included in such apportionment. Title XI, § 6. The amount which the Superintendent shall certify to be due to commissioners as expenses of holding an institute shall be paid them, and also to any person employed by the Superinteudeut. Title XI, § 7. The Superintendent may direct reports from school commis- sioners concerning the institutes. Taxes. Title VII, § 87. Superintendent may approve and consent to the withdrawal and correction of a tax list and warrant. Town Clekk. Title V, 8 5. Superintendent may send blanks and circulars to town clerks and direct the distributions thereof. Title V, § 6. Superintendent may require town clerk to send to him a copy of the supervisors' annual account of school moneys submitted to the town auditors, together with the action of the town auditors thereon. Trust Funds. Title in, § 15. The Superintendent may hold real or personal estate in trust, for the support or benefit of common schools within the State. Title III, § 17. The Superintendent shall supervise and advise trustees of such funds and hold them to a regular accounting as he shall prescribe. Title III, § 18. Every trust created for the benefit of common schools shall be reported to the Superintendent as soon as created. 41 322 State Superiittendent of Public iNSTBncTiojr. Title III, ij 21. The Superintendent shall report to the legislature annually a statement and account of all gospel and school lots, or moneys arising from the lease or sale of such lands, and also, of all town school funds created under the " Act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor," passed April 27, 1829. For this purpose he can require from the supervisor, board of town auditors, or any officer of a town, a report concerning such trusts or funds. Union Free Schools. Title IX, § 1. If the trustees of a common school district, when petitioned according to law to call a meeting for the purpose of organizing a union free school district, refuse or neglect to give such notice for twenty days, the Superintendent may authorize and direct any inhabitant to give the notice. Title IX, § 4. He may also make the like order in case the petition is made to trustees of two or more adjoining districts. Title IX, § 18. The Superintendent may decide what are ordinary contin- gent expenses, and his decision shall be conclusive. Title IX, § 25. Every union free school district, in all its departments, shall be subject to the visitation of the Superintendent. He is charged with a gen- eral supervision of its board of education and their management and conduct of all its departments of instruction. ' Title IX, § i5. The Superintendent has power to require reports from boards of education as he shall prescribe. Title IX, § 26. For cause shown, or for willful disobedience of any lawf nl requirement of the Superintendent, or a want of due diligence in obeying such requirement, he may remove any member of a board of education. SUPERVISORS. The supervisors of towns are officers who have important trusts, and are charged with many and important duties in the school system of the State, and the administration of laws pertaining thereto. The duties are in refei-ence to certain subjects which in this part of the Code are treated of in chapters under their respective names. For this reason, after giving a few sections and laws which stand comparatively alone, a reference is made to all sections and laws relating in any way to supervisors, and to the chapter where the same is placed with the annotations thereon. CANNOT BE TRUSTEE. Title VII. § 23. No school commissioner or supervisor is eligible to the office of trustee, nor can either be a member of any board of education within his district or town j * * * The reason of this prohibition may be found in the incongruity of a man's holding two offices by one of which he is subject and responsible to himself in his other capacity. If a supervisor were also trustee, he would as super- visor hold money that he is forbidden to hold as trustee, and would as trustee draw orders on himself as supervisor. He is also directed to bring certain actions against the trustees of districts, which he would not be able to do if he held both offices. EMBEZZLEMENT. Title IV. § 3. A supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his own private use any money or security received by him under any provision of this act, including the two preceding sections of tiiis title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the town. § 6. It is the duty of every supervisor. ******* 9. By his name of office, wlien the duty is not elsewhere im- 324 Sttpeevisors. posed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and forfeitures imposed for violations of this act, and for any default or omission of any town officer or school district board or officer under this act ; and after deducting his costs and expenses, to report the balances to the school commissioner. The moneys so collected are apportioned by the school commissioner. (See State School Moneys.) 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection or alteration of a school district, as in the sixth title of this act pro- vided, and to perform any other duty which may be devolved upon him by this act, or any other act relating to common Bchools. BOARDS OF SUPEEVISORS. Chapter 482, Laws of 1875. Section 1. Further powers of local legislation and administra- tion are hereby conferred on tlie boards of supervisors in the sev- eral counties of this State, except in cities whose boundaries are the same as those of the county, to make and administer, within their respective counties, laws and regulations as follows : * * * * ****# 28. To authorize boards of trustees or of education in any union free school districts, or trustees of common school districts, established in conformity to the general or to any special law of the State on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabi- tants of the district, voting on the question at a duly called meet- ing, to sell or exchange real estate belonging to tlie district, for the purpose of improving or changing school-house sites, and to increase or diminish the number of members of said boards. {As amended iy sea. 1, chap. 239, Zaws of 1878.) * * * ****** 36. To divide any school commissioner district which con- tains more than two hundred school districts and to erect there- from an additional school commissioner district, and when such district shall liave been formed, a school commissioner for said district shall be elected in the way and manner now provided by law for the election of school commissioner. {Added by chap. 543, Laws of 1881.) Supervisors. 335 Chapteb 414, Laws op 1883. Skction 1. Section sixteen of chapter one hundred and seventy- nine of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows : § 16. The several cities which have akeady or which chall hereafter, under special acts, elect superintendents of common schools, or whose board of education choose clerks doing the duty of supervision under direction of the board of education, shall not be included in any commissioner's district created by this act or authorized to be formed by the board of supervisoi's; and the several boards of supervisors in counties in which such cities are joined to towns in the formation of an assembly district may divide the county, exclusive of such cities, into school com- missioner's districts as they may deem advisable, but no town shall be divided in forming such districts. CROSS REFERENCES. Title II, § 8. When the supervisors of the towns comprising a school commissioner district adopt a resolution to increase the pay of school commis- sioners, the board of supervisors shall assess such amount upon the towns composing such commissioner district. (See School Commissioner. ^ Title VII, § 78. To assess unpaid taxes upon real estate. (See Taxes.) Title III, § 15. Real br personal estate may be granted to any supervisor in trust, for the benefit of the schools of his town or school district. (See Trust Mmds.) Title III, § 18. Shall report to State Superintendent all trusts held by him, and whenever a trust is created, and the terms thereof. (See Trust Mmds.) Title III, 55 19. Shall report to the State Superintendent concerning the gospel and school lots. (See Trust Funds.) Title III, § 20. Shall report to State Superintendent the particulars con- cerning any town school fund. (See Trust Funds.) Title III, § 21. Shall report to State Superintendent concerning trust funds whenever so required. (See Trust Funds.) Title III, § 30. To make and file copy of commissioner's certificate of the public moneys apportioned to his town, and deposit the original in the oiiice of the clerk of the town. The moneys are to be paid to him immediately upon his compliance with the requirements of the next section. (See Slate School Moneys.) Title III, § 31. Shall give, immediately upon receipt of commissioner's certificate, a bond to the county treasurer; a bond with two or more sufficient sureties in the penalty of at least double the amount of the school moneys. County treasurer shall also require person elected or appointed to fill vacancy in the office of supervisor to give a bond. (See State School Moneys.) Title III, ^ 32. The refusal of the supervisor to give security a misde- meanor. (See State School Moneys.) Title IV, 8 1. Are made the trustees of gospel and school lots. (See Trust Funds?) 326 SuPEiivisoES. Title IV, § 2. Are made the trustees of town school fund. (See Trust Funds.) Title IV, ^ 4. To make return in writing on the first Tuesday of March in each year, to the county treasurer, of the State school moneys in his hands and not paid out on the order of trustees. (See State School Moneys.) Title IV, § 5. Forfeit $25 for neglect to make return directed in preced- ing section. (See State School Moneys.) Title IV, § 6. This section prescribes duties of supervisors in the sub- divisions thereof as follows: 1. To disburse the school moneys in his hands upon the written order of the trustees, for the payment of teachers' wages. (See State Scliool Moneys.) 2. To disburse the library money upon the written order of the trustees. (Si-e Librarian and Libraries.) 3. To pay the public money apportioned to a union free school district, to the treasurer thereof upon the order of the board of education. (See State School Moneys.) 4. To keep an account of all the school moneys received and disbursed by him, and to lay the same, with the vouchers, before the board of town auditors at their annual meeting. (See State School Moneys.) 5. To keep a book of account of all the school moneys. (See State School Moneys.) 6. Within fifteen days after the termination of his term of oiBce, to deliver to the town clerk an account of school moneys received and disbursed by him, and to notify his successors of the rendition and filing thereof. (See State Scliool Moneys.) 7. So soon as his bond is given and approved, to deliver the certificate of the county treasurer of these facts to his predecessor; to procure from the town clerk a copy of his predecessor's account, and to demand and receive from him any school moneys remaining in his hands. (See State School Moneys) 8. Upon receiving such certificate, and not before, to pay to his successor all school moneys remaining in his hands, and file the certificate in the town clerk's office. (See State School Moneys.) Title VI, § 4. May be a,ssociated with town clerk and school commis- sioner in confirming or vacating commissioner's order altering district bound- aries. (See School Districts.) Title VI, § 5. Entitled to $1..50 per day as member of such board, to be paid by the town. (See School Districts.) Title VI, § 9. To sell the property of dissolved districts. (See School Districts.) Title VI, § 10. May sue officers of dissolved district for moneys due the district, and report the same to the school commissioner. (See School Districts.) Title VII, § 10. Where the time for the annual meeting passes with, out the meeting being held, and the trustees do not call a special meeting for transacting the business of the annual meeting within twenty days, the sup- ervisor may order an inhabitant to give notice of such meeting. (See Meet- ings.) Title VII, § 20. To give consent to change of site and removal of school- house, when the district had not previously been altered. (See School-Home Sites.) Title VII, § 30. Can appoint trustee after a vacancy of one month. (See Trustees.) Title VII, § 35. May accept written resignation of district officers. (See Fines and Penalties.) Title VII, § 69. To equalize the tax in school districts lying in two or more towns. (See Taxes.) Title VII, § 87. Where more than one renewal of a warrant is made, it must be with approbation of the supervisor. (See Taxes.) Chapter 694, Laws of 1867, as amended. Where the assessors neglect to make apportionment of the property of railroad, telegraph, telephone and Supervisors. 327 pipe-line companies, it is the duty of the supervisor, on tlie application of the trustees or board of education of any district, or of any such companies, to make the apportionment in the same manner and with the like eilect as if made by said assessors. (See Taxes.) Chapter 78, Laws of 1866, requires that supervisors give bonds for trust funds. (See Trust Funds.) Boards of supervisors are under certain conditions to raise money to pay for clothing of State and county blind pupils and deaf-mutes. (See Deaf and Dumb, aim, Blind.) TAXES. ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION. TITLE VIL § 65. Within thirty days after a tax shall have been voted by a district meeting, the trustees shall assess it, and make out the tax list therefor, and annex thereto their warrant for its collection. But they may at the same time assess two or more taxes so voted, and any tax or taxes they are authorized to raise without such vote, and make out one tax list and one warrant for the collection of the whole. They shall also prefix to the tax list a heading showing for what purpose the different items of the tax is levied. The first part of this section is merely directory, and in cases where the tax- list and warrant were not issued until after the expiration of thirty days from the time the tax was voted, the trustees can act the same as within the time set in this section. The first sentence is substantially the same as section 99, chapter 480, Laws of 1847. Of that section the supreme court said (3 Denio, 161): " There are no negative words in the statute, such as would necessarily make it impera- tive; and in such a case, for the benefit of the public, the act may be done after the time has elapsed; the statute, as to time, being regarded as directory only." The court remark, however: " Had it appeared, in this case, that there was such a change in the taxable persons or property in the district, be- tween the expiration of the month and the time the tax-list was made out, a different question would have been presented. But it does not appear that there was any such change, or that the plaintiff was in any way injured by the delay." The policy of the statute is, that the tax shall affect only the persons and property of the district, as nearly as possible, in the district at the time the tax was voted, and such persons as shall voluntarily expose themselves to lia- bility while the tax-list is being made out. Laiid purchased after a tax is voted, but before the tax-list is made out, should be assessed to the purchaser, if he has taken possession; and the seller may be taxed for the purchase-money secured by mortgage, as personal prop- erty, although he has reserved the possession to a tenant until a period which will not arrive until after the tax-list is made out. Persons about to remove from the district must be included in the tax-list, if inhabitants when it is completed. By section 83 of this title the trustees are forbidden to deliver the tax-list and warrant to the collector until the thirty-first day after the tax was voted. A tax-list cannot be regarded as completed until it has been delivered with Assessment and Collectioit of Taxes. 339 the warrant to the collector. While it remains in the hands of the trustees it may be altered and amended at any time- The actual making up Of a tax-list and Warrant may be the woric of a clerli or amanuensis. Although it may be in due form and contain all that is legally necessary, even to the signatures, it cannot be deemed complete until it has passed from their hands to the proper officer to collect it. There is an ansJogy between such a paper and a deed, mortgage or lease. They may be complete as to form and execution, but the transaction between grantor and grantee is not complete without de- livery. It is the clear duty of trustees to proceed in the making out of every tax-list with such dispatch that it may be completed within thirty days, whenever practicable. It should not be postponed because circumstances may render it expedient to delay the collection. The district meeting can vote a tax for a specified purpose and not an im- mediate necessity, such as the running expenses of the school, and fix a time when the tax-list and warrant shall be issued. Such date cannot be before the thirty-first day after the tax was voted, but can be for a period beyond such time. The bringing an appeal from the proceedings of a meeting voting a tax, will not of itself stay the issuing of the tax-list and warrant, unless an injunction order is issued by the State Superintendent, in which case the time during which the injunction is pending is to be deducted in counting the thirty days. FORM OF TAX-LIST. The trustees ih making out the tax-list should follow the form prescribed by law for town assessors. {Title 2, e/mp. 13, art. 3, part 1, B. 8., '7th ed.) ^^§ 9. They shall prepare an assessment-roll, lu which they shall set down In four sep- arate cplumns, and according to the best Information in their power: '*1- In the first column the names of all the taxable inhabitants in the town or ward, as the case may be; "2. In the second column, the quantity of land to be taxed to each person; "3. lu the third column, the full value of such land, according to the definition of the term land, as ^iveri in the first title of this chapter; *'4. In the fourth column, the full value of all the taxable personal property owned by such person, after deducting the just debts owing by him. . " § 10. Where a person Is assessed as trustee, guardian, executor or administrator, he shall be a.ssessed as such, with the additiontohisnanieof hia representative character, and such assessment shall be carried out in a separate line from his individual assess- ment; and he shall be assessed for the value of the real estate held by him in such rep- resentative character, at the full value thereof, and for the personal property held by him in such representative character, deducting from such personal property the just debts due from him in such representative character." It is necessary, to give validity to a tax-list, that the trustees follow the di- rections of this section and " prefix to their tax -list a heading showing for what purpose the different items of the tax is levied." A tax-list which does not show this will be set aside upon appeal to the State Superintendent. Every tax ptlyer is entitled to see the tax-list, which will show him at a glance for what purpose the tax is levied. As a matter of record it will serve to show the correctness of the trustees' and collectors' accounts with the district and the trustees' report to the school commissioner. The items on tlie tax-list which were ordered by a district meeting should be so designated, giving the date of the meeting which authorized their levy. Items which the trustees are authorized to insert can be included in the same list. Trustees frequently inquire whether the items of an account should be set out in the heading. The section does not require this. It is the particular purpose for which the item of tax is raised tliat should be mentioned. For example, if the trustees have expended $20 for repairs upon the school-house, it will be sufficient to state that the $20 is for repairs, and not to give the dif- ferent items making up the bill for repairs. In the same way where a new school-house has been erected, fuel or other necessaries furnished. The fol- lowing is a correct form of heading: 42 330 Assessment and Collection- of Taxes. List of taxes assessed by the trustees of common school district No. 1, in the town of Lyons, county of Wayne, in accordance with the provisions of title 7 oftlie Oeneral School Laws of the State of New York. For repairs upon school-liouse voted by the annual school meeting, August 30, 1886 $225 00 For fuel voted at said meeting 25 OO For teachers' wages voted at said meeting 150 00 For maps and globes 10 00 For janitor 18 00 Total $438 00 The tax-list should be prepared in the following form: NAMES OF TAXABLE INBABITAKTS AND CORPORA- TIONS. ^1 11 o , ©•o m B'i'3 t Eg James Thomas James Thomas, executor of estate of John Thomas, deceased Clnrk Cotton Manufacturing Company 80 acres. 5 acres. X acres. S400 ijzso 6^5 $i,025 25,000 $6 81 17 45 446 91 10 64 Statement and description of unoccupied and unimproved lands of non- residents of said district on which a tax has been imposed as above stated. NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION OF LOTS AND PARTS OP LOIS. Quantity of land therein liable to tax- ation. c 3 Eg No. 17, short tract That part of the south-west quarter of lot No. 23, short tract, which iles east of a iliie running north 43° west from the south-east corner of lot No. 12, in the same tract, being the .district boundary line 10 acres. •iH acres. $25 00 600 $0 75 18 4 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 331 Trustees cannot place upon a tax-list the uocollected taxes upon some for- mer tax-list, or when there was a failiire to assess property upon a former list, increase the assessment against such property so as to make up for such loss. If property is omitted from a tax-list, and it is not discovered until the taxes are collected and the warrant returned, it is too late to remedy the mistake. WARRANT OP TRUSTEES. To the. Collector of school district No. in the town of in the county of , State of New York : You are hereby commanded to receive from each of the taxable inhabitants and corporations named in the foregoing list, and of the owners of the real estate described therein, the several sums mentioned in the last column of the said list, opposite to the persons and corporations so named, and to the several tracts of land so described, or so much thereof as may be voluntarily paid to you for two successive weeks after the delivery to you of this warrant, to- gether with one cent on each dollar thereof for your fees, and after the expi- ration of the time above mentioned, to proceed forthwith to collect the residue of the sums not so paid in as aforesaid, with five cents on each dollar thereof for your fees; and in case any person upon whom such tax is imposed shall neg- lect or refuse to pay the same, you are to levy the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person or corporation so taxed, in the same man- ner as on warrants issued by the board of supervisors to the collectors of taxes in towns; and you are to make a return of this warrant within thirty/ days after the delivery thereof to you; and if any tax on real estate or the taxes upon non-resident stockholders in banking associations organized under the laws of Congress, mentioned in the said list, shall bo unpaid at the time when you are required to return this warrant, you are to deliver to the trustees of the said district an account thereof, according to law. All moneys received or collected by you by virtue of this warrant yon are to keep safely, and to pay out the same on the written order of a majority of the trustees. (liven under hand this day of , 188 . , Tnistee . DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. When the tax is levied and assessed by all the trustees their judicial duties are at an end; it is unimportant whether all are present at the signing of the warrant, which is but a ministerial act. (19 Barb. 167.) It is because the issuing of the warrant is a ministerial act, and the statute prescribes the legal effect of the process, that the trustees will be trespassers if they adopt a form which departs from it and directs the collector to act otherwise than the law directs. (16 Wend. 607.) The statute no longer prescribes thirty days, or any other period, within which the warrant shall be made returnable; but the trustees must prescribe a time iu the warrant, and should not depart from the former usage except for strong reasons. (18 Barb. 331.) A majority of the trustees of a school district may, after notice to all, law- fully make the assessment and issue the warrant for the school tax. (Porter V. Bobinaon, 13 Week. Dig. 309.) Seal. The trustees of a school district made out and issued their warrant without a seal, though a seal was required by the statute; and, after several renewals without seal, renewed it with seal. Held, valid, as in effect a new warrant. {Supreme Court, 1843, Smith v. Randall, 3 HUl, 495; followed, 1845, in a fur- ther decision in S. C, 1 Deitio, 314; to similar effect, 1853, Parker v. Brown, 17 Barb. 145.) 332 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. Requirement o-f the Warrant. The provisions of Revised Statutes, 484, section 88, required that the war- rant should command the collector to proceed in the same manner as on exe- cutions issued by a justice of the peace. By the laws of 1831, 248. section 2; 1833, 547, section 1, this provision was repealed, and it was required that the warrant should command the collector to proceed in the same manner as on warrants issued by the board of supervisors to the collectors of towns. Held, that a warrant issued in the old form, after the latter provision took effect, was void, and afforded no protection to the officer. {Supreme Court, 1837, Clark V. Halloek, 16 Wend. 607.) Warrant Exceeding Tax. The warrant directed one dollar more than the amount of the tax voted to be collected. Held, that the plaintiff, suing in trespass for selling his prop- erty under it, as he did not take the objection at the trial, could not take it on error. The inclusion of the additional dollar might have been proper for ex- penses under the statute. {Supreme Ct., 1846, WilliamsY. Larkin, 3 Denio, 114.) The statute requiring the tax to be assessed, and the tax-list therefor to be made out by the trustees, and a proper warrant attached thereto within thirty days after the district meeting in which the tax shall have been voted, is merely directory as to time. It being for the benefit of the public, those acts may be done after the tinie specified in the statute has elapsed. (3 Denio, 160; Su- preme Court, Sp. Term, 1855, TJiomas v. Clapp, 20 Bari. 165.) § 66. School district taxes shall be apportioned by the trustees upon all real estate within the boundaries of the district which shall not be bj law exempt from taxation, except as hereinafter provided, and snch property shall be assessed to the person or persons or corporation owning or possessing the same at the time such tax list shall be made out; but land lying in one body and occupied by the same person, either as owner or agent for the same principal, or as tenant under the same landlord, shall, though situated partly in two or more school districts, be taxable in that one of them in which such occupant resides. This rule shall not apply to land owned by non-residents of the district, and which shall not be occupied by an agent, servant or tenant residing in the district. Such unoccupied real estate shall be assessed as non- resident, and a description thereof shall be entered in the tax list. The trustees shall also apportion district taxes upon all persons residing in the district, and upon all corporations liable to taxa- tion therein, for the personal estate owned by them and liable to taxation. They shall also apportion the same upon non-resident stockholders in banks or banking associations situated in their districts for the amount of stock owned by them therein, and upon individual bankers doing business in their district, in accord- Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 333 ance with the provisions of chapter seven hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. — [As amended hy section 20, chapter 567, Lams q/lSTS.] In assessing the property liable to taxation in school districts/trustees should first observe that section 67 o/ this title directs that "The valuations of tax- able property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last assessment- roll of the town, after revision by the assessors." It must be a roll completed and revised, and not one upon which' the assessors may be at work, or one which may have been completed but has not been revised. The law requires that the town assessors shall complete their assessment-rolls on or before the first day of August in every year, and the review of this roll is made on the third Tuesday of August. After such review is made the roll becomes the last town assessment-roll and the one that school district trustees must, follow in making out the school district tax-list. If the trustees should find it abso- lutely necessary to issue their tax-list in the fore part of August, before the town assessment-roll for that year has been revised, they must follow the valuations in the roll of the year before, which, at such time, is the last assess- ment-roll of the town. This, if possible, should be avoided by the trustees, as it is better in many respects to take the valuations from the new roll, and trustees can, by using a little calculation, prepare for this. A district tax wMch should be raised, and especially for the payment of teacher's wages when such wages are due, should not be postponed even for the purpose of waiting for the completion and revision of the new rolls. With one or two exceptions, it is the intention of the school laws that the whole duty of the trustees iu making their assessments will be to follow the assessments and valuations of the last town assessment-rolls. This, however, does not relieve them from making a thorough search for and becoming familiar with all the taxable property in their district and placing such upon their tax-list whether they find it on the town roll or not; neither are they bound by the valuations in the town roll, as will be seen further on in this chapter. For these reasons reference will be made in this chapter to the prin- cipal laws upon the subject of taxation. The statute requires the trustees to ascertain and determine who are the persons or corporations owning or possessing the real estate iu the district at the time of making out the tax-list, and to apportion the tax thereon without regard to the time when the same was voted, and without discrimination on account of the purpose for which it was voted, except that iu favor of any inhabitants under section 78 of this title. Taxes for school purposes are to be levied and assessed in the same manner, and on the same species of property, as those for town, county and State pur- poses. (35 iV. r..l96.) PERSOJiTAL PROPERTY. The Revised Statutes {section 3, title \, chapter 13, part 1, 7fA ed.) defines per- sonal property as follows: " The terms ' personal estate ' and ' personal prop- erty,' whenever they occur in this chapter, shall be construed to include all household furniture, moneys, goods, chattels, debts due from solvent debtors, whether on account, contract, note, bond or mortgage, public stocks, and stocks iu moneyed corporations. They shall also be construed to include such portion of the capital of incorporated companies liable to taxation on their capital as shall not be invested iu real estate." ' ' All debts and obligations for the payment of money due or owing to persons residing within this State, however secured or wherever such securities may be held, shall be deemed, for the purposes of taxation, personal estate within this State, and shall be assessed as such to the owner or owners thereof in the town, village or ward in which such owner or owners shall reside at the time such assessment shall be made." 334 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. § 3 When a person shall have acquired a residence in any town, village or ward in this State, and shall have been taxed therein, such residence shall be presumed to continue for the purpose of taxation until he shall have acquired another residence in said State, or shall have removed therefrom. {Chapter 392, Lam of 1883.) DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. The statute that " all lands and personal estate, within this State, should be liable to taxation," subject to certain exemptions, is not modified or enlarged by subsequent legislation directing that " every person shall be assessed in the town or ward where he resides, when the assessment is made, for all personal estate owned by him," etc., so as to make personal property not within this State liable to taxation.' (51 Barb. 352.) The liability of personal property to taxation depends upon whether or not it is, at the time the assessment is made, within the State. Money, owned by a resident of this State, but invested in loans in other States, upon securities taken and retained by agents of the owner, in those States, is not liable to taxation in this State. (Id.) A resident of this State is not liable to taxation on personal property situate out of the State; on the other hand, the personal property of a uon-resideut, situate here, is liable to taxation with such exceptions only as are prescribed by the law of the State. (23 N. Y. 224.) The statute relating to personal property was not intended to subject to taxa- tion personal securities actually in 'another State, held, managed and con- trolled there. (88 N T. 576. ) If the owners or their agents become temporary sojourners in the State, for the purpose of managing such business, their residence for the purpose of such taxation is defined in the following statute: •Every person shall be assessed in the town or ward where he resides when the assess- ment is made, for all personal estate owned by hiin, including all personal estate in bis possession or under his control as agent, trustee, guardian, executor or administrator ; and in no case shall property, so held under either of these trusts, be assessed against any other person; and in case any person, possessed of such personal estate, shall re- side, during any year in which taxes may be levied, in two or more counties, towns or wards, his residence, tor the purposes and within the meaning ot this section, shall be deemed and held to be in the county, town or ward in which his principal business shall have been transacted; but the products of any State of the United States con- signed to agents in any town or ward ot this State, for sale on commission, for the benefit ot the owner thereof, shall not be assessed to such agent, nor shall such agents or moneyed corporations or capitalists be liable to taxation under this section, for any moneys in their possesiion or under their control transmitted to them for the purposes of investment or otherwise. (Section 5, tilU 2, chapter 13, part 1st, Revised Statutes, as amended by section 2, chapter 176 of 1851.) All persons and associations doing business in the State of New York, as merchants, bankers or otherwise, either as principals or partners, whether special or otherwise, and not residents of this State, shall be assessed and taxed on all sums invested in any manner in said business, the same as if they were residents of this State, and said taxes shall be collected from the prop- erty of the firms, persons or associations to which they severally belong. (Laws of 1855, chap. 37.) Non-residents, taxable under the above cited statute, are to be deemed tax- able inhabitants of the district in which they may be doing business. tt"- ^ 1; ^" ^^^^}' owing by inhabitants ot this State to persons not residing within the United htates, for the purchase of any real estate, shall be deemed personal property, within the town or county where the debtor resides, and as such shall be liable to tax- ation in the same manner and to the same extent as the personal estate of citizens uf this Stale. (Lawso/ 1851, c/iop. 371, p. 721.) The debt taxable under this section mast be for the purchase of real estate, and is to be taxed in the district where the debtor resides, irrespective of the fact that the real estate may lie elsewhere. Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 335 Personal property LeUl by an agent, who is a resident of this State, subject to the control of the owner, who is also a resident of the State, but of anotlier county, should be taxed to the owner at his place of residence. (85 N. T. 359.) Trustees cannot assess an individual for personal property, if he has been taxed for none on the last assessment-roll of the town, on the mere supposition that they may have more than his debts amount to. The assessment-roll of the town settles the matter, and the trustees cannot vary the amount but from some knowledge of an alteration after that roll was made out, or to correct some known and acknowledged error. But if the trustees have actual knowledge that any person residing in the district has personal property liable to taxation, not assessed upon the town roll, their duty is to include it in the tax list, giving notice to the person so assessed, in order that he may obtain a reduction if the assessment be too much. The principle ou which our laws rest in the taxation of personal property is that a man must be taxed only for what he is actually worth. Hence, he is permitted to set off his debts against his personal property in possession, and is taxable for the excess. If a man be the owner of $15,000 in bonds and mortgages, and $15,000 in United States bonds, and at the same time is indebted in the sum of $15,000, he cannot be allowed to set off his indebtedness against his bonds and mort- gages, and so claim that lie has no taxable personal property. The only legal mode of ascertaining his liability is to deduct his whole indebtedness from the total of his personal property — his $15,000 from $30,000 — leaving him liable to assessment for $15,000. Where a taxable inhabitant sells his farm and remains in the district, he is liable to be taxed on the amount of the purchase-money paid, or secured to be paid, as personal property (unless he shows that, notwithstanding the increase of his personal property, its value is still exceeded by his debts), and the farm is taxable to the purchaser according to its assessed value ou the last assess- ment-roll of the town. TAXATION OF REAL ESTATE. The trustees are commanded by the foregoing section (66) to apportion the school district taxes upon all real estate within the boundaries of the district, which shall not be by law exempt from taxation. The trustees should have a thorough knowledge of the district boundaries so as to enable them to take from the town assessment-roll a correct list of the residents and real estate of their district. The following provisions relate to the assessment of real estate: AH lands and personal estate within this State, whether owned by individuals or by corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemptions hereinafter speci- fied. (Section 1, title 1, chapter 13, part 1, Bevised Statutes, 7th ed.) The ter?n " land," as used In this chapter, shall be construed to include the land Itself, above and under water; all buildings and other articles and structures, sub- structures and superstructures erected upon, under or above, or afUxed to the same ; all wharves and piers, including the value of theright to collect wharfage, cranage or dockase thereon; all bridses, all telegraph lines, wires, poles and appurtenances : all surface, underground or elevated railroads; all railroad structures, sub-structures and superstructures, tracks and iron thereon; branches, switches and other fixtures per- mitted or authorized to be made, laid or placed in. upon, above or under any public or private road, street or grounds; all laid or placed in, u^on, above or under any pub- lic or private street or place ; all trees or underwood growinsfupon land, and all mines, minerals, quarries and fossils in and' under the same, except mines belonging to the State. The term " real estate " and "real property," whenever they occur in this chap- ter, sliall be construed as having ttie same meaning as the term " land " thus defined. (Sections, title 1, chap. 13, parti, R. S., as amemierf by chap. 203, L. 1881.) If the town assessors have omitted any property located in the school dis - trict coming under the foregoing definitions of " land," the trustees must put it upon their tax-list as an original assessment. Heal estate is to be assessed to the owners or possessors of the same at the time the tax-list is made out; that is to say to all persons who have the gen- 336 Assessment and Collection op Taxes. eral property in the soil or wlio occupy it as tenants having a temporary rigW to its possossion under a landlord. The latter, although tenants at will, may be assessed for the land in their occupation, as appears from section 70 of this title. The distinction is between a tenant, for however brief a period, who occupies the land for his own profit and is entitled to a notice to quit before he can be divested, and a mere agent or servant, managing the land or employed upon it for the profit of another, under wages and without any title to the possession of the land or to its products. In respect to land within the dis- trict occupied by such agents, the employer, whether holding the fee or a leasehold estate, and though residing outside of the district, is declared, hy section 71 of this title, to be a taxable inhabitant in respect to the liability of such property to taxation, in the same manner as if he actually resided within its bounds, DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. An owner of real estate at the time of its assessment for taxes is primarily liable for their payment, although he conveys his interest after the assess- ment, and before the levy. (39 Hun, 485.) If the owner resides in the town or ward, the lands shall be assessed to him, unless they are actually occupied by another, and then they may be assessed either to the owner or occupant. If the owner does not reside in the town or ward and the lauds are unoccupied, they must be assessed as non-resident lands. These provisions are imperative, and there is no authority for making the assessment otherwise (33 N. T. 381.) , But lauds occupied by another than the owner may be assessed either to the owner or occupant, whether such owner be a resident or not (30 Barb. 616.) Chapter 843 of the laws of 1883, as amended by chapter 59 laws of 1886, applies to school district taxes, and reads as follows: § 1. In all cases where the boundaiT line of a town or city, or the boundary line between two towns in the same or !n different counties, passes through any dwelling-house or building, which, together with the land on which it stands and owned in connection therewith, shall be assessed at the same time in both said town or city^ or in both said towns in the same or in different counties, and taxes levied thereon, which shall remain unpaid by the owner or occupant in both said town and city, or in both said towns in the same or in different counties at the time of the passage oC this act, it shall be law- ful for the occupant of such house or building to elect as his place of residence either said town or city, or either of said towns in the same or in different counties, and said bouse or building, and the adjacent land owned and occupied in connection there- with, shall be assessed and taxed only in the town or city which the occupant elects as his place of residence, and such residence shall remain as fixed by said election. § %. The occupant shall cause to be served upon the assessors, or upon oneof theraln. both said town and city, or in both of said towns in the same or in different counties, at least thirty days prior to the day fixed by law for the date of assessment, a written notice of his said election, together with a copy of this act, or his said election shall be invalid. Said election shall be final and conclusive upon said owner or occupant. § 3. In all cases where taxes have been heretofore levied in more than one place, town or city, upon the same real property which was or Is intersected by the boundary line of a town or city, or the boundary line between two towns in the same or in different counties, and remain unpaid by the owner or occupant at the time of the passage of this act, payment of said taxes shall be enforced by that place, city or town only which the occupant shall elect as his place of residence pursuant to sections one and two of this act. OP LAND LYING IN ONE BODY BUT IN TWO OR MORE DISTRICTS. This part of section 66 occasions more complications and questions than any other provision on the subject of school district taxation. Trustees should -read carefully its provisions and notice what facts are necessary in order that the whole tract or body of land shall be taxed in one district, although it may lie in two or more. Mrat. The land must lie in one body. Assessment and Collkctiok of Taxes. 337 The statute requires that there sliall be something more than an imaginary contact of the two parcels in a mathematical point, as where they have only an angle in common. They must be so connected as to have at least a line of contact, aud not a mere point. Where, however, two parcels in the possession of the same owner are separated by a public highway the fee of which he owns, subject to the right of passage in the public, this is not to be regarded as preventing their contact. The cases are numerous where railroads cross or cut through such lands. The land of the railroad company being taxable property and coming between the two parcels of land divides them so that the tracts of land on each side of the railroad will not, under the meaning of this section, " lie in one body." SeDond. The whole body of land must be occupied by one person, and he must be either the owner or agent or tenant of one and the same landlord. , This is the second condition necessary before the land can be taxed in one dis- trict. Examine carefully the facts in reference to the ownership and occupancy of the land, aud if in anyone particular it will not comply with the above rule, then it is certain that it cannot be taxed in one body. The relations of land- lord and tenant, or ownership and occupancy, are of so large a number or dif- ference thatit would be next to an impossibility to give here thostf instances in which the land would and would not come under the above rule or condition. The course of reasoning, however, which must be pursued is, first, to ascertain whether the land lies in one body. If it does not that ends the matter, and the several parts must be taxed in the districts in which they respectively lie. But If the land does lie in one body, then proceed to examine the second con- dition. First, how is it owned? Is it by a sole owner, or is there a joint own- ership of some kind ? If more than one person owns the land, or if a part of it is owned by one person and the other part by another person, either of these facts will be sufficient to take it from the provisions of this section. But if the ownership to the whole body is in one person, then the next inquiry must be directed as to the occupancy. If it is occupied also by the owner, then it- has answered fully all the conditions of the statute and must be taxed in the district in which such owner and occupant resides. It is not necessary that such owner and occupant reside upon the land; a residence in one of the dis- tricts in which a part of the land lies is sufficient under the statute. Again, when the ownership is in the same person, but the land is occupied by another as agent or tenant, such occupancy must be of the whole body of land and not of a part only. It will be seen from the foregoing that three questions are to be determined. First, does the land lie in one body ? Second, the ownership. Third, the occupancy. If, however, the possession is severed, as in case the land is owned by the same person, but the part within the district is occupied by the owner, and that which lies outside the district by a tenant, or vice versa, or if the respective parts are occupied by different tenants of the same owner, or if one of them only is occupied by a tenant and the other is vacant and unimproved, then the respective parcels are to be taxed, each in the district within whose boundaries it is actually contained. So, if one of the parcels is occupied by a person as owner, and the other is also occupied by him as tenant of a third person, the parts must be taxed in the districts containing them respectively, for the trus- tees of the district containing the portion under lease have the right to assess it to the owner, disregarding the occupant. There are serious difficulties growing out of the fact that the statute, under the most restricted Interpretation that can be put upon it, sometimes permits the resources of a district to be weakened by the purchase of a part of its ter- ritory by the inhabitants of an adjoining district. Though the district boun- daries are not thereby altered, yet, for the eminently practical object of taxation, the result is the same as if they were. The foregoing does not apply to the taxation of non-resident land, which is taxed under section 74 of this title. 43 33R Assessment and Collectiox of Taxes. DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. The plaintifE was an actual resident of school district No. 4, in which his farm lay, but he improved and occupied a lot of thirty -seven acres, belonging to him, which lay in district No. 6; but this lot was not a part of his farm, nor attached to it nor adjoining. Held, that this lot of thirty-seven acres wa& properly taxed for school purposes in the sixth district. (Supreme Cowrt, 1858, liyer v. OHspell, 28 Barb. 54.) It is the general rule that if " assessors should zissume to assess land lying in another town or ward, their act would unquestionably be void for want of jurisdiction." (7 Sarb. 139.) The same general rule applies to trustees in making an original assessment, or in selecting from the town assessment-roll the lands to be included in a district tax-list. To make an assessment legal they must have jurisdiction of the particular case. If they transcend the limits of their authority, and under- take to assess property exempt by statute, they cease to be judges, and are responsible for all the consequences. A public officer is not responsible, in a civil suit, f or^a j udicial determination in a matter over which he had jurisdic- tion, however erroneous it may be, but no officer can acquire jurisdiction by deciding that he has it. (5 Barb. 611; and see 19 Barb. 22.) ASSESSMENT OP STOCKHOLDERS OF BANKS, AND THE SURPLUS FUNDS OF SAVINGS BANKS. (.Chapter 761, Lam of 1866.) Section 1. No tax shall hereafter be assessed upon the capital of any bank or banking association organized under the authority of this State, or of the United States, but the stockholders in such banks and banking associations, shall be assessed and taxed on the value of their shares of stock therein; said shares shall be included in the valuation of the personal property of such stockholder, in the assessment of taxes at the place, town or ward where such bank or banking association is located, and not elsewhere, whether the said stockholders reside in said place, town or ward or not, but not at a greater rate than is assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individuals in this State. And in making such assessment there shall also be deducted from the value of such shares such sum as is in the same proportion to such value as is the assessed value of the real estate of the bank or banking association, and in which any portion of their capital is invested, in which such shares are held, to the whole amount of the capital stock of said bank or banking association. And provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to exempt from taxation the real estate held or owned by any such bank or banking association; but the same shall be subject to State, county, municipal and other taxation to the same extent and rate and in the same manner as other real estate is taxed. § 2. Every individual banker doing banking business under the laws of this State is hereby required to declare upon oath before the assessor the amount of capital invested in such banking business, and each one hundred dollars of such capital for the purpose of this act, and for the purpose of taxation shall be held and regarded as one individual share in such banking business, and such shares are hereby declared to be personal property. If such banker have partners, he shall declare upon oath before the assessor the number of shares held, by each of them in such banking business, ascertained as above provided, and the shares so held by any partner shall be included in the valuation of his taxable property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school dis- trict or ward where such individual banker is located, and not elsewhere; and such individual banker shall pay the same and' make the amount so paid a charge in the accounts with such partners; and if such individual banker have no partners he shall be held to be sole owner of all the shAres in such business: Assessment and Collection of Taxes. SS^ of banking, and tbe same shall be included in the valuation of his personal property in the assessment of all taxes levied in the town, school district or ward where his bank is located, and not elsewhere. s; 3. There shall be kept at all times in the office where the business of such bank or banking associations, organized under the authority of this State or of the United States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the names and residences of all the stockholders therein, and of the number of shares held by each; and such list shall be subject to the inspection of the officers author- ized to assess taxes during the business hours of each day in which business may be legally transacted. § 4. Sections ten and eleven of chapter ninety-seven of the session laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-five are hereby repealed. S 5. When the owner of stock in any bank or banking association, organized under the laws of this State or of the United States, shall not reside in the same place where the bank or banking association is located, the collector and county treasurer shall, respectively, have the same power as to collecting the tax to be assessed by this act, as they have by statute, when the person assessed has removed from the town, ward or county in which the assessment was made; and the county treasurer, receiver of taxes, or other officers authorized to re- ceive said tax from the collector, may all or either of them have an action to collect the tax from the avails of the sales of his shares of stock and the tax on the share or shares of said stock shall be and remain a lien thereon till the- payment of said tax. § 6. For the purpose of collecting such taxes, and in addition to any other laws of this State, not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, relative, to the imposition of taxes, it shall be the duty of every such bank or banking association, and tbe managing officer or officers thereof, to retain so much of any dividend or divideiids belonging to such stockholders as shall be necessary to pay any taxes assessed in pursuance of this act, until it shall be- made to appear to such officers that such taxes have been paid. Section 7 of this act repealed by section 56, chapter 371, laws of 1875. DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Taxation of Banks. The fact that a bank owns stocks, bonds and other securities of the United States, in amount exceeding its capital and surplus earnings, and that the total value of all its other personal property does not exceed the amount of the debts it owes, will not exempt it from taxation on account of personal property, on the ground that the capital of the bank is its surplus after paying all its debts, and that in the given case it will require all its personal property, other than its investments in United States securities which are not taxable. {The People, exrel. The Lockport City Bank, v. The Boa/rd of Education, Supreme Court, 1866, 46 Barb. 588.) The relator was a bank organized under the general banking law of 1838, with a capital of $104,000. The cost of its real estate was about $14,000, its surplus profits were about $84,000 or $35,000, and it had about $303,500 of United States stocks or bonds, and had about $65,000 of other stocks depos- ited as security with the bank department of the State and about $120,000 of United States stocks. It held and owned stocks and bonds and other securi- ties of the United States, to an amount exceeding its entire capital, including all its surplus profits, earnings and reserved funds; and the total value of all its other personal property and estate did not exceed the amount of debts due the bank. The bank was assessed, on account of its personal property or estate, the sum of $108,400, being, as alleged, the whole amount of its capital stock paid in, and of all its surplus profits, or reserved funds, less ten per cent thereof, after deducting therefrom the value of its real estate. Held, that the relator, not having shown that any of its capital stock was invested in United States securities, or that it was assessed for any part of its prop, erty invested in such securities, was not entitled to a writ of mandamus. 340 AsSESSMElfT AlfD COLLECTION OF TaXES. ":' ' commanding tlie assessors to amend tlie assessment and tlie assessment-roll, by striking therefrom the assessment of the bank, for or on account of per- sonal property. (Id.) The ijrovision of the statute requiring the assessors to set down in the assessment-roll the full value of all the taxable personal property of the perT son, after deducting the just debts owing by him, has no relation to the taxa- tion of moneyed corijorations. The effect of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the cases of The People, ex rel. The Bank of the Commonwealth, v. Th,e Oommis- swners of Assessments, etc. , in the City of New York, and The Same, ex rel. The £ank of Commerce, v. The Same (3 Wall. 200), was neither more nor less than that the State cannot by any system of taxation assess and tax the securities of the United States, whether held or owned by corporations or individuals; nor can such holder or owner be taxed on account of such securities, or their value. {Id.) That decision does not declare the act of the legislature " in relation to the taxation of moneyed corporations and associations," passed April 29, 1863 {Laws of 1S63, p. 435), to be unconstitutional. The effect of the decision, however, may be to annul the act, and render It inoperative in cases where the capital of the bank is wholly, or in part, invested in securities of the United States. In such cases the statute might, perhaps, be impracticable; or, possibly, our courts would hold the statute operative to the extent of the capital stock not investediu United States securities. (Id.) The capital of the Exchange Bank at Lockport was $150,000; the value of its real estate was $7,000, and its surplus earnings, less than ten per cent, were $41,151.16. Its State stocks and bonds and mortgages, deposited with the superintendent of the banking department, amounted to $18,300, and its United States stock so deposited amounted to $82,000. Its other bonds and mortgages amounted to $14,000. It held and owned in all, $72,000 in United States stocks. The total value of all its personal property and effects, ex- clusive of the stocks, bonds and other securities of the United States, held and owned by it, did not exceed the sum of $113,000, over and above the debts due and owing by it. It was assessed on account of its personal property for $165,980. Held, that the proper mode of assessment was adopted, under the act of the legislature of 1863, relative to the taxation of moneyed corporations, etc., that is, by taking into the account the capital stock, the value of the real estate and the surplus earnings less the ten per cent, and that upon this prin- ciple the assessment was not excessive. (The People, ex rel. The Excliange Bank at Lockport, v. Ihe Boa/rd of Sdueation, etc.. Supreme Court, 1866, 46 Ba/rb. 598.) Held, also, that it was incumbent upon the bank to show that the assessment included and operated upon a portion of its property invested in United States securities; and that, this not having been shown, no case was made for a mandamtLS, directing the assessors to correct the assessment-roll for personal property, by reducing the amount therein from $165,980 to $112,000. (Id.) Chapter 761, of 1866, was passed in conformity with the decision of the supreme court of the United States (3 Wallace's R. 573) that ' ' the act of June 3, 1864, 'to provide a national currency,' etc., rightly construed, subjects the shares of the banking associations authorized by it, and in the hands of share- holders, to taxation by the States, under certain limitations (set forth in its forty -first section) without regard to the fact that a part of the whole of the capital of such association is invested in national securities, declared, by the statutes authorizing them, to be ' exempt from taxation by or under State authority.' " The town assessment-rolls will contain an assessment of all taxable shares of banks, banking associations and individual bankers, and for such shares the trustees will copy the town roll in the same manner and to the same extent as for all other taxable property. Assessment and Collectiojs' of Taxes. 341 CHAPTER 477, LAWS OF 1881. § 4. The stookliolders in every bank or banking association organized under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall be assessed and taxed on the value of their shares of stock therein; said shares shall be Included in the valuation of the personal property of such stockholders in the assessment of taxes at the place, city, town or ward where such bank or banking associa- tion is located, and not elsewhere, whether the said stockholders reside in said place, city, town or ward or not ; but in the assessment of said shares, each stockholder shall be allowed all the deductions and exceptions allowed by law in assessing the value of other taxable personal property owned by individual citizens of this State, and the assessment and taxation shall not be at a greater rate than is made or assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of indi- vidual citizens of this State. In making such assessment, there shall also be deducted from the value of such shares such sum as is in the same proportion to such value as is the assessed value of the real estate of the bank or banking association, and in which any portion of their capital is invested, in which said shares are held, to the whole amount of the capital stock of said bank or bank- ing association. Nothing herein contained shall be held or construed to exempt the real estate of bankers or banking associations from either State, county or municipal taxes, but the same shall be subject to State, county, municipal and other taxation to the same extent and rate, and in the same manner according to its value as other real estate is taxed. The local authorities charged by law with the assessment of the said shares shall, within ten days after they have completed such assessment, give written notice to each bank or banking associa- tion of such assessment of the shares of its respective shareholders, and no personal or other notice to such shareholders of such assessment shall be neces- sary for the purpose of this act. § 5. There shall be kept at all times in the office where the business of each bank or banking association organized under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall be transacted, a full and correct list of the names and residences of all the stockholders therein, and of the number of shares held by each; and such list shall be subject to the inspection of the officers author- ized to assess taxes during the business hours of each day on which business may be legally transacted. Under the provisions of chapter 140, laws of 1880, no discrimination shall be made between state and national banks in the manner of assessing taxes, consequently the same rules apply to both. Shares of stock in national banks may be taxed at their market value. (Sephurn-v. School Directors of GarlisU, 23 Wall. 113.) The following rules are laid down for the assessment of bank stock in Thompson's Assessors, Collectors and Town Clerks' Manual, 1886: 1. The assessment must be upon the stockholders on the value of their shares of stock. 2. It must be at the place where the bank is located. 3. It must not be at a greater rate than other moneyed capital either by a discrimination in the estimate of value or otherwise. 4. A deduction must be made from the assessed value of each share of an amount in proportion to such share equal to the proportion the assessed value of the real estate of the bank bears to its capital stock. 5. All deductions allowed by law in assessing other taxable property, in- cluding a deduction on account of the owner's indebtedness, must be allowed. 6. A deduction need not be made on account of the investment of the capi- tal stock of the bank in Federal securities. EXEMPTIONS. ' Section 4, title 1, chapter 13. part 1, R. S. Tlie following property shall be exempt from taxation: "1. All property, real or personal, exempted from taxation by the Constitution nf this State ur under ithe Constitution of the United States; 342 Assessment and Collbctioit of Taxes. "2, All lands belonging to this State or to the United States, and all vessels enrolled and licensed under and pursuant to the laws of tlie United States and engaged in the coasting trade; "3. Every building erected for the use of a college, Incorporated academy or other seminary uf learning; every building for public worship, every school-house, court- house and .jail; and the several lots whereon such buildings are situated, and the furniture belonging to each of them; "4. Every poor-house, alms-house, house of industry, and every house belonging to a company incorporated for the reformation of offenders, or to improve the moral condition of seamen, and the real and personal property belonging to or connected with the same; "5. The real and personal property of every public library; "6. All stocks owned by the State or by literary or charitable institutions; *'7. The personal estate of every incorporated company not made liable to taxation on its capital in the fourth title of this chapter; " 8. The personal property of every minister of the gospel , or priest of any denomi- nation; and the real estate of such minister, or priest, when occupied by him, pro- vided such real and personal estate do not exceed in value one thousand five hundred dollars; and " 9. All property exempted by law from execution. "§5. If the real and personal estate, or either of them, of any minister or priest exceed the value of one thousand live hundred dollars, that sum shall be deducted from the valuation of his property, and the residue shall be liable to taxation. " 8 6. Lands sold by the State, though not granted or conveyed, shall be assessed in the same manner as if actually conveyed. *' 5 7. The owner or holder of 8tocl< in any incorporated company liable to taxation on its capital shall not be taxed as an individual for such stock." The exemption from taxation of every building for public worsMp, and every scbool-hoiise and other seminary of learning, under the provisions of subdivision 3 of section 4, title 1, chapter 13 of part first of the Revised Statutes, or amendments thereof, shall not apply to any building or premises in the city of New York, unless the same shall be exclusively used for such purposes, and exclusively the property of a religious society, or of the New York Public School Society. (Laws of 1853, chapter 283.) Every building for the use of a college, incorporated academy or other seminary of learning, and in actual use for either of such purposes, every building for public worship, every school-house, court-house and jail used for either of such purposes, and the several lots whereon such buildings so used are situated, and the furniture belonging, to each of them. (Chapter 397, laws 0/1883.) The personal property of every minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination, or every such minister or priest who is permanently disabled by impaired health from performing the active duties of the ministry, and every such minister or priest who has reached the age of seventy-five years, and the real estate of such minister or priest or disabled or aged minister or priest when occupied by him, provided such real or personal estate do not exceed the value of $1,500. (Chapter 537, laws 0/1884.) All lands now held, or which niay hereafter be held by any agricultural society in this State, and permanently used for show grounds by any such society, shall be exempt from taxation during the time so used. (Laws of 1856, chap. 183.) When any bond, mortgage, contract or other demand, belonging to any per- son not being a resident of this State, shall be sent to this State for collection, or shall be deposited iu this State for the same purpose, such property shall be exempt from taxation; and nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to render any agent of such owner liable to be assessed or taxed for such prop- erty; but every such agent shall be entitled to have such property deducted from his assessment, upon making affidavit, before the assessors, at the time, appointed by them for reviewing their assessments, that such property belongs to a non-resident owner, and therein specifying his name and residence. (Sec. 3, title 5, chap. 13, part 1, B. 8., 7th ^d.) Toll-houses and other fixtures, and all property belonging to any plank or turnpilte road company, shall be exempt from assessment and taxation for any purpose whatever, until the surplus annual receipts of tolls on their respective roads, over necessary repairs, and a suitable reserve fund for repairs and relay- Assessment and CoLLEfcTioN of Taxes. 343 ing of plank, shall exceed seven per cent per annum on the first costs of such road. In case of any disagreement between the assessors of any town, village or city and any such company concerning such exemption claimed, said com- pany may appeal to the county judge of the county in which such assessment is proposed to be made, who shall, after due notice to the appealing party of such appeal, examine the books and vouchers of such company, and take such further proofs as he shall deem proper, and shall decide whether such com- pa,uy is liable to taxation under the section, and his decision shall be final. (Laws 1853, chap. 546, sec. 6.) No tax shall hereafter be assessed or imposed on either of eaid reservations (Allegany or Cattaraugus reservations), or on any part thereof, for any purposes whatever, so long as said reservations remain the property of the Seneca nation; a,nd all acts of the legislature of the State conflicting with the provis- ions of this section are hereby repealed. (Laws of 1857, chap. 45, sec. 4. ) From and after the passage of this act, the lands of the corporation " The Sackett's Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company," by whatever name the said corporation may hereafter be lawfully called, or which it shall hereafter acquire on existing contracts or existing pre-emption rights, shall be free and exempt from all taxation until the twelfth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine; but this section shall not apply to the road- bed or track, nor to the lands occupied or used for structures necessary to the working of its road, nor to any lands after the same shall be sold by said cor- poration. (Laws of 1857, chap. 98, sec. 1.) It has been held that this act was not intended to affect any of the provisions of the general law declaring what property shall be liable to taxation, but merely exempts such reservations from taxation so long as they remain the property of that nation. (41 N. Y. 619.) Land belonging to the Allegany Indian reservation, which a railroad com- pany has acquired a right to occupy for the construction, occupancy and main- tenance of its road by contract with the chief of the nation to which it belongs, not limited as to time, is owned by the company within the meaning of the statutes relating to taxation. Although the. fee of the land cannot legally pass under such contract, yet, to the extent specified therein, such land has ceased to be the property of the Indian nation, and is no longer exempt from taxation as such. (Id.) No tax or assessment shall at any time be imposed, assessed or collected upon the mint or branch mint of the United States, which may be authorized by act of Congress to be established in the city of New York; neither upon the land on which the buildings used or to be used therefor shall or may be erected, nor upon the buildings used or to be used therefor, nor upon the machinery used or to be used therein, nor upon bullion or metal depo.sited for coinage, nor upon the coin stamped at said mint or branch mint, while in the custody of the officers of said mint or branch mint of the United States in the city of New York. (Laws of 1853, chap. 48.) No assessment or tax of any description, general or local, shall be imposed, assessed or collected upon the assay otSce of the United States, which, by act of Congress of March, 1853, it is provided shall be established in the city of New Tork; neither upon the land owned by the United States on which the building vfsed or to be used therefor shall be erected; nor upon the buildings used or to be used therefor; nor upon the machinery used or to be used therein; nor upon the metal, bullion or coin deposited for melting, remelting or assaying; nor upon the bars or ingots, after melting, remelting or assaying, while the same is in the custody, possession or under the control of the officers of the assay office of the United States in the city of New York. (Laws of 1853, cha/p. 406.) The cemetery lands and property of any association, formed pursuant to this act, shall be exempt from all public taxes, rates and assessments, and shall not be liable to be sold on execution, or be applied in payment of debts, due from any individual proprietors. (Sec. 10, chap. 133, Laws of 1847.) 344 Assessment and Collection- of Taxes. Laud set apart, and a portion of which has been actually used, for a family or private burying ground, not exceeding oue-quarter of an acre, and provided a description of the same has been made and duly acknovrledged and recorded in the county clerk's olHce, is also exempt. {Laws of 1847, chap. 85, sections- 1 and 3.) DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Buildings used for a private boarding school are not exempt from taxation, by 1 Revised Statutes, 388, section 4, which exempts every building erected for the use of a college, incorporated academy, or other seminary of learning, and every building for pnblic worship, every school-house, court-house and jail. The word "school-house " means only buildings for public schools; and the words "other seminary of learning" are to be understood as incorporations by force of the general words preceding. (Appeals, 1855, Gliegary v. Mayor, etc., ofN. Y-, 13 N. Y. [3 Kern.} 230; to similar efEect N. T. Superior Oowt, 1855, Ohegary v. Jenkins, 8 Sandf. 409.) Same. A lot wholly devoted to the use of the schools mentioned (g 5, 1 Rev. Stat, bth ed., 906), either by supporting its buildings, supplyijig its daily wants, or contributing the means of exercise, recreation and diversion, is entitled to the exemption thereby created. (People, ex rel. Acad. Sacred Heart, V. Commissioners of Taxes, etc., N, T. city, 6 Hun, 109, Sup. OL, 1875.) College grounds that have been divided by the construction of a highway into two lots on one of which stands the college buildings, and the other of which is used for a garden and walks for the college, the same as before the division, are still exempt. (People v. Commissioners, 10 Hun, 346.) Under the provision of Laws of 1853, chapter 383, premises in the city of New York used by a religious society for a school under a lease, and of which it is not the owner, are not exempt from taxation. (Hebrew Free School Asso- ciation V. Mayor, 99 N. T. 488.) Nor are buildings used for A private boarding school exempt. The word " school-house " means only the buildings for public schools, and the words "other seminary of learning" are to be understood as referring to incorpora- tions. (Cliegaryy. New York, 13 N. Y. 330.) A person cannot build a school-room and establish a private school in his house, and thereby exempt the building and the lot from taxation. The statute was intended to exempt only property used by the public for the pur- poses of education, or which belonged to a corporation created for the advance- ment pi learning. (3 Sandf. 409.) A building erected for a school-house and so used during a large part of the year is not rendered liable to taxation from the fact that it is used as a board- ing-house during summer vacation. (36 Hun, 309.) A private dwelling and lot, hired for school-house purposes by a public- board of education, is not exempt from taxation under 1 Revised Statutes, 388, section 4, providing for exemption of educational, religious and public build- ings, as the act does not apply to property rented from private individuals. (33 Hun, 457.) The building in the city of NewTork owned by the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, and used l?y it to fulfill the object of the corporation, namely, to provide a refuge for colored orphans where they could be boarded and clothed and suitably educated in religion and other branches of knowledge, is a school-house and place of public worship within the terms of the revised statutes, and as such Is exempt from taxation thereunder. Chap. 383, Laws of 18.52, re-enacted in § 837 of the Consolidation Act, does not require that a school-house, in order to be exempt from taxation, should be exclusively the property of a religious corporation. What is required by said act is that where the building is a school-house or other seminary of learning, in order to be exempt from taxation it must be exclusively devoted to that purpose, and where it is a building for public worship that it must also be exclusively the property of a religious society. (The Association for the- Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 345 Benefit of Colored Orphans v. The Mayor, etc., of N. T., 33 Weekly Dig. 115.) In respect to property exempt from taxation, it has been decided that a min- ister of the gospel, or priest, to bring himself within the exemption, must show that the value of both his real and personal property did not exceed $1,500, and it seems that only that sum is to be deducted from the valuation of both, and not $1,500 from the valuation of each, if each exceeded that amount. (5 Barb. 609.) The latter point, however, was not necessarily involved in the decision. Since the provisions of 1 R. S. 388, § 4 (sub. 8), exempting from taxation the real estate of a minister, wheij occupied by him, apply only when his real and personal estate do not exceed the value of $1,500, a minister may avail himself of the provisions of § 5 enabling him to deduct from the valuation of his property, real and personal estate, to the extent of $1,500, without show- ing that he has occupied the real estate. (31 Hun, 421.) A minister who, by reason of old age and accompanying infirmities, has for many years withdrawn from the active duties of his profession, but during that period has performed its duties occasionally as opportunity offered, and is not engaged in any secular occupation, is entitled to exemption under the statute, (Id.) By section 3701 of the United States Revised Statutes it is provided that all stocks, bonds, treasury notes, and other obligations of the United States shall be exempt from taxation by or under State or municipal or local authority. By section 5413 of the same statutes it is provided that the words " obligation or other security of the United States," shall be held to mean all bonds, cer- tificates of indebtedness, national bank currency coupons. United States notes, treasury notes, fractional notes, certificates of deposit, bills, checks or drafts for money drawn by or upon authorized officers of the United States, stamps, and other representatives of value of whatever denomination which have been or may be issued under any act of Congress. This exemption is not for the benefit of the holder of the securities, but for that of the national government. States cannot control the national govern- ment, within the constitutional powers, for there it is supreme; nor can they tax its obligations for the payment of money issued for purposes within that range of powers, because such taxation necessarily implies the assertion of the right to receive such control. (People v. Donnelly, 36 Sow. Pr. 258.) § 67. The valuations of taxable property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last assessment roll of the town, after revision by the assessors ; and no person shall be entitled to any reduction in the valuation of such property, as so ascertained, unless he shall give notice of his claim to such reduction to the trustees of the district before the tax list shall be made out. The first duty of trustees is to determine who are the owners or possessors of the taxable real estate in the district. In doing this they may find some persons not named in the town assessment-roll. Some of them may be tax- able, as the possessore of property which has been valued in that roll, and which belonged to other persons at the time it was made out. In the valua- tion of siu:h property, the trustees are to be governed by the assessment-roll. They are not to reduce it, unless the new owner shall give notice of his claim to such reduction before the tax-Ust shall be made out, and they are not to re- duce it without giving the notice provided by the next section. To reduce the valuation of one is precisely equivalent to raising that of every other tax- able inhabitant, for it increases his quota of the tax. He cannot be subjected to such increase of taxation beyoud what his share would be according to the last town assessment- roll, without being put upon his guard by the posting of a notice. (\ Denio, 214.) 44 346 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. other persons may be found to be taxable on account of their possession of property, real or personal, for which no person was assessed on the town as- sessment-roll. Such property may be real estate casually overloolsed by the assessors or purposely omitted because it was then exempt by being occupied by a minister of the gospel, or for any other reason; or it may consist in acces- sions to real estate; to put an uncommon case: land formed by the gradual washing up of sand on the shore of the sea or of our great lakes, which be- longs to the owner of the adjacent bank, or an island formed in the bed of a river not navigable, which is to be divided according to the original thread of the river between .the proprietors on the opposite banks, or to him on whose side of the original thread it lies (17 Pick. 41); or in improvements, such as the building of a house or barn, not completed when the town assessment was made. Or the property may be personal, arising from the sale of real estate within the district, or the acquisition of personal estate by devise or other- wise to an inhabitant of the district, such property not being in the district, but following the person of its owner for the purpose of tasation. In all these cases an original valuation by the trustees is to be made, and a notice is necessary. Additions to the last assessment-roll, in consequence of buildings subsequently erected, should not be made by the trustees until they are so far completed that their value is not contingent and uncertain. Where land, owned by the same person, is situated in different districts in the same town, but all included under one assessment by the town assessors, if all the land is of the same description, and was actually valued at the same rate per acre, without any variation on account of improvements or otherwise, ■or if it appears on the roll at what rates the separate parts were valued, then the valuation of the portion situate in any particular district may be ascer- tained by the trustees from such last assessment-roll. But if the valuation by the town assessor was general, and if the land was of different degrees of quality or value, or if a dwelling-house or other improvements are situated in one district and none in another, a new and original assessment must in such case be made, by the trustees giving the notices, etc., and proceeding in the mode required by law. Where a person, assessed for a greater number of acres than his farm con- tains , omits to claim a reduction when the tax is assessed by the trustees, he will not be relieved subsequently on appeal. DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. The tax should be assessed according to the last assessment- roll of the town, and a more recent roll, which has not been perfected, should be disregarded. {Supreme Oourt, 1831, Alexander v. Hoyt, 7 WeTid. 89. See 1 Rev. Stat. \3d «d.] 547, sec. 117.) Eeboneous apportionment. Trustees of a school district in making out their tax-list from the town asses.sment-roll, act ministerially, and if they take the roll which has not been completed instead of the last roll, and issue their warrant accordingly, they are liable as trespassers. {Supreme Court, 1831, Alexander v. Soyt, 7 Wend. 89; overruled in Supreme Court, 1855, Hill v. Belliok, 21 Ba/rb. 307, and cases there cited.) The apportionment of the tax among the taxable inhabitants of a district is to a certain extent a judicial act, and if the trustees confine themselves within the limits of the statute, though they should err in point of law, or in judgment, they are not civilly nor criminally answerable if their motives are pure. (8 Oow. 184; 1 Cai. 90/ Siip^-eme Oourt, 1833, Easton v. Calendar, 11 Wend. 90; approved in Folsom v. Streeter, 34 Wend. 366; Bandall v. Smith, 1 Denio, 314.) § 68. Where such reduction shall be duly claimed, and where tlie valuation of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 347 last assessment roll of the town, the trustees shall ascertain the true value of the property to be taxed from the best evidence in their pow^r, giving notice to the persons interested, and proceed- ing in the same manner as the town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property. Wlien trustees complete their tax-list, copying the valuations from the last town assessment-roll, and without any addition of property or a claim of re- duction, no notice of the completion of such tax-list is required to be given by them. The foregoing section (68) relates to cases where the trustees do not follow the town assessment-roll. Where the valuations are increased, reduced, or a claim for such reduction is received, or new property is added thereto, in such cases the section requires that they must proceed in the same manner as town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property. NOTICE. The notice which town assessors are required to give, and which the school trustees in cases of original assessment must follow, is found in the follow- ing sections of title 3, article 3, chapter 13, part 1, R. S., 7th ed.: §19. The assessors shaU complete tbe assesameDt-roUs on or before the first day of Auffust in every year, and shall make out one fair copy thereof to be left with one of their number. They shall forthwith cause notices thereof, to be left with one of their number; they shall forthwith cause notices thereof to be put upat three or more pub- lic places in their town or ward. § !J0. Such notices shall set forth that the assessors have completed their assessment- roll, and that a copy thereof Is left with oneof their number, at a place to be specified therein, where the same may be seen and examined by any person interested, until the third Tuesday of August; and that on that day the assessors will meet, at a time and place also to be specified In such notice, to review their assessments.' On the application of any person conceiving himself aggrieved, it shall be the duty of the said assessors on such day to meet, at the time and place specified, and hear and examine all complaints In relation to such assessments that may be brought before them; and they are hereby empowered and it shall be their duty to adjourn from time to time, as may be necessary, to hear and determine, in accordance with the rule prescribed by section 15 of said title 2, such complaints; but in the several cities of this State the notices required by this section may conform to the requirements of the respective laws regulating the time, place and manner for revising the assessments in said cities, In all cases where a different time, place and manner is prescribed by said laws from that mentioned in this act. §21. The assessors with whom such assessment-roll is left shall submit the same, during the twenty days specified in such notice, to the inspection of all persons who shall apply for that purpose. Applying these sections to school district trustees, the following rules must be followed: 1. The tax-list, when completed, must be left with- one of the trustees, or at some place where it can be inspected by the persons interested for at least twenty days from the time notice is given of the completion thereof. 2. Notice of the completion of such tax-list, and of the original assessment, must be posted in at least three public places in the district. The department has uniformly held that in cases where the only alteration from the valuations of the town assessment-roll was the placing of new or ad- ditional property upon the tax-list, or increasing the valuation of property, a notice, complying with the provisions of section 30, above quoted, served upon the persons so assessed, will be a sufficient compliance with section 68 of this title, which reads: "giving notice to the persons interested." But where property is to be stricken from the tax -list, or the valuation thereof reduced. 348 Assessment aitd Collection of Taxes. notices must be posted, as such action will necessarily increase the rate of tax- ation upon the remaining property of the district, and, therefore, all tlie tax- able inhabitants of the district are " the persons interested," and must have notice. The notice to be given by trustees necessarily varies somewhat from that of assessors, and may be in the following form: Notice is hereby given that the trustees of school district No. in the town of , have completed their tax-list to raise the sum of $10 for repairs of school-house, $8 to furnish the same with the necessary fuel (enumerating the several taxes included in the list), and that a copy thereof is left with the undersigned, A. B., at his office (mill, dwelling-house, or as the case may be), where the same may be seen and examined, by any person interested, during twenty days from the date of this notice; and that said trustees will meet at the house of , in said district, on the day of next (specifying a day subsequent, at least, twenty-one days to the posting), at o'clock, in the noon, to review the said tax -list, on the application of any person conceiving himself aggrieved. Dated this day of ,18 A. B.. y section 22, chapter 567, Laios of 1875, and ly section 1, cJiapter 250, Laws of 1883.] This section, since the amendment of 1883, provides for the return of all unpaid taxes upon real estate and upon non-resi(lent stockholders in banking associations organized under the laws of congress. The collector is not ex- cused from any legal attempt or endeavor to collect such taxes, but if, after " diligent efforts," he fails to make the collection and they remain unpaid at the time he is required by law to return his warrant, he must make a copy of the assessment-roll, in respect to such unpaid taxes, and must make oath before any justice of the peace or judge of a court of record, that the taxes mentioned in such account remain unpaid, and that, after diligent efforts, h» has been unable to collect the same. The statute being followed in this respect, the trustees are to credit the col- lector with the amount of said uncollected taxes, and the collector is thereby relieved from liability in respect thereto. The unpaid taxes should be drawn off in the same form as found upon th« tax list, and the collector's oath attached thereto in the following form: ASSKSSllKNT AND COLLECTION OF TaXES. 357 Account of nupaid taxes assessed upon the lands in school district No. in the town of , county of , in a tax-list made out by the trustees of said district, for and delivered to the collector on the day of , 18 . NAMES OF TAXABLE INHABITANTS AND COR- PORATIONS. JamesThomas James Thomas, executor of estate of John Thomas, deceased Clark Cotton Manufacturing Company John Davison S3 5 acres. a acres. $400 ],sao 625 i4S 3 OD 4) 3»S $1,025 25,000 O n g° $6 81 17 45 446 91 10 64 County, ) Tovrn of ,)"'■ John Doe, being duly sworn, deposes and says, that he is collector of taxes in and for school district No. , of the town of , aforesaid; that the foregoing is a true account of the taxes remaining due upon the real estate in said district assessed upon the tax-list and warrant delivered to said collector on the day of , 18 , and which said warrant is returnable on the day of , 18 ; that the taxes mentioned in such account remain unpaid, and that after diligent efforts he has been unable to collect the same. JOHN DOE. Sworn and subscribed before me, ) this day of , 18. i E. F., Jxistice of the Peace. If the uncollected tax is upon the non-resident stockholders in banking asso- ciations organized under the laws of congress, this fact must be stated in the account and in the foregoing affidavit of the collector. § 76. Upon receiving any such account from the collector, the trustees shall compare it with the original tax list, and, if they find it to he a true transcript, they shall add to such account their certificate, to the effect that they have compared it with the orig- inal tax list and found it to he correct, and shall immediately transmit the account, affidavit, and certificate, to the treasurer of the county. 358 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. The certificate of tlie trustees should be attached to the affidavit of the col- lector, upon the origiual account. It may be as follows: "The undersigned, trustees of school district No. , in the town of , county of , hereby certify that the preceding is an account of unpaid taxes assessed on the real estate or upon non-resident stockholders in a banking association organized under the laws of congress, in said dis- trict, delivered to the trustees thereof by John Doe, collector of taxes therein, and that we have examined and compared the same with the original tax-list for and found it to be correct. Dated this day of , 18 ." This should be signed by a ihajority, at least, of the trustees. The purpose' for which the tax-list was made out ought to be stated, so that it may appear to have been for objects for which taxes may be legally imposed by a dis- trict meeting or by the trustees. § 77. Out of any moneys in the county treasury raised for con- tingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to the collector the amount of the taxes so returned as unpaid, and if there are no moneys in the treasury apphcable to such purpose, the board of supervisors at the time of levying said unpaid taxes, as provided in the next section, shall pay to the collector of the school dis- trict the amount thereof by voucher or draft on the county treas- urer in the same manner as other county charges are paid, and the collector shall be again charged therewith by the trustees. [As ame?ided iy sec, 1, chap. 455, Laws of 1880, and cha]). 333, Laws of 1887.] This section, before the amendment, required that "Out of the moneys in the county treasury, raised for contingent expenses, the treasurer shall pay to the trustees the amount of the taxes so returned as unpaid." In an application for a mandamus to compel the county treasurer to pay such taxes the court in 14 Wend. 226, held that the law in this respect could not be executed, for the reason that the contingent fund was raised for other pur- poses and that no fund or part of the contingent fund had been raised or could be raised by the supervisors in advance for the payment of such unpaid school taxes. The first part of this section is really without force as the county treasurer cannot pay until the board of supervisors has levied the taxes for such unpaid school tax, and the board of supervisors cannot levy the same in advance for the purpose of forming a contingent fund, but must proceed upon receipt of the account, affidavit aud certificate , as directed in the next section. § 78. Such account, affidavit and certificate shall be laid by the county treasurer before the board of supervisors of the county who shall cause the amoimt of such unpaid taxes with seven per cent, of the amount in addition thereto, to be levied upon the lands of non-residents on which the same were imposed ; and if imposed upon the lands of any incorporated company, then upon such com- Assessment and Collection op Taxes. 359 pany ; and when collected, the same shall be returned to the county treasurer to reimburse the amount so advanced, with the expense of collection ; and if imposed upon the stock of a non- resident stockholder in a banking association organized under the laws of congress, then, the same with seven per cent, of the amount in addition thereto, shall be a lien upon any dividends thereafter declared upon such stock, and upon notice by the board of su- pervisors to the president and directors of such bank, of such charge upon such stock, the president and directors shall there- after withhold the amount so stated from any future dividends upon such stock, and shall pay the same to the collector of the town duly authorized to receive the same. — [As amended iy section 23, cha^tsr 567, Laws of J875, and hy section 2, chapter 250, Laws of 1883.] This section seems to contemplate that the supervisors shall impose any tax returned, with the addition of seven per cent, upon the very same lands on which they were charged by the trustees, and therefore not to contemplate any correction of the description by them. This is a reason for great care on the part of the trustees in preparing the original description in the tax list. § 79. Any person whose lands are included in any such ac- count may pay the tax assessed thereon to the county treasurer, at any time before the board of supervisors shall have directed the same to be levied. § 80. The same proceedings in all respects shall be had for the collection of the amount so directed to be raised by the board of supervisors as are provided by law in relation to county taxes ; and, upon a similar account, as in the case of county taxes of the arrears thereof uncollected, being transmitted by the county treasurer to the comptroller, the same shall be paid on his war- rant to the treasurer of the county advancing the same ; and the amount so assumed by the State shall be collected for its benefit, in the manner prescribed by law in respect to the arrears of county taxes upon land of non-residents ; or if any part of the amount so assumed consisted of a tax upon any incorporated company, the same proceedings may also be had for the collection thereof as provided by law in respect to the county taxes assessed upon sucli company. 360 ASSKSSMEiJT AND COLLECTION OJ? TaXES. § 81. The warrant for the collection of a district tax shall be under the hands of the trustees, or a majority of them, with or without their seals; and it shall have the like force and effect as a warrant issued by a board of supervisors to a collector of taxes in the town; and the collector to whom it may be delivered for col- lection shall be thereby authorized and required to collect from every person in such tax list named, the sum set opposite to his name, or the amount due from any jjerson or persons specified therein, in the same manner that collectors are authorized to col- lect town and county charges. — [As amended hy sectionl%, chap- ter 406, Laws of 1867.] The trustees ought to take a written receipt from the collector for the tax- list and warrant, specifying the return day and the amount to be collected, that they may be prepared with the proper evidence in case it should be nec- essary to bring an action against him. The representatives of a deceased person are not entitled to any delay in the payment of a tax, but are bound to pay on demand; and on refusal or neglect, the collector may proceed to sell any property found on the premises. By section 27, subdivision 2, 2 Eevised Statutes, 38, taxes of all kinds have pref- erence to any other demand. No property is exempt from levy and sale under a tax-list and warrant, ex- cept the military equipments. The collector may levy upon any goods and chattels lawfully in the pos- session of the person liable to pay the tax, that is to say, the person named in the tax-list, although such person be not the owner of such goods and chattels. (13 Wend. 629.) The individual property of an execu tor, administrator or trustee may be taken for a tax imposed on him in his representative character, when no prop- erty of the testator, intestate or cestui que trust can be found, (i Wend. 323.) But the warrant does not protect the collector if he levies upon property in the possession of persons not named in the roll, or whose names, it is apparent from the roll itself, the assessors ought not to have set down; for example, persons whose lands are described in the part of the tax-list containing the list of lands taxed as non-resident. (16 Barb. 651.) The manner in which town collectors are authorized to collect town and county charges is pointed out by the following sections of title 3, chapter 13, part 1st of the Eevised Statutes: " § 1. Every collector, upon receiving the tax-list and warrant, shall proceed to collect the taxes therein mentioned, and for that purpose shall call at least once on the person taxed, or at the place of his usual residence. It in the town or ward tor which said col- lector has been chosen, and shall demand payment of the taxes charged to him on bis property. " g 2. In case any person shall refuse or neglect to pay the tax imposed on him, the collector shall levy the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the per- son who ought to pay the same, or oi any goods and chattels in his possession where- soever the same may be found within the district ot the collector; and no claim ot property to be made thereto by any other person shall be available to prevent a sale. " } 3. The collector shall give public notice of the time and place of sale, and of the property to be sold , at least six days previous to the sale, by advertisements to be posted up in at least three public places in the town where such sale shalf be made. The sale snail be by public auction. " H. If the property distrained shall be sold for more than the amount of the tax, the surplus shall be returned to the person in whose possession such property was Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 361 when the distress was made, if no claim be made to such surplus by any other person, ir any other persou shall claim such surplus, un the ground that the property sold beloutied to nlm, and such claim be admitted by the person for whose tax the same was distrained, the surplus shall be paid to such owner; but If such claim be contested by the persou for whose tax the property was distrained, the surplus mouey shall be paid over by the collector to the supervisor of the town, who shall retain the same until the rights uf the parties shall be determined by due course of law." (R. S., bth cd., vol. I, i). 918.) It is provided by the Revised Statutes {volume 2, 1st edition, page 522) that "no replevin shall lie for any property taken by virtue of any warrant. for the collection of any tax, assessment or fine, in pursuance of any statute of this State." A collector, like other ministerial officers bound to execute process, is pro- tected, if the process is regular on its face, and comes from a court or body having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, if nothing appears in such process to apprise him that there was a defect of jurisdiction as to the particular per- son or property to be affected by such process. That warrant and tax-list constitute a process in the nature of an execution, and must be construed to- gether (3 Seld. 517), so that if a defect of jurisdiction appears on either, the col- lector is not protected. But he is not bound to inquire whether the trustees have not erred in the exercise of their jurisdiction. Thus he was held to be protected in 7 Wend. 91, where the trustees had taken the valuations from the assessment-roll, which was incomplete and subsequently varied, though the trustees were held liable as trespassers. But the collector was held liable, in 16 Wend. 607, where the warrant was irregular on its face, in commanding him to proceed "as on execution issued by justices of the peace," and in 18 Sctrb. 337, where it commanded him to collect five per cent on all sums men- tioned in the tax-list, without excepting those which should be voluntarily paid him in two weeks. The rule for the protection of ministerial oflBcers acting under process, regu- lar and legal on its face, is held to prevail, even though he has knowledge of facts rendering it void for want of jurisdiction. (5 SiU, 440.) " He must be governed and is protected," say the court, "by the process, and cannot be affected by any thing which he has heard or learned out of it." DECISIONS OP THE COURTS. But two of the school trustees were present when the tax was levied and assessed and the warrant made out, and no notice to the other to attend any meeting for that purpose was shown. Held, that the assessment and tax- warrant were, therefore, void, and gave no protection to the collector. {Hal- lock v. Ramsey, 22 Hun, 89.) How FAK PBOCBSS IS A PKOTBCTION. The insertion by trustees of a school district in their warrant for a collection of a school tax for the same, of a charge which they are not authorized to collect, without a vote of the district, does not render the. warrant void except for the excess, and does not render them personally liable in damages for enforcing it, but they are liable only to an action for recovering back the excess. {Supreme Court, 1800, Colton v. Beardsley, 88 Barb. 29.) New waurant. After a warrant for the collection of taxes had been used to collect an assessment, the assessment was detached from it, and a second assessment attached to it, and the warrant thus altered was delivered to the collector for collection. Held, that it was, in legal effect, a new warrant and valid as such. (Id.) Expiration op warrant. The powers of a school district collector, derived from a warrant issued for the collection of a tax or rate bill, cease with the expiration of the time limited in the warrant for collection, when his liability for collecting, etc., becomes fixed, unless the warrant is renewed by the trustees. Without a renewal he is then a trespasser if he executes it. (Supreme Court, 1854, Stroud v. Duller, IS Barb. 327.) 46 362 ASSKSSMKNT AND CoLLFXTION OF TaXES. The pvovisiou of the act of 1831, directing warrants for taxes for erectino- or repairing school-houses to be executed as warrants issued by the supervisors to town collectors, is to be applied to warrants for all school taxes; and what- ever the tax, the collector is clothed with the powers of a town collector. Hence, he may take the property of any person which is lawfully in the pos- session of the person liable to pav the tax. {Supreme Court, 1835, Keeler v Ohidtester, 13 Wend 639.) § 82. A waiTaiit for the collection of a ta.K voted by the district shall not be delivered to the collector until the thirty-first day after the ta.K was voted. A warrant for the collection of any tax not so voted may bo delivered to the collector whenever the same is completed. — [^6* aniended hj section 19, chapter 406, Laios of 1867.] A distinction is here made between a' tax voted by the district and one levied by authority of law without such vote. A tax-list made out for the collection of any money to defray the expenses incurred by the trustees, uuder sections fifty and fifty-one of this title, may have the warrant attached and be delivered to the collector " whenever the same is completed," which means just as soon as the trustees cau make the assessment. No tax-list can be considered as complete until it has passed from the hands of the trustees, and is no longer open to their alteration and ru- vision. The writing out of the tax-list and warrant is purely clerical. The completion of the tax-list must be found in the last official act of the trustees, that is, its delivery to the collector. A tax-list for the collection of a tax voted by the district cannot be com- pleted until the tliirty-first day after the tax was voted; but a tax-list for the collection of a tax not so voted may be completed whenever the trustees are ready, and deliver it to the collector. § 83. Within sneli time, not less than ton days, as the trustees shall allow him for the purpose, the collector, before receiving the first warrant for the collection of money, shall execute a bond to the trustees, with one or more sureties, to be approved by a ma- jority of the trustees, in such amount as the district meeting shall have fixed, or if such meeting shall not have fixed the amount, then in such amount as the trustees shall deem reasonable, con- ditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties of his office. The trustees upon receiving said bond, shall if they ap- prove thereof, indorse thfeir approval thereon, and forthwith de- liver the same to the town clerk of the town in which said col- lector resides, and said clerk shall file the same in his ofiice and enter in a book to be kept by iiim for that purpose, a memoran- dum showing the date of said bond, the names of the parties and sureties thereto, the amount of the penalty thereof, and the date and time of filing the same, and said town clerk is authorized to ASSESSJIEXT AND COLLECTION 01' TaXES. 363 receive as a fee for such filing and memorandnm, the sum of twenty-five cents, which sum is hereby made a cliarge against the school district interested in said bond. — [As amended hy section 24, chapter, 567, Laios of 1875, and chapter 334, Laws of 18S7. ] If the collector does not execute the bond required he vacates his office and the trustees must supply the vacancy. It is not necessary to give a new bond for every tax-list; the one first given covers all tax-lists during the collector's term of office. New or increased ball can, however, be required. The amount of bail to be given by the collector should be fixed at the annual meeting when the officers of the district are chosen. It may be fixed at any duly assembled meeting. The trustees should notify the collector of the time when a tax-list and warrant will be in readiness for delivery to him, and the statute gives him ten days to look up his sureties. This notice should be served not more than twenty days after a tax is voted, in order that no time may be lost in the col- lection. The following is a form of the collector's bond: Know all men by these presents, that we, A. B., C. D. and I?. S. (the col- lector and his sureties), are held and firmly bound to E. P., G. H. and L. M., trustees of school district No. , in the town of , county of in the sum of (here insert the amount of bail fixed by the district meeting or by the trustees), to be paid to the said E. P., O. H. and L. M., trustees as aforesaid, or to the survivor or survivors of them, or their successors ; to which payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselve.s, our heirs, executors and administrators, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated this day of , 18 . Whereas, the above bounden A. B. has been chosen (or appointed) collector of the above-mentioned school district No. , in the town of , in conformity to the statutes relating to common schools; now, therefore, the condition of this obligation is such, that if the said A. B. shall well and truly collect and properly account for all moneys received by him as such collector, and shall, in all respects, duly and faithfully execute all the duties of his office as collector of such district, then this obligatlou shall be void, otherwise to be in full force and effect. A. B. [l. S.1 C. D. [L. s.t R. S. [L. s.) Signed, sealed and delivered )_ in the presence of f The actions sustainable on a collector's bond are: 1. For not executing his warrant; and 3. For laches, losing a tax; or tor neglecting to pay a balance to his successor. (4 .Hiin, 399. ) § S-i. The collector, on the receipt of a warrant for the collec- tion of taxes, shall give notice to the tax payers of the district, by publicly posting written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, notices in at least three public places in such district, one of which shall be on the outside of the front door of the school- house, stating that he has received such warrant and will receive 364 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. all such taxes as may be voluntarily paid to hiin, within two weeks from the time of posting said notice. Such collector shall also give a like notice, either personally or by mail, at least ten days previous to the expiration of the two weeks aforesaid, to the ticket agent at the nearest station of any railroad corporation assessed for taxes, upon the tax list delivered to him with the aforesaid warrant, and no school collector shall be entitled to recover from any railroad corporation more than one per cent fees on the taxes assessed against such corporations, unless notice shall have been given as aforesaid, and in case the whole amount of taxes shall not be so paid in, the collector shall forthwith proceed to collect the same. He shall receive for his services on all sums paid in as aforesaid, one per cent, and upon all sums collected by him after the expiration of the time mentioned, five per cerjt, except as hereinbefore provided, and in case a levy and sale shall be nec- essarily made by such collector, he shall be entitled to travehng fees, at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the school-house in such district. [As atnended hy chap. 33, Laws of 1877.] The trustees are not authorized to receive or hold any money collected on a district tax. Payment to them would not be payment of the tax, and the col- lector cannot so regard it. He must collect and hold the moneys and pay them out only on the written order of the trustees. The change made in this section by the amendment of 1877 is important. It will be seen that the collector is bound to give notice in the manner set forth, whenever a warrant for the collection of taxes is put into his hands. Within the two weelis mentioned in such notice he cannot, of course, demand payment nor levy upon property. He is to receive such taxes as may be paid to him within that time, with only one per cent thereon for his services. After that time he must proceed to collect and is entitled to five per cent upon the sums collected. In case a levy and sale is made, the collector must proceed in the same man- ner as town collectors, but is not entitled to any fees therefor excepting travel- ing fees at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the school -house in the district. The part of this section relating to collection of taxes against railroad com- panies is considered under the head of " Assessment and Collection of Taxes against Railroads." DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Liability of collectok. A school district collector is bound to see that the trustees act within the scope of their legal duty; and if they assess the property of a person not taxable he is a trespasser in executing their warrant. (10 Co. B. 70; 1 H. Blaekslone, 68; 4 Taunt. 63i; Supreme Court, 1816, Suy- dam V. Keys, 13 Joh7is. 444; bnt Savaeool v. Boughton,, 5 Wend. 170.) When the illegality of a tax appears on the face of the warrant the collector Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 365 who levies it is liable in trespass. {Chancer}/, 1834, B/ink of UtUa v. City of mica, 4 Paige, 399; Supreme Court, 1837, Clark v. HaUock, 16 Wend. 607; 8. T. applied in the case of an attachment, Court of Appeals, 1851, Castallanos v. Jones, 5 JT. T. [1 Seld.] 164.) Taking exempt pbopebty. An officer is not protected by the execution in taking property which is exempt from execution. (Supreme Court, 1853, Hbyt V. Van Alstyne, 15 Barb. 568.) Tardy execution. If the collector of school taxes sells property after the expiration of the time limited in the warrant, he acts without authority and becomes a trespasser. (Supreme Court, 1854, Stroud v. Butler, 18 Barb. 327; distinguishing, Sheldon v. Van Buskirk, 2 N. T. [2 Comst.] 473,) Protected by warrant. The warrant is a protection to the collector, notwithstanding an error in the description of the lands assessed. (Coxirt of AppealSi 1852, Van Rensselaer v. Cottrell, Seld. notes, Nos. 1, 3, 3.) If the trustees have jurisdiction of the subject-matter the collector is pro- tected by a tax-list and warrant regular upon their face. (9 Johns. 330; 3 Johns. 474; 5 Wend. 170; Supreme Court, 1851, Alexander v. Moyt,l Wend. 89.) Distraining. An officer who collects a district school tax is not subject to the provisions of 2 Revised Statutes, 428, sections 20-24, relating to the duties of officers distraining on property, when no special provision is otherwise made. (^Supi-eme Court, 1848, Pangburnv. Smith, i Barb. 246.) Levy on farm divided by county line. If a farm is divided by the division line between two districts it is to be considered as lying in the district in which the dwelling is, and the collector may make levy on any part of it, even though such part Is in another county than the dwelling. {Supreme Court, 1832, Ward v. AyUsworth, 9 Wend. 281.) A levy by a school district collector on a wagon worth upward of $50 for a tax of between $6 and $7, — Held lawful, and that he was not liable for an excessive levy, although there was other property of less value he could have taken. (1873, Tlwrn v. Nott, 1 Supreme Court [T. & C.\ Adden, 33.) A failure to post a notice of a sale for a school tax upon the school-house door renders the collector a trespasser, and he is liable for the damages caused by a seizure and sale of property. (17 Hun, 353.) WuEN receiver. For two weeks after receiving the warrant of the trus- tees of a school district the collector acts under it as the mere receiver of such taxes as shall be voluntarily paid to him. {Laws (>/'1849, 585, see. 5.) If h« assumes to enforce payment during that time he is a trespasser. {Supreme Court, 1853, Packer v. Brown, 17 Barb. 145.) Fees. In the apportionment the collector's percentage should not be in- cluded; he is directed by the warrant to collect that. {Boston v. Calendar, 11 Wend. 90.) § 85. Any collector to whom any tax list and warrant may be delivered for collection, may execute the same in any other district or town in the same county, or in any other county where the dis- trict is a joint district and composed of territory from adjoining counties, in the sanje manner and with the like authority as in the district in which the trustees issuing the said warrant may reside, and for the benefit of which said tax is intended to be collected; and the bail or sureties of any collector, given for the faithful performance of his official duties, are hereby declared and made liable for any moneys received or collected on any such tax list and wari-ant. \^As amended by sec. 20, chap. 406, Zaws 1867.] 366 ASSESSMEKT ANJ) COLLECTION OF TaXES. WLeu a collector levies upon 2>roperty out of Ms district, Le should put up notices of tlie sale of sucli property, as well in tlie district where the sale is to take place, as iu that of his residence. § 86. If the sum or sums of money, payable l^y any person named in such tax list, shall :iot be paid by him or collected by such Avarrant within the time therein limited, it shall and maybe lawful for the trustees to renew such warrant iu respect to such delinquent person ; or in case such person shall not reside within their district at the time of making out a tax list, or shall not re- side therein at the expiration of such warrant, or in case the prop- erty assessed be real estate belonging m an incorijorated company, and no goods or chattels can be fouud whereon to levy the tax, the trustees may sue for and recover the same iu their name of office. [As amended hy sec. 25, cl»,ap. 567, Laws of 1875.] The last part of this section is not repealed, but since the amendment to section 75 of this title, it will be found the better way for collectors and trustees to return the unpaid tax as therein provided. The last half of the following section (87) must be taken in connection with this section in relation to the power of trustees to renew the warrant. The renewal is to be under the hands of the trustees, or a majority of them, who are in ofEce at the time of such renewal. For the purpose of preserving an authentic history of the process, it is better to append a renewal to the original warrant than to issue a new one, except iu cases where the original may be discovered to have been defective in its form. It ought to specify the duration of the time for which it is renewed, and to be indorsed upon or writ- ten under the original warrant, in substantially the following form : We hereby renew the within (or above written) warrant in respect to delin- quents for the period of thirty days. Bated this day of , 18 . A. B., ] TnisUes of JDistriet C. D., >■ iVo. , in the town E. F., ) of A second or subsequent renewal requires the consent of the supervisor under the next section. In that case, the words " With the approbation of the supervisor of the town of (in which the school-house is located)," should precede the above form. Where ths warrant is renewed by the trustees, the collector in office at the time of such renewal must execute it. It being a palpable absurdity to talk of those as delinquents who have never been called upon to pay , this language of the statute is an admonition to the trustees not to suffer a warrant to run out in their hands without issuing it. The latter clause of the above section, giving the trustees the right to sue, is confined to those persons who do not reside within the district at the time of making out the list, or who shall have ceased to reside therein at iihe expi- ration of the warrant, or to corporations having real property upon the tax- list. The warrant cannot be regarded as having expired until a renewal has run out, and in respect to both persons and corporations the inability to find gooas and chattels whereon to levy the tax should be proved by the sworn return of the collector before a suit is brought. Assessment and Oollectiok oj? Taxes. 367 DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Chief Justice Nelson, delivering tlie opinion of tlie supreme court, in 24 Wend. 369, where a warrant had been made out but not delivered to the col- lector, and the return day having passed, while it remained in the hands of the trustees, it was renewed and then delivered to the collector, says: " The renewal is in fact but a re-issuing of the process, and I can perceive no reason against regarding it as an original issuing. Nor can the difference be mate- rial whether it lies in the hands of the trustees for a time and is then revived by a renewal, or in the hands of the collector unexecuted, which confessedly would justify it." Where the objection was that the original warrant was not under seal (which as the law then stood rendered it void), but the renewal was signed by the trustees with their seals affixed, the court says : "The renewal of the war- rant made it new process for all the purposes of collecting the taxes then un- paid; it is the same thing, substantially, as though the original warrant had been recited in the renewal; and thus we have a warrant under the hands and seals of the trustees." (3 Hill, 495.) A warrant not issued until after its renewal becomes by delivery to the col- lector with a renewal indorsed, valid and effectual process, as of that date; and the rights of tax payers and duties of the collector are the same as they would have been had the warrant been made out and dated as an original pro- cess on the day of its delivery to the collector. (17 Barb. 145.) Where three trustees signed the original warrant, but. one of them refused to sign the renewal , the latter was held not liable for any act done under the renewal and after the original return day. (30 Barb. 165.) Under the power given to the trustees of school districts, by 1 Revised Statutes, 478, section 103, to renew warrants for the collection from delin- quents of such sum or sums of money as remain unpaid, they have the power to issue a new warrant for the same purpose. (34 Wend. 369; 3 Hill, 498; Su- preme Court, 1848, Seaman v. Benson, 4 Barb. 414; Special Term, 2'homas v. Vlapp, 'ZOid. 165.) Under 1 Revised Statutes, 484, sections 98, 103, which provides that the warrant to collect school taxes must be signed by the trustees or a majority, and that the trustees may renew it, a majority of the trustees may renew the warrant, and it may be renewed more than once. {Supreme Court, 1840; Ji'ol- aom V. Slreeter, 34 Wend. 366.) That a renewal signed by only a majority of the trustees Is sufficient. (Fol- som v. Sweeter, 34 Wend. 266.) It is not material that all be present when the warrant is signed. The sign- ing of the warrant is a ministerial duty. {Supreme Court, Special Term, 1885, Thomas v. Glapp, 30 Barb. 165.) Defendant justified his taking and selling plaintiff's wagon, as collector of school taxes, by virtue of a warrant issued by the trustee. The warrant hav- ing expired in defendant's hands, the trustee indorsed it " Renewed for ten days." Defendant levied on and sold the wagon after the expiration of ten days, but within thirty days of the expiration of the warrant. Held, That the renewal and delivery of the warrant made it a new process of the same force and effect as the original warrant. (Baker v. Lee, N. Y. Supreme Court, General Term, 34 Weekly Digest, 539.) § 87. Wlienever the trustees of any scliool district shall discover any error in a tax list made out by them, they may, with the • approbation and consent of the superintendent of pubUe instruc- tion, after refunding any amount that may have been improperly collected on such tax list, if the same shall be required by him, 368 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. amend and correct such tax list, as directed by the superintendent, in conformity to law ; and whenever more than one renewal of a warrant for the collection of any tax list may become necessary in any district, the trustees may make such further renewal, with tJie written approbation of the supervisor of any town in which a school-house of said district shall be located, to be indorsed upon such warrant. — [As amended hy sectio?i 22, chapter 406, Zaws of 1S07.] The application to tlie State Superintendent, for liis consent to correct an error, should be under the hands of a majority of the trustees, and should state specifically wherein the error is supposed to consist, and in what manner they propose to amend and correct the tax-list. The date of the tax list and number of district must be plainly stated in the application. It will ordinarily be the better mode to revoke the imperfect tax -list and to make out a new one, stating in the heading thereof that it is "Amended and corrected with the approbation and consent of the State Su- perintendent of Public Instruction, Ijy his order bearing date the day of , 18 ." The order should, of course, be carefully filed with the district clerk as evidence of the authority to collect under it. The approval of the supervisor may be given by his indorsing on the war- rant, under the form given in the preceding section, the words: " Approved this day of ,18 . ^. T., Supervisor of ." The approval of the supervisor of any town in which a school-house is located seems to be all that is required. It is a matter of discretion with th» supervisor, in the first instance, to gi-ant or withhold his approbation. If he improperly refuses it, the remedy is by appeal upon regular notice to him. § 88. The collector shall keep in his possession all moneys re- ceived or collected by him by virtue of any warrant, or received by him from the county treasurer or board of supervisors for taxes returned as unpaid, to be by him paid out upon the order of a majority of the trustees; and he shall report in writing at the annual meeting, all his collections and disbursements, and shall pay over to his successor in office, when he has duly quali- fied and given bail, all moneys in his hands belonging to the dis- trict. — [As amended hy cha/pter 333, Laws o/1887.] The collector by this section is made the legal custodian of .all moneys col- lected by tax upon the district; and he can pay them out only upon the order of a majority of the trustees. The collector should demand a written order. The collector and his sureties in his bond are responsible for the safe-keeping and legal disbursement of the moneys of the district. The orders of the trus- tees are the only proper vouchers for the disposal of the moneys. The collector should keep an account of all moneys collected and paid out by him, and be ready with his vouchers to report at the annual meeting. Before handing over the moneys in his hands to his successor, he should be certain that the bail required has been given, and should take a receipt foi the moneys paid over. Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 369 § 89. If by the neglect of any collector any moneys shall be lost to any school district, which might have been collected within the time limited in the warrant delivered to him for their collection, he shall forfeit to such district the amount of the moneys thns lost, and shall accoimt for and pay over the same to the trustees of such district, in the same manner as if they had been collected. The collector's power to sell property ceases with the expiration of the time limited in the warrant for its return, even under a levy made before the return day; and unless the warrant is renewed by the trustees, his liability for not collecting becomes fixed. (18 Sarb. 330.) It behooves him, therefore, not to intermit his efforts to collect a tax upon any verbal directions of the trustees. Having commanded him by a warrant, he is 'bound to complete its execution, unless the time is extended by the equally formal act of renewal. Nor is he bound to delay, against his own wishes, because the trustees desire it. They may sometimes desire to suspend proceedings, where he is indifferent, because a warrant, regular on its face, is sufficient for his protection, while they may be responsible from a defect of authority not apparent on its face. In such a case he should require a formal certificate from the trustees that they have withdrawn the warrant, and discharged him from the further execution thereof, and should make a return thereon to this effect: " Under the within warrant, I have received and collected of the following persons named in the tax -list thereto attached, the sum of money set opposite to their respective names, viz.: James Thomas, $6.81; James Thomas, executor of John Thomas, deceased, $17.45, etc., etc., and have this day ceased from the further execution thereof, by the written direction of C. D. and E. F., a majority of the trustees. "Dated this day of ,18 . "STEPHEN GRINNER. Collector." Transactions of this nature should never be left to rest upon loose conversa- tions, nor should any officer of a district permit his responsibility to the in- habitants to be confounded with that of other officers, who may have distinct accounts to render for their conduct in the affair. Where a warrant runs out in the collector's hands, he is answerable for any loss arising from his neglect, notwithstanding such warrant may have been afterward renewed and delivered to his successor. § 90. For the recovery of all stich forfeitures, and of all balances, in the hands of the collector, which he shall have neg- lected or refused to pay to his successor, the trustees, in their name of office, shall have their remedy upon the oflSdal bond of the collector, or any action and any remedy given by law ; and they shall apply all such moneys, when recovered, in the same manner as if paid without snit. The forfeiture referred to in this section is the amount of money which a col- lector might have collected by the exercise of proper diligence. The legal pre- sumption Is, when the return day of a warrant arri\^es, that the collector has all the money in his hands. It is sufficient for the trustees to prove that they delivered to him a tax-list and warrant for the collection of a certain amount, 47 370 Assessment and Collection oj? Taxes. and that the time therein specified for its return has expired. They may then rest their case, and it lies upon the collector to produce in his defense the orders of the trustees for such moneys as he may have paid, his account of non-resi- dent taxes, with his affidavit of his inability, after diligent efforts, to collect the same, and then to show as to taxable inhabitants navifid in the tax-list, that they had no personal property within the district upon which he could levy. The trustees may then prove in reply that such taxable inhabitants had per- sonal property outside of the district but within the county (or, if the district includes parts of more than one county, in either county), and they ought prob- ably to show, in addition, that the collector had express notice of the fact, or that he knew it, or that it was so far known in the district that the collector, by reasonable diligence in making inquiries, would have ascertained such facts as to make it his duty to look for property outside of the district. The ques- tion is, would an ordinary man — not a particularly keen or covetous man — armed with the power to appropriate any chattels of his debtor to the payment of a debt due himself, have failed to discover that such property was within his reach. § 91. "Within fifteen days after any tax list and warrant shall have been returned by a collector to the trustees of any school dis- trict, the trustees shall deliver the same to the town clerk of the town in which the collector resides, and said town clerk shall file the same iu his office. [Added hy chap. 334, Laws of 1887.] ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES AGAINST RAILROAD, TELEGRAPH, TELEPHONE AND PIPE-LINE COMPANIES. Chapter 694, Laws op 1867. Section 1. It shall be the duty of the town assessors, within fifteen days after the completion of their annual assessment-list, to apportion the valuation of the property of each and every railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line company as appears on such assessment-list, among the several school districts in their town, in which any portion of said property is situated, giving to each of said districts their proper portion, according to the proportion that the value of said property iu each of such districts bears to the value of the whole thereof in said town. \^Aa amended by sea. 3, chap. 414, Laws of 1884.] g 2. Such apportionment shall be in writing and shall be signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, and shall set forth the number of each dis- trict and the amount of the valuation of the property of each railroad, tele- graph, telephone and pipe-line companies apportioned to each of said districts; and such apportionment shall be filed with the town clerk by said assessors, or one of them, within five days after being made; and the amount so apportioned to each district shall be the valuation of the property of each of said com- panies, on which all taxes against .said companies in and for said districts shall be levied and assessed, until the next annual assessment and apportionment. {As amended by sea. 2, chap. 414, Laws of 1884.] § 3. In case the assessors shall neglect to make such apportionment, it shall be the duty of the supervisor of the town, on the application of the trustees or board of education of any district, or of any railroad, telegraph, telephone or pipe-line company, to make such apportionment in the same manner and with the like effect as if made by said assessors. \As amended hv cham- 340, Laws of 1885.] , n ^ g 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furni.sh to the trustees or board of education of each district, a certified statement of the amounts appor- tioned to such district, and the name of the company to which the same relates. Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 371 g 5. In case any alteration shall be made in anj school district affecting the property of any railroad, telegraph, telephone or pipe-line company, the officer making such alteration shall, at the same time, determine what change in the valuation of said property in such district would be just, on account of the alteration of district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. [As amended ly clw/p. 340, Laws of 1885.] CnAPTER 675, Laws of 1881. Srction 1. It shall be the duty of the school collector in each school dis- i;rict in this State, except in the counties of New York and Kings, within five days after the receipt by such collector of any and every tax or assessment-roll of his district, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer of the county in which such district, or the greater part thereof, is situated, a statement show- ing the name of each railroad company appearing in said roll, the assessment against each of said companies for real and personal property respectively, and the tax against each of said companies. It shall thereupon be the duty of such ■county treasurer, immediately after the receipt by him of such statement from such school collector, to notify the ticket agent of any such railroad company assessed for taxes at the station nearest to the office of such county treasurer, personally or by mail, of the fact that such statement has been filed with him by such collector, at the same time specifying the amount of the tax to be paid by such railroad company. — [As amended iy chapter 319, Laws (jflSSS.] 65 2. Any railroad company heretofore organized, or which may hereafter be organized, under the laws of this State, may, within thirty days after the receipt of such statement by such county treasurer, pay the amount of tax so levied or assessed against it in such district, and in such statement mentioned and contained with one per centum fees thereon, to such county treasurer, who is hereby authorized and directed to receive such amount and to give proper receipt therefor. g 3. In case any railroad company shall fail to pay such tax within said thirty days, it shall be the duty of such county treasurer to notify the collector of the school district in which such delinquent railroad company is assessed, of its failure to pay said tax, and upon receipt of such notice it shall be the duty of such collector to collect such unpaid tax, in the manner now provided by law, together with five per centum fees thereon; but no school collector shall collect by distress and sale any tax levied or assessed in his district upon the property of any railroad company until the receipt by him of such notice from the county treasurer. § 4. The several amounts of tax received by any county treasurer in this State, nuder the provisions of this act, of and from railroad companies, shall be by such county treasurer placed to the credit of the school district for or on account of which the same was levied or assessed, and on demand paid over to the school collector thereof, and the one per centum fees received •therewith shall be j)laced to the credit of, and on demand paid to, the school collector of such school district. § 5. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to hinder, prevent or prohibit any railroad company from paying its school tax to the school col- lector direct, as now provided by law. This chapter changes materially the method of collecting taxes against rail- road companies. It it doubtful whether the collector is excused from giving the notice provided for in section 84 of title 7. He cannot enforce his warrant until the county treasurer notifies him of the failure of the railroad company to pay the tax. The company can pay the collector at any time they may desire after the assessment. 372 Assessment and Collection of Taxks. ASSESSMENT AGAINST THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON CANAl COMPANY. Chapter 540, Laws op 1880. Section 1. It shall be the duty of tlie town assessors, within fifteen days after the completion of their annual assessment-list, to apportion the valuation of the property of the president, managers and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, as appears on such assessment-list, among the several school districts in their town in which any portion of said property is situated, giving to each of said districts their proper portion, according to the propor- tion that the value of said property in each of such districts hears to the value of the whole thereof in said town. § 3. Such apportionment shall be in writing and shall be signed by said assessors, or a majority of them, and shall set forth the number of each dis- trict, and the amount of the valuation of the property of the president, man- agers and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, apportioned to each of said districts; and such apportionment shall be filed with the town clerk, by said assessors, or one of them, within five days after being made, and the amou nt so apportioned to each district shall be the valuation of the property of said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, on which all taxes against said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in and for said districts shall be levied and assessed until the next annual assessment and apportion- ment. § 3. In case- the assessors shall neglect to make such apportionment, it shall be the duty of the supervisor of the town, on the application of the trustees or board of education of any district, or of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, to make such apportionment in the same manner and with like effect sis if made by said assessors. § 4. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, furnish to the trustees or board of education of each district a certified statement of the amounts appor- tioned to such district, and the name of the company to which the same relates. § 5. The town clerk shall, whenever requested, once in each year, furnish to the agent of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and to the trustees or board of education of each school district to which any portion of said appropriation belongs, a certified copy of said apportionment. § 6. In case any alteration shall be made in any school district afEecting the property of the said Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the officer making such alteration shall at the same time determine what change in the valuation of the said property in such district would be just, on account of the altera- tion of such district, and the valuation shall be accordingly changed. DECISIONS OF THE COURTS, In assessing the value of a portion of a railroad it is proper to consider the character and productive capacity of the entire road of which such portion is an essential part. (The People, ex rel. The Borne, Watertown and Ogdens- hurg BaUroad Co., appUa., v. Peter Smoyer et. al., assessors, respt8.,2i Weeklv mgest; 95:) ' ^ . » The real estate of railroad corporations should be assessed at its value for the purposes to which it has been adapted, and not as mere farming lands; and in estimating the same the assessors are not bound to consider it as mere land and superstructure isolated in their town from the other parts of the load. They are entitled to estimate the value of that part of the real estate within their jurisdiction which contributes to make up a complete and useful railroad extending beyond the town they represent. (People v. Fredericks, 48 Barb. 173.) The rolling stock, owned and used upon its tracks by a railroad company, is personal property, and as such is liable to be seized and sold for the collection of a tax against the company. (52 N. Y. 521.) ASSESSMKNT ANiJ COLLECTION^ OF TaXES. 373 ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTIOX OF TAXES IN COUNTIES CONTAIN- ING UPWARDS OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND INHABITANTS. Chapter 411, Laws of 1885. Section 1. All taxes heretofore admitted by the comptroller, and wlilcli have not been paid or canceled, on lands of non residents, in towns within counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand inhabitants, and all unpaid general and school taxes heretofore assessed on lands of nou residents in said towns, which shall hereafter be returned to and admitted by the comp- troller, whether said lands were entered in the several assessment -rolls sepa- rately as the lands of non-residents, or otherwise, shall be and the same are in all respects hereby legalized and confirmed. § 2. The assessors chosen in each of said towns shall hereafter, in the prepa- ration of their assessment-roll, prefix to the same a column, which shall form part thereof, containing the names of all the persons and corporations liable to taxation on personal property therein, and shall also, in said column, enter the names, so far as known to them, of the owners of all the lands of resi- dents, non-residents and corporations which are liable to taxation, opposite to the several tracts, lots and subdivisions of lauds of such several owners, as the same are hereinafter required to b? entered in said roll, and if the name of any owner shall not be known to them they shall enter in place thereof, in said first-mentioned column, the word "unlcnown." {^ 3. The taxes on all lands in said towns liable to taxation shall be deemed "to be assessed upon such lands exclusively, and not upon the owners or occu- pants, or other persons; and no such taxes hereafter assessed shall be invalid because the name of the owner of the laud may be omitted or incorrectly stated in said roll. § 4. The said assessors shall set down, in a separate column in said assess- ment-roll, opposite to the natnes of the several persons and corporations liable to taxation on personal property, and according to the best information in their power, the full value of all such taxable personal property, after deducting the just debts owing by the persons and corporations so assessed, respectively. § 5. In assessing all lands liable to taxation in said towns, the assessors shall proceed as follows: 1. If the laud to be assessed be a tract which is subdivided into lots, or a part of a tract so subdivided, they shall designate it by its name, if known by one, or if it be not distinguished by a name, or the name be unknown, they shall state by what other lands it is bounded. 3. If they can obtain correct information of the subdivisions, they shall «nter the same by their numbers, beginning at the lowest number and pro- ceeding in numerical order to the highest, stating the full valuation of each; and if the quantity of such subdivision liable to taxation be part of a full lot. the part must be designated by boundaries, or in some way by which it may he known, and the quantity of land and the full valuation thereof stated. 3. If the land to be assessed be a tract which is hot subdivided, or if its sub- divisions cannot be ascertained by the assessors, they shall set down the name, or boundaries, together with the quantity and fall valuation as above directed, without reference to any subdivisions thereof. If the quantity liable to tax- ation be part of the full tract, that part or the part not liable must be particu- larly described, and the quantity and valuation of the taxable part stated. 4. If they cannot otherwise designate or describe any tract of land, or part thereof, liable to taxation, as herein required, they shall notify the supervisor of the town, who shall cause a survey and two manuscript maps to be made, for the purpose of ascertaining the situation and quantity thereon. 5. One of such maps shall be delivered by the supervisor to the county treasurer and by him transmitted to the comptroller, and the other shall be delivered in like manner to the assessors. 374 Assessment and Collection of Ta'xes. 6 The assessors shall then complete the assessment of such land, and shalF deposit the map in the town clerk's office for the information of future assess- ors; and the expense of making such survey and maps shall be immediately- repaid to the supervisor out of the county treasury, and it shall be added by the board of supervisors to the tax on such tract or part of tract, distinguishing it from the ordinary tax. § 6. It shall not be necessary to keep the lists of lands of residents and non- residents separate, nor shall any distinction be made between the same;' but in the preparation of the assessment-roll, and in assessing, levying, collecting and returning taxes on lands in said towns, and in sales of lands for unpaid taxes hereafter assessed therein, and the redemption thereof, and in all mat- ters in any wise pertaining thereto, all such lands shall be taken and considered alike as the lands of non-residents. § 7. The said assessors shall divide the property contained in the assess- ment-roll of the town into districts, or parts of districts, corresponding in number, location and boundaries, with the several school districts and union free school districts, or parts thereof, designating the same in said roll by suitable headings; and every person liable to be taxed for personal property shall be assessed therefor in the school district where he resides. § 8. The terms land, real estate, real property, personal estate and personal property, as employed in this act, and for all purposes of taxation in suchi towns, shall be construed as now provided by law, and nothing herein con- tained shall be construed as requiring or authorizing any real or personal prop- erty to be assessed or taxed in any other town, city or village than as provided by existing laws. § 9. It shall not be necessary for the collector to call upon the persons or cor- porations taxed in the assessment-roll, or at their places of business, or resi- dence, and demand payment of the taxes hereafter assessed, where such taxes, are for real estate, nor shall it be lawful to levy any such tax upon real estate by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the persons who ought to pay the same, or of any goods and chattels in their possession. § 10. If any of the taxes mentioned in the tax-list annexed to the warrant of the collector hereafter issued shall remain unpaid at the expiration of said war- rant, and the collector shall not have been able to collect the same, he shall deliver to the county treasurer an account of the taxes so remaining due, omit- ting from such account the names of the owners of the lands; and upon mak- ing oath before the county treasurer, or, in case of his absence, before any jus- tice of the peace, that the sums mentioned in such account remain unpaid, and that he has not, upon diligent inquiry, been able to discover any goods or chat- tels belonging to or in the possession of the persons charged with or liable to pay the personal taxes therein mentioned, whereon he could levy the amount of such personal taxes, he shall be credited by the county treasurer with, amount of the taxes thus returned as unpaid. § 11. The board of supervisors is hereby authorized to determine the amount of the penalty to be specified in the bond of the collector, not less than the amount of the taxes to be collected by him, nor more than double that amount. § 13. It shall not be lawful for the trustees of any school district, or any board of education in said towns, hereafter to assess any taxes, or to execute or issue any warrant for the collection thereof; but it shall be their duty, within five days after each annual meeting of the district, to make out and certify to the board of supervisors a statement, detailed in items, of the amount lawfully required to be raised, to which shall be added one per cent for the payment of the fees of the collector, or treasurer, as herein provided. § 13. The said board of supervisors shall cause the amount in such statement named to be assessed in and with, and to form a part of the annual taxes next thereafter assessed on the real and personal estate taxable in the said district, and they shall assess the amount upon the same property within the district, and in the same manner and proportion as the ordinary taxes are required to be assessed, and without separating or distinguishing the same in the tax -list from the ordinary tax. ASSESSMRiVT AND COLLECTION OF TaXES. 375 g 14. They shall, by warrant, direct the amount so assessed to be paid to the county treasurer, who shall pay the same upon the order of the trustees or board of education to the school district collector or union district treasurer; provided, however, that the said county treasurer shall first receive a certifi- cate from the trustees or board of education that the said district collector or treasurer has filed his bond, and that the same has been duly approved as here- inafter required. § 1.5. The collector of each school district shall execute a bond to the trustees with one or more sureties, to be approved by a majority of the trustees, in a penal sum to be determined by them, not less than the amount of the money to be paid to him as aforesaid, nor more than double that amount, conditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties of his ofSce; and the treasurer of each union free school district shall execute to the board of education a similar bond, to be approved by them in like manner. § 16. The said district collector or treasurer shall keep in his possession all moneys received by him under this act, and pay out the same from time to time upon the orders of the trustees or board of education to the persons entitled to receive the same; and the said trustees or board of education shall not be authorized to receive or hold the same. Each of said district collectors and treasurers hereafter elected or appointed shall be entitled to receive and retain, as his fees under this act, one per cent on all sums paid out by him, as afore- said. § 17. If any school bond or certificate of indebtedness shall have been duly executed and issued before the passage of this act, the principal and interest of which, or either of them, shall become due between the first day of Decem- ber in any year and the first day of February next thereafter, and in advance of the collection of the annual taxes, the amount necessary shall, if required, be paid by the county treasurer out of any money in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses; and when afterward collected and received from the annual taxes, shall be retained by him and returned to the county treasury; provided, however, that such amount shall have been duly certified to the board of supervisors for the purpose of being assessed and included in the taxes, as hereinbefore required. § 18. Any lands in such towns which were sold for non-payment of taxes at the comptroller's sale held in the year eighteen hundred and eighty -one, which have been or may be conveyed from said sale to the State, may he redeemed therefrom by the previous owner or mortgagee thereof, on payment to the State, at any time within six months from the passage of this act, of the amount which would be payable therefor, in case of redemption on proof of occupancy; and the comptroller is hereby authorized and directed, on payment of said amount, to allow the redemption of such lands from said sale. § 19. Sections nine, eleven, twelve and thirteen of article two, title two, chapter thirteen, part one of the Revised Statutes, so far as applicable to the taxes hereafter to be assessed in said towns, are hereby repealed. § 30. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. MISCELLAiSTEOUS DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Assessment must be apter the vote. On the 7th of October a district meeting voted a tax, and in pursuance thereof an assessment was subsequently made and a warrant to collect the tax made out, signed and dated. At a spe- cial meeting afterward, held on the 2.5th of November, the vote to raise the tax was repealed. At a third meeting on the 5th of December, the repealing vote was itself repealed. The trustees, deeming the original tax thus con- firmed, renewed the warrants and enforced them. Held, that they were liable. Reviewing the original vote for the tax did not revive the validity of the as- sessment and warrant. The whole proceedings must be construed as they would have been if the original vote to lay the tax had passed on the 5th of 376 Assessment and Collection of Taxes. December. Tlie law plainly contemplates that the assessment sliall be made after the tax shall have been voted. {Gourt of Errors, 1845, Mead v. Qak, 2 Denio, 233; affirming, 8. 0., 4 Sill, 109.) An error of judgment in including the collector's fees in the tax, or in omit- ting some of the taxable inhabitants in the list, does not render the trustees liable as trespassers. {Supreme Court, 1833, Eaaton v. Calendar, W Wend. 90-) ^ ^ Though the trustees err in allowing compensation to a teacher for a longer time than she taught, the rate bill and warrant are not therefore void, but are a protection to the trustees and collector. {.Supreme Court, 1851, Finch v. Cleveland, 10 Barh. 290.) Naming the person assessed. Though when property is owned by an individual, his name, and not a mere description of him, should be inserted in the tax list and warrant (under 1 Revised Statutes, 481, 484, requiring it to contain the name of each person liable), yet, when the property of a decedent is in possession of the widow and heirs, it is sufficient to designate, them in the list and warrant as " the widow and heirs " of the decedent. (Supreme Court, 1833, Wheeler v. Anthony, 10 Wend. 346.) Time. The provision of 1 Revised Statutes, 483, section 83, requiring a school district tax to be assessed, and the tax list to be made out within one month after the meeting at which the tax was voted, is directory merely in re- spect of time ; and if it does not appear that there was a change in the tax- able persons or property in the district, between the expiration of the month and the time the tax-list was made out, the tax is valid. (Citing 3 Mass. 230; 6 Wend. 486; 2 Str. 1138 ; 7 Sill, 9 ; and distinguishing &ale v. Mead, 4 SiU, 109 ; Supreme Court, 1846, Qale v. Mead, 3 Benio, 160.) Statute directing tax to be made out in 80 days, directory only, may be made out after. {Bawson v. Van Riper, 1 Sup. Ot. Rep. 370, 1873.), Altekation. When the tax has been levied and collected,, the power of the trustee is ended. Though it has been recovered back from them, they cannot alter the tax-list so as to collect a difEerent sum. {Supreme Oowi't, 1837, Benjamin v. Sail, 17 Wend. 437.) * Power to assess is personal. The authority which the trustees are re- quired to administer in apportioning the tax is personal, and cannot be dele- gated. (3 Comst. 396.) One of three trustees cannot, after the other two have, without his presence , made an assessment or apportionment, ratify and adopt it by indorsing his approval, in the absence of the others. {Supreme Court, 1856, Keeler v. Frost, 23 Barb. 400.) Regularity op tax. The question whether an individual banker was tax- able in the town or ward in which the assessment was made cannot be raised to affect the validity of the tax warrant, regular on its face, as against the officer executing it ; nor, when the process is against an individual bank, by the name in which it does business, which name is apparently that of a cor- poration, and such bank has a place of business within the jurisdiction of the assessors and of the officer executing the process, can its owner be permitted, as against the officer levying on the money or property of the bank, claim that it is not a lawful corporation, and not taxable by its apparent corporate name. (5 Wend. 170; 5 m T. 376; Supreme Court, 1858, Patchin v. Bitter, 27 Barb. 34.) When collected. A tax can be said to be " collected " only when it has been paid by those on whose property it has been levied. (iV. Y. Com. Plfas, Sp. Term, 1857, Fitzpatnek v. Flagg, 5 Abbott's Pr. 213.) Property IN trust. Under 1 Revised Statutes, 889-899, the individual property of an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, may be taken for a tax imposed upon him in his representative capacity, where no property of the testator, intestate or cestui que trust can be found. It is a personal tax upon the executor, etc., in his special character as trustee. If there be joint executors, etc., each is taxable only for that portion of the trust property in his possession or under his control. {Supreme Court, 1830, Williams v. So'den, 4 Wend. 223.) Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 377 Apportioning school tax. The authority wMch the trustees of a school district are required to administer, in apportioning a tax , involves the exercise of judgment and discretion, a power which cannot be delegated. (3 Jf. Y, 396 ; Suprerhe Court, 1856, Keeler v. Frost, 23 Barb. 400. Repairs. A tax for repairs, additions, etc., to school-houses is valid, though no amount be specified. {Ha/mlm v. tHngman, 5 LanHng, 61, Sup. Ct,187L) Liability of trustebb for error. If trustees err in determining who is assessable as an inhabitant, where one has taken up his abode temporiirily in the district, they are liable for sale of his property under their warrant for collection of tax, (Pakner v. Lavyrenee, 6 Laruing, 283, Sup. Ct., 1873.) 48 TEACHERS. WHO ARE QUALIFIED TEACHERS. Title VII. § 41. No teacher is a qualified one, within the meaning of this act, unless he possesses an unannulled diploma granted to him by the State normal school, or an unrevoked and unannulled certificate of qualification, given to him by the superintendent of public instruction, or an unexpired certificate of qualification given to him by the school commissioner within whose district he is employed, or by the school officer of the city or village in which he is employed, authorized by special act to grant such certificate. After August twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, no person shall be deemed to be qualified who is under the age of six- teen years. {As amended hy sec. 7, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) Chapter 318, Laws of 1882. The first and second sections of this act provide for a teachers' class in academies and union schools under appointment by the regents of the univer- sity. Section three is as follows: § 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided by law, in a class organized for instruction in the science and prac- tice of common school teaching, who shall have passed the exami- nation known and designated as the regents' preliminary exami- nation, in arithmetic, English grammar, geography and spelling, and who, in addition, shall have passed the final examination prescribed for such classes by the said regents, including an ex- amination in the history of the United States, the principles of civil government and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed to have sufficient learning to teach in the common schools of the State ; and to each such scholar the regents of the university shall grant a testimonial which, when indorsed by any school commis- sioner, shall constitute a certificate of qualification and a license Teachees. 379 to teach in the common schools of his district for a period of one year from the date of siicli indorsement; and at the expiration of the period named in said license, and at successive expirations thereafter, said certificate may be reindorsed by any school com- missioner, and at his discretion constituted a license to teach in the common schools of his district for a period not to exceed three years after each reindorsement. Chapter 353, Laws op 1875. Section 1. Chapter three hundred and twenty-four of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled " An act to incor- porate the Sisterhood of Grey Nuns in the State of New York," passed April sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, is hereby amended by adding thereto, as follows : § 7. The said corporation is hereby authorized to grant diplo- mas and honorary testimonials, in such form and under such regulations as its board of trustees may determine, to any person who shall have or may hereafter be graduated at any seminary of learning of said corporation located within this State ; and any such graduate to whom a diploma may be awarded may file such diploma, or a duplicate thereof, in the Department of Public Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction may thereupon, in his discretion, issue a certificate to the effect that such graduate is a qualified teacher of the common schools of this State. The foregoing is an enumeration of the different certificates entitling a per- son to teach in the common schools of the State and receive therefor pay from the public money, from money raised by tax on the, district, or from a trust fund. Trustees should know that a teacher is qualified to teach the common school of the district before he is employed or before he commences teaching. No excuse can be made for a trustee who omits or neglects to perform this duty. The district will lose the public money and the trustee become personally liable to the teacher for his wages if he does not hold u certificate. If at the time of making th.e contract the teacher does not possess a certificate, it must be expressly stipulated that such certificate shall be obtained before the term of service shall commence. No chances can be taken by the trustees ; they must have positive knowledge that a teacher is holding a certificate. STATE CERTIFICATE. Title I. § 16. He may grant under his hand and seal of office, a certifi- cate of qualification to teach, and may revoke the same. While 380 Teachers. unrevoked, such certificate shall he conclusive evidence that the person to whom it was granted is qualified by moral character, learning and ability to teach any common school in the State, Such certificate may be .granted by him only upon examination. He shall determine the manner in which such examination shall be conducted, and may designate proper persons to conduct the same, and report the result to him. He may also appoint times and places for holding such examinations, at least once in each year, and cause due notice thereof to be given. He may also issue temporary licenses to teach, limited to any school commis- sioner district or school district, and for a period not exceeding six months, whenever in his judgment, it may be necessary or expedient for him to do so. {As amended by sec. 5, chap. 567, Laws of 1875.) Tills section refers to tlie powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion. Temporary licenses, under the last part of the section, are only granted in extraordinary cases. Since the amendment to the section, in 1875, the number of applicants have each year steadily Increased. The Superintendent issues a circular every year stating the times and places for the examinations, and giving such information as is necessary for the candidates. The following is from the circular issued in 1887: STATE OF NEW YORK: Depabtmbnt of Public Instruction, ) State Superintendent's Office, [■ Jfovember 1, 1887. ) Under the authority of chapter 567 of the Laws of 1875, which provides that State certificates may be granted by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, "only upon examination," and which authorizes the State Super- intendent to " appoint times and places for holding such examinations at least once in each year," I have directed that examinations of applicants for State certificates be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, August 20, 21, 22, 23 and 34, 1888. ********** The examinations will commence on Monday, August 30, at two o'clock P. M,, and be conducted by competent persons. At the conclusion of the examinations, all papers submitted will be for- warded to this Department. These papers will be carefully examined by members of the institute faculty, and such of the candidates as shall have given satisfactory evidence of their learning, ability, experience and good character, will receive certificates qualifying them for life to teach in any of the public schools of the State. In order to be admitted to the examinations, candidates must be present at the beginning of the examination, produce satisfactory testimonials of good character, and proof of at least two years' successful experience as teachers. Applicants must pass a thorough examination in the following-named branches: Teachers. 381 Algebra, Grammar and Analysis, Arithmetic, Physiology and Hygiene, History (American and General). Spelling, Geography, Writing. They will also be expected to have a general knowledge of Astronomy, Geology, Book-keeping, Geometry (Plane), Botany, Literature (General), Chemistry, Methods and School Economy, Civil Government and School Law, Physics, ' Composition and Rhetoric, Zodlogy. Drawing (linear and perspective). State certificates will be issued only to those whose examinations show a standing of at least seventy-five per cent, in each one of the thorough examina- tion branches, and an average standing of at least seventy-five per cent in the general knowledge branches, and who do not fall below fifty per cent in any one study in the latter class. All candidates who attain the required percentage in five or more of the des- ignated subjects, including spelling and writing, but not in all, will be cred- ited, at this Department, for those studies in which they shall have passed, and a partial certificate to this effect will be mailed to each candidate from the Department of Public Instruction. On passing the required percentage in the remaining designated subjects at any subsequent examination held not later than the second year thereafter, they will be entitled to receive a State certificate. This gives to candidates opportunity for three distinct yearly trials. Candidates who have already presented themselves at three previous successive examinations, and have not received a final certificate, and who have relied upon the construction of regulations heretofore published, as permitting four separate trials, will be allowed to take the examination for the present year. School commissioners are recommended to recognize "Partial Certificates" in all subjects in which candidates attain seventy -five per cent. The examinations will be open to candidates residing in any part of the State, and to such residents of other States as declare it to be their intention to teach in this State. It is the intention of this Department to make these examinations a thorough test of merit. No ' ' catch questions " will be introduced, but the examinations will be sufficiently rigid to prove the ability of the applicant, to the end that a State certificate, when granted to a successful candidate shall be the most signal honor that is bestowed upon the progressive teachers of the common- wealth. SPECIAL INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES. Candidates should aim to acquire not merely certain /acia, but the well-di- gested knowledge and the analytic power that will fit them to guide, criticise and instruct their pupils successfully. In the examination in any branch, subjects that are to be explained should be elucidated with the same clearness, system and thoro^ighness that a com- petent teacher would use in instructing a class. All work should be of a good quality, grammatically and rhetorically considered. The papers will be criti- cised as the work of teachers, — not as that of mere pupils. In accordance with these suggestions, twenty-five per cent of the credits of paper on compo- sition and rhetoric will depend upon the general excellence of all papers sub- mitted, with reference to neatness, order, punctuation, capitalization, etc. 382 Teachers. The scope of the examination will correspond to ordinary text-books. The following special suggestions are given to emphasize certain points, and, in 4ilgebra, to indicate the work required. In arithmetic, the candidate should be familiar with the analysis of problems and deduction of rules, particularly in the elementary operations, fractions both common and decimal, percentage and its applications, and mensuration famil- iarly treated, and should give strict attention to arithmetical tlieory as well as practice. The composition of problems to illustrate rules or principles may he required. In algebra, study carefully quadratic equations, radicals and radical equa- tions,- proportion, arithmetical and geometrical series, and the binomial the- orem, but not its general demonstration. Note specially the derivation of rides in elementary operations, fractions, transformation of equations; the laws of signs and of exponents; solutions of general equations; square and cube roots; the relations existing between the co-e£Bcients and the roots ot quadratic equations; in factoring, not only the simpler cases, but those in the following forms: 3 in g I a .g fa M Eh O g H U ►a " S o CO 2 H g go a & n o W o O Eh I « o ■ "S ■** «t-t CI .2 o r e s ■ S S • 9 ,d ^ ® " !« a -3 "3 -2 g ^ 03 n ■" o o S S Q H « M o , a d a cd o3 O 0) -8 =d -a ^ § a rd 5 g -a -d 1 § s ^ g S : : : : :S: CD >» I h H ' ■a ::::;„ • " ■ . . ■ a : "H '■ ■ ifr**!; S^o' :D5bS : :«tia :|q . -B a a a flt^ , »ragSi5l' pj I I i ^ •a 4 »"25oa£o : :2 ;» '"M fea-''f09g» Teachers. 389 3 r* c3 I'S ■Si ^3 t. u S Hi -S n © n o 02 M = : - sa I O a> laiislggsg^l f 9 I OS 13 S - ^ ^ 1 1 ■■e S 1 : <( Eh o I Eh 05 o2t Ht a ? ■Sif id !il es Sail Tie ®ii5.'riS Teachers. 391 Certificates when not granted under tlie uniform system of examinations must be in the form prescribed by order of the Department, January 16, 1880, which order has not yet been revoked. But in no event should any Commis- sioner issue a certificate, except upon an examination which should be con- ducted, at least in part, in writing and he should retain the answer papers subject to the order of the State Department. FORMS. I. Cektificate of the First Grade. To all to whom these presents shaM come : Be it knovyn, That I, School Commissioner for the District, in the County of having examined and hav- ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that .... is duly quali- fied, and that experience in and devotion to the profession entitle .... to the rank of a TEACHER OF THE FIRST GRADE, and ... is accordingly hereby licensed to teach any Common School in this District for three years from this date; but this Certificate shall not be valid, for more than one year after the expiration of my term of office. Given under my hand, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty- No ScJiool Gom/missioner. 11. Certificate of the Second Grade. To all to whom these presents shall come : Be it known, That I, School Commissioner for the District, in the County of having examined and hav- ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that is qualified and entitled to the rank of a TEACHER OF THE SECOND GRADE, and is accordingly licensed to teach Common Schools in any Town in this District for the term of one year from this date. Given under my hand, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty- No School Commissioner. III. Certificate op the Third Grade. (limited form.) To all to whom these presents shall come: Be it known, That I, School Commissioner for the District, in the County of having examined and hav- ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and ability to instruct a Common School, do h&r^ certify that .... is entitled to the rank of a TEACHER OF THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified to teach the School in District No , in the Town of , in this District, and not elsewhere, and .... is accordingly hereby licensed to teach the said School for the term of six months from this date. Given under my hand, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty- No School Commisdoner. 392 Teacheks. IV. Certificate of the Third Grade. (anotheb form.) To all to whom these presents sTiaZl come : Be it knovm, That I, School Commissioner for the District, in the County of having examined and }mv- ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and ability to instruct a common school, do hereby certify that is entitled to the rank of a TEACHER OP THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified to be a Teacher in the Primary Deparment in the Public Schools in this District (or City), and is accordingly hereby licensed to teach in that capacity for six mouths from this date. Given under mt hand, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty- No School Commissioner. Certificate of the Third Grade. (another form.) To all to whom these presents shall come : Be it knovm. That I, School Commissioner for the District, in the County of having examined and hav- ing ascertained .... qualifications in respect to moral character, learning and ability to instruct a Common School, do hereby certify that ... is entitled to the rank of a TEACHER OF THE THIRD GRADE, and is qualified for the place of Assistant in the School in the District, in the Town of and is accordingly hereby licensed to teach in said School in that capacity for six months from this date. Given under my hand, this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty- No School Commissioner. 6. To re-examine any teacher holding his or his predecessor's certificate, and if he find him deficient in learning or ability, to annul the certificate. A commissioner cannot annul a certificate at pleasure. It is a serious matter to take from a teacher his certificate, and while this power is placed with the com- missioner to annul a certificate for deficiency in learning and ability, the power can only be exercised after a re-examination. This re-examination must be conducted with a spirit of fairness. The department will closely scrutinize the act of a commissioner in annulling a certificate previously granted by him- self or by another commissioner. A teacher whose certificate has been an- nulled can appeal to the Superintendent. A commissioner may judge of the learning of a person by questions relat- ing to the studies to be taught in the district school. A searching examin- ation will expose ignorance and reveal deficiencies. But ability to teach may not be combined with learning, and upon this point the commissioner must make his observations in school, or obtain his information from others. A person may be unfit to teach from want of self-control. The first qualification of a good teacher is the ability to rule his own passions, and keep them under subjection. If complaints are made against any teacher of the exhibition by him of bad temper, of yielding to ungovernable passions, or of cruelty in the Teachers. 393 infliction of punishment, the commissioner should investigate the charges, and give the teacher an opportunity to refute or explain them. If they are sus- tained by sufficient proof, he should annul the certificate. Another deficiency may be in the ability to manage and govern a school. Without good government, which secures obedience, commands respect and preserves order, learning is of little avail. In a young teacher something may be forgiven on this score, for ability may be gained by experience. But teachers who, after years of experience, fail in government, should give up the profession. It is undoubtedly the right of the commissioner to examine a teacher in re- spect to his literary qualifications, and to be satisfied as to his intellectual and moral capacity to teach, by an inspection of his method of conducting school exercises. A very unfavorable impression might often be formed, and that justly, which the teacher could remove by showing facts not apparent upon the examination. 7. To examine any charge affecting the moral character of any teacher within his district, first giving such teacher reasonable notice of the charge, and an opportunity to defend himself there- from ; and if he find the charge sustained, to annul the teacher's certificate, by whomsoever granted, and to declare him unfit to teach ; and if the teacher held a certificate of the Superintendent, or a diploma of the State normal school, to notify the Superin- tendent forthwith of such annulment and declaration. This subdivision gives a commissioner the power to annul a teacher's cer- tificate upon finding that charges against a teacher's moral character are sus- tained. This is the only cause for which a commissioner can annul a certifi- cate given by a higher or other authority than himself. This action, however, is subject to review by the Superintendent, so that while a commissioner can annul a State certificate such annulment will be reversed unless it meets with the Superintendent's approval. The proceedings under this subdivision are first to furnish the commissioner with a written copy of the charges against the teacher. The charges must state the immoral act of the teacher and should be drawn with as much care and distinctness as an indictment. No general charge of immoral character will be sufficient to put a person upon the defen- sive. The law does not require that the charges shall be verified, but it is well for the commissioner to make such requirement. If the cliarges are of a character to warrant the commissioner in takeing further cognizance of them the teacher must be served with copies thereof. The commissioner should ascertain that there is probable cause for proceed- ing in substantially the same manner as a justice of the peace, to whom appli- cation is made for a criminal warrant. He may, for this purpose, administer oaths, examine the complainant and his witnesses orally, and reduce their testimony to writing. Ten days' notice is recognized by the department as due the teacher of the place and time for the examination of the charges. When the time for examination arrives, it is for the complainant first to ad- duce evidence in support of his charges. The accused is not bound to offer any testimony until something is proved against him by witnesses whom he has the opportunity to cross-examine. The preliminary complaint is only for the purpose of putting him upon trial, but is not evidence upon the trial, un- less for the purpose of discrediting the witnesses, by showing that they have testified differently as to the same transaction. The complainant cannot estab- 50 394 Teaohbks. lish his case by affidavits of persons wlio are not present and cannot be sub- jected to a cross-examination. As tbe commissioner is instructed in all cases and required in certain cases to report his action to the Superintendent, and as an appeal may be taken from his decision, he should take full minutes, as it is given, as nearly as possible in the language of the witnesses. It would be well, also, though not indispensable, that the testimony of each witness should be read over to and subscribed by him as soon as he has concluded. The statute contemplates a decision by the commissioner, and the testimony may be needed only in case an appeal is brought from the decision. The commissioner should draw three copies of his instrument annulling a certificate, one of which he should keep, and another serve upon the teacher, and the third send to the Superintendent. The trustees, also, should be noti- fied of the fact immediately, in order to save the district from the loss of the public money consequent upon the employment of a teacher without a license. FoHM OP Notice to Teacher. Take notice that the following charges, affecting the moral character of E. S., a teacher employed in district No. , of the town of , have been presented by James Jackson, of the town of , as a cause for annul- ling the certificate of said teacher, viz. : (Here recite the charges, in which the precise nature, time, place and circumstances of the ofEenses imputed to the teacher should be stated); and that I shall proceed to examine into the charges aforesaid, and to hear the defense of the said teacher at o'clock of the day of , at , in the town of C. O., School Commissioner , etc. CONTRACT WITH TEACHER. Title VII. § 49. It shall be tlie duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : *********** 9. To contract with and employ all teachers in the district school or schools, but no person who is within two degrees of re- lationship by blood or marriage to any such trustee shall be so employed, except with the approval of two-thirds of the voters of such district present, and voting upon the question, at an annual or special meeting of the district, nor shall any sole trustee of a district make any contract for the employment of a teacher in and for said school district beyond the close of the school term com- mencing next preceding the expiration of his term of office, ex- cept with the approval of a majority of the voters of such dis- trict present, and voting upon the question at an annual or special meeting of the district ; nor shall the trustees of any school dis- trict having three or more trustees make any contract for the Teachers. 395 employment of a teacher or teachers for more than one year in advance. Any person employed in disregard of the foregoing provisions shall have no claim for wages against the district, but may enforce the specific contract made against the trustee or trus- tees consenting to such employment as individuals. (As amended by sec. 9, chap. 647, Zoms of 1865, and by chap. 264, Zaws of 1879.) The trustees alone can make contracts with teachers for the district schools. The district meeting cannot control their action in the matter, although it may grant permission to hire in certain cases that are otherwise prohibited by the statute. A meeting has no power to direct the trustees to hire or discharge a certain teacher, to pay a certain salary or employ for a certain term. The suggestion or desire of a district meeting expressed by resolution upon this subject should, at least, always receive respectful consideration by the trustees. They would act most unwisely in disregarding the district's prefer- ences and wishes when reasonable and just. The word " teachers," used in this sub-division of section 49, means quali- fied teachers. A trustee has no power to employ a person to teach in the public schools who does not possess a regular and valid certificate of qualifi. cation. A contract made With a person not so qualified would not be binding upon the district. A practice has prevailed to a very considerable extent of trustees engaging with the teacher that he shall board with the parents of the children alter- nately. There is no authority for such a contract, and it cannot be enforced on the inhabitants. This compulsory boarding gives occasion to constant altercation and complaint, which often terminates in breaking up the school. The best arrangement is to give the teacher a specific sum as wages and let him board himself. If, however, some persons are willing to board a teacher gratuitously, and thereby save the district from taxation, there can be no objection. The statute places certain limitations upon the trustees' power to hire teach- ers without the consent of a district meeting. Any person employed in disre- gard of such limitations shall have no claim for wages against the district, but may enforce the specific contract made against the trustee or trustees con- senting to such employment as individuals. These limitations are as follows: 1. But no person who is within two degrees of relationship by blood or marriage to any such trustee shall he so envployed, except with the approval of two-thirds of the voters of such district present and voting upon the question at an annual or fecial meeting of the district. If there is more than one trustee, a person cannot be employed who is related to any one of them within two degrees by blood or marriage. Relationship by Blood. Consanguinity is the relationship subsisting among all the different persons descending from the same stock, or common ancestor. This relation by blood is of two kinds, lineal and collateral. Lineal relationship. — Lineal consanguinity, as defined in Bouvier's Law Dictionary, "is that relation which exists among persons, where one is de- scended from the other, as between the son and father, or the grandfather, and so upwards in a direct ascending line; and between the father and the son, or the grandson, and so downwards in a direct descending line. Every genera- tion in this direct course makes a degree, computing either in the ascending 396 Teachebs. or descending line. This being the natural mode of computing the degrees of lineal consanguinity, it has been adopted by the civil, the canon, and the com- mon law." Collateral relationship. — Collateral consanguinity is the relationship sub- sisting among persons who descended from the same common ancestor, but not from each other. It is essential to constitute this relation, that they spring from the same common root or stock, but in different branches. In computing the degrees of collateral consanguinity, the civil law is gen- erally followed in this country, and the mode (as laid down in IV Kent's Com- mentaries, page 413,) is to commence with the person to whom the relation, ship is the subject of inquiry, and under this section of the school law with the trustee, and ascend from him to a common ancestor and descend from that ancestor to the collateral relative in question, reckoning a degree for each step or person, as well in the ascending as descending line. According to this rule, to ascertain in what degree the brother or nephew of the trustee is to him, commence with the trustee and count up to the common ancestor, which is the trustee's father, then down to the brother. From trustee to father is one step, then down from father to son, or trustee's brother, is another or second step, to nephew is still another or third step. Therefore, the trus- tee's brother is related to him In the second degree and his nephew in the third degree. By the same computation the trustee's grandfather stands in the second degree, the uncle in the third, the cousin in the fourth and so on in a series of genealogical order. The following table gives all the blood relatives of the trustee related to him in the first and second degrees. All other blood relatives of the trustee not named in this table are more remote than two degrees of relationship, and, therefore, their employment by him is not prohibited by the statute: Teachers. 2d Degree Ascending. 397 GRANDFATHER. GRANDMOTHER. 1st Degree Ascending, FATHER. MOTHER. BROTHER. ad Degree. TRUSTEE. xst Degree Descending. SISTER. 2d Degree. SON. DAUGHTER. 3d Degree Descending, GRANDSON. GRANDDAUGHTER. 398 Teachbks. Relationship by Mabriagb. No person who is related to the trustees within two degrees by marriage, or in other words by affinity, can be employed as teacher. "Affinity properly means the tie which arises, from marriage, betwixt the husband and the blood relatives of the wife, and between the wife and the blood relatives of the husband. Consequently while the marriage tie remains unbroken, the blood relatives of the wife stand in the same degree of affinity to the husband as they do in consanguinity to her. Thus the father of the wife stands in the first degree of affinity to his son-in-law, as he does in the first degree of consanguinity to his daughter. Relationship by affinity may also exist between the husband and one who is connected by marriage with a blood relative of the wife. Thus where two men marry sisters, they become related to each other in the second degree of affinity, as their wives are related in the second degree of consanguinity." (3 Ba/rb. Gh. B. 331.) The persons related to the trustee in the first and second degrees by marriage with the trustee's blood relatives are as follows: \st Degree. Trustee's son's wife. Trustee's daughter's husband.' Trustee's father's wife. Trustee's mother's husband. 2d Degree. Trustee's grandson's wife. Trustee's granddaughter's husband. Trustee's brother's wife. Trustee's sister's husband. Trustee's grandfather's wife. Trustee's grandmother's husband. Following the foregoing decision of the court of chancery, the Department holds that the relatives of the trustee's wife are in the same degree of relation- ship, by marriage, to him, as they are by either blood or marriage to her. The following list contains all the relatives of the trustee's wife who are related to him by marriage within the first and second degrees : \st Degree. Trustee's wife's father. Trustee's wife's father's wife. Trustee's wife's mother. Trustee's wife's mother's husband. Trustee's wife's son. Trustee's wife's son's wife. Trustee's wife's daughter. Trustee's wife's daughter's husband. 2d Degree. Trustee's wife's brother. Trustee's wife's brother's wife. Trustee's wife's sister. Trustee's wife's sister's husband. Trustee's wife's grandfather. Trustee's wife's grandfather's wife. Trustee's wife's grandmother. Trustee's wife's grandmother's husband. Trustee's wife's grandson. Trustee's wife's grandson's wife. Trustee's wife's granddaughter. Trustee's wife's granddaughter's husband. The relatives of the trustee's wife are not related to the trustee after the death of his wife, unless issue of the marriage survive her. This prohibition may be waived by the district. If, for reasons satisfactory to the inhabitants, they are willing that the trustees may employ a person within the prohibited degree of relationship they may, by a vote of two-thirds of the voters present and voting at the meeting, approve of such hiring. There may often be excellent reasons found, in the superior qualifications of some persons, why the trustee should be released from the obligation of this law. The ruling of the Department is, also, that this waiver may be made after as well as before the term of employment. But it must be in the way directed by the statute i e., at & meeting of the inhabitants of the district. This consent cannot be given individually, and although every inhabitant of the district might sign his consent to a paper circulated in the district it would not meet the requirements of the statutes and would not make such hiring legal and binding upon the district. Teachers. 399 3. Nor shall any sole trustee of a district make any contract for the employment of a teacher m and for said school district beyond the dose of the school term commencing next preceding the expiration of his term of office, except with the approval of a majority of the voters of such district present, and voting upon the question at an annual or special meeting of the district. The sole trustee's term of office is one year and expires at the annual meeting. Were it not for this provision a retiring trustee could virtually prevent his successor from having any voice in the selection of teachers during his whole term of office. But such action is forbidden. Each sole trustee selects the teachers to conduct the school during his term. This is the most important power and duty. It fre- quently happens that a term of school is in progress at the time of the annual meeting. It is against good policy to interrupt a school well organized at such a time, change teachers and virtually commence the term over. Every teacher has a method of his own of imparting instruction; the pupils must become acquainted with the teacher's instruction before good results will be produced. For these reasons a sole trustee can hire a teacher for a term of school extending beyond the annual meeting. The Superintendent has fixed the length of such term at eighteen weeks. This term must com- mence before the trustee's term of office expires and cannot consist of more than eighteen weeks, not eighteen weeks after the annual meeting, but eight- teen weeks from the commencement to end of term. This limitation of the trustee's power can be waived by a district meeting. Or, in other words, the meeting can authorize a sole trustee to employ a cer- tain teacher for a longer time than the term of eighteen weeks extending beyond his term of office. This is a power rarely exercised, and when it is the resolution should be recorded in "full in the clerk's book of minutes, for the new trustee is almost certain to question and dispute the act which has taken from him the privilege to select his own teachers. 3. Nor shaU the trustee of any school district homing three or more trustees, make any contract for the employment of a teacher or teachers, for more than one year in advance. Joint trustees can employ for one year from the date of the contract but not for a longer time. Chaptbe 335, Laws op 1887. (Passed, May 16, 1887.) Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, all oflScers or boards of officers who shall employ any teacher to teach in any of the public schools of this State shall, at the time of such em- ployment, make and deliver to such teacher, or cause to be made, and delivered, a memorandum in writing, signed by said officer, or by the members of said board, or by some person duly author- ized by said board, to represent them in the premises, in which the details of the agreement between the parties, and particu- larly the length of the term of employment, the amount of com- pensation and the time or times when such compensation shall be due and payable, shall be clearly and definitely set forth. But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to abridge or other- wise affect the term of employment of any teacher now or here- after employed in the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any 400 Teachbes. provision of special laws concerning the employment or removal of teachers now in force in any particular locality. § 2. The pay of any teacher employed in the public schools of this State shall be due and payable at least as often as at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. A fruitful source of litigation and appeal to the Superintendent has for many years been the omission of trustees and teachers to malte a written con- tract. This chapter -will stop that trouble. It directs that trustees ghall make and deliver to teachers at the time of hiring a memorandum in writing stating the details of the agreement, and the Department has placed the fol- lowing blank form in the register for use by the trustees. MemorancCum of Hiring. Eequired by Chapter 335, Laws of 1887. This is to certify that have this day engaged (a duly licensed teacher) to teach the school of District No. town of county of for the term of commencing at a compensation of dollars, payable Dated 188 . > n-uatees. TEACHERS' WAGES. Under the second section of this chapter (885, Laws 1887) teachers' wages are due and payable as often as at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. Trustees and boards of education can pay teachers oftener than once each month, but cannot malie a contract with them by which their wages will not be due at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. The law fixes the time at which their wages are due, and trustees and teach- ers cannot, by agreement, waive this provision or change the law. It is one of the duties of trustees to prepare for such payments. Calculations must be made, and where the public money will not be sufficient the district meeting should vote a tax as a fund for this purpose; otherwise, the trustees would be put to the inconvenience and trouble of issuing a tax list every month. Every teacher should be paid promptly. All that the trustees can lawfully require is a fulfillment of his contract, which includes the duty of keeping the teacher's register, and list of daily attendance. When he has placed them, duly verified, in the hands of the clerk of the district, he can demand an order for his wages. The wages of p. teacher include the whole compensation allowed him for board, lodging, or any other object. In drawing an order any sum allowed for board, etc., should be denominated wages. The order can be drawn only in favor of the teacher. If he desires to apply the proceeds to the payment of a private debt, for board or other consideration, he can indorse it to his creditor, but it is for him and not for the trustees to distribute his wages. Title VII. § 42. No part of the school moneys apportioned to a district can be applied or permitted to be applied to the payment of the wages of an unqualified teacher nor can his wages, or any part of them, be collected by a district tax. {As amended hy sec. 12, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) Teachers. 401 , If an unqualified teacher be employed, the school kept will be a private, «nd not a public school, and the teacher's claim for compensation will depend upon his contract with his employers. If the trustees agree to pay him, they will be responsible as private persons, and not as oiHcers of the district. If the trustees draw any order upon the supervisor, or on the collector of the district, for such money, in favor of an unqualified teacher, they incur the penalty provided in the next section. Supervisors must not pay an order for teachers' wages unless it appears upon the face of the order that the teacher is a qualified teacher. The amendment of 1880 to section 10, title III, being a later law than the above section (42), changes its provision so as to permit the use of the public money apportioned a district, to be paid in satisfaction of teachers' wages earned by a teacher not duly qualified. 'The amendment is as follows: And the su- perintendent may, in his discretion, upon the recommendation of the school commiasioner having jurisdiction over the district in default, direct that the money so equitably apportioned shall be paid in satisfaction of teachers' wages earned by a teacher not qualified in accordance with the provisions of the law as hereinafter set forth. (See State School Moneys.) § 43. Any trustee wko applies, or directs, or consents to the application of any such money to the payment of an unqualified teacher's wages, thereby commits a misdemeanor ; and any fine imposed upon him therefor shall be for the benefit of the com- mon schools of the county. § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : *********** 10. To pay toward tlie wages of such teachers as are qualified, the public moneys apportioned to the district and legally appli- cable thereto, by giving them orders on the supervisor therefor, and to collect as herein provided, the residue of such wages by district tax. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) Form op Okder. To J. D., supervisor of the town of Pay to A. B. , or order, dollars cents, on account of wages earned by him as a duly qualified teacher in district No. , in said town, between the day of and the day of . 18 . Dated 18 . r T\' I Trustees Q '^' i Diet. JSfo. 11. To divide such public moneys apportioned to the district, whenever authorized by a vote of their district, into two or more portions for each year ; to assign and apply one of such portions to each term during which a school shall be kept in such district, for the payment of teachers' wages during such term ; and to ' 51 402 Tbachees. collect the residue of such wages not paid by the proportion of public money allotted for that purpose, by district tax as hereia provided. {As amended by sec. 13, chap. 406, Zaws of 1867.) The first part of this subdivision, while it stands as the law, is certainly im- practicable in the great majority of school districts. The public money should be used by the trustees for the payment of teachers' wages as long as it lasts, and before the funds collected by tax are drawn upon. The public moneys payable on the order of the trustees are the moneys in. the hands of the supervisor, apportioned from the State treasury, and the in- come of town or local funds, and the income of- district funds, if there be any. 12. If the library money apportioned to the district be less than three dollars, to apply it to the payment of teachers' wages. 13. To draw upon the supervisor for the school and library moneys, in the manner and form prescribed by subdivisions one and two of section six of title four of this act. 14. After having paid toward the wages of such teachers as are qualified, the public moneys of the district legally applicable thereto, by giving them orders on the supervisor therefor, to col- lect the residue of such wages by a district tax, or, if the same shall have been already collected, to give such teacher an order on the district collector for the balance of his or her wages still re- maining unpaid. [As amended hy sec. 13, cAop. 406, Laws of 1867.) This subdivision (14) places it in the power of trustees to promptly collect by tax, all moneys required for teachers' wages. At any time wages are due and there are no funds applicable to the payment thereof on hand, the trustees can issue their tax list therefor. It is their duty so to do. On account of the enactment of chapter 335, Laws of 1887, making the wages of all teachers due as often as at the end of every calendar month of the term of employment, the annual meeting should authorize, on an estimate furnished by the trustees, the raising by tax of a sufficient sum to meet this expense. Provision must be made that a fund for this purpose is always on hand. This power is given the district meeting in the following section: § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ********* 16. To vote a tax to pay whatever deficiency there may be in teachers' wages after the public money apportioned to the district shall have been applied thereto ; but if the inhabitants shall nag- Tbachees. 403 lect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they shall vote a tax which shall prove insufficient to cover such deficiency, then the trustees are authorized, and it is hereby made their duty, to raise by district tax, any reasonable sum that may be necessary to pay the balance of teachers' wages remaining unpaid, the same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the inhabitants. {This subdivision added hy sec. 8, chap. 406, Zaws of 1S67.) A district meeting can order the raising by tax of suflScient money to pay the wages of teachers before such wages are earned, and so as to have a fund on hand. But the trustees can issue their tax list for such wages only after the wages are earned and payable. This is the distinction between the power of the district meeting and that of the trustees. PAYMENT OP JUDGMENT FOR TEACHERS' WAGES. 17. To vote a tax to pay and satisfy of record any judgment. or judgments of a competent court which may have been or shall hereafter be obtained in an action against the trustees of the dis- trict for unpaid teachers' wages, against the trustees of the district where the time to appeal from said judgment or judgments shall have lapsed, or there shall be no intent to appeal on the part of such district, or the said judgment or judgments is or are or shall be of the court of highest resort ; but if the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they vote a tax which shall prove insufficient to fully satisfy said judgment or judgments, then the trustees are authorized and it is hereby- made their duty to raise by district tax the amount of said judg- ment or judgments or the deficiency which may exist in any tax voted by said inhabitants to pay said judgment or judgments, the same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the inhab- itants, and the trustees are hereby authorized and it is hereby made their duty forthwith, after the expiration of thirty days from notice of any judgment or judgments having been entered against the district or the trustees thereof for unpaid teachers' wages, to call a meeting of the inhabitants of said district, who shall have power as aforesaid to vote a tax to pay said judgment or judgments, and in case they refuse or neglect to do so, the trustees are authorized and it is hereby made their duty, unless said judgment or judgments are appealed from, to raise by dis- 404 Teachers. trict tax the amount of said judgment or judgments as herein- before provided. {This subdivision added hy sec. 1, chap. 632, Zawso/" 1881.) TEACHER TO KEEP SCHOOL LISTS. § 53. * * * * In the other, the teachers shall enter the names of the pupils attending school, their ages, the names of the persons who send them, and the number of days each pupil attends ; and also the facts and the dates of each inspection of the school by the school commissioner or other official visitor, and any other facts and in such form as the Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction shall require; and each^ teacher shall, by his oath or affirmation, verify his entries in such book, and the entries shall constitute the school lists from which the average daily attendance shall be determined ; and snch oath or affirmation may be taken by the district clerk, but without charge. Until the teacher shall have so made and verified such entries, the trustees shall not draw on the supervisor for any portion of his wages. {As amended hy sec. 15, cha^. 406, Laws of 1867.) The teacher's list, to be kept in the second book named, is the basis upon which the attendance of pupils is ascertained for the purpose of apportioning the public money therefor. Registers for the use of teachers are now prepared in the o£Sce of the Depart- ment, printed and forwarded to the trustees in time for use in all the schools. All needful explanations and directions for the instruction and guidance of teachers and trustees will be found on the cover of the registers. Unless the register is correctly and faithfully kept, and verified as pre- scribed in this section the teacher is not entitled to his wages. Such oath or affirmation can, and must, be made every time the trustee gives the teacher an order for wages. FoKM OF Affidavit. Town of ) County of f **■ being duly sworn, deposes and says that the within register of attendance of pupils in district No. , Town of , from the day of , 18 , to the day of , 18 , is correct to the best of h knowledge and that he has fully and truly made, in the " statement " on the last preceding page, all the entries called for by the head- ings of the respective columns. Subscribed and sworn before me, this day of , 18 . This aflldavit, or affirmation, may be certified by a justice of the peace or commissioner of deeds, judge of any court of record, county clerk or school commissioner or district clerk to have.been taien before him. Teachees. 405 DECISIONS OF THE COURTS. Annulling teacher's certificate. — Under tlie Laws of 1847, 690, section 37, the town superintendent cannot annul a teacher's certificate of competency, ex cept on ten days' notice, to the teacher and trustees of the district, of a hearing on the question. Notice of an intention to annul it is not annulment. The order must be in writing. (Sapreme Court, 1851, Mnch v. Gleveland, 10 Barb. 290.) The city superintendent of common schools for the city and county of New York has power to annul a certificate granted to a teacher. (Supreme Court, 1853, People, ex rel. Melver, v. Board of Education, 17 Barb. 299.) Dismissal. — That the trustees cannot dismiss a teacher without cause and against his consent, before the expiration of his contract. (Mnch v. Cleveland, 10 Barb. 390.) Examination. — The town superintendent refused to examine a candidate as to her learning and ability, for the reason that he was satisfied her moral character was not good. The applicant appealed to the State Superintend- ent, who examined as to her moral character and decided that there was no o,bjection to her on that score, and directed the town superintendent to examine her. The town superintendent examined her as to learning and ability, and offered her a certificate as to her qualifications on those points. Held, that it was all he could be required to do. By the appeal the ques- tion of moral character was disposed of, and the State Superintendent's decision on that question, together with the town superintendent's certificate of learning and ability, would entitle the applicant to teach. (Supreme Court, 1855, People, ex rel. Owen, v. Masters, 21 Barb. 253.) When a school teacher appealed to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, from a decision of school trustees refusing to pay his salary, and on such' ap- peal the trustees submitted to the jurisdiction and hearing before the Superin- tendent, the trustees waived their right to have the case tried by a jury, and that determination is final. A refusal to pay a teacher's wages is a decision, within the statute allowing appeal to Superintendent of Public Instruction; and a person who has taught for only a portion of the time for which he was engaged, is a teacher within the statute. (Gale v. Eckler, 19 Eun, 609.) Where one acting as de facto trustee of a school district employs a qualified person to act as teacher, and agrees to pay for her services a sum equal to the teacher's board and lodging and |1. 75 per week, and such person acts as such teacher and renders the services required by the contract, and the validity of the trustee's action is recognized by the inhabitants of the district, the validity of his election cannot be challenged, and his authority to make the contract denied, in an action brought against his successor to recover the price agreed to be paid for the services actually rendered. (Be Wolf v. Watterson. 35 Hun, CROSS REFERENCES. For teachers' duties regarding teachers' institutes, and their wages for time spent thereat. (See Teachers' Institutes.) For teachers' duties concerning libraries. (See Librarian and Libraries.) Teachers' classes, — their organization and instruction in academies and Union Free Schools. (See Union Free Schools.) TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. Title XI. Section 1. It shall be the duty of every school commissioner, at least once in each year, to organize in his own district, or, iu concert with one or more commissioners in the same county, to organize in and for the combined districts, a teachers' institute, and to induce, if possible, all the teachers in his district to be present and take part in its exercises. § 2. The commissioner or commissioners, subject always to the advice and direction of the superintendent of public instruction, shall, in such form and manner as may be deemed most effectual, give pubhc notice to the teachers of the district, or combined dis- tricts, and to all others who may desire to become such, of the time when and the place where the institute will be organized. § 3. The superintendent of public instruction shall advise and co-operate with the school commissioners in fixing the times and places of holding the teachers' institute; and he shall have power to employ, or caxise the school commissioners to employ, suitable persons, at a reasonable compensation, to conduct and teach the institutes ; and he shall visit, or cause to be visited by persons em- ployed in the department of public instruction, such and so many of the institutes as he possibly can, for the purpose of examining into the course and manner of instruction pursued, and of render- ing such assistance as he may find expedient ; and he shall establish the basis upon which the yearly appropriation for the support of teachers' institutes shall be distributed to the several institutes, and the term or terms during which the same may be held, having ref- erence, in the establishment of such regulations, to the numbef of teachers in the county, district or combined districts, and in TBACHEEb' Institutes. 407 -attendance at the institute, to the length of time during which they shall be held, to the facilities for attendance upon them, and to local disadvantages requiring especial consideration. § 4. The superintendent of public instruction may establish such regulations in regard to certificates of qualification or recom- mendation, which may be issued by school commissioners, as will in his judgment furnish incentives and encouragement to teachers to attend the institutes ; and the closing of his school by a teacher for the time during which an institute shall be held in and for the county or school commissioner district in which his school is, and which institute he shall have attended during the time for which he closed his school, shall not work a forfeiture of the con- tract under which he is teaching. [As amended by sec. 9, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) § 5. The trustees of every school district are hereby directed to give the teacher or teachers employed by them the whole of the time spent by snch teacher or teachers in attending at any regular session or sessions, of an institute in a county embracing the school district, or a part thereof, without deducting any thing from his or their wages for the time so spent, and in order to secure' to teachers the full exercise of this privilege, after the twentieth day of A^ugust, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, all schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included within the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed dur- ing the time a teachers' institute shall be in session in the same county in which such schools are situated, and, in the appor- tionment of pubhc school money, the schools thus closing in any school term shall be allowed the same average pupil attend- ance during such time, as was the average during tliat part of the term when the school was not thus closed, and any school con- tinuing its sessions in violation of the above provision shall not be allowed any public money based upon average pupil attendance during the days the school was thus kept in session. Trustees and boards of education in such school districts and parts of school districts shall report, in their annual reports to the school com- missioners, the number of days and the dates thereof on which a teachers' institute was held in their counties during the school year, and whether schools under their charge were or were not 408 Teachers' Institutes. closed during 'Such days ; and whenever the trustees' report shows that a district school has been supported for the full time required by law, including the time spent by the teacher or teachers in their employ in attendance upon such institute, and that the trus- tees have given the teacher or teachers the time of such absence, and have not deducted any thing from his or their wages on account thereof, the superintendent of public instruction may include the district in his apportionment of the State school moneys, and direct that it be included by the school commissioner or commissioners in their apportionment of school moneys ; pro- vided, always, that such school district be in all other respects entitled to be included in such apportionment. {As amended hy sec. 23, cha^. 406, Laws of 1867, amd hy sec. 10, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) § 6. The treasurer shall pay, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of any one or more of the school commissioners, such sum or sums of money as the superintendent of public instruc- tion shall certify to be due to them' for expenses in holding a teachers' institute ; and, upon the like warrant and certificate, to the order of any persons employed by the Superintendent to con- duct and teach any teachers' institute, his reasonable compensa- tion as certified by the superintendent. § 7. The school commissioner or commissioners by whom any teachers' institute shall be organized, shall transmit to the super- intendent of public instruction a catalogue of the names of all persons who shall have attended such institute, with such other statistical information, in such form and within such time as may be prescribed by said superintendent. The subject of teachers' institutes, as a factor in the common school system of the State, was first brought forward at the Tompkins County Teachers' Association in October, 1842. The proposition was so favorably received, that in the following April the first teachers' institute was held at Ithaca for a period of two weeks with an attendance of twenty-eight teachers. It was purely a local institution, receiving no aid from the State, organized and con- ducted by the county superintendent with assistants procured by him. Its success, as a means of instructing the teachers of the county in the best modes of teaching. Including a critical analysis and review of the various elementary and some of the higher branches of education, brought about in less than one year the adoption of the same plan in several of the other counties. It was not until 1847 that any aid was given the institutes from the State. The legis- lature of that year appropriated the sum of sixty dollars from the income of the United States deposit fund to the aid and benefit of each institute. Teachbks' Institutes. 40& The institute Is now a permanent part of the educational machinery of the State, and is under the immediate control and supervision of the Superintend- ent of Public Instruction. For several years the annual appropriation for carrying out the provisions of this title has been $18,000. A regular corps of instructors is appointed by the Superintendent, and one or two are assigned to conduct each institute. The other expenses are paid out of the appropriation upon the certificate of the Superintendent. The attendance of teachers in large counties, or in counties comprising two or more commissioner districts, has become so great as to render it impracticable to give them the instruction or attention desirable. For this reason Superintend- ent Draper, in 1886, directed that thereafter institutes should be held for each commissioner district. The important provisions of this title are contained in section 5, and are divided as follows: 1. The trustees of every school district a/re hereby directed to give the teacher or teachers employed by them the whole of the time spent by such teacher or teachers in attending at any regular session or sessions of an institute in a eowity embracing the school district, or a part thereof, mithout deducting any thing from his or their wages for the time so spent. The institute is for the direct benefit of teachers. Their interest is guarded so that as little hardship as possible shall arise from their attendance. The above provision throws about them the protection from a loss of salary. Their wages shall be paid them for the time they attend an institute held in their county during a term of school. No subterfuge can be successfully resorted to by trustees that will excuse or relieve them from paying the teachers for such time. The teacher must, however, be in actual attendance at the institute. An attendance of one or two days will not be an attendance for the week. Trustees have been known to secure from the teacher a prom • ise to teach an extra week to make up for the time the school was closed during the institute. When an extra week is taught in pursuance of such an agreement, the teacher will be entitled to pay for both the institute week and the extra week. 2. All schools in school districts and parts of school districts, not included within the boundaries of an incorporated city, shall be closed during the time a teachers' institute shaM be in session in the sa/me county in which such schools are situated. This part of the section is mandatory. Trustees are the oflBcers directly charged with the duty of hiring teachers and managing the school. The power to provide for, organize and continue the school in session is given them by statute. This section tahes from them that power during the time a teachers' institute shall be in session in their school commissioner district. They must obey the law which says the schools "shall be closed." The law does not give trustees the choice between closing the school or forfeiting a part of the public money. If the school is continued in session during the institute week, it is not a public school, but a private one, and the expense therefor cannot be paid out of the public moneys, or from funds raised by tax upon the district. The teachers will have to look to the trustees personally for their wages. For a violation of this law the penalty of a loss of a part of the public money affects the inhabitants of the district, while the trustees subject themselves to pen- alties as follows : First. Removal from oflice by the superintendent, under section 18, title 1, of this act. "Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school com- missioner or other school officer has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act * * * the superintendent may by an order under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school commissioner or other school officer from his office." No more fia- grant "violation or neglect of duty" is possible than for trustees to refuse to close the schools as directed in this section. 52 410 Teaohbhs' Institutes. Second. It the scliool is continued in session a loss of public money to the district will result. Section 1, title XIII, of this act provides that whenever a district shall suffer a loss in any part of the public money in consequence of any willful neglect of official duty by any school officer, the officer or officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the school district so losing the same the full amount of such loss with interest thereon. Third. It is a misdemeanor, under section 155 of the Penal Code, for trus- tees to continue the school in session when the law says it "shall be closed." 3. In the apporCionment of public school moneys, the schools thus closing in any school term shall be allowed the same average pupil attendance dv/ring such time, as was the a/oerage during that pa/rt of the term when the school was not thus closed, and any school continuing its sessions in violation of the aibove pro- msion shall not be allowed any public money based upon a/oerage pupil attendance during the days the school was thus kept in session. The method of computing the average attendance for Institute week is fully explained in the chapter on Reports under item 10. In 1889 the manner of apportionment by the school commissioners will be upon the aggregate attendance instead of the average. The loss of this one week of school by each district in the State will operate equally in the distri- bution of the public money. A district violating the statute by continuing the school in session, cannot be allowed any aggregate attendance for that week. RULES AND REGULATIONS. The Department issued the following instructions, rules and regulations concerning institutes, December 1, 1887 : 1. The Department of Public Instruction will be represented in every institute by the principal conductor, who shall have full control of the pro- ceedings of the institute. 3. On receiving official notice from this Department of the appointment of an institute for your district, send notices of the same printed on postal cards, to all your teachers, and to all the newspapers printed in the district as items of news. Immediately correspond with the principal conductor, and with him a.rrange the programme of exercises for the week. 3. Invite some of your most advanced and experienced teachers to present exercises. On application to this Department, assistance may usually be ob- tained for a day or two from one of the Normal Schools. The Superintendent will not, under any circumstances, be bound by contracts made by commission- ers with instructors and lecturers. 4. Secure ample accommodations for the sessions of the institute, using a school-house in preference to any other building, when a suitable one can be obtained. It is believed that the use of a school-house, court-house, or other public building, can be readily obtained in every county for the purposes of an institute, and in view of the local benefits thereby conferred, without charge to the State. 5. When the estimated expenses of an institute, including newspaper ad- vertising, exceed $25, a detailed statement must be submitted to this Depart- ment for approval before the arrangements are completed. In every case where persons are employed, or any expenses are incurred, commissioners should make, in advance, a definite and positive contract, that they may not become personally liable for the payment of charges so unreasonable and exorbitant that the Superintendent cannot pay them. 6. Arrange for board of teachers, through a local committee or personally, on the most favorable terms obtainable ; but make no arrangements for a .shorter time than the entire session. 7. When possible, secure from railroad companies and stage lines reduced rates of fare for members of the institute. Teachees' Institutes. 411 8. As soon as practicable, issue your programme of exercises, and send one copy to each teacher employed in your district ; also send ten copies to this Department, two to each member of the institute faculty, and one to each school commissioner in the State. 9. Provide blackboards, crayons, erasers, pointers, a piano-forte or organ, and such other appliances as may be necessary, and have them in place, ready for use, before the opening of the institute.* 10. Employ a janitor for the entire session, and require him to devote his ■whole time to his work. 11. Do not omit evening sessions to favor any other object or interest. 13. Do not allow any admission fee to be charged to any exercise or session of the institute. Do not allow itinerant lecturers or readers to find their way into the programme. Take a decided stand against suppers, or festivals, or entertainments of any kind gotten up in the neighborhood for gam during institute week. 13. Do not hold examinations of candidates for commissioners' certificates at any time during, or in connection with the session of the institute. 14. During the sessions of the in.stitute, be particular to insure good order in the room and about the premises. 15. Make all necessary arrangements for the evening exercises and assume charge and direction of the same. Evening addresses will be delivered by the conductor, a principal of a Normal school, or other persons prominent in educational work. At times it may be well to invite some prominent person in the locality to occupy an evening. It is entirely appropriate that teachers' associations should occupy some of the evenings of the week, in such way as they may think best ; but care should be taken that the time is occupied by addresses upon educational subjects, or by exercises which promote the primary purposes of the institute. You will have charge of the records and secretaries' minutes, not allowing these matters to interfere with the regular exercises of the institute. 16. You will register members on Monday from 10:30 A. M., till noon ; from 1 to 2 o'clock, P. M. , and at the recesses. No person is to be registered after Monday, without the approval of the conductor. All teachers and persons over sixteen years old, who intend to teach within a year, and no others, may register as members of the institute. 17. The regular work of instruction shall begin at 8 p. M., on Monday, and •end with the close of the Friday afternoon session. * Memorandum books, lead pencils, and printed music for all the members of the institute, will be supplied through the conductor. TOWN CLERK. Title Y. Sbctiok 1. It shall be the duty of the town clerk of each town : 1. Carefully to keep all books, maps, papers, and records of his office touching common schools, and forthwith to report to the supervisor any loss of or injury to any of them which may happen. The duties imposed upon town clerks are important, and upon tteir proper performance depends, in a great degree, the efficiency of the school system. The maps, papers, books and records relating to schools and the school dis- tricts should be carefully kept and preserved; and, in order to do this, all papers should be properly folded and tied in convenient packages. When any paper is received which is by law required to be recorded in a book, the re- cording should not be postponed, but should be done immediately, and the paper indorsed, filed and laid away safely in its proper place. He is required to report to the supervisor any loss or injury of the papers and records in his charge, in order that losses may be replaced and injuries repaired. 2. To receive from the supervisor the certificates of apportion- ment of school moneys to the town, and to record them in a book to be kept for that purpose. {See State School Moneys.) 3. Forthwith to notify the trustees of the several school districts and separate neighborhoods of the filing of each such certificate. It will be seen, from the two preceding subdivisions and the following subdi- vision 4, that the duties of town clerks are not only to receive, file and record maps and documents sent them, but that they are required to see that certain school officers perform their part in the administration of the school laws. The apportionment of the public moneys by the school commissioner is made on the third Tuesday of March in each year, and a certificate thereof sent to the super- visor of each town who is required to file the same with the town clerk. The clerk must record the certificate and notify the trustees of each school district In his town of the filing of such certificate. Trustees should know, as soon as pos- sible, ihe amount of moneys their districts are to receive, and this duty should be promptly attended to by the town clerk. The record must be open to in- spection, so that not only trustees but inhabitants may know the exact amount of public money received by the district. 4. To see that the trustees of the school districts and separate Town Clerk. 413 neighborhoods make and deposit with him their annual reports within the time prescribed by law, and to deliver them to the school commissioner on demand and to furnish the school com- missioner of the school commissioner district in which his town is situated the names and post-office address of the school district officers reported to him by the district clerks. {As amended by sec. 5, chap. 64:7, Zaws of 1865.) Section 60 of title VII requires the trustees to deposit their annual reports with the town clerk between the twentieth day of August and the third Tues- day of August in each year. If this is not done, the town clerk should, by letter, admonish the trustees of their duty, and obtain from them the reports without delay. The attention of town clerks is particularly called to the importance of collecting and correcting the reports of trustees within the time limited by the law. It will be remembered that from these reports the school commis- sioner must,'wlthout delay, make his own report to the Superintendent. From the reports of the commissioners, the Superintendent must collate, arrange and digest all the facts, and present the results to the Governor at a day so early that he may be able to weigh them carefully and incorporate a statement thereof, with such recommendations as he may deem proper, In his annual message to the legislature. The Superintendent must also have ample time to prepare his own report to the legislature, with all the accompanying tables, and carefully to prepare the items upon which he must make the annual ap- portionment of school moneys. The town clerk should examine every report as soon as it comes into his hands, and, if possible, in the presence of the trustee delivering it, in order that any mistakes may be detected and corrected at once, or that the trustee may retain it for correction. If, however, necessity requires the report to be returned to the trustees, all mistakes and errors should be pointed out, and particular instructions given as to the manner of correcting each, and a day should be set for the return of the report to the town clerk. The town clerk should obtain a report from the trustees of every district, even though a district school, taught by a duly qualified teacher, may not have been maintained during the time required by law, or even for a single day. The school commissioner must be made acquainted with all the facts. It is suggested that the clerk should have a safe place in which to deposit the reports, and that each should be filed and deposited therein at the moment of Its acceptance at his ofi&ce. On the blanks for reports will be found a blank certificate of filing, which should be filled and signed at the date of filing. The last clause of this subdivision requires the town clerks to furnish the school commissioners a list of the names and post-office address of all the school officers in the town. This information must be furnished the town clerk by the school district clerk, who, by subdivision 5 of section 37, title VII, is required to "report to the town clerk of the town in which the school-house of the district Is situated, the names and post-office address " of all district officers. It is hoped that the Importance of these requirements will be fully appreciated, and the duties enjoined faithfully and punctually performed. 5. To distribute to the trustees of tlie school districts and sepa- rate neighborhoods all blanks and circulars which shall be deliv- ered or forwarded to him by the State Superintendent or school commissioner for that purpose. 414 Town Clerk. Such distribution should be made immediately. A delay of even a day may work great confusion and, perhaps, loss to a district. 6. To receive from the supervisor, and record in a book kept for that purpose, the annual account of the receipts and disburse- ments of school moneys required to be submitted to the town auditors together with the action of the town auditors tbereoUj and to send a copy of the account and of the action thereon, by mail, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, whenever re- quired by him, and to file and preserve the vouchers accompany- ing the account. {See sub. 4 of seo. 6 of title IV.) 7. To receive and to record, in the same book, the supervisor's final account of the school moneys received and disbursed by him, and deliver a copy thereof to such supervisor's successor in office. {See sub. 6 of sec. 6 of title IV.) 8. To receive from the outgoing supervisor, and file and record in the same book, the county treasurer's certificate that his suc- cessor's bond has been given and approved. {See sub. 8 of sec. 6 of title lY.) This record, carefully and correctly kept, acts as a great safeguard against loss, especially by embezzlement, to the districts. Disputes arise concerning the public moneys and whether they have been received and expended by trustees. The reports from all officers who handle the public school money are recorded by the town clerk. The supervisors and trustees file their accounts of both receipts and disbursements. The clerk should keep the records so that the inhabitants can, at any time, open the books and see the accounts. 9. To receive, file and record the descriptions of the school districts and neighborhoods, and all papers and proceedings de- livered to him by the school commissioner pursuant to the next title of this act. {See sub. 4 of sec. 1 of title VI.) 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection or alteration of a school district, as in the next title of this act pro- vided. {See sec. 4 of title VI.) The town clerk's office is the only place under the law where the record of district boundaries is kept. This fact alone is sufficient to show the great im- portance of the duty prescribed by the two preceding subdivisions. In every case where any order annulling or dissolving any school district, or altering its boundaries or changing its number, is received, such order should be promptly recorded in full among the permanent records of the town. 11. To receive and preserve the books, papers and records of TowK Cleke. 415 any dissolved school district, which shall be ordered, as hereinafter provided, to be deposited in his office. 12. To perform any other duty which may be devolved upon him by this act, or by any other act touching common schools. § 2. The necessary expenses and disbursements of the town clerk, in the performance of his said duties, are a town charge, and shall be audited and paid as such. It is believed that town clerks are, in some instances, negligent in the per- formance of the duties enjoined by subdivisions 6, 7, 8 and 9 of section 1 of title V, so far as relates to the record which they are required to maite. These duties are important, and no matter of record should be delayed for a single ia/y. This neglect gives rise to numerous appeals to the Department, and mnoh vexatious litigation in the courts, causing great expense to the people, and seriously disturbing the peace, and in many cases impairing for years the efficiency of the schools in the districts affected thereby. In view of these consequences, the necessity of attending with promptness to all matters of permanent record cannot be too strongly urged upon town clerks. CROSS REFERENCES. 1, Title VI, § 4, The town clerk, whenever requested by the trustees, is to be associated with the local board in the matter of confirming or vacating a commissioner's order altering district boundaries. {See School Districts.) 3. Title VI, § 5. For services as member of such local board he is entitled to one dollar and fifty cents per day, to be a town charge. (See School Dis- tricts.) Title VII, § 91. The town clerk is required to file all tax lists delivered to^ him by trustees. (See Taxes.) TRUSTEES. election of, in neighborhoods. Title YII. § 15. The inhabitants of any neighborhood entitled to vote, when assembled in any annual meeting or any other neighbor- hood meeting duly called by the commissioner, pursuant to the first or third sections of this title, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : ******* 2. To choose a neighborhood clerk and one trustee, and to fill racancies in office. IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS. § 16. The inhabitants so entitled to vote, when duly assembled In any district meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present : * * * * * * * 4. To choose one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a district clerk, a district collector, a librarian, at their first meet- ing, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except as hereinafter provided. § 27. On the last Tuesday of August next after the erection of a district, at its first annual meeting, the electors shall determine, by resolutioHj whether the district shall hdve one or tfnree trust- ees, and if they resolve to have three trustees, shall elect the three for one, two and three years respectively, and shall designate by their votes for which term each is elected ; thereafter in such district, one trustee shall be elected at each annual meeting to fill the office of the outgoing trustee. The electors of any dis- Tbusteks. 417 trict having three trustees shall have power to decide by resolu- tion, at any annual meeting, whiether the district shall have a sole trustee or three trustees, and if they resolve to have a sole trustee, the trustee or trustees in oflBee shall continue in office until their term or terms of office shall expire, and no election of a trustee shall be had in the district until the offices of such trustee or trustees shall become vacant by the expiration of their terms of office or otherwise, and thereafter but one trustee shall be elected for said district, until the electors of a district having one trustee shall determine, at an annual meeting, by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters present tliereat, to have three trustees; in which case they shall, upon the adoption of such resolution, proceed to elect three trustees in the same manner as provided in this section for the election of three trustees at the first annual meeting after the erection of a district ; and thereafter in such district, one trustee shall be elected for three years, at each an- nual meeting, to fill the office of the outgoing trustee. Chapter 348, Laws of 1878. This chapter provides for the election of trustees and other school officers in school districts having more than three hundred children of school age on ' the day following the annual meeting. Certain counties, however, are ex- cepted. (See page , ante.) The trustee is the most important officer of a school district. The election of trustees gives rise to more controversies and appeals to the Superintendent than any other subject. The foregoing .sections give to neighborhoods and districts the power to elect trustees and prescribe the proceedings therefor. Trustees^are elected at the annual meeting, unless a vacancy exists when an election can be held at a special meeting called for that purpose. Time for. — It is recommended that the annual meeting elect trustees after the reports of the district officers are made to and acted upon by the meeting; It frequently occurs that the trustee whose term of office is about to expire is a candidate for re-election. The meeting should certainly know how hiis accounts stand before re-electing him. Voting. — The election must be by a majority vote of the legal voters present and voting. Any manner of voting by which the will of the majority can be determined will answer the requirements of the statute. After a trustee has been elected the meeting cannot take any further action in respect to such election. It cannot set aside the vote by which the election was effected or rescind its own action. Its powers are exhausted. Should the election remain for any reason in doubt, or be contested, the proceedings can be taken- either to the State Superintendent or to the courts. In reference to votes cast for disqualified candidates, the law is thus stated in 7 Adolph & Ellis, 437: " The result of the decisions appears to be this: Where the majority of electors vote for a disqualified person in ignorance of the fact of disqualification, the elec- tion may be void, or voidable, or in the latter case may be capable of being made good, according to the nature of the disqualificatiou. The objection 53 418 Trustees. may require ulterior proceedings to be taken before some competent tribunal in order to be made available, or it may be sucb as to place tbe elected candi- date on the same footing as if he Tiad never existed and the votes for him wefe a nullity; but in no case are the electors who vote for him deprived of their votes. If the fact becomes known and is declared while the election is still incomplete, they may instantly proceed to another nomination and vote for another candidate. If it be disclosed afterward, the party elected ma;y be ousted, and the election declared void (by a competent tribunal); but the candidate in the minority will not be deemed ipso facto elected. But where an elector before voting receives due notice that a particular candidate is dis- qualified, and yet will do nothing but tender his vote for him, he mast be taken voluntarily to abstain from exercising his franchise and therefore, how- ever strongly he may in fact dissent, and in however strong terms he may dis- close his dissent, he must be taken in law to assent to the election of the op- posing and qualified candidate, for he will not take the only course by which it can be resisted, that is, help to elect some other person. * * * If he dissents from the choice of A., who is qualified, he must say so by voting for some other, also qualified; he has no right to employ his franchise merely in preventing an election, and so defeating the object for which he is empowered and bound to attend. * * * Where the disqualification depends upon a fact which may be unknown to the elector, he is entitled to notice, for with- out that the inference of assent could not fairly be drawn, nor could the con- sequences as to the vote be just; but if the disqualification be of a sort whereof notice is to be presumed, none need expressly be given. No one can doubt that if an elector would nominate and vote only for a woman, his vote would be thrown away. The fact would then be notorious and every man would be presumed to know the law upon that fact." Fixing and changing the mimber of trustees. — At the first annual meeting held in a district, the electors are to determine whether the district shall have three trustees or one. A common school district cannot have more than three trustees. If the decision is to have three, the voters must designate the length of term of each person voted for. The simplest and best way is to elect for each term separately. Elect a person to fill the three years' term, then the two and lastly the one year term. When there are three trustees they are known as joint trustees. The term of a joint trustee, excepting when first elected, is three years. This section provides that a district may change the number of trustees. From one to three. — A district having but one trustee may at an annwA meeting iy a two-thirds vote, determine to change from one to three trustees. A resolution to this effect must first be acted upon. If adopted by the two- thirds vote the change can be made, but it must be at the expiration of the term of oflBce of the sole trustee. The election of the three trustees upon such change must be the same as the election of three trustees at the first annual meeting in a newly formed district. There have been instances where a district formerly had three trustees, changed to one, and afterward decided to go back to three again. This can be done, but not until the expiration of the term of the last of the three trustees. From three to one. — At any annual meeting the electors can decide by a majority vote to have a sole trustee. After such decision is made, no trustee can be elected in the district until the expiration of the term of the last of the three trustees, when one must be elected whose term of office is one year. The trustees in office, when the change is decided upon, are to serve out their several terms. QUALIFICATIONS. § 23. No school commissioner or supervisor is eligible to the office of trustee, nor caft either be a member of any board of edu^ Teustees. *1^ cation within his district or town ; and no trustee can hold the office of district clerk, collector or librarian. § 24. Every district and neighborhood officer , must be a resi- dent of his district and neighborhood, and qualified to vote at its meetings. Chapter 9, Laws of 1880. § 1. No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifications now required by law. The law lays down the legal qualifications for a trustee. But there are qualifications beyond these which the law does not reach. The voters of the district must be the judges of the proper person or persons in whose hands to intrust the educational interests of the district. The power to elect good trustees lies with them. Every trustee must be a voter at school meetings in the district where he is elected. The trustee cannot hold any other school oflBce. If elected to two such oflSces his acceptance of one would be a refusal of the other. . Or if holding one office and elected to another, which he accepts, he would thereby resign the first oflice. He cannot hold the office of commissioner or supervisor. These different offices have powers and duties in relation to the school system of the State incompatible with each other. TERM. § 25. From one annual meeting to the next is a year, within the meaning of the following provisions : The term of office of a trustee of a neighborhood, and a sole trustee of a district, is one year. The full term of a joint trustee is three years, but a joint trustee may be elected for one or for two years, as herein provided. The term of office of all other district and neighborhood officers is one year. Every district and neighborhood officer shall hold his office, unless removed, during his term of office and until his successor shall be elected or appointed. § 26. The terms of all officers elected at the first meeting of a newly erected neighborhood or district, except of a union free school district, shall expire on the last Tuesday of August next thereafter. {As amended hy sec. 4, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) The term of office of a sole trustee is one year, or from one annual meeting to the next. The term of a joint trustee is three years. While the term of office of a trustee expires at the annual meeting, so that a successor can be elected, if such successor is not elected, the old trustee holds over. If the annual meeting is held and no election of trustee is attempted, 430 Tettstees. the holding over of the trustee is equal to an election for a new term, for the reason that there is no vacancy which can be filled by election or appointment until the next annual meeting, unless the trustee so holding over resigns or otherwise vacates his office. APPOINTMENT TO FILL VACANCY. § 30. In case tlie ofiSce of a trustee shall be vacated by bis death, refusal to serve, incapacity, removal from the district or neighborhood, or by his being removed from the oflSice, or in any other manner, and the vacancy be not supplied by a district or aeighborhood meeting within one month thereafter, the supervi- sor of the town within which the school-house or principal school- house, of the district is, or within which the neighborhood or any part thereof is, may, by a writing under his hand, appoint a com- petent person to fill it. § 33. Every appointment to fill a vacancy shall be forthwith filed by tlie supervisor or trustees making it in the oflice of the district clerki who shall immediately give notice of the appoint- ment to the person appointed. When a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee a special meeting can fiU Fuch vacancy at any time. But if a district meeting fails to elect for one mouth after the vacancy occurred, the supervisor of the town in which the Bchool-house of the district is located may appoint a duly qualified person to fill such vacancy. The month is a calendar month. If the vacancy occurs on the 10th day of May, the supervisor cannot appoint until after the 10th day of June following. The appointment is for the unexpired term. FORM OF APPOINTMENT. Wfcereas, on the day of , 18 , John Doe, the trustee of school rlistrict No. , town of New Scotland, county of Albany, did resign bis office as trustee of such district (state how the vacancy arose as the case may be), thereby causing a vacancy in said office; and said vacancy not having been supplied by a district meeting, and more than one month having expired since the creation of such vacancy, I, . supervisor of the town of New Scotland, in which town the principal school-house of the said district is sit- uated, do hereby appoint Richard Roe, a resident and legal voter in said dis- trict, sole trustee of school district No. , in the town of New Scotland, Albany county, N. Y., to fill the vacancy caused as aforesaid. Dated this day of ) ,18 . y Supervisor of the town of New Scotland, Albany county, N. Y. Copies of this appointment should be served upon the person appointed and filed with the clerks of the district and the town. ACCEPTANCE — REFUSAL — PENALTY FOR REFUSAL. § 28. It shall be the duty of the district clerk, and of the Trustees. ^'^1 neighborhood clerk, or of any person who shall act as clerk at any district or neighborhood meeting, when any officer shall be elected, forthwith to give the person elected notice thereof in writing ; and such person shall be deemed to have accepted the office, unless within five days after the service of such notice, he shall file his written refusal of it with the clerk. The presence of any such person at the meeting which elects him to office shall be deemed a sufficient notice to him of his election. {As amended by seo. 11, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) § 31. A trustee who pubhcly declares that he will not accept or serve in the office of trustee, or who refuses or neglects to at- tend three successive meetings of the board, of which he is duly notified, without rendering a good and valid excuse therefor to the other trustees, or trustee, where there are but two, vacates his office by refusal to serve. § 34. Every person chosen or appointed to a school district office, who, being duly qualified to fill the same, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit five dollars ; and every person so chosen or appointed, who, not having refused to accept the office, shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duty thereof, shall by such neglect or refusal vacate his office and shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars. These penalties are for the benefit of the common schools of the town. § 35. But the supervisor of the town wherein any such person resides, may accept his written resignation of the office, and the filing of such resignation and acceptance in the office of the dis- trict clerk shall be a bar to the recovery of either penalty in the last preceding section mentioned ; or such resignation may be made to and accepted by a district meeting. The frequent uncertainty about a newly elected trustee's willingness to serve makes it necessary that he shall either accept or refuse in a manner that will acquaint the electors of the district with his intention. Notice must be given him, by the clerk, of his election forthwith, or within twenty-four hours, pro- vided he was not present at the meeting at which he was elected. If he is present and does not refuse to serve, he is deemed to have accepted. Vacates the office. — A trustee who refuses to serve or who refuses or neglects to attend three successive meetings of the board of trustees of which he was duly notified, vacates his office, unless he renders some good and valid excuse therefor. This neglect to attend the meetings must be a willful neglect. A failure on account of sickness or temporary absence from home will not work a forfeiture of the office. 422 Teustees. Penalty for refusing to serve. — Any duly ;qualified person elected or ap- pointed trustee who refuses to accept the ofiBee, forfeits five dollars. Any duly qualified person elected or appointed, who, not having refused to accept, neglects or refuses to perform the duties thereof, forfeits the sum of ten dollars. To save these penalties a resignation can be accepted by the supervisor or a district meeting. {See Mnes and Penalties.) KEMOVAL OP. Title I. § 18. Whenever it shall be proven, to his satisfaction, that any school commissioner, or other school officer, has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, or of willfully disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the Superintendent, the Superintendent may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school com- missioner or other school officer from his office. This section refers to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (See chap- ter on Superintendent of Public Instruction.) POWERS AND DUTIES GENERALLY. Title VII. § 45. All property which is now vested in, or shall hereafter be transferred to the trustee or trustees of a district, for the use of schools in the district, shall be held by him or them as a corpora- tion. The original provision of the act of 1819, section 29, chapter 161, from which the above is taken, was enacted for the purpose of vesting in the trus- tees property which had been dedicated or granted for school objects before its passage. The principal incidents of a corporation are to have perpetual suc- cession and existence by its corporate name, where no period is limited by its charter, and the capacity to hold real and personal estate for its corporate pur- poses, as an artificial body, wholly distinct from the individuals who from time to time may compose it. On this subject see, also, chapter on Trust Funds. § 46. A sole trustee of the district shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties, liabilities and penalties conferred and imposed by law upon or against any trustee or the trustees, or the majority of the trustees of a district. § 47. The trustees of a district compose a board, and when two Tbustees. 423 only meet to deliberate upon a matter, and the third, if notified, does not attend, or the three meet and deliberate thereon, the conclusion of two upon the matter, and their order, act or pro- ceeding in relation thereto shall be as valid as though it were the conclusion, order, act or proceeding of the three ; and a recital of the two in their minute of the conclusion, act or proceeding, or in their order, act or proceeding of the fact of such notice, or of such meetingand deliberation, shall be conclusive evidence thereof. A meeting of the board may be ordered by any member thereof, by giving not less than twenty-four hours' notice of the same. , Every power committed to the trustees must be exercised by the board. This section was incorporated into the law of 1864, to obviate the difficulty often experienced of obtaining a meeting of all three trustees when any im- portant business was to be done. When they are duly assembled, a majority may do any lawful act, make any order, or decide any question properly before them. If one of them, after due notice of a meeting, absent himself, the other two may act j ust the same as if he were present. But the board must meet. It will not do for one or two to form a determina- tion and then procure the assent of the absent. The decision of a majority, or of all three, under such circumstances, is not the decision of the trustees, any more than the concurrent opinion of all the members of the legislature arrived at by taking their separate votes at their respective places of residence is an act of the legislature. In the assessment of a tax, and in general in regard to every other duty j udicial in its character, this rule is inflexible. In other cases a majority may decide, provided all have been notified of the intention to meet and confer upon the subject at a definite time and place. This rule was applied in 16 Maine H. 185, and the dismissal of a teacher by two, a majority of the board, held illegal, because the third was not notified, although he was out of town. The court say: "That does not allow the majority to dispense with the rule requiring notice. They are not in such cases constituted the judges whether the notice would be effectual to secure his attendance. Nor would it be entirely safe to intrust them with such a power, as it would afford an opportunity to select an occasion when they might judge that a notice would be ineffectual, and thus, by neglectiiig to give it, free themselves from the presence of a dissenting minority. It may often happen that those will be able to attend who were believed to be so situated that their attendance could not be expected. Nor is there any difficulty in giving the requisite notice in such cases, as one left at the usual place of resi- dence would be sufficient." The law goes upon the supposition that a majority may be convinced by a minority and change its determinations, and therefore will not suffer the ma- jority to act without giving the minority a notice to participate. The legal presumption is that officers have thus acted, but this presumption may be re- pelled by evidence to the contrary. The case last cited admits that a merely ministerial duty, the execution of a determination of the board, may be performed by a single trustee. The section also provides that an absent trustee can be cut off from raising any question about his notice to attend the meeting as "a recital of the two in their minute of the conclusion, act or proceeding, or in their order, act or proceeding, of the fact of such notice, of such meeting and deliberation, shall be conclusive evidence thereof." It is a custom in some places for the board to meet regularly once in two weeks or once a month. When this is the case, 424 Trustees. and the place and time fixed by resolution or by-law of the board, no farther notice will be necessary of such meeting in order to make it regular. The trustees all know that there is to be a meeting at such lime and cannot be misled by not receiving a notice. A meeting of the board can be held any time the trustees all consent. But in order to secure a meeting against the opposition of one or more, a notice of not less than twenty-four hours is necessary. Trustees cannot continually block the proceedings of a board or prevent action in any matter, as it is pro- vided in section 31 of this title that for a refusal to attend three successive meetings without rendering a good and valid excuse, a trustee vacates his office; and for the further reason that the State Superintend-jnt may remove a trustee for a refusal or neglect to perform the duties of his office. § 48. While there is one vacancy in the office of trustee, the two trustees have all the powers and are subject to all the duties and liabilities of the three. And while there are two such vacan- cies, the trustee in office shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabihties of the three, as, though he were a sole trustee. o In case of a vacancy in the office of trustee, those in office, whether two or one, possess all the powers of a full board; the very first act, however, ought to be the call of a meeting to fill the vacancy. The next section (49) places certain duties upon trustees and gives them cer- tain powers. The majority of the subdivisions are printed and commented upon in the chapters in which they respectively belong. A reference is made to such chapters. § 49. It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school dis- trict, and they shall have power : 1. To call special meetings. (See Meetings.) 2. To give notice of meetings. (See Meetings.) 3. To make out a tax-list of every district tax voted by any such meeting, or authorized by law, containing the names of all the taxable inhabitants residing in the district at the time of making out the list, and the amount of tax payable by each in- habitant, set opposite to his name. {^See further, on same mib^eci, Taxes.) 4. To annex to such tax-list a warrant, directed to the collector of the district, for the collection of the sums in such list men- tioned. {See, also, Taxes.) 5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school-house or school-houses, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to build, hire or purchase such school-house as may be so designated, Trustees. 425 and to keep in repair and furnish such school-house with necessary fuel and appendages, and to pay the expense thereof by tax, but such expenses shall not exceed fifty dollars in any one year, unless authorized by the district or by law. {As amended hy sec. 13, chap. 406, Laws of 1867.) 6. To have custody of school-house. (See SchoolHimaes.) 7. To insure school -houses. (.See School-Houaea.) 8. To insure the district libraries. {See Libraries.) 9. To contract with teachers. {See Teachers.) 10. To pay teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) 11. To divide the public money for the payment of wages, and to raise the balance necessary. (See Teachers.) 13. To use library money for teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) 13. To draw upon the supervisor for public money. {See State School Moneys.) 14. Payment of teachers' wages. {See Teacliers.) § 50. The trustees may expend in necessary and proper repairs of each school-house under their charge a sum not exceeding twenty dollars in any one year ; and they may also expend a sum, not exceeding fifty dollars, in the erection of necessary out- buildings, when the district is wholly unprovided with such buildings, upon the direction of the school commissioner in whose district such school-house is situated, or of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. They may also make any repairs, and abate any nuisances, pursuant to the direction of the school commissioner as hereinbefore provided, and provide fuel, pails, brooms and other implements necessary to keep the school- house or houses clean and make them reasonably comfortable for use, and not provided for by a vote of the district ; and may also provide for building fires and cleaning the school-room by arrangement with the teacher or otherwise. They shall provide the bound blank-books for the entering of their accounts and the keeping of the school lists, the records of the district, and the proceedings of district and trustee meetings, and they may expend in the purchase of dictionary, maps, globes or other school apparatus, a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars in any one year. Whenever it shall be necessary for the due accommodation of the children of the district, they may hire temporarily any room or rooms for the keeping of schools therein. Any expendi- ture made or liability incurred in pursuance of this section shall 54 426 Tetistees. be a charge upon the district. {As amended hy sec. 14, chap. 406, Zaws of 1867, and by sec. 19, chap. 567, Laios of 1875 ; hy sec. 1, chap. 179, Laws of 1884, and sec. 1, cAop. 292, Laws of 1886.) This section enumerates expenditures a trustee can make in any one year upon his own motion and without the authority or direction of a district meet- ing, as follows : 1. For repairs upon school-house, $30. 3. For outbuildings, upon direction of the commissioner or Superintendent, $50. 3. A sum necessary for fuel, pails, brooms and other implements to keep the school-house clean and reasonably comfortable for use. This sum, how- ever, must not exceed $50, as in subdivision 5 of section 49 of this title, that limitation is placed upon an expenditure for this purpose. 4. A sum necessary to pay some persoh, teacher or janitor, for building fires and cleaning the school-room. 5. For blank-books necessary for keeping the district accounts and records. 6. For dictionaries, maps, globes or other school apparatus, $15. ^7. A sum necessary to pay the rent of rooms for the keeping of the school of the district. Thqse expenditures can be made in addition to any sums the district meeting may vote for the same purposes. The better course for the trustees and the district is to have an estimate carefully made, in items, jOf the expenditures for the year, and presented at the annual meeting. Let it be canvassed at the meeting, and a tax voted suffi- cient to cover the expense. The most important sentence in this section is the one which authorizes the hiring of rooms, temporarily, for the keeping of school. The trustees can offer no excuse for not having a school for twenty-eight weeks, on the ground that the school-house is hot in good repair. If such is the fact, then the trustees, under this section, have power to hire a room or rooms. If the school-house will not comfortably accommodate all the children of a district; a room may be hired and another school organized. § 51. "When trustees are required or authorized by law, or by a vote of their district, to incur any expense for such district, and when any expenses incurred by them are made, by express pro- vision of lawj a charge upon such district, they may raise the amount thereof by tax in the same manner as if the definite sum to be raised had been voted by a district meeting. The preceding section (50) makes certain expenditures of the trustees a charge upon the district, and this section (51) gives them the power to raise such sum or sums by tax. The principal object of the section, however, is to authorize the levying of a tax when a jixed amount had not first been named by a dis- trict meeting or by law. A tax list, for any expense incurred under this section, may be separate, or the amount may be included in any other tax-list necessary to be made out at the time when the amount of such expenses shall have been ascertained. It is, however, the duty of the trustees, when practicable, to ascertain the defin- Trustees. 427 ite amount, and to make out the tax-list therefor within thirty days after the meeting at which the expenditure may have been authorized. When any tax under this section is included in the same tax-list with others, the heading should distinctly specify the amount, the object and the authority; as by say- ing, for example: "Also, $12 for the expense of temporarily hiring rooms for the keeping of schools therein, necessary for the accommodation of the children in said district, from the first day of May to the first day of August, 1887; also, $8.93 for the expenses incurred in grading and draining the site of the school-house, under the resolution of a district meeting held April 13, 1887." This provision first came into force as section 14, chapter 360 of 1841. The supreme court, commenting upon it, in 4 Demio, 298, says: " It is said that the statute ought to be so construed as to confine its operations to small inci- dental expenses incurred by the trustees. But the language is general, and there is nothing which, upon any just principle of interpretation, will war- rant us in restricting the provisions to any particular class of expenses. " That case was one in which the district had voted to build a school-house, and the materials and dimensions specified were such as to have the effect of bringing the cost within |400, and it was held "that "if the district had left the wlide within the discretion of the trustees, and they had kept within the $400, the act of 1841 would have authorized them to levy the tax." This section has not the effect; of permitting the trustees to levy a tax under the vote of a district for expenses incurred for any purpose for which the law has not conferred the power upon the inhabitants of voting a definite tax. If the inhabitants cannot lay the tax directly, they cannot effect the same object by directing the trustees to expend money or to do acts involving the expenditure of money. § 53. They shall procure two bound blank books for the district, and when necessary, others in their place. In one of them, at or be- fore each annual district meeting, they shall enter at large, and sign a statement of all movable property belonging to the district, and their accounts of all moneys received or drawn for or paid by them, and they shall deliver this book to their successors. * * * . The account to be entered by the trustees should specify every sum of money received by them, or any one of them, in his oflBcial capacity, and of all orders on the supervisor, or on the collector, giving the date and amount of each. On the opposite page they should credit themselves with every expenditure and payment, specifying particularly when, and to whom paid, and for what pur- pose, and referring to a proper voucher, which should be filed and delivered to their successors. On another page they should make an accurate inventory of all the movable property belonging to the district, such as the library of the district, stating the number of volumes and their condition, and giving a catalogue of the books, and the furniture, appendages and apparatus of the school room, specifying each article. The whole to be followed by a certificate in the following form: We, the subscribers, trustees of District No. , in the town of Trenton, do hereby certify that the preceding, from page- to page , inclusive, contains a true and accurate account of all the moneys received by us for the use of said district, and of the expenditures thereof, and a correct statement and inventory of all the movable property belonging to said district. Dated this day of , 18 , A.B..) CD.,}- Trustees. E. F., ) 428 Trustees. § 56. An outgoing trustee shall forthwith pay, to his successor or any other trustee of the district in office, any such unexpended balance, or part of such balance, remaining in his hands. The' public money remains in the hands of the supervisor until paid out upon orders drawn by the trustees. The money raised by tax upon the district is held by the collector, who can pay no part of it to the trustees. It is disbursed upon orders drawn by the trustees in payment of legal expenses. The balance spoken of in this section is narrowed down to trust funds, tuition moneys paid by non-resident pupils and funds received from the sale of district property. This balance is reported under section 55 to the annual meeting. (See Reports.) § 59. The trustees in office shall sue for and recover any district moneys in the hands of any former trustee, or of his personal representatives, and apply them to the use of the district. FINES AND PENALTIES. In addition to those heretofore mentioned in this chapter, the law prescribes fines and penalties against trustees for neglect of duty. (Bee chapter on Fines and Penalties.) CROSS REFERENCES. Title II, § 13, subd. 1. To allow expense for amending boundaries by com- missioner. (See School Districts.) Title II, § 13, subd. 4. Duties of, when school-house has been condemned. (See School-Houses.) Title III. Defines duties relating to trust funds. (See Trust Funds.) Title VI. Defines duties and powers of trustees in the matter of formation, alteration and dissolution of school districts. (See School Districts.) Title VII, g§ 6, 8. To call special meetings. (See Meetings.) Title VII, ^ 10. To call special meeting when annual meeting was not held. (See Meetings.) Title VII, § 16, subd. 17. To levy tax when meeting neglected or refused to pay judgment for unpaid wages of teachers. (See Teachers.) Title VII, second article. Powers and duties relating to school-houses and sites. (See School- Houses and School- Hov^e Sites.) Title VII, § 54. To notify the county treasurer and superintendent of the non-payment of public moneys by the supervisor. (See State Scliool Moneys.) Title VII. Commencing with section 65 and all separate acts relating to the powers and duties of trustees respecting the assessment and collection of taxes. (See Taxes.) Title VIII. Duties respecting libraries. (See Libraries.) Title XI. Powers and duties concerning teachers' institutes. (See Teachers' Institutes.) Title XIII, S 4. Duty of trustees to enter complaint against persons disturb- ing district school or school meeting. (See Fines and Penalties.) Chapter 438, Laws, 1860. Duties of respecting the vaccination of pupils. (See page 87.) Chapter 431, Laws, 1874. Duties of respecting the "compulsory education act." (Seepage 91.) Chapter 319, Laws, 1877. Power to contract with board of education in adjoining city or village to educate the children of the district. (Seepage 99.) Chapter 413, Laws, 1877. Respecting text-books. (See page 100.) Tkustees. 429 Title VII, § 53. Can permit the use of school-house for certain purposes. {See School- Mcnisea.) Title VH, § 55. To make report to annual meeting. {See Reports.) Title VII, S^l 57, 58. Trustees liable to penalty for refusal or neglect to make reports, or to pay over balance of funds. {See Seports and Mnes and Penalties.) Title VII, § 58. By willful neglect or refusal to render his annual account to the annual district meeting he forfeits his office and becomes liable for any district moneys in his hands. {See Reports.) Title VII, §§ 60, 61, 62, 64. Trustees are required to make certain reports. Penalty for false report. {See Reports.) Title VII, § 16, subd. 17. To call a special meeting of the inhabitants of the district to vote a tax to pay judgment rendered for teachers' wages. {See Teachers.) Title VII, § 33. Trustees can appoint clerk, collector or librarian to fill vacancy. Title VII, § 39. Can permit non-resident pupils to attend the district school. {See ScliooU.) Title XIII, §§ 7-11. Costs and expenses in actions and proceedings brought by and against trustees. {See Appeals.) DECISIONS OP THE COURTS. IdaMlity to be sued. — Trustees of school districts may be sued upon a con- tract made by their predecessors in oflBce, which they were authorized by law to make. ( Williains v. Kirch, 4 Sill, 168, 1843.) Contracts for teacher's wages made by the trustees of a school district are obligatory upon their successors in office. {Silver v. Cummins, 7 Wend. 181, 1881.) Neglect to account. — Under 1 Revised Statutes, 486, section 100, imposing a penalty of $85 on every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to render an ac- count, or to pay over any balance found in his hands, the penalty is » severe penalty imposed on each defaulting trustee, and not a penalty against them jointly. (Supreme Court, 1845, Marsh v. Shute, 1 Denio, 380.) Power of trustees to remove encroachment. — A trustee of the district has the right to remove a fence wrongfully built upon the school lot. {Supreme Court, 1847, Thayer x. Wright, i Denio, 180.) Power of trustees to contract. — The trustees of a school district are a quad corporation, possessing power in certain cases, and for certain purposes, to bind their district and create a corporate liability, which will attach to their succes- sors in their official capacity. They, therefore, have the power to liquidate the indebtedness of the district, e. g., to a teacher, for wages earned by him as such, in the employment of the district, and, by giving a note therefor signed by them as trustees, to bind the district. When a note thus made expresses on its face that it is given on account of the wages of the payee, as teacher in the school district of which the makers are trustees, the payee, by accepting the note, admits this to be the true consideration, and, therefore, cannot hold the makers personally liable upon the note. (Supreme Court, 1856, Morton v. Garrison, 33 Barb. 176.) Corporate powers. — The trustees of a school district are a corporation for certain purposes, and may receive the note of a third person for money due to them in their corporate capacity; and till the note is impeached, or some de- fense made against it, they are under no obligation to show how they came by it. (Supreme Court, 1834, Brewster v. Colwcll, 13 Wend. 38.) Must act as a board. — Two trustees of a school district cannot act as such in the performance of their duties, except upon a meeting of all three, whether the third one refuses to act or not. (4 Denio, 135; Supreme Court, Gth district, 1857, Whitford v. Scott, 14 How. Pr. 302; compare Horton v. Oarrison, 23 Barb. 136.) ^ Trustees of common schools aneibj a, teacher for services rendered by em- 430 Trustees. ployment by one of them only, but with the knowledge and permission of the. others, cannot defeat the recovery on the ground that the contract was invalid for not being made at a meeting of the three. (AngeU and Ames on^Corp. 216; Supreme Court, 1853, Meter v. La Hue, 15 Barb. 323; and compare Finch v. Cleveland, 10 id. 290.) Where there is no school-houKe in the district and the trustee furnishes a room in a building owned by him,, he may properly be allowed to recover the cost of slight alterations made to render the room suited to the purposes to which it is to be applied. (35 Hun, 111.) TRUST FUNDS. GOSPEL AND SCHOOL LOTS. Title III. § 15. Eeal and personal estate may be granted, conveyed, de- vised, bequeathed and given in trust and in perpetuity or otherwise to the State, or to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the support or benefit of the common schools within the State, or within any part or portion of it, or of any particular common school or schools within it ; and to any county, or the school com- missioner or commissioners of any county, or to any city or any board or officers thereof, or to any school commissioner district or its commissioner, or to any town or supervisor of a town, or to any school district or its trustee or trustees, for the support and benefit of common schools within such county, city, school com- missioner district, town or school district, or within any part or portion thereof respectively, or for the support and benefit of any particular common school or schools therein. § 16. 'No such grant, conveyance, devise or bequest shall be held void for the want of a named or competent trustee or donee, but where no trustee or donee or an incompetent one is named, the title and trust shall vest in the people of the State, subject to its acceptance by the Legislature; but such acceptance' shall be presumed. § 17. The Legislature may control and regulate the execution of all such trusts ; and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall supervise and advise the trustees, and hold them to a regu- lar accounting for the trust property and its income and interest, at such times, in such forms and with such authentications as he shall from time to time prescribe. 432 Trust Funds, § 18. The common council of every city, the board of supervi- sors of every county, the trustees of every village, the supervisor of every town, the trustee or trustees of every school district, and every other officer or person who shall be thereto required by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall, on or before the thirtieth day of September next, report to him whether any, and if any, what, trusts are held by them respectively, or by any other body, officer or person, to their information or belief, for school purposes, and shall transmit therewith an authenticated copy of every will, conveyance, instrument or paper embodying or creat- ing the trust; and shall, in like manner, forthwith report to him the creation and terms of every such trust subsequently created. § 19. Every supervisor of a town shall, by the thirtieth day of September next, report to the Superintendent whether there be, within the town, any gospel or school lot, and if any, shall describe the same, and state to what use, if any, it is put by the town ; and whether it be leased, and if so, to whom, for what term and upon what rents ; and whether the town holds or is entitled to any land, moneys or securities arising from any sale of such gospel or school lot, and the investment of the proceeds thereof, or of the rents or income of such lots and investments, and shall report a full statement and account of such lands, moneys and securities. § 20. Every supervisor of a town shall, in like manner, by the thirtieth day of September next, report to the Superintendent whether the town has a common school fund originated under the " act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor," passed April 27, 1829, and, if it have, the full particulars thereof, and of its investment, income and application, in such form as the Superintendent may prescribe. § 21. In respect to the property and funds in the two last sec- tions mentioned, the Superintendent shall, at the next session of the Legislature, and annually thereafter, include in his annual report a statement and account thereof. And to these ends, he is au- thorized, at any time and from time to time, to require from the supervisor, board of town auditors, or any officer of a town, a report as to any fact, or any information or account he may deem necessary or desirable. Teust I'lnsTDS. 433 Title IV. § 1. The several supervisors continue vested with the powers and charged with the duties formerly vested in and charged upon the trustees of the gospel and school lots, and transferred to and imposed upon town superintendents of common schools by chapter one hundred and eighty-six, of the Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-six. Town School Funds. The act passed in 1789 for the sale of lauds belonging to the people of this State required the Surveyor-General to reserve in each township one lot for the support of the gospel, and one lot for the use of schools in such township. The following is a list of the principal reservations of this nature, viz. : One lot, of 550 acres, in each of the twenty-eight townships in the military tract. Forty lots, of 350 acres each, in each of the twenty townships west of the Unadilla river, being ten thousand acres. One lot, of 640 acres, in each of the townships of Fayette, Clinton, Green, Warren, Chenango, Sidney and Hampden, then in the counties of Broome and Chenango. Ten lots, of 640 acres each, in the townships along the St. Lawrence. In the township of Plattsburgh 400 acres were reserved for the use of a minister of the gospel, and 460 acres for the use of a public school or schools in the said township. In the township of Benson 640 acres were reserved for gospel and schools. By an act passed in 1798, in relation to gospel and school lots, it is provided " that the moneys arising from the leasing of the said lots of land as aforesaid, and from the trespasses aforesaid, shall be applied to the use of schools or sup- port of the gospel in the original townships, as surveyed, in which such lots shall be respectively situated, and for no other purpose; which said applica- tion shall be made either for schools or gospel, or both, and in such way and manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of the town, in which the same lands shall lie, shall in legal town meeting from time to time direct, order and appoint. " By an act passed in 1808, the act of 1798 was extended to all the townships where lots of laud are reserved for the support of gospel and schools, and the following provision was added: § 1. Be it enacted, etc.. That the mooers arising from Vne annual rents and profits of the gospel lots In each township shali be equally divided, by the supervisor and commissioners appointed in each township, between the several religious societies legally organized in such township, and that the money arising from the annual rents and profits of the several school lots shall be distributed among the schools kept in each respective township by teachers to be approved of by the supervisor and com- missioners constituted by the act to which this is an amendment, or a ma.iorlty of them in said township, in proportion to the aggregate number of days which the scholars in each respective school shall have respectively attended such schools in the year immediately preceding such division. The fourth section of an act concerning the gospel and school lots, passed in 1813, is as follows: "And be UfurtMer enacted. That the rents, issues and profits of the aforesaid lands, and the annual interest of the moneys arising from the sale thereof, shall be applied by the said trustees [supervisor] for the time being, to the support of the gospel and schools in the several towns, in such manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of the towns, respectively, at their annual town meeting, shall order and direct, or as i the legislature shall prescribe by law." {Session Laws of 1813, p. 157.) 55 434 Teust Funds. In 1819, an act was passed in relation to the gospel and school lots, which contains the following section: § 3. And be it further enacted. That all moneys now due or hereafter to become due, and which shall bare come into the hands of the aforesaid commissioners of public lots, and have not been applied and paid over to religious societies, shall be apportioned among the several school districts In the several towns of the afore- mentioned counties [Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca], any thing in tlie acts heretofore passed to the contrary notwithstanding. By section 1 of chapter 186, Laws of 1846, "the oflSce of trustees of the gospel and school lots in the several towns in this State is hereby abolished ; and the powers and duties now by law conferred and imposed upon said trustees shall hereafter be exercised by the town superintendent of com- mon schools." Subsequently the powers and duties aforesaid were transferred to the supervisors, where they still remain. Hence, the substitution in brackets of the word [supervisor] where the custodian of these properties is referred to herein. By the provisions of chapter 15, title 4, of part 1 of the Revised Statutes, the trustees of the several gospel and school lots [supervisor] were authorized and required : " 1. To take and hold possession of the gospel and school lot of their town : "2. To lease the same for such time, not exceeding twenty-one years, and upon such conditions, as they shall deem expedient ; "3. To sell the same, with the advice and consent of the inhabitants of the town In town meeting assembled, for such prices and upon such terms of credit as shall appear to tbem most advantageous ; ' ' 4. To Invest the proceeds of such sales in loans secured by bond and mortgage upon unincumbered real property of the value of double the amount loaned ; "5. To purchase property so mortgaged upon a foreclosure, and to hold and convey the property so purchased, whenever it shall become necessary ; '*6. To release the amount of such loans repaid to them upon the like security ; " 7. To apply the reots and profits of such lots, and the interest of the money arising from the sale thereof, to the support of the gospel and schools, or either, as may be provided by law, in such manner as shall be thus provided ; "8. To render a just and true account of the proceeds of the sales, and the interest on the loans thereof, and of the rents and profits of such gospel and school lots, and of the expenditure and appropriation thereof on the last Tuesday next preceding the annual town meeting in each year, to the board of auditors of the accounts of other town officers ; * * 9. To deliver over to their successors In office all books, papers and securities relat- ing to the same, at the expiration of their respective offices ; and "10. To take therefor a receipt, which shall oe filed in the clerk's office of the town. " § 4. The board of auditors In each town shall annually report the state of the accounts of the trustees of the gospel and school lots [supervisor] in that town to the inhabitants thereof, at their annual town meeting. "86. Whenever a town , having lands assigned to it for the support of the gospel or of schools, shall be divided into two or more towns, or shall be altered in its limits by the annexing of a part of its territory to another town or towns, such lands shall be sold by the trustees [supervisor] of the town In which such lands were Included Immediately before such division or alteration ; and the proceeds thereof shall be apportioned between the towns Interested therein, in the same manner as the other public moneys of towns so divided or altered are apportioned. "§ 6. The shares of such moneys to which the towns shall be respectively entitled shall be paid to the trustees of the gospel and school lots [supervisor] of the respective towns, and shall thereafter be subject to the provisions of this title - " § 7. If in either of such towns trustees of gospel and school lots shall not have been chosen, or there be none lu office, the share of such town shall be paid to the supervisor. § 2. The several supervisors continue vested with the powers and charged with the duties conferred and imposed upon the com- missioners of common schools by the act of eighteen hundred and twenty-nine, entitled " An act relative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor." Trust Funds. 435 The act herein referred to is given below, the word " supervisor " being substituted in place of "commissioners of common schools" wherever the latter is used : The commissioners of common schools for whom the supervisors are sub. stituted by section 2 of this title, were town of&oers charged with the super- vision of schools in their town, and were superseded by town superintendents, who, in turn, were superseded by the present system of assembly district commissioners. AN ACT Belative to moneys in the hands of overseers of the poor. Passed April 27 , 1829. **§1. It shall be lawful for the inhabitants of any town, in such counties as have abolished the distinction between county and town paupers, and iu such counties as may hereafter abolish such distinction, at any aoDual or special town meeting, to ap- propriate all or any part of the moneys and funds remaining in the hands of the over- seers of the poor of such town, aftersuch abolition, to such objects and for such pur- poses as shall be determined at such meeting. '* § 2. If any such meeting shall appropriate any such money or funds for the bene- fit of common schools in their towa. the money so appropriated shall be denominated * the common school fund of such town, 'and shall be under the care and superin- tendence of the [auperyisorj of said town. "5 3. If any such meeting shall appropriate such money or funds for the benefit of common schools, after such appropriation shall have been made, and after the [super- visors] shall have talien the oath of otBce, the overseers of the poor of such towns shall then pay over and deliver to the said [supervisor] such moneys, bonds, mort- gages, notes, and other securities remaining in their hands, as sych overseers of the poor, as will comport with the appropriation madefor the benefit of common schools of their town. "§4. The said [supervisors] may sue for and collect, in their name of office, the money due or to become due on such bonds, mortgages, notes or other securities, and also all other securities by them taken under the provisions of this act. **g5. The moneys, bonds, mortgages, notes and other securities aforesaid shall con- tinue and be a permanent fund, to be denominated the common school fund of the town appropriating the same, the annual interest of which shall be applied to the support of common schools in such towns, unless the inhabitants of such town, in annual town meeting, shall make a different disposition of the whole of the principal and interest, or any part thereof, for the benefit of the common schools of such town. " § 6. The said [supervisors], whenever the whole or any part of the principal of said fund shall come to their hands, shall loan the same on boud, secured by a mortgage on real estate of double the value of the moneys so loaned, exclusive of buildings or other artificial erections thereon. " § 7. The said [supervisors] may purchase in the estate on which the fund shall have been secured, upon the foreclosure of any mortgage, and may hold and convey the same for the use of said fund. "§8. The said [supervisors] shall retain the interest of said common school fund, which shall be distributed and applied to the support of common schools of such town, in like manner as the public money for the support of common schools shall be dis- tributed by law. " § 9. The said [supervisors] shall account annually, in such manner and at such times as town officers are required by law to account, aud shall deliver to their successors in office all moneys, boolts, securities and papers whatsoever relating to said fund, and shall take a receipt therefor, and file the same with the town clerk." § 3. A supervisor who shall embezzle or apply to his own private use any money or security received by him under any provisions of this act, including the two preceding sections of this title, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and any fine imposed upon a conviction thereof shall be for the benefit of the common schools of the town. Supervisor to give bonds for town fund. Chapter 78, Laws of 1866. § 1. In addition to the bond or bonds that the supervisors of the several towns in this State are now by law required to execute, the supervisor of every town in this 436 Teust Funds. state, which has a local school fund belongine to said town, shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, esecute a bond, with two or more sufBcient sureties, in double the amount of all school moneys, funds or securities belonging to such town, and which by law is under the control or in the custody of the supervisor of such town ; such bond to be in accordance with the requirements of section twenty of chap- ter one hundred and seventy-nine, Laws of eighteen hundred and flfty-sls, and sub- ject to all the provisions thereof, except as herein specified. Section 20, chapter 179, Laws of 1856, has been amended by section 31, title III of the Consolidated School Act of 1864. It would seem that a separate bond for the security of the "moneys, funds and securities" belonging to the towns must be given. UNION FREE SCHOOLS. Title IX. Section 1, Whenever fifteen persons entitled to vote at any meeting of the inhabitants of any school district in the state, shall sign a call for a meeting, to be held for the purpose of determining whether a union free school shall be established therein, in conformity with the provisions of this title, it shall be the duty of the trustees of such district, within ten days after such call shall have been presented to them, to give public notice that a meeting of the inhabitants of such district, entitled to vote thereat, will be held for such purpose as aforesaid, at the school- house, or other more suitable place, in such district, on a day and, at an hour in such notice to be specified, not more than twenty days after the publication of such notice. If the trustees shall refuse to give such notice, or shall neglect to give the same for twenty days, the superintendent of public instruction may author- ize and direct any inhabitant of said district to give the same. The qualifications of the inhabitants, entitled to vote at such meeting as now by law expressed, shall be sufficiently set forth in the notice aforesaid. Union free school districts were first formed under the act of 1853, the object of which was to promote the interests of education through the consolidation of districts, and the improvement of the schools by increasing the number of pupils and the property liable to contribute to the support thereof. It was during that exciting period when the question of free schools was being agi- tated throughout the State, and was one important step that led up to the act of 1867, making all schools free. The act of 1853 was incorporated into the consolidated school act of 1864 as title IX thereof. The formation of a union free school district is a statutory proceeding, and unless formed by special act of the legislature, it rests entirely with the inhabit- ants. 438 Uniok Feee Schools. Poem of Gail. The undersigned, inhabitants of school district No. , in the town of , entitled to vote at any meetings of the inhabitants of said district, hereby call for a meeting, to be held for the purpose of determining by a vote of such district whether a union free school shall be established therein, in conformity with the provisions to that end of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864. This first being signed by at least fifteen qualified voters, should be delivered to the trustees. Form op Notice. The undersigned trustees of school district No. , in the town of , in compliance with a call of fifteen (or more than fifteen) persons, entitled to vote at any meeting of the inhabitants of said district, hereby give notice that a meeting of the inhabitants of said district, entitled to vote thereat, will be held at (the school-house or other more suitable place) on day of next, at o'clock in the noon, for the purpose of determining by a vote of such district whether a union free school shall be established therein, in con- formity with the provisions to that end of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, and the amendments thereof. The persons entitled to vote at such meeting are those who possess one or more of the following four qualifications: 1st. Every person of full age, who is a resident of the district, entitled to hold lands in this State, who either owns or hires real estate in the district liable to taxation for school purposes. 2d. Every resident of the district, who is a citizen of the United States, 31 years of age, and who is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. 3d. Every resident of the district, a citizen of the United States, 21 years of age, not being the parent, who shall have permanently residing with him or her a child of school age, which shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. 4th. Every resident and citizen of full age, who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value exclusi^ve of property exempt from execution. Dated this day of , 18 . (Signed) A. B., ) Trustees of District C. D., [No. , in the E. P.. ) town of The notice is given by posting in at least five conspicuous places in the dis- trict, and by serving upouall the inhabitants entitled to vote at the meeting. (See Meetings.) § 2. Whenever such district shall correspond whoUy or in part with an incorporated village, in which there shall be published a daily or weekly newspaper, the 'notice aforesaid shall be given by posting at least five copies thereof, severally, in various conspicu- ous places in said district, at least twenty days prior to such meet- ing, and by causing the same to be published once a week for three consecutive weeks before such meeting, in all the newspa- pers published in said district. In other districts the said notice TJjsrioif Fbeb Schools. 439 shall be given by posting the same as aforesaid, and in addition thereto, the trustees of such district shall authorize and require any taxable inhabitant of the same, to notify every other inhabit- ant (qualified to vote as aforesaid), of such meeting, to be called as aforesaid, who shall give such notification in the manner and subject to the penalty prescribed in the case of the formation of a new school district by title seven of this act. {As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 50, Laws o/'lSTB.) Where the district is composed wholly or in part of an incorporated village in which is published a newspaper, the personal service upon each inhabitant is not required. Besides posting five copies of the notice in so many conspicuous places in the district (which may be done by the trustees), they must cause it to be pub- lished in all the newspapers published in the district. § 3. The reasonable expense of such notices, and of their pub- lication and service, shall be chargeable upon the district, in case a union free school is established by the meeting so convened, to be levied and collected by the trustees, as in cases of taxes now levied for school purposes ; but in the event that such union free school shall not be established, then the said expense shall be chargeable upon the inhabitants signing the call, jointly and sev- erally, to be sued for if necesssary in any court having jurisdic- tion of the same. When the notices are served by a taxable inhabitant under direction of the trustees no fees can be charged. The only expense of the service seems to be ior the publication in a newspaper or newspapers. § 4. Whenever fifteen persons, entitled as aforesaid, from each of two or more adjoining districts, shall unite in a call for a meet- ing of the inhabitants of such districts, to determine whether such districts shall be consolidated by the establishment of a union free school therefor and therein, it shall be the duty of the trus- tees of such districts or a majority of them, to give like public notice of such meeting, at some convenient place within such dis- tricts and as central as may be, within the time, and to be pub- lished and served in the manner set forth in the second section of this title, in each of such districts. The reasonable expenses of preparing, pubHshing and serving such notices shall be chargeable upon the union free school district, and be collected by tax, if a 440 UKioif Free Schools. union free school shall be established pursuant to such call ; but otherwise the signers of the call shall be jointly and severally liable for such expenses. The superintendent of public instruction may order such meeting, under the conditions and in the manner prescribed in the first section of this title. {As amended iy sec. 15, chap. 647, Laws of 1866.) The provisions of section 3, concerning publishing the notice in a news- paper, are applicable when either of the districts affected embraces part of an incorporated village. The form of the call under this section may be the same as that above given under section 1 of this title, except that it should expressly call "for the consolidation of said districts (the numbers of which will be previously stated) and for a meeting," etc. It must be signed by at least thirty, or, if it is pro- posed to consolidate three districts, by forty-five persons, fifteen of whom must be qualified voters in each of the districts. Where there are less than fifteen voters in any one of these districts, it is believed that the requirements of the law will be satisfied if aU the voters of such district sign the call. The trus- tees of each district should appoint a taxable inhabitant to give personal notice therein; and five copies of the call and notice should be posted in each of the districts, signed by a majority of the board composed of the trustees of all the districts to which the notice relates. The place of meeting may be in either district. It is important that the original call and notices should be preserved, to be filed with the certified copy of the minutes in the town clerk's oflBce. If the proposed consolidated district includes parts of more than one county, the call and notices should be signed in duplicate. § 5. Any such meeting, held as aforesaid, shall be organized by the appointment of a chairman and secretary, and may he adjourned from time to time by a majority vote; provided that such adjournment shall not be for a longer period than ten days ; and whenever any such meeting, at which not less than fifteen persons entitled to vote thereat shall, by the afiirmative vote of a majority present and voting, determine to establish a union free school in said district, pursuant to such notice, it shall thereupon be lawful for such meeting to proceed to the election, by ballot, of not less than three, nor more than nine trustees, who shall, by the order of such meeting, be divided into three several classes ; the first to hold until one, the second until two, and the third until three years from the last Tuesday in August coincident with or following, except in the eases in the next section provided for ; and when the trustees so elected shall enter upon their oflSee, the office of any existing triistee or trustees shall cease, except for the purposes stated in section eleven of title six of this act. The said trustees, and their successors in office, shall constitute the board of edu<-ation of and for the union free school district for which they TjNIOlf PbBE SCHOOIiS. 441 are elected, and the designation of such district as imion free school district number , of the town of , shall be made by the school commissioner having jurisdiction of the district ; and the said board shall have the name and style of the board of education of (adding the designation as aforesaid) ; copies of said call, minutes of said meeting or meetings, duly certified by the chairman and secretary thereof, shall be by them, or either of them, transmitted and deposited, one to and with the town clerk, one to and with the school commissioners, in whose jurisdiction said districts are located, and one to and witli the superintendent of public instruction ; but when at any such meeting, the question as to the establishment of a union free school shall not be decided in the affirmative, as aforesaid, then all further proceedings at such meeting, except a motion to reconsider or adjourn, shall be dispensed with, and no such meeting shall be again called within one year thereafter. {As amended hy sec. 2, chap. 50, Laws of 1876, and hy sec. 10, chap. 413, Laws o/^1883, and see. 2, chap^ 49, Laws of 1884.) The order of business as indicated by this section is, Mrst. The appointment of a chairman and secretary. Second. The action upon a resolution to form a union free school district. Third. The election of trustees. The number of persons present entitled to vote should first be ascertained, and if found to be sufficient to give jurisdiction of the subject, the question should be brought before it by a resolution that ' ' a union free school be es- tablished within the limits of districts No. , in the town of , and No. , in the town of , pursuant to the provisions of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864 and the amendments thereof." The law is silent about the man- ner of taking the vote upon this question. It may, therefore, be by calling the ayes and noes, or by the raising of hands, or by a division of the house and count. All that is required is that fifteen of the legal voters shall be present, and that a majority of those present and voting shall be in the affirmative. The meeting may adjourn from time to time by the vote of a majority of those present, although these are less than fifteen of the inhabitants, but for not more than ten days at each time. At any such adjourned session the question may be taken on the resolution above mentioned; but when it has once been decided in the negative, by failing to receive a majority vote, no further pro- ceedings are in order except a motion to adjourn without day, or a motion to reconsider, which latter motion may be carried by a majority vote, and the ses^on may then be adjourned. On the reconsideration, at the adjourned meeting, if the resolution should be again lost, all further proceedings are to be suspended for one year. If the resolution to establish a free school shall pass, the meeting must next fix upon the number of trustees to constitute tlie board of education. It may be a number not divisible by three, as five or seven, and in such case the meet- ing may divide them into unequal classes, by a resolution which should be adopted before proceeding to an election. 56 442 Un^ion Peee Schools. The election of trustees must he by baUot.. The term for which each candi- date is voted must be distinctly written or printed upon the ballot. The trus- tees elected are to enter upon their duties at once, but their terms of office will be for one, two and three years from the succeeding last Tuesday in August. An important duty of the officers of the meeting is to make and file the rec- ord of the proceedLogs. This record must contain a copy of the petition pre- sented to the trustees, the call for the meeting, and the minutes thereof, and be certified by both chairman and secretary. The duties of these officers will not terminate until such copy of the proceedings is transmitted to the town clerk, school commissioner and Superintendent of public instruction respect- ively. The school commissioner will number the district. If it is formed from one district, it will have the same number in the town as the old district, only it will be union free school district instead of common school district. If it is formed from two or more districts the commissioner will give it the num- ber of one of such old districts. § 6. Whenever said board of education shall be constituted for any district or districts whose limits correspond with those of any incorporated village or city, the trustees so elected shall, by the order of such meeting, be divided into three several classes : the first class to serve until one, the second until two, and the third until three years after the day of the next charter election in such village or city, and their regular term of service shall be computed from the several days of such charter elections, and not from the second Tuesday in October. And thereafter there shall be an- nually elected in such villages and cities, by separate ballot, to be indorsed "school trustees," in the same manner as , the charter ofiicers thereof, trustees of the said union free schools, to supply the places of those whose terms by the classification aforesaid are about to expire. The districts formed under this act are of two kinds, viz.: those whose lim- its correspond with those of an incorporated village or city and those whose limits do not so correspond. Particular attention is called to this fact as the provision."! relating to the different districts are not always found in separate sections, thus requiring a very careful reading. The above section applies exclusively to districts whose limits correspond with those of an incorporated village or city. The election of trustees, after the first, must be held as a part of the charter election. Chapter 248, Laws of 1878, as amended, providing for the election of officers in districts having upwards of 300 children of school age does not apply to such districts. § 7. The said boards of education are hereby severally created* bodies-corporate, and each shall, at its first meeting, and at each annual meeting thereafter, elect one of their number president. They may, with the advice and consent of a majority of the legal voters entitled to vote on questions of taxation, to be had at an UNION' Fkee Schools. 443 annual meeting of the inhabitants, appoint a clerk to the board. Such appointed clerk must be a resident of the district, and a person other than a trustee or a teacher in the employ of the board. The clerk so appointed shall be the general librarian of the district, and also perform all the clerical and other duties per- taining to his office. For his services he shall be entitled to re- ceive a salary, vrhich shall not be greater than twenty-five cents a year for each scholar, to be computed from the actual average daily attendance for the previous year, as set forth in the annual report to the school commissioner, or less, as in the best judg- ment of said legal voters to be had at such annual meeting ; such consent and approval not to be for a longer period of time than one year. In case no provision is made at an annual meeting of the inhabitants for the appointment and payment of a clerk, then and in that case the board will appoint one of their own number to act as clerk. In districts other than those whose hmits corre- spond with those of any city or incorporated village, said board shall have power to appoint one of the taxable inliabitants of their district treasurer, and another collector of the moneys to be raised within the same for school purposes, who shall severally hold such appointments during the pleasure of the board. Such treasurer and collector shall each, and within ten days after notice in writing of his appointment, duly served upon him, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to the said board of education a bond, with such sufficient penalty and sureties as the board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. And in case such bond shall not be given within the time specified, such office shall thereby become vacant, and said board shall thereupon, by appointment, supply such vacancy. {As amended hy chap. 161, Laws of 1877.) This section provides for the appoiutment of a president of the board, a clerk and librarian, and, in districts whose limits do not correspond with the limits of any city or incorporated village, a treasurer and a collector. The annual meeting of the board of education of every union free school district is held under section nine of this title on the first Tuesday of Sep- tember, and the president elected thereat shall act as such for one year. Clgrk. — The board can appoint a clerk, who will be entitled to a salary, when so authorized by an annual meeting. The meeting does not appoint, but may ' ' advise and consent " to the appointment of a clerk at a certain salary, which is limited to twenty-five cents for each pupil of the number in actual average daily attendance during the previous school year as reported to the school commis- ■444 Uifios' Free Schools. sioner. The authorization of the meetiiig to the appointment is valid for one year only. The cleric so appointed does not hold over after the expiration of his term of office, which is one year from the date of the annual meeting. If no provision is made by the annual meeting for a clerk, the board shall appoint one of their number as clerk, but no salary or compensation can be paid for his services. Treasurer and Collector. — In districts corresponding in territory with a city or incorporated village, the district does not require a treasurer or collector as the duties of those officers are performed by the municipal officers. In districts not corresponding in territory with a city or incorporated village, the board shall appoint a taxable inhabitant treasurer and another collector. The terms of such officers are not fixed. Thfly can be removed or superseded at the pleasure of the board. Such officers cannot be members of the board. The amendment made to this section in 1877 was the provision for the appointment of a clerk other than a member of the board. The towns of Cort- landt and White Plains in the county of Westchester are excepted from the provisions of the amendment. The section as passed in 1864 applies to those towns. § 8. The corporate authorities of any incorporated village or city, in which any such iinion free school shall be established, shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal prop- erty in said city or village, as by law provided for the defraying of the expenses of its municipal government, such sura or sums as the board of education established therein shall declare necessary for the furtherance of any of the powers vested in them by law. The sums so declared necessary shall be set forth in a detailed statement in writing, addressed to the corporate authorities by the board of education, giving the various purposes of anticipated expenditure, and the amount necessary for each ; and the s lid cor- porate authorities shall have no power to witKhold the sums so declared to be necessary for teachers' wages and the ordinary con- tingent expenses of supporting the school or schools of said district. This section applies only to districts whose boundaries correspond with the limits of any incorporated village or city. The " detailed statement " is an estimate of the several amounts necessary for the maintenance of the school required to be raised by tax upon the district. It is not confined to the ordinary running expenses of the schools, but includes all expenses of building, hiring or purchasing school-houses and school-house sites, in fact any and every expenditure that must be made for the school district. The estimate of teachers' wages and the ordinary contingent expenses must be allowed and raised by the corporate authorities. What are the ' ' ordinary contingent expenses " may be a subject of dispute, but they will necessarily include fuel, cleaning, repairs, furniture to replace what has been broken or worn out, and similar expenditures. If such questions arise in any district, and cannot be settled by the corporate authorities and board of education, they are to be referred to the Superin- tendent under section 18 of this title. Union Fbee Schools. 445 § 9. In case the corporate authorities shall refuse to provide for any or all of the other purposes of expenditure declared necessary in the statement aforesaid, they shall communicate in writing to the said board of education their objections to each and every expenditure which they refuse to allow, and thereupon the said board of education shall cause the said communication to be published six times in at least one paper published or circula- ting in such district, and the said corporate authorities may, at any time, reconsider their action in refusing to allow such ex- penditures, or any of them, or may allow such other sums for any or all of such expenditures as the board of education in any subsequent or modified statement may recommend. The annual meeting of the board of education of every union free school district shall be held on the first Tuesday of September in each year. {As amended by sec. 11, chap. 413, Laaos of 1883.) § 10. A majority of the voters of any union free school dis- trict, other than those whose limits correspond with an incor- porated city or village, present at any annual or special district meeting, duly convened, may authorize such acts, and vote such taxes as they shall deem expedient for making additions, altera- tions or improvements to or in the sites or structures belonging to the district, or for the purchase of other sites or structures, or for a change of sites, or for the erection of new buildings, or for buying apparatus or fixtures, or for paying the wages of teachers and the necessary expenses of the schools, or for such other pur- pose relating to the support and welfare of the school as they may, by resolution approve ; and they may direct the moneys so voted to be levied in one sum, or by installments, but no ad- dition to or change of site or purchase of a new site or tax for the purchase of any new site or structure, or for the purchase of an addition to the site of any school-house, or for building any new school-house or for the erection of an addition to any school- house already built, shall be voted at any such meeting unless a notice by the board of education stating that such tax will be proposed, and specifying the amount and object thereof, shall have been published once in each week for the four weeks next preceding such district meeting, in two newspapers, il there shall 446 Un'ion' Free Schools. be two, or m one newspaper, if there shall be but one, published in such district. But if no newspaper shall then be published therein, the said notice shall be posted up in at least ten of the most pub- lic places in said district twenty days before the time of such meeting. And whenever a tax for any of the objects hereinbe- fore specified shall be legally voted the board of education shall make out their tax list, and attach their warrant thereto, in the manner provided in article seven of title seven of this act, for the collection of school district taxes, and, shall cause such taxes or such installments to be collected at such times as they shall be- come due. No vote to raise money shall be rescinded, nor the amount thereof be reduced at any subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days after the same shall have been first voted. For the purpose of giving effect to these provisions, trus- tees or boards of education are hereby authorized, whenever a tax shall have been voted to be collected in installments for the purpose of building a new school-house, or for the purchase of a new site, or for an addition to a site, to borrow so much of the sum voted as may be necessary, at a rate of interest not exceed- ing six per cent, and to issue bonds or other evidences of in- debtedness therefor, which shall be a charge upon the district, and be paid at maturity, and which shall not be sold below par ; due notice of the time and place of the sale of such bonds shall be given at least ten days prior thereto. {As amended by sec. 3, chap. 49, Laws of 1884, and hy sec. 1, chap. 595, Laws of 1886.) This section applies only to districts whose limits do not correspond with the limits of a city or incorporated village. The inhabitants have the power when duly assembled in any annual or special meeting to vote taxes upon the taxable property of the district; and no limit is placed thereon so long as the tax is for one of the objects enumerated in the section or is " for the support and welfare of the school as they may by resolution approve." Money cannot be voted to be expended for a school-house or school-house site, excepting repairs, without a notice being given as prescribed, of such contemplated action. These are the two most important and largest expendi- tures made by a district, and the statute intends that before any action can be taken thereon, the inhabitants shall have full opportunity, through the notice, to discuss and consider the matter, and know what the propositions aie that will be acted upon by the meeting. Any tax voted under the authority of this section can be raised in install- ments, but the money can be borrowed and bonds or other evidences of in- debtedness given only when the tax voted to be raised in installments is for the purpose of "building a new school-house or for the purchase of a new site or for an addition to a site." Ukiok Free Schools. 447 § 11. Anj moneys required to pay teachers' wages, in a union free school, or in the academical department thereof, after the due application of the school moneys thereto, shall be raised by tax, and not by rate bill. § 12. Every union free school district shall, for all the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school moneys, be regarded and recognized as a school district. § 13. The said board of education of every union free school district shall severally have power : 1. To pass such by-laws as they may deem proper for the regu- lation and exercise of their lawful business and powers. 2. To establish such rules and regulations concerning. the order and discipline of the school or schools, in the several departments thereof, as they may deem necessary to secure the best educational results. 3. To grade and classify the school or schools of the district, and to regulate the admission of pupils and their transfer from one class or department to another, as their scholarship shall warrant. 4. To prescribe the text-books to be used in the schools, and to compel a uniformity in the use of the same, and to furnish the same to pupils out of any moneys provided for that purpose. Chapter 413 of the laws of 1877 as amended, entitled " An act to prevent frequent changes of text- books in schools," applies to union free school dis- tricts, and boards of education are governed by both that act and subdivision 7 of this section. 5. To take charge and possession of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus, and all school property within their respective districts ; and the title of the same shall be vested respectively in said board of education, and the same shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose. 6. To take and hold for the use of the said schools or of any department of the same, any real estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, or any gift, legacy or annuity, of what- ever kind, given or bequeathed to the said board, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the instruc- tions of the donor or testator. 448 Union Fbeb Schools. 7. To have in all respects the superintendence, management and control of said union free schools, and to establish in the same an academical department :whenever, in their judgment, the same is warranted by the demand for such instruction ; to receive into said union free schools any pupils residing out of said districts, and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools ; provided, that if such non-resident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the support of said schools in the districts, or either of them, on account of owning property therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guard- ian, shall be deducted from the charge for tuition ; to provide fuel, furniture, apparatus, and other necessaries for the use of said schools, and to appoint such librarians as they may from time to time, deem necessary. (^Amended hy sec. 1, chap. 134, Laws of 1879.) In 1884 a general act was passed, allowing non-resident pupils to offset against tuition charges any tax levied against them, their parents or guardians, on account of owning property in the district. This act was amended in 1885, and is substantially the same as the above subdivision, except that it is more full and comprehensive in its provisions. It really amends subdivision 7 and applies to union free school districts. Chapter 413, Laws of 1884. Section 1. Pupils attending any free school, whether the same be organized under chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled ' ' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," or under any special act applying to a village or city, if residing out of the districts where said schools are kept, shall be subject to the payment of the tuition prescribed by the proper authorities; provided, that if such non-resident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for the support of said schools in the said districts, on account of owning property therein, the amount of any such tax paid by a non-resident pupil, his parent or guardian, during the same school year in which the charge for tuition was incurred, shall be deducted from such charge for tuition. {As amended hy see. 11, ehap. 403, Laws of 1885.) 8. To contract with and employ qualified teachers in the several departments of instruction, in all not less than one for every fifty pupils attending such schools ; to remove them at any time for neglect of duty or for immoral conduct, and to pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated for that "purpose. (As amended hy sec. 17, chap. 647, Laws of 1865.) The following act applies to boards of education of union free school dis- tricts : Unioh^ Fbee Schools. 449 Chapter 335, Laws op 1887. Section 1. From and after the passage of this act, all ofEcers or boards of officers who shall employ any teacher to teach in any of the public schools of this State shall, at the time of such employment, make and deliver to such teacher, or cause to be made and delivered, a memorandum in writing, signed by said officer, or by the members of said board, or by some person duly authorized by said board, to represent them in the premises, in which the details of the agreement between the parties, and particularly the length of the term of employment, the amount of compensation and the time or times when such compensation shall be due and payable, shall be clearly and defi- nitely set forth. But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to abridge or otherwise aft'ect the term of employment of any teacher now or hereafter employed in the public schools, nor to repeal or affect any provision of special laws concerning the employment or removal of teachers now in force in any particular locality. ^ 3. The pay of any teacher employed in the public schools of this State shall be due and payable at least as often as at the end of each calendar month of the term of employment. This law is commented upon in the chapter on Teachers to which reference is made. 9. To fill any vacancy which may happen in said board by reason of the death, removal or refusal to serve of any member or officer of said board ; and the person so appointed in the place of any such member of the board shall hold his office until the next election of trustees, as by this act provided. 10. To remove any member of their board for official miscon- duct. But a written copy of all charges made of such misconduct shall be served upon him at least ten days before the time appointed for a hearing of the same ; and he shall be allowed a fuU and fair opportunity to refute such charges before removal. 11. And generally to possess all the powers and privileges, and be subject to aU the duties in respect to the common schools, or the common school departments in any union free school in said dis- tricts, which the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, not inconsistent with the provisions of this title ; and to enjoy, whenever an academical department shall be by them estab- lished, all the immunities and privileges now enjoyed by the trustees of academies in this State. It is the intention of this act to give to boards of education increased powers over those possessed by trustees of common school districts, and such exposi- tion as may be required upon this subject will be found in the chapters com- prising part II of this Code. § 14. In union free school districts other than those whose limits correspond with any city or incorporated village, the board 57 450 Union Peee Schools. of education shall have power to call special meetings of the inhabitants, in the manner provided in section six of title seven of this act for calling special meetings of districts by trustees, and they shall give notice of the time and place of holding the annual school district meeting, wl)ich shall be held on the last Tuesday of August in each year. {As amended hy sec. 12, chap. ^12, Laws of 1883.) The manner of calling special meetings will be found in the chapter on § 15. It shall be the duty of the board at the annual meeting of the district, besides any other report or statement required by law, to present a detailed statement in writing of the amount of money which will be required for the ensuing year for school purposes, exclusive of the public moneys, specifying the several purposes for which it will be required, and the amount for each ; but noth- ing in this section contained shall be construed to prevent the board from presenting such statement at any special meeting called for the purpose, nor from presenting a supplementary and amended statement or estimate at any time. § 16. After the presentation of such statement, the question shall be taken upon voting the necessary taxes to meet the esti- mated expenditures, and wlien demanded by any voter present, the question shall be taken upon each item separately, and the inhabitants may increase the amount of any estimated expendi- ture or reduce the same, except for teachers' wages, and the ordinary contingent expenses of the school or schools. § 17. If the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote the sum or sums estimated necessary for teachers' wages, after applying thereto the public school moneys, and other moneys received or to be received for that purpose, provided such estimate shall be for no more than one teacher for each fifty pupils attending such school, or if they shall neglect or refuse to vote the sum or sums estimated necessary for ordinary contingent expenses, the board of education may levy a tax for the same, in like manner as if the same had been voted by the inhabitants.. § 18. If any question siiall arise as to what are ordinary con- tingent expenses, the same may be referred to the superintendent of public instruction, by a statement in writing, signed by one or Uniok Fkee Schools. 451 more of each of the opposing parties upon the question, and the decision of the superintendent shall be conclusive. § 19. It shall be the duty of each of tlie said boards of educa- tion, elected pursuant to the provisions of this title, to have a regular meeting at least once in each quarter, and at such meetings to appoint one or more committees, to visit every school or depart- ment under the supervision of said board, and such committees shall visit all said schools at least twice in each quarter, and report at the next regular meeting of the board on the condition and prospects thereof. § 20. It shall also be the auty of said boards, respectively, to have reference in all their expenditures and contracts to tlie amount of moneys which shall be appropriated, or subject to their order or drafts, during the current year, and not to exceed that amount. And said boards shall severally apply all the moneys apportioned to the common school districts under their charge, to the departments below the academical ; and all moneys from the literature fund or otherwise, appropriated for the support of the academical departments, to the latter departments. § 21. All moneys raised for the use of the union free schools in any city or incorporated village, or apportioned to the same from the income of the literature, common-school or United States deposit funds, or otherwise, shall be paid into the treasury of such city or village, to the credit of the board of education therein ; and the funds so received into such treasury shall be kept separate and distinct from any other funds received into the said treasury. And the officer having the charge tliereof, shall give such additional security for the safe custody thereof as the corporate authorities of such city or village shall require. No money shall be drawn from such funds, credited to the several boards of education, unless in pursuance of a resolution or resolu- tions of said board, and on drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the secretary, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such money, and stating on their face the purpose or service for which such moneys have been authorized to be paid by the said board of education. § 22. All moneys raised for the use of said union free schools, other than those whose limits correspond with those of any cities 452 Unios" Fkbb Schools. and incorporated villages, or apportioned from the income of the literature or common-school or United States deposit funds, or otherwise, shall be paid to tlie respective treasurers of the said several boards of education entitled to receive the same, and be by them applied to the uses of said several boards, who shall annually render their accounts of all moneys' i-eceived and expended by them for the use of said schools, with every voucher for the same, and certified copies of aU orders of the said boards touching the same, to the school commissioner of the town in which the principal school-house of the district is located. § 23. Every academical department, established as aforesaid, shall be under the visitation of the regents of the university, and shall be subject, in its course of education and matters pertaining thereto (but not in reference to the buildings or erections in which the same is held), to all the regulations made in regard to acade- mies by the said regents. In such departments the qualifications for the entrance of any pupil shall be as high as those established by the said regents for participation in the literature fund of any academy of the state under their supervision. § 24. Whenever a union free school shall be established under the provisions of this title, and there shall exist within its district an academy, the board of education, if thereto authorized by a vote of the voters of the district, may adopt such academy as the academical department of the district, with the consent of the trustees of the academy, and thereupon the trustees, by a resolu- tion to be attested by the signatures of the officers of the board, and filed in the office of the clerk of the county, shall declare their offices vacant, and thereafter the said academy shall be the academ- ical department of such union free school. The effect of this section is, probably, to transfer to the board of education title to all the property of the academy, provided the proceedings are all regu- lar. For greater security, however, the trustees of the academy ought to execute and deliver to the board of education a deed of their land and build- ings, which should be properly acknowledged and recorded. § 25. Every union free school district, in all its departments, shall be subject to the visitation of the superintendent of public instruction. He is charged with the general supervision of its board of education and their management and conduct in all its Union Fbee Schools. 453 departments of instruction. Ajid every board of education shall annually, between the twentieth day of August and the last Tues- day of August, make to the commissioner having jurisdiction, and deposit in the town clerk's office, a report for the preceding school year, of all matters and things which trustees of a school district are required to report, and of all such other matters and things as the superintendent shall from time to time require, and shall also, whenever thereto required by the superintendent of public instruction, report fully to him upon any particular matter or thing, and such reports shall be in such form, and so authenti- cated, as the superintendent shall from time to time require. {As amended by chap, 413, Zaws of 1883, and hy sec. 8, chap. 340, Laws of 1885.) The superintendent annually prepares and furnishes blanks for the annual reports of the trustees. For instruction as to the filling up of the blanks, ref- erence may be had to comments in the chapter on Reports. § 26. For cause shown, and after giving notice of the charge and opportunity of defense, the superintendent of public instruc- tion may remove any member of a boai'd of education. Willful disobedience of any lawful requirement of the superintendent, or a want of due diligence in obeying such requirement is cause of removal. The procedure under this section would be the same substantially as that for the removal of any school oflScer, as provided under section 18 of title I of this act. » § 27. The provisions of this title shall apply to all union free schools heretofore organized pursuant to the provisions of chapter four hundred and thirty-three of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-three. DISSOLUTION OP UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. Chapter 210, Laws op 1880. Passed Mat 8, 1880. Section 1. In any union free school district established under the laws of this State, it shall bo the duty of the board of educa- tion, upon the application of fifteen resident tax payers of such 454 Us'ioK Feee Schools. district, to call a special meeting in the manner prescribed by law, for the purpose of determining whether application shall be made in the mannei' hereinafter provided, for the dissolution of such union free school district, and for its reorganization as. a common school district or districts. § 2. Whenever, at any such meeting called and held as afore- said, it shall be determined by a majority vote of the legal voters present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, not to dissolve such union free school district, no other meeting for a similar purpose shall be held in said district within three years from the time the first meeting was held, and whenever, at any such meeting called and held as aforesaid, it shall be determined by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters pres- ent and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, to dissolve such union free school district, it shall be the duty of the board of education to present to the clerk of the board of supervisors a certified copy of the call, notice and proceedings, and the said clerk shall lay the same before the board of supervisors at their next meeting. If the board of supervisors shall approve of the proceedings of said meeting, the clerk shall certify the same to the board of education. Such approval shall not take effect until the day preceding the last Tuesday of August next succeeding; but after that date such district shall cease to be a union 'free school district. {As amended hy sea. 15, chap. 413, Laws of 1883.) § 3. If any union free school district dissolved under the fore- going provisions shall have been established by the consolidation of two or more districts, it shall be lawful for the board of super- visors to direct that its territory be divided in two or more dis- tricts to correspond, so far as practicable, with the districts there- tofore consolidated. § 4. If there shall be, in such dissolved union free school dis- trict, an academy which shall have been adopted as the academic department of the union free school, under the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of tlielaws of eighteen hundred and sixty four, it shall, upon the application of a majority of the surviving resident former trustees or stockholders, be trans- Unioit Pbeb Schools. 455 ferred by the board of education to said former trustees or stock- bolders. § 5. The board of supervisors may make its approval of the proceedings of any such meeting held as aforesaid conditional upon the payment, by the district which has been most greatlj' benefited by the consolidation in the way of buildings and other improvements to the otiier district or districts into which the said union free school district is divided, of such sum or sums of money as they may deem equitable. § 6. All moneys remaining in the hands of the treasurer of the union free sciiool district when the order of dissolution shall take effect shall be apportioned equitably among the several districts into which such union free school district is divided, and sliall be paid over to the collectors of such districts when they shall have been elected and have qualified according to law. § Y. The district or districts formed by the dissolution of such union free school district shall hold its or their annual meet- ing or meetings on the last Tuesday of August next, after the dissolution of such union free school district, and shall elect officers as now required by law. {As amended iy sec. 16, chap. 413, Laws of 1S83.) § 8. If the board of supervisors shall not approve the proceed- ings of any such meeting, held as aforesaid, for the purpose of dissolving a union free school district, no other meeting sliall be held in such district, for a similar purpose, within three years from the time the first meeting was held. . § 9. Whenever the proceedings of a meeting, held as aforesaid, for the purpose of dissolving a union free school district, shall have been approved by the boai'd of supervisors and shall have been certified by the clerk of said board to the board of education, it shall be the duty of the board of education of the district affected forthwith to notify the superintendent of public instruc- tion, and to furnish him copies of the call, notice, proceedings of the meeting, and proceedings of the board of supervisors taken thereon. 456 Uniou Free Schools. TEACHERS' CLASSES IN ACADEMIES AND ACADEMICAL DEPART- MENTS OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. CnAPTER 435, Laws op 1877. Section 1. The treasurer shall pay yearly, on the warrant of the comptroller, out of the income of tlie United States deposit fund not otherwise appropriated, the sum of * * * thirty thousand dollars for the instruction in academies and union schools in the science and practice of common-school teaching, under a course to be prescribed by the regents of the university ; * * * § 2. The said regents shall designate the academies and union schools in which the instruction shall be given, distributing them among the counties in the State as nearly as well may be, having reference to the number of school districts in each, to location and to the character of tlie institutions selected. § 3. Every academy and union school so designated shall instruct a class of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five scholars, and every scholar admitted to such class shall continue under instruction not less than ten weeks, all of which shall be in one school term. The regents sliall prescribe the conditions of admission to the classes, tlie course of instruction, and the rules and regulations under which said instruction shall be given, and shall, in their discretion, determine the number of classes which may be formed in any one year in any academy or union school, and the length of time exceeding ten weeks during which such instruction may be given, all of which shall be in the same school term. § 4. Instruction shall be free to all scholars admitted to such classes, and who have continued in them the length of time required by the third section of this act. § 5. The trustees of all academies and union schools in which such instruction shall be given shall be paid from the appropria- tion made by the first section of this act at the rate of one dollar for each week's instruction of each scholar,- on the certificate of the regents of the university to be furnished to the comptroller. UNi02sr Fbee Schools. 457 Chapter 318, Laws of 1882. AN ACT to regulate the instruction of common-school teachers in academies and academical departments of union schools. Sectiok 1. The appropriation provided by chapter four hun- dred and twenty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy- seven, for the instruction in academies and union schools in the science and practice of common-school teaching, shall be deemed to include, and shall include, the due inspection and supervision of such instruction by the regents of the university, and the expenses of such inspection and supervision for the present and each succeeding fiscal year shall be paid out of said appropriation on vouchers certified by the regents of the university. § 2. Each class organized in any academy or union school under appointment by the regents of the university, for instruction in the science and practice of common school teaching, shall be sub- ject to the visitation of the school commissioner of the district in which such academy or imion school is situated ; and it shall be the duty of said commissioner to advise and assist the principals of said academies or union schools in the organization and man- agement, and in the final examination of said classes, and after the close of the terra of instruction of said classes to make to the regents of the imiversity, in the manner to be prescribed by them, a report in regard to the instruction of said classes, and the quali- fications of the individual members thereof. § 3. Each scholar instructed for the full term provided by law, in a class organized for instruction in the science and practice of common-school teacliing, who shall have passed the examination known and designated as the regents' preliminary examination, in arithmetic, English grammar, geography and spelling, and who, in addition, shall have passed the final examination prescribed for such classes by the said regents, including an examination in the history of the United States, the principles of civil government and the methods of teaching, shall be deemed to have sufficient learning to teach in the common schools of the state ; and to each such scholar the regents of the university shall grant a testi- monial which, when indorsed by any school commissioner, shall constitute a certificate of qualification and a license to teach in the 58 458 TJiTiON' Fhee Schools> common schools of his district for a period of one year from the date of such indorsement ; and at the expiration of the period named in said license, and at successive expirations thereafter, said certificate may be re-indorsed by any school commissioner, and at his discretion constituted a license to teach in the common schools of his district for a period not to exceed three years after each re-indorsement. The Regents of the University, having under their charge the appointment and supervision of teachers' classes, have made certain rules and regulations upon the subject from which the following extracts are taken : APPOINTMENTS TO INSTRUCT CLASSES. 1. Under the provisions of chapter 425, §§ a-5,of the Laws of 1877, the Regents designate such a number of the academies and academical departments of union schools under their visitation, to give instruction to classes of common school teachers, as the amount of the appropriation will warrant. The total number of institutions which may thus be appointed in any one year will be about one hundred. 8. In making such appointments the Regents have reference chiefly to the following considerations : (1.) The proper distribution of the institutions among the counties of the State. (2.) The location of the institution in such a way as to accommodate the greatest number of suitable candidates. (3.) The ability of the institution to furnish in the person of its principal or other teacher the best instruction to a teachers' class. (4.) The past record of the institution as showing the character of th#classes heretofore instructed, the character and results of the instruction, and the fidelity vpith which the regulations pre- scribed for the management of the classes have been observed. 3. Appointments are made for the fall, winter or spring terms of the academic year, in accordance with the necessities of the service and the convenience of the institutions; and may in the discretion of the Regents be made for more than one term of the same year. 4. Applications for appointment to instruct classes during the ensuing aca- demic year must be made by the trustees of any academy or academical depart- ment to the Board of Regents before its semi-annual meeting in July. Each application whenever practicable should have the approval of the school com- missioner of the district. 5. A form of application will be furnished when desired as follows: FoBM OP Application. To the Regents of the University of tlie State of New York : The trustees of feeling assured that the institution committed to their care is in possession of the facilities for the proper instruction of com- mon school teachers, hereby apply to the Regents of the University for appoint- ment to instruct a class in the science and art of common school teaching, during the term beginning 18 , and ending 18 , under the course prescribed by the said Regents as provided by law. (Signed) President. Dated 18 . The above application is hereby approved. (Signed) School Commissioner dist. edunty. Union Free Schools. 459 QUALIFICATIONS OP CANDIDATES. 1. The candidates must have attained the age, if males, of eighteen, and if females, of sixteen years. 2. The candidates must have passed the regents' preliminary examination in Arithmetic, English Grammar, Geography and Spelling; but persons giving proniise of being able to pass said examination before the close of the course may be provisionally admitted, on the condition that unless they so pass, their tuition will not be paid by the State. 3. They must subscribe, in good faith, to the following declaration, and the trustees, principal and school commissioner must be satisfied that the candi- dates are honest in making it, and that they have the moral character, talents and aptness necessary to success in teaching: Declabation. " We, the subscribers, hereby declare that our object in asking admission to the teachers' class of academy is to prepare ourselves for teaching in the public schools of this State, and that it is our intention to become teachers." 4. No applicant can be admitted to the full privileges of the class who can- not comply with and be reasonably expected to fulfill all the conditions pre- scribed, and to devote the requisite time to the special work of the class. ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION. 1. The class organized under appointment must consist of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five scholars and must be instructed for a period of not less than ten weeks, all of which must be in one term of the school. 3. The funds at the disposal of the Regents not being sufficient to provide for the desirable number of full classes of twenty-five scholars for a term of thirteen weeks, the time will be limited to ten weeks when the class is full, making a maximum of 250 weeks. 3. When the number in the class is less than twenty-five, the time may be extended, not to exceed thirteen weeks, all in one term, the whole number of weeks not to exceed 250. 4. By chapter 318 of the laws of 1882, the teachers' class in any academy is placed under the supervision of the school commissioner in whose district it is situated, and his approval of the application for the appointment of a class should be secured, as indicated in the form heretofore given. It will be the duty of the principal to notify the school commissioner of the appointment of the school to instruct a class and of the time of its proposed organization. 5. A notice of the organization of the class, in the following form, contain- ing the declarations of the individual members and the date of their admission, etc., must be sent to the of&ce of the Regents within two weeks after the organization. Form of Notice op Organization. To be filled and forwarded to the Regents within two weeks after the organization of the class. This certifies that a teachers' class consisting of the persons whose names are subscribed to the annexed declaration, has been organized under appoint- ment made by the Regents of the University, and is now being regularly in- structed in this institution. (Signed) Principal of Dated, 18 . 460 UisrioN- Feeb Schools. Dbclaeation. We, the subscribers, hereby declare that our object in asking admission to the teachers' class above referred to, is to prepare ourselves for teaching in the public schools of this State, and that it is our intention to become teachers. Date of Admission to Class (month and day). NAME (full Christian). AGE (at last birth day) RESIDENCE (township). POWER OF UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO SELL OR EXCHANGE REAL ESTATE ; ALSO CONCERNINCJ REDUCTION OP NUMBER OP MEMBERS OF BOARDS OP EDUCATION. The following powers were conferred upon boards of supervi- sors by subdivision 28, section 1, chapter 482,. Laws of 1875 : To authorize boards of trustees or of education in any union free school districts, or trustees of common school districts, established in conformity to the general or to any specdal law of the State on the application of a majority of the taxable inhabi- tants of the district, voting on the question at a duly called meet- ing, to sell or exchange real estate belonging to the district, for the purpose of improving or changing school-house sites and to increase or diminish the number of members of said boards. {As amerhded hy see. 1, chap. 239, Laws of 1878.) DECISIONS OP THE COURTS. Canstruction of special act. — The trustees of a school district created by special statute by consolidating the several districts of an incorporated village held not to be county, city, town or village officers within the meaning of the first and second branches of section 3, article 10, of the Constitution. The third branch of section 2 of said 10th article embraces in its scope and language not only trustees of school districts, but also all officers ■whose offices might thereafter be created, such as boards of education and the like. Hence, the legislature did not transcend its powers by the enactment of a special school act consolidating the districts of an incorporated village, and in the creation of a board of education consisting of certain persons named in the act. They are brought within the branch of section 3 of article 10, as officers "whose offices may hereafter be created by law," and may therefore be appointed by the legislature. Trustees of a village required by statute to raise and collect by tax such sums as a board of education created by statute should deem needful on ref us- Union Fees Schools. 461 ing may be compelled by mandamus to do so. (People, ex rel. Bd. Ed., 8a/r. Spring's, v. Trustees of tU Village, 5i Barb. 480, Sup. Ct. 1867.) Union free scliool districts. — Power of school commissioners to alter or divide a union free school district maintained. (People, ex rel. Board of Mducation, District No. 3, Onondaga, v. Hooper, 13 Hun, 639, Sup. Ct. 1878.) When order may take effect. — Such order of alteration cannot take effect without giving the trustees an opportunity to be heard as required by the statute. Where the notice had been given and was subsequently withdrawn by order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the proceeding of altera- tion was reversed on the ground that the opportunity to be heard, to which they were entitled, had not been enjoyed by the trustees. (Id.) Negligence — liability of trustees. — Trustees of union free school districts are personally liable for injuries resulting from their negligence to keep the school-house in repair. (Bassett v. Msh, 13 Hun, 309, Sup. Ct. 1878.) PART III. STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS. Otap. 4.66. AN ACT in regard to normal schools. Passed April 7, 1866; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New Yor-h, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, the State Treasurer, the Attorney- General and the Superintendent of Public Insti-nction, shall con- stitute a commission to receive proposals in writing in regard to the establishment of normal and training schools for the education and discipline of teachers for the common schools of this State, from the board of supervisiors of any county in this State, from the corporate authority of any city or village, from the board of trus- tees of any college or academy, and from one or more individuals. Such commission shall .have power to accept or refuse such pro- posals, but the number accepted shall not exceed four. Such proposals shall contain specifications for the purchase of lands and the erection thereon of suitable buildings for such schools, or for the appropriation of land and buildings to such use, and also the furnishing of such schools with furniture, apparatus, books and everything necessary to their support and management. Such proposals may have in view either the grant and conveyance of such land and premises to the State, or the use of the same for a limited time, and for the gift to the State of furniture, apparatus, books and other things necessary to conduct such schools. § 2. If the proposals made by any board of supervisors or by the corporate authorities of any city or village shall be accepted, said board or corporate authorities shall have power to raise by tax and expend the money necessary to carry the same into effect, and if in their judgment it shall be deemed expedient, they shall have power to borrow money for such purpose, for any time not 464 State Normal Schools. exceeding ten years, and at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent., and issue the corporate bonds of said county, city or village therefor. § 3. "When the said commission shall have accepted proposals and determined the location of any one of such schools, and when suitable grounds and buildings have been set apart and appropri- ated for such schools and all needful preparations made for opening same in accordance with the proposals accepted, the com- mission shall certify the same in writing, and then their power under this act in relation to such school shall cease, and, thereupon, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall appoint a local board, consisting of not less than three persons, who shall respec- tively hold their offices until removed by the concurrent action of the Chancellor of the University and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and who shall have the immediate supervision and management of such school, subject, however, to his general super- vision and to his direction in all things pertaining to the school. Such local board shall have power to appoint one of their number ciiairman, and another secretary of the board. Two-thirds of each of said boards shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, and in the absence of any officer of the board, another member may be appointed pro tempore, to fill his place and perform his duties. It shall be the duty of such board to make and establish, and from time to time to alter and amend such rules and regula- tions for the government of such schools under their charge respectively, as they shall deem best, which shall be subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. They shall also severally transmit through him, and subject to his approval, a report to the legislature on the first day of January in each year, showing the condition of the school under their charge dur- ing the year next preceding, and which report shall be in such form, and contain such an account of their acts and doings as the Superintendent shall direct, including especially, an account in detail of their receipts and expenditures, which shall be duly ver- ified by the oath or affirmation of their chairman and secretary. § 4. It shall be the duty of the local board subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to prescribe the course of study to bef pursued in each of said schools. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to deter- mine what number of teachers shall be employed in each school, and their wages, whose employment shall also be subject to his approval ; to order, in his discretion, that one or more of said schools shall be composed exclusively of males and one or more of females ; to decide upon the number of pupils to be admitted to each of said schools, and to prescribe the time and manner of State Normal Schools. 465 their selection, but he shall take care in such selection to provide that every part of the State shall have its proportionate represen- tation iu such school as near as may be according to population ; but if any school commissioner district or any city, shall not, for any cause, be fully represented in either of said schools, then the Superintendent of Public Instruction may cause tlie maximum number of such pupils to be supplied from any part of the Slate, giving preference, however, to those living in the county, city or village where such school is situated. § 5. All applicants shall be subject, before admission, to a pre- liminary examination before such of the teachers of the school as shall be designated by the local board for that purpose, and those who pass such examination shall be admitted to all the privileges of the school, free from all charges for tuition or for the use of books or apparatus, but every pupil shall pay for books lost by him and for any damage of books in his possession ; any pupil may be dismissed from the school by the local board for immoral or disorderly conduct, or for neglect or inability to per- form his duties. § 6. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall prepare suitable diplomas to be granted to the students of such school, who shall have completed one or more of the courses of study and dis- cipline prescribed, and a diploma signed by him, the chairman and secretary of the local board and the principal of the school, shall be of itself a certificate of qualification to teach common schools, but such diploma may be annulled for the immoral con- duct of its holder in like manner as provided for the annulment of a diploma of State Normal School, in title two, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- four. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to the Oswego Normal Training School. § 7. The sum of twelve thousand dollars shall be annually and is hereby appropriated for the support of each of said normal and training schools to be organized imder this act, payable out of the income of the common school fund, to be paid by the treas- urer on the warrant of the Comptroller, upon the certificate of the Superintendent of Public Instruction aflixed to the proper accounts, verified by the oath or affirmation of the local board of each school ; but none of the money hereby appropriated shall be paid for the purchase of any ground, site or buildings, for tiie use of such schools. § 8. Local boards appointed under this act shall consist of not more than thirteen persons, and the office of any member of any such local board, which now consists of more than thirteen mem- bers, is herehj' declared vacant ; and the said Superintendent of 59 466 State Normal Schools. Public Instruction shall appoint a new local board, and may fill, by appointment, all vacancies occurring in said local boards. Until the appointment of such new local board, and until a quorum of such board shall have entered upon the discbarge of its duties, and during such time as any local board shall omit to discharge its duties, the said Superintendent is authorized to discharge the duties of such local board or any of its officers ; and the acts of said Superintendent in the premises shall be as valid and binding as if done by a competent local board or its officers, or with tiieir co-operation. {fhis section added hy Laws of 1869, chap. 18.) CHAPTER 492, LAWS OF 1870. [From the Supply Bill.] The local boards of the several State normal schools are hereby authorized to expend, under the direction of the Superin'tendent of Public Instruction, the moneys now on hand received for tuition in any of the departments of the respective schools, and the moneys hereafter to be received for such tuition, for appara- tus, repairs, insurance, furniture or other improvements upon tlie grounds or buildings, or for the ordinary expenses of the respec- tive schools. The following is from a circular issued by Superintendent A. S. Draper, August 35, 1887: It is found that sums received for tuition fees or otherwise are not in all cases credited upon bills forwarded for approval, but only appear in the aggre- gate in the annual report. All expenditures of such moneys must be made only with the approval of this Department, and should appear not only in the annual reports but in the current accounts presented for settlement. When there is a sum in the hands of the treasurer sufficient to pay any ordinary out- standing liability, it should be so used, and the amount so paid, together with the statement of what it was paid for, should appear as a credit in the next budget of accounts, in reduction of the sum needed from the State treasury to settle the same. In this way it will be possible at any time to account for and exhibit the vouchers, which will justify the expenditure of every dollar com- ing to our hands either by legislative appropriation, receipts for tuition or otherwise. CHAPTER 333, LAWS OF 1875. Section 1. In each of the State normal schools the course of study shall embrace instruction in industrial or free-hand drawing. State Normal Schools. 467 Chap. 348. AN ACT concerning the grounds, buildings and property of the State provided for normal schools, the custody, protection and f)reservation of the same, and the powers of local boards in re- ation thereto. Passed May 20, 1880; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate ■and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The local boards of managers of the respective nor- mal schools in this State sliall have the custody, keeping and management of the grounds and buildings provided or used for the purposes of such schools, respectively, and other property of the State pertaining thereto, with power to protect, preserve and improve the same. § 2. Any willful trespass in or upon any of the buildings or grounds provided or used for the purposes of any of said normal schools or willful injury to any of said buildings or grounds, or any trees, fences, fixtures or other property thereon pertaining thereto, shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprison- ment, or either*, and concurrently with the courts of record, justices of the peace, police justices and courts of special sessions, in the towns and cities where said schools are situated, shall have the same jurisdiction of said offenses as they have in other cases of misdemeanors within their jurisdiction. § 3. For the purpose of protecting and preserving such build- ings, grounds and other property, and preventing injuries thereto, and preserving order, preventing disturbances, and preserving the peace in such buildings and upon such grounds, the local boards of managers of each of said normal schools shall have power, by resolution or otherwis^e, to appoint, from time to rime, one or more special policemen, and the same to remove at pleasure, who shall be police officers, with the same powers as constables of the town or city where such school is located, whose duty it shall be to preserve order and prevent disturbances and breaches of tlie peace in and about the buildings, and on and about the grounds used for said school, or pertaining thereto, and protect and pre- serve the same from injury, and to arrest any and all persons making any loud or unusual noise, causing any disturbance, com- mitting any breach of the peace, or misdemeanor or any willful trespass upon such grounds, or in or upon said buildings, or any part thereof, and convey such person or persons so arrested, with a statement of the cause of the arrest, before a proper magistrate to be dealt with according to law. § i. This act shall take effect immediately. 468 State Noemal Schqols. Chap. 116. AN ACT authorizing the boards of the State normal schools of this State to insure the buildings and property belonging to said schools for the benefit of the State. , Passed May 2, 1882; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in, Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The local boards of the State normal schools of this State are each hereby authorized to insure and keep insured the normal school buildings connected with and belonging to said schools, at a risk not exceeding seventy-five tliousand dollars, for the benefit of the State, and to pay for said insurance out of any money or moneys appropriated and set apart, from time to time, for the use and benefit of said schools by the State of New York. § '2. This act shall take effect immediately. SPECIAL ACTS. 1. ALBANY. [Chap. 311.] AN ACT for the establishment of a normal school. Passed May 7, 1844. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The treasurer shall pay on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of the Superintendent of Common Schools, from that portion of the avails of the literature fund appropriated by chapter two hundred and forty- one of the Laws of one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, to the support of academical dejjartments for the instruction of teachers of common schools, the sum of nine thousand six hundred dollars; which sum shall be expended under the direction of the Superintendent of Common Schools and the Regents of the University, in the establishment and support of a normal school for the instruction and practice of teachers of common schools in the science of edu- cation and in the art of teaching, to be located in the county of Albany. § 2. The sum of ten thousand dollars shall, after the present year, be annually paid by the treasurer, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the Superintendent of Common Schools, from the revenue of the literature fund, for the maintenance and support of the school so established, for five years, and until otherwise directed by law. ^ 3. The said school shall be under the supervision, management and gov- ernment of the Superintendent of Common Schools and the Regents of the University. The said Superintendent and regents shall, from time to time, ' make all needful rules and regulations, to fix the number and compensation of teachers and others to be employed therein; to prescribe the preliminary examination and the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received and State Nokmal Schools. 469 instructed therein; the number of pupils from the respective cities and counties, -conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population; to fix the location ■of the said school, and the terms and conditions on which the grounds and buildings therefor shall be rented, if the same shall not be provided by the -corporation of the city of Albany, and to provide in all things for the good government and management of the said school. They shall appoint a board, consisting of five persons, of whom the Superintendent shall be one, who shall constitute an executive committee for the care, management and government of the said school under the rules and regulations prescribed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be, from time to time, to make full and detailed reports to the State Superintendent and Regents, and among other things to recommend the rules and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for the said •school. § 4. The Superintendent and Regents shall annually transmit to the legisla- ture a full account of their proceedings and expenditures of money under this act, together with a detailed report by said executive committee of the pro- gress, condition and prospects of the school. The foregoing was the first provision made by law in this State for the •establishment of any normal sphool . Though general in the sense of being for the benefit of the State, the school was located at Albany, and to promote uniformity in arrangement, the act is inserted here with other local acts relat- ing to normal schools. The act was regarded as experimental and for a term of five years only. At the expiration of the term, the institution, still at the time the only one in the State, was permanently established by the following act: [Chap. 318.] AN ACT for the permanent establishment of the normal school. Passed April 13, 1848 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do ■enact as follows: Section 1. The treasurer shall pay, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of the State Superintendent of Common Schools, from the general fund, a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, to be expended in the erec- tion of a suitable building for the accommodation of the State normal school for the instruction and practice of teachers of common schools in the science of education and the art of teaching. § 3. The said building shall be erected, under the direction of the executive committee of the school, upon the ground owned by the State, and lying in the rear of the geological rooms. § 3. The said school shall be, as heretofore, under the supervision, manage- ment and government of the State Superintendent of Common Schools and the Regents of the University. The said Superintendent and Regents shall, from time to time, make all needful rules and regulations to fix the number and compensation of teachers and others to be employed therein; to prescribe the preliminary examination and the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received and instructed therein, the number of pupils from the respective counties conforming as nearly as may be to the ratio of population; and to provide in all things for the good government and management of the said school. They shall appoint a board consisting of five persons, of whom the said Superintendent shall be one, who shall constitute an executive com- mittee for the care, management and government of said school, under the rules and regulations prescribed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be, from time to time, to make full and detailed reports to the said Superintendent and 470 State Normal Schools. Regents, and among other things, to recommend the rules and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for the said school. § 4. The Superintendent and Regents shall annually transmit to the legisla- ture a full account of their proceedings, and of the expenditures of money under this and previous acts, together with a detailed report of the progress,, condition and prospects of the school. 2. BROCKPORT. [Chap. 31.] AN ACT in relation to the establishment of a Normal and training school in the village of Brockport. Passed February 2, 1867; three-fifths being present. ■ The People of t/w State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly,, do enact as follows: Section 1. The trustees of the village of Brockport are hereby authorized to levy from time to time upon all the taxable property in said village, taxes, not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of fifty thousand dollars, in the same manner as other village taxes are levied, for. the purpose of aiding in the establishment of a normal and training school in said village, and collect the saine as other village taxes are collected, and to use and disburse the moneys thus obtained for the purpose above mentioned; and the said trustees shall have power, if they deem the same advisable, to borrow money on the credit of said village and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum; the aggregate amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars, which shall not be sold or disposed of at less than their par value, for the purchase of real estate and the assumption of any incumbrances thereon, and to make contracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity, for the pur- pose aforesaid ; but the aggregate of all such bonds, contracts and liabilities, together with the amount of taxes levied and collected under the provisions of this act, shall not exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars. § 2. The collector of said village shall execute such additional bond as the said trustees shall determine for the faithful discharge of his duties, in view of the increased responsibility arising under this act, and the treasurer of said village, or other person into whose custody or under whose control the said funds shall come, shall, before receiving the same, also in like manner give bonds for the faithful discharge of his duties. 5? 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if in his opinion suit- able buildings and rooms are provided at the village of Brockport, for the accommodation of teachers and pupils "of a normal school, open and put in operation immediately a normal and training school at said village, in pursu- ance of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty -six; but such power and discretion shall cease on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight [Chap. 96. J AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Brockport," passed February second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. Passed March 19, 1867; three,fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in, Senate and AasemUy, do enact as follows: Section 1. The first section of an act entitled "An act to amend an act State Normal Schools. 471 entitled 'An act in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Brockport,'" passed February second, eighteen hun- dred and sixty-seven, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: § 1. The trustees of the village of Brockport, having made proposals to the commission appointed by chapter four hundred and sixty-six, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, for the establishment of a normal and train- ing school in the village of Brockport, in the county of Monroe, pursuant to said act, which proposals have been accepted by said commission, the said trustees of the village of Brockport are hereby authorized, directed and empowered to carry said proposals into effect, and raise the moneys necessary for that purpose; and to that end to levy and collect taxes from time to time as they shall deem necessary, and assess and cause the same to be assessed to and upon the persons and property subject to taxation in said village, but not exceeding the sum of lifty-tliousand dollars in the aggregate, and to make contracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity; and also, if in their judgment it shall be deemed expedient, to borrow money, for any time not exceeding ten years, on the credit of said village, and issue the corporate bonds therefor; and to issue such bonds for the purchase of real estate and the assumption of any incumbrances thereon, or for any liabilities incurred in their corporate capacity, for the aforesaid purpose; but such bonds shall not be disposed of at less than their par value; the rate of interest thereon shall not exceed seven per cent; and the aggregate of all such bonds and liabilities shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars. Whenever the said trustees shall levy any tax for any of the purposes aforesaid, the same shall be assessed and apportioned by them to and upon the persons and property subject to taxation in said village, according to the valuations of such property in the last com- pleted assessment-roll of said village, made prior to the levying of such tax, as the same shall be corrected and revised by such trustees; and they shall correct and revise the same, as near as may be, according to the facts as often as they shall levy any such tax. And all taxes levied and assessed under the provisions of this act shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes in said village; shall be a lien in the like cases and in like manner, and the trustees and collector for the time being shall respectively have all the powers in rela- tion thereto and for the collection of the same, which are given for the collec- tion of taxes by the act entitled "An act to condense and amend the several acts relating to the village of Brockport," passed April nine, eighteen hundred and fifty-two. [Chap. 571.] AN ACT to provide for raising money to aid in the establishment of a normal school at Brockport. Passed April 33, 1867; three-fifths being present. TJie People of tJie State of New York, represented m Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The supervisors of the county of Monroe are hereby authorized to appropriate moneys to aid in the establishment of a normal and training school at Brockport, in siiid county, and levy and collect the same by tax, in the same manner as other county taxes are levied and collected. § 2. Any of the towns in said county, by a vote of a majority of the electors thereof present at any annual or special town meeting therein, duly called by the town board of said town for that purpose, may appropriate moneys to aid in the establishment of such normal and training school, and the same shall thereupon be added, by the supervisors of the county, to the tax of such town, for that year, or that and subsequent years, by installment, and collected in the same manner as other town taxes, 472 State Nokmal Schools. ' 3. BUFFALO. [Chap. 583.] AN ACT to amend fhe act entitled " An act in regard to normal schools," passed April seventh, eighteen hundred and sixt7-six, and providing for a normal and training school in the city of Builalo. Passed April 23, 1867; three fifths being present. The People of the State of J^ew Yoi-k, represented in /Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: SECTioif 1. The commissioners named in the first section of the act entitled "An act in regard to normal schools, " passed April seventh, eighteen hun- dred and sixty-six, and of which this act is an amendment, shall be and they are hereby authorized, in their discretion, to accept the proposals which were made to them under the provisions of the said act, for the location of a nor- mal and training school in the city of Buffalo; or any additional or other pro- posals which may be made in respect thereto; and, upon the acceptance of such proposals, all and every of the provisions of the said act shall apply to said normal and training school, and the location, establishment, conduct and maintenance thereof, and shall have full force and effect and respect thereto and to all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like effect, as though the said proposals had been duly accepted according to and under the provisions of said act; and all acts, resolutions and proceedings of the common council of the city of Buffalo, and of the board of supervisors of the county of Brie, in respect to the location or establishment of a normal and training school in said city, are hereby confirmed and made effectual for the purposes intended, in the same manner, and with the like effect, as if a normal and training school had been duly located in said city by the acceptance of proposals therefor under the provisions of said act. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 4. CORTLAND. [Chap. 199.] AN ACT in relation to raising moneys in the town of Cprtlandville, in ihe county of Cortland, for the purpose of aiding in the erection and furnishing of a normal school building in said town. Passed March 30, 1867; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact asfollo'w%: Section 1. The electors of the town of Cortlandville, in the county of Cort- land, are hereby authorized to vote at the next annual town meeting held therein, or at a special town meeting, called for the purpose, in the manner now provided by law for holding special town meetings, on the question of raising money not exceeding fifty thousand dollars in amount), by assessing the real and personal property of the inhabitants of said town, by the board of supervisors of the county of Cortland, to aid in the erection and furnishing of a normal school building in said town of Cortlandville, as located by the commissioners, under chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eigh- teen hundred and sixty-six. § 3. The board of supervisors of the county of Cortland are hereby directed and required to levy and collect upon the taxable property of said town of Cortlandville, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the sura which shall have been voted to be raised by the electors of said town under the first section of this act, which sum shall be so levied and collected State Normal Schools. 473 in such '•installments and at such times as shall be determined upon by the electors of said town, at said annual or special town meeting, to be expressed by a resolution passed at such meeting. § 3. The supervisor of the town of Cortlandville is hereby directed and required to procure suitable blanks, and to issue the bonds of said town, signed by the supervisor thereof, with interest coupons attached, in the form to be adopted by him, for the sum which shall have been voted as aforesaid to be raised, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent ber annum, from the date thereof, such bonds to be issued in separate sums and payable at such times as shall be determined upon by the electors of said town, by a resolution passed at the town meeting aforesaid. § 4. The taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the corporation of Cortland village and by him be applied to the payment of the bonds of said town, herein directed to be issued, and the interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable. § 5. The supervisors of said town shall deliver the bonds to be issued as aforesaid, to the board of trustees of Cortland village aforesaid, to be by them used and negotiated at not less than the par value thereof, and the avails applied by them toward the erection of said normal school building, and to supply the same with the necessary apparatus, books and furniture, and which trustees shall give security to be approved by the county judge, for the faith- ful application of the avails of said bonds, pursuant to this act, § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 5. FEEDONIA. [Chap. 333.] AN ACT in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Fredonia, Chautauqua county. Passed March 30, 1867; three-fifths being present. Tlie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The trustees of the village of Fredonia are hereby authorized to assess and collect from time to time, upon all the taxable property in said village, taxes not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred thousand dollars, in the same manner as other village taxes are assessed and collected, for the pur- pose of establishing a normal and training school in said village, and to use and disburse the money thus obtained for the purpose above mentioned ; and the trustees shall have power, if they deem the same advisable, to borrow money on the credit of said village, and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, the aggregate amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars, and which shall not be sold for less than their par value, for the purchase and improvement of the site, and for erecting school buildings thereon for said normal and training school, with departments for academical, experimental and practicing schools, and for furnishing the same with all needful school furniture, apparatus and books, and to make con- tracts and incur liabilities in their corporate capacity, for the purposes afore- said. But the aggregate of all such bonds, contracts and liabilities, together with the amount of taxes assessed and collected under the provisions of this act, shall not exceed the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. § 3. The collector of said village shall execute such additional btfnds as the said trustees shall approve, and in a sum of double the amount, to be collected in anyone year, for the faithful discharge of his duties in view of the increased responsibility arising under this act. And the treasurer of said village, or other person into whose custody, or under whose control, the said funds shall come, shall, before receiving the same, in like manner and amount, give bonds for the faithful performance of his duties. 60 474: State Nokmai, Schools. § 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if in his opinion suitable buildings and rooms are provided at the village of Fredonia, for the accommo- dation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, prior to the completion of the buildings aforesaid, open and put in operation at any time a normal and train- ing school at said village, in pursuance of chapter four hundred and sixty-six, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and for this purpose he may appoint the local board to take charge of such school, provided for in said act, at any time. g 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 6. QENESEO. [Chap. 195.J AN ACT in relation to the establishment of a normal and training school in the village of Geneseo, to be called ' ' the Wadsworth normal and training school." Passed March 89, 1867; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as foUows : Section 1. The electors of the town of Geneseo, in the county of Livingston, are hereby authorized to vote, at the next annual town meeting held therein, or at a special town meeting called for the purpose, in the manner now pro- vided by law for holding special town meetings, on the question of raising- money (not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars),'by assessing the real and personal property of the inhabitants of said town, by the board of supervisors of said county, to aid in the erection and furnishing of normal and training school building or buildings, in said town of Geneseo, to be called ' ' the Wads- worth normal and training school," and the supervisor of the town of Geneseo is hereby authorized to borrow money on the credit of said town, and issue bonds for such sums as shall have been voted to be raised, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable annually, the aggregate amount of said bonds not to exceed the sum which shall have been so voted, and which shall not be sold or disposed of at less than their par value, which said bonds shall become due and payable in ten equal annual installments, the last of said installments to become so due and payable within ten years after the passage of this act. § 3. It shall be the duty of the board of town auditors of the town of Geneseo, at their annual meeting in the fall of each year, to include in their certificate of their town audit, the same as any other town charge or liability, so much of the sum which shall have been so voted and interest thereon, as shall become due within one year next thereafter; and the same shall be levied by the board of supervisors of said county, upon the taxable property of said town and col- lected in the same manner as other town expenses. g 3. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of the said town of Geneseo, before doing any act hereby authorized, to execute his bond with one or more sureties, to be approved by the county clerk and filed with him, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties in relation to said moneys so raised for such normal and training school, and that he will pay the same over to the person or persons legally entitled thereto, and duly account for the same as for other town moneys received by him as supervisor. g 4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if in his opinion suitable temporary buildings and rooms are provided in the village of Geneseo for the accommodation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, put in operation a normal and training school in such temporary building in said village, to be called "the Wadsworth normal and training school," and for such purpose he may appoint a local supervising board for such school, who shall have all the 'State Nobmal Schools. 475 powers and be subject to the same restrictions as the local boards appointed for the normal schools located by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. § 5. This act shall be taken and construed as locating and authorizing the establishment of a normal and training school at the village of Geneseo, to be called "the Wads worth normal and training school," which school shall have all the rights, appropriations of money and privileges of either of the normal and training schools authorized by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and to be subject to the same control and supervision, rules and regulations; and the provisions of said chapter four hundred and sixty-six, so far as the same are consistent with this act, and the provisions thereof, are hereby applied to the normal and training school hereby authorized and located." § 6. The following three persons, namely, Craig W. Wadsworth, John Eor- bach and Lockwood L. Doty, are hereby constituted and appointed a commis- sion, and are hereby authorized to locate and procure the site for, and tp procure to be erected and furnish the buildings, fixtures and appurtenances necessary and proper for such normal and training school, and said commissioners, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized to give and make, or cause to be given and made, any and all necessary transfer of property to the State for the use and benefit of such normal and training school, which may be required bylaw; and upon their order, or upon the order of a majority of said commission, the said supervisor is hereby authorized and required to pay over the moneys which he may have received for the purposes of such normal and training school. § 7. The board of supervisors of the county of Livingston are hereby author- ized, by resolution or otherwise, to cause to be raised, levied and collected upon the taxable property of such county, such sum or sums of money, not exceed- ing one hundred thousand dollars, as such board may deem proper, to aid in paying the necessary charges and expenses incurred in the establishment of such normal and training school at tieneseo. § 8. This act shall take efEect immediately. 7. NEWPALTZ. Chap. 387, Laws of 1885.] Passed May 20, 1885. Section 1. The commissioners named in section one of chapter four hun- dred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An act in regard to normal schools," are hereby authorized and empowered to accept proposals made to them under the provisions of the said act for the location of a normal and training school with an academic department, in the village of New Paltz, in the county of Ulster; and upon the acceptance of such proposals, all and every of the provisions of the said act shall apply to said normal and training school, and the location, establishment, conduct and maintenance thereof, and shall have full force and efEect in respect thereto and to all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like efEect as though the said proposals had been duly accepted according to and under the provisions of said act; and all acts, resolutions and proceedings of the board of trustees of the New Paltz academy, in respect to the location or establishment of a normal and training school at New Paltz, in the county of Ulster, are hereby confirmed and made effectual for the purposes intended, in the same manner and with the like effect as if a normal and training school had been duly located there by the acceptance of proposals therefor under the provisions of said act. § 3. This act shall take efEect immediately. 476 State Normal Schools. 8. OSWEGO. [Chap. 418.] AN ACT for tlie support of a training school for primary teachers. Passed May 4, 1863 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The treasurer shall pay annually, for two years, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the sum of three thousand dollars for the support of a training school, in the city of Oswego, for the preparation of primary teachers for the common schools of this State; provided that the citizens or the board of education in said city shall, within one year from the passage of this act, provide the necessary buildings, groands, and other accommodations and appliances for such school, as directed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and provided, further, that there shall be instruction in said school, for a period of at least forty weeks in each year, not less than fifty teachers designing to teach in the com- mon schools of this State; and provided, further, that each of the several senaforial districts of this State shall respectively be entitled to send annually to said training school two first-class teachers, each to be appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, after they have been duly recommended by two county school commissioners or by a city superintendent of schools, residing in the district for which the appointment is to be made; and all teach- ers thus appointed to said training school may receive instruction and training in every thing that is taught in said school, free of charge for tuition. § 2. The said school shall be subject to the supervision and general direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction ; and the board of education of the city of Oswego and the secretary of said board shall constitute an execu- tive committee for the immediate care, management and government of said school, with power to make all needful and proper rules and regulations con- cerning the same, subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. i^ 3. The executive committee, as above constituted, shall annually transmit to the legislature, through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a report of their transactions under this act, including a statement in detail of the expenditure of all moneys, together with a statement of the progress and prospects of the school, which report shall first be approved by the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. § 4. The first year of said school shall be deemed to commence on the day which the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify to the comptroller as the day on which the requirements of the first section of this act, relative to providing the buildings and other appliances for the school, shall have been complied with. § 5. If less than fifty teachers are instructed in said school, as provided in the first section of this act, there shall be paid only a corresponding portion of the sum appropriated by this act. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. State Normal Schools. 477 [Chap. 445.] AN ACT to amend "An act for the support of a training school for primary teachers," passed May fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. Passed April 14, 1865 ; three fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and AasemMy, do enact aafoUowa: Section 1. Section one of chapter four hundred and eighteen of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- three, entitled "An act for the support of a training school for primary teachers," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: § 1. The treasurer shall pay annually for two years, except as hereinafter provided, on the warrant of the comptroller, to the order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the sum of six thousand dollars for the support of a normal school in the city of Oswego, for the preparation of teachers for the common schools in this State, provided that the citizens, or the board of edu- cation in said city, shall, within one year from the passage of this act, provide the necessary buildings, grounds and other accommodations for such school, as shall be directed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and pro- vided, further, that each of the several counties shall respectively be entitled to send annually to said school as many pupil teachers as it has representa- tives in the assembly, each to be appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on the recommendation of the school commissioner or commis- sioners of such county, or on the recommendation of the city superintendent of schools and such conijnissioners (in counties in which there is a city), or on the recommendation of the city superintendent of schools of the city of New York. The times and places of selecting candidates for such recommendation shall be prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and all pupil teachers thus recommended and appointed to said school shall receive instruc- tion in all the branches which shall he taught therein free of charge for tuition. § 2. The fifth section of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows: S 5. If the said school officers of any county shall fail to nominate candi- dates for admission to said school, or if candidates duly recommended and appointed shall fail to attend said school, then the said Superintendent may appoint pupil teachers of other counties to fill such vacancies, and such appointees shall be entitled to all the privileges of the school free of charge for tuition. [Chap. 170.] AN ACT in regard to the normal and training school of the city of Oswego. Passed March 27, 1867; three-fifths being present. Tlie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. The normal school building, with the grounds and appurtenances in the city of Oswego, are hereby accepted as the necessary buildings, grounds and other accommodations within the requirements of the act passed April fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, entitled ' ' An act to amend an act for the support of a training school for primary teachers," passed May fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. And the common council of the city of Oswego may, on or before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, convey to the State of New York the said buildings with the grounds, apparatus, books, furniture and appurtenances now occupied and used by the normal and training school, to hold, use, occupy and possess the same, while they shall be used for the purposes of such school. And such conveyance shall be deemed a full compliance with the requirements of the act first aforesaid. 478 State Normal Schools. § 2. The said normal and training school of the city of Oswego shall there- upon be fully admitted to like privileges and appropriations with the normal schools created by the act entitled " An act in regard to normal schools," passed April seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the provisions of said last named act, after that requiring the acceptance by the commissioners therein specified, shall apply to the said normal school of the city of Oswego. 9. OjSTEONTA. [Chap. 374.] A^T ACT to establish a normal and training school, with an academic depart- ment, at the village of Oneonta, in the county of Otsego, and to make an appropriation therefor. Passed May 18, 1887; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Sbction 1. There shall be established at the village of Oneonta, in the county of Otsego, a normal and training school with an academic department; provided, however, and upon condition that within one year from the passage of this act one or more persons shall convey to the State a suitable site in said village for said institution, to be approved and accepted by the commissioners uamed in section one of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of ■eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act in regard to normal schools." § 2. Upon the acceptance of such conveyance, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall appoint a local board of managers, for such school consisting •of not less than three persons, who shall have the powers of, and respectively, hold their offices as now provided by law for such boards, and all and every of the provisions of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, not inconsistent with this act, shall apply to said nor- mal and training school, and the location, e stablishment, conduct and man- agement thereof, and shall have full force and effect in respect thereto, and to all matters connected therewith, in the same manner and with the like effect as though said normal and training school had been established under the pro- visions of that act. Into the academic department of said normal and training school there shall be admitted only such pupils as pay reasonable tuition fees and are resident in the town of Oneonta. § 3. Upon the appointment of such board of managers there shall be erected upon such site suitable buildings for such normal and training school and academic department, under the direction of the board of managers, upon plans, contract and security, to be approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and Comptroller and at an expense not to exceed forty-five thou- sand dollars, which shall complete tlie same, and said sum of forty-five thou- sand dollars Is hereby appropriated for that purpose, § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 10. POTSDAM. [Chap. 6.] AN ACT in relation to the normal school located at Potsdam, in the county of St. Lawrence, pursuant to chapter four hundred and sixty-six, Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and to levy taxes for the purposes thereof. Passed January 23, 1867; three-fifths being present. 2%« People of the State of .New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Skction 1. The board of supervisors of the county of St. Lawrence is hereby directed and required to levy and collect, upon the taxable property of said State Normal Schools. 479 county, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, together with interest, at seven per cent per annum, as hereinafter provided, to be so levied and collected in five equal annual installments; the first installment, with interest on the full sum re- maining unpaid, to be included in the tax for 'the present year, and one of the remaining installments, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax for each and every year thereafter until the full sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, with interest as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the said moneys to be expended as hereinafter provided. § 3. And the said board of supervisors are hereby directed and required to levy and collect, upon the taxable property of the town of Potsdam, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars together with interest, at seven per centum per annum, as hereinafter provided to be so levied and collected, in five equal annual install- ments, the first installment, with interest on the full sum remaining unpaid, to be included in the tax for the present year, and one of the remaining install-' meuts, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax for each and every year, thereafter until the full sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, with inter- est as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the moneys to be expended as here- inafter provided. § 3. The board of trustees of the village of Potsdam are hereby directed and required to levy and collect upon the taxable property of said village, in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes therein, the sum of ten thousand dollars, together with interest, at seven per centum per annum, as hereinafter provided, to be so levied and collected in five equal annual install- ments; the first installment, with interest on the full sum remaining unpaid, to be included in the tax in said village for the present year, and one of the remaining installments, with interest as aforesaid, to be included in the tax therein for each and every year thereafter, until the full sum of ten thousand dollars, with interest, as aforesaid, is levied and collected, the said moneys to be expended as hereafter provided. 8 4. The said moneys so to be levied and collected upon said county, town and village, or so much thereof as shall be necessary for that purpose, shall be expended to prepare a site and to provide suitable buildings, to furnish apparatus, books and furniture, for the normal and training school for the education and discipline of the common school teachers of this State, said buildings to be located upon the land and premises situated in the village of Potsdam, described in the proposition of the trustees of St. Lawrence academy, accepted by the commission appointed by chapter four hundred and sixty-six, Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act in regard to nor- mal schools." § 5. Bloomfield Usher, T. Stratfield Clarkson, 2d, Hiram H. Peck, Henry Watkins, Erasmus D. Brooks and Charles Cox, are hereby appointed a com- mission to prepare and improve the said lands and premises; and provide suit- able buildings thereon, and to furnish proper apparatus, books and furniture for the said normal and training school at Potsdam, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Such commission shall have power to appoint from their number a chairman, secretary and treasurer of said commission, and in the absence of any officer of such commission, another member may be appointed, pro tempore, to fill his place and perform his duty, and such commission may appoint such committee, and establish, and, from time to time, alter and amend such rules and regulations for its government, in the discharge of its duties, as it shall deem best. In case of the death, refusal to act, resignation, or removal from the county of St. Law rence, of any member of such commission his successor shall be appointed by a majority of the remaining members of such commission. The Governor of the State" may accept the resignation of any member of said commission upon the recommendation of a majority of said commission, for good and sufficient cause. Before entering upon the discharge of their duties, the mem- bers of said commission hereby appointed, or a majority of them, shall unite 480 State Nokmal Schools. in joint and . several bonds, with, sufficient -sureties to be approved by the county }udge of St. Lawrence county, one of said bonds to the board of super- visors of St. Lawrence county, in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand dollars; one of said bonds to the town of Potsdam, in the penal sum of thirty- five thousand dollars; one of said bonds to the "village of Potsdam," in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars; each bond conditioned that each and every of the said commissioners so executing the said bond, and each and every of their successors to be appointed pursuant to this act, shall in all things faith- fully discharge his duties, and faithfully account for all moneys and sureties received by him as such commissioner. Upon filing the said bond to the county of St.' Lawrence with the treasurer of said county, and upon filing the said bond to the town of Potsdam with the town clerk of said town, and upon filing the said bond to the village of Potsdam with the clerk of the board of trustees of said village, the said commissioners so uniting in said bonds shall be duly qualified to act as such commissioners, and, in case a ma- jority of the persons herein named shall so qualify, they shall constitute such commission, and shall proceed to appoint other commissioners in the place and stead of those herein named, who shall not have united in said bonds. The obligors upon said bonds respectively shall be liable for the acts and omissions of each and every of the commissioners appointed, or who may be appointed, pursuant to this act. And the said commission, before making an appointment of any commissioner, may require of him such security for the faithful performance of his duty as it may deem proper. The said commission shall be known as the commission to aid in the establishment of a normal and training school at Potsdam, and, as such, may enter into contracts, take security from members to be appointed by it, and sue and be sued in the courts of this State; and executions maybe issued upon any judgment obtained against such, commission, against the property of any or all of the persons constituting such, commission, or who may have constituted such commission, leave to that effect being first obtained from the court in which such judgment was rendered. § 6. The treasurer of the county of St. Lawrence is hereby directed and required to procure suitable blanks, and the said treasurer, and the chairman of the board of supervisors of said county, or in case of a vacancy in said chair- manship, then the said treasurer and the county judge of said county, are hereby directed and required to issue the bonds of said county, with interest coupons attached, in the form to he adopted by the said treasurer and chairman, or, in case of a vacancy in the said chairmanship, then by the said treasurer and the said county judge, for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, the same to bear interest at seven per centum per annum from date, such bonds for one- fifth of said last-mentioned sum to be payable with, interest on the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one-fifth of said sum of twenty- five thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of March, each year there- after, until the full sum is paid; all of said bonds, except those due on the first day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, to bear coupons for annual interest except for the interest falling due when such bonds are payable, to be payable on the first day of March each year. ^ 7. The town clerk of the town of Potsdam is hereby directed and required to procure suitable blanks, and the supervisor and town clerk of said town are hereby directed and required to issiie the bonds of said town, with interest coupons attached in the form to be adopted by them, for the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, the same to bear interest at seven per centum per annum from date; such bonds for one-fifth of such last-mentioned sum, to be payable with interest on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one- fifth of the said thirty-five thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of January each year thereafter, until the full sum is paid. All of said bonds, except those due on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, ;to bear coupons for annual interest, except for the interest falling due wien such bonds are payable, to be payable on the first day of January each year. § 8. The president of the board of trustees of the village of Potsdam is hereby directed and required to procure suitable blanks, and the president and State Noemal Schools. 481 clerk of said board of trustees are hereby directed and required to issue the bonds of said village of Potsdam, with interest coupons attached, in the form to be adopted by them, for the sum of eight thousand dollars, the same to bear interest at seven per centum per annum from date, said bonds for one-fourth of said sum of eig;ht thousand dollars, to be payable with interest on the first day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and one-fourth of said sum of eight thousand dollars to be payable on the first day of April each year there- after, until the full sum is paid; all of said bonds to bear coupons for annual interest, except for the interest falling due when such bonds are payable, to be payable on the first day of April each yeai'. § 9. The said taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected upon the county of St. Lawrence shall be paid to the treasurer of said county, and applied by him to the payment of the bonds of said county herein directed to be issued, and the interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable; and the said taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected upon the town of Pots- dam shall be paid to the supervisor of said town, and by him be applied to the payment of the bonds of said town herein directed to be issued, and the interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable; and the said taxes in this act directed to be levied and collected upon the village of Potsdam shall be paid to the treasurer of said village; and the tax for the present year shall be paid by said treasurer to the said commission, after the members thereof have qualified as herein directed; and the remainder of said tax shall, each year, be paid to said treasurer, and by him be applied to the payment of the bonds of said village herein directed to be issued, and the interest thereon, as the same shall become due and payable. And immediately after the commission con- stituted by this act shall have qualified as herein provided, the said county, town and village authorities herein directed to issue bonds in behalf of said county, town and village, shall respectively deliver the said bonds so to be issued as aforesaid, to the said commission herein constituted; to be, by the said commission, used and negotiated at not less than the par value thereof, and the avails thereof applied by the said commission to prepare and improve the said land and premises, described in the said proposition of the board of trustees of St. Lawrence academy, to the said commission constituted by the said act, entitled an act in regard to normal schools, to provide thereon suitable buildings and to furnish apparatus, books, and furniture for one of said normal schools at Potsdam; provided that no building shall be repaired or erected upon said land and premises until the Attorney-General of this State shall certify in writing to such commission, that the use of the said lands and premises, and the buildings and erections thereon, so long as the same shall be used for the purpose of a normal and training school, as contemplated by the said act, in regard to normal schools, has been properly secured to this State, all which the Attorney-General of this State is hereby required to certify in writing, to the commission constituted by this act, when such use of such lands and premises has been properly secured to this State, according to the true intent and meaning of this a.ct. In preparing and improving the said lauds and premises, and providing such buildings, the said commission may tear down, remove, repair, reconstruct, or rebuild any structure or building now on the said premises, and use the materials of which any of such buildings are com- posed in the construction of other buildings upon said lands and premises; and they may also incorporate any of the buildings upon said lands and premises in additional buildings to be constructed thereon ; and the said commission shall pay, to be applied upon the purchase-money of the property included in said proposition of the board of trustees of St. Lawrence academy, and known as the Presbyterian church property, such sum, not exceeding ten thousand dol- lars, as the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify the said materials and buildings upon said premises to be worth, to be used in providing the aforesaid buildings. The plans and specifications for the said buildings shall be approved by the said commission constituted by chapter four hundred and sixty-six. Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. The commission constituted by this act shall proceed diligently in the discharge of their duties, under this 61 482 State Normal Schools. act, and when the said buildings and the furniture, apparatus and books, pro- vided for by this act, have been accepted by said commission, so appointed by said chapter four hundred and sixty'-six. Laws of eighteen hund/red and sixty- six, as provided by said act, or within two years after the passage of this act, the said commission hereby constituted shall account to the board of super- visors of said county for the moneys and securities received from the county of St. Lawrence, which board, upon such accounting, shall have power, upon examination of the accounts of such commission, to approve of the same and discharge the said commission from further liability, upon their said bond to said county. And said commission shall account to the board of town audit, of the town of Potsdam, for the moneys and securities received from the town of Potsdam, which board, upon' such accounting, shall have power to approve of the account so to be rendered, and discharge said commission from further liability, upon their said bond to said town. And said commission shall account to the board of trustees of the village of Potsdam for the moneys and securi- ties received from said village, which board of trustees, upon such accounting, shall have power to approve of the account so to be rendered, and discharge such commission from further liability, upon their said bond to said village. ^5 10. The amount in this act provided to be paid by the said county, town and village, for the purposes in this act declared, shall apply on the amount that shall be paid by the said county in satisfaction of the proposition made by said board of supervisors of said county to the said commission constituted by said act in regard to normal schools, by resolution of said board of supervisors, dated December eighteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the amount that shall be paid by the said town and village of Potsdam, shall apply upon and toward the satisfaction of the proposition of the board of trustees of said village to said commission constituted by said act in regard to normal schools. § 11. Authority is hereby given to the board of supervisors of the county of St. Lawrence, at any annual meeting thereof, to repay to the town of Potsdam such portion of the tax hereby imposed upon said town as such board of super- visors shall determine to be just and proper. And in case the moneys to be raised as in this act provided shall be insuflBcient to complete such buildings and furnish such apparatus, books and furniture as herein intended, the said board of supervisors, to supply such deficiency, may raise upon said county and pay over to the commission by this act created a further sum, not exceeding ten thousand dollars; and for such purpose said board of supervisors may levy and collect a tax upon said county, and issue county bonds representing the same, as said board may determine necessary to carry out the powers in this section given. ^ 13. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may, if, in his opinion, suita- ble buildings and rooms are provided at the village of Potsdam for the accom- modation of teachers and pupils of a normal school, immediately after the commission by this act created shall have become duly qualified, open and put in operation a normal and training school at said village, in pursuance of this act, and of chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NAT- URAL HISTORY. Chap. 428. AN ACT to provide for a course of free instruction in natural history, and making an appropriation for tlie support thereof. Passed May 20, 1886; three-fifths being present; without the approval of the governor. . The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do «naot as follows: Section 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby author- ized and empowered to make and enter into an agreement with the American Museum of Natural History in the city of New York, for a term not to exceed two years, to supply, furnish and maintain in connection with said museum a course of free instruction to be given and illustrated by the curators of said museum, on human and comparative anatomy, physiology, zoology, physical geography, and such other subjects as the said Superintendent of Public Instruction may require, to the teachers of the common schools, the normal schools of the State, the normal college of the city of New York, and the training school for teachers in the city of Brooklyn, who may desire to avail themselves of this training, and to provide for at least one lecture every year during the term of said agreement, to be delivered on one or more of said sub- jects at each of the several normal schools of the State, the normal college of the city of New York and the training school for teachers in the city of Brook- lyn, and to supply to the said normal schools and said normal college and •training school, and to the public schools of the city of New York and Brook- lyn, and to any common school, on the application of its trustees, all such appliances, plates and apparatus as may be necessary for the proper presenta- tion to their teachers and pupils of this institution. § 3. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby authorized also to make and enter into a contract with said museum for repeating the aforesaid information to artisans, mechanics and other citizens, when a lecture hall capable of seating at least one thousand persons, and other necessary rooms shall have been erected by said city as an extension of the building now in possession of said museum. § 3. The sum of eighteen thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for the support and maintenance of said course of free instruction for the fiscal year beginning on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and said sum of eighteen thousand dollars shall be appropriated annually for the support and maintenance of said course of free instruction during the term of ■said agreement. § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 484 AjiERiCAiif Museum of Natural History. CONTRACT BETWEEN THE STATE AND MUSEUM. Memorandum of an agreement made and entered into this SOtli day of June, 1886, between Andrew S. Draper, as Superintendent of Public Instmctiou of the State of New York (pursuant to the authority conferred upon him so to do, by chapter 428 of the Laws of 1886) party of the first part, and the American Museum of Natural Histoiy in the city of New York, party of the second part. The said American Museum of Natural History agrees to furnish each year, for two years, beginning on the 1st day of October, 1886, illustrated instruc- tion to be given and illustrated by the curators of said museum, on human and comparative anatomy, physiology, zoology, physical geography and such other subjects as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require, as follows, viz.: First: Not less than twenty lectures at the hall connected with the museum, on Saturday mornings between said dates, to the teachers of the common schools of the city of New York and vicinity. Second: Not less than ten lectures at the same place to teachers' institutes or associations or any body of common school teachers from outside the city of New York who will apply for the same and will visit the museum for that purpose. Third: Not less than twelve lectures at the same place, but in the evening, to artisans, mechanics and other citizens. It is also agreed by said museum, that one of its curators, with such assist- ants as he shall require, shall, as soon as practicable after the 1st day of October, 1886, and also as soon as practicable after the 1st day of October, 1887, visit each of the normal schools at Albany, Brockport, Buffalo, Cortland, Fredonia, Geneseo, Oswego, Potsdam and New Paltz, and the normal college of the city of New York, and the training school for teachers, in the city of Brooklyn, and lecture once upon such subject in the course as shall be selected by the principatl of the school visited, and at the same time, see to it that the apparatus previously forwarded to each of said schools is in perfect working order, and if not so in any case, he shall direct the principal about the neces- sary repairs for making it so, and he shall give the several principals of said schools full instructions in relation to the apparatus in their charge in order to enable them to readily use the same in illustrating such printed copies of the lectures delivered at the museum as shall be forwarded to them. And it is farther agreed that if said apparatus should at any time become incapable of use, or should any institution having the same be unable to operate it effec- tually, that said party of the second part shall send a duly qualified person to put the same in order, or to instruct such institution in the use thereof. It is understood that said museum shall provide all the help and accommo- dations requisite for carrying out the aforesaid undertakings such as the ser- vices of a photographer and assistants; the use of the hall at the museum, and the cost (if lighting, warming and putting and keeping the same in order for such lectures; the use of the elevator in said building, and the free iise of the natural history collections belonging to said museum for illustrating said lectures; and that the State of New York shall be liable to no expense for or on account of the services of persons and suitable accommodations for said . lectures beyond the sum hereinafter agreed to be paid therefor, except that the traveling expenses and hotel bills of persons visiting the normal schools, as hereinbefore provided, shall be paid by the State upon bills to be presented to and audited by the said Superintendent of Public Instruction. In consideration of the foregoing agreements, the said Superintendent of Public Instruction, for and on behalf of the State of New York, agrees that said State will, upon the performance of said agreements by the party of the second part, to the satisfaction of said Superintendent, pay each year of said two years covered by this agreement, to the said American Museum of Natural History, the sum of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) in equal monthly install- ments at the end of each month of the period covered by the terms of this agreement. Amekicak Museum of Natural Histoet. 485 It is further agreed that said American Museum of Natural History shall, from time to time, with the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- -tion, make or purchase additional apparatus, books and appliances for use in giving said instruction at said museum or at the State normal schools, or the Normal College in the city of New York, or the Training School for Teachers in the city of Brooklyn, or for distribution among the common schools of the •city of New York, and with such approval, may likewise take or purchase photographic views of natural scenes or objects and reproduce the same in •conveuiient form, or may purchase the same after having been so reproduced, for use ahd distribution to the foregoing named institutions for the purposes aforesaid, and may cause stenographic reports of the lectures so delivered at said museum to be made and printed and distributed to the institutions here- inbefore named or othervrise as may be directed by said Superintendent. All .apparatus, books, appliances or views so purchased or produced, and the cost of all such stenographic reports and printing, shall be paid for by the State of New York at the acmal cost of purchase or production, upon bills and sub- "vouchers to be presented to and audited by said Superintendent of Public Instruction and shall become the property of the State of New York. It is agreed by said Museum that all property of the State in its immediate custody shall be properly car«d for and shall be at all times subject to the •order and direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and that cor- rect inventories thereof shall be furnished whenever requested by him. It is furthermore ag.c district for the purpose of settling the matter. In pur- suance of this advice a special meeting was called, and was held on the 33d day of October, 1888. This meeting assumed to elect Mr. Wait trustee of the district. Election, etc., of Officers. 523 From the evidence submitted I cannot fail to reach the conclusion that Mr. Fitzpatrick was elected trustee at the annual meeting. The action of the chairman in assuming to determine whose votes should be received and whose rejected, in cases of challenge, when the statutory declaration was made by the persons challenged, was entirely unwaiTantable, and his fail- ure to declare the result of the vote could in no way invalidate the election of the trustee, if otherwise regular. No evidence is submitted by the re- spondent to show that the six votes in question were illegal. Assuming that they were illegal, having once been given under the challenge, they should have been counted and the regularity of the election should have been tested by an appeal, not by Fitzpatrick but by Wait. The school com- missioner has no power to pass upon the question of the legality of an elec- tion for school officers ; nor could the special meeting, called in pursuance of his advice, pronounce an election irregular, or declare a vacancy which did not exist, and so obtain authority to elect a trustee. Thomas Fitzpatrick declared to be the trustee of the district. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3334, April 9, 1884. To warrant setting aside an election on the ground of illegal voting, it must appea affirmatively that the successful candidates received a number of improper voteb, which if rejected, would have brought their vote down to a minoritv. The mere circumstance that Improper votes are received will not vitiate an election. The appeal is brought from the action of a district meeting in the mat- ter of the election of trustees. The principal grounds of appeal are : That there were illegal votes cast in sufficient number to decide the election of trus- tees — that the chairman of the meeting and inspectors refused to entertain challenges when offered — that certain votes were handed up to the inspec- tors from persons not legal voters and deposited in the ballot-box — that the number of votes certified by the inspectors as having been received by the respective candidates exceed in number the total vote cast — that the chairman made no effort to maintain order, and the meeting was disorderly and boisterous and citizens could only vote by forcing themselves through the crowd of standing men around the ballot-box. The large number of conflicting affidavits made it necessary to issue an order directing the school commissioner to take the testimony of the affiants whose affidavits appear in the case and to report the same to the Superin- tendent. After a veiy careful examination of the affidavits, and of the testimony taken before the commissioner, I do not find that the challenges made at the meeting were not entertained, nor that any ballots were received by the inspectors from parties other than those whose names are announced as voters at the meeting. It is alleged that there are eleven more votes certified by the inspectors as having been received by the respective candidates, than the total number of persons recorded as voting in the list kept by the clerk of the meeting. I am left in doubt by the testimony as to whether this was an error of the clerk or of the inspectors, the testimony of the inspectors being directly contradictory of that of the clerk. In any view of the case, it is certain that the number of votes in dispute coming within the appellant's allegation given as the fourth ground of appeal, would not be sufficient to afiect the result of the election. The evidence moreover does not sustain the appel- lant's charge that the meeting was of such a disorderly character as to pre- vent the legal voters from an opportunity of reaching the ballot-box, in order to deposit their votes. It is conceded that the meeting was unusu- ally large, and that it was attended with some excitement, but it nowhere 524 Election, etc., of Oeficees. appears that tlie regularity of the proceedings, or the result of the election, ■was thereby afEected. The only question left for me to consider is this: Were there illegal votes cast in sufficient number for those who were de- clared elected, to affect the result of the election? The appellants seem to have proceeded on the theory that it was only necessary for them to show that the illegal votes cast were in number greater than the number constituting the majority obtained by the trustees declared elected at the meeting, to require the setting aside of the election as illegal and invalid, witljiout attempting to show for whom any alleged il- legal vote was cast. In 7 Cowen, 153, Ex parte, Murphy, where a motion vs-as made for leave to file an information in nature of a quo warranto against four trustees, whom the inspectors at the annual election of the corporation of St. Peter's Church in the city of New Tork, had certified as duly elected, the ground of the motion was, that two ballots were put inco the box in the names of deceased persons, but it did not appear for whom the two improper votes were given although the ballots were required to make a majoritv. The court decided that the motion must be denied. The court held as follows: "For aught thtit appears, the spurious bal- lots were for the ticket which was in the minority. To warrant setting aside the election, it must appear affirmatively that the successful ticket received a number of improper votes, which if rejected would have brought it down to a minority. The mere circumstance that improper votes were received will not vitiate an election." The principle contained in this ruling does not seem to have been modified or affected by any subsequent decision of our courts, and it is clearly applicable in this case. Inasmuch as no offer was made by the appellants on the examination by the commissioner, to prove from whom the alleged illegal votes were cast, none of his rulings, to which exceptions were taken by the appellants' counsel as to the admissibility of evidence, appears to be of such a material character as in view of the principle referred to in the case cited could affect the result. There is thus a failure of proof necessary to establish the appellants' case. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3353, May 26, 1884. It is not the declaration of a chairman, but the fact that a person receives a majority of the legal votes cast, which constitutes an election ; and it is not competent for the chairman of a district meeting, after an election has been had, to proceed to determine whether it is legal or not. At the election for district trustee, twenty-one ballots were deposited, of which one Vaughn received twelve, and one Girvin nine. The chairman of the meeting assumed to declare that there was no election, and in the answer to the appeal, bases his declaration on the allegation that one per- son cast two ballots for Vaughn, and that two other persons who voted at such election were not legal voters, and states that he had reason to believe they both voted for Vaughn. But there is no affirmative proof showing for whom these alleged illegal voters cast their ballots. It is not the decla- ration of a chairman, but the fact that a person receives a majority of the legal votes cast, which constitutes an election ; and it is not competent for the chairman of a district meeting, after an election has been had, to pro- ceed to determine whether it is legal or not. Vaughn declared the legally elected trustee. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3385 November 28, 1884. ' Election, etc., of Officers. 525 The meeting authorized the cleric to cast a ballot for trustee. This was the only ballot oast. The clerk was not a qualified voter, and the election must be set aside. At the annual meeting several ineffectukl attempts were made to secure a majority of the legal voters present and voting for the election of a trus- tee. A motion -was then made "That the clerk of the meeting be author- ized to cast his ballot for Simeon Porter;" the chairman put the motion to a vote of the house and seven voted in favor of it, and three against it ; the motion was declared carried, and the clerk cast a ballot for Simeon Porter. After some hesitation, the chairman declared Simeon Por- ter elected trustee. Without passing upon the question as to the regularity of this method of electing a school officer under any circumstances, it is clear from the papers that the action taken did not effect a legal election, as it appears that the clerk, Marshall Todkill, who cast the ballot, was not at the time of said meeting a legal voter in the district, as he neither owned nor hired real property in the district, liable to be taxed for school purposes, or had any child residing with him who attended the school the time required by law, nor was he assessed for any personal property on the last preceding assess- ment roll of the town in which he resided. As his was the only vote cast for trustee, and as he was not a legal voter within the meaning of the law, no valid election was had. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3445, October 16, 1885. The candidate for collector was not eligible. It not appearing that knowledge of his disqualification was brought home to the electors, the opposing candidate cannot be declared elected, and a new election must be ordered. At the annual school meeting in district No. 3, Philipstown, Putnam county, upon a ballot for the election of district collector, James S. Mcllravy, received eighty-six votes and Thomas Smythe, received seventy-nine. The appeal is brought to set aside the election of Mcllravy upon the ground that at the time of the election he was not a qualified voter at school meet- ing in the district. The allegation of the appellant, that the respondent did not at the time of said election possess any of the qualifications necessary to make him a qualified voter at such election, is not successfully contro- verted by the respondent, who alleges that he was a qualified voter solely upon the ground that he owned upwards of $50 worth of personal property VMle to taxation for school purposes. This is not a legal qualification. The statute provides that a resident of the district, twenty-one years of age "who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assess- ment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution," is a qualified voter. Mcllravy not having been so assessed was, therefore, disqualified to hold the office of collector. It is a well-settled rule of law that had the disqualification been known to a sufficient number of electors to constitute a majority for Mcllravy, and had they, notwithstanding this knowledge, cast their ballots for him, their votes would have been a nullity, and it would follow that Smythe, if duly qualified, must be declared the legally elected collector of the district. But there is no proof that the disqualification of Mcllravy for the office of collector was known to any of the electors prior to the election, nor that any elector, fcefore voting, received notice that Mcllravy was disqualified. Knowledge of the disqualification not having been brought home to the elec- tors who voted for Mcllravy, it only remains for me to decide that there was not a legal election of collector on the 26th day of August last in said dis- trict. A new election ordered. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3448, October 23, 1885. 5a6 Election, etc., of Officees. ■When two persons are placed in nomination for the same office a vote should be sa taken, either by ballot, by calling the ayes and noes, by a division of the house and count, or by some other method, that the will of each individual voter should be ascertained, a reasonable opportunity for interposing challenges afforded, and an expression of a majority in the choice of the officers secured. At the annual meeting one Wheeler was placed in nomination for the office of trustee ; immediately thereafter Mr. Schilling was nominated for that office. The secopd nomination being made, the chairman asked the person making such nomination "if he did not make his nomination by way of an amendment? " He replied that he did. A ballot was asked for on the two nominations before the meeting. The chairman refused to order a ballot, but proceeded to take a vote by acclamation upon the amendment as offered. On this question four voted in the affirmative, and there was no vote in the negative. There were fourteen legal voters present at the meeting. The chairman refused to allow a vote on the original nomination of Mr. Wheeler, and declared Mr. Schilling elected. The proceedings were manifestly irregular. Where two persons are placed in nomination for the same office, a vote should be so taken, either by ballot, by calling the ayes and noes, by a division of the house, and count, or by some other method, that the will of each individual voter should be ascertained, a reasonable opportunity for interposing challenges afforded, and an expression of a majority in the choice of the officers secured. This was not done in the case before me. But even if an election could be had by parliamentary recourse to simple motion subject to amendment, the procedure in this case was not in this respect in accordance with parliamen- tary rule. Regarded as a motion or resolution, the proposition was that Mr. Wheeler should be elected trustee for the ensuing year. The amend- ment offered, properly stated, was to strike out from the resolution the name of Wheeler and" insert that of Schilling. The amendment having been adopted by the meeting, left the original motion as amended, namely, that Mr. Schilling be elected trustee for the ensuing year, before the meeting for its consideration. This motion as amended was not put to a vote ; so there was no parliamentary ground for the chairman's declaration that Mr. Schilling was elected. A new election ordered. Per W. B. Buggies, Super- intendent. Decision No. 3449, October 33, 1885. In common school districts, under the general law, 'any method of voting by which the will of a majority of the legal voters can be ascertained is valid and sufficient in electing school officers. This department will correct aud set aside a proceeding consummated and carried by votes clearly illegal, and when it is shown that the result depended upon the illegal votes thus cast. The annual school meeting was organized by the selection of John Toungs, as chairman, and Nathaniel Coon, the appellant, as clerk, and pro- ceeded to the election of trustee. Instead of resorting to the formality of appointing tellers and keeping a list of the voters at the meeting, the chair- man passed about the room and received the ballots for trustee in his hat. The appellant Ooon suggested to the chairman that he should not leave his place; whereupon the chairman returned to his place and other persons in the room came forward and deposited their votes in the hat. After these ballots were counted, it was found that twenty-nine votes had been oast, of which twenty were for Abner Z. Sprague and nine for John Bishop. It is contended by the appellant that this method of voting is so far irregular as to invalidate the election as it gave no opportunity for challenging persons who might be attempting to vote illegally. It is not shown, however, that in fact there was any attempt to challenge except in one instance, and I Election, etc., of Officbe8. 527 do not find that the method of voting was such as of itself would debar any voter from challenging a person attempting to deposit his ballot. It must be borne in mind, too, that the law does not require in the case of common school districts, not governed by the provisions of chapter 248 of the laws of 1878, as amended, that inspectors shall be appointed, a poll list kept, and the formalities of a ballot observed. In fact in common school districts, under the general law, any method of voting by which the will of a majority of the legal voters can be ascertained has been held to be valid and sufficient in electing school officers. In reference to the objection "that illegal votes by divers persons at said election sufficient to change the result of the election," the rule is, that this department will correct and set aside a proceeding consummated and carried by votes clearly illegal, when it is shown that the result depended upon the illegal votes thus cast. But the appellants in this case do not show by any legal evidence that illegal votes were cast sufficient in number to determine the result of this election ; in fact, they do not show for whom any vote claimed to be illegal was deposited. In this respect then they fail to make a case. The ground of appeal that Sprague was not at the time of said meeting a legal voter in the district, and was therefore ineligible to the office of trustee, is not sustained by the evidence in the case. It devolved upon the appellants in this case to show affirmatively such facts of ineligibility as if taken for true, in the very words stated, will repel every presumption by which Sprague's claim to be a legal voter might be sustained, by showing the absence of any or all essential qualifications. This appellant fails to do. The election of Sprague declared legal. Per W. B. Buggies, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 3459, December 12, 1885. When an election will be set aside on the ground of illegal voting. What must be shown bj the moving papers. Question of qualified voters fully discussed. The election for trustees was held in school district number two of the town of New Lots, Queens county, under the provisions of chapter 248 of the laws of 1878, as amended, between the hours of mid-day and four o'clock in the afternoon. Twelve hundred and eighty-five votes were cast. Six candidates were voted for and the three receiving the highest number of votes were declared elected, and assumed tlie duties of trustees of the district. The appeal is brought by the three defeated candidates to set aside the election on the grounds of illegal voting. Illegal voting being the only reason urged for the setting aside of this election, it become incumbent upon the appellants to show, by a clear pre- ponderance of evidence, that enough illegal votes were cast for the respond- ents to change the result of the election ; or that illegal voting was per- mitted to such an extent as to taint, the whole election with fraud, and prevent the will of its legal voters from being ascertained. The statute clearly defines the qualifications of voters at school district meetings as follows: "Every person of full age residing in any neighbor- hood or school district and entitled to hold lands in this State, who owns or hires real property in such neighborhood, or school district liable to tax- ation for school purposes, and every resident of such neighborhood or dis- trict who is a citizen of the United States, above the age of twenty-one years, and who has permanently residing with him or her a child or chil- dren of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended the dis- trict school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding, and every such resident and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal 528 Election, etc., of Ofeicbes. property assessed ou the last preceding assessment-roll of the town, exceed- ing fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no other shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such neighborhood or school district." {Sec. 13, title 7, of the Oeneral School Law, as amended by the act of 1881.) It will be seen from this statute that there are three classes of voters at school meetings in this State: 1. Every person (male or female), who is a resident of the district, of the age of twenty-one years, entitled to hold lands in this State, who either owns or hires real estate in the district liable to taxation for school pur- poses. 2. Every citizen of the United States (male or female), above the age of twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district, and who owns any per- sonal property assessed on the last preceding assessment-roll of the town exceeding fifty dollars, in value exclusive of such as is exempt from execu- tion. 3. Every citizen of the United States (male or female), above the age of twenty-one years, who is a resident of the district and who has permanently residing with him or her a child or children of school ago, some one or more of whom shall have attended the school of the district for a period of at least eight weeks within the year preceding the time at which the vote is ofiered. No other person is entitled to vote. Do the appellants show that there was illegal voting? The affidavits sub- mitted by the appellants allege that upward of two hundred and fifty illegal votes were cast ; and that a large majority of these were for the respondents. The mere allegation that a person is not a qualified voter is not sufficient. It must be made to appear affirmatively that the person possesses neither of the classes of qualification as provided in this statute. It appears from the appeal papers that five hundred and four women voted at this election, and a large number of these are mentioned by name with the allegation that they do not possess certain of the statutory qualifi- cations. A large number of males are mentioned in like manner. It will be observed in this connection tliat the statute makes a person a qualified voter, who is a citizen of the United States, residing in the district, and " who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment- roll of the town, exceeding $50 in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution." The only testimony offered on this personal property qualification is the afiidavit of one Christian W. C. Dreher, who says " I am the late collector of the school taxes for school district No. 2, of the said town. I have failed to find any of the names of the persons mentioned in the schedule 'A' annexed to the affidavit of Eichard Pickering, upon the books and tax list of said school district No. 3, and assessed therein for taxation, except the following persons." This affidavit is without any force,, as it is the town assessment-roll which the statute refers to, and not the school district tax list. A person, could be assessed on the school dis- trict tax list for personal property and yet not be a qualified voter by rea- son of such assessment. On the other hand, a person, a citizen of lawful age, and resident of the district, who was assessed on the last preceding ' assessment-roll of the town for personal property " exceeding !g50 in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution," would be a qualified voter by reason of such assessment, although his name might not appear on the school district tax list. While it is shown that a large number of persons, who voted, did not possess some of the statutory qualifications, it does not appear in appellants' papers that any of these same persons or any other person who voted, did not possess the personal property qualification as laid down Equilization. 529 by the statute. It is not necessary that a person have all of these statutory qualifications to make him or her a legal voter; any one of the three classes of qualifications is sufficient; and from all that appears in the appeal papers every one of the twelve hundred and eighty-five persons, who voted at said election, might have been qualified as voters under the third ground of qualification hereinbefore cited. For failure of proof on this point the appeal must be dismissed. Per W. B. Buggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3465, December 30, 1885. Note. The law above referred to, viz.: section 12, title 7, Code of Public Instruction was amended by chapter 655, Laws of 1886. By such amendment another class of voters is added to those given above. This new class is as follows: Every resident of the district, who is a citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age', and who is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the dis- trict school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding. J, E. K. EQUALIZATION. Kqualization by supervisors when school district lies in parts of two or more towns. Held, that an equalization made by the supervisors is only of effect until town assessment-rolls are again completed and revised. The trustees of a school district in issuing a tax list should follow the equalization of valua- tions made by the supervisors since the completion of the last assessment- rolls of the towns. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3090, April 11, 1881. Equalization of taxes iby supervisors when district lies in two towns. Meaning of super- visors' order explained. On the 7th day of October, 1885, the supervisors of the towns of Man- heim and Oppenheim made an order in writing pursuant to section 69, title 7, of tlie Code of Public Instruction, which order was an attempt on the part of said supervisors to fix the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property lying in the different towns. In their order the supervisors directed that '"so much of the taxable property of said district being situated in the town of Oppenheim shall pay forty-five, and that so much of the taxable property situated in the town of Manheim shall ]5ay fifty-five cents on the dollaa on any school tax that may be levied upon the assessed taxable property of the aforesaid district." Upon the equalization tlie trustee of district No. 7, Manheim and Oppen- heim, made and issued to the collector his tax roll and warrant for enforcing the collection of a tax of $113.14 upon the inhabitants of said district No. 7. From the action of the supervisors and that of the trustee this appeal is taken. It appears from the evidence that the aggregate assessed valuation, as determined from the last assessment-roll made by the a,ssessors of the town of Manheim, in that part of joint district No. 7 lying in the town of Man- heim is $7,684, while the aggregate assessed valuation of that part of the district lying in the town of Oppenheim is $57,425. It is contended that to assess fifty-five cents in each dollar of the $113.14, school tax (after deducting personal property assessed, if any) on the town of Man- heim, being in all $63.23, while but forty-five cents in every dollar, being in all $50.91 of said tax is assessed on the town of Oppenheim is not within the meaning of the spirit of the statute, and could not have been the inten- tion of the supervisors. A careful examination of the facts and circum- stances developed in this case leads me to agree with the appellant, that the 67 530 Eqtjilization. orders of the supervisors may fairly be construed to mean that the property situated in Manheim shall pay fifty-flve cents on the dollar of its assessed valuation, and the property situated in Oppenheim should pay forty-flve cents on tlie dollar of its assessed valuation for the purpose of raising any school tax necessary, until the new assessment-roll shall be perfected and filed. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3486, March 29, 1886. Supervisors have no power to change the value as fixed in the town assessment-rolls. Their duty is to determine what proportion of a school district tax shall be paid by each town forming a jomt district, so that relatively each shall pay the same. This is an appeal by William N. Callender, a taxpayer of the town of East Grecnbush, Rensselaer county, N. Y., a ])ortioa of which forms a part of joint school district No. 1, towns of East Greenbush and the village of Greeubush, which is a portion of the town of Greenbush in the county aforesaid, from the action of the supervisors of the said towns in assuming to change the assessed valuations of property from the valuations placed thereon by the respective town assessors, and from the actitm of the trus- tee of said district in using as a basis of valuations of real property the tax roll of the assessors of the town of East Greenbush for the year 1885, as altered by said supervisors, instead of the assessors' last roll, which was filed in 1886, and asking to have said assessment and the apportionment of school taxes for said district thereon and the warrant dated December 3, 1886, which accompanies it, set aside, and the receiver of taxes of the vil- lage of Greenbush enjoined and stayed from enforcing the collection thereof. The errors alleged as above set forth are substantially admitted by the trus- tees, who appear as respondents herein. For the errors assigned this appeal is sustained. The supervisors and trustees should have used the last assessment-rolls of the towns, after correction by the assessors, as the basis of valuation for the tax list. This, it appears, tl)ey did not do. The supei-visors of the towns composing this district had no authority under the law (section 69, title 7, chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864:), to change the valuation of any piece of real property appearing in said tax list as they assumed to do. Their duty under the law was simply to deter- mine the basis upon which the respective town assessors had proceeded in determining values for their assessment, and if found not to be ratably the same, to determine what proportiou of a school tax to be collected should be apportioned to each town. Having failed so to do, their action was manifestly irregular and illegal and cannot be sustained. I, therefore, sustain tlie appeal and set aside the action of the supervisors in changing the assessed valuations, and the apportionment of taxes by the trustees made thereon, and the tax list on which such ajiportionment was made. The receiver of taxes of the village of Greenbush is perpetually stayed and enjoined from the collection of the tax as at present apportioned ; and said receiver of taxes is hereby ordered and directed to refund all sums which may have been collected by virtue of the aforesaid warrant upon said ' tax list to the persons from whom the same were collected. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3550, December 24, 1886. FOEMATION -AND AlTEEATION OF DISTRICTS. 531 FORMATION AND ALTERATION OP DISTRICTS. ACCOMMODATION OF INDIVIDUALS. Individual opposition to a, measure of public utility should be duly considered, but should be allowed to have weight only as it has a substantial foundation in reason and justice. That due regard should be paid to the wishes and convenience of the inhabitants to be affected by the alteration or consolidation of districts, will be admitted without argument. That the wislies, the convenience and the interests, pecuniary and general, of individuals and of the minority, must occasionally give place to higher considerations of public convenience and general good, is equally true and obvious. While, therefore, individ- ual opposition to measures of public utility should be duly considered, that opposition should be allowed to have weight only as it has a substantial foundation in reason and justice. A merely factious opposition, a dogged and persistent obstinacy, founded on selfishness or feeling or willfulness or some fancied illusion, cannot be successfully urged to defeat any public purpose, good and desirable in itself. It is not the fact of opposition, but the occasion for it, that is to be considered. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- intendent, March 5, 18.58. An order consolidating districts will not be set aside on the ground that the inhabitants of one or the districts are nearly unanimously opposed to it. This is an appeal from an order of the school commissioner consolidating district No. 8 with joint district No. 6. The principal grounds upon which the appellants claim a reversal of the order are that a large majority of the inhabitants of the new district are opposed to consolidation. The wishes and convenience of the inhabitants of a school district should not be wantonly or unnecessarily opposed. Still, it is a popular and preva- lent misapprehension that, in the organization or alteration of school dis- tricts, the voice of a majority of those interested or affected must neces- sarily prevail. Only upon the supposition of one or the other of the follow- ing conditions would the pursuance of such a policy be safe or just: First, that the district is a community supporting its school wholly with its own means; or, second, that the promotion of the wishes of the inhabitants shall be perfectly compatible with the conservation of a just and liberal policy, embracing in its operation all the districts in the State. The first of these conditions is, of course, never realized in our system, and the evidence is such as to show that the second condition is not realized in the second case. The appeal for a reversal of the order of tlie commissioner cannot, there- fore, be favorably entertained; and the order must be, and hereby is, affirmed. The principle here involved, of sanctioning the consolidation of districts whenever their separate existence must be maintained at an undue public sacrifice, except in those isolated instances where the sparseness of popula- tion and limited assessed valuation render them proper objects of public charity, is of general application, and may be regarded as a precedent which the department will follow whenever similar issues are presented. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 34, 1859. Safe rule to follow. In my judgment it is a safe rule in deciding whether alterations of dis- 532 FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTEICTS. ti-icts for the purpose of accommodating individual inhabitants shalt be made, to hold, in all otherwise proper cases for transfer, in favor of the alter- ation, when, by granting it, the district from which property is to be taken will not thereby be left too weak to support a good school. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 26,. 1869. Alteration of districts to secure better school facilities. Wlien it appears that an order of the school commissioner setting off a portion of one district and uniting it to another will give better school facilities, and increased convenience to the persons occupying the trans- ferred territory, and at the same time leave the district from which the transferred territory was taken sufficient resources with which to maintain a gi>od and sufficient school, this department can find no justification in setting aside the action of the duly constituted officers. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2850, May 19, 1879. Altering district boundaries to allow an inhabitant to send his children to a school out of his district as a matter of preference. It is against the settled policy of this department to allow property to be transferred from a comparatively weak district to a stronger one when it is not clearly shown that it will give better school facilities and increased con- venience to the persons occupying the transferred territory. The mere choice or preference of a resident to send his children to a school out of his district rather than to the one in his district is not sufficient reason for transferring his lands. Per "W". B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3284, October 26, 1883. A petition signed by a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the district is not suffi- cient reason for its dissolution. The appeal is from an order annulling district No. 7. A careful exami- nation of the material facts in this case shows that district No. 7 at the time of the orders appealed from, had an assessed valuation as shown by the last assessment-roU of the town, of $82,753. There were thirty children of school age residing in the district; and it the orders appealed from are sustained and the district dissolved, it will require the children to go over roads which in winter are impassable, a distance of from one and a half to two and three-quarter miles, in reaciiing the school-houses in the several districts to which portions of the territory of district No. 7 have been annexed. It is clear that a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the dis- trict signed a petition asking for its annulment, but this alone would not be good ground for the dissolution of a school district. It is not shown by the respondents that the inhabitants of the district had failed to support the school, nor that there were any peculiar circumstances whicli rendered it advisable to make the orders appealed from. A respectable minority were anxious to have the privileges of a school near at home, and the dis- trict, as it existed, was certainly strong enough in material wealth and school population to afford proper school facilities. I think tlie commis- sioner erred in annulling the district. Order of annulment set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3379, October 23, 1884. Alteration of districts for the convenience of children, but it is not shown that any children reside in the territory set off. The school commissioner made an order setting off certain lands from Formation and Alteration of Districts. 533 district No. 6, Esopus, Ulster county, and adding them to district No. 5, New Paltz, Lloyd and Esopus. The appeal is brought to set aside the commissioner's order. The assessed valuation of district No. 6, is $21,620, and that of district No. 5, $38,640. The property set off by said order has an assessed valua- tion of about $600, the commissioner has, therefore, taken fiom a weak district and added to a stronger, the appellants allege, without any reason therefor. The commissioner in his answer alleges that the road from the residence on the land set off to the scbool-house in district No. 6 is through a dense wood, and in winter is almost impassable, so that the children could not attend the school in that district, and for this I'eason the altera- tion was made. But it does not appear in the evidence that any children of school age reside on the premises set ofi. I think, from the evidence, it is established that the road from the resi- dences on the territory set off to the school-house in district No. 6 is too difficult a one for children to travel in winter; but as the commissioner fails to show that any children of school age reside upon the parts set off, and as he furnislies no other reason for the alteration, and as it appears that the order takes territory from a weak district, and adds to one compara- tively much stronger, ll. cannot affirm his action. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3440, September 19, 1885. When the same alteration was passed upon before, the department will not interfere with the discretion which the law reposes in the commissioner, in the fii-st instance, where the convenience of individuals alone is ati'ected, and where no material interest of such individuals or of the district is involved. This is a proceeding by Jacob Osterhout and H. L. Vandenburgh, resi- dents and tax payers in school district No. 10, town of Watervliet, Albany county, N. Y., appealing from an order made by George McDonald, school commissioner of the third commissioner district of Albany county, setting off the premises of Benjamin Beamer and Jeremiah Thompson from distiict No. 10, into district No. 18 of said town. This order was made with the consent of the trustees of both districts, and dated August 24, 1885. The appellants urge as a plea in bar, that this department passed upon this change of district boundaries, by a decision dated April 2P, 1876. By a reference to this " decision, it appears that the trustee of district No. 10, had not consented to the alteration, and the appeal was taken from the school commissioner's refusal to change the district boundaries. The school commissioner was sustained in such refusal. It further appears that the circumstances bearing upon the change are substantially the same now as at that time. The commissioner, in answering, gives as the principal reason for making the alteration, that it will be a convenience to the persons set into district No. 18, as the road to the school-house in that district is a good one during all seasons of the year, while the road to the school-house in district No. 10 is a very bad one in winter, and on account of the snow drifting, the children frequently find it difficult to reach the school. He also shows that both districts are large, and by such change he takes from the stronger and adds to the weaker district. The assessed valuation of district No. 10 being $328,343.47, and district No. 18, $184,901.75, while last yaar the amounts raised by tax in the two districts only differed about $16. It is only necessary from this state of facts to consider the bearing of the former decision upon the action of the commissioner at this time, and whether the decision of the Superintendent, and the circumstances of the 534 Formation and Alteration of Districts two districts remaining materially unchanged, must be followed in dispos- ing of this case. Wliile in the former case, the appellants, having the burden of proof, did uot show sufficient cause to justify the Superintendent in ordering the school commissioner to make the alteration in question, yet it cannot, from the decision therein, be successfully ai'gued, that all other things being equal, the convenience of individuals may not be considered by a commis- sioner, and be a good ground for making such an order. And the proceed- ings taken being in accordance with the statute, the burden of proof, this time, is shifted to those who appealed from the order, to show that on the merits the commissioner's action will materially injure the welfare of the district affected. In other words, this department will not interfere with the discretion which the law reposes in the commissioner, in the first instance, where the convenience of individuals alone is affected, and where no material interest of snch individuals or of the district is involved. The appeal is oveiTuled, and the order appealed from affirmed. Per James E. Morrison, Acting 8uperintendent. Decision No. 3475, February 2, 1886. BOARD FOR ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. The statute authorizes the associatioa of the town clerk and supervisor with the town superintendent (school commissioner), upon the application of the trustees of any district to be affected by their action. If only one trustee make such application, such board does not obtain jurisdiction of the feubject-matter; the application of a majority or all of such trustees is necessary. In this case, districts situated in both towns being affected by the pro- posed order, a single trustee of district No. 2, in Halfmoou, and of joint districts Nos. 8 and 18, in Halfmoon and Waterford, applied to the super- visors and town clerks of the two towns to be associated with the stiperin- tendents in their deliberations. The order was made by this board, thus assembled, and the answer sustaining and defending it is signed by every member. The appellants insist that the board was entirely destitute of jurisdiction. The statute authorizes the association of the town clerks and supervisors with the town superintendents only upon application by the trustees of any district to be affected by the proposed action. If a majority of the trustees of any one district make the application, it cannot be doubted that juris- diction is given to all; in this case, however, a majority of the trustees of no district made the application, and the supervisors and town clerks, composing a majority of the board, had no authority whatever in the premises. Considerable research has failed to discover any adjudged case in which the precise point here presented has been determined. It is, however, believed to be impossible, in accordance with general principlesi to sustain an order made by a tribunal which, in its constitution as a whole, has no jurisdiction, although including persons, as in the case of the two town superintendents, who, acting alone by themselves, would have possessed the requisite authority, and, although these persons all concur in the order, and nothing app«;ars showing that their judgment was in any degree con- trolled, or their deliberations affected, by the presence of third parties. The difficulty is, that it must always be practically impossible to ascer- tain whether the decision is, in fact, the unbia.=ed judgment of those to whom the duty of making it has been committed by law. It may be said that a judicial officer is not only blameless but praiseworthy for seeking to FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTKIOTS. 535 enlighten his own mind by the suggestions of disinterested and intelligent advisers. There is a manifest difference, however, between his voluntary application, which is consistent with that judicial independence which it is so important to preserve, and his being subjected to the influence of persons claiming to deliberate with him as a matter of right. It is, more- over, an element in the policy of the law, tliat all persons required to exer- cise judgment for the public good should be held to an individual respon- sibility, and not be permitted to diminish it by distributing a part of the burden among others. The appeal is sustained. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 14, 1855. The supervisor and town clerk cannot act with the commissioner in altering the boundaries of districts unless so requested. This appeal alleges that the town clerk and supervisor were present and acted without authority, at a meeting to alter the boundaries of certain dis- tricts, not having been requested to. act with the commissioner by the trustees of either district affected. This sufficiently disposes of the order, for the town officers could not acquire jurisdiction without the request' of the trustees, and, without jurisdiction, their action is void. Per H. H. Vau Dyck, Superintendent, i)ecember 15, 1860. Local boards for the alteration of districts cannot act upon districts lying outside their own town. Where a local board, composed of the school commissioner and the supervisor and town clerk of the town of M., proceeded to act upon a question of setting off portions of a district lying in the town of N., held, that the board so composed had no jurisdiction over the question, and that the order made by them was absolutely void. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 5, 1861. It is only after a school commissioner has granted an order for the alteration of a school district,, that the supervisor and towu clerk can be associated with him to review his proceedings. It appears that some time dnring the school year closing with September 30, 1865, application was made to the school commissioner for the second commissioner district of Franklin county, for division' of school district JTo. 2, in the town of Westville. The commissioner decided not to divide. Ci appears that subsequently, on the 11th day of August, 1865, the super- visor and town clerk of the town were associated with the commissioner, iind the three, acting as a board, rendered a decision in tei-ms reversing the order of the commissioner and dividing the district. The supervisor and town clerk have no jurisdiction in the alteration of school districts, except in cases where the commissioner has granted an order making an alteration. This is not such a ease. Therefore, the order made by the school commis- sioner for the second commissioner district of Franklin county, and the supervisors and town clerk of the town of Westville, in said county, on or about the 4th day of August, 1865, dividing school district No. 2, of said town, was, and is hereby declared null and void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 30, 1866. Commissioner and supervisor and town clerks of two or more towns when convened to act upon the alteration of a district, act as a board, and the vote of the majority is controlling. Under the system of town superintendents, each town whose officers were 536 Formation and Alteeation of Disteicts. convened to act upon the alteration of a district, had but one vote, but the rule has been changed since the office of school commissioner was created, and now is, that the supervisors and town clerks in attendance form, with the commissioners, a board which acts the same as any ordinary board by the votes of a majority of its members. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintend- ent, April 34, 1868. Board composed of school commissioner, supervisor and town clerk do not jiave orig- inal jurisdiction, and assumption of it vitiates proceedings. A meeting of the school commissioner, town clerk and supervisor appears to have been held pursuant to notice from the supervisor. The commis- sioner submitted a proposed order of alteration which was voted down by the supervisor and town clerk. The supervisor then produced an order of alteration prepared by himself, which was approved by the board, the com- missioner signing the same. Whether the order was one of alteration, or merely one to more correctly define existing boundaries, it was irregulaily issued, not being an order of the commissioner confirmed by the board, but an order emanating from tlie board itself as a body having original jurisdiction. As the board thus composed had no legal power to act in the matter, it follows that the pro- ceedings are void. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 26, 1868. Supervisor and town clerk cannot acquire jurisdiction to act in reviewing an order of the school commissioner in altering a school district, except upon the request of trustees. The evidence shows that the town officers were not requested to act in the matter by the trustees of either district affected. The board as thus constituted had no jurisdiction to hear and determine objections to the commissioner's order. The matter should have been determined by the commissioner alone. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 5, 1869. A question of waiver. In the above case the ground was taken that as the appellant appeared and argued his case before the board upon its merits, without any objection to the constitution or jurisdiction of the board, he lias waived his right to raise that question upon this appeal. Held, that the question of jurisdic- tion may be raised at any stage of the proceedings. The right is not waived by not being insisted upon before the tribunal having original jurisdiction. (See 8 N. Y. Seports, 354; 12 id. 156; 13 How. Pr. Bep. 360.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 5, 1869. When supervisor and town clerk fail to attend an original or adjourned meeting called to act upon an order of alteration, the commissioner has full power to act in the premises. This was a case in which the meeting of the board composed of the school commissioner, supervisor and town clerk, adjourned to a future day without determining the question. At the time and place to which the adjournment was made, only the commissioner appeared, and he entered an order confirming the order of alteration previously issued. The Super- intendent' says : " In my judgment it is not the intention of the law to put it in the power of the supervisor and town clerk, after once meeting with the commissioner, then by mere inaction or refusal to act, to nullify his order and prevent what might be a proper and desirable change in the FOBMATIO:? AND ALTERATION. OP DISTRICTS. 537 boundaries of a school district. If the town officers do not choose to attend on the day named by the commissioner, there is no doubt of his power acting alone to make an order confirming an alteration from which the trustees of the district or either of them may have dissented." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 9, 1870. PrelimiHary order of alteration necessary to justify convening supervisor and town clerk. In this case no order appears to have been made by the commissioner until at the meeting of himself and the town officers, when the order appealed from was made by him, and what purports to be a confirmation thereof 'was at the same time made by the supervisor and town clerk. There is no warrant in the law for an order thus made and affirmed. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 33, 1870. In lilce case to the above. Such a course was so clearly irregular as to render the order appealed from void for want of jurisdiction in the board to make it. Per Neil Gil- mour, Superintendent, August 10, 1874. Commissioners and trustees cannot act jointly in the alteration of districts. There is no authority given anywliere to commissioners to make orders jointly with other officers or persons for the consolidation of school districts. The order in question having been made jointly by two commissioners and two trustees of school districts was therefore invalid. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 6, 1873. Board can be convened only upon request of trustees. It appears that tlie action of the town officers in convening with the school commissioner was not at the request of the trustees of either district aflected by the order. This is a fatal objection. The order was confirmed by a board entirely destitute of jurisdiction. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, April 6, 1871. To the same effect. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January 18, 1875. The statute prohibiting judges and judicial ofHcers from sitting in judgment, when the interests of relatives within a certain degree are involved, or the common-law rule, does not apply to the members of the local board organized for the purpose of hear- ing objections to, and either contirming or vacating a commissioner's order altering school districts. The appeal was brought to set aside the order of the school commission- ers, setting certain lands from district No. 4, New Scotland, Albany county, into district No. 11. The order of the school commissioners was confirmed by the local board. The appellants raised the objection that Aaron Fuller, supervisor of the town of Guilderland, could not lawfully act with the local board for the reason that he was the nephew of the owner of the land set off from district No. 4 to district No. 11 by said order. A careful review of the cases cited by the appellant's counsel in his brief fails to show that any of them would apply to this case. The supervisor joined with the town clerk and school commissioners in the exercise of his judgment as to whether the public interest would be conserved by confirm- ino- the commissioners' act. I do not think that the exercise of this func- 68 538 Formation and Alteration of Distkicts. tion would bring the supervisor within the provisions of the Revised Stat- utes, ])rohibiting judges and judicial officers from sitting in judgment when the interest of relatives within a certain degree was involved, or within the common-law rule. The cases all seem to apply to the acts of judges, jus- tices, surrogates, or judicial officers eo-rwmine, and I see no more reason to apply the statute to a supervisor sitting in such a local board than to the action of highway commissioners, or to the sitting of a board of town assessors when assessments are reviewed and determined after a hearing. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3367, July 19, 1884. When two districts are altered by a commissioner's order, the district assenting to the order, within the meaning of section i, title VI of the General School Act, has a right to the voice of its town authorities in determining whether the order of the com- missioner shall stand or be set aside, as well as the district dissenting therefrom. Commissioner of the first district of Columbia county made an order set- ting ofE certain lauds known as the " Saulsbury farm, " consisting of about 160 acres, from school district No. 13, Claverack, and annexing the same to district No. 6 of the town bf Taghkanick in said county. The local board affirmed the commissioner's order. The appeal is brought by the trustee of district No. 13, Claverack, to set aside the order of the local board. After overruling the first and second objections the Superintendent says : '' It remains for me to consider the third ground of appeal, namely, ' that the order of December 29, 1884, confirming the order making the altera- tion, was made without due authority of law by a pretended board having no legal authority to act as such.' In support of this objection, the ap- pellant urges that he dissented from the proposed alteration, and having been notified by the commissioner that he would attend at the school-house of district No. 13, on December 29, 1884, to hear objections to the pro- posed alterations, the appellant notified the supervisor and town clerk of Claverack, and requested their attendance at the hearing. At the time and place mentioned the commissioner was present, as were also the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Claverack, pursuant to the notice given them by the appellant. There were also present the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Taghkanick, pursuant to notice of the trustee of school district No. 6 of the town of Taghkanick. The appellant protested against the admission of the town officers of Taghkanick to a sitting in the board, but the protest was overruled. After a hearing and deliberation, the com- missioner, in conjunction with the supervisor and town clerk of Taghkanick, made an order affirming the original order of the school commissioner; whereupon the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Claverack also made and filed an order assuming to vacate and overrule the said original order of the school commissioner. It is urged by the appellant that within tlie meaning of section 4, title VI of the Code of Public Instruction, a dis- trict affected by a commissioner's order is one from which property is taken or one which deems itself injured by the operation of said order. I do not think the statute will bear such a limited construction. The trustees of any district to be affected by the order may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. ; It is, moreover, the duty of the commissioner to the assenting, as well as to the dissenting, trustees of districts to be affected by the proposed alterations, of the time and place for hearing objections to the said alterations, and that the time and place mentioned in the notice, the commissioner with the supervisors and town clerks within which either district or all districts FOKMATION AND ALTERATION Off DlSTEI0T3. 539 affected by the order are located, if notified thereto, may meet and deter- mine whether the commissioner's order shall be affirmed or vacated. The district assenting to the order, within the meaning of tliis section, has a right to the voice of its town authorities in determining whether the order of the commissioner shall stand or be set aside, as well as the district dis- senting therefrom. The order of the local board appealed from, affirmed. Per "W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3430, Juue 3, 1885. BOUNDARIES. Order altering district boundaries will be set aside when the new boundaries are not defined by other lines than farms described hy the names of the occupants. An objection to the order appealed from is that the boundaries are not properly defined. I regard the objection as well taken. Boundaries should be defined by known established monuments and marks, that survive the chauces and changes that transpire in the ownership of the soil. Boundaries by men's farms or other transitory and perishable lines, however significant and clearly understood at the time, are perpetually subject to the changes and vicissitudes of life, and the roving and commercial spirit of our age, and in, a few years become vague and uncertain as the memory of men and the title to their possessions jDass away. This vagueness and uncertainty concerning the actual boundaries of districts whose lines have been run to coincide with farms that have afterward been cut up into smaller lots, or consolidated with other farms, whereby the original boundaries have become obliterated, is a fruitful source of contention, strife and litigation in school districts. This department has, therefore, acted upon the policy of setting aside the action of school officers, in the alteration of districts, where this principle of defining boundaries by proper monuments and prominent land- marks is disregarded. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 31, 1860. Irregularity in the boundaries of a district should be avoided as far as possible. The maps and statements submitted show that the district boundaries are left by said alteration very irregular, as the same are defined by said order. Mr. Miller's farm projects into district No. 3 for the distance of about half a mile, and is surrounded on three sides by the territory of that district. _ If it is necessary to change the boundary lines of the two districts in question, the new lines should be established with regularity and accuracy. The order appealed from does not accomplish these objects, and is hereby set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 15, 1868. Correction of defective boundaries not subject to review by the supervisor and town clerk. I am disposed to believe that the supervisor and town clerk had no juris- diction to pass upon the order issued by the commissioner as above set forth. This is not a case of alteration under the provisions of the sixth title of the general school act, but is simply a case of amendment of defective school district boundaries, under the provisions of subdivision 1, section 13, title 3 of said act. Under these provisions no authority is ex- pressly given to town officers to review an order of the commissioner, and I am of the opinion that none can be implied. The boundary lines of a wreat portion of the school districts in the State are defective, and if it were necessary in causing amended records of such boundaries to be made, to proceed with all the formality and deliberation required in the case of 540 Formation and Alteeation of Districts. altering boundaries, it is doubtful whether any thing practical in the way of amending such records could be eflected. The law has, therefore, pro- vided a more speedy and expeditious mode of procedure, by leaving the matter to the sole determination of the school commissioner, subject to an appeal to this department, which will prevent any improper exercise of the power given to that officer. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 4, 1868. Also to same effect. Per Superintendent Weaver, August 26, 1868. Order of alteration set aside when boundaries are defined only by men's names. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 3, 1872. In the commissioner'a order altering districts, the description must appear in snch a manner that a surveyor can run the boundaries of the districts therefrom. The local board can only confirm the commissioner's order at a regular meeting thereof. An order altering the boundaries of districts Nos. 17 and 11, Union, Broome county, was made on the 36th day of April, 1883, and said order was confirmed on May 14, 1883. From these two orders the appeal is brought. It will not be necessary to examine or discuss the questions of fact involved in this controversy, as there are two legal objections to the valid- ity of the order appealed from which appears to be fatal. The description of the territory proposed to be taken from district No. 11 and added to district No. 17 is not sufficiently definite. Its boundary is made, in the commissioner's order, to commence at the south-east corner of lands of S. H. Cooper. The south-easterly part of the Cooper land happens to be so shaped as to present two distinct and well-defined corners, each one of which may as well be considered the south-east corner as the other. Noth- ing appeal's in the subsequent description, by way of courses and distances or otherwise, which aids in any manner to definitely fix the starting point. It would be manifestly impossible for a surveyor to run out the boundary lines of the territory proposed to be set off from district No. 11, by the description in the order. On the 12th day of May, the commissioner, supervisor and town clerk met by appointment, pursuant to the statute, to hear objections to the pro- posed alteration. Objections and arguments were that day heard by them, and thereupon, without making any decision or coming to any agreement in respect thereto, and without adjourning to any other day, said officers separated. On the 17th of May, the said commissioner and supervisor cas- ually met and, in the absence of the said town clerk, made and signed an order confirming the order of the commissioner for an alteration of said districts. Under such circumstances the majority could not legally make the order of confirmation. Chapter 331, Laws of 1874. Orders appealed from set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3383, October 25, 1883. CONSENT OF, AND NOTICE TO TRUSTEES. A conditional consent to the alteration of a district cannot be given. The trustees must either give or withhold their consent. They can annex no conditions. Per Spencer, April 13, 1841. ! Trustees cannot give notice for themselves, and receive it for the district as trustees, of an application to be set oS to another district, and assent to being set off in their otiicial capacity. They cannot act in a twofold capacity. The appellants state that two of the trustees of their district made appli- cation to the town superintendent, without giving notice to their colleague, FoHMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTBICTS. 541 that their own lands might be set off to district No. 5, snd that upon the application, without consent of the other trustees, the order was made set- ting off one of them, Mr. Southworth. It does not appear, although it may be surmised, that Mr. Ellis is the otlier trustee thus applying. If such was the fact, there would be no notice, in a proper sense, to any trus- tee of the district. When they applied to be separated, it was in their individual capacity and not in their official character. They were acting prima fade, not in behalf of but against the district ; applying as private individuals to be set off, and assenting to be set off in the capacity of representatives of a constituency that may, if the practice should be tolerated, be without an opportunity of opposing. It follows, therefore, that notice to them has no effect whatever upon the rights of the district. There is no evidence in this case that any written notice of the order has been served upon the third trustee, or in fact upon any trustee. The contrary is to be presumed, from the fact that one of the answers sets up their application and consent as dispensing with such notice. This order, then, has not taken effect. There exists a manifest objection to impairing the resources of a feeble district to swell those of one relatively stronger, and it is against the set- tled ruling of this department. The appeal is, therefore, sustained. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superin- tendent, July 19, 1855. To like effect is decision, per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 27, 1871, referring to and approving the above. Eegularity of notice to trustees of intention to define boundaries of district. The notice of a meeting of commissioners to establish or define the boundaries of a district, when served upon the trustees of the district affected, must be signed by the commissioners themselves. It is not good if signed by the trustees of another district. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- intendent, May 4, 1858. Tlio consent of trustees to an alteration of their district requires a meeting, and the fact of a meeting should be set forth in the written consent given. This is an appeal from the order of the school commissioner altering the boundaries of the district. The order is issued upon the application of two parties interested, and upon the written consent of two of the trustees, one of whom is a party, desiring to be set off by said order to another district. Section 7, of chapter 151, Laws of 1858, provides as follows: "Any two trustees of any school district may make any order or transact any business in execution of the powers conferred upon said board of trustees by law; provided it shall appear in the order of proceeding filed by them, that all the trustees of the district met and deliberated on the subjects embraced in each order or proceeding, or were duly notified to attend a meeting of the trustees for the purpose of deliberating thereon." No such meeting or notice appears upon the face of the proceedings in the present instance. There was, therefore, no evidence before the com- missioner suflBcient to authorize him to make the order of alteration. The commissioner acted under a misapprehension, and the consent of the trus- tees, which he supposed genuine and valid, lacks every requisite that could make it binding upon him. The order is, therefore, set aside. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 27, 1860. 542 Formation and Alteration of Districts. An alteration of a school district, lying partly in the districts of two commissioners, cannot be effected without the joint action of the commissioners. Consent of trus- tees to an alteration of district should recite the fact of a meeting and consultation. The principle which this department has always recognized is that, when any district, affected by a proposed alteration, lies partly within the juris- diction of two or more commissioners, their joint action is indispensable to give jurisdiction of the subject-matter. It is not enougli that the new dis- trict formed lies wholly within the jurisdiction of one commissioner. The fact that other districts, whose boundaries are thereby changed, are wholly or in part within the limits of another commissioner's district, gives him a rightful voice in determining to what alterations, if any, such district shall be subjected. The consent given by the trustees to the proposed alteration of their dis- trict must show upon its face that there has been a meeting of the trustees to consider and act upon the question of alteration. Where such is not the case, the consent is of no account. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 17, 1862. A school commissioner has no jurisdiction to alter a school district until the trustees thereof have been asked and have given or refused to give their consent. * The order for the formation of a district must contain a recital of such consent or refusal. Under section 3 of title 6 of the Consolidated School Act of 1864 the school commissioner has no jurisdiction to make an order altering a school district until after the trustees have been asked and have refused to consent to the proposed alteration. These appellants, three in number, all swear that their consent to this alteration had not been asked subsequently to the decision of the appeals brought to this department from the same district last year. There is no allegation in any paper submitted to the Superin- tendent by the respondent claiming that any such request had been made previous to making the order bearing date June 8, 1865, altering the bound- aries of said district. Therefore, I must hold that no such consent was asked or refused. Hence the order made by the school commissioner was void for want of jurisdic- tion. But the section above referred to provides, also, that the commis- sioner may make and file with the town clerk his order making the alter- ation, but reciting the refusal, etc. The order made in this case recites no such refusal, and hence the commissioner, having failed to comply with the plain requirement of the statute, and to recite in the order the fact giving him jurisdiction to make it, the order is void The appeal is, thereforfe, sustained, and said order made by said Orrin R. Bouton, school commissioner, and the confirmation thereof referred to in the said appeal, are hereby declared null and void. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, December 16, 1865. The consent of trustees or notice to them pursuant to the provisions of the general school act is requisite to legality in the alteration of a district. A commissioner can alter a schogl district only with the consent of the board of trustees, or by reciting their refusal in his original order, directing that his order shall not take effect within three months, and giving to such trustees the notice required by section 4 of title 6 of the General School Act. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 10, 1868. Formation and Alteeation of Disteicts. 543 Insufficient notice to trustees of a meeting of the school commissioners and town officers to consider and determine the qtiestion of altering the district boundaries vitiates the proceeding. On the evening of November 9th, the trustees were notified of a meeting of commissioner, town clerk and supervisor, to be held at the town clerk's office that same evening for the purpose of deteiinining whether the com- missioner's order altering the bonds of said district issued Nov. 4, should be confirmed or vacated. This was the first and only notice that the trus- tees had receivted. The meeting was held and the commissioner's order confirmed. Section 4 of title 6 of the General School Act provides, that when a dis- trict boundary shall have been altered without the trustees' consent, at least a week's notice in writing must be given to one of the trustees of each dis- trict affected that at a specified time and place the commissioner will be present to hear objections to his order. In the present case the notice above mentioned was not given. Thus the commissioner's ordei's are not even prima fade valid, and the said orders are hereby pronounced void, and are set aside as of no force or effect. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1868. Insufficiency in notice may be waived by the trustees at the time and place mentioned. The only irregularity I see in the matter is the fact that only six days' notice was given by tlie commissioner while the law requires seven days' [a week's] notice. The appellants, however, waived their right to object to this irregularity by being present at the time and place specified witliout objecting to the insufficiency of the notice. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- ent, March 30, 1868. No particular form of dissent required to justify the recital by the commissioner in his order that the trustees of the district affected have refused to consent to the proposed alteration. In proposing to set ofi a person from one district to another at his request, the party interested applied to the trustees for their consent, which was refused. This was sufficient to justify the commissioner in reciting the dissent of the trustees.. The law does not require the commissioner to obtain the assent or dissent of trustees, nor does it require the dissent to be expressed in writing. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 24, 1868. Order as made must conform to the consent given upon which it is predicated. By a resolution adopted by the board of education of a Union Free School district, consent was given to the setting off of certain lands belonging to said district. The school commissioner issued an order reciting the con- sent, and setting off said lands and also certain other lands of said district. HM, that the order is illegal for the reason that the commissioner bases his action on the alleged consent of the trustees, and then proceeds to set off lands not included in the consent given. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, May 20, 1869. To like eflfect, decision per Weaver, Superintend- ent, May 13, 1873. Consent of trustees must be given as a board at meeting duly called. In the matter of nn appeal from the alteratiott of & school district, pur- porting to have been done by the consent of the trustees^ it was shown that 544 Formation and Alteration of Districts. the consent of two of the trustees of one of the districts affected was sio-ned by them at different times, and was not the act of the tmstees as a board convened for that purpose. The Superintendent says : ' This is so fatal to the order that it is unnecessary to examine other objections maae to it From a consent thus obtained the commissioners acquired no jur^- diction to act in regard to the alteration of the districts.' Per A. U. "Weaver, Superintendent, November 23, 1870. Same. In a case where the consent of the trustees did show upon its face that it was given in their capacity as a board, but upon an appeal it was con- clusively established that the consent was not so given, but signed by two of the trustees separately, at different times, and the form of the consent afterward alleged to have been changed to show that it was given by the trustees as a bSard, the Superintendent lield, that while the commissioner acted in good faith, believing that he was proceeding in conformity with the statute, yet he did not acquire jurisdiction, for the reason that the writ- ten consent of the trustees was never lawfully given. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent, September 19, 1874. Consent of trustees of every district affected must be had to give validity to an order taking effect immediately. An order for alteration affected districts Nos. 3, 4, 10 and 18; it was al- leged that the consent of all the trustees except of No. 16 was given. The Superintendent says: "However that may be, the order never had any validity for want of the consent of the trustee of No. 16. In the absence of that consent, an order could not be made to take effect immediately." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 16, 1871. Want of notice of time and place to hear objections to order vitiates the same. It is shown that although the trustees of the districts affected refused to consent to the proposed alteration, the commissioner has not at any time since the making and filing of the order given the notice required by sec- tion 4 of title 6 of the General School Act, of a time and place where he would hear the objections to the alteration. For want of compliance with this requirement, the order appealed from was entirely null and void. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 11, 1872. Notice to trustees of a time and place when and where objections to an order of altera- tion will be heard must name a reasonable hour. It is alleged that the notice served upon the trustee specified no hour in the day for the meeting to hear objections. The supervisor and town clerk were at the designated place at a season- able hour on the day named, for the purpose of acting upon the question, but the decision to confirm the order had already been made by the com- missioner. Order set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 25, 1878. Requirement of consent of trustees, etc., and notice when consent is not obtained, applied to dissolution as well as to alteration of districts. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, September 14, 1874. Order made without the consent of the trustees. An order made without the consent of the trustees, changing the bound- aries of districts, and which was never confirmed as required by section 4 Formation and Alteeation of Districts. 546 of title 6 of the Code of Public Instruction, will be set aside and declared void by this department. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2887, September 15, 1879. A trustee cannot consent in the name of the district to lands owned bj him being set off from his district into another. Without passing upon the merits of the action from which this appeal is taken, it is sufficient to say thut the order is clearly invalid, as it assumes to transfer from district No. 10 to district No. 11, lands occupied by the trustee of district No. 10, and on which he resided at the time of consent- ing to the order, and that the time when, by its terms, it was to take effect. It is clear to my mind that the trustee of a school district has no power, in the name of the district, to consent to an order for the alteration of school district territory which will take him out of the district of which he is trustee, and by its operation vacate his office. Order set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3419, May 5, 1885. The notice to be given by a commissioner to a dissenting trustee or trustees, provided for in section 4, title VI, must be given after the commissioner's order has been made and entered. The notice given in this case was before the order was made, and was that at a certain time and place the commissioner would hear objections to the alteration. This appeal is brought from an order of the school commissioner of Schenectady county, dated on the 21st day of September, 1885, altering the boundaries of school districts Nos. 10 and 25, in the town of Duanesburgh, by taking certain lands from district No. 10 and adding the same to dis- trict No. 25. The appeal is brought by the trustee of district No. 10 to set aside said order. It appears that the iirst notice received by the trustee of district No. 10, Duanesburgh, from the commissioner, dated at Schenectady on the 12th of September, 1885, was of his intent on the 21st day of September, at the Brooklyn House, near Esperance Bridge, at 10 o'clock in the morning, to make an order for the alteration of district No. 10, so that its boundaries shall thereafter be as described in the order. The notice further states that the trustee of district No. 10, not having assented to such order, it would not take effect in respect to such last-mentioned district until three months from the date of this order. The trustee is further notified that he has the option of applying to the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Duanes- burgh, to be associated with the commissioner, at the time and place above mentioned, to determine upon the propriety of such proposed alteration. This notice is followed by the order dated September 21, 1885, signed by the school commissioner and filed in the office of the town clerk on that day, altering the boundary of school district No. 10, town of Duanesburgh, as described in said order, and reciting that the order shall take effect in regard to the dissenting district in three months from December 12, 1885. The proceedings taken are clearly defective. When a school commis- sioner determines to make an alteration of a school district he may do so with or without the consent of the trustee of the district affected by such order; but he should first fix in an order to be filed with the town clerk the date when the alteration shall take effect. In case the trustee refuses his consent, he should direct the order should not take effect in regard to the dissenting district until a day therein to be named, not less than three months after the notice as provided in section 4, title VI, Code of Public Instruction. Such order was not entered by the commissioner, and the notice of September 13 was simply intended to comply with the provisions 69 546 FoEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DISTRICT?, of section 4, giving not less than a week's notice to the triistee of tlie dis- senting distvict iiffected by the proposed alteration, that at a specified time and place, within the town in which the district affected lies, the commis- sioner would liear objections to the alterations. Tlie notice provided for in section 4 assumes that the order has been entered, and provides that within ten days after making and filing such order the commissioner shall give the week's notice therein provided for a hearing and review, and at such hearing and review the supervisor and town clerk of the town within which the district is situated may be associated with the commissioner. In this case no original order appears to have been made or entered prior to the notice of September 12; therefore, there was do action of the com- missioner which could have been legally reviewed on the 31st day of Sep- tember, as provided for in said notice of the commissioner, and the order of September 21, if it had any validity at all, could be sustained only as au original order; but the commissioner having failed thereafter to give the dissenting trustee the notice required in section 4, to enable him to have the oi-der reviewed, as provided for in said section, the action taken could not legally alter the boundaries of the district. Commissioner's order set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3456, De- cember 8, 1 885. Consent of trustees of one district affected by a commissioner's order changing school districts, not material when the trustees of the other district refuse consent. Such consent only becomes material when there is to be no subsequent meeting for hear- ing objections." A commissioner who failed to file a confirmatory order made by himself, together with the supervisor and town clerk, for nearly a month after the same was made, was dere- lict in duty ; but such negligence held not to be fatal to the proceedings. Failure to give proper notice of the meeting to hear objections would be waived by the appearance at the meeting, without objection, of all the parties entitled to notice. Altering districts only for the purpose of equalizing valuations not sanctioned by the Department; may be an element for consideration, but should not be the controlling one. This is an appeal from an order of Albert P. Smith as school commis- sionei' of the second commissioner district of Dutchess county, made on the 6th day of August, 1886, and also from an order of said commissioner dated the 14th day of August, 1886, made to confirm tlie first-mentioned order, which orders set off a portion of school district No. 5, in the town of Poughkeepsie, and attached the same to school district No. 1 of said town. The papers in the case ai-e very voluminous. From them it is gathered that there has been considerable local controversy over the matter for a long time. District No. 1 seems to have been desirous of gaining more territory for the purpose of increasing its taxable property, .ind particularly seems to have been anxious to bring within its limits, a ])iece of the line of the New York Central and Hudson River i-ailroad. The order of the commissioner effects this by cutting some three-quarters of a mile of said road from dis- trict No. 5 and adding it to district No. 1. Tliis is stoutly resisted by dis- trict No. 5. It is said that the change will be inconvenient to the people living in the territory which is set off from one district to the other, and they protest very earnestly against it. Two subjects are properly matters of inquiry, viz. : First. Whether the commissioner has acted regularly, and pursuant to the provisions of the statute ; and Second. Whether in case the proceedings are regular, it was an advisable thing to do. The appellant urges numerous irregularities in the pi;oceedings, the lead- ing ones of which are : FoKMArio.y ai^jd Alteration of Distkicts. 54? (a) That the trustees of district No. 1 did not consent, in writing, to tlie order of April a prior to the time when tlie order was made. (J) That the orders, notices, etc., were not filed in the clerk's oiBce unHl the 4th of September after the making of the orders. (c) That the commissioner proceeded to hear objections on the 14th day of August without proof of service of notice on tlie trustees. (d) That the commissioner made no written decision or order on the 14th of August. I do not think there is sufficient force to these objections to require that the orders should, because of them, be set aside. It is piobably true that the trustees of district No. 1 did not make a written consent to the com- missioner's order prior to the 6th of August. They severally swear that they consented in fact, however, but I do not think that material. The consent of the trustees of the distiict affected is only material to the valid- ity of the commissioner's order changing districts wheie there is no objec- tion on the part of either of the districts affected, and where there is to be no subsequent meeting for hearing objections. In this case the trustees of district No. 5 objected from the first, and that fact was recited in the order of August 6th. In view of the fact that there was no general assent to the commissioner's order, and of the necessity for a future hearing by the com- missioner so that the opposing parties might have an opportunity to state their objections, it is difficult to see any necessity of consent, written or unwritten, on the part of the trustees. That the commissioner determined at the time of the hearing of August 14th to confirm his former order seems to be beyond question. AH accounts agree upon the fact that he announced his purpose so to do to the end that the matter might be taken upon appeal to this department, if the opposing parties should so desire. I think the commissioner was exceedingly derelict in not filing the papers in the clerk's office before the 4th of September, but cannot think that such negligence should be held fatal to the proceedings. There would not seem to be much fcu-ce in the olijection that the commis- sioner proceeded to hear objections on the 14th of August without proof of service of notice on the trustees in view of the fact that the trustees of botli of the districts affected were present at such hearing, and participated in it, and that the record fails to disclose that they raised any objections of that nature at that time. It is claimed by the appellant that the order of the commissioner affects school district No. 4. This is denied by the respondent, and inasmuch as no resident of that district appears in the case, and as the papers fail to establish the claim satisfactorily, it cannot be sustained. I now come to the consideration of the question whether the order was advisable. District No. 5 had within its limits about two and one-half (3^) miles of the line of the New York Central and Hudson River railroad. District No. 1 contained no portion of the road. The order appealed from cut off terri- ■ tory containing about three-fourths (f) of a mile of the road from district No. 5 and annexed it to No. 1. The fact is undisguised that it was the object of the order to accomplish just this thing. No other purpose was advanced in support of it. It is reasoned that the railroad company is a large tax payer, and that district No. 1 is poor, while district No. 5 is well- to-do. Substantially the only ground advanced by the respondent's answer in support of the propriety of the order is, that it was to help a weak dis- trict. It is not pretended to have been made for the convenience or benefit of residents of the territory aflfected. It will not enlarge their school jirivi- 548 FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTBICTS. leges. They feel it to be very unjust to them, and protest against it with all their strength. To carry the order into operation will be to disturb present relations and force them into new ones, which they do not desire. It would not beat all strange if the' ill-feeling which would be brought into district No. 1 by the annexation would do it more liarm than the added taxable property would do it good. In any event, I am not prepared to give sanction to the proposition that school districts should hii clianged only for the purpose of equalizing valuations. Perhaps it may properly be an element for consideration, but it should not be the controlling one. If districts are to be altered whenever, and only because one has more valuable property than another, the result would be a constant struggle for the annex- ation of such property, and the people and the school system would be end- lessly involved in controversy in consequence of it. This is against public policy, and as it is the essential, if not the only, ground upon which the change here in question was made, it cannot be sustained. The appeal is sustained and the orders of August 6th and 14th, 1886, are set aside and declared to be of no effect. Per A. S. Draper, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 3534, November 13, 1886. FORMATION, ALTERATION AND DISSOLUTION OF WEAK DISTRICTS. It is the settled policy of the Department of Public iDstruction to favor the consolida- tion of weak and inefficient districts. The town superintendent of Independence, Allegany county, had consoli- dated two weak and inefficient districts. Nos. 7 and 11. Upon an appeal to the county superintendent, he reversed the order of the town superin- tendent, upon the sole ground that it was, apparently, the only means of putting an end to the quarrels and dissensions that had unhappily arisen in the consolidated district. The county superintendent, at the same time, admitted that the organization, as made by the town superintendent, was " the most judicious one that could be entered into under existing circum- stances," and that, although not perfect, "it was the best that could be made until the population of the neighborhood becomes more dense." The State Superintendent reversed the decision of the county superin- tendent, and confirmed the order of the town superintendent, strongly reprehending the bad policy of re-establishing two weak and inefficient districts, obviously incapable of maintaining an adequate organization. Per Young, December 20, 1844. The personal convenience of one or two inhabitants will not be permitted to control in the alteration of districts, where such alteration would detach property from a weak district and attach it to one much stronger. On an appeal from an order of a school commissioner altering a certain district, it was held, that whatever private convenience might be subserved, it would be at a sacrifice of settled principles of public policy to carry into effect an alteration, the apparent consequence of which would be to exag- gerate the disparity of districts already existing, and that such alteration, therefore, would not be allowed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 9, 1857. The department will not sanction the setting off of a person from a weak district to a strong one, on account of a diCBculty which he may have in the district where he resides. On an appeal from the proceedings of the local officers in setting off from Formation and Alteeation of Distkicts. 549 a weak district the farm and residence of one of the inhabitants of said district, the local officers, in justification of their course, set forth that a difficulty of long standing exists between the inhabitant set off and the district of which he is a resident, and that, in consequence of this difficulty, he has not for some time sent to the school in his district. They, therefoie, felt that the cause of education would be more effectually promoted by setting him off to another district. While I concede that the motives of the local officers were just and worthy in themselves, I cannot find in the circumstances that surround the case a good reason for the conclusion arrived at. The precedent established is a dangerous one, which, though, if it could be localized, might not he very unfortunate, yet, if sanctioned by the department, and thus made of gen- eral application throughout the State, would prove a source of unending contention and strife. To secure a change from one district to auothei would then only require the party desiring such removal to get into some difficulty with the district. For the reasons above set forth, the order will be set aside. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, October 13, 1859. "Where a new district has been erected to settle a controversy, the inhabitants of such district protesting that tl.ey were able lo niaiiii..in a sci.uul, It should not subse- quently 06 enlarged at the expense of &urrouuding districts. Where a new district has been erected as a means of settling a district ■controversy, the inhabitants forming the new district earnestly protesting that they were abundantly able to maintain a school, and that they would not, at any future day, ask for an increase of territory, held, that it is opposed to all sound and just policy to grant the formation of a new dis- trict to pacify an unhappy strife; and a few years after to suffer the weak- ness and inefficiency of such a district to plead in behalf of its further enlargement, and the consequent reduction of surrounding districts. Such a policy is practically offering a premium for contention and strife; and. whenever any order for the alteration of a district appears, to this depart- ment, to favor such a policy, it will be annulled upon that ground. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 5, 1861. The separation of contestants in a school district will not justify the formation of a weak district. The appeal was from an order setting off six families and thirteen chil- dren from district No. 18 to district No. 1. It appears that controversies frequently arise in the district as to tlie proper management of its affairs, and there seemed to be little prospect of a restoration to harmony. Apparently induced by this last consideration, the commissioner made the order appealed from with the view, apparently, of separating the con- testants. The object to be accomplished does not, in my judgment, justify the course taken by him. It has long been the policy of the department (it is a sound one and I shall adhere to it) to discountenance any action that has a tendency to make weak and inefficient districts. It appears that the whole number of children left in No. 18 is only twenty-two, and that the assessed valuation of property therein is $11,800. It appears that the ■order in question took from the district thirteen children, and more than ■one-half of its taxable property. I have no hesitation in sustaining the appeal and setting the order aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, J\lKrch 6, 1869. 550 FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTBICTS. Tlie division of a district already weak in property and members, except for most urgent reasons, will be vacated. On an appeal from the division of a school district, the following facts were brought to view. The whole number of children in both districts after the division was thirty-five, and the average daily attendance in both schools was twenty-six. The assessed valuation of property in the two districts was $13,903, of which $8,203 belonged to No. 5, and 5:4,700 to No. 9. The Superintendent saj^s: /'This district was, at the time of making the order, quite limited enough both with respect to the number of children of school age within its borders, and in its resources in taxable property. To justify its division would require reasons of no ordinary character." No such reasons were presented. The order dividing the dis- trict was vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1869. An alteration tbat makes a strong district stronger, and two relatively weak districts weaker, not sustained. On appeal from an order setting off a portion of districts Nos. 3 and 3, and attaching the same to district No. 1, the following facts appeared. District No. 1, had taxable property amounting to $618,350, and the num- ber of children of school age was 740. In district No. 3, the value of prop- erty was $124,000, number of children eighty; and in No. 3, the property was assessed at |180,000, and the children of school age numbered fifty. The order appealed from, set off from No. 3, $58,700 of taxable property, and twenty children of school age, and from No. 3, $53,325 of property, and seventeen children, and attached the same to district No. 1. The Superintendent says: "This statement of the relative strength of the dis- tricts is, of itself, sufBcient to show that the change made in them (by the order appealed from), unless called for by considerations so imperative as to justify a departure from the established rule, that strong and wealthy districts shall not be enlarged at the expense of weaker ones, was an act not only inexpedient, but in the highest degree unjust to the dismembered districts." Upon the alleged benefits to be derived from the alteration, the Superin- tendent pertinently remarks : " The principal one, to-wit : the advantage to be derived by the children set from those districts into No. 1, in the opportunity thus offered them of attending a better school than the former districts can now furnish, is a benefit to be attained only by the sacrifice of the present and future interests of those who shall be left in the districts weakened by the division. For if those districts, unimpaired, could fur- nish, as the respondents allege, but indifferent educational advantages, depriving them of a large amount of their taxable real estate must cer- tainly so diminish tlioir ability to maintain good schools, as to result in greatly lowering the grade of those they already have." Order of altera- tion annulled. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1869. The formation of a new district, so weak in taxable property that taxes for the support of the school will be onerous and oppressive, will not be sustained. On an appeal from the formation of a new school district, in which the valuation of taxable property was only $4,580, of which all but $1,350 was non-resident lands, the Superintendent says : "The necessity for the formation of the district has not been shown. No person having children to send to school seems to have been at an un- reasonable distance from a school-house, and although some pupils mav FOKMATION AN]) ALTERATION OF DISTRICTS. 551 have had to cross a liill to reach one the means of access do not seem to have been much if any more difBcult tlian usual in that section. " Immediately after the formation of the new district, a school tax was levied, the proportion of which upon the non-resident lands therein was $4a4. 11, being more than one-sixth of the entire assessed value of those lands. Such taxation is too onerous to be tolerated, unless the most im- perative necessity for its imposition is established." Nearly seventeen months elapsed after making the order, before the appeal (by a non-resident owner, and agent for other non-resident lands in the district) was brought, but the case was so extraordinary in its inex- pediency and injustice, thij,t the Superintendent waived the ordinary rule in such cases, and entertained and sustained the appeal, and vacated the order appealed from. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 13, 1869. Dissolving district too wealc to maintain a school. When a school district is so weak that for several years no school has been kept, the school commissioners may set off lands from such district to adjoining districts. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, decision No. 2981, June 1, 1880. Ail taxable property should be made to bear its share of taxation toward the mainten- ance of a good school. The fact that the commissioner's order altering districts was made to take effect at a date several months after the date of the order, will not of itself invalidate the order. The school commissioner of the second commissioner district of Otsego county, on the 14th day of October, 1884, made an order annulling school district No. 3, towns of Pittsfield and Edmeston, and attaching the parts thereof to other districts. Tiie appeal is brought by residents of district No. 3, to set aside the commissioner's order. It appears from the evidence that district No. 3, Pittsfield and Edmeston, while it had sufflcient valuation of taxable property to maintain a good school, had not at the date of this order more than eleven children of school age, and that the school for a long time past has had a very small attend- ance, a part of the time it not having been over four pupils. Several of the inhabitants of the district had been in the practice of sending their children to the schools in the adjoining districts, which were much larger and better than the school in district No. 3. It appears, also, that a large majority of the legal voters in said district are in favor of said annulment. The evidence upon the increased distance which a few of the children will have to travel in order to reach the schools in the districts as formed by the commissioner's order is very conflicting. But even if it is greater in some instances, the better advantages which the children will receive will offset this objection raised by the appellants. By annulling district No. 3 and adding its territory to the adjoining dis- tricts, all of the taxable property of district No. 3 will be compelled to bear its share of taxation toward the maintenance of a good school. It seems by this arrangement that the districts adjoining district No. 3 will be strengthened, their schools increased in size, and the inhabitants of the annulled districts will receive better schpol facilities. In view of these facts I do not see that sufficient reasons have been presented for reversing the commissioner's order. The order was made on the 14th day of October, 1884, and was not to take effect until May 1, 1885. The trustees of all the districts to be affected by this order gave their consent thereto. The fact that it was made to 552 Formation and Alteration of Districts. take effect at so late a date will not invalidate the order. Per W. B. Bug- gies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3436, September 4, 1885. IRREGULARITY OP PROCEDURE. A district is not annulled unless all its parts are annexed to adjoining districts, so that nothing of the original district remains. Unless the commissioner's order for the alteration of a district recites the refusal or consent of the trustees it is null and void. No answer to this appeal having been filed in this department, the state- ments made by the appellants must be taken as true, and decisions be ren- dered accordingly. It appears that on or about the 3d of August, 1866, the said commissioner, by an order filed with the town clerk of Westville, divided district No. 3 of said town into two portions, calling the south part of the old district No. 8 and the north part No. 2. By the terms of the order the old district is diasohed; but, as one of the new districts formed consists entirely of territory formerly comprised within the limits of old dis- trict No. 3, it is plain that it was not a dissolution but an alteration of said district that was effected. A district is annulled only when all its parts are annexed to other districts, so that nothing of the original district re- mains. If any of it remains as a distinct district, though designated by a new name and number, it is not a case of "annulling." Now, in every case of alteration, when the consent of the trustees of the district to be affected is not obtained, it becomes necessary for the commissioner, in making his order, to recite the refusal of the trustees and to direct that said order shall not take effect, as to such dissenting district, until a day therein named, and not less than three months after notice to the dissent- ing trustees of the time and place when and where their objections will be heard. {Sections 3 and 4, title 6, General School Laws of 1864.) But the order above referred to does not recite either the assent or refusal of the trustees, but directs that the order shall take effect October 1, 1866, less than two months after the time of making said order. Very plain and clear provisions of the law have thus been altogether dis- regarded by the commissioner, and the Superintendent cannot sustain his action. The appeal is hereby sustained, and said order, made by said commis- sioner as aforesaid, and filed with the town clerk of Westville, is hereby declared null and void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 39, 1886. A commissioner having fixed the date when an order for the alteration of a district shall take effect, cannot, by a subsequent order, extend the time "When a commissioner appoints a meeting of the supervisor and town clerk for the purpose of conferring or rejecting an order to alter a district for a day subsequent to the date fixed for said order to take effect, and, on said subsequent day, confirms his first order, his last order and all his pro- ceedings are null and void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 13, 1867. A commissioner cannot appoint a day for hearing objections to an order for the alteration of a district subsequent to the date fixed for it to take effect. A confirmatory order made on such subsequent day is void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 13, 1867. Filing of prelimioary order as rec(uired by section 3, title 6, of the General School Act, essential to the validity of the subsequent confirmatory order. In the matter of appeal from an alteration of a school district it was Formation and Alteration of Districts. 553 shown that the commissioner did not, as required by section 3, of title 6, of the General School Act, make and file with the town clerk his order making the alteration but reciting the refusal of trustees, and directing that the same sliould not take effect until a day therein named, etc. In answer to these facts the respondent claims that the requirement to file such prelimi- nary order is merely directory, and shows also, that the preliminary order was filed some considerable time subsequent to the bringing of the appeal, and after the filing of the confinnatory order which is the subject of appeal. The Superintendent says : ' ' The object in filing the original oi-der is not to put on record a completed act, but to enable interested persons to ascer- tain the character of the proposed alterations in time to be heard concern- ing them," and he elaborately discusses the distinction between putting on record such preliminary order as part of the act to be done and the fecord of the act itself finally consummated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 30, 1870. Order set aside for irregularity. The order simply took from No. 1 a portion of its territory, but made no provision for annexing that portion to any other district. Order set aside. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, July 10, 1874. MISAPPREHENSION. Where trustees were misinformed as to the extent of the powers of town officers in a proceeding for the alteration of the boundaries of a school district, and, conae- quently, neglected to exercise those powers, the order of the commissioner in the proceeding will be set aside. It appears that, owing to the opinion expressed by the commissioner that each town of a joint district had but one vote on the question of alteration, the trustees neglected to notify the town clerks Of their respective towns to meet with the supervisor and commissioner in acting upon the subject. They therefore claim that, being misled by this expression of opinion, the question has not been fairly adjudicated, and request that it Idc referred back for review by a full board. The department is disposed to concur in the views of the trustees. Labor- ing under a misapprehension naturally and honestly entertained, and fail- ing to avail themselves of all the advantages which the statute confers, I conceive that they are entitled to the interposition of this department in their behalf. The matter is, therefore, referred back to the commissioner, with direc- tions to give notice of a meeting for the purpose of reconsideiing the order already made. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, July 21, 1858. An order, defining the boundaries of a district, not intended as an alteration, and made under an evident or probable misapprehension of facts, will be vacated. As in matters of this kind, where the interests of individuals are consid- erably involved, it is but simple justice that they be preserved from the consequences of error, or doubt, or misappreliension ; and finding, as I do, from the evidence, a liability, not to say a strong probability, of such a mis- apprehension on the part of the board, I aui disposed to give the appellant the benefit of the doubt there may be of tlie correctness of the conclusions arrived at, and the order of the board for the alteration of the district is hereby vacated, and the matter is referred again to the proper oflScers, to take such further and future action as may be deemed expedient. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, July 39, 1859. 70 554 Formation and Alteeaiion of Districts. An order made under a misapprehension of facts will be vacated. The order seems to have been made under a misapprehension of facts, the trustees and the commissioner both alike supposing that the lands set ofiE embraced but a few acres, and that the proposed alteration would have the eflfect to straighten the district boundary line on the east. It appears, however, that about five hundred acres of land and nearly half a mile of tiack of the N. Y. Central E. R. Co. are set off by the order as made. For the reason of the invalid consent and for the additional reason that the order seems to have been issued under a misapprehension of facts, the same is declared void and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 20, 1869. Commissioner' a order altering the boundaries of a school district sustained, when on an appeal it appears that the commissioner baa acted in guod faith, and by the order has restored to a district, territory which had been unintentionally and under-a mis- apprehension 0^ facts set off from such district. This is a proceeding by Luther L. Ackerson, trustee of school district No. 6 of the town of Sterling, Cayuga county, appealing from an order of Josiah Gailey, school commissioner of the first commissioner district in said county, altering the said district No. 6 by taking therefrom lands and an- nexing them to the adjoining district. No. 17. I have very carefully examined the pleadings and papers filed upon this appeal, and from such examination I find the facts to be : That previous to the granting of an order by then school commissioner Morehouse, some doubt and confusion had arisen as to the boundary line between districts Nos. 6 and 17 in the town of Sterling. That an order was consented to by the trustees of districts Nos. 6 and 17 and granted by the school commissioner taking certain farm lands claimed by district No. 17 and annexing them to district No. 6. That the present school commis- sioner at that time acted as an adviser to the trustees of District No. 17, and advised such trustee to consent. That neither the commissioner nor the trustee of district No. 17, nor the present commissioner intended to consent or advise that the lands covered by the tracks of the said railroad should be included in such transfer. That in describing the line between said districts Nos. 6 and 17, the south side of the farm of one Jesse Carris was used, the commissioner and trustee of said district No. 17 supposing that to carry the line south of the railroad bed. But it appears that Carris had changed his south line by parting with a part of his farm on the south so that his south line was north instead of south of the track, and the effect of using his south line to divide the districts was to include the railroad in district No. 6 instead of district No. 17. This change was unknown to both commissioner and trustee. Upon the discovery of the error the pres- ent commissioner, by the order appealed from, has set back to the district from which it was so taken by misapprehension, the lands north of Carris' old south line. It is not claimed that any attempt was made to deceive the commissioner or the trustee of school district No. 17 at the time the original order was granted, but no mention of the change of the boundary of Carris' farm was made, and the commissioner and trustee of said district No. 17 were not informed of it, and the commissioner in describing the boundary of the districts was misled thereby. From all the facts so found I am led to the conclusion that when the order of March 27, 1877. was granted by the commissioner and consented to by the trustees of districts Nos. 6 and 17, the commissioner and the trustee of school district No. 17 acted under a misapprehension of facts, Formation and Alteration of Dis'J'eiots. 5.t5 and did not intend to transfer the lands mentioned from district No. 17 to district No. 6. A similar case came up on appeal to this department in 1869, and Supei'- intendent Weaver decided the order, made under misapprehension of facts, void and set the same aside. But I have also considered the question of the relative strength of the districts, and fail to discover that there is any great diilerence. Both are and will be sufficiently strong to support suitable schools and provide instruction for the number of children of school age in their respective dis- tricts. The commissioner having acted in good faith and in the absence of contrary proof, I shall hold with good judgment and in accord with the statute. I must, from all the facts presented to me on this appeal, overrule the appeal and sustain the order appealed from. Per A. S. Draper, Super- intendent. Decision No. 3518, August 18, 1886. RECORD . Where inhabitants have been properly set off from one district to another, and the town clerk has omitted to record the order, they will be regarded as inhabitants of the district to which they have been annexed after it has been acquiesced in for five years. This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting held on the 38th of March, last, authorizing the trustees to levy a tax on the district to defray the expense of moving the school-house to the new site, or to let the job of moving the same to the lowest bidder. The appellants, in support of the appeal, allege that seven persons, who attended the meeting and voted, were not inhabitants of and legal voters in said district, having been annexed in 1839 to joint district No. 1, Blen- heim and Fulton, and there being no record in the town clerk's office of either of said towns of their subsequent transfer, either to district No. 5 or any other district. In reply to this allegation, the affidavits of the town superintendents of Fulton and Blenheim for the year 1849 are produced, showing that the in- dividuals referred to and their property were, in the spring of that year, transferred by them from joint district No. 1 to district No. 5, and that the order made by them to that effect was transmitted or delivered to the town clerks of their respective towns for record. It also appears, from the affidavit of the appellants, that, from that period to the present, the persons so transferred have acted in and been regarded as inhabitants of district No. 5, and their children enumerated therein. Under these circumstances, and after an acquiescence of five years, the proof of such transfer must be regarded as sufficient, notwithstanding the omission of the town clerks to record the same. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 12, 1854. Where an order for the alteration of a district is alleged to have been made, but no such order is found recorded by the town clerk, other evidence jn proof of the fact of such order being made will be received. Where no record of an alleged order altering certain school districts can be found, the affidavit of the town superintendent at the time of the mak- ing of the alleged order, that he actually made the order, will be received in evidence, and it will be assumed that the order was actually made at the time alleged. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 31, 1857. Where the presumption is in favor of the regularity of proceedings in the alteration of district boundaries, the order making such alterations will be sustained. On appeal from an order of the town superintendent defining and altering the boundaries of the district, it was held that "only upon the presumption 55 fj Formation and Alteration of Districts. of a doubt concerning the legal validity of the order appealed from can the question, as an original issue, be entertained by tliis department." In tlie present ease the record is found duly made in the town clerk's office, and upon a map prepared under the direction of the town authorities, the boundaries, as described in said record, are properly delineated. The tes- timony is, therefore, so strong as to be nearly conclusive, and the evidence to the contrary, being only negative, is entirely insufficient to rebut the presumption already established. Tlie orders of the town superintendent are, therefore, declared valid, and the appeal dismissed. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, August 37, 1858. Where tlie trustees have given their consent to an order annulling a district, there is nothing in the proceedings which can be stayed by an appeal. On an appeal from an order of the commissioner annulling a certain dis- trict and annexing it to others, it was held that there was nothing in the proceedings to be stayed by the appeal, for the order of the commissioner had already taken effect, and the only question was, not whether it should be prevented from taking effect, as it would have been if the trustees had not given their consent, but whether the order should be reversed and the former condition of things restored. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 17, 1859. Where an order has once been made by a town superintendent annulling a certain school district, which said order has never been enforced, though duly recorded, it may be enforced upon the demand of competent authority. In the year 1855 an order was issued by the town superintendent (school commissioner) annulling district No. 4 of that town, which order was duly recorded in the town clerk's office. He failed, however, to complete the work commenced, by annexing the territory of the late district to those immediately surrounding. Disregarding this incomplete action of the town superintendent, the inhabitants of No. 4 still continued to act as a district, kept up a school, reported pupils, drew public mouey, and by the local officers and by this department, were recognized as a district down to the present time. The order of the town superintendent, before alluded to, has been held in abey- ance, been suspended by the subsequent action of the district and the local officers ; but it has not been revoked thereby, but still remains vital, to be enforced upon the demand of the competent authority. Per B. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, January 22, 1859. Absence of the record of the formation of a district is not material when such forma- tion is otherwise conclusively established. On an appeal by the trustees of district No. 38, from the proceedings of the trustees of district No. 6 adjoining, the following facts appear: That district No. 28 was organized by act of the school commissioners in 1843, being formed in part from district No. 6. Ample evidence is adduced to show that the district was duly formed by the proper officers, and with the consent of the trustees of the districts from which it was taken. By some mischance, i he order forming the said district was never recorded in the town clerk's office, and the trustees of district No. 6, in making out their tax lists, had assessed the property belonging to their district, as defined by the record, thereby, of course, including the territory and inhabitants set off to No- 38. From this action the trustees of district No. 28 appeal. Formation and Alteration of Districts. 557 The record not being a part of the act itself, but only evidence of it, its absence is not material when the act can be proved by other conclusive or satisfactory evidence. Such being the case in the present instance, the evidence of the formation of district No. 38 is conclusive in the absence of the record. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 6, 1859. Loss of records of boundaries of a district does not destroy its existence. The appellants in this case suppose that the district in question has no legal existence, because no record of its boundaries can be found. The district appears, however, to have had a recognized existence for a long time past. The appellants are in error in their position, that the life of the district is dependent upon the preservation of the record of its boundaries. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 2'), 1869. SUPERINTENDENT'S DECISIONS.. Decision of Superintendent confirming the formation of a district, not snbject to inter- ference, while circumstances remain unchanged. The establishment of a district by a decision upon appeal to the depart- ment is final and conclusive ; and tlie district is not subject to alteration by the local authorities while the circumstances remain unchanged. But it is absurd to contend that, when the circumstances under which a decision is pronounced have materially changed, and after the districts, or either of them, have increased or diminished in territoiy, number or valuation, the local authorities are precluded from interference, by the conclusive opera- tion of a decision founded on an entirely different state of facts. Such a doctrine would be entirely inconsistent with reason and good sense. Per Spencer, September 24, 1840. Town superintendents (school commissioners) have no authority to alter the boundaries of a school district, if the same have been established by this department upon appeal, until after the lapse of three years from the time they were so established, without express permission of the State Superintendent. The appellants, in making their annual report, enumeiated, among the cliildren of their district, the five children of Mr. William Raynor. In making his apportionment, the town superintendent deducted these chil- dren from the enumeration of district No. 22, on the ground that they and their father were residents of the adjoining district. No. 21. The trustees of the latter district answered the appeal. It appears from the evidence that the farm of Mr. Raynor was taken from district No. 22, some five or six years since, and annexed to district No. 21, by an order of the town superintendent, that officer not being aware that the line between the said districts had been established in 1830, by the State Superintendent, upon appeal. It has been held that town superintendents have no power to alter the boundaries of a school district, if the same have been established by this department, upon appeal, unless consent shall have been previously given by the State Superintendent for such alteration. This rule was established to prevent the decisions of the department from being deprived of any practical effect, as might be the case, if immediately after the decision a new order could be made precisely or substantially similar to the one which has been set aside. This reason fails, however, when lapse of time and a consequent change of circumstances may have made the reasons no longer applicable which 558 Formation and Alteration of Disteicts. controlled the decision. As tliin is a subject of regulation, it will hereafter be held that, after a lapse of three years from tlie time when the boundary of a district sUall have been established by this department, upon appeal, it shall no longer be requisite to apply for express permission of the State Superin- tendent to authorize a local officer to make an alteration of the same. In the case under consideration, the appeal should be sustained, without reference to the above-mentioned objection. It is the duty of the town superintendent to apportion the public money according to the number of children in the several districts " as the same shall have appeared from the last annual repoits of the trustees," and not otherwise. If he deems the report incorrect, it is proper for him to call upon the trustees to correct it, and if they refuse to do so, they may, perhaps, render themselves liable to the penalty imposed for willfully signing a false report, with the intention of causing the town superintendent to apportion and pay to their district a larger sum than its just proportion of the school moneys of the town. The report, however, is conclusive until it shall be amended by the trustees, or the question be determined on appeal. PerV. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 13, 1855. MISCELLANEOUS. Commissioner justified in offering the alternative to a district, to build a new school- house or be annulled. It is represented that the commissioner, in the early visitation of the dis- trict, suggested the necessity of their building anew school-house, the old one being altogether unsuitable for a school. So important was it esteemed by him, that he assured them that unless they would build a house, he would annul the district. That was equivalent to saying that if they pos- sessed too little vitality — too little interest in school matters — or were too poor and feeble to furnish a good school-house, it was evidence conclu- sive to his mind that the district ought to be annulled. In this position the commissioner was right. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 13, 1859. The department will not set aside a consolidation proper in itself, becausQ of the exist- ence of new elements of opposition that have arisen since the consolidation was effected. The local board, consisting of the school commissioner, the supervisor and the town <-lerk, by an order duly made, and in accordance with the policy advocated by this department, consolidated two districts. The con- solidation of these districts had been f avoral)ly discussed by the inhabit- ants of each for some time previously, but the basis of the consolidation is a matter of difierence, owing to certain pecuniary irregularities in the two districts, and, consequently, an appeal is brought from the action of the board. To reverse the action of the board now, because of conditions which they could not anticipate, and for which they are not responsible, would, to my mind, be an unjust reflection upon their ofBcial integrity and wisdom and would, practically, offer a premium to disaffection and discontent. I am by no means insensible to the suggestion that a nominal union is of little value where the spirit of union is not found. It may even be of posi- tive disadvantage. The utmost, however, that I am willing to do, is to refer the matter back to the local authorities, empowering them to reverse their action if the circumstances of the case seem to demand it. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, June 4, 1861. FOEMATION AND AlTEEATIOK OF DISTRICTS. 559 A district cannot be compelled to rebuild where school-house has been destroyed; but where it for a long time refuses to do so, may be annulled and attached to others adjoining. There is no law by which a district can be compelled to rebuild, wliere the school-house has been destroyed ; but a trustee is empowered to hire rooms temporarily, for the accommodation of tlie children, whenever he shall deem it necessary. This he can do without a vote of the district. If the district refuses to build for an unreasouable length of time, the school commissioner of the district will examine into the case, and report, as to the expediency of annulling the district and attaching it to those adjoining. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1866. Pruceedings, when under title 6 and not under title 2 of treneral School Act. Any change, however slight, in the e*isting boundaries of a district makes it a case of alteration and not simply of clearly defining the bound- aries, and proceedings must be taken under title 6 of the General School Act, and not under section 13 of title 2. Decision covering this ground per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 22, 1873. DIVIDING A BONDED DISTRICT. A district having a bonded indebtedness must not be divided while the bonds are out- standing. The school commissioner made an order transferring certain property from school district No. 5 and annexing the same to district No. 4, town of East Chester, county of Westchester. The ti-ustees of district No. 4 did not consent thereto, aud served upon the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Hast Chester a resolution requesting them to sit with the commissionei' as a local board for the purpose of hearing arguments and objections as to whether said order should be affirmed or vacated. The local board duly met and entered an order vacating the order of the commissioner. This appeal is brouglit to set aside the order of the local board vacating the commissioner's order. Among other facts in this case, it appears that district No. 5 had a bonded indebtedness of $9,000, at the date of the order appealed from, which indebtedness had been incurred for the building of a new school- house in the district. The order appealed from must be affirined on this ground, namely, that the school district from which the territory in question was set ofiE by the commissioner's order, was, and still is, indebted for bonds thus issued. Although there is no expressed prohibition in the school statutes against the division of a district so circumstanced, yet, after a careful examination of the appeal papers and due consideration of the able oral arguments of the counsel for the respective parties, I cannot divest my mind of the set- tled conviction that it would be unfair and inequitable to the remaining tax payers in district No. 5 to detach from said district a material part of its territory, while any considerable portion of said bonds are outstanding ; thus leaving a part only of the district to pay a debt incurred by the whole district for a common benefit, and to the payment of which good faith at least would seem to require that every part should contribute its just pro- portions. Order for the local board affirmed. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- intendent. Decision, No. 3315, December 10, 1883. 560 Formation and Alteration of Districts, number op children for school district. No rule of the department requiring a certain population of children of school age before a district can be formed out of the territory upon which they reside. One ground of appeal was "that said order is contrary to and conflicts ■with the uniform rule of the Department of Public Instruction, as the number of cliildren of tax payers on the last assessment roll of the towns, residing on the territory of the district formed by the order appealed from is only thirteen." , Held, that the appellant is in error in his interpretation of the rule, to which he refers as tlie above ground of appeal. There is no rule of this department defining the number of children of tax payers, as such, required to authorize the formation of a district. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintend- ent. Decision, No. 3316, March 6, 1884. DISTRICTS LYI.VG IN TWO OR MORE COMMISSIONER DISTRICTS. When a school district lies in two or more commissioner districts, it cannot be altered by an order of one commissioner. Tlie appeal is from an order of John J. Lentz, school commissioner of the first commissioner district of Erie county, altering district No. 7, towns of Alden and Marilla, by taking therefrom certain territory and annexing it to district No. 9 of Alden and Lancaster. The town of Alden is in the first commissioner district of Erie county, and the town of Marilla, in the second commissioner district of the same county. The commissioner who made the order did not act in conjunction with the commissioner of the adjoining district in making the alteration as pro- vided in sub-division 2, section 1, and section 6, title 6, of the Code of Pul)lic Instruction; nor did he by notice in writing require the attendance of Commissioner ide of the second district at a joint meeting for the pur- pose of altering or dissolving the district as provided in section seven of the same title. His order therefore was void for want of jurisdiction. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3400, March 18, 1885. ALTERATION AND FORMATION OF DISTRICTS. When a school district lies in two commissioner districts, it requires the concurrent action of both commissioners to alter or dissolve it. The confirmatory order is the one by which the alteration of the district is effected, and the first order merely preliminary, being in fact but one step in the procedure for the alterations, and ir not followed up by the subsequent statutory requirements it is void. Both commissioners must unite in the confirmatory order. On the 26th of .Tannary, 1886, Oliver W. Hallenbeck, school commissioner of the first commissioner district of Columbia county, and Peter Silvernail, school commissioner of the second commissioner district, duly made and filed their order altering school district No. 1, Stockport and Greenport, and No. 2, Stockport, by taking a part of the territory of No. 1 and adding ' it to No. 2. Tlie trustee of district No. 2, John P. Van Buren, duly con- sented to said alteration, and the trustee of district No. 1, William Morri- son, dissented, as was citi-d in the order. It appears that district No. 2 lies wholly in the second commissioner district of the county, and district No. 1 partly in the first and partly in the second commissioner district. The trustee of district No. 1 not consenting to the alteration, the order was made to take effect not until the 15th of May, 1886. Copies of the commissioners' order and of the assent and dissent of the trustees of the FOEMATION AND ALTERATION OF DiSTEIOTS. 561 Tespective districts were filed in the towu clerks' offices of the towns of Stockport and Greenport on the 27th day of January, 1886. On the 39th day of January, 1886, notice was served by the commissioners on the trus- tees of both districts, that on the 8th day of February, 1886, at 10:30 a. m., at Kittle's Hall in Stockport, they intended to make a final order for the alteration of said school districts. The trustee of school district No. 3 notified the supervisor and town clerk of Stockport of the intention of the commissioners and requested them to be associated with the commissioner at such time and place. The trustee of school district No. I did not request the supervisor and town clerk of Greenport to be associated with the com- missioners. It further appears that on the 8th day of February, 1886, at 10:30 A. M., and at Kittle's Hall in Stockport, pursuant to the notices afore- said, the commissioner of the second commissioner district of the county and the supervisors and town clerks of Stockport and Greenport met and made an order affirming the original order. This order was duly filed in the proper town clerks' offices. The alteration of school districts is a purely statutory proceeding and the provisions of title VI, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, must be strictly followed. In the case before me, the first objection urged to the proqpeding is that the commissioner of the first commissioner district did not unite in the confirmatory order made February 8, 1886, and it becomes necessary to examine the question as to whether it was necessary for both commissioners to unite in this order. The sections under which this alteration was made are three a,nd four of title VI of the act referred to, and read as follows : § 8. If the trustees of any such district refuse to consent, he may make and file with the town clerk his order making the alteration, but reciting the refusal, and directing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dis- senting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, and not less than three months after the notice in the next section mentioned. § 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, he shall give at least a week's notice in writing to one or more of the assenting and dissent- ing trustees of any district or districts to be afEected by the proposed altera- tions, that at a specified time, and at a named place within the town in which either of the districts to be aflfected lies, he will hear the objections to the alteration. The trustees of any district to be afEected by such order may request the supervisor and town clerk of the town or towns within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. At the time and place mentioned in the notice, the commissioner or commissioners, with the supervisors and town clerks, if they shall attend and act, shall hear and decide the matter; and the decision shall be final, unless duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed with and recorded by the town clerk of the town or towns in which the district or districts to be affected shall lie. I must examine first, what jurisdiction in respect to territory commis- sioners have. Section 1 of this title reads : " It shall be the duty of each school commissioner, in respect to the territory within his district: 1. To divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient number of school districts, and to alter the same as herein provided." The significance of section one can readily be seen. The jurisdiction of a school commissioner to alter districts is thereby extended only over the territory of his own commissioner district. But school districts frequently lie in two or more school commissioner districts, and in such cases, the 7i 563 Formation and Alteration of Disteiots. jurisdiction of one commissioner not extending over the whole territory, section six of the same title provides that " * * * the commissioners within whose districts any such school district lies, or a majority of them, may alter or dissolve it." School district Ko. 1, Stockport and Greenport, lies within two school commissioner districts. For this reason one commis- sioner cannot alter or divide it, but under the authority in section six, " the commissioners or a majority of them " may make any alteration or dissolu- tion thereof. One not being a majority of two, it will require the concur- rent action of both commissioners to make an alteration of this district. This presents the question as to when, or by which' order the alteration takes effect. A. long line of decisions upon this point, in which the effect of the two orders, provided for in cases similar to the one here, are ably discussed, strengthens me in the conclusion that the preliminary order pro- vided for in section three is inchoate and of no effect whatever, until the same has been confirmed as provided for in section four. If, after making the first or preliminary order, no further proceeding is taken the alteration is not affected. ' ' The commissioner or the commissioners, with the super- visors and town clerks, if they shall attend, shall hear and decide the mat- ter." "Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the com- missioner." This language of the statute, and the construction that must be placed upon it is, that when a preliminary order for the alteration of a school district has been made, and the time fixed for the hearing of objec- tions thereto, the commissioner, if the districts affected by the order lie in one commissioner district, or the commissioners, when the districts are located in two or more commissioner districts, shall hear and decide the matter, and enter an order vacating or confirming the preliminary order. The commissioners "shall attend," the statute says. The attendance of the supervisors and town clerks is provided for so that their respective towns may have a voice in the decision of the matter, but the statute does not say they "shall attend." The absence of the town oflacials from the board will not in any way prevent the commissioner or commissioners from acting, or invalidate the proceedings taken by the commissioners at the time fixed for the hearing of the objections, otherwise regular. But if the commissioners do not attend, the town officers are not authorized by law to make any order in the premises, and the preliminary order must fall. In this case the school commissioner of the first commissioner district did not attend the meeting on the 8th of February, 1886, for the purpose of hearing objec- tions, and did not unite with the other commissioner in the confirmatory order. The confirmatory order is the one by which the alteration of the district is effected, and the first order merely preliminary, being in fact but one step in the procedure for the alteration, and if not followed up by the subsequent statutory requirements, it is void. The direction of the statute, the "commissioner shall attend," was not complied with. The school commissioner of the second commissioner dis- trict had no authority under the statute to make an order altering a school district lying wholly or partly in another commissioner district. The failure of the commissioner of the first district to unite in the confirmatory order renders the proceedings irregular, and the orders appealed from must be set aside. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3513, Julv 24 1886. Note. — See, also, Union Feee School Disteiots. Library. 563 In forming a new district, the confirmatory order should be identical with the terms of the original order. But a person who secures a slight modification of an order, and gives his acquiescence to such modification, is not in a position to question the validity of the confirmatory order because of such modification. This is an appeal from the order of Charles H. Ide, as school commis- sioner of the second commissioner district of Erie county, N. Y., in making^ an order, dated the 16th day of July, 1886, forming a new school district out of parts of district No. 4, in the town of Hamburg, and district No. 3, in the towns of Evans, Eden and Hamburg, and also from an order made by the said school commissioner, together with the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Hamburg, made upon the 37th day of July, 1886, confirming the first-mentioned order. Substantially the only ground upon which the appeal is taken is, that the order of the 37th of July was not identical in its terms with the order which it sought to confirm. It modified the boundaries of the new district in a slight particular. The appellant insists that this is fatal to the proceed- ings. Ordinarily it would be, but the fact is made clear to me that the modification was made in the interest of and for the sake of satisfying the appellant, and in the belief that it would prevent further controversy. The appellant was present at the hearing held by the commissioner, supervisor and town clerk, for the purpose of affording an opportunity to persons aggrieved to state their objections, and acquiesced in the modification so far as it went, but desired more of a modification. He is not now in a position to raise the question. The members of the board say that they would have confirmed the original order precisely as it stood, but for the sake of suiting the appellant so far as they reasonably could. He cannot be upheld in an effort to set aside the action of the board only because of a slight modifica- tion which he himself desired. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Deci- sion No. 3537. November 17, 1886. LIBRARY. That part of the district library purchased with money raised by tax upon the district may be sold. Per Spencer, September 17, 1839. Trustees may exchange old library books for new ones. Trustees of districts may legally exchange old books belonging to the dis- trict library for new, paying the difference, if any, in price from the library money. Per 8. 8. Randall, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, April 30, 1854. In regard to exchanging library books. No objection might be raised, if a district so determine by unanimous vote, to the exchanging of books in a library for others more appropriate to the wants of the people. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 8, 1854. District librarian is, by law, entitled to no compensation for bis services. The district librarian is, by law, entitled to no compensation for his services, and the district has no authority of law for voting at the annual 564 Meetings^ meeting a tax to pay for such services. (See section 16, title 7, ch _ 555, Laws of 1864.) Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 23, 1865. That part of district library which was purchased by a tax on property of district belongs to district, and may be disposed of by its voters as they shall direct. But that part bought with public money belongs to the State, and the district cannot sell it. That part of the district library which had been purchased by a tax upon the property of the district belongs unqualifiedly to the dis- trict, and may be disposed of by the votens thereof as they may see fit to direct. But in that which has been purcha-sed with the ■ public money apportioned to the district it ha-s only a qualified property. This portion of the libraiy really belongs to the State, and the district is the bailee and not the owner of it. As such bailee it has no power to sell or otherwise dispose of the library. Per V. M. Bice, Superintendent, Novem- ber 33, 1865. A part of a district set off to another is not entitled to a share of the library. Where a portion of a district is set off to another district, the portion thus set off has no claim to a proportionate share of the library of the old dis- trict imless there was a special agreement to that effect. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, Januaiy 13, 1866. MEETINGS. DUTY OF TRDSTEES CONCERNING. Trustees hare no power to set aside or invalidate the proceedings of a district meeting upon the assumption that they were illegal. Though illegal votes are cast at such meeting, the trustees cannot set aside the pro- ceedings. The remedy is by appeal. On the 1st day of October last, at an adjourned meeting of the taxable inhabitants ot district No. 2, in Belmont, held for the purpose of locating a site for the school-house, a site was fixed on the land of Winkley and Smith, and the sum of $200 voted to build a school-house thereon. A con- firmation and renewal of the vote fixing the site was had on the 30th of November last, at a special meeting of the district, more fully attended by the inhabitants, but no tax was voted for building the school-house. On the 14th of December a vote was adopted locating the site on lands of E. Stanton, Jr., and the sum of $300 directed to be raised for building. On the 11th of January last, the site was again changed to the lands of Wink- ley and Smith, and the same amount voted to be raised for building the school-house thereon. Notwithstanding this last and final vote of the dis- trict, and in the absence of any appeal from the proceedings, the trustees have determined to apply the tax voted to build a house on Mr. Stanton's land, on the allegation that an illegal vote was received at the last meeting, by means of which the vote was invalidated and the preceding vote re- mained in force, and from this determination of the trustees the present appeal is taken. If any of the proceedings of the meeting held oa the 11th of January were illegal, the appropriate remedy of the trustees, or of any person ag- grieved, was by appeal to this department. It is not within their power to Meetings. 565 get aside or invalidate those proceedings on their mere assumption of such illegality. The money directed to be raised at that meeting, in the absence of any appeal within the time and in the mode prescribed by law, must be applied according to the vote then taken, and any other application of it will be illegal and invalid, and will subject the trustees to personal respon- sibility to the district for the amount so expended, and to the forfeitures and penalties prescribed by law. The allegation, moreover, of the trustees, that an illegal vote was cast at the meeting referred to, by which the result was changed, is wholly unsup- ported by the facts as they appear from the papers. The proceedings of the meeting of the 11th of January are, therefore, hereby confirmed, and the trustees directed to apply the tax voted accord- ingly. Per Morgan, February 11, 1850. It is the duty of the trustees, when requested by a respectable number of the taxable inhabitants of their district, to call a special meeting for the transaction of any legal and proper business which such petitioners may desire to bring before it. This is an appeal from the refusal of the respondents to call a special meeting of the inhabitants and legal voters of the district, for the purpose of taking into consideration the application and division of the public money of said district on the request of twenty taxable inhabitants thereof. The trustees in their answer set forth certain facts and circumstances ex- isting in the district which, in their judgment, justified them in declining to call such meeting and in making such disposition of the public money as they should deem expedient. This view of the subject cannot, in the opinion of the Superintendent, be sustained. It is the duty of the trustees of a school district, whenever re- quested by a respectable number of inhabitants and legal voters of a dis- trict, to call a special meeting for the transaction of any legal and proper business which such inhabitants may desire to bring before it. The object of the petitioners in this case was unquestionably a legal and proper one. The inhabitants and legal voters of the district are authorized to make such disposition of the public money among the several terms of the school as they may judge proper, and it is only when they omit to act in the matter that the trustees are empowered to exercise their own discretion. If an improper disposition of the public money is made by the inhabitants, an adequate remedy is provided by appeal to this department. The circum- stances, therefore, set forth by the trustees in their answer, were insufficient to justify them in their refusal to call the special meeting called for. The trustees, therefore, ai-e hereby ordered, within five days aftei- the receipt of this order, to cause notices to be given for a special meeting of the legal voters of the district, to be held within ten days thereafter, for the purpose of taking into consideration the application and division of the public money of said district for the ensuing year, etc. Per E. W. Leavenworth, February 28, 1854. Trustees will not be ordered to call a special meeting upon the application of a re- spectable number of inhabitants, where successive meetings for the same purpose have been called and held. The question is whether the trustees have exercised their discretion right- fully in refusing to call a special meeting upon the request of a respecta- ble number of voters to have the meeting called. Such a request is ordi- narily sufficient, but it is not all-sufficient. If it were so, a respectable minority could effectually prevent the consummation of any action by the 566 Meetings. majority. There must be some reasonable pretext for a meeting to render the refusal of trustees an abuse of discretion. In the present case, the object for which a special meeting is desired has already been passed upon by two successive meetings, at the last one of which every voter in the district was present but one. The trustees have, therefore, only exercised a reasonable discretion in the matter, and there is no occasion for any inter- ference from this department. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 7, 1857. Trustees will not be directed to call a special meeting to take action upon questions which have passed beyond the jurisdiction of the inhabitants. On appeal from the refusal of trustees to call n. special meeting to recon- sider a vote taken at the annual meeting, it appears that the annual meet- ing had authorized the trustees to raise f 100 to repair the school-house, and that the trustees immediately went to work and made out a tax list, con- tracted for the repairs; made an advance on the same, out of their own money, and commenced operations. This they had an undoubted right to do ; the assumption of the appellant that the trustees were bound to wait thirty days is wholly untenable. The repairs were needed at once, if at all, and under the circumstances the promptitude of the trustees is com- mendable. It follows, then, that a special meeting, if called, would have no power to rescind the action of the annual meeting. The trustees, therefore, acted within a reasonable discretion in refusing to call such meeting for the pur- pose named, it not being then in the power of the district to act upon the question. The appeal must be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superin- tendent, December 3, 1858. A special meeting will not be. ordered to act upon questions that have been deliberated and acted upon at successive meetings. This is an appeal from the neglect or refusal of the trustees to call a special meeting, upon the request of a respectable number of the inhabit- ants. The appellant fails to make out a case requiring the interposition of the department. The mere fact of a petition for a meeting, signed by a large number of inhabitants, is insufficient to create even a presumption as to the duty of the trustee to call such meeting. If it could be so regarded, then a minority, respectable in numbers, covild always compel the trustee to call a special meeting, and could thus keep the district distracted and unsettled upon any important issue, so long as they might choose to demand the call- ing of meetings. It is in evidence that the meeting whose action the appellant disapproves, and which action he desires a special meeting to reconsider, was the third special meeting that had acted upon the question at issue. It is a principle that has been recognized by the department that when a question has been deliberately acted upon at successive meetings, the trus- tee is not requirad to call other meetings to reconsider the question thus determined. In view of the facts and principles herein disclosed, it devolved upon the appellant to show, by obvious and well-attested facts, that the action of the meeting was not a proper expression of the will of the district upon the question at issue. Failing in this, I find no sufficient occasion for subjecting the clerk to the trouble and labor of serving notices of another special meeting, so soon after a series of special meetings has been con- cluded. Meetings. 5gi^ The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintend- ent, April 13, 1860. It does not follow of course that a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, how- ever numerously signed, is to be granted. On appeal from the refusal of the trustee to call a special meeting, oii the application of a majority of the voters of the district, it appears that the object of a new meeting is to rescind the action of a previous meeting changing the site and voting a tax to build a new house. The meeting which took this action was well attended, every voter in the district being present but one, and the vote in favor of the resolution to change the site was confirmed by twenty-one to seven. The petition to call a new meeting bears date more than two months after the above decisive action had been takeen. Meantime, the trustees had completed their tax list, and, at the least, had entered into negotiations concerning the sale of the old house and site. It is remarked by the counsel for the appellants that it would seem as though an application for a school meeting, made by a clear majority of the legal voters of the district, ought upon the face of it to be granted. The general principle enunciated is, doubtless, in its broad and unrestricted sense, true ; but, in its appUcation to individual instances, it may, in a majority of cases, be found unwise and unjust, for the reason that it is scarcely possible to recognize, in the state- ment of such general principles, the thousand and one conditions that ren- der it inapplicable. I can conceive of no good resulting from an efEort at so late a day to disturb what has been so deliberately and fairly and decisively determined. If it is true that so large a number of the voters have changed their minds, it betrays a fickleness and instability of purpose that give little assurance that proceedings had at any future meeting will be permitted to rest. I regard the discretion of the trustee as judiciously exercised, and the appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, June 15, 1861. The department will not require trustees to call a special meeting to rescind proceed- ings of an annual meeting, on the ground that the appellants were not present at such annual meeting. On an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to call a special meeting as requested by certain inhabitants of the district, it appears that at the annual meeting a vote was taken authorizing the trustees to levy a tax for fuel, and to fence the school-house site. The appellants desire a special meeting called to rescind that vote, alleging that they were not present at the annual meeting, when the tax was voted. The objects for which this tax was voted are legitimate and proper, and it is not the fault of the trustees, nor of the department, that the appel- lants were not present at the annual meeting, and neither should be put to trouble or inconvenience because of the neglect of the appellants to attend to their duty. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 21, 1863. Ordinarily it is the duty of a trustee to call a special meeting on application of ten of the taxable inhabitants. The appellant and nine other taxable inhabitants of the district peti- tioned the trustees to call a special school meeting for the purpose of con- sidering the propriety of changing the school-house site, and, by implica- tion, for the purpose of voting taxes to pay for a new site and new school- 568 Meetings. house to be erected thereon. The trustees refused to call a special meeting for such purpose. I think the appellants have made out a good case and that a special school meeting should be held for the purposes above indi- cated. The trustee, and in case of his refusal, the district clerk, directed to call such meeting. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 21, 1868. Duty of trustees to call meetiogs at a proper place. The meeting was called and held at a barber's shop. The place is shown to have been an entirely unsuitable one and to have been actually used dur- ing the progress of the meeting by the occupant in the discharge of the ordinary duties of his vocation. It also appears that at the time the district had a large and commodious school-house, centrally located, where the meeting might have been held. The proper place for holding school meetings when the district has a school-house suitable for the purpose is in such school-house. Held to be a sufficient ground for vacating the proceedings, but the same were vacated on other grounds set forth in a previous decision. Per Neil G-ilmour, Superintendent, May 12, 1875. Trustee calling special meeting upon petition. The supervisor and school commissioner had condemned the school- house in the district. A respectable number of the voters in the district desired a change of school-house site and petitioned the trustee to call a special meeting for the consideration of such proposition. The trustee refused to call the special meeting, and the appeal is taken from such refusal. A special meeting ordered. Per Neil G-ilmour, Superintendent, Decision No. 2990, July 10, 1880. A resolution to raise a sum over S500 to build a new scbool-bouse is not invalid because the school commissioner did not first give his approval in writing thereto. But such approval must be ^ven before a tax list and warrant can be issued. It does not follow, of course, that a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, how- ever numerously signed, is to be granted. Such a rule would be unjust and unwise. A wise discretion in the matter of calling a special meeting upon petition must be exercised by the trustees. At the school meeting held March 9, 1883, it was decided to acquire an additional school-house site, and to erect a school-house thereon. The site was properly described. A tax was then voted for building the school- , house of 117,000, to be raised by installments, and a further tax of |3,000 was voted to purchase the site determined upon. The proceedings were in all respects regular and conducted with a commendable degree of par- ticularity. The objection of appellants' that the vote upon the question of raising the tax for the purchase of the school-house by installment was illegal, is not well taken. The majority of the inhabitants attending was ascertained in the way the statute prescribes, namely, ' ' by taking and re- cording the ayes and noes.'' The further objection that the approval of the commissioner of the sum in excess of five hundred dollars for building the school-house was not certified in writing, does not affect in any way the proceedings of the meeting. If such a consent had not been obtained, the trustees would have been prevented from levying a tax for the sum voted. But it appears that the commissioner has fully approved the sum named by the district meeting. The appellants rely mainly upon the refusal of the trustees to call a special meeting, in accordance with a request numemusly Meetings. 569 signed, to reconsider the action of the meeting designating the school- house site and directing its purchase. It does not follow, of course, that a petition to the trustees for a special meeting, however numerously signed, is to be granted. Indeed such a rule would be unwise and unjust and in this case the appellants do not show that any injury lias been suffered by any of the inhabitants of the district by such refusal, or that any substan- tial right of the appellants has been invaded. But on the contrary the object for which a special meeting is desired has already been passed upon by two successive meetings, both of which were numerously attended. The action of the first meeting was set aside on appeal, for a cause which does not appear in this appeal; but, at both of the meetings, by a very large majority, the particular site to which the appellants object was designated by the voters. The question is, did the trustees use a wise dis- cretion in declining to call a meeting? A just review of this question must go beyond the petition, which the appellants make the basis of their appeal against the action of the trustees, and should ascertain from the evidence which the respondents have furnished, whether their refusal was arbitrary and unjust, or, on the other hand, dictated by a proper regard to the fair judgment of the district. It appears that the proceedings of the meeting of March 9 were in all respects regular; and it does not appear that the department would be justified in declaring that the trustees erred in the exercise of their discretion. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3267, June 19, 1883. The fact that a proposition is pending before the school commissioner to alter the dis- trict, is not a good and sufficient reason for the trustee to refuse to call a special meeting, when requested by a respectable number of the inhabitants, to consider the question of new school-bouse and site. The appeal is brought from the refusal of the trustee to call a special meeting pursuant to a request in writing for the purpose of locating a site for a new school-house, voting a tax to pay for building the same, determin- ing the size and plan of said building and appointing a building committee. The request was signed by twenty-three of the residents of said district. The trustee explains his refusal to call the meeting as requested, by the fact that at the time an application was pending before the school commis- sioner of the district for the formation of a new district from portions of this and other districts. This does not appear to be a good or sufficient reason for refusing to call a special meeting when requested thereto by a respectable number of the inhabitants of the district. Had a meeting been called and held in conformity with the request, the pendency of the appli- cation before the commissioner might well have been urged as a good ground for adjourning the consideration of the purposes for which the call was issued until the commissioner's action had been determined. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3275, September 14, 1883. A meeting, called by two trustees without consulting the third, will not be set aside when the third trustee attended the meeting and participated in the proceedings. A meeting was called by the majority of the trustees, without consulting the third, and upon this ground, the third trustee asks that its proceed- ings may be declared void. At the meetings every voter in the district, excepting one, who was absent from home, was present. The third trustee was present and voted. Held, that the trustees who united in ordering the call were unquestion- ably wrong in exercising the power without their colleague, and that, if 72 570 Meetings. any considerable part of the inhabitants had declined or omitted to take part in the proceedings, this defect in the order for its call might have been regarded as fatal. • u u-i Where, however, the notice has the efiect of convening all the inhabit- ants, with the exception of a single individual, whose vote, if present, would not have affected the result, the superintendent feels warranted in disregarding the objection, when brought by a person who himself disre- garded it by participating in the proceedings of the meeting. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 14, 1857. Where the clerk names e wrong hour in his notice of an annnual meeting, and part of the inhabitants assemble at that hour and transact business, and part assemble at the hour of adjournment, and also transact business, both meetings may be set aside, and a new one ordered. It appears that an annual meeting in 1856 adjourned to October 5, 1857, at seven o'clock, and the same is so recorded. By error, the clerk in the written notices of the meeting named six o'clock as the hour. A part of the inhabitants met at that hour, and transacted the ordinary business ; a part, relying upon the adjournment, met at seven o'clock, organized, and proceeded to business. The latter appeal from the action of the former. Held, that seven o'clock was the proper hour for meeting, but, a part of the inhabitants having been misled by the written notices, no advantage should he taken of such an official error, to deprive a considerable number of the inhabitants of a voice in the regular proceedings. The proceedings of both meetings are therefore set aside, and the clerk of last year is directed to give notice of a new meeting within ten days after the receipt of this decision. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 30, 1857. Where a meeting is called by a single trustee, the others having vacated their oflSces, the call is legal, even though it may subsequently appear that the trustee was not legally elected. On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it is claimed that the meeting was illegal and its proceedings void, from lack of author- ity on the part of the person assuming, as trustee, to call the same. The facts of the case are that the meeting was called by an acting trus- tee, and that no other person was authorized to act in that capacity, those elected to that office, and claiming to hold it, having resigned. Held, that it was sufficient that, under color of title to the office, there being at the time do competitor or rival claimant, and by advice of the commissioner and on petition of the inhabitants, the said acting trustee directed the clerk to call the meeting; and that, the meeting being legally convened, the proceedings, if not irregular, must be sustained. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 31, 1858. The proceedings of a school meeting, held at the unusual hour of half-past seven o'clock in the morning, will be set aside unless there are peculiar conditions in the district to Justify the call of a meeting at that hour. A meeting was held at the hour of half -past seven o'clock in the morn- ing, the proceedings of which are appealed from, on the ground of the iinseasonableness of the hour of meeting. I cannot regard a meeting called at seven and a half o'clock in the morn- ing as giving an opportunity to the inhabitants for a fair and deliberate expression of their opinions upon the matters under discussion, unless it is Meetings. 571 made affirmatively to appear that the circumstances of the district are so peculiar as to make that the best and most convenient time of meeting. It is not made so to appear in the present instance, and the appeal must, therefore, be sustained. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 18, 1858. The department will not set aside the proceedings of a meeting to which a majoritj^ of the inhabitants of the district are opposed, because such majority, though having due notice, neglected to attend the meeting. •This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special school meeting. The case presented is not one requiring any action from this department. Due notice was given of a meeting to take into consideration the question of a change of site. A portion of the inhabitants saw fit to neglect their duty and did not attend the meeting. Thereby a minority of the inhabitants were enabled to control the action of the meeting. There is but one way in which a majority can carry out measures of pol- icy, and that is to present themselves at the meeting duly and properly notified. It is no part of the duty of this department to make good, or, by its action, atone for, the neglect or indifference of the inhabitants. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superin- tendent, September 11, 1858. Where three trustees are chosen in a district, and their terms of office are designated by lot, instead of by vote as the law directs, the election will be declared void for uncertainty. At a district meeting it was resolved to have three trustees, and three per- sons were accordingly elected by vi-oa ijoce vote, and the term that each one should serve was determined by lot or chance, and not by the votes of those present. The objection to the proceedings of this meeting is valid. By section 6, chapter 151, Laws of 1858, it is required that the time which each trustee shall serve shall be decided by vote. Consequently, the election of these officers in the present case is void for uncertainty, the term for which either was elected not being designated. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 15, 1858. The proceedings of a meeting will not be set aside because of neglect to administer the prescribed form of declaration to persons challenged, when it is shown that such persons were in fact legal voters at such meeting. On an appeal from certain proceedings at an annual meeting, it appears that on a certain question, which is not stated, thirteen voters were chal- lenged, to but one of whom any oath was administered. But it also appears that each one so challenged was a resident of the district, and owned or hired real property therein. Their right to vote is thus clearly established, and the proceedings should not be set aside for a mere informality in admin- istering the oath, when it is shown that such informality has no effect upon the general result. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 15, 1858. An annual meeting held on the second Tuesday of October, though without notice, is legal, that being the day now prescribed by law. This department has ruled, and does rule, that any meeting held on the second Tuesday of October, as required by the act of April 13, 1858, is 572 Meetings. legal. All have an opportunity of reading the law, and the presumption is that they had sufficient sense to comprehend it. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, November 23, 1858. Proceedings set aside for uncertainty, where, on a vote by ballot, more ballots were deposited than there were voters present. A vote was taken upon the question of building a new school-house. The vote was taken by ballot, and the result showed moie ballots than voters. Of course the department has no power to determine, in such a case, what is the will of the majority. The proceedings of the meeting are, therefore, declared void for uncer- tainty. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, October 27, 1859. A motion to adjourn, while another question is pending, and a ballot being taken on it, cannot be entertained ; an adjournment thus affected is void. t. At the annual meeting, a resolution was offered to elect three trustees, and the question was being taken by ballot on that resolution, when some of those offering to vote were challenged, and a discussion on the qualifi- cation of voters arose, pending which a motion to adjourn for one week was made ; the question was taken on the affirmative, and declared carried without the negative being taken. The appellant claims that the adjourn- ment was legal, and that the business transacted after the adjournment was declared is void. I cannot arrive at the appellant's conclusions. In the first place, no motion for adjournment, nor for any thing else, was in order while a vote on a previous motion was being taken. While strict parliamentary practice is by no means to be expected in the proceedings of district meetings, yet some observances are indispensable to protect the meeting from the factious opposition of a minority, from an oppressive rule of the majority, or from the arbitrary authority of the presiding officer. The rule here stated I con- sider to be of this nature. The entertainment of the motion to adjourn at that time was, therefore, unlawful, and the action upon it of no effect. The fact that the chairman declared the motion carried without calling for the negative vote would be sufficient to vitiate the proceedings, had tlie motion itself been in order, for to give the chairman power, at discretion, of declar- ing an adjournment, without taking a full expression of the meeting, is to invest him with supreme control. The meeting not being legally adjourned, the proceedings had after the declared adjournment were regular and legal. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, December 9, 1859. An annual meeting, not adjourned to any particular time, called by the clerk at six o'clock, and organizing, and transacting business before seven, is void. This is an appeal from the proceedings of the annual meeting. There is but one point made by the appellant that at all impairs the pro- ceedings of the annual meeting. Unfortunately, however, that objection is material, and cannot be disregarded. The statute of April 12, 1858, pro- vides, that "unless the hour and place of such (annual) meeting shall be fixed by a previous district meeting, the same shall be held at the school- house at seven o'clock in the evening.'' It is in evidence that the time and place were not fixed by a previous meeting, but that the meeting was noti- fied by the clerk to be held at six o'clock, that it was organized shortly after that hour, and that before the hour of seven o'clock it had transacted all its^ business and adjourned. Meetings. 573 I have, therefore, no alternative but to declare the proceedings unauthor- ized, and they must of necessity be set aside, as being contrary to the stat- ute. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 3, 1860. A district meeting is not bound b; strict parliamentary rules; it makes its own. This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting. The objec- tions to the proceedings are to the ruling of the chairman upon certain questions of order. The department will not overrule his decisions where it was in the power of the meeting to reverse such decision on appeal. The failure of the meet- ing to take any action upon the point of order must be regarded as an acqui- escence in the ruling of the chair. So far as the binding obligation of com- mon parliamentary rules is concerned, it must ever be held subordinate to the will of any organized meeting, every such assemblage being free to establish its own rules. As I do not find the merits at all affected by the proceedings complained of, I cannot, upon the ground of unparliamentary ruling, reverse the deliberate action of the meeting. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 8, 1860. Proceedings of district meeting set aside on account of frand. On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that, at the meeting, several arrests of legal voters were made, whereby one party obtained an improper advantage. The department will never sanction proceedings tainted with such fraud- ulent efforts to secure an advantage. The proceedings of one of the par- ties are marred by the appearance of an effort further to gain an advantage by overawing the opposition through the presence and threats of a bully and fighter. The department will ever exercise the full extent of its powers to protect and defend those, whether in a minority or majority, against whom such influences are arrayed. The proceedings, of the meeting are therefore, set aside and a new meet- ing ordered to be held. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 21, 1861. A meeting of three persons, at which it is voted to build a new school-house and levy a tax therefor, set aside. I cannot consider a meeting of three persons, at which a considerable tax is voted for building a new school-liouse, as a sufficiently authorized ex- pression of the sense of the district upon so important a proceeding. How- ever worthy the purpose, the means have too much the appearance of a surprise, especially in view of the fact that several inhabitants were waiting outside, in the belief that no one had yet arrived to attend the meeting be- sides themselves. The proceedings are, therefore, set aside. Per B. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, July 32, 1861. The election of a trustee will be Set aside when opportunity for a fair expression of the voters was not given, whereby the result was uncertain. On an appeal from certain proceedings of the annual meeting, in electing a tnistee, it appears that the meeting was attended by many besides those entitled to vote, and on the motion to elect A. S. trustee for the ensuing year, it was impossible to tell whether the voting was confined to those legally entitled. The chairman, however, decided that the said A. S. was elected. Many of those present doubted the correctness of the decision, and consequently this appeal is brought. 574 Meetings. It is evident to me from the proceedings that opportunity for a fair ex- pression of the actual voters was not afforded. The evidence of the elec- tion of the said A. S. is not clear and satisfactory, and 1 deem it but just that the inhabitants should have what they asked for, an opportunity, by another trial, to put the matter beyond controversy. The election of the said A. S. is, therefore, set aside as uncertain, and a new election ordered. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, November 30, 1861. Proceedings of an annual meeting where only two persons were present set aside. The regular annual district meeting was held without any previous notice, and evidently to the surprise of nearly all the inhabitants of the district. A chairman was elected, and also a clerk pro tern. Resolutions were offered and passed, and trustees and other school officers elected by ballot. At this meeting only two persons were present. By a strange mistake the notices for the annual meeting set forth that the same would be held on the tenth of October, instead, of the second Tuesday, as required by law. A meeting was accordingly held on the tenth, supposed by those present to be the annual meeting, and the usual business of an annual meeting was transacted. This department cannot sanction the proceedings of two persons as of binding force and effect upon a district; especially not, when most of the inhabitants were prevented from being present by a misapprehension, arising from an error in the published notice. The proceedings of both the meetings held as above stated are declared invalid, and the district clerk is directed to give notice of a special meeting. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 3, 1861. The proceedings of an annual meeting organized within half an hour after the time- for meeting will not be set aside. On an appeal from the proceedings of an annual meeting, it appears that the meeting was called for six o'clock. At half-past six it was organized, four persons being present. Two more came in directly, and the business of the meeting was transacted. There can be no question as to the legality of the meeting, and, though it would have been no more than proper and just to have waited a short time for others to come in, I do not feel at liberty to set aside the proceedings for failure to do so. A sure way to prevent any such advantage being taken is to be at the place in time. Those who have it in their power to protect and preserve their own interests, and neglect to do so, should not call upon others to make good what their own indifference has caused them to lose. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 5, 1861. A custom of delaying the organization of school meetings for one or two hours after the regular time has no sanction In good usage. On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that the meeting was called for six o'clock in the evening, and that before seven o'clock the meeting was organized, seventeen persons being present, and a tax of $200 voted. The appellants ask that the proceedings of the meeting be annulled, because the meeting was organized in less than an hour after the time for which it was called, it being alleged that it is customary to delay the organization for one or two hours. If the custom is as above alleged, it is well that a practice so vicious Meetings. 575 should be abandoned. There is no worthy justification for it. Undue haste should not be countenanced ; but a delay of half an hour can hardly be regarded as undue haste. This department can do nothing to put aside the consequences of a neglect so inexcusable as that of the appellants, in not attending at the appointed hour for meeting. Appeal dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 27, 1862. Proceedingg at annual meeting set aside, on ground of organizing at too early an hour. The time designated for the meeting was six o'clock. It was organized and the business transacted with only four persons present, one of these being elected trustee, another clerk. After the election of these officers, seven other voters of the district appeared at the place of meeting. It was alleged that the meeting was organized and the business transacted >before six o'clock. This was denied, and much conflicting testimony on the point was submitted, leaving the matter in doubt. The Superintendent says: "I think there is at least a reasonable doubt, whether the meeting was not opened before the appointed time, and considering the fact that so small a number was present at the election of district officers, there is just reason to believe that the inhabitants generally have not had that opportunity to participate in the choice of their officers, which the law intends to secure to them." Election of officers vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintend- ent, November 26, 1869. ' Proceedings of a meeting set aside for precipitancy in the organization. The hour named for the meeting was 7 o'clock, p. m. Before that time a number of the voters had assembled in front of the building, but the door being locked they could not procure admittance. Shortly after 7 o'clock, a person, who was shown to have had the key since 5 o'clock, appeared with four or five others, unlocked the door, and they hastily ascended the stairs to the room where the meeting was to be held. On motion, this person was declared elected chairman of the meeting, and took and retained his place as such. This was done before many of the voters who had assembled outside, before the door was unlocked, could reach the room in which the meeting was held. The attempt to choose a presiding officer in that precipitate manner, before the inhabitants had a fair opportunity to enter the room, was a vio- lation of the right of the majority to appoint a chairman. The choice of the chairman was made by a few individuals, with the design, and with the eflEect, of excluding from participation therein a large number of the voters assembled at the time and place appointed for the meeting. Proceedings of the meeting vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 13, 1872. A school district meeting set aside because of disorderly proceedings, preventing a proper expression of the wishes of the majority. The appeal is based upon the ground that the proceedings of the meet- ing were conducted in so tumultuous and disorderly a manner by a minor- ity of the voters preseut, that in the choice of district officers, and in all other material respects, the wishes of a majority of the voters in attendance were overridden and set at naught. A careful examination of the evidence has satisfied me that the appel- lants have established the correctness of their allegations as to the conduct of the meeting, and the results produced by it. The irregularities were of 576 Meetings. such a character as, in my judgment, to make it incumbent upon me to set aside the entire action of the assemblage. Set aside accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 4, 1872 An annual district meeting held before 7 o'clock in tlie evening, when an earlier hour had not been, fixed for such meeting bj a previous annual meeting, is illegal. The appeal is from the proceeding of an annual school meeting. The meeting was held before 7 o'clock in the evening. No previous annual meeting had fixed an earlier time than that designated by law for holding the annual meeting. Trustees were elected before 7 o'clock. Held, that the proceedings of the meeting must be set aside as illegal. Per Neil Gil- mour. Superintendent. Decision No. 3011, November 17, 1880. The law fixes the lime for holding the annual meeting, and it provides that "unless the hour and place therefor shall have been fixed by the vote of a previous meeting" it shall be held in the school-house "at seven o'clock in the evening." A meeting held at this time, although the clerk's notices called the meeting forlialf-past seven o'clock, is regular. The notices posted by the clerk for the annual meeting named half-past seven in the evening as the time for such meeting. At seven o'clock, or shortly thereafter, six residents and legal voters of the district entered the school-house and organized a meeting. When organized, the meeting elected district officers, proceeded to the other business of the annual meet- ing and then adjourned. At half-past seven, or shortly thereafter, a num- ber of residents and voters of. the district, who were not in time for the first meeting, or who refused to take part in its proceedings, deeming it irregular, entered the school-house, proceeded to organize another meeting and to elect a trustee. This meeting was more largely attended than the earlier one, and it is urged by the appellants that those in attendance at the second meeting, representing a majority of the persons entitled to vote at school district meetings, were deprived of a voice in the afiEairs of the dis- trict through the mistake of the clerk, and by the trick and by the device of those who took part in the organiaation of the first meeting. The appel- lants, however, have failed so show any fraud in the proceedings of the first meeting. The law fixes the time for holding the annual meeting, and it provides that "unless the hour and place therefor shall have been fixed by the vote of a previous meeting" it shall be held in the school-house "at seyen o'clock in the evening." Those who entered the school-house at seven o'clock and organized a meeting only followed the provisions of the law, and as it does not appear that the previous meeting fixed any hour for the annual meeting, the proceedings of the meeting held at seven o'clock will be binding upon the district, unless it is shown that there were some ma- terial irregularity in the proceedings, or that they were vitiated by fraud. Indeed, if the clerk wholly neglected to give notice of the annual meeting, as the statute fixes the time and place, such failure would not invalidate the proceedings of the meeting, if otherwise regular. If they, knowing the law, chose to take advantage of it, and strictly following the statute met and organized a meeting, even though they were aware that a number of the inhabitants were misled by the clerk's error, this of itself would not be sufficient to justify the department in setting aside their action. Per W. B. Buggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3410, March 31, 1885. Meetings. 577 After an adjournment of an annual meeting the chairman with others cannot reconvene the meeting and go on with the business of such meeting. The refusal of the chair- man to longer serve as such and the dispersing of the meeting is a virtual adjourn- ment. Considerable dispute arose at the meeting over the election of trustee and the rulings of the chairman. After an "informal ballot " for trustee, the chairman refused to longer serve as such and the meeting dispersed; later in the evening the party who were in favor of sustaining the chairman in his rulings returned to the school-house and proceeded to elect a trustee and other district officers. I cannot regard the proceedings of the second meeting as regular. The action of the chairman before alluded to virtually adjourned the annual meeting, the inhabitants dispersed and left the school premises. The subsequent action of the chairman, in convening at the school-house, later in the evening, those who had favored his rulings, can- not be regarded as a legal continuance of the annual meeting; and it can- not be considered a new and independent meeting of the inhabitants authorized to act for the district, since it was convened without regard to any authority known to the school law. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 3453, November 18, 1885. When there is a failure to show that the clerk was in the district and prepared to serve notice for a special meeting, the proceedings of such meeting will not be set aside solely on the ground that the notices were served by a person having a claim against the district, which claim was to be passed upon by the special meeting. I cannot conclude from the single fact of his being a contractor claimmg extra com- pensation for his services, without proof of collusion with the trustee, or a willful and fraudulent failure on the part of the contractor to serve the notice, that the meeting was improperly called. A contract was entered into between the district and J. B. Inman to build a school-house in said district in place of one that was destroyed by fire ; the contract price was placed at $725. After the building was com- pleted, Inman asked for an additional payment, over and above the con- tract price, of $310. The trustee called a special meeting, which was held on the 17th of October last, to consider the claim of Inman for the extra allowance ; notices for which meeting were not served by the trustee or clerk of the district, but were served by Inman, who was the party inter- ested in obtaining the extra allowance. At the special meeting so held, but five voters appeared, four of whom were tax-payers in the district, representing but a small proportion of the valuation on the assessment-roll. At that meeting the trustee was authorized to collect by tax in the district a certain amount of money, including the $310 claimed by the contractor. It is alleged that some of the tax payers received only a few hours' notice of the meeting, and some received no notice at all ; but no proof is adduced in support of this statement, nor do the appellants themselves attempt to show that they were not duly notified of the meeting. The only material questioa which I am called upon to decide, therefore, is whether Inman was dis- qualified from serving the notices. On this point proof is lacking. The appellants on whom the burden of proof rests fail to show that the clerk was in the district and prepared to perform his duties, nor do they show any reason, aside from the fact that he was an interested party in the result of the special meeting, why Inman was incapacitated from serving such notices ; and I cannot conclude from the single fact of his being a con- tractor claiming extra compensation for his services, without proof of collu- sion with the trustee, or a willful and fraudulent failure on the part of said Inman to serve the notice, that the meeting was improperly called. Per W, B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3463, December 19, 1885. 73 578 Meetings. NOTICE. A notice given by the district clerk for a meeting is legal, though the directions of the trustees to the clerk to give such notice were verbaL A special meeting was held in district No. 5, Lisbon, St. Lawrence county, December 30, 1848, pm-suant to a notice given by the clerk for the purpose, and the site of the school-house was voted to be changed. The appellants object to the proceedings of the meeting, because the notices of the meeting by the district clerk were upon the verbal direction of the trustees.- If the district clerk gives the proper notices for a special meeting, the proceedings of that meeting will not be held to be illegal, although the trustees may have given the clerk only a verbal direction to give the notices. The proceedings of the meeting, therefore, are legal and regular. Appeal dismissed. Per Morgan, March 6, 1849. An annual school meeting held at the time and place designated b/ law is legal, though the requirement concerning notice has not been complied with. Objection was taken to the proceedings of an annual meeting upon the ground that no notice of the same was given. The Superintendent says: "It has been for a long series of years the ruling of this department that the annual meeting of school districts being expressly ordered by statute, no neglect to call them by those upon whom that duty is devolved can invalidate the action of such meetings. The soundness of this ruling becomes at once apparent when it is considered that under any other construction the right of the voters in any district to meet and transact business would be wholly contingent upon the circum- stance of the trustees giving the required notice. The same principle is sustained by the court of appeals of this State in regard to holding general elections, in case of elections held without notice thereof being given by the Secretary of State. 3 Keman, 850." Per A. B. Weaver, SuperiuteHd- «nt, February 26, 1869. Ifotices of a special meeting should state the object as well as the time and place of the meeting. It is shown that some of the voters were notified by leaving a notice of the meeting at their place of residence, and that the notices thus served stated no o^ect for which the meeting was called. As the statute requires that the inhabitants shall be notified of the object as well as of the time and place of special district meetings, the notices referred to were clearly defective, and the meeting weis thereby rendered irregular. {Sections 3 arid ■6, title 7 of General School Act.) Proceedings of the meeting vacated. Per ,Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 30, 1874. j JJistrict meeting set aside because of irregularity and insufficiency in the notices. A resolution of the district provided for calling district meetings by post- ing notices of the time and place thereof , and designating the post-office as one of the places where such notices should be posted. Concerning the mpetiag appealed from, it is shown that no notice was posted at the post-office as required by the resolution referred to. It is claimed that many of the voters failed to attend the meeting owing to this defective notice. Held, that the meeting was irregularly called, and its action set aside accordingly. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, May 12, 1875. Meetings. -579 Special meeting cannot be called by merely posting notices, when no previous annual meeting had autbonzed the calling ot* a special meeting in this manner. Appeal from the action of a special meeting changing the school-house site, on the ground that the meeting was called by posting notices. No previous action of an annual meeting directing special meetings to be so called had been taken. Held, that this constitutes a fatal defect, and the proceedings of the meeting must be set aside. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3964, May 1, 1880. The words in a notice for a special meeting "purchasing a new site end building a new echool-house," necessarily implies the levying of a tax therefor. The appeal is brought from the proceedings of a special' meeting, one ground of appeal being that "the notice for the meeting was defective for the reason that it did not state that a tax was to be voted at the meeting for any purpose whatever." The special meeting was held on the 10th day of March, 1886, and thirty-six voters, out of a voting population of nearly one hundred, were present. The meeting adopted a resolution designating a new site for the school-house. The resolution properly designated the new site by metes and bounds, and was adopted by taking and recording the ayes and noes. A tax of $500 was voted to pay for the new site. The meeting then adopted a resolution to build a new school-house upon the new site, and directed the levying of a tax of $1,500 to pay for the same, less the amount received from the sale of the old house and site, the trustee being directed to make such sale at public auction. The. notice clearly set forth that the objectTDf the meeting was to take "into consideration the propriety of enlarging the school-house so as to accommodate two teachers, or of purchasing a new site and building a new school-house. * * * _" The meeting could not very well provide for the purchase of a new site, and the erection of a new school-house without voting a tax for the same. It seems to me that the objection that the notice did not say a tax would be raised, after stating that the meeting was for the purpose of providing for the purchase of a new site and the building of a new school-house is frivolous. No one could be misled by such omission. Will any one pretend that he was led to believe by the wording of the notice, that the meeting was only for the purpose of select- ing a new site and resolving to build a new school-house, and then stop ? I think not. While it could well have been inserted in the notice that the meeting would levy a tax for these purposes, I think the notice was broad enough, and that the words " purchasing a new site and building a new school-house " necessarily implied the levying of a tax therefor. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No, 3-509, June 5, 1886. POWERS. It is not in the power of a district meeting to control the trustees in the exercise of their duty of prosecuting delinquent predecessors for not rendermg an annual account, or for not paying over a balance of money remaining m their hands. A resolution attempting to limit their power in this respect is void. A special meeting held in district No. 18, in the town of Sodus, Febru- ary 22, 1848. Resolved, That the former resolution directing measures to be taken to collect certain arrearages alleged to be due from former trustees should be rescinded ; and further, that no civil proceedings should be commenced by 580 Meetings. the trustees of the district for school moneys not paid over by former trus- tees, unless by a special resolution of the district. Both resolutions mentioned in the appeal were adopted, under a misappre- hension of the powers and duties of the inhabitants, when assembled in school district meetings. Every trustee is bound, by law, yearly, to render an account to the dis- trict of the moneys received and paid out by him, and to file said account with the district clerk, and also, upon going out of office, to pay over any balance of money remaining in his hands to his successors in office. For any neglect or refusal to render such acccount, or to pay over such balance, the delinquent forfeits to the use and benefit of the district the sum of twenty-five dollars, to be sued for and recovered either by his suc- cessors in office or by the town superintendent. The town superintendent (supervisor) may also sue the trustees for unpaid balances in their hands. It requires no vote of the district to authorize such suit to be brought, and a vote directing such suits to be brought, or not to be brought, is a nullity. Per Morgan, March, 1848. The inhabitants of a district have no power to dissolve or annul the district. The first meeting in district No. 9, Lloyd, Ulster county, was held August 23, 1848, at which the following proceedings were had : A chairman and clerk pro tern, were chosen. The officers of the district were elected and a site for the school-house designated. During these pro- ceedings some difficulties arose upon questions of order. A motion was made and seconded that the meeting declare the district to be annulled, which the chairman refused to put, when the mover called for the ayes and noes, and declared the motion to be carried. A motion was then made to adjourn, but, not being seconded, the chair- man refused to put it to vote. The mover called the ayes and declared the meeting adjourned, where- upon many withdrew. The meeting continued its organization, and transacted business after the withdrawal of some of the inhabitants. The appellant desires that the proceedings of the meeting held after the motion to adjourn was made be declared void. The motion to dissolve the district was entirely out of order, as it was upon a question over which the district had no control. A motion to adjourn cannot be put to vote until it is seconded. The chairman was, therefore, correct in refusing to put to vote either of these motions. The appeal is dismissed, and the proceedings of the meeting confirmed. Per Morgan, December 33, 1848. An estimate of expenditures must be submitted to vote, item bj"item. An item " for sexton, $50 held to be illegal, being for an officer and purpose unknown to the law. The trustees having presented an estimate for several heads of expendi- ture amounting in the aggregate to $1,800, and the vote having been taken thereupon by asking each inhabitant when he deposited his ballot for district officers whether he voted "tax" or "no tax." without in any other manner submitting the propriety of the items severally, it was held that the tax payers have the right, not only to fix the amount of their contributions, but to specify the precise object to which every part thereof should be appropriated. The question should be submitted to them in such a form that every one may have the opportunity of offering amendments increasing Meetings. 581 or diminishing the amount to be appropriated to any of the enumerated objects, or of striking out. The proceedings not liaving been conducted in such a way as substantially to preserve this right, but, on the contrary, apparently to subject the voters to the dilemma of voting for the estimate as an entire proposition or voting against every part of it, they were held irregular, and were annulled. One of the items in the estimate being "for sexton $50,'" it was held that the term "sexton," being unknown to the law as the designation of any district officer, the duties expected of him ought to have been so defined by the resolution as to show upon its face an intention to appropriate the money for services, like cleaning the school-house, making fires, etc., which are legitimate objects of taxation. It is not competent to a district meeting to create a new office having a salary attached to it, though it is competent to vote compensation for services, not incumbent upon the recognized dis- trict officers, but which are proper objects of expenditure. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, October 2, 1855. The Superintendent will set aside the proceedings ot a meeting voting an exorbitant sum to pay in advance the rent of a school-house site for a number of years. An appeal is taken from the proceedings of a meeting, a resolution of which directed the trustees to levy a tax of |150, for the purpose of paying the rent for a term of twelve years on a lot which was then, and had been for about twenty years, in possession of the district, and occupied as a site for a school-house. The appellants state that three dollars and fifty cents per annum is the rent which has heretofore been paid for said lot, and that $150 is a most unreasonable price for the fee simple. The evidence shows that the value of the fee of the site does not exceed $30. It is, therefore, held by the department that there is no adequate con- sideration for an agreement to pay $150 for a twelve years' lease of the site; that the appeal must be sustained, and the resolution and proceedings under it must be set aside. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 23, 1857. The proceedings of a meeting locating a site, in accordance vrith an award of arbri- trators, to whom contending parties in a district bad agreed to refer their differences, will be sustained. In pursuance of an adopted resolution, several subjects of controversy in the district were referred to the decision of arbitrators. After hearing the proofs and allegations of the parties, the arbitrators made an award, by which they located the site of the school-house. At a meeting subsequent to the award, the inhabitants, by a vote of 15 to 4, located the site at the place designated by the arbitrators, voted a tax for purchasing a site, and for removing the building to it. The objection is taken, on appeal, that the arbitrators had no authority to determine the site, and that the district has another site so long as it chooses to occvipy the same . Held, that the tax is legal, not because of the award, but because the inhabitants elected to fix the site in the place where the arbitrators pointed out, as they had good right to do, irrespective of the award. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 23, 1857. Where a contract has beet made, under authority of the district, to build a school- house, and a subsequent meeting votes to change and build on a new site, directing the trustees to pay any damages claimed by the contractor on account of the change in location, such action confers dangerous powers on the trustees, and is, therefore, unlawful. A special meeting voted to build on the old site, and a tax of $300 was 583 Meetings. voted and the trustees directed to prosecute the work. At a meeting of the trustees, pursuant to public notice, for the purpose of considering propos- als Tfor building the school-house, a petition was presented to the trustees, signed by a respectable number of inhabitants, asking that a special meet- ing be called for the purpose of changing the site. The trustees, not feel- ing at liberty to deny the petition, called a meeting. In the meantime, however, under the instruction of the previous meeting, they entered into a contract for the building of the house on the old site. At the subsequent meeting, the trustees remonstrated against any action being had on the subject of removing the site, for the reason that a con- tract to build on the old site had already been made. But the meeting voted to change the site, and, at the same time, voted to raise a sufficient tax to indemnify the contractor against all damages sustained by him in modifying the terms of his contract. Held, that in thus directing the trustees to indemnify the contractor, the district conferred unauthorized and dangerous powers upon the trustees whereby the rights and interests of the district were imperiled. The power to levy a tax for imaginary expenses, to incur liabilities to an indefinite extent, is not among those which the statute confers on district meetings ; still less can such power be delegated to trustees. I must, therefore, pronounce the action of the meeting upon a change "f site void. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, May 39, 1858. A school district meeting has no power to take any action affecting the term of offic& of a trustee. An acnual meeting at which only two voters were present set aside. At an annual school meeting at which but tliree persons were present, one of these not being a legal voter in the district, it was resolved to have thereafter but one trustee in place of three. Thereupon the meeting pro- ceeded to elect a sole trustee in place of those trustees whose term of office had not expired. Held, that no school district meetings however numerously attended, could legally take any action affecting the unexpired term of office of a trustee, nor on resolving to change the number of trustees from three to one, could' it then elect a sole trustee for the district. The effect of such a resolution is, that the trustees in office continue therein until their terms of office respectively expire. {Section 27, title 7, of the General School Act.y Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 17, 1869. The whole proceedings of the meeting were set aside as not being a fair expression of the wishes of the inhabitants, only two voters being present. Id. Meeting has no power to vote to refund moneys paid on a judgment against collector's sureties. B. and W. were sureties for N. upon his bond as collector in district No. 14. Collector failed to pay over all the moneys collected. Judgment was obtained against E. and W. sureties, for the deficiency, $80 and costs. Judgment was paid. Annual meeting voted to refund this money to E and W. Held, the action of the meeting in voting to refund the amount of said judgment was clearly illegal, as much so as would have been a resolution to give away any other property of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- intendent, December 17, 1869. Where sureties had given a note to the district, in acknowledgment of Meetings. 583 their indebtedness for a deficiency on a collector's bond, a vote to cancel and return the note was held for the same reason as above given, to be in- operative. Per A, B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 2, 1870. A district meeting has no power to vote a tax to purchase an organ for the use of the school. Appeal from a vote to raise $135 by tax, to purchase an organ for the district school. A musical instrument may be very desirable for many pur- poses, in a large public school, and as appears to be the case in the present instance, there may be an almost universal desire on the part of the voters of a district to provide one for their school. But the respondents have failed to show any provision of law, and I am not aware of any, by which a tax payer can be compelled to contribiite against his will to the purchase of such an article. Resolution directing the purchase of an organ declared to be illegal. Per A. B, Weaver, Superintendent, April 13, 1873. A tax for several objects should not be voted in a gross sum, but the amount for each separate object should be specified. There is no authority in a district meeting to vote a gross sum, to be applied to several objects, without specifying the amount to be raised for each. Under such a resolution the trustee could not comply with express direction of statute to prefix; to the tax list ' ' a heading showing for what purpose the different items of the tax are levied." {Section 65, tiUe 7, Oen- eral School Act.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 8, 1874. The like doctrine held in a case where a district meeting voted to raise a tax of three and six-tenths mills on the assessed valuation of property in the district and to appropriate the avails to several enumerated objects without specifying the amount, or the proportion of the whole amount, to be applied to each. Per N^ Gilmour, Superintendent, June 30, 1874. District meeting has no power to vote a tax to build a school-house and public hall combined. It appears from the evidence, that the structure proposed by the vote of a district meeting, to be erected, is designed to be a two story building, the first story to be appropriated to school rooms, and the second or upper story for a public hall, to be used when the district thinks proper, for lectures, concerts and other like purposes. There is in my opinion no authority, in the majority of the voters of a school district, to tax the inhabitants for the building of any edifice, except such as is strictly required for the purpose of the school. The law confines the power of a district meeting in this matter, " to voting a tax upon the taxable property of the district to build or purchase school-houses.'' (Sec- tion 16, title 7, General School Act.) Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 13, 1874. District meeting has no power to reduce by more than twenty-five per cent the esti- mate, given in an order condemning a school-house, of the sum necessary to build a new house. The school-house in said district was regularly condemned by an order which estimated that $600 was necessary to build a new school-house. The meeting appealed from herein, adopted plans and specifications for a new school-house, which by a resolution of the meeting was to cost $883. Tins is a sum more than twenty-five per cent less than that estimated by the commissioner and supervisor as necessary for the purpose, and the 584 Meetings. action of the meeting was tlierefore cleaily in violation of subdivision 4, section 13, title 3, of the General School Act. Set aside as void. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent, April 13, 1876. Where a district has been for some time disorganized, it is proper and lawful for the school commissioner to order a meeting for the election of officers. Though the supervisor might have filled the vacant offices of trustees, his neglect to do so leaves it within the discretion of the commissioner to act. It seems that this district has been for some time disorganized, and that the notice of said special meeting was given by the commissioner under the provisions of section 4, title 7, of the General School Act. Objections are taken, 1. That the commissioner had no authority to call such meeting, as, if the ofSces of trustee and district clerk were vacant, they should have been filled by appointment by the supervisor; 2. That the notice written by the commissioner was irregular and defective in not fixing the date of the meeting to be held, leaving the same blank, to be filled by the person to whom the same was sent ; 8. That from a letter written by the commissioner, the inhabitants were led to believe that no action would be taken in regard to building a school-house or locating a site, and that the proceedings in those matters were a surprise to them ; and 4. That the site cannot be changed without the supervisor's consent. No evidence is produced showing that the commissioner acted without jurisdiction; I am to presume that he proceeded regularly and legally, until the contrary is shown. The supervisor might have appointed persons to fill the vacant ofiices, out as he did not exercise his power, it was competent for the commissioner to call a district meeting to fill such vacancies and to transact other business. The validity of the notice is not affected by the omission of the date noticed by the appellant. The notice was sent by mail and as the date of its receipt was uncertain, the commissioner, to be sure that five days' notice should be given, left the date blank, but instructed the person to whom it was given to fill it up, which being a purely ministerial act, he had a per- fect right to do. The notice served very clearly, and particularly specified the objects of the meeting, therefore they have no cause of complaint on the ground of surprise. The supervisor's consent may be obtained subsequently to the action of the meeting. Appeal dismissed. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent. May 13, 1868. Action of special meeting vesting certain powers in building committee. Held — that a school meeting cannot vest in a building committee powers which can only be exercised by a trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 2976, May 33, 1880. When the office of trustee is not vacant, no other person or persons can call a special meeting, except in certain and special cases. No business can be transacted at a special meeting except that stated in the call, and the inhabitants when convened cannot enlarge the purposes for which they were called together, and no notice, however widely spread or carefully served, could vaUdate the proceedings of a meeting which did not conform to the purpose stated in the call. The trustee called a Special school meeting for the purpose of voting an appropriation to build a new school-house. The meeting was held in pur- suance of such call on the 30th of March, 1883, and without transacting any business the meeting adopted the following resolution : Meetings. 585 " Resolved, That this meeting stand adjourned until the 17th day of April, 1883, at one o'clock p. m., and that we then meet at the school-house for the purpose of voting on a site for the proposed new school-house, tax to pay for building the same, determining the size and plan of said building, specifying the terms of the contract and appointing a building committee, and that the clerk be and is hereby requested to notify immediately each and every voter residing in district No. 14, who is not present at this meet- ing, of such adjournment and the object thereof." On the 17th of April a still further adjournment until May 5, when a resolution was adopted, directing the trustee to purchase a site for the new school-house on the lands owned by Mr. Wm. Perry. The site was fully described in the resolution. The resolution then directs the trustee to sell the old school-house and to apply the proceeds to the purchase of the new site and the building of a new school-house thereon. The trustee is further ordered, within ffiteen days, to contract for the erection of the new school-house, and its exact location and place is set forth. A building committee is named in the resolution to act with the trustee, who is au- thorized to levy a tax of $500, and to apply the amount collected to the building of a school-house "on the said Perry lot and not otherwise." The resolution was adopted notwithstanding the protest of the appellant, who claimed that at the adjourned special meetings no business could be trans- acted except that for which the meeting was originally called. The appeal is taken from the proceedings of the special meeting. When the office of trustee is not vacant no other officer or person is clothed with the power of calling a special meeting in the district, except in certain special cases of which this is not one, unless on appeal from the trustee's refusal to call a meeting the Superintendent shall order the clerk or some other inhabitant of the district to notify the inhabitants to meet for a specified purpose. When a special meeting is called no business can be legally transacted except that which was stated in the call. In this case the inhabitants, when duly convened, proceeded to enlarge the purposes for which they were called together, and no notice, however widely spread or carefully served, could validate tlie proceedings, which did not confoi'm to the pur- pose stated in the appellant's call for the meeting of March 30. Proceed- ings of the meeting set aside. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. De- cision No. 3375, September 14, 1883. The proceedings carried by illegal votes set aside. Kescioding the action of a former meeting. It is not competent for a meeting to pass upon the qualification of voters ; the proper remedy in such a case is by appeal to the department. In a resolution worded " Take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and void all proceedings at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground of illegal voting" — held, that the words "on the ground of illegal voting" is merely surplusage. The appeal is brought from the proceedings of a special school meeting in district No. 8, EUery, Chautauqua county, held on the 10th day of January, 1885, and of an adjourned meeting held on the 15th of the same mouth. At the special meeting of January 10, 1885, a motion to build a new school-house was carried by a vote of ten for and five against. At the ad- journed special meeting on January 15 a motion was made that the meeting " take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and void all proceedings at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground of illegal voting." This motion was lost by a vote of seven in favor of and eight against. Among the eight voting against the resolution were John Chappel, Con- •74 586 Meetings. rad Newbery and Charles Potter, who tlie appellants allege were not legal voters at school meetings. Subseqnently, at the same meeting, a mcjtion to raise a sum not to exceed $400, to build the new school-house, was adopted, the same persons voting for this resolution who voted against the resolution to rescind. The respondents, in tlieir answer, declare that John Chappel, Conrad Newbery and Charles Potter were legal voters, and claim that Melville Hilbert and Albert Doud, who voted in favor of said resolution to rescind, were not legal voters. In all other respects the allegations of the appellants are admitted. The first question to examine in this appeal is, whether the five persons alleged to be illegal voters were really such. The passage of the first reso- lution, however, at the meeting of January 10th, to build* a new schaol- house, cannot be affected by this question, for the reason that it was carried by a vote of ten to five. The three persons, alleged by the appellants to be illegal voters, voted in the affirmative, and deducting these three votes there would still be seven, or a majority of two for the resolution. The seven appellants all swear that these persons, Chappel, Newbery and Potter "do not, nor does either of them, own or hire any real estate in said school district liable to taxation for school purposes, nor do they or either of them own any personal property whatever assessed on the last preceding assessment-roll of said town of EUery; and that they have not, nor has either of them, any child or children of school age residing with them or either of them, and have not had any such cliild or children resid- ing with them or either of them during the past year." The answer does not deny this statement, but attempts to show that they were legal voters, solely on the ground that at the time of holding the meeting they "were worth in personal property, and each was worth more than fifty dollars in personal property exempt from seizure or execution." This will not qualify them to vote at school meeting. It must, therefore, be found that the three votes cast by these persons were illegal, and cannot be counted. It is next necessary to see whether Melville Hilbert and Albert Doud, who voted for the resolution, were legal voters. It appears from Melville Hubert's affidavit, supported by that of John J. Hilbert, that at the time of the meeting he rented real estate in the district liable to taxation for school purposes, consisting of a farm of about seventy-five acres. It also appears that Albert Doud, for the past yeai-, was the tenant of real estate in said district liable to taxation for school purposes, consisting of about five acres. Hilbert and Doud were, therefore, legal voters, and their votes must be counted. This leaves the vote upon the resolution to rescind, seven in the affirmative and five against ! The resolution was carried by a majority of two of the legal votes cast. The motion to raise money was, for the same reason, lost by a majority of two against. The second question to be examined is as to the effect of, or what the resolution really was. The wording of the resolution, to say the least, is somewhat peculiar, " take a vote by ballot to rescind and declare null and void all proceedings at the meeting held January 10, 1885, on the ground of illegal voting." Was this a resolution to rescind the former vote, or was it for the purpose of declaring the first resolution carried by illegal votes? The meeting could legally rescind the action of the first meeting,' but it was not competent for it to pass upon the qualifications of the voters. The proper remedy, when illegal votes were cast, and by their number decide a question, is by appeal to this department. The chairman of a meeting would be justifiable in refusing to entertain a motion to pass upon the qualifications of certain persons who had vbted, or who offered their Meetings. 587 votes upon any question. But this does not seem to have been th« idea of the persons offering and supporting the resolution. They treat it only as a resolution intended to rescind the former action. No objection to, or question in regard to this construction of it is raised by the respondents, I, therefore, from all the proceedings, conclude that the last clause of the resolution is merely surplusage, and that the resolution did rescind the action of the first meeting. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3414, April 10, 1885. A meeting can, within the proper time, increase, or diminish, or rescind the action of a former meeting voting a certain sum to bnild a school-house. When a resolution directs the trustees to raise a certain amount, the presumption of law isthat it must be raised by a tax on the district. Special meetings can only transact business mentioned in the call for such meeting. The board of education of a union free school district can only sell real estate belong- ing to the district when authorized so to do by the board of supervisors. The appeal is brought from the action of a special meeting held in union free school district No. 13, .Cortlandville, Cortland county, on the 2d day of February, 1885. -^mong several other objections raised to the appeal are the objections numbered "three '' and " four." At a meeting previous to the one of the second of February, it was decided to build a new school-house, and such meeting directed tliat it should not cost over $3,500. The special meeting of the second of February increased this amount. The appellants claim that the meeting had no power to increase the amount first fixed. This objection is without force. The action of the first meeting could, within the proper time, have been rescinded. And at any time when the district found the appropriation was not sufficient, it could vote an additional amount. 3. The third objection was to the adoption of a resolution to raise $200, on the ground that the resolution "does not state how to raise it, by tax or otherwise." This objection is frivolous. This resolution directed the board to raise this amount, over and above what had already been voted, to complete the building in all its parts. The usual way of raising money is by tax, and the legal presumption is that this money must be raised in this way. The district merely directed the board of education to raise, for such purpose, the two hundred dollars, and they must issue a tax list and warrant in compliance with such direction. 4. The fourth objection is, that the vote to sell the land was taken by acclamation. The vote could be so taken. But there are two reasons, not raised by the appellant, why this action was illegal, and which must be interposed by this department. 1. No business could be transacted at the special meeting other than that for which the meeting was called. To seU the site or any part thereof was not mentioned in the call for the special meeting, and the adjourned meeting had only the powers of the special meeting under the call. 2. Boards of education of union free school districts can sell real estate belonging to the district, for the purpose of improving the school-house site, only when such power is conferred upon them by the board of super- visors, upon application of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the dis- trict, voting on the question at a duly called meeting. {Suh-diiiuion 28, § \,cha/p. 483, Laws of 1875.) Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. De- cision No, 8415, April 13, 1885. 588 Meetings. This Department, when asked to set aside the proceedings of a school meeting^ will al- ways inquire into the honafides thereof. A notice to " taxable inhabitants," while irregular, will not be considered sufficient ground to set aside the business of an important special meeting, unless it is made to appear that some one has been misled by it. Bad spelling in a notice of a meeting will not invalidate the proceedings thereof. Failure to give notice of a meeting to every person entitled thereto, will be excused unless done willfully, or it appears that the failure prevented such persons from attending, and their attendance would have changed a declared result. No one is -bound by the trustee's announcement of what qualifies a school district voter, particularly as no one was deterred from participating in a meeting thereby. This is an appeal from the action of a special meeting of district No. 5, town of "Waverly, Franklin county, held on the 14th day of November, 1885, in voting to build a new school-house and levy a tax to pay for the same, and from the action of the trustee and collector in levying and collecting such tax. It seems that a special meeting was first called to be held on the 31st day of October, 1885, at one o'clock in the afternoon, which was not called to order until about half-past four o'clock, and then, without any material action, was adjourned to meet on the 14th day of November, 1885, at six o'clock, p. M., and at the latter time the meeting reconvened and voted to purchase a site and build a school-l^puse. It was resolved to let the work to the lD^vest bidder, and bids were received at this meeting, the lowest of which was by one Prank Trim, for the sum of $405. The work was let to him and a tax ordered levied for the ampunt. Mr. Trim went on and erected the building, the ti-ustee accepted it, and the tax was levied and the collector was engaged in raising the sum when, about the 1st of June, 1886, this appeal was brought. The appellants allege various irregularities. They say the special meet- ing of October 31 had no jurisdiction, and that consequently an adjourned meeting thereof had none ; that the notice of such meeting was defective, as it was a notice only to " taxable inhabitants," while othei-s were entitled to vote at school meetings, and that it contained misspelled woi'ds and some abbreviations; that such notice was not served upon persons entitled to notice, as the law provides; that while the meeting was called at one o'clock p. M., it did not convene until half-past four o'clock p. m., and that some persons left in the meantime, and that when the meeting did convene the trustee announced that only real estate owners and tax payers could vote, etc. There are other objections urged, but these are the essential ones, and if they are not availing, none set up can be. This department, when asked to set aside the acts of school meetings or school oflBcers, always inquires into the lona fides of such acts. Were the things done such as it was proper to do? Did they undertake to do them properly according to such knowledge as they had? Has any one been im- posed upon or wronged? If irregularities have occurred, will the greater hardship be imposed upon individuals and greater help be given to the cause of education by setting aside or sustaining such acts? In the present case there is absence of proof of bad faith. The notice of the special meeting should have called all legal voters of the district rather than "taxable inhabitants," but there is no proof that anybody was misled by it. Indeed the appellants, nearly if not quite all of them, at- tended the meeting. There was some bad spelling in the notice, but to hold that this invalidated it would be so far reaching in its consequences that the result would be appalling. The notice may not have been served on every person entitled to notice as it should have been, but it does not ap- pear that this was willful, or that any were without actual notice. There is absence of evidence that the meeting was held without the knowledge Meetings. 589 of persons ■who desired to be present unless in a single instance which is too isolated to be of weight. If this person had been present the result would not have been changed. If the trustee did announce his legal opin- ion as to who could vote, no one was bound by it. It does not seem to have deterred any person entitled to vote from doing so. The adjournment from October 31 to November 14 seems to have been regular. It indicates deliberation and absence of any purpose to deceive. But other facts are to be taken into consideration. The district had no school-house, and sorely stood in need of one. The undertaking to erect one was commendable. The building had been erected before the appeal was taken. To set aside the acts pursuant to which it has been constructed would be to deprive the builder of his pay, or to throw the expense upon a portion only of the district, and then they would have on tlieir hands a building which would not be the district school-house. I have not lost sight of the fact that there are separate settlements in this school district, and that the location of a school in either one does not meet the convenience of the other. But this fact cannot be allowed to have much weight in the determination of the pending case. Perhaps it would be well if the two settlements were separated into two school dis- tricts, which, should the population continue to increase, might appropri- ately be done after a school-house shall have been erected at the other settlement. It seems that a school is now being sustained there. If this is to be continued, a house is needed. If this should be erected, the tax should be borne by both settlements, as in the present case. In view of the foregoing considerations, I feel compelled to dismiss the appeal, and discontinue the stay of proceedings heretofoi-e issued by me herein. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3534, Novem- ber 10, 1886. Proceedings of an annual meeting will be set aside, and a special meeting will be ordered, when it seems that the trustee who called it to order arbitrarily prevented It from selecting whomsoever it would for presiding officer, and where the proceed- ings are shown to have been so turbulent and disorderly as to prevent a free expres- sion of the will of the legal voters present. This is an appeal by Cyrus Collins and others, residents and tax payers in scliool district No. 8, town of Whitehall, "Washington county, N. Y., from the proceedings of the annual school meeting held in said district August 31, 1886. The appellants' allegations are substantially as follows: That the meeting was called to order by the trustee whose term of office would expire by the election of a successor at such annual meeting ; that said person nominated his brother for chairman ; that many persons not qualified to vote at school district meetings were in attendance at said annual meet- ing; that duly qualified voters demanded that the house be divided to ascertain who were qualified voters before a vote for chairman was taken ; that this was refused by the trustee, who called for the " ayes " on the selection of the chairman, but did not call for "noes," and thereupon de- clared his brother elected chairman; that this action precipitated great con- fusion, tumult and disorder, and that it became impossible to secure an intelligent vote in consequence ; that Charles Chapman was nominated for trustee, and the nomination was seconded, and the chair refused to put the nomination to a vote ; that subsequently the nomination of the present in- cumbent was made for trustee, and amidst confusion and excitement the chair took a vote by ayes and noes and declared him elected ; that appeals from the decision of the chair, calls for a ballot and for a division of the 590 Meetings. house were disregarded and not heeded; that in the excitement the district cleric, who was engaged in Iceeping the minutes of the meeting, abandoned his post and left the meeting; that before the close of the meeting at least two-thirds of the tax payers, voters in said district, withdrew. The respondent, Warner .MacFarran, answers and alleges as defects in the appellants' case, as presented, that appellants ask for no sijeciflc relief; that because of the allegations of appellant the appeal should be dismissed ; that there is no allegation that illegal votes were cast at the meeting, nor did any unqualified persons take part in the proceedings of the meeting; that there is no allegation that respondent did not receive a majority of the votes of legal voters of the district present at the meeting; that re- spondent was properly declared elected trustee ; that there is no allegation that the confusion was created by friends of the chairman and respondent; that it is the practice of the Department of Public Instruction to dismiss appeals when allegations of appellant are vague and uncertain; that there is no allegation of any grievance or injury whatever ; that certain of the appellants are not tax payers, although some 6f them are. The respondent admits that he called the annual school meeting to order, but denies that he nominated his brother, Setli MacFarran, for chairman, but avers that a legal voter did, and that the nomination was duly seconded, and that respondent put the nomination to a vote ; that he called for ' the ayes, and that there seemed to be an almost unanimous response ; that he then called ■' contrary," and there being no negative votes he declared Seth MacFarran elected chairman. He denies that there was a call for a division of the house at the time stated, as alleged by appellants, and that such demand was not made until after the election of chairman and trustee; he denies that any other person than himself was nominated for trustee at said meeting. He claims that on the vote by ayes and noes, the ayes had a decided majority, and he was declared elected ; and that certain of the appellants made the disturbance by walking, shouting and calling for a division of the meeting on chairman, trustee and clerk; that soon after certain of the appellants left and order was restored; that the confusion had become so great that the respondent, although he attempted to do so, could not read his report as trustee until said parties had left the meeting; that as respondent is informed and believes, none but legal voters took part in the meeting ; that the proceedings were regular and in order except as interrupted by the appellants. Respondent asks that the appeal be dismissed. This appeal presents a state of affairs which should never exist at any school meeting. It is surprising that orderly school meetings cannot be held, particularly as the principal officers to be elected ai'e chosen to fill positions of trust and without compensation. From all the statements before me on this appeal, I find many direct contradictions. On the side of the appellants I have the sworn statements of thirteen persons. On the other side, the sworn statement of the acting trustee and of the person, the validity of whose election and acts are questioned by this appeal. But I do not allow this single fact to determine the case. It is clear from the state- ments on both sides, that the annual meeting was disorderly ; that no vote was taken by which a fair decision could be arrived at, either by ballot, division of the meeting or by a roll-call of the legal voters. The respond- ent called the meeting to order, and if he and his friends were in such an undoubted majority as he avers, it would at least have been wise (as some opposition was manifested) to have taken such a vote as would have shown the sense of the meeting clearly and beyond dispute. If the respondent and the other officers who are alleged to have been Officers. ^^^ elected are the choice of the voterg entitled to rote at Softool meetings, they can establish the fact at another meeting called for that distinct purpose. A school meeting, held under the circumstances as above set forth, should not be upheld. I, therefore, set aside the proceedings of said annual meeting, and direct that a special meeting be held to transact the business of the annual meet- ing, within fifteen days from the date of this order, and that the last acting district clerk shall proceed to give the notices of such meeting, as pro- vided by law. It is further directed that School Commissioner William H. Cook, of commissioner district No. 3, of Washington county, attend such meet- ing, call the meeting to order and preside until a chairman is elected. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3539, November 20, 1886. Proceedings of a district meeting will not be set aside for the reason that the records of the meetings were not properly kept. There must be specific acts complained of, and it must appear that there has not been opportunity for an expression of the win of the district, or that it has been thwarted. The several appeals from this school district and the character of the affidavits presented on both sides indicate a divided and unfortunate feel- ing among the people of the district upon school matters, which should not exist. Educational interests phould not be allowed to suSer because of the quarrels and disagreements of the voters of the district. In a previous decision, I have sustained the action of the commissioner in forming this district. So much then of the appellant's ground of appeal is, therefore, disposed of, and the only questions left for consideration are those relating to the calling and conduct of the meetings of September and October. The first was properly called by the commissioner. The proceedings were not so orderly as they should have been, but it is rarely the case, where intense feelings have been engendered in a district that they are. The school district having been formed, it was next in order to elect district officers. This has been done, and to perfect the school organization and advance the interest of education, I have determined to overrule the appeals above entitled, except as hereinafter stated. It is claimed that the records of the meetings were not properly kept. I regret that this is too often the case at school meetings. Carelessness and negligence are usually the causes of it. I would regard these appeals more favorably if the appellant had selected some particular action of the meet- ings for complaint, instead of making such general charges against every thing done and attempted to be done to form the district, select officers and provide for a school. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision N.o. 3549, December 15, 1886. OFFICERS. PRESUMPTION CONCERNING. Where certain duties are required of public oflBcers, their performances will be pre- sumed unless the contrary is shown. The general doctrine, that where certain duties are required of public officers, their performance will be presumed unless the contrary is shown, is too well established to admit of question. In the decision of Superintendent Spencer, as found on page 8, old Code 592 Peopekty. of Public Instruction, he excepts from this doctrine, in general terms, those cases in which the duty enjoined is a subsequent or final act, designed to give validity to certain primary proceedings. He says, to quote his own words, that, " The doctrine of presumption applies only to those cases where the act iu question should have been performed in the regular and ordinary course previous to the final act, and was necessarily incidental to it ; as, after a sale upon execution, a levy will be presumed," etc. Now, with how much soever force and pertinence and justice this con- struction of the doctrine of presumption may have been applied in the par- ticular case under consideration, by the Hon. Superintendent at that time, I must dissent from it as of general utility and propriety, and as not sanctioned by the uniform ruling of the highest judicial authority in Eng- land and this country. In a somewhat extended review of the cases in which this doctrine is applied, I have been unable to find anywhere the distinction above referred to, and here sought to be made paramount. In 3 East, 193, tlie doctiine of presumption in favor of the discharge of duty, on the part of a public officer, is fully discussed ; and, in that case, the duty to be performed was a final act, indeed, a single act only, the per- formance of which would make certain parties responsible for any neglect. Here it was presumed that the officer, whose duty it was to give a certain notice, had given such notice ; and it was held that the parties interested in overcoming the presumption must produce the proof positive that the notice required had not been given, or else the doctrine of presumption must prevail. This case is continually referred to by our courts as standard authority upon the doctrine of presumption, and appears to me so sweeping and con- clusive, as to leave to , the opinion of Mr. Spencer very little force as the assertion of an essential and prevalent legal principle. Per H. H. Vn.n Dyck, Superintendent, February 21, 1859. PEOPERTY. Apportionment of property of dissolved district. Where a district is annulled, and a sale and apportionment of its prop^ erty made in a legal manner, and any inhabitant of the dissolved district refuses or neglects to receive the share apportioned to him, the supervisor, on an affidavit of the facts, will be authorized to pay over such share to the trustees of the district of which such inhabitant is a member, to be applied by them in the reduction of any tax which may thereafter be im- posed on him for distinct purposes. Per S. S. Randall, Deputy Superin- tendent, April 38, 1854. The property of a district is to be sold "when a district is annviUed, and portions thereof are annexed to other districts," and there is no provision for sale unless these conditions ai\e fulfilled. When a dibtrict is divided simply, and two districts are formed from it without the addition of another territory, portions of it are not annexed to other districts, nor is any portion of it annexed to a (singular number) dis- trict. This consideration appears to fortify the conclusion which would be drawn from the use of the word "annulled," the signification of which is " reduced to nothing.'' A district can hardly be said to be reduced to Pbopeett. S93 nothing while its school-house remains witii a, territory, attached thereto of sufficient extent to be still maintained as a district. If the law justifies a sale of district property 'in any case (after payment of debts), the statute imperatively requires the division of the remaining proceeds among the several inhabitants, in the ratio of their assessments, and the receipt of each year, or his written assent to a different disposition of the same, would be required. Per E. Peshine" Smith, Deputy Superin- tendent, March 33, 1855. Where property in the possession of public officers has been stolen or destroyed by fire, without negligence on their part, they are not bound to make good the loss. It has been settled by the supreme court, in the cases of Supervisors of Albany County v. Dorr (25 Wendell, 440), and Browning v. Hanford, shei^iff (5 Hill, 558), that a public officer, in whose possession property has been destroyed by fire or for want of care, or from whom money has been stolen without negligence or any default on his part, is not bound to make good the loss. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, April 17, 1855. Statute provides for a sale of property only " when a district is annulled, and portions thereof are annexed to other districts." The facts show a mere division of a joint district. Changing names cannot change facts. In this case, the fact is that a new district (7) was formed from a part of joint district (8). But, independent of any question as to whether the action of the board amounted to an " annulling'' of the district, the statute provides for a sale of the property only "when a district is annulled and portions thereof are annexed to other districts." The part of the sentence which is quoted, is regarded as furnishing a definition of what is meant by "annulled." If, however, this be wrong, and the quoted words are regarded as an independent provision, it leaves the difficulty that both conditions must concur to authorize a sale. In the case of No. 8, no part was annexed to any other district. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, August 14, 1855. Supervisor should take charge of all property beaueathed to a town for the benefit of common schools, when no other person is specified. He should communicate the fact of his doing so to Superintendent of Public Instruction. Where property is bequeathed to a town for the benefit of the common schools therein, without naming any particular officer or person as trustee of the fund, the property should be delivered over to the supervisor, who is the financial officer of the town. As soon as he receives the property the supervisor should report the fact to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who will advise with him as to its investment and in regard to the disposition of the interest. The duties of the supervisor in regSLrd to such trusts are stated in article 3, title 3, chapter 555, Laws of 1864. Per v. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 13, 1866. No power in a district meeting to direct the sale of the fence surrounding the Bcbool- bouse, without making provision to replace it. Trustees are responsible for neglect to protect the fence as well as other district property, from injury. At the last annual meeting of the district a resolution was passed " to sell the posts and rails (circumlocutory ion fence) surrounding the school- house," the object of this resolution being to throw the lot open to the 75 594 Public MoiSrEY. highway. Without reference to the injury that would result to the school premises, if this resolution was carried into efEect, it was in itself clearly illegal. No disti-ict meeting has any right to sell or otherwise dispose of the district property, except where it makes provision to replace it, as where it makes provision to erect a new school-house^ it may then, but not before, dispose of the old building. Resolution vacated. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 1^5, 1869. Suggestion to trustees. As it appears that since that resolution was passed, some injury has been done to the fence, it may under the circumstances be proper to remind the trustees that they are under the same obligation to protect the fence inclos- ing school-house lot, that rests upon them in regard to all other property of the district committed to their charge. Id. Like decision in a similar case. Resolution at annual meeting in 1870, directing sale and removal of a fence upon three sides of the pchool lot. The fence was built during the previous summer, pursuant to a vote of the annual meeting in 1809. Held, " The inclosing of the school-house premises of any district, by a fence is, in my judgment, a very proper and desirable improvement, and to justify the removal and sale of any such fence when once built, the most cogent and unanswerable reasons should be adduced. Much more should be required in a case like the present, where the improvement has been recently made, and at considerable expense to the district. No sufficient reasons for the sale of the fence are shown." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 31, 1871. PUBLIC MON"EY. How to be applied. The public money must bo applied to the payment of the wages of qual- ified teachers, and for no other purposes. Debts duo the district, or bought by the trustees, cannot be oftset against the wages. Nothing but payment to, or on the order of, the teacher, is a compliance with the law, Tex Spencer, April 23^ 1839. Duty of county treasurer. The illegality or irregularity of the election of trustees is no excuse for a town super- intendent (supervisor) for refusing to pay over the public money, upon the order of such trustees. He musf ' ba governed by the report of these officers, made in con- formity to law. The town superintendent of lihe town of Spencer, Tioga county, declined to pay over, on the order ot the trustees of district No. 3, in said town, in favor of a duly qualified teacher, a portion of the school moneys appor- tioned to said district, and from this act the trustees appealed to tlie county superintendent, who sustained the appeal, and ordered the town superin- tendent to pay the money over, for the purposes and in the manner pre- scribed by law. Town superintendents (.supervisors) will not be pennitted to inquire, as in thip tjase, on, being presented with a writ,tpn order, signed by the trustees of a district, into the validity of the appointment or election Public Monet. 595 of the persons claiming to act, and who are acting as such officers. Such an order, duly receipted by the person in whose favor it may have been drawn, would be a perfect protection to him. It is not pretended that this money is withheld for any defect in the last annual report, or that schools have not been taught in conformity with the requirements of law. As a general principle, collateral matters cannot be drawn in question, involving judicial cognizance, by any officer, when called upon to discharge a mere ministerial duty. And the town superintendent in this case assumes t6 decide who are not the trustees of the district, a matter entirely beyond liis jurisdiction. The decision of the county superintendent, therefore, ordering him to pay over the money to the trustees as aforesaid, was correct, and is hereby affirmed. Per N. S. Benton, January 39, 1846. The public money apportioned for one year cannot be applied to the payment of teachers' wages of a previous year, except when a term embraces a portion of two years, in which case the public money of either year may be applied indiscriminately to that term. The appellees (two of the trustees) gave an order upon the town superin- tendent of rioosick for $10, to be paid out of the apportionment of public money for 1849, in favor of the teacher for the summer term of 1848. The public money apportioned for one year cannot be applied to the expenses of a previous year except when the term embraces a portion of two years; in which case the public money of either year may be applied indiscrimi- nately to that term. The trustees could not legally apply any of the apportionment for 1849 to the payment of the teacher of the summer term of 1848. The appeal is sustained. Per Morgan, April 3, 1849. The statute directing town superintendents (supervisors) to pay out public money only to qualified teachers, duly employed, upon the order of the trustees employing them, was enacted for the purpose' of preventing embezzlement by trustees, and if they pay the public money to a trustee or other person than the teacher, without his order, they do it at their peril. The provision of the law which directs town superintendents (supervis- ors) to pay out public money only to qualified teachers duly employed, upon the order of the trustees employing them, was enacted for the express purpose of preventing the opportunity of embezzlement by trustees. If in the face of this fact public money is paid to a trustee, in the name of a teacher or otiierwise without a properly attested order from the person to whom it is due, the town superintendent (supervisor) does it upon his own responsibility. In the case in controversy, the trustee. Reed, is liable for the means by which he obtained the money, and the town superintendent of Otto is responsible to school district No. 9 for the amount paid by him to Reed, and he must make good the deficiency, looking to Reed for re-im- bursement. This appeal is accordingly sustained, and the town superintendent of Otto is hereby ordered to pay , to said Hosea Edwards, teacher aforesaid, the sum of $15.86 claimed by him, and to preserve district No 9 good in that amount, not charging said district for the amount paid illegally by him to said Isaac Reed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, 2S!ovember 11, 1854. In the apportionment of public money, trustees should be governed by the wishes of the district; therefore, when the inhabitants at a district meeting adopt a resolution in reference to the apportionment of the public money which was bot by its terms restricted to one year, the trustees should regard it as oonlinuous in its operation. It is stated to have been the custom of the district to apply two-thirds 596 Public Money. of the public money to the winter term, and the remainder to the summer term. The appellant desires this apportionment to be continued. He states that no vote was taken on the subject of a division a,t the last annual meeting, under the impression probably that such direction was in force for a period longer than a year. It is not perceived that the statute requites the inhabitantsto reiterate their wishes annually in this respect, and as it is a matter in regard to which the interests of the district are not liable to change from year to year, there is no reason of policy requiring such an interpretation. If the last resolution adopted by the district in relation to this subject was not by its terms restricted in its operations to a yea:r, or some oUier definite period, tlie trustees should regard it as still in fbrce and as furnishing the rule for tlieii' action. ■ , , As it does not appear from the appeal what the fact may be m relation to this point, the superintendent can only indicate the principle which should govern. It ia inferred, from the statements of the appeal, to be quite probable that a portion of the $53, said to be due to the teacher for wages, was earned by service rendered prior to the first day of last January, in which case it should not be compensated from the money apportioned, tliis, year, but a rate bill should be issued (levied), the amount collected upon which shall be employed to remunerate said teachei', or to replace the sum, if it has been borrowed from the apportionment of this year. The appeal is sustained. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, April 24, 1855. When districts are consolidated it carries into the possession of the consolidated dis- trict, all rights of proi)ei-(y which wore possessed by the annulled districts. The public money in the hands of the supervisor apportioned to one of the annulled districts, at the time of the consolidation of the districts, cannot bo paid to such annulled district for the liquidation of its debts. School districts Nos. 1 and 9 were consolidated to form union free school district No. 1, town of Richfield, on the 7th day of April, 1883. The pub- lic school money apportioned to common school district No. 1, " before the 30th day of January, 1883, was duly set apart and credited to, said common school district No 1, on tlic 3d Tuesday of March, 1883, by the school commissioner of said county." The amount thus set apart was 8346.65 of which $3.76 was library money, and $343.89 for teachers' wages. The moneys thus apportioned were paid over to the supervisor of the town of Richfield, on or about the fifth day of May, 1883, and on or about the 11th day of June, 1883, they wore paid over to the treasurer of the board of education of union free school district No. 1, Richfield. At the time the districts were consolidated on .the 7th of April, 1883, common school district No 1 owed for teachers' wages, $350, no part of which lias been paid to said teachers, except the sum of $50. There is now due for teachers' wages, for the winter term ending the 28th day of February, 1883, the sum of $200. , The appellant having learned that the public moneys aforesaid had been paid to the board of education of union free school district No. 1, thereupon presented his claim for said moneys as trustee of comnion school district No. 1 to the said board of education, asking that it pay or cause to be paid over to said common school district No. 1, the sum of $184.10 being that part of the public moneys apportioned to said common school district NO. 1, due for teachers' wages prior to the consolidation of said districts Nos. 1 and 9, after deducting from the amount of said teachers' wages, the balance of money supposed to be in the Public Money. 597 hands of the collector of the district. At a meeting of tlie board lield on tl>e 13th of December, a resolution was offered directing the return of the said moneys, but it was defeated by a vote of five to two, and the board of education still refuses to pay over to common school district No. 1, the said public moneys or any part of them. These facts do not constitute a case which would warrant the interfer- ence of the department. If the consolidation of the two districts was legally effected, it carried with it by force the statute, section 8, title VI, of the Code of Public Instruction, into the possession of tlie consolidated district, all rights of property which were possessed by the annulled dis- tricts. At the date of the consolidation, it appears that there was in the hands of the supervisor the sum of $246.65, apportioned to school district No. 1, and $527.78 apportioned to school district No. 9. This public money became at once applicable to the payment of teachers' wages and to the library of the consolidated district without any distraction between the inhabitants and pupils of the former districts. Order for the payment of wages due to the teachers of either district, should have been drawn upon the supervisor before the consolidation took effect, or so much of it as was applicable to the payment of teachers' wage^ during the term in which they were earned. Action of the board of education sustained. Per W. B. Euggles, Super- intendent.. Decision No. 3343, April 24, 1884. Trustee cannot be custodian of the public money. Teachers cannot be compelled to board with trustee, A contract to that effect is illegal and void. The first ground of appeal is that the trustee took from the collector all the district funds and retained them himself. This the trustee admits, but attempts to justify his action on the ground that the collector had never given a bond and was not responsible, while he, the trustee, was responsible for the safe keeping of the same. The second ground of appeal is from the refusal of the trustee to pay the teacher the amount of wages claimed to be due hei'. It seems to have been stjpulfited in the contract of hiring that the teacher should board with the trustee and pay for such board $3.50 per week. During Christmas week the appellant ceased to board with the trustee and a bitter feeling sprang up between the parties. Seld, That the trustee has been guilty of gross neglect of duty in delivering a tax list and warrant to a collector before a satisfactory bond had been executed and delivered to him as required by law, and a" person who has held the oflBce of trustee for three successive years, can have no reasonable excuse for such neglect. The collector ren- dered himself personally liable when he voluntarily paid over the district moneys to the trustee, as the trustee was blamable when he received them. Eeld, also, that the teacher has a perfect right to change her boarding place at any time. An agreement with the trustee to the contrary is illegal and void. "While a teacher may board with a trustee it cannot be made obliga- tory upon the teacher so to do. Order, The trustee is hereby directed to pay over all the district moneys in his hands to the collector, first requir- ing such collector to give a sufficient bond to protect the district from loss, and take his receipt therefor. Also, to deliver to the appellant an order upon the collector for the full amount due her for teacher's wages. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 8575. May 25, 1887. 598 Public Moket. In a school district in ^vhich a branch school has been maintained, and subsequently that part of the district where the patrons of the branch school reside is formed into a separate district, held that so much of the public moneys apportioned to the old dis- trict upon the statistics of the branch school, will be ordered paid to the new district. Taxes levied and collected before the formation of the new district will not be so apportioned. There is no pi-ovisinn of law for a division of common property when a new district is set oif from an old one. Prior to April, 1885, the village of Garden City constituted a part of school district No. 1 of the town of Hempstead, Queens county. On the 30th of April, 1885, the legislature passed an act making the village of Garden City a separate school district, to be known as district No. 25 of the town of Henii)stead. No meeting was held for the purpose of electing officers and organizing the new district until August 11, 1885. For sev- eral years prior to this, district No. 1 had maintained a school at Garden City, and, notwithstanding the act of the legislature in April, this was con- tinued and supported at the expense of district No. 1 till the end of the scliool year. At the close of the school year 1884-85, district No. 1 reported the maintenance of the school at Garden City during the preceding year, and in the annual apportionment of school moneys in the scliool year 1885- 80, said district received such snm as would Tie payable in consequence thereof, while the new district, No. 25, received nothing. District No. 25 brings the matter before this department, and demands that district No. 1 shall be required to pay to it such sum of money as was apportioned to it in consequence of the maintenance of a school at Garden City during the preceding school' year. It also appears that in February, 1885, the board of education of district No. 1 levied a tax of fifteen cents on the hundred dollars, which amounted to the sum of $1,351. 35, of vhieh sum Garden City paid her proportionate share, which was $229.30. Having parted company, Garden City now thinks and demands that the part which she has paid of thjs tax should be paid back to her. Again, chapter 591, Laws of 1870, provides for the distribution to the several school districts of the town of Hempstead of a certain portion of the income of a fund which lias arisen from the sale or rental of common lands of the town, and directs that such distribution shall be calculated and determined "in the same manner, and upon the same basis as the public school moneys of the State are apportioned." After Garden City became a separate school district, and before the commencement of this proceeding, there were two of these apportionments; the first for the six months ending November 1, 1885, and the second for the period ending May 1, 1886, and at each time the sum of $6,000 was distributed. Of these apportionments from this trust fund, district No 85 received only such an allotment as was based on school population, and nothing on account of "pupil attendance " or the "district quota,'' that share going to district No. 1, pursuant to the school reports made at the close of the school year ending August 20, 1885. District No. 25 demands that district No. 1 shall be directed to pay over to her such sums as she received from these two distributions from this fund on account of the maintenance of a school at Garden City during the preceding school year. District No. 1 resists tliese several demands with energy. The trustees of that district in answering say that the school which they maintained at Garden City was only a branch of the school at Hempstead, and that they were not obliged to open, and that it was done only for the convenience of the former place, and that the report which they made at the end of the school year 1884-85 was such as they were required to make by law, and Public Money. 599 that the school moneys based npon such report which they have received are sncli and only such as the law gives them. In relation to the tax col- lected in February, 1885, of which district No. 25 demands that the share w:hich it paid shall be paid bKckj they say it was levied to meet current expenses for the ensuing year, and that Garden City received back her share in school privileges. They urge, also, that when a new district is set off from an old one, the proporty of the old district cannot be divided ; that here the new district was set off at its own desire, and that it must support itself as best it can until the time when its school reports,' made pursuant to law, entitle it to share in public moneys. In illustration, it urges that when it opened the school at Garden City it was obliged to maintain it the first year with no apportionment of public moneys based oh the report of a previous school year^ and that now this district must do the same. The public moneys; apportioned on or before the 20th day of January iti each year, are intended for teachers' wages for the school year in the middle of which the apportionment is made. The apportionment is made upon the school statistics for the preceding school year, for the reason that that is a|)parently the most reasonable basis for a genci-al apportionment. Ordi- narily, when a new district is sot off, it is impossible' to make any allotment to it during the first year of its existence, because there is no preceding year's statistics for a basis. That is not so in this case. The school at Garden City had been in operation for years. It had an individuality of its own. For statistical purposes it was the same school, was as perfectly and completely organized and was as Separate and distinct from the Hempstead school before the new district was erected as afterward. Its register of attendance for the year 1884-85, kept as required by law and duly verified, is produced here. It shows that scliool was kept more than twenty-eight weeks. Here is the basis upon which to determine what amount of public money belonged to it, equitably at least, for the year 1885-86. Tliere can be no doubt but that any new district' is, in equity, entitled to share in the State school moneys, even during the first years of its organized existence. The difliculty is that the means of determining how muchit should have are usually wanting. That difficulty does not exist itt this case. District No. 1 received at the apportionment in 1886 more than it was entitled to for the year 1885-86, iind district No. 25 received Idss than its share, because the Garden City statistics were included in the report of district No. 1 at the close of the preceding year. This being so, and there being at hand the data from which to determine, with exactness, liow rnuch was paid to No. 1, which should, in fairness, have been paid to No. 25, the matter should be set right if there is lawful authority for so doing. The State school moneys are apportioned by the Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction in the manner provided by title 3 of the Consolidated School Act of 1864. It was impossible to provide by statute for all exigencies which might arise, and it was necessary to vest some discretion in the Superintendent for the purpose of meeting exceptional cases. For instance, section 10 of title 3 directs the Superintendent to make a special apportion- ment to a district which has been excluded from participation in the gen- eral apportionment by reason of its failure to comply with some provision of law or requirement of the department when such omission was accidental or excusable. Section 11 authorizes him to withhold from any district in a subseqiient apportionment any sum which has been giv^n to it in excess of what it should have had at a prior apportionment. Section 13 provides that " if a less sum than it is entitled to shall have been' apportioaed by the Superintendent to any county, part of county or school district, the Superin- tendeut may make a supplementary apportionment to it of such sum as shall 600 Public Monet. make up the deficiency,'' etc. Reading the different sections together and having in view the general plan of apportionment wliich the legislature was setting in operation, it is manifest that it was intended to clothe the Super- intendent with authority to meet and adjust an inequality like the one here presented. Although the precise question here involved has never before been passed upon by the depaptment, the general authority requisite to meet it has always been exercised by it. I shall, therefore, direct that district No. 1, Hempstead, pay over to dis- trict No. 2ii such sum as it received in the apportionment of 1880, on the basis of the Garden City statistics; or, in case of failure to do so before tlie apportionment of 1887, that the same be deducted from the allotment to No. 1, and added to that of No: 25. The demand of district No. 25, that it be repaid so much of the tax levied in February, 1885, as was paid by Garden City, must be denied. This tax was raised before district No. 35 was set off. It was used, in part at least, to meet common expenses in which was included the expense of the school at Garden Cibyi ' What was not so used, vras district property at the time of the separation; There is no prtwision of law for the division of common property when a new district is set off from an old one, and in the nature of tilings there cannot be. There is some reasonable question of the power of this department to cor- rect the apportionment of the local trust fund applicable to school purposes as provided by. chapter 591 of the Laws of 1870. The appellants cite sec- tion 17, title 3 of the Consolidated School Act, which treats of trusts for school purposes, and provides that "the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion shall supervise ' and advise the tnisteos, and hold them to a regular accounting," etc. ' On the other hand, it is urged that the special act gov- erning this particular fund talies it out of the provisions of the general statute. I It is not jieccssary to determine this question at present, at least. The board of town auditors of Ilempstead have, as yet, committed no error. They have complied with the law and followed the State apportionment. It is fair to assume that they will continue to do so, and will make the cor- rection which the State now makes; and it will be time to consider what course must be taken for relief in that direction when it shall have become certain that some steps are necessary. It is accordingly ordered that the board of education of district No. 1, Hempstead', pay over to district No. 25, Hempstead, known as the Garden City district, the sum of $66.12, the same being the amount of one district quota apportioned to No. 1, Hempstead, in the annual apportionment made by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to January, 1886, and reappor- tioned by. the school commissioner of the second commissioner district of Queens county, in March, 1886, for the year 1885-86, on the basis of one duly qualified teacher employed for the legal term of school in the Garden City school for the school year beginning with August 21, 1884, and ending Auginst 21, 1885 ; and such further sum as shall be certified by the said school commissioner that district No. 1, Hempstead, received for the Gar- den City schools for the year 1885-86, on the basis of the number of resi- dent children, the average daily attendance of such cliildren, and for libraries, for the school year 1884-85. But in the event of there being no moneys in the liands of the board of education of district No. 1 , Hemp- stead, or under their control, and available for this purpose, then the said school commissioner shall deduct for district No. 25, Hempstead, in the annual apportionment to be made hy him in March, 1887, from the school moneys to be apportioned to said district No. 1, for the year 1886-87, the total amount of public school money said district No. 1 received for the Pupils. 601 Garden City school in the annual apportionment of 1886, and apportion the same to district No. 35, together with the amount that Ko. 35 is to receive for the year 1886-87. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3543, Novem)jer 30, 1886. PUPILS. DISCIPLINE; PUNISHMENTS. Abuse of discretion in the enforcement of discipline rebuked. The son of the appellant, a boy about eleven years of age, had been guilty of some light offense against the discipline of the school, and the same was reported to the trustee by the teacher in accordance with previous instruc- tions to that effect. The trustee ordered the boy to ask pardon wpon his knees of tlie teacher, on penalty of expulsion from school for a refusal to comply. .The scholar expressed his willingness to ask pardon of the teacher, but declined to do so in tlie humiliating posture required. He was thereupon expelled from the school. Such an abuse of his discretion by the trustee is in my opinion entirely without excuse. While I would always cheerfully sustain trustees in en- forcing discipline in the schools by the use of proper means, such an act of petty tyranny as the one complained of can receive no countenance from me. Per A. B. Weaver, Supenntendent, April 37, 1872. Trustees bare no power to impose a fine upon a pupil, and suspend him from school until it is paid. It appears that the appellant, a minor of the age of fifteen years, reside ing in union free school district No. 2, town of Onondaga, has been sus- pended from the school until a fine of fifteen cents, infiicted upon him for damages done to seats and desks in the school- house, shall be paid. The appellant denies the charge as against him, but the decision is made without regard to his guilt or innocence in the matter. If to protect the district property the trustees deem it necessary or proper to suspend from the school for a reasonable period any of the scholars guilty of injuring such property, there is no doubt of their right to do so. But there is no provision of law which authorizes school ofiicers to inflict a pecuniary fine upon the pupils for any cause. It will be the duty of the board of education to re-admit the appellant to the school on his applica- tion therefor. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 35, 1873. " Cruel and unusual punishments " of pupils reprehended. A pupil accused of whispering was ordered by the teacher, as a punish- ment for the offense, to take a seat near a very hot stove. This the young man declined to do, and because he would not subsequently acknowledge that he had done wrong in thus disobeying his teacher, the trustee suspended him from school until he should make the required acknowledgment. Held, to be the duty of teachers to exercise a sensible discretion in their dealings with the pupils under their charge. To compel a scholar to sit by a hot stove is an improper punishment for any offense, and when one refuses to acknowledge that he has done wrong in declining to submit to its in- fliction, a proper case is not presented for suspension from school. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 15, 1873. 76 602 Pupils. The right of a pupil to wear her hair in school accordiug to the 'taste of the, parent, maintained, A mother appeals from tlie action of the trustees in expelling from the school her two children, a girl of nine, and a.boyof seven years of age. The alleged ground of expulsion, is the refusal of the mother to comply ■with a requirement of the teacher and the trustees, in regard to the Diode in -which the hair of the little girl of nine should be arranged. Tliough this, as the reason of the expulsion, is denied by the trustees, it •would seem that the conflict of opinion between mother and teacher, upon this important question of tlie arrangement of the child's hair, led the way at least to the final act in the controversy, the exclusion of the children from school. The Su])erintendent says: " There is no evidence of the in- fraction of the rules of the school by the boy, and the girl does not appear to have violated any rule, unless it is by coming to school with her hair ar- ranged by her mother in a manner different from that required by the trustees. "The action of the trustees is without lawful authority. They had no right to make such a regulation as they say was disregarded in this case, and consequently they could not legally inflict any penalty forits violation." Nor could they lawfully insist upon the conditions prescribed by them for re-admitting the children to the school, which are, that the mother shall make a written apology to the teachers of the school for alleged insults offered to them in connection with this matter, and shall stipulate in writ- ing with the trustees that all rules and regulations of the school shall be strictly conformed to, and that she ' ' will not seek to enter upon the school lot, spe.ik to, or address by letter either of the teachers." Trustees directed to admit the children to the school. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 6, 1874. The authority of trustees, and hence of teachers over pupils, ceases after the close of school, and their departure from the school premises. A rule adopted by the board of education of a union free school dis- trict, amongst other things forbade pupils attending parties, and their being " absent from their rooms and studies at unusual and improper hours during school week," and further provided that pupils "violating this rule, or any part thereof, may be suspended, or on repeated violations, expelled from the school by the principal, subject to the approval of the board of education." This rule was enforced against the appellants, two pupils of said school, by their suspension therefrom, the offense charged against them being their attendance upon a mooting of a society in the village known as the Good Templars, an organization for the promotion of the cause of temperance, of which the appellants were members, their attendance therein being charged as a violation of the above rule. The appellants do not lodge in the school building, and the rule in ques- tion is avowedly for the purpose of regulating the conduct of the scholars out of school hours, and when absent from the school premises. I am aware of the existence of no law under which trustees or teachers have the right to regulate the conduct of the scholars out of school hours, and when away from the school premises. When the school closes and the pupil leaves the school premises the authority of trustees and teacher ceases and that of the parent or guardian is resumed. All rules or regulations founded upon any different basis are without authority, and no penalty for their violation can be legally enforced. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, May 13, 1875. Pupils. 603 Unreasonable regulation of board of education, under which pupils may be perma- nently excluded from the school for aa act of the parents, overruled. The board of education of union free school district No. 2, Ellington, adopted the following regulation: "Any scholar absenting himself from any examination or part thereof, appointed by the teachers, witliout neces- sity duly certified to, before hand, either by himself or his parent or guar- dian, shall not be admitted to the school afterward, except by permission of the board and the approval of the principal." It appears that on or about the 24th day of February, 1875, and prior to the examination for the winter term, a note addressed to two of the teach- ers was sent by the mother of three of the pupils, asking that they might be excused from school for the remaining week or ton days of the term, and that they were then temporarily withdrawn from the school. On the opening of the next term the pupils were refused admission under the above rule, the note sent as above stated being held not a sufficient compliance with said rule. From this action this appeal is brought by the father of the pupils on their behalf. It is unnecessary, in my opinion, to determine whether the appellant, in withdrawing his children from the school before the close of the winter term in the manner set forth, did or did not violate the rule under which their exclusion from the school is sought to be justified, an exclusion which under the terms of the rule may be made perpetual. A board of education, under the authority given to it by law to establish rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of the school or schools under their charge, have, in my opinion, no right to make any such regulation as the one in question, under which children of lawful school age, residing in the district, are made liable to perpetual exclusion from school for an act of the parent and not of the pupil, who is made subject to the penalty inflicted. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, Juue 7, 1875. Suspension from school for more than a year sufficient punishment for using language to a teacher unbecoming u gentleman. Should not be made perpetual. The appellant was and still is suspended, " for disrespectful conduct and language toward his teacher," and the board of education refuse to I'estore him to the school until he shall make an apology to the teacher. This the pupil refuses to do. The Superintendent finds that the language of the pupil was such as no provocation would justify a gentleman in using toward a lady, and that his own sense of self-respect should have prompted him to make an apology to the teacher without any requirement from the trustees. But in view of the fact that the pupil has already been deprived of the privileges of the school for more than a year, which may perhaps be regarded as a sufficient punishment for an offense committed in a moment of excite- ment, and by a scholar of uniform previous good conduct, the appeal is, with considerable reluctance, sustained, and the pupil restored to the privi- leges of the school. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, July 31, 1875. RIGHTS OF NON-RESIDENT. Chil(3ren of non-residents nve not entitled to attend a district school without permission of the trustees, and upon such terms as may be agreed upon. They cannot be permitted to share in the public money appropriated to the district under acy circumstances. Per Spencer, March 26, 1841. 604 Pupils. A resident of a district is not responsible for the tuition of a non-resident pupil who simply boards with the former, unless the trustees notify him at the commencement of the school that he will be held responsible for the tuition. In this case the appellant represents that the trustees have charged him eighty-two cents for the tuition of Brastus Hibbard, the son of a non- resident of the district, and who was a mere boarder in his house ; and he alleges, in express terms, that he did not send him to the school nor en- gage to pay his tuition, and that he had no control nor jurisdiction over him. No answer has been put in by the trustees, although a copy of the appeal, duly verified, was served upon one of their number on the 28th of April last. The statement of the appellant, therefore, must be taken to be true, and, under such circumstances, he cannot be regarded as legally liable for the tuition of the boy. If the trustees had designed to hold him responsible, it was their duty to have apprised him of the fact at the com- mencement of the term. Not having done so they must look to the lather of the boy. It is, therefore, ordered that the trustees strike from the rate bill (tax list) the charge against the appellant for the tuition of Erastus Hibbard. Per Morgan, May 18, 1849. Adults may be admitted to school on the same terms as non-residents. Adults are not by law entitled to the privileges of common schools, but this department would not discourage trustees from admitting them upon the same terms as non-residents. But, when such pupils commence at- tending school, there should be a distinct understanding between them and the trustees as to the price they must pay for their tuition ; and in no case can they be admitted to a participation in the public money. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, December 8, 1854. The power to admit to the district schools non-resident pupils is vested by statute in the trustees exclusively. The inhabitants of district No. 1, Elba, at their annual meeting, Septem- ber 4, 1855, passed a resolution to exclude non-resident children from the district school. An appeal was brought. So much of the resolution as assumes to close the school against pupils from other districts is unauthorized. The trustees are invested with the power to admit such pupils by the express terms of the statute. It is their duty to prescribe the conditions of admission, and they ought to be such as to indemnify the district against any increased expense resulting from the attendance of non-residents. Proper security, moreover, ought to be taken in advance for the payment of any bills for tuition to which such pupils may be subjected, as they cannot be collected upon a rate bill or by warrant. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, October 20, 1855. A teacher cannot, except under contract to that effect, refuse to teach non-resident pupils whom the trustees permit to attend the school. A teacher, acting in pursuance of a resolution of a school district meet- ing, not to admit uon-resident pupils to the privileges of the school, refused to teach two such pupils attending with the permission of the trustee of the district. For this refusal, the trustee discharged the teacher, and this appeal was brought to have the Superintendent direct the trustee to rein- state the teacher. The Superinte^ndent, citing section 39, title 7 of the General School Act, shows that the discretion of admitting non-resident pupils is vested exclu- Pupils. 605 sively in the trustees, and he finds in the circumstances of this case no abuse of discretion on part of the trustee, and nothing to justify an order reinstating the teacher. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 1871. Right of children, residing on lands within a district which have been ceded to the United States, to attend the scljool o£ the district. Within tlie limits of school district No. 13, Champlain, Clinton county, are certain lands, jurisdiction over which has been ceded by the State of New York to the United States, " for the defense and safety of the State." Resident upon these lands are persons with children of school age whom they desire to send to the school of the district witliin whose boundaries they are embraced. The trustee of district No. 13 refuses to allow these children to attend the school in said district without payment of a tuition fee, claiming that the cession of jurisdiction referred to has had the effect of entirely excluding the lands in question from the said district. The Superintendent says: " In this position, the respondent, in my judgment, is in error. There exists no good reason either in the purpose for which the cession of jurisdiction was made, or in the terms of the cession itself, for excluding any of the children resident upon the lands in question from the advai^tages for education afforded by the State." Trustee directed to permit the children resident upon said lands, to attend the district school in equal terms with other children of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 13, 18G9. STUDIES OF, ETC. Trustees have full discretion in the matter o£ prescribing the course of study to be pursued in the schools under their charge. The exclusion of tardy pupils from admission to the school-rooms as a means of secur- ing punctuality not approved. The appellant complains, 1. " That the trustee has instructed the teacher of the district school not to teach algebra." The trustee shows but one pupil (the son of the appellant) desires to study algebra and alleges that the introduction of that branch for his benefit, would, if the recitation is heard during school hours, retard the progress of the other scholars. Also th.tt the teacher has offered to attend to the recitations in that branch "before and after the regular school ses- sion, but that such offer has been repeatedly refused." Trustees of school districts have full discretion in the matter of pre- scribing the course of study in the schools under their charge, and will not be interfered with by this department except in cases of manifest abuse of that discretion. The present does not appear to be such a case. 2. "That the teacher (by direction of the trustee) has made and enforced a rule that, unless scholars are in school by nine o'clock they must remain in the cold entry until the class then called has recited." It is admitted by the trustee, that with his " express approval " the teacher has made and "attempted to enforce" the rule, "that scholars coming to school while a class is reciting, shall remain in the hall until such recitation is finished ; if the weather is chilly they are allowed to pass inside the school-room, but are to remain standing until such recitation i? finished." So much of this rule as excludes any of the scholars, especially in the ■winter season, from entrance to the school-room, is unwise and improper 606 Reltgious Meetings. As a means of securing punctuality, I think other regulations may be adopted which will prove quite as effectual, and be free from the objections to the one complained of. I cannot approve of the enforcement of that part of the rule. ' Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 7, 1S70. The suspension of a pupil from school until he will comply with a regulation requiring him to write compositions, sustained upon the ground tliat the teacher, subject to the control of the trustees, has authority to enforce such regulation. "Where a pupil was suspended from the school until he should comply with a requirement of the teacher that he should write compositions as part of the school exercises, the Superintendent saysi " It would be impracticable to maintain proper .discipline in a district school, if it were at the option of every pupil to devote his time only to the pursuit of such studies as lie might liimself select. The prescribing of such' studies as shall be pursued by all or any of the scholars is properly left with the teacher, subject to the control of the trustees. If any abuse of this power should occur in any case, it could be remedied on apjjeal to this department. In the present instance no such abuse is shown; no branch of learning is more important to a student than that which enables him to write his native language correctly. The practice of writing compositions in school is probably too little insisted upon. It is not likely ever to bo carried to an extent to need any discouragement. There is lio other study so well adapted tofmake the student correct and accurate in the expression of his ideas. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintendent, March 9, 1870. (See Residence, 608; Teachkes, 662: Trdstees, 742.) I RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. An application to close the school-house against religious meetings must show some injury resulting from such use. An appeal is taken from the action of the trustees in allowing the school- house to be used for religious purposes. This complaint is not denied, but as the appellant does not show th.at any injury results to the school-house nor to tlie district from the holdino- of meetings, there is not presented any grievance demanding the interposi^ tion of this department. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 3 1859. Use of school-house for religious meetings considered. The quiet assembling of orderly persons for religious iustruction, not at unreasonable hours, cannot be a serious injury to the school-house, nor to the educational interests, generally, of the district. At all events, I am not disposed to interfere with the discretion of the trustees in regard to a proper custody of a school-house, until tlie abuse of that discretion is clearly proven by evidence showing that positive injury and damage has resulted from allowing the school-house to be used for other than scliool purposes. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 15, 1859. School-house may, under certain circumstances, be used for religious meetings lec- tures, etc. ' It is alleged and not denied, that the school-house is used for the pur^ pose of holding religious meetings occasionally upon Sunday. It is not Religious Meetings. 607 alleged that any injury, damage or loss is sustained by the district in conse- quence of these meetings. Tlve trustees have the custody of the house, and their right to allow it to be used for other than school purposes under such restrictions as will pre- yant any interference with its legitimate and primary use is nowhere lim- ited by statute. This department will not interfere with the action of the trustees in this matter, except upon due proof of injury or loss to the dis- trict, resulting from the use of the house for other than school purposes. I am disposed to hold, with a previous opinion of this department, found in RnndaWs School System, 320, that the school-house may be used, out of school hours and when not wanted for district pnqjoses, for religious meet- ings, Sunday schools, lectures, or any other moral, literary or useful pur- pose, witli the approbation of a majority of the district, and consent of trustees. Per H. H. "Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 7, 1860. Trustees cannot, under any circumstances, be required to open the school-bouse for religious meetings. This department, in its late action, has favored the policy of opening the school-house for religious and other worthy objects, when not wanted for school purposes. Where this power is exercised by the trustees, within the limits of a proper discretion, and regard for the district property, the depart- ment will not interfere. But this is very different from compelling the trustees to open the house for such purposes. They cannot, as trustees of the district, be compelled to do any act not specifically within the range of duties prescribed. They are under no obligation to yield, eveu to the unanimous wish of the district, to open the scliool-house for other than school purposes; and for the reason that they are not elected as guardians of the moral or religious interests of the district, but of its educational interests. They cannot be compelled to take action outside of their official relations. For their refusal to comply with the wishes of the district in matters outside their official relations, there is no remedy but to elect other.? in their places, as fast as their terms of service shall expire. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 7, 1860. Trustees will not be ordered to open the school-house for religious meetings. No denomination has a right to the use of the school-house for religious or other purposes. Whoever occupies it for other than school purposes does so by sufferance only. The trustee who allows such privileges to be exercised does so without the sanction of any statute law, and is personally responsible for any injury to the property caused thereby. No inh.ibitant of the district has a right to demand any thing from the trustee as an officer, which he is not lawfully bound to grant; and this department has no authority to order him to do any thing not required or contemplated by the law prescribing his duties. Consequently, the Super- intendent has not authority to order the trustee to open the school-house for other than school purposes. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 5, 1863. Religious societies, occupying the district school-house for the purpose of religious meetings, must furnish their own fuel. On complaint that the school-house and furniture were injured, and the fuel of the district used at meetings of certain i-eligious societies held in the school-house, theiSuperintendent makes order as follows: "In this case the trustee is directed to notify the societies permitted to 608 Eksidence. occupy the school-house, of the complaints which have been made; to infonn them that so long as they are jierraitted to occupy the luhise they must provide their own fuel, and that if the house, furniture or books shall here- after be injured by reason of their occupancy, he will close said house against them. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 14, 1868. Decision concerning religious meetings, made by Superintendent Van Dyck, affirmed. With reference to the use of the building for rcligiqus purposes, I fully concur with the views expressed by Superintendent Van Dyct, March 15, 1859, in a similar appeal to the one now under consideration, and I adopt his reasoning in that case as entirely applicable to the present one. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 33, 1868. The trustee is the legal custodian of the school-house, and ■whenever lie permits it to be used for purposes lawful and commendable in themselves, which do not interfere with the school, nor injure the district property, this department will not interfere in the matter. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- intendent. Decision No. 3860, June 33, 1879. RESIDENCE. Children of temporary residents are to be enumerated in the annual reports of trustees. The language of the law is, that ''all children actually residing in the district on tlie first day of January, although such residence may be tem- porary, shall be included in the reports of the trustees." And, again, "all children included in the reports of the trustees of any school district shall be entitled to attend the schools of such district." These provisions were evidently intended especially to meet the case of the children of laborers on our public works, and others temporarily resid- ing in school districts. Per Young, May 37, 1843. When an inhabitant moves from one school district into another for the purpose of avoiding an enumeration of his children in the former district, and Immediately after the enumeration moves back, the town superintendent (school commissioner) should apportion the money drawn on account of his children to the former district. In this case the appellants transferred their residence from joint district No. 3, Cherry Creek and Ellington, where they have for several years resided, to district No. 7 in Cherry Creek, on the 30th of December last, with the obvious intention and design of having their children enumerated in the latter district, where they generally attend school, owing to some difificulties existing in district No. 3. On the 1st of January, both the appellants returned to their former residences in the latter district, where they have since remained, and which is their permanent residence. The town superintendent, under these circumstances, very properly refused to sanction the fraudulent attempt, to evade the spirit and intent of the law, and apportioned the money drawn on account of their children to district No. 3. In this he has been sustained by the county superin- tendent, whose decision must be affirmed. Per S. Young, April 9 1844. An inhabitant cannot gain a residence in another district by taking a portion of his family with himself thereto, so as to send his children to school therein. The following statement of facts is submitted by the parties: Barclay Miller owns a farm in district No. 5, upon which he lived till the HeSIDENCK. "^^ spring of 1847, when he removed to another farm in district No. 12, leav- ing his son. in the occupancy of the farm in No. 5. On. or about the 35th of November, 1848, a district school was com- menced in No. 5, to which Mr. Barclay Miller sent part of his children. Upon the representation of the teacher that the school was already too large, the trustees directed him to dismiss Mr. Miller's children from school. Whereupon Mr. Miller came with his children and a part of his furniture to his son's house in No. 5, leaving liis wife at his house in No. 12. His son weut to the fann in No. 12, but left his wife at the house in No. 5. Mr. Barclay Miller has, since this arrangement, sometimes lodged at his house in No. 12, and his son has also occasionally lodged at the house in No. 5. Barclay Miller took with liim to No. 5 his horses and milch cows, but had stock on both farms, and has since killed his hogs at the house in No. 13, and there packed the pork. Under this statement of facts, Barclay Miller cannot claim to be a resi- dent of district No. 5. Tlie trustees have power to dismiss his children from the school, or, if they permit them to attend, they are not entitled to share in the public money of the district, nor can they be lawfully enumer- ated as children residing in the district. Mr. Miller is a resident of No. 13, and his children must be there enumerated. Per Morgan, January 11, 1849. It is illegal for trustees to enumerate children in their districts between the ages of five and sixteen, unless they compose a part of the family of their parents or guard- ians or employers, if such parents or guardians or employers reside at the time in such district. The trustees in district No. 5, in the town of Davenport, included in their annual report, dated December 31, 1848, sixty-two children under sixteen and over five years of age, attending a private school under charge of S. D. Ferguson. The children attending this private school had parents residing mostly in New York and Philadelphia, and the parents of none of them in the district. Five of said sixty-two children were orphans. It was not known to the department whether the said orphans were sup- ported by Mr. Ferguson, or were boarded like the rest, or were sent to school by their guardians, but the latter is supposed to have been the truth. The school law, section 118, of 1847, directs the trustees, to include in their report all cliildren over five and under sixteen years of age, who shall at the date ot such report, actually be in the district, composing a part of the family of their parents or guardians or employers, if such parents or guardians or employers reside at the time in such district. From this law it would seem to "be very clear that not one of the sixty-two children attending Mr. Ferguson's''school could be lawfully enumerated in the annual report of the trustees. The trustees of district No. 5 were, therefore, wrong in including these children iu their report. Per Morgan, March, 1849. Of children at boarding-school. Children attending an academy or boarding-school are to be enmerated by the trustees for the purpose of drawing public money only, where their parents are actually residents of the district in which such academy or boarding-school is situated. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, April 12, 1854. 77 610 Residence. Where children whose home has been broken up are brought to the residence of a grandfather to find care and protection, for ail lnde6nite period, they become resi- dents of the district in which such grandparent lives. An appeal is taken from the decision of the trustees of a district refus- ing to admit certain children into the district school, or to share in the public moneys thereof. The children whose admission is thus refused are within the age pre- scribed to entitle them to the privileges of the school, and are residing with their grandfather, an inhabitant of the district. It also appears that the home of the parents of these children has been entirely broken up, and that they are brought to the residence of their grandfather to find the care, protection and privileges of a home. The ground of objection to their admission is, that they are not residents of the district. Held, that they are residents of the district in the fullest sense, a& implied by the statute, and, as such, entitled to a share in the public moneys apportioned to the district in which they reside. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, September 38, 1857. Facts which prove residence in opposition to the affidavit of the party. Appeal is taken from a decision of the supervisors of the towns of Castle- ton and Southfield, Richmond county, on an application made to them to fill a vacancy, claimed to exist in the office of trustee in district No. 1, in said towns, the supervisors having decided that no vacancy exists. The only question is one of residence; and relates to the change of resi- dence of Jas. O. Ludlow, who, it is claimed, has removed from the district, thereby vacating the office of trustee, to which he was elected in 1856. In support of this claim, it is shown that previously to last spring Mr. Ludlow resided in said district with his family, and did business therein; that some time in the spring he sold out his store in said district, and has since that time done no business in the district in his own name. Further, in May last, the said Ludlow leased a house in the city of New York, for three years, and removed his family there ; that his family still reside there ; that his name appears upon the door of said house where his family reside ; that his name also appears in the directory of said city as residing therein, and at the street and number where his family reside and his name is found, and of which premises he is known to have taken a lease. Also, that he himself resides at said place with his family. Opposed to this evidence is the affidavit of Mr. Ludlow himself, averring that he has been for the last sixteen years a resident of said district No. 1, and that he has not removed from said district. To my mind, no clearer case of removal could be made out. His affidavit to the contrary establishes nothing more than that he desires to regard district No. 1 as his residence. But that does not make it such. I can come to no other conclusion than that Mr. Ludlow is no longer a resident of district No. 1, and that, in consequence of his removal from said district,, there exists a vacancy in the office of trustee, which the district or the supervisors are competent to fill. Per H. H. Van Byck, Superintendent, October 13, 1858. What constitntea residence. Trustees have the authority to exclude non-resident pupils from the district school. This is an appeal from the refusal of the trustees to allow one Eveline Oaks to attend the district school. Eesidence. 611 The said Eveline Oaks is a minor and a relation of the appellant. Her mother, a widow, resides with her family in district Ko. 9 adjoining. The appellant fails to show that it is the intention of the child or of the mother to change the residence of the child from district No. 9 to the district from which the appeal is brought. No such intention being shown, the legal doctrine that the residence of the parent is the residence of the child pre- vails, and the residence of Eveline Oaks must be I'egarded as being with her mother in district No. 9. She is, therefore, not entitled to any priv- ileges in the district from which this appeal is brought, and the trustees of the latter district have exercised a just and legal discretion iu exclud- ing her from the school. Their action must, tlierefore, be approved, and the appeal be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 8, 1860. Question of residence sufficient to entitle a pnpil to the privileges of the school con- sidered. This is an appeal from the action of the trustees in excluding from the school one Mercy C. Sweet, upon the ground that she is a non-resident. The evidence establishes, I think, that the relation subsisting between the said Mercy C. Sweet and the appellant are such as to make the home of the appellant the residence of the said Mercy C, whereby she is entitled to the privileges of the district school. The primary object of the pupil in coming into the district appears to be to find a home in the family of the appellant, and to render sei'vice in labor as the consideration for such home. It is always safer to err upon the side of liberality than of exclusion in these matters where any doubt is found to exist ; but, in the present case, the testimony appears to admit of no doubt. The trustees are, therefore, directed to admit the said Mercy C. Sweet to the privileges of the school. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, December 23, 1861. The question of residence to entitle a pupil to the privileges of school to be liberally construed in favor of the pupil. It is proper that the trustees should use all due precaution to prevent an abuse of the privileges of the district, and that the pretext of service or employment should not be used to cover a primary and special purpose of attending school. On the other hand, a liberal construction of the law and application of the powers of trustees may be rightfully extended toward those inhabitants of a fi-ee school district who pay their proportion of taxes for the support of school, but who, having no children to receive its advantages, desire to introduce members into their family for society or service, or both, and to extend to them the advantages of education which their own children might enjoy. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 28, 1863. Where a child goes into a district to get employment, and not for the purpose expressly of attending the school, he is a resident of 3uch district, and entitled to a portion bf the public money, apportioned to district, as also to share in the privileges of the school. What constitutes a child a resident of a district depends upon circum- stances. If the child removes to a district for the sole purpose of attending school in such district, the parents or guardian meanwhile residing else- where, such child does not become a resident of the district, so as to be 612 Eesidence. entitled to share in the distribution of the public money. But where the child goes into a district for the purpose of obtaining employment, and. of remaining in such district, the employment, and not the school, drawing him to such district, in such case, he would, be entitled to the privilege of the school, and to share in the public money apportioned to the district. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, December 14, 1865. General guardian may constitute his own district the residence of his ward by remoT- ing him thereto. Appeal by a general guardian under appointment of surrogate, from the refusal of the trustees of the district in which appellant resides, to permit his ward to attend the school in said district, except upon payment for tuition therein. The residence of the deceased father of the ward was, at the time of his decease, in a county adjoining that of the guardian and appellant. The trustees seem to base their refusal upon the ground that the residence of the ward is that of the deceased father. The Superin- tendent holds as follows : " While it is true as a general rule, that the last domicile of a deceased father continues to be that of his minor child, yet this rule, in my judgment, has an exception in case such child becomes the ward of a guardian, who takes him to live in the district of his own resi- dence : at least, to the extent of entitling the ward to attend gratuitously the public school of the district in which he may thus be placed. If this were not so, a minor of lawful school age, if under the charge of a general guardian, who may, if he chooses, remove him from the last place of resi- dence of his deceased father, might be wholly deprived of the right to gratuitous instruction whieh it is the object of the common school system of the State to afiord to all residents of the prescribed age." Trustees di- rected to admit the said ward to the privileges of the school in common with other pupils of the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 8, 1871. Children residing with their grandmother as pari of her family and for her convenience and support, entitled to attend school in the district as resident pupils. Two minor children of M., who resides in district No. ft, town of W., were, by the desire of their grandmother, Mrs. D., permitted to live with her at her home in district No. 29 of the same town. The trustees of the latter district refused to allow these children to attend the school in dis- trict No. 39, except upon condition of paying a tuition fee, claiming that their residence is in No. 9 where their father resides. In support of the claim on behalf of the children, it is shown that Mrs. D. is aged and infirm in health, and needs the companionsliip and the aid to some extent of her said grandchildren in her household afEairs. That the said children are a part of her family, that they have been placed with her to assist her and make companionship for her, and that they have not gone to reside in No. 29 for the purpose of attending its school. It was decided by my immediate predecessor that where a person of school age had left the residence of his father, and gone into another school district for the purpose of earning his own support, he was entitled to attend the school of the latter district free of charge. I concur in the correctness of this decision, and deem the principle upon which it is based well founded, and that it is suflBcient to meet the present case. The right of the children in question to attend the school in No. 39 upon the same terms as other pupils of the district, upheld. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, July 4, 1875. Residence. 613 What constitutes a removal from the district. The evidence shows that the appellant was elected a member of the board of education of union free school district No. 5 in 1874 for the term of three years. That in the spring of 1875 he removed with his family to a place outside of said district, where he engaged in business and where he still continues to live. The appellant claims, however, to be now a resident of said district, declaring it to be his intention to return thereto as soon as circumstances will allow. Held, that such declaration of intention to sometime return cannot aflect the fact of removal from the district as fully consummated under the cir- cumstances. The action of the meeting in electing a member of the board of education to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of the appellant from the district, upheld. Per Neil G-ihnour, Superintendent, November 30, 1875. What constitutes residence. From the evidence it appears that the appellant has, for the last ten years, owned real estate and transacted business in district No. 9, where, until about three years ago, he resided, wben he hired rooms in district No. 4, where he has since continued to lodge and take a part of his meals. It further appears that he has received his mail, had his washing done, and has voted partly in both districts. Appeflant avers that his removal to dis- trict No. 4 was designed by him to be temporary, and was made on account of the superior hotel accommodations obtained there, and that whenever those In No. 9 shall be satisfactory to him, or when his dwelling-house in that district shall be occupied by a family with which he caii board, he will return to that district. SdA, that the condition upon which the appellant proposes to return to district No. 9 is too remote, contingent and uncertain to justify his claim to retain his residence in that district. There is no certainty that the con- tingency upon which his return depends will ever arise. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, March 15, 1876. RESIDENCE OF PUPIL. The appeal is brought from the refusal of the board of education of union free school district No. 3, Sinclairville, Chautauqua county, to allow the grandniece of appellant to attend the public school without paying tuition therefor. The appellant is a resident and tax payer in said district, and Katie is the grandniece of the appellant. The mother of the child is dead and the father, who has married again, resides in Dakota. Previous to her death, Katie's mother requested that Katie might live with the appellant and his wife. The appellant says: " "We gladly responded to the request of her now dead mother, and, on or about March 13, 1884, we received Katie, aged fourteen years, into our family with the intention of not only furnishing a home for Katie but of caring for her as our own child." The facts in this case fully establish such a substantial adoption of the pupil as to make her a resident of the district and entitled to the privileges of the school. It has been the uniform ruling of this department that where children, whose home has been broken up, are brought to the resi- dence of one who stands in the place of the parent, to find care and protec- tion for an indefinite period, they become residents of the district in which said person lives. Board ordered to admit the child to the free privileges of the school. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3886, November 38, 1884. (See Pdpils ; Taxes.) 614 Schools. SCHOOLS. BRANCH SCHOOLS. Trustees have the power, when in their discretion circumstances require it, to estab- hsh temporary branch schools in the district, and employ a teacher, without any vote of the district, and a due proportion of the public money should be applied to the payment of such teacher. It is, perhaps, to be regretted that the law has left so much to the dis- cretion of trustees, in reference to the institution of temporary branch schools. Such schools fiequently become necessary, owing to some extra- ordinary circumstances which for the time being exist in a district. When- ever such necessity does arise, the trustees have an undoubted right_ to exercise the discretion which the statute has vested in them, by employing a teacher, and opening a temporary school for the accommodation of the children, without any vote of the inhabitants. In this district the majority of the trustees have, on several occasions, determined that such necessity did exist; and the inhabitants, at their annual meetings in 1850 and 1851, have approved that determination by directing the application of a part of the public money to the support of the branch school. The institution of such a school in this district has also met the approval of the town super- intendent of Whitestown, as appears from a letter addressed by him to the department, and a decided majority of the ' taxable inhabitants have expressed themselves satisfied with the proceedings of the majority of the trustees, as appears by a petition accompanying the answer. Under these circumstances, though it does not clearly appear that all the proceedings of the district in relation to the institution of the branch school have been strictly in accordance with law, I am of opinion that harmony and good order, which are so essential to the prosperity of a School, will be best secured, and the interests of a majority of the inhabitants be best promoted, by sanctioning the proceedings of the trustees in establishing the school in question, and allowing a portion of the public money to be applied toward its support. The proceedings of the trustees are therefore affirmed and the appeal dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, June 16, 1853. Trustees will be directed to establish a branch school in a remote part of the district, where there are pupils enough to support a respectable school, and where the school- bouse is inaccessible some part of the year. An appeal comes up on the refusal of the trustees to grant the petition of the appellant and six others, inhabitants of the district, to establish a branch school in a neighborhood remote from the school-house. It is shown that twenty-nine children are virtually deprived of attendance at school, especially during the inclement season, by reason of their remoteness from the school-house — and that a good comfortable room can be obtained in the neighborhood where it is desired to establish the school, at a very moderate cost. Held, that the trustees in the matter of establishing a branch school are not compelled to regard the wishes of the inhabitants, but are authorized to act wholly upon their own sense of jiistice and right. The statute con- fers upon them unlimited powers, and, though in their discretion they may properly consult the wishes of the majority, wlien emphatically expressed, their having done so affords no precedent in itself for the guidance of this department in reviewing the case and deciding upon its merits. Whenever, in any remote locality of the district, a number of scholars sufficient to Schools. ^^^ make a respectable school are debarred, from the fact of such remoteness, from attending school, the establishment of a branch will be directed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 13, 1857. Action of trustee in establishing a branch school sustained. On an appeal from the action of the sole trustee in establishing a branch school, it is alleged that such action was not called for by the necessities of the district; that the place selected is unsuitable, uncomfortable and inade- quately furnished ; and that the evils sought to be overcome by it are not remedied in the conduct and management of the principal school. It is shown by the trustee that, before the establishment of the branch school, the number of pupils in regular attendance was seventy; that the room was much crowded, and that no convenient seat for classes in recita- tion could be had. I am satisfied, from the evidence, that the act of the trustee, at the time, was dictated not only by proper motives, but by circumstances which ren- dered the proceeding expedient and necessary. A school of seventy, or even sixty, pupils of all grades, even where the room is commodious and ample for their accommodation, cannot be properly classified and thoroughly instructed by one teacher. A remedy is found in the provisions of the statute, which authorize the establishment of a branch school when deemed necessary by the trustee. The appeal must be, and hereby is, dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 25, 1859. Discretion of a trustee in establishing branch school overruled. On an appeal from the action of the sole trustee in sustaining two schools in the district, as public schools, and alike entitled to share in the public money appropriated to said district, the following facts appear : That the district is about three miles in extent from north to south, and tbat the school-house is situated near the center. It further appears that most of the children reside in the northern part of the district, while the popula- tion or voters of the district, interested in keeping the school at the center, are in the majority. The residents of the north part of the district, unable to secure a change of site, have maintained, during some portion of the year, for some time past, a school in their vicinity, and have received toward its support a portion of the public money." At the last annual meeting, it was voted that the school be kept in the "brick school-house,'' near the center of the district ; but the trustee also employed a teacher to teach the school in the north part of the district, and from this proceeding the present appeal is brought. The size of the district, the number of pupils, the condition of the dis- trict school-house, are nowhere urged as conditions giving rise to this pro- ceeding. I cannot find, in the conditions presented, a necessity for the establishment of two schools in that district. The trustee himself concedes that there is no necessity for two schools in the district, except that created by feeling in the north, of opposition to the central school. If this feeling is sufficiently strong to cause them to sustain a private school, there is no help for it; but there is no sufiicient reason, to my mind, for fostering and cherishing this spirit of opposition, by helping to support the school by making it a public charge . It is my opinion, therefore, that the trustee has acted without due dis- cretion, and his action in the matter is hereby disapproved. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 31, 1859. 616 Schools. Trustees will be restrained from establishing a branch school when there is clearly n» necessity for one. The conclusion arrived at from the facts in the case is that the branch school is wholly unnecessary, and its establishment an exercise of arbitrary power and abuse of discretion sufficient to justify the interference of th& department in restraining the trustees. No one will claim that the pro- visions of the statute authorizing the establishment of branch schoolswere designed or do confer power to establish two schools in every district of the State. In all cases of the establishment of branch schools the necessity must clearly appear, or this department will, on an appeal to it, interfere to pre- vent the consummation of a policy unwarrantable by the provisions of the statute, which provides for the exercise of such power only when necessary to accommodate the children of the district. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- intendent, August 8, 1860. Abuse of discretion by a trustee in establishing a branch school will be corrected on appeal. Appeal from the action of a trustee in establishing a branch school. It is made to appear that district is less than three miles long, and tb& location of the schoql-house near the center. That it is a weak district in. respect to property, and the whole number of children of school age is but fifty, and the average daily attendance at school for the last five years has been only about fifteen scholars. That the branch school is attended by the children of but two or three families, and that other points in the dis- trict are quite as remote from the school-house as this one, when with equal propriety other branch schools might be established. The establishment of a branch school under such circumstances as this was a clear abuse of discretion on part of the trustee. Opinion of H. H. Van Dyck in similar case, quoted and appfoved. (See above.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 11, 1870. Power and duty of trustees in establishing a branch school not affected by any action of the inhabitants at district meeting. At a special meeting in school district No. 5, a resolution offered to estab- lish a branch school in the southern part of the district was voted down. From this action an appeal is brought. The power to establish a branch school, whenever necessary for the du& accommodation of the children of a district, is given by statute to the trustees {section 50, title 7, General School Act), but there is no authority in a district meeting to establish one. The action of the meeting in voting down the resolution mentioned is therefore no groimd of appeal. Conditions justifying, if not demanding the establishment of such branch, are shown to exist, but the trustees have refused to establish such branch school solely upon the ground of the vote of the district on the above reso- lution. That vote affords no ground for the refusal under the circum- stances, and it appearing from the admissions of the trustees themselves, that the branch school is required "for the due accommodation of the children of the district," it is the duty of the trustees to hire a room or rooms for the keeping of such school therein. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, August 7, 1872. A district meeting has no jurisdiction over the matter of opening a branch school. It is entirely within the discretion of the trustee. The appeal is brought from the refusal of the trustee of school district Schools. 617 No. 1, Pultney, Steuben county, to maintain a branch school. The number of children of school age of the appellants number from thirteen to eighteen, and, in order to attend the present school in said district, are required to travel distances ranging from one and three-quarters miles to two and one- half miles over roads leading up a hill and upon which the snow drifts badly during the winter season. The appellants, or some of them, own a school house in the neighborhood of their residences, wherein they request that a branch school may be maintained. The trustee justifies his action by reference to a certain resolution passed by the last annual meeting in said district. Said annual meeting had no jurisdiction over the matter of a branch school, that being entirely within the discretion of the trustee, subject to the decision of this department. It seems to me clear that the mere state- ment of the number of children residing with the appellants, their distance from the present school and the assessed valuation of the district, should convince any one of the propriety and necessity of maintaining the branch school asked for by the appellants. Order entered accordingly. Per Neil GilmouJ-, Superintendent. Decision No. 2839, March 1, 1879. DUTY OP TRUSTEES. Duty of trnstee to open a school for the winter term, upon petition of inhabitants, and for the accommodation of pupils who cannot attend during the summer time. It appears that the trustee neglects to hire a teacher, and that no school is kept in the district the present winter, although a majority of the inhab- itants have petitioned him to have one taught. It is further shown that there are ten persons in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one years, who cannot attend school in the sum- mer, and who will therefore be debarred from the privileges of school altogether, unless a winter term is taught. Under these circumstances there can be no doubt that it is the duty of the trustee to have a public school commenced in the district without further delay, and to have it continued for a reasonable period, according to the general custom. Ordered to establish such school under penalty of removal from oiBce. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 34, 1873. A district meeting has not the authority to direct that no school be maintained in the district. The average attendance at the district school had been very small, and the last annual meeting passed a resolution directing the trustee to main- tain no school; and since that time no school has been maintained. The appeal is brought from the action of the meeting and of the tnistee in accordance therewith. The resolution aforesaid was illegal and of no effect, and it was the duty of the trustee to see that the district was provided with a school. The ac- tion of the annual meeting and the trustee would be practically to annul the district and leave it unattached to any other district. The law contem- plates that every inhabited portion of the State shall have the benefit of a public school and shall assist in the support thereof; and so long as the district in question remains a district it is the duty of the trustee to main- tain a school at least twenty-eight weeks in each year. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3086, April 11, 1881. 78 618 Schools. religious exercises. School may be opened with prayers, provided that it be done before school hours, and that there be no compulsion to enforce attendance. In an appeal to the Superintendent, certain inhabitants of district No. 15, Barre, complained that the teacher, with the permission of the trustees, "made prayer part of school discipline." The trustees replied that they bad permitted the teacher to have prayers on condition that they should be had previous to school hours, and they alleged that he did not occupy school hours. The Superintendent dismissed the appeal, with the following remarks : "In this conduct of the trustees, the Superintendent can perceive no cause of complaint. Both parties have rights ; the one to bring up their children in the practice of publicly thanking their Creator for his protec- tion, and invoking His blessing ; the other, of declining, in behalf of their children, the religious services of any person in whose creed they may not concur, or for other reasons satisfactory to themselves. These rights are reciprocal, and should be protected equally ; and neither should interfere with the other. Those who desire that their children should engage in public prayer have no right to compel other children to unite in the exer- cise, against the wishes of their parents. Nor have those who object to this time, place or manner of praying, or to the person who conducts the exercises, a right to deprive the other class of the opportunity of habituat- ing their children to what they conceive an imperious duty. Neither the common school system, nor any otlier social system, can be maintained, unless the conscientious views of all are equally respected. The simple rule, so to exercise your own rights as not to infringe on those of others, will preserve equal justice among all, promote harmony, and insure success to our schools. In the present case, the Superintendent thinks the trus- tees had lawful right to permit the teacher to commence the business of the day by public prayer, with the children of such parents as desired it ; and they were also right in directing that such exercises should not take place during school hours, nor form a part of school discipline." Another branch of this first question is whether the teacher has a right to compel the children to kneel, during prayer, or to dispense with their ordinary business. The answer already given proceeds upon the principle that prayer is no part of the business of a common school, but that parents may place their children under the superintendence and government of a teacher for that purpose. Of course his jurisdiction would extend to that only. But others have no right to disturb the performance of what is considered a sacred duty. As the one class is required to abstain from all attempts to compel the children of the other class to engage in an exercise which the latter disapprove, so the latter should abstain from interrupting such exercise, and should instruct their children, accordingly, not to enter the school- room, until the usual hour of commencmg school, and not to disturb those within by any noise, or other conduct calculated to annoy them. And the teacher should allow the children of all parents who do not desire them to engage in prayer to withdraw from the room, or to absent themselves from it. But if they come into the room before the usual school hours, and choose to remain there during prayer, they must preserve the order and decorum befitting sucb an occasion. Per Spencer, May 13, 1839. Religious exercises are not a part ot district school exercises, and, therefore, no por- tion of the regular school hours is to be consumed in conducting them. A teacher has no right to consume any portion of the regular school Schools. 619 hours in conducting religious exercises, especially where objection is raised. The principle is this: Common schools are supported and established for the purpose of imparting instruction in the common English branches ; religious instruction forms no part of the course. The proper places in which to receive such instruction are churches and Sunday scliools, of which there is usually a sufficient number in every district. The money to support schools comes from the people at large, irrespective of sect or denomination. Consequently, instruction of a sectarian or religious denom- inational character must be avoided, and teachers must confine themselves, during school hours, to their legitimate and proper duties. Per V. M. Kice, Superintendent, February 5, 1866. Trustees have no warrant of law for directing religious exercises to be conducted in tlie school during school hours, nor for excluding pupils from the school altogether on the ground of their declining to be present at such reading. The appellant states that by the express orders and directions of the trus- tee, the teacher of the district school, each morning at the opening thereof, reads a chapter of the protestant version of the scriptures. That the ap- pellant from conscientious and religions scruples has kept his children from going to school until after such reading of the scriptures was ended. That in consequence thereof, appellant's children get to the school ten or fifteen minutes after the opening of school, and that they are for that reason refused admission by the teacher, and are by her sent home, she declaring to them "that they must be present at the reading or stay away all day." The object of the common school system of the State is to afford the means of secular instruction to all the children within its borders. For ■ their religious training, the State does not provide and with It does not interfere. The advantages of the schools are to be free to all alike, and the consciences of none are to be legally violated. There is no authority in the law, as a matter of right, to use any portion of the regular school hours in conducting any religious exercise at which the attendance of the scholars is made compulsory. On the other hand there is nothing to prevent the read- ing of the scriptures or the performance of other religious exercises by the teacher in the presence of such of the scholars as may attend voluntarily or by the direction of their parents or guardians, if it be done before the hour fixed for the opening of the school or after the dismissal of the school. (Decisions of Secretary Spencer and Superintendent Rice, above quoted, commented on and approved.) The action of the trustee in directing the reading of the scriptures as a part of the school exercises, and in causing the exclusion of any of the pupils from the school on the ground of their declining to be present at such read- ing, has been entirely without -warrant of law. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- intendent, August 23, 1870. Same, A long and bitter controversy between certain of tlie inhabitants and the board of education of Long Island City, involving precisely the same ques- tion as that in the last preceding decision, leads the Superintendent to recite quite fully the previous rulings of the department upon the question and the same arc upheld by him in the following conclusion concerning the particu- lar issue presented upon those separate appeals from that city ; " The action of the board of education of Long Island City, in directing the reading of a portion of the bible as an opening exercise in the schools under their charge during school hours, and in excluding pupils from those schools or any of them, on the ground of declining to be present at such 620 Schools. reading, has been without warrant of law." Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, June 5, 1872. Religious exercises that are held before nine o'clock a. m., and are not compulsoiy do not violate any legal right. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 3847, April 18, 1879. In the matter of the application of the board of education of Union Free School Dis trict No. 4, of Orangetown, Rockland county. This application represents that the above-named board of education ' ' wish to move unerringly, but firmly, in the matter of sustaining the read- ing of scripture and prayer as a part of the exercises in opening the daily sessions of our public school; " that the board has "not required the chil- dren of non-protestant families to participate in repeating scripture, or the Lord's prayer, bnt have simply required tliem to behave with decorum;" that a number of Catholic families ' ' ask that their children be allowed to remain outside until the devotional exercises are concluded," and that "this interference causes much disorder outside of the room, and the subsequent entrance of these pupils causes a loss of time and disturbance to class work. " I have carefully examined the special act under which this school was organized to see if there was any provision therein which might be held to authorize any other or different rule for the government of this particular school, in the respect in question, than that which applies to the public schools organized under the general law. I do not find any such excep- tional provision. By the Constitution of this State all people, in respect to the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, stand upon a footing of absolute equality. Interference therewith, in the way of discrimination or- preference, even by legislative enactment, is, by the express words of that instrument, prohibited. Under our public school system, within the legal limitations of age and residence, instruction is free. The material resources necessary for the maintenance of this immense and complicated system, are drawn at large from a population characterized by dissimilar religious beliefs, observances, modes of worship and preferences. With such a public furnishing the mone^ to support the schools, supplying them with the children in attend- ance, and having equal lights to the full and equal enjoyment of all the benefits of the schools, if it were possible to devise some limited measure of religious instruction for adoption in the schools upon which all these diverse classes and sects could harmonize, it would be a gratifying result. But this is manifestly impracticable and impossible. The only alternative, therefore, to preserve the benefits of the constitutional guarantees, in letter and spirit, and to secure to all absolute equality of right in matter of relig- ious predilection, must be, however reluctantly the conclusion is arrived at, to exclude religious instruction and exercises from the public schools during school hours. This conclusion involves the enunciation of no new principle. An examination of the records in this department shows a uniform series of decisions by my predecessors, extending over a period of more than forty years, in substantial conformity with the views above expressed. In 1838, Hon. John A, Dix, then Superintendent of Common Schools, referring to a former decision in 1837, says: (Orders and Decisions, vol. 6, p. 391) — "I have heretofore decided that a teacher might open his school with prayer, provided lie did not encroach upon the hours allotted to in- struction ; and provided that the attendance of the scholars was not exacted as a matter of school discipline." This was a case in which the teacher was Schools. 621 in the habit of attending at the school-house at fifteen minutes before nine in the morning (nine o'clock being the hour for opening the schoolj, and devoting the intermediate time to religious exercises. In 1839, Superintendent John C. Spencer, having occasion to examine and pass upon the question (Orders and Decisions, vol. 8, p. 101), says: ' ' Prayers cannot form any part of the school exercises or be regulated by the school discipline. If had at all they should be had before the hour of nine o'clock, the usual hour of commencing school in the morning, and after five in the afternoon. * * * Both parties have rights, and it is only by a mutual and reciprocal regard by each to the rights of the other, that peace can be maintained or a school can flourish. The teacher may assemble in his school-room before nine o'clock, tlie children of those parents who desire him to conduct religious exercises for them, and the children of those who object to the practice will be allowed to retire or absent themselves from the room. If they persist in remaining they must conduct themselves with decorum and propriety becoming the occasion. If they do not so conduct, they may be dealt with as intruders." On another occasion during the same year (Orders and Decisions, vol. 8, p. 87), he says: "Neither the common school system, nor any other social system can be maintained, unless the conscientious views of all are respected. The simple rule, so to exercise your own rights as not to infringe on those of others, will preserve equal justice among all, promote hai-mony, and insure success to our schools.'' The principles laid down in these early decisions have been followed by every one of my predecessors in office, no distinction having been made between scripture reading and prayers, but each having been held in separate and distinct appeals, to constitute no legitimate part of the busi- ness of the public schools. They will be my guide and govern my action in all cases of like nature which may come officially before me. In the particular case now under consideration, with these principles in view and a disposition to caiTy them out fairly and to respect the rights and conscientious opinions of all, the board of education will, I tliink, have no difficulty in avoiding further contention and securing harmony in the school. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent, May 27, 1884. STUDIES m. Advanced studies in the common schools. The appeal is brought from the action of the trustees excluding from the district school certain advanced studies. This department will neither insist upon, nor prohibit the introduction and the teaching of branches not usually taught in the common schools of the State, unless it is clearly shown that there is a great abuse of discretion in such matter, beheving that the teaching of such studies constitutes a matter that should be left to the discretion of the district, and one which the district, through the election of trustees, can effectually regulate. Per Neil Qilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2979, May 27, 1880. 622 Skctaeian Schools. SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. In a contract leasing a school building from the trustees of St. Raphael's church, by the board of education of a union free school district, the provision that three teachers from the class commonly called "sisters" shall be kept employed, is con- trary to the spirit of the school law and against public policy. The local school authorities have no right to limit the class of persons, who have reached the required standing of learning and ability to teach, from which the teachers of the school may be selected. This is a proceeding by Leander Colt, appealing from the action of the board of education of union free school district No. 7, in the village of Suspension Bridge, town of Niagara, county of Niagara, iu making a lease of St. Raphael's Catholic school building, situated in said village, for the term of one year from November 10, 1885, and the making of covenants and agreements in said instrument of lease, by the said board of education, " with the trustees of the Roman Catholic school, wherein said board of education undertakes, in substance, to support a Roman Catholic school out of the school moneys appropriated to such free school district No. 7, or realized from school taxes levied upon the. inhabitants of said district." (Several grounds of appeal are stated.) It is unnecessary to review these grounds of appeal, further than to examine and ascertain the efEect of the lease itself. It cannot, of com-se, be assumed that the board of education have no power to lease the premises belonging to a sectarian body for school purposes, for it must be presumed that when these premises come into the possession of the school authorities,, the laws of the State, prohibiting sectarian instruction, will be observed. But this agreement, entered into by Felix Nassory and his associate trus- tees of the St. Raphael's school, together with the Right Reverend Bishop Ryan of the city of Buffalo, parties of the first part, and the board of edu- cation of union free school district No. 7, party of the second part, is open to tliis fatal objection : namely, the board of education agrees in said in- strument, during the term of the lease, to cause one of the schools of the district to be kept in operation in said school-house building, and to keep employed as teachers therein for such school, three competent teachers " of the class commonly called ' sisters,' provided such teachers shall make application in the due form to be so employed, and shall be found to be duly qualified according to law to act in the capacity of teachers, and should any of these teachers be withdrawn from the school, others may be employed in their stead 'of the same class,' provided, 'three such teachers of the class called sisters be so employed during the term of the lease.' '' This provision is contrary to the spirit of the school law and against public policy. The board of education, doubtless, have a right to employ as teacher, any person of the requisite age and possessed of the qualifications recognized by the statute. But the local school authorities have no right to limit the class of persons, who have reached the required standing of learning and ability to teach, from whom the teachers for the school may be selected. As this provision seems to be the controlling condition of the lease, the action of the board of education must be set aside. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3493, April 1, 1886. Sect ASIAN Schools. ^^* The board of education can lease a building for the purpose of maintaining a public school. The intention of the board to appoint as teachers none but members of a particular religious class known as " sisters," constitutes a discrimination or preference which is a violation of the fundamental law of the state. The wearing of an unusual garb, worn exclusively by members of one religious sect, for the purpose of indicating membership in that sect, by the teachers in a public school, constitutes a sectarian influence which ought not to be persisted in. The facts of the case are as follows : 1. St. Raphael's Church, at Suspension Bridge, for several years prior to » October, 1885, maintained and managed a private and sectarian school at its own expehse. 2. In October, 1885, the board of education of union free school district No. 7, of the village of Suspension Bridge, leased this school property at a nominal rental value, and has since maintained a school at public expense in said property. 3. A written lease, dated November 10, 1885, was executed between the board and the trustees, in which, among other things, it was agreed that the board should maintain a public school in the property, and should keep continually employed in such school three teachers " of the class commonly known as 'sisters.'" This lease was, because of this provision, set aside upon an appeal to this department. On the 1st day of February, 1886, another written lease was executed between the parties, by which the property was leased to the board for five years at a nominal consideration. 4. The school accommodations of district No. 7, other than the St. Raphael school property, were not sufiBcient for the convenience of the pupils of both schools. 5. Since the St. Raphael school has been in charge of the public school authorities, it has been continually taught by three duly qualified and licensed teachers, who are members of the order of St. Joseph of the Roman Catholic church. Two teachers who served up to September, 1886, then resigned, and two others, who were members of the same order, were ap- pointed in their places. 6. The teachers of the school wear in the school-room, and at all times, in common, with all of the members of their order, black serge dresses, hanging loosely in folds about the person, white linen coronets and black veils fall down to the shoulders, and wliite linen caps. Tied about the waist is a black cord and tassels, to which are attached beads and a crucifix. 7. The teachers are commonly known to the world and are uniformly addressed by the pupils by their Christian names, with the prefix of " Sis- ter;" as "Sister Martha," "Sister Mary," etc. 8. No question is raised as to the personal character or intellectual or practical qualifications of these teachers. Their high character and capa- bilities are conceded. 9. The pupils attending the St. Raphael school are very generally, if not exclusively, of Roman Catholic parentage. 10. There is some evidence that the authorities of the Roman Catholic church seek to have the members of that church send their children to this particular school, but the fact is not established. 11. It is shown that there are no religious ceremonies or exercises held in the school during school hours. Upon this state of facts the appellant asks to have the action of the re- spondent in taking the St. Raphael school under its maintenance and super- vision, and in refusing to discontinue the same upon demand, set aside and overruled. It is the duty of the people of every school district to provide public 624 SEOTARrAN Schools; school accommodations for all the children of school age in the district, desiring to attend the public schools. When application was made to the respondent in this case to take the St. Raphael school under its charg:e, it was bound to take the children of that school into the public school of the district, if there were accommodations for them there, and if not, it was bound to go to the extent of its lawful authority to provide accommoda- tions for them. The statutes confer authority upon boards of education, or trustees, to lease property for school purposes, and as the fact appears that there were not accommodations for the children of the St. Raphael school in the district school-house, the board seems to have acted within its lawful authority in entering into the lease for the St. Raphael school property. It is impossible to see any reason why the taking of that par- ticular property and the maintenance of a school in it was not a proper exercise of the lawful authority of the board. If the owners of the prop- erty found themselves unable or unwilling to continue their school at their own expense, and were desirous of leasing the property to the board at a nominal rent, upon condition that the board would maintain a public school therein, I see no objection to the arrangement. But the school which the board maintains in this property must be in all regards a public school. Being supported by general taxation, it must be absolutely free from all things not essential to the purpose for which it is maintained, viz. : the general education of its pupils. All must have equal and common rights in it. There must be no discrimination in favor of or against anyone. Nothing must be done in it or about it to which any in- terested person can reasonably or properly object, and most surely must this be so concerning matters which the people hold so sacred as their religious faith and opinions. The appellant here particularly objects to the appointment of all the teachers in the school from one religious denomination and from one class of persons within that denomination, and to the fact that these teachers wear, at all times, clothing which distinguishes them everywhere, as mem- bers of their particular sect or order, as well as to the fact that these teach- ers are known to the pupils and are usually addressed in school, not by their family names, but by names assumed by them in the religious order of which they are members. A board of education has no nght to discrimihate in favor of any relig- ious denomination in the appointment of teachers. Inasmuch as the board assumed charge of and continued a school previously in existence, it ought not to be considered reprehensible to have continued the teachers pre- viously employed there, even though they were all of one religious order, provided they were properly qualified, as is undisputed in this case. But three facts appear in this connection : (a) In a written lease of the St. Raphael school property entered into between the board and the church trustees, prior to the execution of the lease now in force and held to be void by my predecessor in office (Superintendent James E. Morrison), it was agreed that the board should continually keep eniployed in this school three teachers "of the class commonly known as ' sisters.' " (h) The three teachers first employed were representatives of this class, and the teachers of the school have been exclusively confined to this class, (c) During tlie time the school lias been tinder the charge of the board, two of the teachers have resigned and their places have been filled by two others of the same class. These facts taken together must be held to indicate a purpose on the part of the board to discriminate in the employment of teachers in favor of this particular class. The purpose to discriminate would not be so manifest if these teachers had all held a common religious faith and School Commissioner9. 625 nothing more. That would be found to be true in many other schools, I apprehend. But when the facts above suggested are taken in connection witli the "class known as ' sisters ' " is not a numerous class, it is impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than that the board has intended to appoint none but the members of this particular class of persons. This constitutes a discrimination or preference which is in violation of the fundamental law of the State. I have given the question raised in relation to the dress of the teachers and the names by which they are known among the pupils very full con- sideration, and have arrived at the conclusion that the wearing of an unusual garb, worn exclusively by members of one religious sect and for the purpose of indicating membership in that sect by the teachers in a pub- lic school, constitutes a sectarian influence, which ought not to be per- sisted in. The same may be said of the pupils addressing the teachers as " Sister Mary," " Sister Martha," etc. The conclusion is irresistible that these tilings may constitute a much stronger sectarian or denominational influence over the minds of children than the repetition of the Lord's prayer or the reading of the scriptures at the opening of the schools, and yet these things have been prohibited, whenever objection has been offered, by the rulings of this department from the earliest days, because of tlie purpose enshrined in the hearts of the people and embedded in the funda- mental law of the State, that the public school system shall be kept alto- gether free from matters not essential to its primary purpose and dangerous to its harmony and efficiency. In view of the conclusions which I have reached, I am compelled to deny the applicMion of the appellant that the school shall be abandoned, but to direct that tlie respondent require that the teachers shall discon- tinue the use, in the school room, of the distinguishing dress of the relig- ious order to which they belong, and shall cause the pupils to address them by their family names with the prefix of " Miss '' as teachers are ordinarily addressed. It is ordered, that the board of education take action for the pur- pose of carrying the above direction into eff'ect within fifteen days from the date hereof, and that the direction be fully complied with within thirty days from said date. Per A. S. Draper, Superinteudeut. Decision No. 3520, March 24, 1887. SCHOOL COMMISSIONEIIS. A school commissioner has no power to adjudicate upon the validity of an order made hy his predecessor. On an appeal from an order made by a school commissioner, annulling the proceedings by which certain territory was organized into a school dis- trict, it was held, that the declaration of his opinion, however correct, as to the validity of an act hy liis predecessor, has no greater force than that of any other citizen. Per. V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 7, 1857. Superintendents must have evidence of the appointment of a school commissioner before he can receive nis salary. Before the Superintendent can certify to the State treasurer, that A. is a school commissioner, he must have some evidence of his appointment. He should have the order of the county judge appointing him filed in the 79 636 School Commissioners. office of the county clerk of the county, and a certificate of that fact for- warded by the county clerk to the secretary of State and the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, March 39, 1866. There is no law requiring a school commissioner to be a resident of the district which elects him. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 19, 1865. A school commissioner has no power to declare illegal a meeting held to decide upon the formation of a union free school district, and to authorize another meeting. It appears from the testimony submitted in this case, that a special meet- ing was duly called and held in sfiid district about the 10th of November, 1866, for the purpose of deciding whether a union free school should be established therein. The vote on the question was taken by ballot; twenty- six votes were cast, of which seventeen were in favor of organizing such free school, and nine against the same. The proposition, not having received the assent of two-thirds of the legal voters present and voting, was declared lost. Subsequently, by order of the school commissioner of the second district of Chautauqua county, another special meeting was held on the 29th of December, 1866, said commissioner having decided, that the meet- ing held on the 10th of November, as aforesaid, was void on account of certain irregularities specified by him. This second meeting also proceeded to ballot on the question of organizing a free school in said district; six- teen ballots were cast which had written on them " For Union Free School," and ten were cast which had written on them, "Against." In counting the ballots, the chairman rejected all those having written on them the word "Against," and declared the vote in favor of a union free school unanimous. All those who deposited the ballots on which were written the word "Against," make affidavit that they are legally entitled to vote at school district meetings in said district, and that by the word "Against," they intended against a union free school. All the proceedings in the matter of organizing a union free school in this district since the meeting held on the 10th of November, as aforesaid, are void. In the first place the school commissioner had no jurisdiction to pronounce the proceedings of that meeting void, nor to order another special meeting to be held for the purpose of voting upon the question decided at that meeting. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the only school officer authorized, by law, to assume jurisdiction over that class of questions. But, even if the second meeting had been legally held, I should still be obliged to decide that the motion to organize a free school in said district was lost, because less than two-thirds of those present and voting cast their ballots in favor of such proposition. The appeal is hereby sustained, and the proceedings of the meeting held in said district, December 39, 1866, are pronounced void. Per V. M. Rice. Superintendent, March 11, 1867. The indorsement by a school commissioner, without exanynin^ the teacher holding the same, of a certificate granted by another commissioner, will not, of necessity, be declared a nullity. A teacher holding the certificate of a school commissioner in Wayne county, granted October 18, 1871, for one year, procured an indorsement of the same by a school commissioner in Cayuga county, good for one year from October 28, 1871. An appeal was brought by certain inhabitants of the district in which the said teacher was employed, asking that such School Commissioner Districts. 627 indorsement be declared null and void, upon the ground that the same was made without a personal examination of the teacher. No question appears to be made of the entire competence of the teacher. The Superintendent ' While it would have been more strictly in accordance with the require- ments of the statute for the commissioner to have re-examined the teacher, yet his having acted upon the examination of another commissioner is not sucli an objection to his own certificate as to make it imperatively necessary, under the circumstances of this case, to regard it as a nullity." Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 17, 18T3. School commissioner cannot properlj discharge his ofScial duties, and at the same time engage or continue in the business of teaching after the commencement of his official term. The question presented for my decision in this case is, whether, under the law as it now stands, the respondent (school commissioner) has been guilty of such neglect or violation of duty as renders him answerable to either penalty prescribed by the statute. It is clearly established that he neglected the performance of the duties of his office by teaching school for a considerable time after the commencement of his official term. In so doing, I am satisfied that the commissioner has persistently neglected to perform his duties, and that the case is oue in which the Superintendent should withhold his order for the payment of that part of the commission- er's salary which would otherwise have been due for the quarter during which the delinquency occurred. Order, withholding the payment of salary, accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 6, 1873. Order issued forfeiting a quarter's salary of a school commissioner for neglect of duty in not complying with instructions of the department to make his report to the Superintendent in seasonable time, and in failing to show sufficient cause for such neglect. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 31, 1874. SCHOOL COMMISSIONEE DISTEICTS. ALTERATIONS OP BY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. There is nothing in the statute conferring the authority upon boards of supervisors to divide their county into school commissioner districts, which prescribes the time when such acts shall go into operation. It must be assumed that the act is operative at once, unless it is specially provided that it shall not be, and unless a time is speci- fied when it shall become so. A de facto officer must have some color of right and title to exercise the functions of an officer. A commissioner cannot be considered a de facto officer so as to have the power to alter the school districts of a town that bad been taken out of his commissioner district by the board of supervisors. The school commissioner of the second district of Westchester county made an order on the 27th day of July, 1886, which order was confirmed on the 20th of August, 1886, changing school district No. 2 of the town of Mamaroneck by detaching a portion of said district and annexing the same to school district No. 1 in said town. The appeal from such order is brought on behalf of the board of education of school district No. 2, and in support thereof it is set up that the commissioner had no power to make the orders 628 School Commissioner Districts. appealed from, because the town of Mamaroneck was not in his commis- sioner district at the time the order was made. It seems that the town of Mamaroneck has^ prior to the 23d day of Janu- ary, 1886, been in the second commissioner district of Westchester county. On that day the board of supervisors of the county adopted a resolution rearranging the commissioner districts of the county, and placing the town of Mamaroneck in the first district. This case must turn upon the time when such resolution of the board of supervisors went into operation. Commissioner Lockwood, in iiis answer to the appeal, says that the action of the board of supervisors was taken at tlie request of the school commis- sioners of the county ; that they requested that it should take effect at the beginning of the next school year, and that it was commonly understood both at the time of the adoption of the resolution and smce, that the action was not to go into operation until that time. The resolution in question reads thus: '^ Besohed, That the first school commissioner district shall hereafter be composed of the following towns, viz. : Rye, Scarsdale, Mama- roneck, New Eochelle," etc. There is nothing in the statute conferring the authority upon boards of supervisors to divide their county into school commissioner districts, which prescribes the time when such acts shall go into operation. They can do so at any moment. It must be assumed that the action is operative at once, unless it is specially provided that it shall not be, and unless a time is specified when it sliall become so. The official record is the best evidence of the intent of a legislative body. If we were to set up any other standard we should be precipitated into endless confu- sion. In the present case the board resolved that " hereafter " the town of Mamaroneck should be in the first commissioner district. This must be held to mean from the moment of the adoption of the resolution, and that consequently the town of Mamaroneck was not in the district of the com- missioner making the order appealed irom, at the time it was made. The commissioner also answers, that although it be held that the resolu- tion of the board of supervisors went into effect as soon as it was adopted, still his order should be upheld because the general understanding was otherwise, and because he exercised, and was recognized as possessing jurisdiction over the town of Mamaroneck at the time of making the order. I fail to see any force in this suggestion. The rule of law which upholds the acts of de facto officers, cannot be successfully invoked in this case. The commissioner was not a de fado officer as to the town of Mamaroneck at the time of making the order. A de facto officer must have some color of right and title to exercise the functions of an officer. He must have some legal status which all not only do recognize, but are compelled to recognize, until it is overthrown. The commissioner cannot be said to have occupied tliat position in this case. As to the districts affected by his order he was an officer neither in law nor in fact. It is immaterial whether any one objected or not; no one was bound to object. Appeal sustained and orders appealed from set aside. Per A. S. Draper Superintendent. Ajjpeal No. 3538, September 21, 1886. ' ScHOOL-HoDSES. 629 SCHOOL-HOUSES. CONDEMNATION OF. The power vested in the school commissioner and supervisor to condemn a district school-house and order a new one to be built, will not be interfered with by the Superintendent, except upon grounds showing an abuse of discretion. The appellants claim that the condemned school-house can be repaired so as to be comfortable, for the sum of $300. They also complain of the order in question, upon the ground of the poverty and weakness of the dis- trict. No direct testimony as to the condition of the house is submitted, only general statements. The objections raised by the appellants seem to me to be not pertinent. The law has clothed the school commissioner and supervisor with certain powers in the matter of condemning school-houses, without reference to the wealth or poverty of the districts aflfected, and it is not for me, what- over may be my opinion as to the wisdom of such a provision, to say that the power thus conferred shall not be exercised. I cannot pass upon the matter, as though I had original jurisdiction, and say what I might have done had a similar case been presented to me. This case as submitted does not in my judgment present suflBcient grounds upon which to overrule the action of those officers. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 9, 1868. Where an order of condemnation is clearly shown to have been unnecessary, it will be vacated. Appeal from an order by the commissioner and supervisor condemning the school-house in district No. 7, Catskill. Testimony submitted satisfac- torily shows that the school-house can be repaired and made ample in size and every way convenient and suitable, as a school-house that will answer the purposes of the district. This claim is supported by a formal certifi- cate of the commissioner who made the order in question, in which lie expresses the same opinion. It is further alleged that these repairs can be made for one-half the sum stated in the order to be necessary to build a new house. The Superintendent says : " The power tocondemn the school-house of a district is an extreme one and should be exercised only with great care that the rights of the inhabitants be not infringed. In cases where the tes- timony might raise some doubt in my mind as to the propriety of the action of the proper officers in the exercise of that power, I would still refrain from interfering with their proceedings, and rely on their personal examination in forming my own conclusion. But where it is clear, as in the present case, that the condemnation was unnecessary, and that the order, if sustained, would be a hardship, I cannot hesitate in causing it to be vacated." Order vacated accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 3, 1869. A similar case disposed of in the same way. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- intendent, May 5, 1869. An order condemning a school-house will be set aside only upon evidence clearly showing an abuse of the discretion conferred by law. Appeal from an order of the school commissioner and supervisor in con- demning the school-house in district No. 7, etc. Although the testimony ID reference to the condition of the school-house is conflicting, the weight of the evidence is decidedly on the side of the respondents in their claim that the building is not worth repairing. The power of condemning dis- trict school-houses is one which, in my judgment, the law has wisely 630 ScHooL-HonsES. intrusted to local officers, who, from their proximity, possess desirable facilities for making an inspection of school buildings. These officers have also been clotlied by the law with a large discretion in the matter, and it is one in which I have no original jurisdiction. On an appeal from the con- demnation of a school-house in any particular case, I have only to decide from the evidence submitted whether there has been an abuse of discretion in tlie matter. In the present case no such abuse of discretion is shown. Per. A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 19, 1869. Order of condemnation vacated where it does not conform to the requirements of the statute. An order condemning a school-house recited as grounds for such con- demnation, 1. " Most of the windows and benches have been destroyed," 3. " The house is so small it is impossible to replace the seats so that all of the children that attend school may be accommodated." The order is defective on its face. There was no authority in the respond- ents to condemn the house for the reasons assigned by them. These as defined by the statute are only, "if they deem it wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." It can hardly be contended that any school-house could be so considered, because "most of the windows and benches have been destroyed.'' The alleged fact that the house is too small to accommodate all the children that attend school may be a good reason for enlarging it, but does not bring the school-house within the provisions of the law authorizing its condemnation. The power to condemn school-houses is a very extreme one, and its exercise can only be sustained in a case clearly justifying it, and for which adequate reasons must be stated in the order of condemnation itself. This, in my judgment, is not such a case. Order of condemnation vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 9, 1870. Same ruhng in a later case. This is an appeal from an order condemning the school-house in district No. 3, Phillipstown, the sole ground for which is stated in said order to be that the school-house is inadequate in capacity for the large number of pupils instructed therein. The only authority given to a school commissioner in concurrence with the supervisor of the town in which a school-house is situated, to condemn such building, is found in section 13, title 3 of the General School Act, and by that section the power of condemnation is limited to cases where these officers, for reasons to be recited by them in their order, deem the school- house "wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." As tlie condemna- tion in this case is not based upon the ground prescribed by the statute, the order was, for that reason, entirely unauthorized and is therefore vacated. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, December 31, 1874. POWER OB TRUSTEES CONCERNING. Trustees have no power to lease the school-bouse or any part thereof in a manner to deprive themselres ot its control. The board ot education of union free school district No. 1, Windsor, adopted the following resolution. ' Resolved, that one of the rooms in the district school-house be rented to the Free Masons for five years for then exclusive use for the sum of $G0 per annum.'' Held, that the trustees (or board of education) have no power to lease School-Houses. 631 the district school-house, or any part thereof, and thereby place the same for the term of the lease beyond their control. The action of the trustees declared null and void, and set aside accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 12, 1869. Trustee has no power under the law, without a vote of the district, to remove the school-house from one part of the site to another. But such contract may be legally ratitied by a district meeting subsequently. As the trustee is clothed by law with no authority, simply by right of his office, to move tlie school-house of the district from one place on the site to another place thereon, the action of the trustee to that eflEect, taken with- out any authority or direction of the meeting of tlie district, was illegal, and the contract made by him for that purpose with one Scott is not bind- ing on the district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, November 9, 1875. On an appeal subsequently brought from the same district, it was hela that a district meeting might legally vote to ratify such contract made br the trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January 19, 1876. Trustees have no right to sell the old school-house when a new one has been built without special authority from the district. The power to direct a sale of the old house or site is vested only in the inhabitants, lawfully assembled at a district meeting. No such authority was conferred upon the trustees. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 23, 1858. Where thereis no school-house in the district, and the trustees have hired a house for school purposes, the district is bound to pay the rent whether a school is taught or not. Where a teacher is employed who has no license the school thus taught becomes a private school. The district is not bound to pay for fuel used in such school. On an appeal from certain acts of the trustees, it appears that the district is destitute of a school-house, and that the trustees hired a house in which to have the school taught, and also that they hired and continued lu then employ a teacher of the district school, one who had no legal license or certificate of qualification from the proper officer. The fact that the teacher engaged hart no legal license renders the school, during the period which he taught, a private school. The trustees have made out a tax list for the rent of the house, and for fuel purchased for use of the school. There appears to me to be a distinc- tion between the two objects for which this tax is levied. The contract to pay rent for the house was valid and binding upon the district in any event, whether the house should be occupied or left vacant. The expenses of tlie school, however, are different things ; in purchasing fuel for a school in which they had employed an unqualified teacher, they were not acting for the district, but upon their own individual responsibility. They were acting only as self-constituted agents of a voluntary association of individuals engaged in sustaining a private school. I shall not sanction the enforcement of taxes for the support of private schools — that is, of scliools taught by a teacher without the legal qualifications. The negli- gence of teachers to provide themselves in season with proper certificates, and the indifference of trustees to this neglect, are abuses which it is im- portant to check. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Supeiintendent, May 19, 1859. 632 School-Houses. Trustees, under certain circumstances, will be sustained in having the school at another place than the school-house. On an appeal from the action of the trustees in having the school taught at another place than the school-house, it is alleged tliat the school-house can be made comfortable and convenient for school purposes for the sum of money which the trustees are authorized to raise for that purpose, and also that the place selected by the trustees for the school is unsuited to that purpose, and is inconvenient of access for a large number of pupils. The trustees deny that the school-house can be made comfortable for the sum authorized to be raised; that the place where the school is at present taught IS commodious and comfortable, and accessible to as large a number of the children as is the school-house. The evidence relative to the actual condition of the school-house is not very conclusive on either side. The common presumption of law that the trustees have acted within the scope of a just and legitimate discretion must therefore prevail. If the inhabitants will not vote a sufficient sum to repair a school-house that has been built for thirty years, they will hardly command the sympathy of the department, even though, in consequence of such parsi- mony, they are compelled to send two and a half miles to school. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 3, 1860. A new building erected for a district must be accepted by the trustees before it can be regarded as the legal school-house of a district. When a district has two school-houses, the trustees may call the annual meeting to assemble at either of them, unless one of them has been desigpated at a previous annual meeting as the place of assemblage. The troubles in this district commenced in May, 1864, when the old school- house burned down, and have continued without intermission down to the present time. The record of the actions and proceedings of the contending parties, the one headed by the appellant and the other by the respondent herein, shows that neither party has acted in a temperate or forbearing man- ner, but, on the contrary, that each party has been ready to take undue advantage of the other, and that the object for which the district was organized has been of minor importance in the eyes of the contending parties. The record is one of continued " sharp practice," the advantage being first with one side, then with the other. This department has, on various occasions, sought to act as mediator between the contending parties, and has suggested various plans of settlement, with a view of restoring haimony to the district, all of which have been rejected, each party insist- ing upon the full measure of their legal rights and refusing to compromise for any thing less. Thus, Hill, when trustee of the district and before the new school-house was built, refused to call a special meeting tor the pur- pose of changing the site of the school-house, although it was a well-known fact that a majority ol the voters were in favor of such change, and desired a meeting to be held for that purpose. Again, when a special meeting had been called by Hill for the purpose of voting a tax to build on the old site, the meeting met at precisely the hour for which it was called, all the Hill party being present by private understanding, and, without waiting a moment for the arrival of other voters, organized the meeting, voted a tax of -11,000 to build on the old site, and adjourned in less than half an hour. Now, it had been the custom io that district, as it is in many others, not to organize district meetings till the expiration of one hour from the time for which sucli meeting had been called. Relying upon this custom, Mr. Collins and his party, composin"', as afore- said*, a majority of the legal voters of the district, and all of them opposed School-Houses. 633 to building on the old site, did not arrive at the place of meeting till nearly an hour after the time for which the meeting had been called. They then found, to their great astonishment and indignation, that the meeting had tiansacted its business and adjourned. In this way a tax was voted, and subsequently collected, against the wishes of a majority of the legal voters of the district. Tlie practice was sharp, but it was perfectly legal, and as the Hill party insisted upon receiving the full benefit of the advantage thus gained, the department had no choice but to sustain them. In October, 1865, Collins was chosen trustee of the district, and, not to be outdone of sharpness, the Collins party passed resolutions directing tne calling of special meetings by posting one written notice in the post-office at Fisher's Station, instead of by personal notice, thus practically putting the Hill party beyond the reach of notice of such meetings. The trustee, also, exercising a discretion which the law had reposed in him, refused to accept the new school house, alleging that it was not built according to contract, but hired other rooms in a rough building near Fisher's Station, and opened and main- tained school therein. This was also "sharp practice ; " but upon an appeal being brought from Collins' action in refusing to open school in the new house, and in maintaining a school in the building near Fisher's, known as the '-Shanty," and in applying the public money to the support of said school, the department was obliged to hold that the trustee was only exer- cising a power which the law had vested m him, and that, until he had accepted the school-house, or had been ordered to do so by some competent authority, he had power to hire other rooms temporarily, and to open and maintain school therein. This decision was rendered May 22, 1866, and the facts in regard to acceptance have not since been changed nor altered. The annual meeting of this district in 1865, at which George S. Collins was elected trustee, was held in the " new school-house " then not completed by the contractor, and was adjourned to be held at the "school-house" one year from that time. Some time about the 1st of October, 1866, Collins caused four notices to be posted in conspicuous places in the district, stat- ing that the annual meeting would be held on the 9th of October, 1866, at six o'clock p. M., railroad time, at the school-house where the school had been kept during the past year. In accordance with this notice, thirty voters of the district met at the time and place specified in said notice, organized and proceeded to elect district officers, and to transact other busi- ness. George S. Collins was unanimously chosen trustee for the ensuing year. After completing its business, the meeting adjourned. Meanwhile, twenty-five of the legal voters of the district met at the "new school-house " on the evening of the 9th of October, 1866, organized by the election of chairman and clerk, and proceeded to elect district officers and to vote district taxes, amounting in the aggregate to about $3,000. Jerome Hill, the respondent herein, was unanimously designated by this meeting as the trustee of the district for the ensuing year. Hill immediately issued a tax list for the collection of the taxes voted by the meeting which elected him trustee, and placed the same, with his warrant, in the hands of a person whom he had appointed collector in the place of one elected by said meet- ing, but who had resigned, and this person, Briggs by name, proceeded to enforce collection of said tax list, in certain cases levying on and selling property to satisfy the same. To determine who is the legal trustee of the district, Collins has brought this appeal, complaining of the actions of said Hill and Briggs, and alleging that they are not legal officers of the district. He asks that the proceedings of the meeting held at the "new school -house," as aforesaid, on the 9th of October, 1866, be set aside and declared void as a school meeting. 80 634 School-Houses. The main question in this matter is, "Where is the district school-house?" If that building herein designated as the "new school-house " be in reality the school-house of the district, and tlie only school-house of the district, then the appellant had no power to direct that the annual meeting should be held in another place. But if such building be not the district school- house, or if the district possesses another building which has been more generally used for school purposes, then the meeting held in the aforesaid ' ' new school-house " was not the legal district meeting. Now, a building erected for a district school-house in pursuance of con- tract must be accepted by some competent authority, either openly or by implication, before it in fact becomes the school-house of the district. This point was clearly established in the decision before referred to, rendered May 33, 1866. If the trustee had taken possession of the house, and opened and maintained school therein, that would have amounted to an acceptance. But the well known facts in this case are, that the trustee has all along refused to accept this house from the contractor, or to open school therein, alleging that it has not been completed according to contract. Whether liis allegation be true or untrue can make no difference with the facts in this case, since his refusal to accept the house is only the exercise of a discretion wliich the law has reposed in him as trustee. The respondent caunot claim to be ignorant of this holding, since the precise point was established in the decision of May 23, 1866, on an appeal brought by himself against Collins as trustee. If, as is claimed by the respondent, Collins has willfully and wrong- fully refused to accept the house, the remedy is plain; the respondent can, either by a suit commenced in the courts, or by an appeal brought to this department, compel the ti-ustee to accept the house. But he cannot set himself up as the judge to decide the question of acceptance. He cannot proceed upon the assumption that the official acts of Mr. Collins are void. Again, admitting, for the sake of argument, that the house which has never been accepted by the trustee is in fact a district school-house, the trustee would still have power, under section 50, title 7, if he deemed it necessary for the due accommodation of the' children of the district, to hire rooms temporarily and to open and maintain school therein. The rooms thus tem- porarily hired would be, for the time being, one of the school-houses of the district, and the trustee would have full power, under section 9 of title 7 of the said school act, to designate such school-house as the place where the annual meeting should be held. Take whichever of these two views we may, it follows, as a logical deduction, that the meeting held in the building which for the last year has been used as the district school-house was the legal annual meeting of the district; and, as but one annual meeting can be held in the same year, it also follows, that the proceedings of the meeting held October 9, 1866, in the building herein designated as the new school- house, and at which Jerome Hill was elected trustee of said district, were void, and of no force or effect whatever as an annual meeting. Another thing is to be borne in mind : the meeting at which Collins was elected trustee was held pursuant, not only to adjournment, but to the notice required by law. Pour written notices of the time and place when and where such meeting would be held, signed by the district clerk, were posted in conspicuous places in the district seven days before the time for holding such meeting. This shows that the appellant designed to take no advant- age of the respondent or his party, and that the meeting was not intended to be a surprise to any voter. The meeting held in the "new school-house," on the contrary, convened not only without notice, but in opposition to regular official notification. Now, although an annual meeting may be con- vened without notice and no imputation of bad faith attach to it, an annual School- HoDSES. 635 meeting convened not only without notice but in opposition to official notice can have but one purpose — to act as a surpiise, and to try to effect by trick that which could not be effected upon open trial. The summary of the whole is this: The meeting at the temporary school- house was held pursuant to official notice, in a building which had pre- viously been recognized by this department as a school-house of the dis- trict, and was attended by a majority of all the legal voters of the district. That meeting unanimously elected George 8. Collins trustee of said dis- trict for the ensuing year. It is, therefore, hereby decided that the pro- ceedings of said meeting were legal, regular and binding, as the proceedings of the annual school meeting of the district ; that George S. Collins is the legal and sole trustee of said district for the year ending the second Tues- day of October, 1867; that the persons respectively chosen at said meeting to fill the offices of district clerk, district collector and librarian were legally chosen, and are entitled to perform the duties of said officers ; and that the collection of taxes for school purposes voted at said meeting may be legally enforced. It is also hereby decided that the proceedings of the meeting held in the " new school-house," on the ninth day of October, 1866, at which Jerome Hill was elected trustee, were void, and of no force or effect as an annual school meeting. Per V. M. Kice, February 13, 1867. Trustee must receive authority from district to act in relation to matters pertaining to the erection of a new school-house. Designating a location, plans and specifications for a new school-house is a matter which the law intrusts not to the trustee, but to the district. The trustee must carry out the directions of the district. A trustee cannot contract for the building of a school-house before he is authorized to do so by the district, aud when he does enter into a contract before such author- ! ization the contractor proceeds at his peril. The trustee has no right to set up his own views against the deliberate action of the district in a mat- ter which the law intrusts not to him but to the district. Per Neil Gil- mour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3074, March 9, 1881. REPAIRS. Where a district has voted to make certain repairs to the school-house at a certain expense, and these repairs have been made under the direction of one trustee, the other trustees will be required to unite in making out a tax and warrant for the expenses thus incurred, to the amount voted. At a district meeting it was resolved to repair the school-house, and a committee was appointed to report in regard to the plan for repairing, and the necessary expense. Their report set forth what repairs were expedient and stated that they could be effected by raising the sum of $20. This report was adopted by a vote of thirteen to six. and the repairs were made under the direction of one trustee and the committee before mentioned, without the consent or approval of the other two trustees, and they refuse to unite in making out a tax list for the amount thus expended. Held, that the direction of the voters to repair the school-house, and fix- ing the extent and cost of the repairs at $20, was equivalent to voting that sum, and the trustees have no excuse for refusing to make out a tax list therefor. The error of the trustees consists in their assuming to judge of the expediency of the repairs. This was settled by the district, and the trustees are bound to acquiesce in and execute its will. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, July 17, 1857. 636 School-Houses. Repairs in the way of removing a desk and substituting a table approved as necessary. On appeal from a tax list made out by the trustee, the complaint is that the trustee has, without authority, removed a desk from the school- room, and provided in its place a table and chair. I infer that the appel- lants have little idea, of the conveniences and necessities of school-room fur- niture. If they had, they would never object to any reasonable expense incurred in substituting a table and chair for a desk and bench. But, aside from the convenience to the teacher which is thus promoted, it is in evidence that the room thus occupied by this cumbrous, unseemly and awkward desk was absolutely needed for class exercises — there being no place where pupils in class could be accommodated without exposure to the burning heat of the stove. Under these circumstances, I cannot but regard the alteration as comprised under the head of " necessary repairs," for which the trustee is authorized to levy a tax not exceeding $10. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, April 16, 1861, Trustees may make any repairs on school-house, pursuant to the direction of school commissioner. Section 50 of title 7 of the Consolidated School Act of 1864 declares: "They," the trustees, "may make any repairs pursuant to the direction of the school commissioner." Should a school meeting pass a resolution as follows, viz. : " Resolved, that the trustees be directed to repair the school- house and make it comfortable for school purposes," I should think it ad- visable and safest thereupon, before making any very extensive repairs, to procure the direction of your school commissioner, specifying what repairs are to be made. In his order directing the trustees to make the repairs, he would do well to commence with a preamble, setting forth that, whereas the inhabitants of school district No. — , of the town of , did, at a school meeting legally called and held at the school-house in said district on the day of October, 1865, pass the following resolutions, viz. (give the resolutions), and whereas the trustees of said district, viz. (giving their names), have requested me to designate such repairs as it shall deem proper to be made, pursuant to the resolution, and to a direction given by me for making repairs, as provided by section 50 of title 7, of the Con- solidated School Act of 1864, now, therefore, etc. (ordering specifically the repairs to be made). The commissioner cannot authorize the trustees to build anew, but merely to repair what has been formerly built or constructed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, October 37, 1865.^ Action by a district meeting voting to repair a school-bouse condemned by order of the school commissioner and supervisor, invalid; also, like action to rebuild for $250 where the order aforesaid, has named $600 as a requisite sura for the purpose. By an order of the school commissioner and supervisor, the school-house in district No. 6, Andover and Scio, was condemned as unfit for use, and the sum of $600 was declared necessary to erect a suitable house for said district. At a special school meeting held after the issuing of said order, it was resolved that $250 be raised to rebuild the old school-house on the same site, etc. At a subsequent meeting it was resolved to rebuild the school- house according to certain specifications submitted and adopted. From these it clearly appears that the old building was to be repaired, not a new one erected. This proceeding was unauthorized, as under the order of con- School- Houses. 637 demnation it was beyond the power of the district to repair the house. If the action of the meeting was intended not for repairs, but for the purpose of putting up a new school-house in place of the old one, it was illegal in appropriating but S350 for the purpose, as it was out of the power of the district to reduce the estimate of the commissioner and supervisor by more than twenty-five per cent thereof. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, October 39, 1868. Trustees have no power to levy a tax to repair a condemned school-house. Trustees of school districts have no authority to levy a tax for repairs to a school-house when once condemned by the proper officers in accordance with the statute as "wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing." The tax in question, so far as it relates to the condemned building, was therefore illegally levied, and the tax list and warrant for its collection must be and are hereby vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 31, 1871. Vote to build rescinds former vote to repair. The action of an annual meeting in voting to build a new school-house rescinds the action of a former special meeting, which voted to repair the old school-house. Per NeU Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3940, December 30, 1879. Repairing after school-bouse has been condemned. A district meeting cannot vote a tax to repair a school-house which has been legally condemned by the supei-visor and school commissioner. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3007, September 14, 1880. A district meeting cannot delegate to ft building committee the power to appoint a member ot* such committee to carry out the wishes of the district, in case the com- mittee cannot agree. Among other proceedings of the special meeting appealed from is the adoption of the following resolution: "That a committee of two be asso- ciated with the trustees as a building committee, with full power to repair said school-house as in their judgment will best meet the wants and wishes of the district, with instructions, that if they cannot agree to act together, they shall choose one of their number to so act. The adoption of this resolution at said meeting, for the appointment of a building committee with full power to repair said school-house, will be sustained only so far as such committee acts in an advisory capacity with the trustee ; the latter portion of the resolution, which instructs the com- mittee that if they cannot agree to act together they shall choose one of their number to carry out the wishes of the district, is invalid. The trus- tee is the agent of the district accredited by the law for this purpose. The instruction contained in said resolution, to which reference has been made, is hereby set aside. Per "W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3301, January 15, 1884. It is clearly the duty to make repairs in obedience to the order of the school commis- sioner. When such repairs have been made, the district becomes liable therefor, and the trustee must issue a tax-list and warrant to raise the necessary amount to pay for the same. Instance where claim had been assigned. On the 16th day of June, 1884, the school commissioner of the second district of Schoharie county, made an order directing the trustee of school 638 School-Houses. district No. 3, Fulton, Schoharie county, to make certain repairs upon the school-house of the district in the form of an addition thereto. This order was made under and in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 3, section 13, title 2 of the consolidated school act of 1864. This appellant, Jacob Feek, at the date of said order, was the trustee of the district, and made or caused to be made the repairs or additions to the school-house in obedience to such order. By so doing he contracted a liability on the part of the district of the sum of $188.58 for material and labor. The district, at the annual meeting, refused to order a tax for the payment of this amount or any part thereof. Two appeals have been brought to this depart- ment, and decisions rendered sustaining the claims of two persons who fur- nished material and labor for the repairs upon its school-house. The remaining claims for materials and labor, amounting to !|fl65.47, since the expiration of said Jacob Feek's term of office as trustee of said district, have been assigned to this appellant, who on the 11th day of March, 1885, presented said claim to George L. Haner, the trustee of said district, and requested him to pay the same to this appellant. Thereupon the trustee refused and still refuses to pay this claim, or to issue a tax list and warrant for the same. Assuming that the order of the school commissioner was regularly and legally made, and no appeal having been taken therefrom, it cannot now be questioned; it was clearly the duty of the trustee to make the repairs in obedience thereto. This done, the district became liable therefor, and must pay for the; benefits which it has legally received, and is now enjoying. Trustee ordered to issue tax list and pay claim. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 8413, April 3, 1885. The consent of the tax-payers of the district to the expenditure of a larger sum than the statute allows the trustee to expend in repairs upon the school-house, will in no way legalize the expenditure of such larger sum. The law gives others besides taxpayers the right to vote at a district meeting upon this question. The trustee made repairs to the school-house at an expenditure of more than fifty dollars, without first procuring authority from a district meeting. In explanation of this failure to conform to the statute, the trustee sets up the fact that he obtained the consent of the tax-payers of the district individually, before he made the repairs, and, therefore, did not deem it necessary to call a special meeting. This would in no no way excuse or legalize the action, for the law gives others besides the tax-payers the right to vote at school district meetings on questions involving taxation. But it appears from all the evidence in the case, that at the annual meeting a reso- lution was adopted that a tax be levied as provided by law, for the purpose of paying off the indebtedness of the district, as shown by the report of the trustee, and this resolution seems to have been a ratification of the action of the trustee in the matter of the repairs to the school-house. The appeal from his action is overruled. Per James E. Morrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3497, April 3, 1886. When a school district meeting adopts plans for a new school-house and directs the trustee to build accordingly, the trustee can issue his tax-list for the amount neces- sary to build the house in accordance with the plans adopted. The trustee must not place lands upon the tax-list which are not taxable in the district at the time the tax-hst and warrant are issued. At a special meeting held in district No. 1, Caldwell, Warren county^ February 21, 1880, it was voted to enlarge the school-house and raise there- for $600 or so much thereof as might be necessary. At an adjourned meet- ScHooi--HoiJ8BS. 639 ing thereof, held February 38, a certain plan for the enlargement of the school-house was adopted. For the purpose of making this enlargement pursuant to such plan, the trustee on the 29th of March issued a tax-list in which was levied and assessed the sum of $1, 100, and it was not shown that the said sum is more than sufficient for the purpose. The appellant who is a resident of the city of New Tork owns a parcel of thirty-nine acres of land, seven acres of which lie in said district and thirty-two acres of which lie in district No. 3, of said town. The whole of said land is occupied by one Gordon as agent of the appellant, and that said Gordon on the 9th day of March, removed from district No. 1 to district No. 3, where he still continues to live. 'The appeal is brought from the action of the meeting of February 38, and from the action of the trustee in assessing appellant's lands in district No. 1. Held, the meeting of February 38th had the right to take the action appealed from, and the action of the previous meeting in voting to raise $600 con- stituted no restriction preventing the trustee from issuing a tax-list to raise the sum of $1,100. But the trustee was in error in assessing the land of the appellant, as no part of said land was taxable in district No. 1 at the time the tax-list was issued. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3969, May 10, 1880. Note. — For the authority to issue the tax-list to build the school-house, which was held regular in the above appeal, see section 51, title 7, Code of Public Instruction. J. E. K. Before a tax-list for over $500, to build a new school-house can issue, the school com- missibner must give his approval in writing to such sum. A district meeting cannot vote a tax for repairing school-house to be raised in install- ments. A special school meeting voted a tax of $2,000, to be raised for the pur- pose of building an addition to and repairing and enlarging the school- house in said district, and to raise said amount in four equal annual install- ments. The appeal is brought from tliis action. The appellants allege that the sum of $500 was raised by tax and expended in repairing the school- house within a year last past, and that only ordinary repairs are now needed or required to said school-house. The important question raised by this appeal is whether the meeting determined to build a new school-house, or to repair an old one. If it is proposed to rebuild the school-house, at an expense exceeding $500, the consent of the school commissioner should have been obtained, before the issuing of the tax-list and warrant by the trustee. It appears that such a consent has not been obtained. If on the other hand, it is proposed to expend the $2,000 for repairs to the present school-house, the resolution adopted at the meeting, to raise the said amount in four equal annual install- ments is illegal and void, as a tax by installments cannot be raised for any other purpose than for building, hiring or purchasing a school-house. The tax-list issued for the collection of the $3,000, stayed the proceedings of the meeting set aside, and a new meeting ordered. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision 3273, July 37, 1883. Note. — The above decision in reference to voting a tax to be raised in installments will not apply to union free school districts, (iiee section 10, title fi, Code of PubUe jkstruction.) J. E. K. A tax not exceeding $500 for the purpose of building a new school-house cannot be raised by installments ; the amount must exceed $500. i A tax cannot be voted and raised in installments to pay tor a school-house site in common school district. 640 School-Houses. This appeal 18 brought from the action of a district meeting in school district No. 32, Onondaga, Onondaga county, held October 30, 1885, in adopting a resohition directing the trustees of the district " to lease, for a period of not less than two years, a site near the pump- house of the Syracuse Water Company" for the erection of a school- house; also directing that "a committee of five be appointed, of _ whom the trustee shall be chairman, for the purpose of co-operating with the trustee in erecting a building for school purposes and auditing accounts, and that for such purpose a sum of money not to exceed $500 be bor- rowed by the trustee, the loan to be secured by a bond payable by install- ments, $50 every year, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent." It will not be necessary to pass upon the merits of the action of the meeting of October 30, from which the appeal is taken, as it clearly appears that the resolution directing the leasing of a site for the school-house and the building of the school-house thereon, which was intended to be the designation of an additional site for school purposes, had not received the consent of the school commissioner at the time of the bringing of the appeal. 2. The description of the site as being near "the pump-house of the Syracuse Water Company" is not sufficiently definite to be considered a designation of a school-liouse site within the meaning of the statute. 3. The resolution directed that the amount necessary for the lease of the site should be raised by installments, which is without any authority under the statute. 4. The same objection may be urged against the borrowing of the $500 and issuing bonds therefor. Even if this amount is to be used only for the building of the school-house, the issuing of a bond therefor and the raising of a tax by installments to pay the same is illegal, as the only case in which the statute empowers the inhabitants of a common school district to vote a tax to be raised by installments is for the purpose of building or purchasing a new school-house, at a cost of more than $500. Per W. B. Buggies, Superintendent. Decision No. 3458, December 9, 1885. Trustees are not authorized to allow temperance societies to use the school-house for the purpose ot their meetings. Trustees' powers in the premises generally discussed. The question is presented whether a district meeting or the trustee can, over the objection of any interested party, let school property for the exclu- sive use at certain times of such an organization as that mentioned in the appeal. The law constitutes the trustee the custodian of the school-house. But it does not thereby become his private property and he cannot put it to any use which he sees flt._ He is, as a general rule, to manage it as the repre- sentative of the district and for school purposes only. He must find some express provision of statute authorizing him to permit it to be used for any other purpose before he is justified in doing so, provided objection is made by any interested party. The only provision of the statute of such a nature is found in section 52 of title VH of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1854, which allows the trustee "to permit the school-house, when not in use by the dis- trict school, to be used by jDcrsons assembling therein for the purpose of giving and receiving instruction in any branch of education or learning or Sites. 641 in the science or practice of music." It cannot be claimed that the leasing in the present case was for such a purpose as is here mentioned. In this case, the house was given over to the use of a secret society. The people of the district, who were not members of the society, were excluded. The persons who were thus permitted to use it, did not assemble for the purpose of giving and receiving instruction, but for the promotion of temperance. However laudable the purpose of their assembly, it is not a purpose recognized by the State. I am, therefore, of the opinion that the leasing complained of was unlawful and that the appeal must be sustained. It may be proper to say, however, that it has always been the practice of this Department to refrain from preventing the use of school property for other tiian school purposes, when such other use does not interfere with the use for which such property is maintained and when such other use is acquiesced in by the taxpayers and electors of the district. This has unquestionably been a wise policy. Frequently, in the rural school dis- tricts, the school-house is the only suitable place in the district for holding a meeting of any character, and such policy has greatly promoted the con- venience as well as tlie intellectual and moral activity of the people of the district. But when a school building is used for any other pui'pose or in any manner which interferes with its use for school purposes, or where there are differences of opinion among the people of the district as to the advisability of using the school-house for any other purpose than school purposes, it becomes the duty of the Department to strictly observe and enforce the laws governing the matter. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3577, July 21, 1887. SITES. AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE OR CHANGE. A school district cannot delegate the power to select a school-house site. A designa- tion should be specific as to location and size. The inhabitants of district No. 15, in the town of Smyrna, at their first meetinn;, resolved that the trustees purchase a site for the school-house, on the corner of Benjamin Hartwell's land, or on Seth Shepard's land where the cooper's shop now stands. The trustees selected the corner of Benjamin Hartwell's land, paid forty dollars for the site, and contracted for the erection of a house. They then called a special meeting, for the purpose of ratifying what they had done and raising money to finish the house. The meeting, by a vote of twenty-six to twelve, refused to ratify their selection, and passed a resolution that the site should be "at a certain beech tree in widow Brown's hollow." The Supreme Court, in the case of Benjamin v. HaU, 17 Wend. 437, de- cided that the district could not delegate the power to designate a school- house site to the trustees. It cannot make any difference whether a general 81 642 Sites. authority to select is given, or whether the authority is to choose between two points. The designation made by the special meeting is too indefinite. Verbal explanations, not a part of the record, though given at the meeting, can- not be permitted to locate the spot. The vote was utterly void for uncer- tainty. Per Spencer, August 26, 1839. A majoritj of voters at a school district meeting may empower the trustees to purchase additional territory adjoining the school-house site, for the purpose of enlarging their grounds for school purposes. It is not a case of removal of site. The only question involved in tills appeal is whether the purchase of an additional quantity of land adjoining that on which the former school- house of the district had been erected and which was burned down, ren- dering it necessary for the district to build a new one, and the rebuilding of the distiict school-house whoUy or in part upon the new ground thus purchased, is such an act as requires the assent of two-thu-ds of the voters present at a district meeting called specially for the purpose under the pro- visions of section 1, No. 85 {section 20, title 7), of the laws relating to common schools. I do not doubt the legal right of a majority of the voters in any district meeting duly convened, to lay a tax upon their district to purchase ground additional to and adjoining a site already owned by the district, if such ground be suitable for the purpose of the existing site, and the school — such as play-ground for the children, wood-house or other appendages. Nor could the certificate of the town superintendent be necessary to render such an act legal any more than for building a wood- house, or repainng the school-house. The district, as I rmderstand the case, owned no more ground than was covered by the buildings. Now, what were the acts which the law intended to prohibit the mere majority from doing after a site had been purchased and a school-house built or purchased for the district while the same remained unaltered ? Certainly not to prevent the purchase of more ground immediately ad- joining, if necessary, nor the erection of additional buildings thereon, if the exigencies of the district required it for the accommodation of the school, or even the erection of a new house should it be necessary. These are acts which, in my judgment, it is perfectly competent for the majority of the inhabitants of the district to perform, when assembled in a school district meeting. I cannot hold this to be such a change of site as comes within the provisions of the section above mentioned. Per N. S. Benton. July 10, 1846. In levying a tax for the purchase of a school-house site, the district is not limited as to the amount to he raised. The certificate of the town superintendent (supervisor) is not necessary, and the dis- trict may, by a majority vote, raise such an amount as shall be necessary for the purpose. At a special meeting of the inhabitants of district No. 5, Troy, held July 20, 1848, a site for a. school-house was designated, and a tax of $475 was voted to pay for the same. The site thus designated was for the second school-house in the district. The appellant desires that the proceedings be set aside for the followino' reasons : 1. Because the commissioners did not certify that a larger sum than $400 was necessary to purchase the site; 2. On the ground of expediency. Sites. 643 By subdivision 8, section 63, School Laws, provision is made for desig- nating sites for two or more school-houses in a district. With the consent of the town superintendent, or the commissioners, as in this case, the inhabitants of a district, when legally assembled, may, by a majority of votes of the legal voters present, designate a site for the second school-house in their district, and may lay a tax upon the taxable property of the district to purchase such site. The limitation to $400 ($1,000) does not apply to such cases. The section which requires the consent of the town superintendent to raise a larger sum only applies "to building, hir- ing or purchasing a school-house." The proceedings of the meeting of July 20 were legal. As to the question of expediency, this department does not feel at liberty to interfere without proof of palpable wrong or abuse of power, which does not appear in this case. This decision is not intended to favor the abandonment of the old site. The appeal is dismissed. Per Morgan, September 26, 1848. When the trustees have contracted to locate the school-house on any particular place upon the site, in the absence of any instruction from the district, this department will not interfere. The trustees located a school-house a few feet less than four rods from the south line of their lot, which is bounded on the highway. The appel- lants and a majority of the district desired to leave full four rods in front. The trustees, however, in the absence of any explicit instructions or direc- tion from the district, agreed upon the present location, and entered into a contract with a builder who had commenced his work prior to any in- structions from the district. The trustees having gone on, for aught that appears to the contrary, in good faith, in the location of the house prior to any expression of the wishes of the district, and having entered into con- tracts and incurred liabilities in the prosecution of the worli, it is deemed unwise and inexpedient to subject the district to the expense which must be incurred by a change in the location. The appeal is dismissed. Per A. G-. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, August 30, 1849. It is not necessary that a majority of all the taxable inhabitants should be obtained, in addition to the consent of the town superintendent (supervisor) in order to change the site, but only a majority of those present and voting at a meeting duly notified. This is an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting held in said district on the 18th day of October, 1851. At this meeting, it appears that resolutions were passed changing the site of the school-house, and authorizing the collection of $10 by tax, for purchasing a new site, and $115 for building a new school-house thereon. The appellant alleges that these resolutions were not passed in the manner required by law, and that the town superintendent never legally gave his consent to the proposed change of site. The appeal papers concede that the resolution to change the site was passed by a vote of a majority of all the taxable inhabitants of the district who were present and voted at the meeting. Therefore, if the consent of the town superintendent was given in accordance with law, the resolution to change the site was passed by the required legal majority of the inhabit- ants. For it is not necessary that, m addition to the consent of the town 644 Sites. superintendent, a majority of all the taxable inhabitants residing in t;he district should be obtained, in order to change the site, but only a majority of those present and voting at a meeting duly notified. It appears by the answer that the town superintendent did give his con- sent in writing, to the proposed change, on condition that the requisite majority of the inhabitants of the district should be in favor of the change. This consent became absolute the moment the condition was complied with. The requisite consent was obtained upon the passage of the resolutions. Appeal dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, March 35, 1852. Site of a sohool-ho".se in union free scbod district established and clianged by vote of inbabitants in same manner as in districts subject to general scbool law. The site of a school-house in a union free school district is established and changed by the vote of the inhabitants in the same manner as in those districts subject to the general school law. The board of education, like the ordinary trustees, are in this respect mere executors of the popular ■will. If it is not absolutely necessary, it is at least the only safe mode, to procure the ratification by a district meeting, of a selection made by the board under aVote requesting them to purchase. Per B. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, May 8, 1855. When a district bas been altered, the site of tbe school-house -may be changed by a vote of the majority of those present at the meeting. Due notice of a meeting will be presumed, unless the contrary be shown. A special meeting of joint district No. 9, of Manheim, Herkimer county, and Oppenheim, Pulton county, was held December 19, 1854, and a vote was passed to change the site of the school-house. The meeting then adjourned to receive propositions. On the twenty-third day of June, 1855, a new site was designated, and, at a subsequent adjourned meeting, an adjournment to the second Tuesday of October, 1856, was carried. The trustees, however, called a special meeting for December 4, 1855, at which a tax of $450 was raised for purchasing the new site, $1,000 for building a new school-house, and $200 for wood-house and privies. The certificate of the town superintendent, that $1,200 was necessary for the house and out-houses, had been given. The appellant raised the following points . 1. That the school-house site was illegally changed, no consent of the town superintendent having been obtained. It might suffice to say that no such point was made in the appeal; but it is conclusively met by the reply of the trustees, which shows that the dis- trict has undergone repeated alterations since the erection of the school- house. No consent of the superintendent was neccessary to authorize the fixing of a new site by a majority of the votes of those present and voting. 2. The appellant objects that it does not appear by the return of the district clerk, or otherwise, that the legal voters of the district, or any of them, were duly notified of such meeting. The burden of proof on this point rests on the appellant. The presumption always is that public officers have done their duty. This presumption is supported in this case by the express statement that one voter received no notice, for it implies that no other failure to give notice could be alleged. Those who attended cer- tainly had notice, and the omission in a solitary instance is not averred to have been willful or fraudulent. The proceedings were legal and regular. Per V. M. Rice, February 6 1856. . SrrES. 645' The department will not interfere with the authority of a district in purchasing a »ite, except where the title to said site is clearly and conclusively shown to oe defective. In considering a question of title, it must be borne in mind that it is not in the province of this department to pass upon that question so as to afiEect at all the interests of those claiming ownership in the soil. This depart- ment can only determine, from the evidence presented, whether the pre- sumption of invalidity is so strong as to justify its interference in arresting the action of the district. If the title is so clearly defective that its accept- ance will involve protracted and hopeless litigation, peril the peace and prosperity of the district, and thus arrest or retard educational progress, it becomes manifestly the duty of this department to interfere, even in oppo- sition to the will of a majority of those interested. In the present case, a majority of the district, fully informed upon the merits of the case, individually interested in being right, and peraonally liable to expense if wrong, unhesitatingly declare themselves satisfied of the validity of title. - It would require a clear case of invalidity of title to justify the interposition of this department under circumstances like these, and, as such invalidity is not shown, the department will not interfere. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, August 14, 1857. Where the district does not authorize a change of site, this department will not inter, fere to compel such change, even though justice requires it. It appears that the present site of the school-house is quite far from the center of the district, and in the north part of the same. The inhabitants residing in the south part of the di.strict are naturally and justly desirous of changing the site, and of establishing it near the center of the district. At a meeting of the district called for the purpose of considering this ques- tion, a resolution was offered that the site remain where it was. This res- olution was lost by a tie vote, and before any further action was had the meeting adjourned. From this neglect of the inhabitants to take any affirmative action upon the question of removal, this appeal is brought. Held, that, while the desire of those who are striving to change the site appears to be just and reasonable, the circumstances of the case do not justify the interference of this department. It is a high prerogative to come in and overrule the action of a majority of the district — formally and legally taken — and one which the department will not exercise except for the strongest reasons — the most urgent necessity. Here the site is already established, and has for a long time been occu- pied by the district. The district is the only competent authority for changing the site,' and I do not regard the authority of this department, even, as sufficient to take up the original question, and direct that a change of site shall be made. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, Septem- ber 9, 1858. In locating two sites in a district, the whole district must act upon the question of each site, not simply the sections to be respectively favored. Taxes have been voted for the building of two school-houses in the dis- trict, for the accommodation of the inhabitants in the remote sections, no one central site being accessible to all the inhabitants. In establishing these two sites, the law vests the authority in the voters of the district — • does not confine it to the voters of each section or local- ity, for whose benefit the site is to be established, and the whole district must act 'on the question of the location of each site. Per H. H. Van Dyck. Superintendent, May 8, 1860. 646 Sites. Districts that have been altered in their boundaries since the establishment of a site and building of a house are not restricted in their power to change such site at any legal district meeting. It is not difficult to ascertain the meaning of the statute in regard to the change of site of school-houses. It imposes a limitation upon the general power of school districts in regard to changing the site of the school-house. The general limitation is expressed in the following words: " As long as the district shall remain unaltered." Districts not embraced in this general limitation are not referred to in the subsequent limitation. In short, the power of the inhabitants of districts that have been altered is left wholly unimpaired, as this section of the statute says nothing concerning them, and hence applies to them no limitations whatever. Per V. M. Eice, Superintendent, February 2tl, 1864. An annual school district meeting has no power to change tlie school-house site. At an annual meeting by a vote of seven to six it was resolved to change the site of the school-house to a place designated in the resolution. This ease must be decided in favor of tlie appellants for the reason that an annual meeting has not power to change a site upon which there is a school-house erected or in process of erection. Per A. B. Weaver, Super- intendent, April 15, 18G9. A special district meeting has no power to change the school-house site, without such intention being expressed in the notices issued for the meeting. At a special meeting held in pureuance of the following notice, to-wit : •' There will be a special school-meeting held at the school-house in district No. 15 of the townsliip of Bedford, on Thursday night at seven o'clock, October 36, 1868, to transact such business as shall come before the meet- ing," a resolution was adopted for the putchase of a new site. "On this showing," says the superintendent, "tlie meeting on the 26th of October by which the site is claimed to have been changed, was without the requisite power to change the school-house site," as that could only be done " at a special meeting called for that purpose." {Section 20, tith 7 of the General School Act.) Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 9, 1869. School-house site can only be changed at a special meeting called for the purpose. The changing of a school-house site, under the existing law, can only be effected by a special district meeting "called for that purpose." {Section 20, title 7, General School Act.) It follows, therefore, that the resolution of the annual meeting appealed from, changing the school-house site, was illegally passed ; it is therefore hereby so declared, and all action under it is vacated and set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, November 25, 1869. Department cannot locate sites. It is not within the power of this department to locate sites for school districts, its only duty in the matter being, when appealed to, to see that the law is complied with by the districts in designating sites. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3138, November 23, 1881. Failure to give notice of a special meeting to all the inhabitants that will invalidate the proceedings of the meeting must be willful and fraudulent. A meeting is not pro- hibited from selecting land that is mortgaged. It is alleged by the appellants that three legal voters were not notified to attend the meeting, but to give validity to this objection, the appellants SiTKS. 647 should liave shown that the omission to give the notice to these persons was willful and fraudulent. {Section 7, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864.) This they have not attempted to do. The objection that the site selected " is on lands which are mortgaged " is not pertinent to the action of the meeting, and would in no wise invali- date the designation of the site, if otherwise regularly made. It is not to be assumed that the trustee will take title until the site is released from the burden of the mortgage. Per "W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent, Decision No. 3354, May 26, 1884. The sale of the old sites, designation and purchase of a new sitem the case where sev- eral districts are consolidated. The appeal is from the proceedings of the several meetings in the new districts. School districts Nos. 11, 18 and 21 were consolidated in October. On the first day of November following, a school district meeting was held and attended by a majority of the inhabitants of the district, at which meeting the appellants being present, the voters directed the sale of the property of the former school districts Nos. 11, 18 and 21. The sale was duly adver- tised by the trustee, clerk and building committee. The sale of the school- house in old district No. 11 was made pursuant to said notice. It was sold at public auction and the sale was regularly conducted. The building was sold to the highest bidder. The sale was largely attended and the property brought its fair value. At the meeting of November first a committee was authorized and directed to report a site for a school-house and to malje and submit plans for the school-house at a meeting to be called by the trustees. At a subsequent meeting held on the sixtli day of December this committee reported and recommended the designation of a school-house site on the land known as the "Thorp site." The recommendation was adopted and money was appropriated for the purchase of the site. It must be borne in mind that district No. 11 is a new district formed from the consolidation of several old districts. The designation of a site for a school-house in thiS case, cannot be regarded as a change of site under the statutes, and the limitation contained in section 21, title 7, of the gen- eral law, does not seem to apply. A district meeting designated a site ; this having been done, it was competent for the district meeting to dispose of the school-houses and sites belonging to the district which were no longer necessary for school purposes, and to apply the proceeds as purchase- money for the new site and school-house. The fact that the person on whose land the site was designated refused subsequently to convey, does not impair the right of the district. Even after such a refusal, title may be acquired without the consent of tlie owner by proceeding under chapter 800, Laws of 1866. Furthermore it was not necessary that the site should have been designated before laying the tax for building the school-house. It seems to me that this rule will apply to a tax for the purchase of a site. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3722, June 4, 1885. CONSENT OF SUPERVISOR. Consent of supervisor to a change of site must be as prescribed by statute. The statute that provides for change of school-house site, where the same has once been duly established, carefully guards against capricious action on the part of the inhabitants of a district, occasioned by slight changes in the numerical strength of parties very evenly divided. It is provided by 648 Sites. the statute that the site shall not be changed without the written consent of the supervisor, " stating that, in his opinion, such removal is necessary." The object of this provision is to vest this discretiouary power in one pre- sumed to be disinterested, and who will act solely with reference to his opinion of the educational interests to be promoted. It is manifest, therefore, that neither the letter nor tlie spirit of the statute is complied with when the supervisor, instead of expressing an opinion founded on his own convictions, certifies that he thinks the removal "necessary, if the inhabitants so determine." His opinion must be founded on the condition of things existing in the district, not upon what may be the vote on the question, and a consent founded upon a vote of the inhabitants amounts to no consent at all. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, December 4, 1860. Where two sites have been designated and purchased after a protracted controversy ■ before this department, the question of the consent of the commissioner will not be considered upon a subsequent collateral issue. On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, objection is taken to a certain resolution, passed at said meeting, whereby certain sums of money were voted to be expended upon two school-houses or sites in said district. The objection is that the district has no such site, because due and proper consent was never obtained to establish the same. But that question bad already been settled on a former appeal to this department. The department will not at this late day enter upon the consideration of that question. The district, and, if I mistake not, these appellants them- selves, have, by their previous action, recognized the fact of such site; it has been, as I understand, purchased, a valid title obtained, and all the ostensible evidences of ownership on the part of the district have been at one time or another produced. I do not, therefore, now, choose to inquire whether the formal consent of the commissioner to the purchase of that site was ever given. That would have been a proper question to present in order to prevent the purchase, but should not be raised, and will not now be considered, since the purchase and other acts incident thereto have been substantially acquiesced in. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, March 28, 1861. Where the consent of the supervisor to a change of site is obtained by misrepresenta- tion, the proceedings will be set aside. A special meeting voted to change the site of the school-house to the farm of Jesse Carpenter, the consent of the supervisor of the town having been first obtained. The appellant objects to the proposed change, the said new site being in a remote corner of the district, distant four miles from the residences of those living on the opposite side of the district. He claims that the pro- ceedings of said meeting in the matter of changing the site as aforesaid were illegal and void, and asks to have them so declared and set aside for the following reasons : 1. Because no legal notice of said special meeting was served upon the inhabitants of the district. 3. Because the consent of the supervisor to the aforesaid change of site was obtained through fraud and misrepresentation ; 3. Because the minutes of the said meeting were not properly kept, and do not show on their face the precise location of the proposed new site. Either one of the two first objections urged by the appellant will be, if Sites. 649 proven, sufficient cause for pronouncing the proceedings of said meeting void, and of no effect whatever. Passing over the objection first taken, it is established, beyond doubt, by the affidavit of William E. Teal, supervisor of said town, that he was induced to give his consent to the proposed change of site — the exact loca- tion of said new site not having been agreed upon when his said consent was given — upon the express understanding that the new site should be centrally and conveniently located, so as to accommodate all of the inhabit- ants of the district. The committee who applied to the supervisor for his consent to said change of site mentioned two central localities where they hoped to be able l^o obtain the said site, and by these representations, and by disclaiming any intention of locating the site in a remote corner of the district, induced said supervisor to give his consent as aforesaid. The said supervisor swears that under no circumstances would he have given his consent to the location of the new site in so remote a corner of the district as that selected by said special meeting, and further, that, as soon as he was informed of the action of the meeting, he immediately addressed a note to the committee which had waited upon him, revoking the consent which he had given. Consent thus obtained is no consent at all. ■ Fraudu- lent representations vitiate any contract or agreement, and in this case it is clear that it was only through misrepresentation that the consent of the supervisor to said change of site was obtained. The excuse offered by the committee which located the aforesaid new site, that no central location could be provided, is disproved by the affidavits of Ferris and others. It should also be remembered, that the district could procure a central site even without the consent of the owner of the land, by complying with the provisions of chapter 800 of the laws of 1866. For the reasons above set forth the appeal is sustained ; tlie consent of the supervisor to the aforesaid change of site is declared void, as having been obtained through misrepresentation ; and the subsequent proceedings of the special meeting had in said district as aforesaid, so far as they relate to a change of site of the school-house of said district, are, also, hereby pro- nounced illegal, void and of no force and effect whatever ; such proceedings havmg been founded upon the fraudulently obtained consent of the super- visor, without which consent they would have been void in themselves. Per V. M. Rice, July 13, 1866. Tote to change school-house site may be taken before consent of supervisor is ootained. The law does not say that no vote shall be taken to change the school- house site without the consent of the supervisor, but that such site shall not be changed without such consent. It has been many times decided that the vote to change the site may legally be taken before such consent is given. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 9, 1868. Refusal of supervisor to consent to a change of site overruled. This appeal is brouglit from the refusal of the supervisor to give his con- sent to a change of site. From the testimony submitted I have arrived at the conclusion that the educational interests of said school district demand a change of site and that the supervisor erred in refusing to give his consent. The appeal is sustained and the said district is hereby permitted to change the school- house site to the place selected by the special meeting held as stated in the appeal. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, February 19, 1868. 82 650 Sites. Consent of supervisor to a change of a site will not be set aside, npoa the ground that without personal examination of the necessity of removal, he relied upon the state- ments of others. Coaceming the consent given by a supervisor to the change of a school- bouse site, he deposes upon an appeal therefrom, that he was induced to join in such consent by misrepresentations as to the location and desirable- ness of the proposed site, and a subsequent personal examination of the locality has satisfied him that the change would be prejudicial to the distiict. The law requires a supervisor to state in his written consent, that a removal is necessary. This devolves a personal duty of examination upon that officer, and he can properly discharge that duty only by the exercise of care and deliberation. He cannot be permitted, after having executed the formal document required by law, to revoke it on the ground that he has in effect been guilty of a violation of his duty in signing it; that he has done so without proper pxamination, relying upon the statements of others. The appeal from his order cannot be sustained upon that ground. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, July 7, 1870. When supervisor's consent is not necessary. Wlien a district has been altered after its erection, the consent of the supervisor is not necessary to a change of school-house site. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3387, November 9, 1883. POWER TO LEASE. A school district has no authority by law, and this department will not permit the inhabitants, to take a perpetual lease for the site of a school-bouse. T^e district should have the fee simple before building. The trustees of district No. 5, in the city of Troy, called a special meet- ing of the district to be held on tne 39th of February, 1848. This meet- ing was organized and adjourned to the 37th of March following. At the adjourned meeting, a resolution, which had been introduced at the previous meeting and laid on the table for future action, was called up. The resolution was amended, and, as amended, adopted unamimously. The resolution adopted read as follows : ^'Resolved, That the trustees of school district No. 5, of the city of Troy, be directed, by and with the consent of the school commissioners of the city of Troy, to lease, from Messrs. Marshall, Belding & Christie, lots Nos. 14, 15 and 16, on the north side of Christie street, in the fifth ward of the city of Troy, at a yearly rent not exceeding tlie sum of $34 per annum with the privilege of buying off said rent at seven per cent within ten years from date." The contemplated lease was for the site of a school-house. The only question necessary to be considered is this : Can a school dis- trict lease or purchase a site for a school-house in the manner contemplated in the resolution before mentioned? By the fourth and fifth clauses of section 63, chapter 480, laws of 1847 the inhabitants of a district have power to designate a site for a district school-house, and to lay such a tax on tlie taxable property of the district as the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a suitable site for a school-house, and to build, hire or purchase such school-house, and to keep in repair and furnish the same with the necessary fuel and ap- Sites. 651 pundages, and section 83 authorizes the trastees to carry each vote into effect. The word "lease" used here must be interpreted to mean a lease for a limited term, one two or three years, of a lot of land and building to be used by the district till such a time as a suitable site can be procured in fee, or the conveyance of a lot of land to the district, to be the property of the district so long as it shall be occupied for a school-house site. Under the new Constitution, no agricultural land can be leased for a longer period than twelve years; and, although individuals in cities may still lease building lots for longer terms, or in pei-petuity, it is certainly de- sirable that land to be used as the site of a school house should be free from any and every incumbrance. The statute confers no authority upon a school district to purchase land and give a mortgage or any other security for the consideration money. In the section authorizing the inhabitants to lease, authority is given to raise a tax for that purpose. It cannot be, therefore, that the authority to lease gives the inhabitants the privilege of voting that such a contract shall be entered into as will entail a perpetual debt upon the district and ■put the people to the necessity of raising a tax to pay rent every year throughout all coming time. It has heretofore been held that the district could not purchase a site and give a mortgage for the purchase-money, one-half to be paid in five years and the balance in ten years. This de- partment has, also, repeatedly held that districts could not be permit- ted to buy a site and erect a school-house upon land incumbered by mortgage. No good reason can be given against permitting the district to give a mortgage for the purchase-money of a site which will not bear with equal force against permitting them to enter into a contract by which the site of the school-house may be subjected to a perpetual incumbrance. If a mortgage is given, the interest must be paid annually, and the principal within some specified time. If a perpetual lease is given, the interest of the stipulated value of the land must be paid annually, but tlie principal cannot be paid at all except at the option of the lessor. The fact that the principal cannot be demanded is not a sufiicient reply to the objection, for the real difficulty is that the lien and incumbrance can only be removed with the consent of persons claiming the lien. What is this contract as contemplated in the resolution? It is just this: The lots are assumed to be worth about $487. The present owners say that the district may have an unconditional title in fee conveyed to them at any time in ten years, on the payment of that sum and the interest annually at seven per cent. But if the $487 is not paid within ten years, then the owners may demand $500 or $1,000, or just such sum as they may think proper. A mortgage may be foreclosed, if interest and principal, or either, are not punctually paid, and the premises sold, but in that case the proceeds, after paying the debt and costs, are refunded to the mortgagor. If rent is not punctually paid, the landlord may re-enter and take posses- sion of the premises leased, together with all the improvements, and may have judgment for costs. If, therefore, any incumbrance upon a school-house site is allowable, a mortgage would be preferable to a perpetual lease. The appeal is therefore sustained, and the resolution adopted by the meeting of the twenty-seventh of March aforesaid is set aside and declared null and void. If the district need a new school-house, the site for it must be purchased, and a tax levied to pay for it. Per Morgan, July 6, 1848. 653 Sites. Atwostory school-house may be built upon land leased, with the arrangement that the rent, or consideration of the grant, shall be the use by the lessor of the upper story out of school hours. The consistory of the Reformed Dutch Church in the town of Greenbush, granted to district No. 2, of said town, a lot of land for a school-house site, so long as the same should be used for that purpose, reserving an annual rent. Subsequent to the execution of the lease, an agreement was entered into between the trustees and the consistory, that the school-house should be built with two stories, and that when the upper story was not wanted for school purposes the consistory might use it, and such use, while permitted, should l3e in fuH payment for the rent. With full knowledge of this agi'eement, the district, thirty-three to seven, voted to raise a tax of $400; to procure the site and erect a school-house. Held, that the use of the upper story by the consistory was a fair equivalent for the rent, and that the agreement was not improper or illegal. Per Spencer, April 23, 1839. TAKING AND RECORDING, VOTE FOR. Taking vote for site, when district does not own a site. A vote taken at a special school meeting to locate a school-house site and to purchase the same is legal when taken other than by the ayes and noes, in case the district did not at the same time own any site. Per Neil Gil- mour, Superintendent. Becision No. 2954, February 19, 1879. Talcing vote for a change of site. The fact that the change of site was determined by ballot, and not by taking and recording the ayes and noes, as required by section 20, title 7, of the Code of Public Instruction, was an error fatal to the regularity of the proceedings taken. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3289, November 14, 1883. Upon a vote to change the school-house site, the intention of the statute is, to preserve the record, not merely of the majority, but of those who constituted the majority of the legal voters of the district who were present and took part in the proceedings. The names of the voters as well as the way they voted must be recorded. The appeal is brought from the action of a special school meeting, chang- ing the school-house site. The objection raised is that the ayes and nays taken in designating the site in question were not recorded as required by law. Section 20, title 7, of the Code of Public Instruction, distinctly requires that the site of the school-house "shall not be changed, unless a majority of all the legal voters of said district present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and nays, at a special meeting called for that purpose, shall be in favor of such new site." It appears from the evidence that a tally was kept of the number of voters in favor of and against tlie proposition, and tliis was the only record made of the vote. I am of the opinion that this is not the record contemplated by the statute. The legis- lative construction of constitutional provisions, similar in character to this statute, has been generally and concurrently in favor of the view that a record should be made of the persons voting for or against the bill on reso- lution. Thus the Constitution of the State of New York, article 3, section 15, provides that, "no bill shall be passed unless by the assent of a majority of all the members elected to such branch of the legislature, and the question, upon the final passage shall be taken immediately upon its last meeting, and Sites. 653 the yeas and nays entered ou the journal." Tliis lias been construed to rooan that the names of members sliall be recorded upon the journal as voting either yea or nay. It seems to me to be obvious that the intention of the statute is to preserve the record, not merely of the majority, but of those who constituted the majority of the legal voters of the district who were present and took part in the proceedings. I deem the failure to make such record fatal to tlie action of the meeting in desiguariug the site. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3383, November 19, 1884. VARIOUS TOPICS. The occupancy of a school-house sufficient notice to purchaser of land. Twenty years previous to the date of appeal, district No. G, Lincklaen, had taken a lease of a site for the school-house, for as long a period as the same should be occupied for a district school. James S. Graves purchased the land and appurtenances, without any resei'vation, and forbade the trustees from entering upon it, or from occupying the school-house. Mr. Graves purchased the land subject to the lease, and the fact that the land was occupied by the district for a school-house and site was sufficient notice to him. The district has a rightful claim to the possession of the land under the lease, and should take legal measures to assert their right. The occupancy is sufficient notice to the purchaser of the title of the dis- trict, and he is bound to ascertain it at his peril, notwithstanding the omis- sion to put the lease upon record. Per Spencer, January 23, 1840. In designating a site for a school-house, the description should be by metes and bouncfs and the quantity of land should be stated, that every inhabitant of the dis- trict may be able to vote inteUigently. At a special meeting held in district No. 6, Lansing, March 1, 1849, resolutions were passed to change the site of the school-house "to the first corner north of the road, on a piece of land owned by Mary Dickerson ;" to raise a tax to purchase the new site, and also a tax of $300 to build a school-house, etc. The notice for this^ meeting having been deficient and improperly given, another special meeting was called, to be held March 15, 1849. At this last meeting, a resolution was passed confirming the proceedings of the meeting of the 1st of March. The principal point in the case is that the site was not sufficiently desig- nated. The resolution to move the site " to the first corner north of the road " is too v^ue and indefinite, and cannot be regarded in law. It does not state whether the trustees are authorized to purchase one-half acre or five acres on the comer, nor is the description of the land given sufficient to give an idea of its location. In designating a site for a school-house, the description should be by metes and bounds, and the quantity of land should be given, that every inhabitant of the district may be able to vote intelligently. Per Morgan, April, 1849. The mere act of voting to select a particular piece of land upon which to erect a school-house does not establish the site. It must bo followed by an actual leasing or purchase, The appellants in this case allege that, on the 31st day of May, 1851, at a special meeting regularly called, a resolution was passed authorizing the 654 Sri'ES. selection of a site for building a school-house on the land of Mr. Fenner, and the collection of a tax to pay for the same. The trustees assessed the tax, and about $45 of it was collected, but they neglected to purchase the site. On the 12th day of March, 1853, at a regu- larly called meeting, a resolution was passed authorizing the selection of a site on the land of J. H. Dwick, and a tax of $350 for building a school- house. The trustees then took the money which had been collected for the purchase of the site first selected, aud with it purchased the Dwick site. It is claimed by the appellants that it was illegal to change the site after the money had been collected to pay for the same ; that no change could be made without the consent of the town superintendent, and it was illegal to use for the Dwick site the money that had been raised for purchasing the " Penner " site. In reply to these allegations, the trustees state that, after the meeting of May 31, 1851, and on the 15th of November of that year, at a special meet- ing legally held, a resolution was passed rescinding the resolution of the former meeting authorizing the selection of a site upon the land of Mr. Fenner. At a subsequent special meeting, a resolution was passed author- izing the selection of a site upon the land of Mr. Dwick. No action was taken at that meeting in reference to the disposition to be made of the money which had been raised for the purchase of a site ; but, at the annual meeting held since this appeal was brought, the trustees were directed to use the money in the purchase of the " Dwick site." The case referred to by the appellants, in Barbour's Supreme Court Re- ports {eol. 4, p. 25), in support of their first objection, does not sustain the point they raise. The court merely decides that a district cannot legally rescind a resolution imposing a tax, after the tax-list has been made out and the tax partly collected. That decision is in accordance with repeated decisions of this department, in which it has been held that a district could not legally rescind a resolution conferring any authority upon the trustees, after they have entered upon the performance of the duty imposed by the resolution. But these decisions do not touch this case. The reso- lution autliorizing the collection of the tax was distinct and separate from that authorizing the selection of the site, and the repeal of the latter in no respect affected the right of the trustees to collect the tax. Besides, it is conceded, and in fact is made the subject of complaint, by the appellants that the trustees had not taken any steps toward purchasing the site named in the resolution which was rescinded. If they had not, the district clearly possessed the power of rescinding the resolution in the manner they did, unless their action had so established the site that it could not be changed without the consent of the town superintendent. The mere act of voting to select a particular piece of land upon which to erect a school-house does not establish the site. Something more is necessary to accomplish that. The vote must be followed up by an actual leasing or purchase. In this case there is no pretense that a title to the site could not be procured. But it is alleged that the trustees neglected to procure it, although they might have done so, and the district afterward took from them the author- ity to make the purchase. This, I think, they had a rigbt to do without the consent of the town superintendent, if they deemed it proper. I can, therefore, perceive no illegality in the proceedings of the meeting, in select- ing a site upon the land of Mr. Dwick. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed. Per H. S. Randall, November 29. 1853. Money must not be paid for site until clear title is obtained. Trustees ought not to pay money for a site until they have a valid title Sites. 655 from all the owners, and a regular release under seal of any existing mort- gage or other incumbrance, and a satisfaction of any incumbrances which, though paid in fact, as may be supposed, are not discharged of record. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, March 24, 1855. Where trustees purchase a site designated by the district, an appeai from their action will not lie; it should be brought from the proceedings of the meeting in designat- ing that site. This is an appeal from the action of the trustees in purchasing a school- house site, and contracting for the building of a school-house thereon. The acts complained of were under the authority and direction of votes of the inhabitants, duly convened in district meeting. The appeal should have been brought from these proceedings before thirty days had expired, and before the trustees, in obedience to the votes of these meetings, had contracted for the site and for the building of the house. The district is bound by these contracts, and the matter has now passed beyond the reach of equitable interposition by this department, and must, therefore, be per- mitted to take its natural course. Per H. H. Van Byck, Superintendent, July 9, 1860. Division fences. In regard to division fences, a school district is subject to the same lia- bilities as any other owner of real estate. If the district chooses to let the site lie open to the highway, you cannot compel them to build or maintain any portion of a division fence. If, however, you build such fence, and the district afterward incloses the school lot, you can compel the inhabit- ants to refund half the expense of building the line fence. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction, October 26, 1866. District is not required to dispose of the old school-house and site after a new one is obtained. The district is not legally bound to dispose of the old school-house and site, simply because a new site has been selected. They may be held with the consent of the school commissioner as an additional site and a branch school be maintained therein. The law in regard to the sale of the old school-house and site is permissive only, not mandatory. (See section 21, title 7, General Sclwol Act.) Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 9, 1868. Supervisor and commissioner cannot condemn school-house site. By subdivision 4, sec. 13, title 2, Code of Public Instruction, the school commissioner and supervisor are given power to condemn a school-house if they deem it wholly unfit for use and not worth repairing; but the law nowhere confers upon such ofHcei-s power to condemn a school-house nte. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2819, February 10, 1879. Fencing site. The discretionary powers conferred upon the trustee do not include the right to fence the school-house site. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3101, Jime 18, 1881. 656 Sites. liOcation of building upon site. In the absence of any special designation of the spot upon the site pre viously selected for the school-house, by the district meeting, it was com- petent for the trustee to build on any part of the site which, in his judgment, would be for the best interests of the district. Per W. B. Ruggles Superintendent. Decision No. 3281, October 6, 1883. The proceedings of a district meeting, properly called and cond"ncted in an orderly manner, changing a school-house site, will not be disturbed, unless it is made to appear clearly that the site selected is unsuitable or would not be convenient to the greater number of patrons. But little weight can be given to the statement of a public officer made for the purposes of impeaching his own official act. This is an appeal by Leander Cole, a resident and tax payer, against the action of the district meeting held September 9, 1886, in joint school dis- trict No. 1 of the towns of Roxbnry in Delaware county, Prattsville in Greene county, and Conesville and Gilboa in Schoharie county, in voting to change the site of the district school-house. There is no allegation against the regularity of the proceedings. The school meeting was regularly convened. Due notice was given to all, and it seems that all of the duly qualified voters of the district were present at the meeting. It is said that the resolution changing the school-house site was taken inconsiderately, but it is shown to have been under discu.ssion some three-quarters of an hour. The proposition to change the site has since received the approval of the supervisors of the four towns in which the district is located. One of these supervisors makes affidavit, in which he swears that he gave his assent under a misunderstanding of the circum- stances, and regrets that he did it ; and one or two of the others are alleged to have made statements somewhat in the same direction. It is impossible to give much weight tn such statements on the part of a public oflRcer, made for the purpose of impeaching his own official act, and there seems to be no reason why the action of the meeting should be set aside on this account. The main question for me to determine is, whether the change in the site will be to the convenience of the greater number of patrons of the school or not. The statements of the respective parties upon this sub- ject are exceedingly contradictory. It must be assumed that the majority of legal voters assembled in a school meeting will locate the school site at the point which is best calculated to promote the convenience of the greater number in the district. Before the department will be justified in over- turning the action of the majority, it must have clear proof to the contrary. There is no such clearness of proof in this case. The new site has been conveyed to the district free of cost. It is said to be not more than fifty-six rods from the old site. There is considerable proof that the old site is not a suitable one for a school-house, being surrounded by the forest and not in sight of any house, and dangerously near a high precipice overhanging the Schoharie creek, while the new site is said to be removeii from the preci- pice and in sight of three residences. In all sparsely settled school disti'icts some people must be farther from the school than others, and be Incon- venienced by the long distance which their children are obliged to traverse. That is undoubtedly ti-ue in this case ; but the proofs do not show that the greater number are put to increased inconvenience by this change, while I think that it is proved that the proposed site is more suitable for school purposes than the old. I am unable to sustain the appeal, and it will be dismissed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3542, November 24, 1886. SUPERINTKNDKNT 657 Coinmittee lo purchase site Distiict meeting cannot delegate the authority to determine a site. The delegation of power by the district meeting held October 5th, to a committee to select and jmrchase a site, is illegal. The statute does not authorize such a proceeding. The district meeting alone lias the power to designate a school- house site, and so far as this actioa is concerned, the last above entitled ajipeal is sustained. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3549, December 15, 188G. Selection of school-house sites. In deciding this appeal, it is proper that I should advise against the prac- tice of erecting school buildings upon sites of which the district is not the absolute owner. I wish to encourage, as far as possil)le, the purchase of sites by districts when a new school-house is to be constructed. The site to be selected should be as nearly centrally located for the con- venience of patrons of the school, as possible. It should be a healthful spot and one easy of access at all times of the year. I find the evidence presented upon this appeal very conflicting upon this point. It appears that the selection of the contemplated site was secured by a very close vote and that enough legal voters were prevented by stormy weather fioni attending the district meeting to have changed the result. A site chosen sliould be the choice of a majority of the legal voters of a district after deliberate con- sideration and one which the supervisor of the town will approve of as required by the statute. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3587, April 15, 1887. SUPERINTENDENT. JURISDICTION. The law intends the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to be State wide and to cover all controversies touching any official act of local school officers. His jurisdiction is not obtained from local school acts, but from the general school law, and is general unless taken away by a special act in language so clear as to leave no doubt of its intent. In an appeal brought from the action of the board of education of the city of Binghamton in the matter of the change or designation of certain text-books, the board denied that the Superintendent had any jurisdiction to hear and decide the ajipeal. " It is said that the school system of the city of Binghamton is governed by a special act of the legislature (chapter 383 Laws of 1801) and its amend- nients and that there is nothing in this special act conferring upon the State Superinteiideut the authority to determine appeals from the acts of the board of education of that city. It is also insisted tliat the provisions of the Consolidated School Act (chapter 555 Laws of 1804) concerning appeals to the State Superintendent from tl>e acts of local school officers do not extend jurisdiction to the act of a board of education in a city having a special school act. It is accordingly argued that there is no jurisdiction at all in the present case." The question is an important one and I have endeavored to give it that examination which its gravity demands. 83 658 Superintendent. I Iiave examined the statutes specially referring to the supervision of the schools of the city of Binghamtou with considerable care and am of the opinion that, if jurisdiction in this case depended alone upon these statutes, it would not be difficult, reading tlie several successive acts together, to dis- cern an intention to confer it, on the part of the legislatiu-e. But in my opinion it does not depend upon the provisions of the special acts, having reference only to a particular locality. Title XII, section 1, chapter .555 Laws of 1864, is as follows: " Section 1. Any person conceiving himself aggrieved iu consequence of any decision made, 1. By any school district meeting. 3. By any school commissioner or school commissioners and other offlceis, in forming or altering, or refusing to form or alter, any school district, or in refusing to apportion any school moneys to any such district or part of a district. 8. By a supervisor in refusing to pay such moneys to any such district. 4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to jiay any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuituously into any school. 5. By any trustee of any school district library couceruiugsuch library, or the books therein, or the use of such books. C. By any district meeting in relation to the library. 7. By any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools, may appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is hereby authorized and required to examine and decide the same; and his decisioii shall be final and conclu- sive, and not subject to question or review in any place or court whatever." The seventh subdivision of this section contains language as compre- hensive as could well be employed. It authorizes any person aggrieved at " any other official act or decision concerning any other matter under this act, or any other act pertaining to common schools," to appeal to the State Superintendent. The contention of the respondent's counsel that the phrase, " any other official act," refers only to acts by the same body, or of the same nature as though specified in the first six subdivisions of the sec- tion, cannot be adopted. It is an official act concerning " any other matter under this act, or under any other act pertaining to common schools," which is the subject of appeal. It was the obvious intent of the legisla- ture to provide an easy, inexpensive, speedy and conclusive way for pro- curing a determination of complaints against any official act of any local school official. Both the language of the law and the different steps taken by the legislature to bring it to its present state, sustain this construction. Enacted in the early days of the school system, it has from time to time been added to with the evident purpose of making it clear that the juris- diction of the Superintendent is intended to be State wide, and is to cover all controversies touching any official act of local school officials. These provisions of the general law wore, in substance, in force long before the passage of the special laws referring only to the city of Bing- hamton. If the legislature had intended to cut off the right of appeal, as to that city, it would have so provided in the laws particularly applicable to it. It not only did not do this, but it is worthy of note that it expressly preserved the right in the first instance, and omitted to do this only upon a re-enactment of the Binghamton school laws, consequent upon the granting of a city charter to the place. It is fair to assume that the omission at that time was either because of inadvertence or because an express reservation was deemed unnecessary. In any event, the State Superintendent does not get jurisdiction from local school acts, but from the gcnei'al school law. SUPERVTSORS. 659 T)ie autliority must be held to be general, unless taken away by a special act, in language so clear as to leave no doubt of its intent, and there is no such taking away in the statutes applicable only to the city of Binghamton. There is another consideration which has not been suggested by the able and alert counsel who appeared upon the argument of this appeal, and which, in view of tlie foregoing, is perhaps not material to the determina- tion of the question of jurisdiction, and yet it has sufficient bearing upon it to justify me in mentioning it. The appellant claims that the action of the respondent is in violation of chapter 413 of the Laws of 1877, entitled "An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools." This is an "act pertaining to common schools." The question brought here is one arising under it. The determination of this question may involve the con- struction of the provisions of this general law, rather than of the special laws relating to Binghamton. It will hardly be contended that the legisla- ture meant to leave it to the board of education or trustees in each city or ■district having a special school act, to place such construction as it sliould see fit upon this general law, and to suit its acts to its views of the meaning of the law, without affording a means of redress to persons diffei-iug with it in opinions and aggrieved by its acts. Such a view would result in as many different constructions of the meaning of this statute as there are different localities having special acts, and would defeat the purpose and intent of this general law. In view of these considerations, it seems clear to me that the grievance of the appellant is properly brought before the department by means of an appeal, and that, under the laws, it is the duty of the Superintendent to •determine the matter. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3583, April 4, 1887. On tliis same subject, see, also, decision No. 3576, dated March 19, 1887. SUPERVISOES. Town superintendents (snnervisors) can use no discretion in (lie matter of paying over public money on the order of the trustce.s. Town superintendents are by law required to pay over the library money apDortioned to the several districts, to, or on the order of, the trustees of such districts respectively. The question of the legal or illegal expenditure of such money can only arise on the apportionment, and must be determined from the annual report of the trustees fpr the year preceding such appor- tionment. Where, therefore, .an order of the trustees, legal on its face, is presented to the town superintendent (supervisor) for the payment of the whole or any portion of the library money of any district, he has no other alternative than to pay it, unless he knows, or has good reason to suspect, it has been wrongfully procured, and even then he refuses payment on his own responsibility, should the order prove to be genuine and valid. It is true, trustees of districts have no legal authority to apply the library money to the purchase of maps, globes, or other scientific apparatus, with- out a vote of the district to that effect, but this is a matter with which tlio town superintendent (supervisor) has nothing to do. The trustees are responsible for the proper performance of their duty only to their district; their successors in office, and the department of public instruction; and if, without a vote of the district, they give an order for the library money on 660 Sui-ERVISOKS. purchasing apparatus, etc., such au order is valid, and the town _ superin- tendent (supervisor) cannot go behind it in search of the authority under which it was given. Tlie designation of a portion of such money as inter- est does not affect tlie right of the holder of the order to receive payment; and, if the supervisor has not funds of the district in his hands to an. amount sufficient to meet the order, he may indorse the amount paid on tlie order, or take a receipt for the same. Per V. M. Rice, Supermtendent, May 19, 185.4. Iiregnlarity in proceedings to determine the relative valuations of property iu a joint district. The supervisors of Cazenovia and Sullivan were applied to under the statute in such cases to inquire and determine ■whether the valuations of real property upon the several assessment-rolls of those towns were sub- stantially just as compared with each other so far as district No. 3, lying partly in each of those towns, was concerned. The two supervisors being unable to agree, a third was called in, and they determined that the amount of $10,650.31 should be added to the assessment of the town of Cazenovia for said district. Held, that the proceeding of the supervisors was irregular. Their action was not such as is contemplated and required by law. Their duty was to determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts, if lying in the different towns. Instead of doing this the supervisors undertook to equalize the valuation of the real estate in the different towns so far as the said district is concerned, and for this no warrant of law can be found. The action of the supervisors is set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 10, 1869. Apportionment by supervisors of the valuation of real property in the several parts of a joint district when unequal and unjust, wilt be set aside. in a school district comprising parts of four towns, the supervisors upon application met and determined the relative proportion of taxes in said district that ought to be assessed upon the real propeity of the parts of said district lying in the different towns. From this determination, the trustee of said district appealed. Only two of the supervisors answerei.1, and to the effect that they had become convinced upon further examination that the determination made was unjust and erroneous against the inhabit- ants of two of the said towns. Other confirmatory evidence of the injus- tice wrought was submitted. The Superintendent says: "Prom a careful consideration of the testimony submitted, and of the whole case, I have come to the conclusion that the determination of the supervisors as to the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of the district lying in the different towns is unjust and unequal as compared with each other, and that it should be set aside." Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, June 33, 1875. Same. A like determination set aside where it was shown that the supervisors in making the same were misled by an erroneous statement submitted to them of the amount of real estate in said district lying in one of the towns, the same having been represented greater thau it was. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, October 14, 1875. Taxes and Taxation. 661 Same. From tlio papers submitted, the determination of the supervisors Is erro- neous; and even if said determination were just so far as the Howe's Cave Association is concerned (which pays the principal part of tlie taxes in one part of the district), it is certainly unjust toward the other tax payers in the part of the school district situated in the town of Cobleskill. " Per Neil ■Gilmour, Superintendent, May 32, 1876. Supervisors will be directed to consent to the renewal of the warrrant of a school dis- trict collector where they show no good reason for refusing to do so. In this case tlie collection of the tax had been delayed and prevented by the bringing and hearing of appeals against its enforcement. Several renew- als had already beeu made with the consent of the supervisor, and no reason was given by him for his refusal again to consent to a further renewal of "the same. Directed to approve of a further renewal of the said warrant. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 2, 1870. Same. As no reason has been shown why it should not be further renewed for the uncollected portion of the tax, it appears to be tlie manifest duty of the respondent (supervisor) to give his approval in writing to Ite renewal ■of the warrant in question. So ordered . Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, September 16, 1874. TAXES AND TAXATION. ASSESSMENT AND TAX-LIST. When the assessment-roll of a town is at the county seat in the custody of the board of supervisors, and a tax is voted in its absence, it is a sufficient excuse for not making out the tax-list within thirty days after it is voted. The statute is merely directory. At a district meeting in the town of Wilson, held November 28, 1848, a tax of $15 was voted for the purpose of furnishing the school with wood during the winter. The last assessment-roll of the town being at the county scat, the trustees did not make out the tax-list within the time directed by law. Thinking the tax had become void, they gave the district clerk a verbal notice to cause a special meeting to be held the twentieth day of November for the purpose of voting the tax again. The meeting was held and the tax voted. Also a tax was voted to repair the school-house, without tlie proper notice being given. Objection being made by some of the inhabitants to this meeting — first, because the notice of the trustees was not written, and sec- ond, because a tax was voted to repair the school-house without tlie proper notice ~ the trustees called another meeting, to be held the twenty-third of December, for the same purpose. At this meeting the motion to raise the tax for wood was negatived. From this vote the trustees appeal. According to a vote of the district at tlie annual meeting, the trustees assumed responsibilities in behalf of the •district for which they were directed to raise a tax. Although the tax-list may not have been made out within thirty days aftei the tax was voted, no 662 Taxes and Taxation. subsequent vote of the district could change their liability to taxation for wood. The trustees acted under the directiou of the district, and could not therefore be made personally responsible, if they acted in good faith. The statute relating to the time of making out a tax-list is directory merely, and a failure to comply with it, through accident or for good reasons, does not render a tax that has been voted, illegal. The trustees in this case had good reasons for not completing the tax-list in thirty days, to-wit, the absence of the assessment-roll. The trustees are hereby authorized to levy the tax voted at the annual meeting. Per Moi'gan, January, 1849. In making out a tax-list, all the trustees must be consulted and act together. Two of the trustees of district No 1, Hornby, Steuben county, made out a tax-list without notifying or consulting with the third. The other trustee- and Mr. Chalion Headley appealed, and asked that the said tax-list be set aside, without pointing out any error or alleging any special grievance. It is a clear and undoubted principle that the public have the right to the counsel and service of all the members of a board of trustees, and of every other tribunal, in all their doings which involve the exercise of discretion and judgment. The making out of a tax-list is of this character. The trustees have to determine who are taxable inhabitants, and for wliat amount they shall be respectively assessed. It is true that, upon examination, they may ascertain, that the taxable inhabitants of their district are the same persons and no other tlian those enumerated in the last completed town assessment-roll, and that their property respectively remains, without any variation, as it did at the time such roll was completed. That determination having been reached, the duty of copying so much of the assessment-roll as relates to the inhabitants and property of their district is a purely cleri- cal one, which may as well be disciiarsjed by one trustee as by three. It is, however, always a preliminary question, whether such be the fact, and th& public have an interest that each of the trustees should be heard upon this question. A trustee who is absent might know and be able to show his- colleagues that a particular inhabitant had received a large accession to his- personal property, and thus reduce the contribution of every other tax payer. The appeal is therefore sustained, and the proceedings of the trustees declared irregular. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, November 8, 1855. The form of a tax-list is deemed important. The form of a tax-list is of more importance than is generally conceived, and there is no reason why that prescribed in the Code of Public Instruction should not be followed. It might not vitiate the tax-list that its form was not precisely like that required by law, but it affords a substantial ground for directing the trustees again to make out their list. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, March 25, 1858. A tax-list, made out by one of the trustees and signed by tnro of them, without notice to, or consultation with, the third trustee, will be set aside. On an appeal from the proceedings of two of the trustees in making out a tax-list, it appears that the said tax-list was made out by one of them and issued with the signature of but two attached, the third not having been consulted concerning it. The statute expressly requires the trustees to meet and act together iiv determining the assessment; and, in the instructions from this department Taxes and Taxatiox. 663 in tlie circiilav containing the amendment to the school law, passed April 13, 1858, this jioint was especially dwelt upon, and the liability of trustees was distinctly set forth, I have, therefore, no alternative but to declare the tax-list invalid, and to order the trustees to meet together for the purpose of making out a new one. Per H. H. Van Dyok, Superintendent, January 4, 1849. An appeal from corrections in a tax-list made at the suggestion and desire of the appel- > lant will not be sustained. Tax-lists must be made out from the last assessment- roll, otherwise they are not valid. This is an appeal from the acts of the trustees in making out two tax- lists, and in proceeding to enforce the collection of the same. The objection to the first of these tax-lists is sufficient to establish its invalidity. The complaint that the trustees corrected it upon his sugges- tion and at his desire comes with poor grace from the man in whose behalf the corrections were made. The department, therefore, now justifies and api>roves the amendments complained of. The objection to the second tax-list is that it was made from the assess- ment-rolls of 1859, though at the time the assessment of 1860 was com- plete, and had been delivered to the supervisor. This fact, being admitted by the trustees, is fatal to the validity of the tax-list, though the trustees acted ignorantly or in good faith That does not change the question. The statute invests them with no authority to use any other tlian the last assessment-roll, and this department has no power to contravene the provisions of the law. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 16, 1861. Trustees act judicially in levying a tax, and this department will not set up its judg- ment in opposition to theirs, as to the correctness of the taxation. It is not the business of this department to assess the property of dis- tricts, nor to make out tax-lists. The law imposes that duty on trustees, and to a certain extent they act judicially in the discharge of that duty. The supreme court has refused , to interfere to correct assessments, even where it was proved that property had been erroneously omitted; and this department certainly does not possess greater power in such cases than the supreme court. The department will not set up its judgment in opposition to that of the trustees, as to the correctness of the taxation. Per V. M. Rice, Superin- tendent, August 18, 1862. Department will not order land placed upon the tax-list when the district boundaries are in dispute, so that it will virtually pass upon such bouudaries. This department will refuse to direct trustees to include in a tax-list, land concerning which there is a question as to which district it belongs, and will not pass upon the matter of disputed boundaries in disposing of a pro- ceeding asking for a correction of the tax-list. The school commissioner has original jurisdiction, and the law makes it his duty to amend the record of district boundaries. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 2996, July 23, 1880. Trustee must follow supervisor's equalization. A trustee must make out his tax-list in accordance with the ordei of the supervisors determining the relative proportions of taxes that ought to be 664 Taxes and Taxation. assessed upon the real property of respective parts of the district lying in two towns. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3049, Jan- uary 23, 1881. Must include amount of judgment in tax-list. When a sheriff collects a judgment against a school district of one of the trustees, the board of trustees must include the amount so paid in the tax-list, and recompense such trustee. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3105, June 33, 1881. Trustees must act in issuing tax-list at a meetuig o£ which all the trustees had notice. The issuing of a tax-list must be decided upon at a meeting of the trustees of which all had legal notice. A tax-list must be prefixed with a lieading showing for what purpose the diiferent items of the tax is levied. The tax-list must also include all the taxable property in the district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3164, February 1, 1882. Amending heading of tax-list. Trustee must not amend the heading of a tax-list without the authority of this department. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 8254, April 5, 1883. Where the tax-list is issued before the equalization by the supervisors, the trustees must follow the last assessment-rolls of the towns. When the equalization is made subsequent to the issuing of the tax -list, the Super- intendent will not order the tax-list withdrawn, unless some fraud or bad faith of the trustees is shown in issuing it before the equalization was made. The tax-list in question was made out from the last assessment-rolls of the two towns in which tlie district was situated, as revised by the assessors. Subsequently the supervisors of said towns, on the application of the trustee, equalized the assessed valuation of the real estate of the two towns lying iu said school district. The parties to this agreed statement ask, substantially, that the Super- intendent direct the withdrawal of said tax-list and warrant, and that a new one issue in its place on the basis of the equalization made as aforesaid. To justify the Superintendent in granting the relief sought, it shiould have appeared that the equalization was made by the supervisors before the warrant was issued, or that there was some fraud or bad faith of the trustee in issuing the warrant, after knowledge that an application had been made to the supervisors for an equalization. In this case no element of bad faith appears; but, on the other hand, it is agreed that the tax-list was made out as directed by the statute, and that the warrant was legally issued. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 8451, November 13, 1885. TOWX ROLL TO BE FOLLOWED. Where town assessment-roll is corrected by the assessors, or adopted by them with- out correction, it is henceforth the assessment-roll of the town for all district taxes. Board of supervisors having equalized taxation, addition or subtraction of a per- centage does not change proportionate valuation between inhabitants of same town ; but, in joint districts, supervisors are to determine the relative proportion of taxes to be assessed upon real property of parts lying in each town. When the town assessment-roll is corrected by the assessors, or finally adopted by them after notice of its completion without correction it Taxes and Taxation. 665 becomes flie assessment-roll of the town for the purpose of all district taxes thereafter. The equalization by the board of supervisors being made, the addition or subtraction of a percentage does not change the proportionate valuation as between inhabitants of the same town, and is, therefore, to be disregarded. In joint districts, however, the statute {section 69, title 7, chapter 555 of 1854) provides for equalization by the board of superin- tendents (supervisors) of the several towns of which the district is composed. They are to determine "the relative pioportion of ta.xes which ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts" lying in each town. The proper coiu-se is to find, in the first place, the aggregate valuation of the part lying in Sherburne from that town roll, of that lying in Hamilton from the Hamilton roll, that in Lebanon from tlie Lebanon roll. Suppose tlie aggregate vahiations of the parts to be — Sherburne, S25,000, Lebanon, $30,000, and Hamilton, $45,000. You are to inquire if these are substantially just, as compared with each other. If it appears unjust, then add and subtract until you obtain the fair proportion, accord- ing to your judgment, of the value of the property. Suppose that you arrive at the determination tliat the Sherburne part ought to be valued at $35,000, Lebanon at $36,000, and Hamilton at $351,000 — making the same aggregate, you will observe. Then you reduce your determination to writing, stating therein tnat, in all taxes for school purposes thereafter to be raised in the joint district, thirty-five cents of every dollar thereof ought to be assessed upon the real property of the part of such district lying in ths town of Sherburne, according to the valuation of such pi'operty in the corrected assessment-roll of Sherburne, which shall last precede the making out of sucli tax, twenty-six cents of every dollar in Lebanon, and thirty- nuie cents, etc., etc., in Hamilton. The trustees, in making out future taxes, will have to use all these rolls, and it is desirable, though not imperative, that you should facilitate their labor by giving them the proportions in decimals of a dollar. Per E. Peshine Smith, Deputy Superintendent, March 23, 1855. The assessment-roll of a town, as revised b.v the assessors and delivered to the super- visors, is complete so far as to bind the trustees in making out a tax-list. The trustees of joint district No. 1, Gates and Chili, Monroe county, in making a tax -list on the 15th day of October, 1855, adopted the valuations of the town assessment-rolls for 1854. The rolls for 1855 had not then been levised by the supervisors, and, as those of the two towns differed very matei-ially in their valuations of real estate, the trustees considered it un- just to follow tliem until such revision. In this the trustees erred, and their tax-list is consequently erroneous. It has been repeatedly decided by this department, and also by the supreme court, that when the assessment- roll has been revised by the assessors and delivered to the supervisors, it becomes so far complete as to bind the trustees. If the trustees of a joint district regard the valuations of the two town assessment -rolls as not substantially just, as compared with each other, so far as such district is concerned, they have the light to apply to the super- visors of the towns, parts of which are embraced within tiieir school dis- trict, to determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought tnbe assessed upon the real property of the parts of such districts so lying in different towns. (Section 69, title 7, chapter 555, Laws oj 1864.) They can resort to this remedy as well after as before the board of super- visors has revised and equalized tlie town assessment-rolls. 84 666 Taxes and Taxation. The appeal is sustained, and the trustees authorized to amend their tax- list in accordance with law. Per E. P. Smith, June 4, 1856. In making out a tax-list, it the trustees follow the town roll, it will not be held inTalid, although land belonginff to the sou is assessed to his father. When the town assessors nave assessed a minister of the gospel for his propei'ty, the trustees, in making out a tax-list, must presume that the $1,500 exemption allowed by statute has beeu made. Appellant complains that the trustee, in making out a tax-list, pursusint to the vote of a special meeting held in the district, April 38, 1867, omitted to lax Lucius Stillson for fifty acres of land owned by him, and situated and taxable in said district. Also, that one Junius Voorhees, "who voted at said special meeting, and who has taxable property above tlie value of $50, is not assessed in said tax -list. Also, that appellant i is a regularly ordained minister of the gospel, and that he claimed an exemption of $1,500 on that account, which respondent refused to allow. Respondent shows that said Lucius Stillson is a young iinmarried man living with his father, and that said fifty acres of land is assessed to the father on said tax-list, the same as on the town-roll, This being the case, the appellant is not aggrieved, tlie land is taxed, which is the important thing, and the appel- lant has no grounds of complaint, even admitting that the land was assessed to the wrong person. In regard to Voorhees, the respondent shows that he is not assessed on the town roll, anil that he has no knowl- edge of any taxable property in his (Voorhees') possession. In making out tax-lists, trustees are not bound to vary from the town roll in regard to personal property, except from personal knowledge of an alteration since tlic town roll was made, or to correct a known or an acknowledged error. I do not see, therefore, that the trustee is at fault in the matter com- plained of. Concei-ning the assessment of appellant, respondent shows that he fol- lowed the town roll, and assessed him $1,830 on property worth at least $5,000. Appellant does not show that the town assessors did not reduce his valuation to the amount of $1,500, on account of his being a minister of the gospel, and, not having proved the contrary, the presumption is tliat the assessors performed their duty and allowed such reduction, if he was entitled to it. The appeal has failed to establish any real grievance on the part of appellant, and it must be, and is hereby, dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, August 17, 1867. Trustees must follow the last completed assessment-roll of the town in making out a tax-list, regardless of the time when the tax should have been levied. In making out a tax -list in 1870, after the assessment-roll of the town for that year had been completed, the trustee followed the assessment-roll of 1869 for the reason, as stated by him, that tlie tax, which was for teachers' wages, should have beeu collected by his predecessor in office prior to the completion of the roll of 1870, and at a time when the roll of 1869 was the last completed roll of the town. The conclusion of the respondent is erroneous. The provisions of the statute with reference to making out a tax-list are imperative, and direct that the last assessment-roll of the town is tlie one to be followed in mak- ing assessments without reference to the time when the tax might have been, or properly should have been levied. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, January 7, 1871. Taxes and Taxation. 667 EXEMPTION. A district has no power to exempt any inhabitant from taxation in consideration of a gift by him of a site. A taxable inhabitant was intentionally omitted in the tax-list, in con- sideration of his having given lialf an acre of land for the site of the school- house. Held, on appeal, that the trustees are required by law to assess every tax upon all the taxable inhabitants of the district, and that a dis- trict meeting has no power to i-elieve them from this obligation. Per V. M. Kice, Superintendent, February 4, 1857. Non-practicing clergymen not entitled to the reduction of $1,500, made in favor of practicing ministers of the gospel. Where clergymen have to all intents and purposes given up their profes- sion, the fact that they have for a number of years been engaged in busi ness of an entirely different character, and have not meanwhile been settled over any church as pastor, afflorfs strong ground of presumption that they have given up the practice of their profession. They are not in my opin- ion, entitled to the reduction of $1,500, which the law makes in favor of practicing ministers of the gospel. The intention of the law is to exempt those who are actual clergymen practicing their profession, or who, if not practicing it, are not engaged in any other business. Per S. D. Ban, Deputy Superintendent, November 23, 1865. {Letters, vol. 4, p. 561.) A. lot owned by a church, on which there is no church building, is not exempt from taxation. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent Public Instruction, April 23, 1866. A parsonage lot owned by a religious society and occupied by the minister as tenant IS not exempt from taxation. Appeal from the neglect or refusal of the trustee to assess the parsonage lot, situate in said district owned by a religious society and occupied by the minister of said society as tenant. The trustee gives as his reason for exempting said lot, that it has always. been exempted by the town assessors, and that it is supposed said premises, being occupied by a minister of the gospel as a tenant, should, for that reason, be exempted. There is nothing in this statement by the respondent to justify the exemption of the premises in question from assessment and taxation for school purposes. It is only the real estate of a minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination to the amount of $1,500, when it is both owned and occupied by him, that is exempt from taxation. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 24, 1869. A regularly ordained minister of the gospel is entitled to the exemption from taxation allowed oy law, although at the time he have no society in charge and works at a trade. It IS shown that the person m question is a minister of the gospel, in good standing, and that he officiates as such in accdrdance with the rules of the denomination to which he is attached, and of which he is a regu- larly ordained clergymen. He acknowledges that he perforins manual labor as stated by the appellants, for the reason that he is required to do so to obtain a proper support. 668 Taxes and Taxation. Under the ciicumstarices, I am clearly of tl\e opinion tliat he is entitled to the exemption allowed by law to ministers of the gospel. Per Neil Oilmour, Superintendent, May 16, 1874. Note. — It will be seen that the facts are different somewhat from those stated m a previous opinion, per S. D. Harr, Deputy Superintendent, and given above. TAX BY INSTALLMENTS. A tax voted for the purchase of a site cannot be raised by installments. A tax-list for the whole amount must be made out within thirty days from the voting of the tax. This is an appeal from the procedings of an adjourned special meeting held on the 4th of May last, at which the site of the school-house of the district was changed and a tax of $200 voted to build a school-house thereon and to fence the site, such tax to be collected in two equal installments, one-half on the 1st of September and the remainder on the 1st of December next. There is an objection appearing on the face of the proceedings, which is fatal to the validity of the vote for raising the tax for purchasing the site. The Superintendent is unable to find any authority in the school law for raising the amount provided for by the vote of the district in two install- ments, one payable in September and the other in December next. When a greater sum than $400 ($1,000) is directed to be raised for building a school-house, in the manner prescribed by section 19, title 7, school laws, such amount may be raised in equal annual installments, as therein pro- vided ; but where the amount to be raised is for the purpose of a site, no provision exists for raising such amount by installments, and the law requires the tax-list for the whole amount to be made out within thirty days from the voting of the tax. The resolution referred to was therefore illegal and invalid for this cause, and so much of the proceedings of the special meeting appealed from as relates to the raising of the tax of $200 to purchase and fence the site, payable in installments, as therein specified, is hereby set aside. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, June 13, 1854. IRREGULARITIES. A warrant issued twenty-one days after the tax to which it relates was voted, is invalid. A tax-list and warrant issued about November 2, 1870, embraced an item of $35 for repairs voted by the district on the 11th of October previously. This fact is fatal to the validity of the tax-list, for the statute requires {section 83, title 7 of tlie General School Act) that "a warrant for the collec- tion of a tax voted by the district shall not be delivered to the collector until the thirty-first day after the tax was voted — and here an item em- braced in the tax-list was a tax voted, only about twenty-one days prior to the issuing of the warrant. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 11, 1871. Irregularities in a tax-list causing the same to be set aside. The testimony shows that no heading is prefixed to said tax-list showing for what purposes the same is levied, as requiied by section 65, title 7 of the General School Act. Also, that in the warrant, the collector is directed to pay over to the trustee all the moneys collected by virtue thereof. Also that tlie valuations of property are takeu from the town roll as completed by the assessors, whereas said valuations have been equalized by the board of super visors, of which equalization no notice has been taken by the trustee. The testimony further shows that the said tax is for teachers' wages, that but two-thirds of the public money apportioned to the district has been applied Taxes and Taxation. 669 by the trustee to the reduction of said wages, and that he has not been directed by a vote of a district meeting to divide such public money into two portions. The tax-list set aside and the trustee directed to call a special meeting of the inhabitants for the purpose of deciding wliat portion of the public money apportioned to said district, shall be applied to the winter term of school. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 3, 1868. LIABILITY. A mortgage given to secure the purchase-money of real estate is subject to ta}(atioii in the district where the mortgagee resides. From the statements of the county superintendent in this case it appears tliat on the 12th of March last a tax was voted in district No. 8, in whicli the appellant resides, for the purpose of erecting a scliool-house, which was duly assessed on the taxable inhabitants, according to law, by tlie trustees, on the 33d of the same month. At the time of voting the tax the appellant was the owner of a farm in the district, which was leased to a tenant, whose term expired on the 1st of April subsequently. On or about the 18th of March intermediate the voting and the assessment of the tax, he sold the farm to a non-resident of the district and took a mortgage for the purcliase- money, stipulating to give possession on the expiration of the lease, from which period interest on the amount secured to be paid by the mortgage was to commence. The principal question involved in the appeal is, as to the right of the trustees to tax the appellant for the amount secured to be paid as the purchase-money of the farm sold by him. The county superin- tendent decided that the trustees were legally authorized to include the amount in their tax-list, under the head of personal property, from which decision the present appeal is brought. The rule of law in this respect has been correctly stated by the county superintendent. It is that, where n farm is sold, the vendor remaining iu the district »s taxable for the avails of such sale as personal property, whether such avails are in the shape of moni-y or securities for its payment, while the purchaser or his agent, whether resi- dent or non-resident, is taxable for the real estate. In the present case the farm of the appellant had been sold and a mortgage executed for the pur- chase-money prior to the assessment of the tax previously voted ; and in accordance with the principle above laid down, the appellant was clearly taxable for such purchase-money as personal estate, and the purchaser as the non-resident owner of tlie real estate. Nor can this principle be in any respect affected by the arrangement between the parties relative to the period when possession was to be taken, or interest to commence running on the mortgage. Per S. Young, December 4, 1844. It is the duty of the trustees in laying a tax to assess the same against every person within the district who owns, or' is m possession of taxable property at the time of making out such tax-list. On tlie third day of February, Mr. Hoyt sold all his real estate in said dis- trict to William Moreau, and executed and delivered a deed to him. Mr. Hoyt remains iu possession, and by the contract will remain in possession till April 1, 1848. February 15, 1848, tlie trustees of the district proceeded to make out a tax-list for a tax voted January 15, 1848, to build a school- house. They, witli a full knowledge of the above sale and conveyance, assessed Mr. Hoyt with the farm and real estate so sold. Mr. Hoyt clahns that the land should have been assessed to Mr. Moreau. 670 Taxes and Taxation. The trustees were right. By section 85, chapter 480, Laws of 1847, the trustees are required to apportion a tax upon "all the taxable inhabitants holding property in the district, according to the valuations of the taxable property which shall be owned or possessed by them at the time of making out such list." Mr. Hoyt, at the time of making out the list, had not given up possession and must be considered the possessor. It is to be presumed that the pnrchase-money is not to be paid until pos- session is delivered, in which case the trustees could not assess the price of the farm to Mr. Hoyt as personal property. The appeal is dismissed. Per 'Morgan, March 18, 1848. The general rule is that a vendor remaining in possession of land sold, is liable to pay the taxes assessed upon such land. Per A. B. Weaver, Suoer- iutendent. May 13, 1868, citing and approving the above. Taxation of a person having the naked possession of land without color of title. A previous case commented on and explained. On the first diy of April last, Mr. Davis executed and deliveied a deed of his farm to Mr. Frost, the owner of the adjoining land, receiving from him a payment of $900 in cash, and the promissory notes of third persons, and a mortgage for the residue of the purchase-money. On the twelfth day of April, the trustees made out a tax-list, and, as Mr. Davis still con- tinued in possession of the farm he had sold, assessed him for the value thereof. Upon his objecting, and stating to the trustees that he was in possession only at sufferance, while waiting for the opening of lake naviga- tion to transport his family and effects to Wisconsin, the trustees proposed to assess him for the price of the farm as personal property. To this he replied that he had already made a contract for the purchase of a farm in Wisconsin, and bound himself to pay a larger sum than that for which he had sold his farm, and offered to make an affidavit that his debts exceeded the value of his persoral ^.^operty. The trustees being satisfied of the truth of his statement, but supposing themselves bound to assess him for the farm by a decision of the Superintendent, "inited with Mr. Davis in sub- mitting the facts for a decision. The trustees have been misled by overlooking the distinction between the present case and that to which they refer. In the former case, Mr. Hoyt reserved the right of possession for a definite period, and was the actual owner, with all the responsibilities of ownership, until that period arrived. In this case, Mr. Davis, though actually in possession, is without any claim of title to possession for an hour. Mr. Frost is the admitted owner, though he has not exercised his extreme right by inhospitably turning his neighbor out of doors. As such owner he is liable to be taxed for the real estate purchased. The facts conceded in respect to the indebtedness of Mr. Davis are a conclusive answer to any supposed obligation on the part of the trustees to assesis him for pei-sonal estate, though the fact that he is about to remove, and can receive no benefit from the tax, has no legal importance in the question. Per A. Or. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, May, 1849. Where a tax payer voluntarily moves from one district to another he is liable to a tax for building a school-house in the latter district, even if within four year he has paid a tax for that purpose in the district from which he removes. , Benjamin Mix, the petitioner, owns a farm partly situated in district No. 16, and partly in No. 10, Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county. Until last August he lived within the bounds of No. 16, but at that time he moved Taxes and Taxation. 671 into district Ko. 10. While a resident of No. 16, lie contributed his share of the expense of building a school-house in that district. This was about eight years since. The inhabitants of No. 10 have recently raised a tax to build a new school-house, and have included the farm of Mr. Mix in the tax list. He wishes to be released from the payment of the tax. This petition must be denied, because the law exempts only those wlio have been set off from anotlier district without their consent within foui years from the payment of a tax for building a school-house. Mr. Mix voluntarily moved from No. 16 to No. 10, and moreover upward of four years have elapsed since he was taxed for building a school-house, so that he cannot claim exemption on either ground. The petition is dismissed. Per A. G. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, August 7, 1848. PresTimptively. the trustees of a school district have no rignt to go beyond the bound- aries of their district to tax ; and wlien they do, it lies upon tnem to establish the power to tax, and not upon the party taxed to disprove it. The trustees, in the answer, rely upon the fact that the appellant did not show that he claimed a reduction of his tax, or that he notified them of the alienation of the property, by the taxation of which he is aggrieved. They do not deny any of the facts set up in the appeal. The appellant avers that, about two months previous to the making out of the tax list, he had sold the southern part of lot No. 35 (120 acres), in parcels, to two persons, who took possession and resided upon it. It is not within the limits of district No. 7, but adjoins lands owned by the appellant in that district. This is the only circumstance in support of the authority of the respondents to tax it. The statute, however, requires that it should be owned or possessed by a taxable inhabitant of their district at the time of making out such list. The power being in derogation of common right, which would exempt all land from being taxed elsewhere than in the district where it lies, must be construed rigidly. The possession of the purchasers is of itself notice of their rights, and should put the trustees upon inquiry While the last assessment-roll is to guide them in the valuation of any property whicli they may be authorized to tax, uuless the right to a reduc- tion of such a valuation be established, it cannot, in the nature of things, establish the liability of such property to taxation. Presumptively, the trustees have no right to go beyond their district limits ; when they do so, it lies upon them to establish the power, and not upon the party taxed to disprove it or to take notice that it is about to be exercised unless he remonstrates. The appeal must be sustained. Per V. M. Rice, February 38, 1^55. Land worked under a contract, by which the lessee is to share in the produce thereof is subject to taxation in the district where it is situated. The appellant is the owner of lot N6. 34, included in the boundaries of district No. 9, Wirt, Allegany county, and also of lot No, 26, which adjoins it, but is included within the bouudaries of district No. 1, and is in the occupation of an inhabitant of district No. 1, holding under a lease by whicli he renders a share of the produce to the appellant. The statute expressly provides that any person working land under a contract for a share of the produce of such land shall be deemed the possessor, so far as to render him liable to taxation therefor in the district where such land is 672 Taxes and Taxation. situate. The trustees aver that the existence of sucIt a lease never came to their knowledge until after the malcing out of the tax-list. This is doubt- less true ; but they were bound to know the limits of their own district, and ■were bound at their peril not to impose a tax upon any one, in respect to land outside of their limits, unless it was in his actual possession, consti- tuting a part of real property " partly within such district and partly in an adjoining district." It is an anomaly that land lying in one district should, under any cir- cumstances, be withdrawn from its liability to support the public burdens of such district, and made to contribute to those of another in which the owner may reside. The law is to be so construed as to restrict such cases within the narrowest possible limits. The appeal is tlierefore sustained. The trustees must con-ect their tax- list, by excluding therefrom the valuation of lot No. 26, and by assessing so much of the tax as is imposed upon the appellant by reason of his own- ership of such lot on the taxable inhabitants of the district, in proportion to their respective valuations. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, May 20, 1856. A person set ofE from one district to another, by an order that does not take effect until three months after its issue, -vvill bo liable on any taxes levied in the district from which he is set off, prior to the taking effect of such order. In March, 1857, an order was made, by the school commissioner having jurisdiction, transferring the lands of the appellant and others, from dis- trict No. 1 to district No. 2. The trustees of No. 1 having withheld their consent, this order will not take efiect till the expiration of three months fi-om the first day of April, 1857, when notice thereof was served. While the alteration was inchoate, the district meeting was held, against the pro- ceedings of which this appeal is directed, and a tax to defray the expenses of changing site and building a new school-house was voted. The appel- lant objects, that the effect will be to charge him with the payment of a tax for constructing a school-house from which he receives no benefit. Held, that this was a proper consideration for the judgment of the inhab- itants of district No. 1, in determining whether they would build at once or postpone till after the alteration should have taken effect. The appellant continues an inhabitant of the district for all purposes until the first day of July. If the appellant is set oS from the district without Jiis consent, he will be exempted from paying a tax from building in No. 2, for four years. If lie has given his consent, he is responsible for all the consequences, and cannot be permitted to trammel the action of either district for the purpose of avoiding any personal charge or inconvenience. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, June 2, 1857. "When a person ceases to be an inhabitant of a district after a district tax is voted and before the expiration of the time allowed ti'ustees in which to make out their tax-list, he should be omitted from such tax-list. On the 9th day of Pebruary, 1857, the appellant made a contract for the sale of his farm in the district, stipulating therein to exeoite a deed and transfer possession on the first day of April following. On the first day of April the contract was executed on both sides. On the 14th day of March, 1857, after the equitable title to the farm of the appellant had been alienated by him, but before the freehold had legally passed, a district meeting voted a tax to build a school-house. The tax-list was made out on the 30th day of March, and the appellant was included Taxes and Taxation. 673 therein as the owner of the farm. He was notified of the fact, and on the next day removed from the district and became the resident of another. It is obviously just that the tax for a permanent improvement in a dis- trict should be borne by those wlio are to receive the benefit of it, and those who in good faitli cease to be inhabitants before the expenditure for such improvements is made should be exempted from contribution whenever the letter of the statute will permit. Trustees are directed by the law to make out tl^eir tax-list within thirty days after the meeting at which the tax is voted, and it ie made their duty to deliver the same to the collector after the expiration of thirty days. Where a person has, during that time, ceased to be an inhabitant of the district in pursuance of an ajTaugement previously made, he ought to be exempted, and the person who, under such circumstances, became the owner of the property, should bear the burden of an expenditure by which its value is p^ermainently increased. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, June 17, 1857. Assessment ot a bond and mortgage as personal property is good, but at tbe same time assessing tl^e owner thereof for flie farm upon which he holds the mortgage, and upon which he resides only temporarily, disapproved. This is an appeal of J. P. from an assessment against him on a tax-list made out by the sole trustee. The facts upon which the appellant relies are as follows : On or about the, first of October, 1859, he agreed to sell to one D. B. the farm then owned and occupied by said appellant. The agreement contemplated that the purchase-money ($12,000) should be paid on the first of April following, at which time possession of the said prem- ises was to be given. A regular deed of conveyance was executed by the owner to the purchaser, and a regular bond and mortgage conditioned for the payment of the purchase-money was given on the other hand. These conveyances were all duly recorded. The position that the appellant main- tains is that this deed was not a sale or conveyance, but a convenient sub- stitute for a contract of sale, and that the mortgage not being given for an actual, but merely for a contingent indebtedness, is not personal property liable for taxation. I fail to apprehend this matter in the light in which the appellant pre- sents it. The propriety of going back of the records to inquire into their meaning is, upon an application of this kind, extremely doubtful, to say the least. But if we were to do this, we find that there has been, in good faith, duly executed, a deed of conveyance, ^^tb parties so regard it. Clearly, to my mind, D. B. is in law and in fact the owner of the farm heiiein spoken of. By the purchase of the said farm, he became indebted to the appellant in the sum of $13,000, for which lie executed the mortgage before named. This can be regarded as no other than personal property, as defined in part 1, chapter 13, title 1, section 3, Revised Statutes, 4th edition, and as such liable for taxation for school purposes under section 85, chapter 480, Laws of 1847. I do not see how, under the statute, the trustee could exercise any discretion. His duty was plain and unavoidable. Concerning the taxation of the farm, the trustee could, vmder section 1, chapter 176, Laws of 1851, assess it to the owner or occupant, or as non- resident lands. He exercised the discretion thus conferred and assessed it to the appellant as "occupant."' I should be disposed to give considerable weight to the presumption of the just exercise of this discretion, if it were true, as alleged, that the appellant, as tenant, can recover the amount thus paid from the owner. By reference to the statute (section 88, cJmpter 480, Laws of 1847), it will be seen that the pm-poses for which this tax was 85 674 Taxes and Taxation. levied will bar any recovery from the owner by the tenant. The apP^'^^-M is, therefore, without any remedy under the statute. Under this asueci oi the case, I cannot but thinis it just and right to have assessed the tarm m D. B., the owner. ' u <. ti. The general conclusion at which I arrive is, therefore, that the assess- ment of the bond and mortgage to the appellant as personal property is right and legal, but that the farm occupied by him should be assessed to the owner, D. B. ; and the trustee is authorized and directed to ame^ his tax-list by assessing the tax on said farm as above indicated. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, April 23, 1860. Parcels of land bought of different parties, but all connected with the original farm upon which the owner resides, are taxable as one farm in the district of his residence. This is an appeal of W. S.; a resident and tax payer in district No. 18, from a tax assessed by the trustee of district No. 15, upon a parcel of land belonging to the appellant, and lying in district No. 15. It is in evidence that the appellant is the owner of said parcel of land, that he improves, occupies or cultivates it himself, and that it is attached to the premises upon which he resides, by an unbroken connection of lands owned and occupied by him. This, to my mind, establishes his claim to regai'd these parcels of land, bought at different times, of different persons, and lying within the bound- aries of different districts, as one farm; the taxation of which, for school purposes, is earned into that district in which the owner resides. The hardship to the district thus deprived of its taxable property must be con- ceded; but this is a consideration to address to the legislature. The pro- visions of the statute are now clear and imperative, authorizing the taxa- tion in the district as above stated. The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and the trustee of No. 15 is directed to amend his tax-list by omitting there- from the tax on the parcel of land in question. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, June 11, 1860. Where it is claimed that land lying in one district is taxable in another adjoining, br virtue of its being part of a parcel upon which the owner lives, in such adjoining district, that fact must be clearly proved. The primary condition of real property, rendering it liable to taxation in a given town, ward or district, is that the property shall lie within the bounds of such town, ward or district. Every instance in wliich this con- dition is fulfilled without the corresponding liability attaching must be regarded as exceptional, and these exceptions must be strictly construed, according to the spirit of the exceptional provision. It is claimed for the laud in question that it is embraced in the exceptional provisions of the statute, exempting it from taxation where it lies by virtue of its being tax- able in another district which it joins. The language of the statute is as follows: "The trustee shall apportion the tax on all taxable inhabitants of the district, * * * according to the valuation of the taxable prop- erty which shall be owned or possessed by them at the time of making out such list, within such district, or partly within such district and mrtlv within an adjoining district." Here is the only provision conferring upon the trustees of a district authority to assess upon their tax-lists lands not lying within the bounds of tlieir district. This power must be exercised strictly according to the letter of the statute. Taxes and Taxation. 675 The natural legal presumption is that the trustees have not exceeded their legitimate authority, and that the property lying within the limits of a given district is taxable in that district. This presuDiption can only be overcome by the production of affirmative and conclusive proof to the contrary. It has ever been the policy of this department, in cases of doubt concerning tlie liability of land to taxation for school purposes in either of two districts respectively, to give the benc- flts of the doubt to the district in which the land sliouM lie. This appears to me to be sound policy, confomiing to the evident spirit and intention of the statute and controlled by the spirit of equity, by which, when not in direct contravention of law, this department will be guided. The condi- tions contemplated by the statute must be affirmatively proved before the presumptions above referred to will be overcome. Per E. W. Keyes, Act- ing Superintendept, May 16, 1861. A stockholder ia a national banking association is liable to be taxed for personal property in the district where the bank is located, on the amount of stock owned by him in such bank. In the matter submitted by the trustees of district No. 1, Kingsbuiy, Washington county, and A. F. Hitchcock, a non-resident of said district, the following facts appear : The First National Bank of Sandy Hill is located, and does business within said district No. 1. A. F. Hitchcock is a stockholder in said bank, but does not reside in said district. The trustees have assessed the said A. P. Hitchcock, upon a tax-list made out by them in said district, for the amount of stock owned by him in said bank, and have taxed Iiim thereon. The question presented is, whether such assessment is lawfully made, and hence whether the tax levied thereon can be lawfully collected. The capital of these national banks is, by law of congress, required to be invested in bonds or securities of the United States, and the stocks, bonds or other securities of the United States are, by another act of congress (the constitutionality of which has been affirmed by the supreme court of the United States) exempted from taxation by any State. Hence, it follows that the First National Bank of Sandy Hill is not, as a corporation, liable to taxation on its capital invested in United States securities. The act of congress, passed June 3, 1864, authorizing the formation of national banking associations, provides, however, " That nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent all the shares in any of the said associa- tions, held by any person or body corporate, from being included in the valuation of the personal property of such person or corporation in the assessment of taxes imposed by or under State authority, at the place where such bank is located, and not elsewhere." While, thei'efore, the capital of the banking association is, by the act of congress, exempt from State or local taxation, the shares of stock owned by any individual or corporation in such association are not exempt, but are left to the operation of the State laws concerning taxation, under cer- tain limitations, one of which is that such shares shall be assessed only at the place where the bank is located. It must follow that the trustees of the district where Mr. Hitchcock re- sides can have no power to assess him for the shares owned by him in a bank located in another district. Discussion as to the policy or justice of these provisions is fruitless ; our only concern is with the law as it stands, and in this view the above conclusion appears inevitable. 676 Taxes and Taxa'hon. We have only to inquire further whether there is authority under the laws of this State for tlie assessment of these shares of Mr. Hitchcock by the trustees of district No. 1, where the bank is located. To determine this question, reference must of course be made to the laws of this State relating to taxation. Those pertinent to the issue are the following: •' All lands and all personal estate within this State, whether owned by individ- uals or by corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemp- tions hereinafter specified." (1 R. S. [5th ed.] 905, § 1.) The terms "personal estate " and " personal proiserty," wherever they occur in this chapter, shall be construed to include (among other things enumerated) stocks in moneyed corporations. (1 R. S. [5th ed.] 907, § 4.) " 1 he owner or holder of stock in any incorporated company, liable to taxation on its capital, shall not be taxed as an individual for such stock." (1 R. S. [5th ed.] 907, § 14.) From the above citations we cannot fail to draw the following conclu- sions: 1. That all personal property not exempted is liable to taxation; 2. That shares of stock in a banking association, incorporated by what- ever authority, are "personal property;" 3. That the capital of a national bank, being exempt from taxation (not liable thereto), under the operation of the higher law of the United States, the owner or holder of stock in such banking association is not relieved from liability to taxation on such stock by virtue of section 14 above cited. Ordinarily, these banking associations would be taxed as a unit — a cor- porate body — but the supreme law of the land, the act of congress, has de- creed that they shall not be taxed in that way. It has not overruled the law of the State, which says they shall be taxed, but has directed that the tax shall be assessed upon the shares of the indiviual or corpoi-ate holders thereof. The trustees thus derive their authority to tax or assess these shares from two sources of power — State and national. The State gives the power to assess and prescribes the mode; the national government yields assent to the power to assess, but overrules, in this partcular instance, the m.ode, substituting its own. The result is precisely the same under the operation of the law of congress that it would be under the operation of the State law. Believing, therefore, that the trustees of district No. 1, Kingsbury, have acted under the authority of the law in the assessment referred to, and that, to have omitted to make this assessment in the way it was made, would be to have exempted the stock in said bank from any taxation what- ever for school purposes, I can do no less than approve aad affinn their action. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, December 8, 1864. The law of the State was subsequently made to conform to the opinion above expressed. (See chapter 761, Lmos of 1866, p. 87, ante.) The personal property of the deceased is taxable in the district where the administrator resides. (See seotion 5, title 3, chap. 13, R. 8., 6th ed.) Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 24, 1865. Where territory is added to a district after tax has been voted to build new school- bouse, but before tax-list for same has been made out and placed in hands of collec- tor, it does not affect the action of district in voting tax, and newly-gained territory is liable to pay its part of tax. The addition of territory to a district after a tax has been voted in such district for the purpose of building a new school-house, but before the tax- list for the same has been made out and placed in the hands of the collector, does not afiEect the action of the district in voting the tax, and the newly- acquired territory is liable to pay its proportion of the tax. / Taxes and Taxation. 677 A special meeting may, however, be called at any time, and before the tax-list has been completed by the delivery to the collector the inhab- itants may, by a majority vote, rescind the resolution authorizing a tax for a new school-house. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, November 28, 1865. ^ Of land lying in one body. Land lying in one body and owned or occupied by the same person must be taxed in the district where the occupant or owner resides, although the land may be in two districts. When land owned or occupied by the same person is not in one body it must be taxed in the respective districts in which it is situate. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3798, December 30, 1878. Same. Land lying in two scliool districts and being contiguous must be owned by one person to be taxable in the district where the owner resides under section 66, title 7, Code of Public Instruction. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- intendent. Decision No. 2839, March 24, 1879. Land lying in one body, crossed by a railroad. Where a farm lies in different districts, but is sepai-ated by railroad prop- erty, it cannot be regarded as land lying in- one body, and the respective parts must be assessed in the districts in which they lie. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3282, October 5, 1883. Continuous gas mains and pipesTinder the law of 1881 must be taxed as real estate, but cannot be considered as land lying in one body under the provisions of section 66, title VII, Code of Public Instruction, so as to te taxed in the district where the company resides. Section 66, referring to land lying in one body, has reference to the " land itself above and under water," and only sucn structures as become part of the realty within the generally accepted definitions of real estate. This is a proceeding by the Rondout and Kingston Gas-light Company, appealing from the assessment of a school tax levied by the board of educa- tion of tlie Kingston school district, on the 3d day of August, 1885. It appears from the evidence that said company is assessed as follows : On assessed value of real estate in said district, fifteen tliousand dollars; total tax, sixty-two dollars and eighty-one cents. On the 15th of June, 1885, the Kingston board of education gave notice that they had completed their assessment-roll for the year 1885, and would meet on the 6th day of J\ily to review the same. On the review day the attorney of the gas-light company appeared before the board of education and asked that said assessment, at first placed on the tax -list at twenty thousand dollars, be stricken from the roll, on the ground that neither said company, nor its property, could be legally assessed for any school district tax in said Kingston school district. After said review, on the 3d day of August, the board of education completed the tax-list, as revised by them, and on th^ same day delivered it with their warrant, dated August 3, 1885, to the collector of the Kingston school district. It appe:u-s that the board of education decided not to strike said assessment from the roll, but to reduce it to fifteen thousand dollars, and from this decision not to strike the assessment from the roll, and from the assessment of fifteen thousand dollars, and from the whole of the tax in said district against said company, said company takes its appeal. 678 Taxes and Taxation. The facts alleged are admitted, and the question to be decided is purely, is the Kingston and Rondout Gas-light Company assessable for any portion of its gas mains and property in the said Kingston school district. In an able brief prepared by the appellant's attorneys, it is contended that the gas conductors and pipes for conducting gas through the streets are real estate within the meaning of section 3, title 1, chapter 13, part 1, of the Revised Statutes, as amended by section 1, chapter 393, of the laws of 1881, wherein it is enacted that the term " land '' must be construed to include " all mains, pipes and tanks laid or placed in, upon, above or under any public or private street or place," and that the term " real estate '" and " I'eal property'' wherever they occur in the chapter, shall be construed as having the same meaning as the term " land " thus defined. It is further contended tliat as the lot of land with gas works upon it and the continuous gas conductors, or pipe, are all connected together, and are all necessarily used by the company, and are all " land '' by the statutory definition of the law of 1881, they constitute "land lying in one body and occupied by the same person," to wit: the company, and that the residence of the occupant must be regarded as the place where its principal place of carrying on business is situated, or the place where its operations are car- ried on, and it is therefore urged by the apppellant that the residence of the appellant is in school district No. 3, where it has its buildings and works, where all of its operations of manufacturing supplies are carried on, and where, exclusively, it has always been assessed for school district taxes. But it is further urged if the residence of the corporation is not in district No. 3, it must be in district No. 2, where it has its principal office, and where its financial concerns are transacted, and that in either case, it would have no residence in the Kingston school district, where it has neither office nor works. It will be observed that while statutes have been passed providing for the manner of the assessment or the apportionment of the assessment to school districts, for railroad, telegraph, telephone and pipe-line companies, the legislature has not provided any special method of assessment or of the apportionment of assessment for school purposes in the case of gas-light companies. In the taxation of the land or real estate, of gas-light compan- ies, the same proceedings must be taken by local school authorities, as are taken in the case of individual tax payers ; that is, recoui-se must be had to the last assessment-roll of the town as revised by the assessors, or, if from the assessment-roll the true value cannot be ascertained, an original assess- ment must be made under the statute. Tliis appears to have been the course adopted by the local school authorities, and as the statutes stand to-day, it is immaterial whether the company was regarded as a non-resident or a resident owner of realty; so that the only question remaining to be passed upon, is whether the continuous gas mains of a gas-light company, running through three or more school districts, and perhaps through portions of several towns, are to be regarded as land lying in one body, within the meaning of section C6, title VII, of the General School Act, as amended bv the law of 1875. After a careful examination of the subject and all the authorities cited, which do not fairly point out the principle contended for by the appellant, I am led to conclude that section 66, referring to land lying in one body has reference to the "land itself above and under water" and only such structures as become part of the realty within the generally accepted defi- nition of real estate. In this view of the case, the gas mains remain taxable as real estate by the statute of 1881, and are assessable for school purposes in the several districts Taxes and Taxation. 679 through which the mains pass, by the local school authorities thereof, accord- ing to the measure or proportion of their value in each of said districts, to be ascertained as was done by the board of education of the Kingston school district. The action of the board sustained. Per James E. Morri- son, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3495. April 3, 1886. ORIGINAL ASSESSMENT AXD NOTICE, When different parcels of property, of different quality and value, lying in two districts, are so coupled together in the town assessment-roll in one aggregate valuation, that their separate value is not apparent, and cannot be fixed, without an exercise of judgment on the part of the trustees, a new valuation should be made, and notice given. Per Young, November 23, 1843. When the trustees make any change to the valuation of property differing from the valuation as appears by the assessment-roll, they should give twenty days' notice of the changes they have made to the inhabitants of the district affected thereby. The appellant in this case represent.s that, on or about the 3d of March last, a tax was voted for the support of schools at a special meeting called and held in district No. 1, under the provisions of the new school law ; and tliat the trustees, in apportioning the tax thus voted, altered the valuations of the taxable property of the district from the assessment-roll of the town in several instances specified by the appellant, and, among others, in his own case, without giving the notices prescribed by law, in consequence of which a larger sum has been assessed to him and others tlian was equitable and just. The trustees, in their answer, do not deny the charge tliat a departure from the last assessment-i-oU of the town was made by them in ascertaining the valuation of the taxable property referred to, without giving the notice prescribed by law, but claim that the valuations put by them on such prop- erty were substantially correct and in accordance with the standard adopted by tlie assessor.- The Superintendent is of opinion that the defense thus set up by the trustees is invalid and untenable. The law specifically requires that, in all cases where the valuations of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the last assessment-roll of the town, the trustees shall ascertain the same from the means of information within tlieir power, giving notice to all per- sons interested, and proceeding in the same way that town assessors are required to proceed in the first instance. Unless, therefore, this requisition is strictly complied with, the assessment thus made by the trustees is illegal and invalid, whatever may be the standard of valuation adopted by them, or whether such valuations are just and equitable or not. The persons interested in such alteration were entitled to notice in the mode prescribed by law, and to an opportunity of appearing before the trustees and claiming a reduction of their assessments as so ascertained; and they may legally avail themselves of the omission to give such notice, either to resist the collection of the tax thus illegally imposed, or to bring an .ippeal to this department for such redress as may be in its power to afford. The tax-list, being void in part, is void throughout. It is accordingly hereby ordered that the tax-list made out by the trus- tees of district No. 1, in the town of Fowler, in pursuance of the vote of the special meeting held in said district, be, and the same is hereby set aside, and the trustees are directed and required, within thirty days from I he date hereof, to make out a new tax-list in accordance with law, and to 680 Taxes ajsd Taxation. deliver the same, with- their warrant annexed, to the collector of the dis trict for collection, refunding, if required, anyi amount heretofore illegally collected. Per Morgan, June 4, 1850. Distinction between increasing the valuation of real property and increasing tbe amount of personal property considered. On an appeal from the proceedings of the trustees in making out a tax- list and warrant under the authority of a vote of the district, it appears that the trustees, in making out the tax-list complained of, increased the amount of personal property very considerably, while the valuation of the real property was copied substantially from the town roll. The trustees are directed to ascertain the valuation of taxable property, as far as possible, from the assessment-roUs ; the discretion concerning valuation is, therefore, not given them where the same is determined by the assessors. But the persons who are taxable, and the amount of taxable property possessed by them, the trustees are to determine. If, on the assessment-roll, they find a man taxed for one himdred acres of land, valued at fifty dollars per acre, they cannot change that valuation, though they may know that it is richly worth one hundred dollars per acre. But, if they find him assessed for one hundred acres of land, when they know that he has taxable, within the district, two hundred acres, they may assess him for the full amount of his property. But this latter condition is not likely to occur, except where property has changed hands, or been increased by accession in the way of new buildings or other conspicuous improvements. In the assessment of personal property, however, different conditions arise. If a man is found assessed for five thousand dollars, when it is known that he holds bonds and mortgages to the amount of ten thousand dollars, the error is not in the valuation,' but in the amount assessed. The true rule is that trustees have power to correct an error in the amount of property assessed, but not an error in the valuation. The appeal must" therefore, be dismissed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Super- intendent, December 24, 1858. Where the trustees make an original assessment, they must >give the legal notice of twenty days, and permit the party claiming a reduction to be heard at a time and place to be designated by the trustees. The New York Central Railroad Company, by their tax agent Franklin Hinchy, bring this appeal from the action of the trustee, in the matter of the assessment of a school district tax on the property of said company, which assessment it is claimed was illegally made, and is, besides, exces- sive. The assessment complained of is an original assessment made by the trustee, it having been found to be impossible to ascertain the valuation of said company's property from the last assessment-roll of the town, and it was completed by him, according to his own statement, on the 24th day of March, 1866. It being an original assessment, the trustee was obliged, in accordance with the provisions of section 68, of title 7, of the General School Law, to proceed " in the same manner as town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property." He accordingly posted five public notices in conspicuous places, dated March 24th, 1866, giving notice of the completion of his assessment, and of tlie fact that said list would for the space of twenty days be open to the inspection of all parties interested, at the house of the trustee, and also giving notice that the said trustee would be personally present on the 7th Taxes and Taxation. 681 day of April, 1866, at four o'clock, p. m., for the purpose of reviewing said list. It will be observed that the twenty days would not expire till the 13th day of April, 1866. The law does uot authorize assessors to assem- ble for the puiijose of reviewing their assessments, until the day after the expiration of the twenty days' notice which they are required to give {sec- tion 18, titU 2, chap. 13, jiart 1, S. S.). Now, as trustees, in making orig- inal assessments, are required to observe the rules and regulations prescribed for the government of assessors, it follows that notice given by the afore- said ti-ustee, of a meeting to review his assessments before the expiration of the twenty days, was illegal, because unauthorized. His notices speci- fied no other time nor place whei-e he would meet persons dissatisfied with his assessments, and review the same, than that above mentioned. On the 10th day of April, 1866, the said company served on the said trustee a notice of their claim to a reduction of $3,000 on the assessment against them as made by him. This was three days before the expiration of the twenty days' notice to which said company was entitled, and it is nowhei'e made to appear that the said trustee gave notice to said company, or any person whomsoever, of a time and place when and where he would, after the expiration of the twenty days' notice required by law, meet to consider their claim to a reduction. Without meeting the ag€nt of the company, and without giving to the company legal notice of a time and place when and where he would hear and determine their claim, the said trustee went on- ward, completed his tax-list, issued his warrant, and placed them in the hands of the district collector. This was wrong and unjust. Tax payers have certain rights which assessors or persons acting in the capacity of asses- sors are bound to respect. These rights cannot be lost to them by the arbi- trai-y or illegal action of public officers. The company in the present instance had a right to a notice of the time and place when and where their claim would be heard by the trustee, who has been guilty of nonfeasance sufficient to invalidate the iax-list made out by him. The assessment made out by the trustee on the 24th of March, 1866, and the tax-list and warrant based thereon, are hereby declared illegal and void. Per V. M. Rice, June 6, 1866. When the boai-d of education or trustees make an origiDal assessment of personal property, and the person assessed does not appear to answer such questions as may be put to him in relation to his estate, but presents by his attorney an in- sufficient and unsatisfactory affidavit, a reduction ot the assessment will be denied. On or about January i24, 1867, the board of education made out a tax list for the collection of a district tax, upon which the appellant was assessed for $50,000 personal property. Upon the last assessment-roll of said town, appellant is not assessed for personal property. Notice was given to appellant of the assessment made against him by said board of education, and at the appointed time he appeared before said board by attorney, and submitted an affidavit setting forth that he had no personal estate whatever over his indebtedness, "excepting certain government bonds, not taxable." He thereupon claimed a reduction to the full amount of tlie assessment against liim. The board declined to reduce said assess- ment, whereupon this appeal is brought ; the appellant claiming that said board have exceeded their jurisdiction, in making an original assessment, when he is not assessed for personal estate on the town roll, and that, even if they were not* bound by the town roll, they were bound to reduce his assessment upon the statements contained in the affidavit submitted by him and heretofore mentioned. In regard to the first point, as to whether the board of education ex- 86 682 Taxes and Taxation. ceeded their jurisdiction in making an original assessment, the law says: "Tlie valuation of taxable property shall be ascertained, so far as possible, from the last assessment-roll of the town, after revision by the assessors." When tlie valuation of taxable property cannot be ascertained from the last assessment-roll of tlie town, the trustees shall ascertain the true value of the property to be taxed from the best evidence in their power, giving notice to the persons interested, and proceeding in the same manner as the town assessors are required by law to proceed in the valuation of taxable property. {Sections 67 and 68, title 7, chapter 555, Lawi of 1864.) Fiom the above it is evident that, when a board of trustees acquire juris- diction, they have tlie same powers that are possessed by a board of town assessors. The rule in regard to variations from the town assessment-roll in the matter of the valuation of personal estate is more stringent than that in regard to the valuations of real estate. Notwithstanding this fact, the rule is broad enough to give the board of education jurisdiction in this case. Trustees cannot assess an individual for personal property if he has been taxed for none on tlie last assessment-roll of the town, on the mere suppo- sition that he may have more than his debts amount to. The assessment- roll of the town settles that matter, and the trustees cannot vary the amount but from some knowledge of an alteration after that roll was made out, or to coiTect some known and acknowledged error. {John A. Dix, Common School Decisions, 342.) It is claimed by the board that they had knowledge of an increase in the appellant's personal estate, after the last town assessment-roll was made out, though the appellant characterizes their statements as vague and in- definite, and denies their truth. It is an undisputed fact that, at the time the board of education made out their tax-list as aforesaid, they were convinced that the taxable per- sonal estate of the appellant amounted to |50,000. This being the case, it was their duty to make an original assessment so as to include such prop- erty, because, if such uroperty had been acquired since the town roll was made out, they would be varying the amount from knowledge of an altera- tion after such roll was completed ; while, if the appellant possessed the same property at the time the town roll was made out, and the assessors failed to include it in their roll, such failure was an error sufficient to justify the board in making a new assessment under the last clause of the rule above quoted. It is a case in w-hich the true value of the property in question could not be ascertained from the town assessment-roll, and where, therefore, it became the duty of the board to proceed in the same manner that town assessors are by law required to proceed in ascertaining the value of taxa- ble property. This they did, and the appellant, through his attorney, submitted an affidavit claiming reduction. The statements contained in said affidavit have already been set forth. They were unsatisfactory, and as the appellant was not present, and as his attorney was not authorized to make additional statements, nor to answer such questions as would have been pertinent, and which the board had power to ask, the claim for re- duction was properly denied. I say the appellant's affidavit is unsatisfac- tory, because he makes himself the judge of certain questions which it was the province of the board to decide. He does not state what his property is, but says: " I have no personal property subject to taxation under the laws of the State of New York. I have no personal estate whatever, over and about the amount of my indebtedness, except certain bonds of the United States, etc." Thus, for all that is shown iu the affidavit, he may Taxes and Taxation. 683 have deducted his entire indebtedness from his taxable personal estate, leaving only the non-taxable over and above such indebtedness. That would be a species of sharp practice which assessors ought not to allow. I see no good reason for interfering with the action of the board of educa- tion in this matter and the appeal is, therefore, hereby dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, July 8, 1867. N'otice required to be given where an original assessment is made. The appellant objects to the imposition of the tax upon the ground that the trustee made an original assessment of his property without giving him twenty days' personal notice before the tax-list was delivered to the collec- tor. The objection is founded upon section 68 of title 7 of the General School Act, and the note thereon. It is the settled rule of the depaitment, in construing the statute above cited, that in all cases like that under con- sideration personal notice should be given to the party the valuation of whose property has been increased. A due regard for the just rights of the tax payers of a district requires that this rule should be stiictly adhered to. The tax-list set aside accordingly. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 13, 1869. To like effect. Per Weaver, Superintendent, March 15, 1869. All the stocljholders in banking associations, organized under the laws of this State or of the United States are to be assessed on the shares of stocic held by them, for school purposes. Where real estate has been greatly enhanced by improve.Tients since last assessment- roll was made, trustees should make an original assessment. Appeal from a tax-list, made out by the board of education of union free school district No. 1, Olean, Cattaraugus county, on the ground of omitting to aj^-iess the stockholders in the " Bank .of Olean," and the stock- holders and real estate of the "State Bank of Olean," two institutions transacting banking business in said district. The latter appears to be a banking association, organized under the laws of this State. The omission to assess four of the stockholders in the said " State Bank of Olean " is admitted, and as it was the duty of the trustees to assess all the stockholders in said bank, the appeal is, upon this ground, sustained. It fm'ther appears that the real estate of the said bank was assessed, on the tax-list, by the trustees at one hundred dollars, that being the amount at which it was assessed on the last assessment roll of the town, against the former owner. But it is shown that prior to the issuing of the tax-list appealed from, the value of the real estate in question had been gi-eatly enhanced by the erection thereon of a banking-house, at a cost of about $8,000. Under these circumstances, any assessment against this bank for its real estate, by the respondents, should have been an original one under the pro- visions of section 68, title 7 of the General School Act. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, September 30, 1871. Notice in case of original assessment to be personal to the interested parties. While the provisions of section 68, title 7 of the General School Act authorize the trustees to increase the assessment of any person of whom they have knowledge that he has acquired property since the last town assessment-roll was completed, they have no right to increase the assess- ment without giving him personal notice that his tax has been increased. The general notice given by the tmstees in this case was insufficient. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 9, 1871. 684 Taxes and Taxation. An original assessment sliould be made where real estate has been greatly enhanced in value by the erection of a building since the completion of the last town roll. On an appeal from a tax-list for various alleged inegularities it was shown that certain veal estate assessed to a business firm upon the last assessment roll of the town, had, since the completion of that roll, been largely enhanced in value by the erection of a building thereon, but tliat no assessment had been made by the tnistee for such increase of value. The omission of the trustees to include in the tax-list an assessment for such increased value of the premises referred to was erroneous, and the tax- list and waiTant appealed from must, for that reason, be, and they are accordingly, set aside as irregularly issued. Per A. B. Weaver, Superin- tendent, September 18, 1873. Where claim for redufction of an assessment is duly 'made, it is th6 duty of the trustee to examine the claimant under oath concerning the same. An original assessment increasing the personal property and the value of the real property of a taxable inhabitant of a scihool district was made by the trustee, and notice given by the person affected thereby. She appeared before the trustee at the proper time and place for examination under oath in relation thereto, claiming a reduction from both of said assessments. The trustee refused to make any examination and insisted upon and retained the assessments as made by him originally. The respondent (trustee), by his refusal to examine into the justice of the appellant's claim lor reduction of the original assessments, made upon her property, acted contrary to law. It was his duty to make the examination demanded, and to correct the assessments if they appeared from stich examination to have been erroneous. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, September 19, 1874. Twenty days' notice must be given where an original assessment is made increasing the valuation of personal property. Duty of trustees concerning original assessments defined. On an appeal from a tax-list and warrant upon the ground of original assessments illegally made. Prom the evidence submitted it appears that an original assessment of $30,000 personal property was made in said tax-list against the appellant, that twenty days' personal notice thereof was not given to him, and that numerous other original assessments were made in said tax-list. This department has always held that in cases of original assessment, twenty days' personal notice is necessary; and from a careful reading ot section 68, title 7 of the General School Act, and sections 19, 20 and 21, title 2, chapter 13, part 1, Edmunds' Statutes at Large, I am of the opinion that such holding is legally based, while of its equity there can be m, question. The law gives trustees no power to revise the work of the town assessors, but directs that they shall be governed by it "so far as possible." Trus- tees cannot vary from the town roll except in cases where there is a change in the value of property since the completion of such roll ; as for example, where buildings have been erected or destroyed, or where the personal property of a party is clearly known or acknowledged to have been in- creased, as by bequest or otherwise ; or where the town assessors have jm- qiiestioTiably made an error, as in assessing one for 100 acres of land when he is known to own but 50 acres (or mce versa). But these cases are not frequent; and trustees must not assume to pass upon the judgment of thft Taxes and Taxation. 685 town assessors. When the town assessors have settled the question of val- uation it must not be j'e-opened by trustees because these officers are of tlie opinion that it is wrongly determined. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent, February l,' 1876. POWER OF TRUSTEES TO LEVY. Where the inhabitauts at a district meeting direct the trustees to do an act which they are authorized by law to direct, as the removal of a school-house, the trustees may levy a tax to defray the expense, without a vote of the district. The inhabitants of district No. 17, town of Wilna, voted a new site for the school-house, and directed the trustees to move the house by a ''bee." The trustees made a "bee," but there not being much of a, "turn out" on the part of the inhabitants, they were only able to get the school-lioyse into the highway. Foreseeing the difficulty attending the removal by such means, and not receiving the requisite aid, the tnistees moved the school- house to the site selected at an expense of $25. A special meeting was called on the 4th December, 1847, without stating the object of it in the notices, at which a tax was voted to meet the expenses of the trustees. Only four legal voters were present at the meeting. The vote directing the trustees to move the house by a '" bee " was void, as they could have ijo authority over voluntary aid, and could not depend upon it as a means of moving the school-house. When the inhabitants of a district direct the trustees to perform a work where expenses are to be incurred the trustees are authorized to raise the amount thereof by tax, without a vote of the district. In this case the trustees would necessarily incur an, expense in moving the school-house, which is chargeable to the district and can be collected by tax the same as if it were voted. (School Lmos No. 134.) And although the vote of Decem- ber 4, 1847, to raise the tax was illegal on account of the want of proper notice, the levj'ing of the tax was legal on the ground that the trustees pos- sessed the requisite power without a vote of the district to raise the tax. (Section 51, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864.) The appeal is dismissed. Per A. Gr. Johnson, Deputy Superintendent, August 8, 1848. A tax may be voted, levied and collected in a school district to purchase a site and sehool-house, but the money cannot be applied until a valid title is obtamed. The appellants in this case to set aside the proceedings of a special meet- ing held in district No. 9, on the 29th of November last, at which resolu- tions were adopted far the purchase of a new site and hoxise, upon the ground that a valid legal title cannot be obtained to such site and house. They allege that the house was built by private subscription, and is now owned by various persoina in and out of the district. This allegation, vague and general as it is, is, explicitly met and denied by the trustees, who assert that they can procure a good title. This question of title, however, is one which cannot come up at this stage of the proceedings. The tax voted may legally be levied and collected, but cannot be applied until a valid legal tjtle is obtained. From the proofs before him, the Superintendent entertains no doubt of the sufficiency of the title, and so much of the appeal as relates to this por- tion of the proceedings of the meeting is therefore dismissed. Per Morgan, January 18, 1851. 686 Taxes and Taxation. A tax may be voted to pay expenses beyound estimates expended by trustees in build- ing an authorized school-bouse. A tax was voted to defray the excess beyond the estimates expended by tlie trustees in building a new school-house, from which vote tliere is an appeal. Held, that a majority of those present and voting was sufficient to give validity to the resolution, and that the appeal must be dismissed. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 11, 1856. Where trustees are authorized to build a school-house of certain dimensions, and they slightly vary from these dimensions by causing the house to be built larger, paying for the excess out of their own funds, the district must pay such sum as the house would have cost if built of the specified size. The trustees were instructed to build a house 24 feet long by 30 feet wide. They made the contract accordingly ; but, in order to use the old founda- tion, and thereby save the expense of laying new, they agreed with the builder to construct the house of the same size .as the old one, viz. : 26 by 22 feet, and the diflference in price they agreed to pay out of then- own pockets. The contract for building of the size authorized by the district was $280. The trustees also incurred an expense of four dollars for remov- ing the rubbish around the building. Some persons refused to pay tlieir portion of the tax of $284 levied by the trustees to pay for the house, and, at a district uieetmg called to ratify the action of the trustees, the meeting refused to ratify. From this refusal the trustees appeal. Held, that the trustees substantially complied with the resolution of the district, and that the tax of $284, for building the house of ihe original size, and removing the rubbish, was properly and legally levied, and may be col- lected. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, September 12, 1856. a vote to raise by tax a certain sum to build a school house, the same to be paid at discretion in labor or materials, is illegal and void. A district voted to raise a tax of $150, for the purpose of building a school-house, with the privilege of paying said tax in labor and material. The trustees made out a tax-list for the amount, and enforced the collection of it. Held, that the code prescribes but one mode of proceeding in the assessment and collection of taxes, and evidently recognizes but one material as a lawful tender in payment thereof. If, theiefore, the district vote to raise a tax, and prescribe any other mode of collection, or any other material as lawful in payment, they and the statute are in conflict, and the trustees, if they proceed to collect the tax at all, must do so in the mode prescribed by law. But the interest of the inhabitants in imposing these conditions is evidently to have the tax collected in that manner or not at all. It may be safely assumed that the inducement with many to vote the tax was the accommodation afforded by the conditions annexed, and that without these they would have opposed the tax. The department must, therefore, regard this as one of those cases of complicated action, in wliicii the dependence of several provisions is so intricate, that invalidity in any part renders the whole invalid. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, September 14, 1857. The authority tor levying a tax must not be indefinite. Taxes should be speoificallv voted. At the annual meeting the trustees presented their report of the receipts and disbursements of money for the past year, with a statement of the expenses already incurred, which they had no means to meet, and of neces- Taxes and Taxation. 687 sary expenses for the ensuing year, and recoinraended that a tax be levied for the purpose of paying such arrearages and such expenses as wei'e set forth in the statement. This report of the trustees was adopted, and the appeal relates to the action of the meeting in adopting said report. I concur fully with the appellants in the opinion that the adoption of the report of the trustees does not authorize the levy of a tax agreeable to the lecommendations therein contained. A tax must be specifically voted before it can be lawfully levied or collected. The adoption of the report by the meeting is merely to be regarded as an approval of the recommendations of the trustees, without authorizing their enforcement. Per E. W. Keyes, ' Deputy Superintendent, December 3, 1859. FOR TEACHERS WAGES. A tiustee can only levy a tax to pay teachers' wages after such tax has been voted by a district meeting, or after such wages have been earned, and no money belonging to the district and applicable thereto remains in the supervisors' hands. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3044, January 11, 1881. RAILROADS. Tax assessed upon the property of a railroad corporation wiiere the value of said prop- erty has not been apportioned amongst the several districts by the assessors, or by the supervisor, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 694, laws of 1867, illegal. The ground of appeal from the tax-list, by the Erie railway company, is that the assessors of the town did not for the year 1868, make and file any apportionment of the valuation of the said company's property amongst the sevei-al school districts through which the railroad passes in that town as required by chapter 694 of the laws of 1867, nor had the supervisor of said town made or filed in the town clerk's office, any such apportionment as is further provided by said act, but the valuation of said company's property in said tax-list appealed from, was made by the trustees them- selves. The exception to the tax-list on the grounds stated is well taken, and the appeal must be sustained. The object of the act was to supersede all original assessments of railroad property by the trustees, and to confine the duty of making such assessments to the assessors, or in case of their omission to do it, to the supervisor. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 2, 1869. Proceedings of assessors in fixing the valuation of railroad property in the several districts not completed when only the number of acres in each district has been determined. Duty of school commissioners in altering the boundaries of a school district to deter- mine what change has been made in the valuation of railroad property therein. The action of the assessors in fixing the aggregate valuation of the prop- erty of the appellant, a railroad company, in the town and in determining the number of acres thereof to be taxed by each school district, was thus far a performance of their duty under the statute ; but their action was incomplete in not determining the vahiation apportioned to each district. The commissioner having altered the boundaries of the district so as to affect the amount of railroad property therein, omitted to determine as required by section ."i, cliapter 694 of the laws of 1867, what change in the vahiation of said property was effected by such alteration. This was a defect that could not be remedied by an unauthorized valuation by the 688 Taxes and Taxation. trustee. The assessors baviiig failed, to complete their duty, and the com- missioner having failed to do his, it was the duty of the trustee to apply, under the act cited, to the supervisor of the town to make the proper appor- tionment of the value of the railroad property in the several districts. Tax- list set aside. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, September 16, 1871. Trustees, have no authority to make, an, original asjsesspent of rajlroad property within their district, where the assessors and the supervisor have failed to apportion the valuation of such property in the town amongst the various school districts in which such property lies. It is shown that the valuation of the property of said railroad cornpany, as it appears upon the assessment-roll of the town, had not at the time of making out the tax-list by the trus,tees, been apportioned by the town assessors, "among the several school districts in their town in which any portion of said (railroad) property is situated," nor had such apportionment been made by ^lie supervisor of the town, who is required to make it upon, application to him for that purpose, when the assessors have failed. It is conceded that the trustees assumed to make an original assessment of that portion of the railroad property situated in their scliool' district, and have taxed the corporation in accordance with such assessment. The statute confers no authority upon trustees to make an original assessment in such cases. The tax-list is therefore vacated. Per A. B. 'Reaver, Superintendent, March 35, 1873. RESCISSION. When, a special meeting had voted a tax for building a new nouse, and had adjourned four weeks tp, coi^sider proposals for building, aiid at the adjourned nieeting voted to rescind the vote levying the ta,x, the vote to rescind was legal and valia, even though the tax-list had been made out, aud a part of the tax voiuutai'ily paid. At a special meeting duly called a vote was taken and carried, ayes 28, noes 24, to ra,ise $1,000 by tax on the district, for the purpose of building a new school-house. The meeting then adjourned for four weeks for the purpose of receiving propositions, that might meantime be submitted to the trustees relative to site. At the adjourned meeting a motion was car- ried to reconsider the vote of the last niieeting, after which the meeting adjom'ued sine die. In the meantime the tax-list for the i^T.OOO had been made out. and a part of the same had been voluntarily collected before the aajourned meet- ing; but this will avail nothing, as the trustees could not issue their war- rant till the expiration of thirty days after the tax was voted. No legal collection could therefore have been made before 1;hat time. Voluntary payments may have been made which the trustees would be authorized to receive, but these are not such collections its the courts contemplate in order to place the repeal of a tax levy beyond the power of a district meet- ing. It is assumed by the appellapts that the special meeting being adjourned for a specific purpo.se, v^.o. other business co,uId be tra,usacted than th^t speci- fied in the notice for adjournment. This, is an error. The meeting was competent to transact any business brought before it. From the evidence before me, I am compelled to regarcj the prpceeidings of the aidjourned meeting as a fair expression of the will of tl\e district upon levying the tax, and it is unfavorable to such action. The vote at the adjourned meeting is much larger than that of the special meeting ; it is plain, therefore, tliat no advantage was taken of the absence of any con- Taxes and Taxation. 689 siderable number of the voters by the majority in their vote to rescind the tax. Under these circumstances, therefore, the proceedings of the adjourned meeting are declared legal and are hereby affirmed. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 18, 1858. SUBJECTS OF TAXATION. A tax for wages of an unqualified teacher, illegal. Appeal from a school district tax. It appears from the papers submitted, that the tax in question embraced a charge of $16 for wages of a teacher while she was without a license. This renders the tax-list illegal, for it is only to collect the amount due to qualified teachers after the payment to them of public moneys legally applicable, that a tax can be assessed for teacher's wages. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, March 15, 1870. The board of a teacher when stipulated for by trustees, is to be regarded as part of the teacher's wages, for the value or which a tax may be levied. Where trustees contract with a teacher that he shall board around in the district, the value of the board is to be regarded as part of the wages of the teacher, and the trustee may collect the same by tax, as for teacher's ■wages, and pay over to those who by reason of having boarded the teacher at the request of the trustees, are entitled thereto. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 3, 1873. Items erroneously included in a tax-list made out by the trustee, without a vote of a school meeting. A tax-list issued to collect taxes not previously voted, contained items as follows: 1. For stove and pipe, banking, repairing, and insuring the school-house, $22.38. 2. Charges and expenses in answering two appeals, and attending a law suit, $31.31. 3. For incidentals, |5. The first of the above is erroneous, in that it includes three items under one head, which should have been stated separately, with the amount for each. If the amount therein intended for repairs exceeds $20, it exceeds the sum for which the trustee is authorized to levy a tax without a vote of the district. The second item seems to be for costs in defending proceedings, without the previous instruction of a district meeting, and cannot be legally col- lected until authorized by a district meeting, under section 8, title 13, General School Act ; or if such authority be refused, proceedings must be had under sections 9, 10 and 11 of said title. The third item, ' ' for incidentals," is wholly unauthorized. Tax-list and warrant vacated as irregularly issued. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, May 3, 1873. Items of a tax struck out on appeal, as unauthorized. On an appeal from a tax levied by the trustee of school district No. 5. The tax-list embraces six items, all of which are objected to. Only those overruled by the Superintendent will be considered. A tax of 142 for fuel furnished by the trustee. The wood for the pre- vious winter cost only $21. For reasons which seem adequate, derived 87 690 Taxes and Taxation. from the testimony, the Superintendent thinlcs $35 would be a. fair amount to allow. An item of $7 for building fires, is cut down to $5. An item of $44.85, is charged for repairs of school-house, wood-shed and privy. The school-house was repaired by direction of the school commissioner, which is competent authority for the expenditure, but from the amount must be deducted the sum paid for repairs to the wood-shed and privy, for whicli no authority is shown. For an item of $7.03, for incidental ex- penses, no authority is shown. Incidental or contingent expenses can be collected by tax only when authorized by a vote of a district meeting, nor would such vote authorize the charge of $3.50 for expenses incurred in con- nection with hiring a tedcher and bringing her into the district. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, September 11, 1875. The like holding to the last, in a case where the trustee included in his tax list an item of $3, for making out the same. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- intendent, September 13, 1875. TURNPIKE. Trustees are to assess the road-bed of a turnpike precisely as if that portion of it lying in their district belongs to an individual not owning the remainder; unless the net annual income of the company over and above all expenses for repairs, etc., is less than five per cent upon the original cost, in which case the road is exempt from tax- ation. The turnpike company were not assessed upon the town roll, and the trustees admit that they gave no notice of the completion of their roll, and consequently neither the appellant nor any other person had the opportun- ity of calling for the correction of the valuation of the company's property. The appellants swear positively that the property of the company assessed at $600 is worth $3,000, and the respondents in their answer show that they assessed it simply as they would agricultural property at $30 per acre, and apparently without allowing any thing for the labor and materials em- ployed in making the land covered by the road-bed productive and valu- able as a turnpike. It is of course impossible for the Superintendent to judge to what degree this valuation may be erroneous. It is sufficient ob- jection, however, that the appellant has not had the opportunity, which the statute designed to secure, of producing such evidence to the trustees as he deemed proper to induce them to increase this valuation and thereby lighten the burden of his own taxation. The judgment of the supreme- court in the case of " The Albany and Schenectady BaU/road Company v. Osbom " (13 Barlour's Supreme Court Reports, 333) shows that the appellant is mistaken in supposing that the value of the stock is to control the trust- ees in judging of the value of that portion of the plank-road in their dis- trict. They are to assess the road-bed precisely aa if that portion of it iu the district belonged to an individual owner not owning the remainder, unless the net annual income of the company over and above all expenses and repairs and collection of tolls is less than five per cent upon the orig- inal cost of the road, in which case the road is exempt from taxation. {laws 0/1854, p. 168.) Per V. M. Eice, March 34, 1855. TO ELECT IN WHICH TOWN TO BE TAXED. Chapter 5fi, laws of 1836, authorizing certain tax payers to elect and give notice in which of two towns they will pay taxes held to apply to school taxes. Hetd, further, that the act applies to cases which arise subsequent to the passage of the act as well as to the then existing cases. This is an appeal from the action of Samuel Decker, sole trustee of school Taxes and Taxation. 691 district No. 21 of the town of Midclletown, Delaware county, N. Y., in levying a tax for the sum of $198.87 by a tax bill dated July 5, 1886, and renewed August 5, 1886. The appellant insists that such tax-list is incor- rect and invalid as to it, and that it should not be taxed in district No. 21 at all. The property of the appellant consists of a hotel and accompanying buildings, and about one hundred acres of land. The line between Dela- ware and Ulster counties, and between the towns of Middletown and Shau- daken, runs through said property and through said hotel building, leaving a portion in each town. The appellant claims that school district No. 3 of the town of Shaudaken includes the entire property, and the description of said district as recorded in the town clerk's office of said town seems to support this view. The respondent insists, upon tlie other hand, that the boundary between district No. 21, Middletown, Delaware county, and district No. 3 of the town of Shandaken, Ulster county, is identical with the boundary line between the two comities, so far as the same runs through this property, and supports its claim by numerous affidavits of former trustees and other residents who profess to liave been familiar witli all the circumstances for more than thirty years. It is impossible for me to determine U\i disputed question and the location of the district line from the papers in the case. It prob- ably can only be determined by a survey, which should be made. If I could feel justified in sustaining tlie appellant's claim in this regard, that would settle the controversy; but I cannot. The appellant says, however, that even if the respondent's claim as to the location of the boundary liue be assumed to be correct, that even then it ought to succeed in this appeal, for the reason that it has elected to pay taxes in the town of Shandaken pursuant to tlie provision of chapter 59 of the laws of 1886. Proof is made that the appellant, in the month of March, 1880, caused to be served upon the asses- sors of each of the towns of Middletown and Sliandaken, a notice signed by the president of the appellant, together with a copy of the act (chapter 59 of the laws of 1886), and stated that, pursuant to such chapter, the appellant would elect to pay taxes thereafter in the town of Shandaken. It is insisted by the respondent that chapter 59 of tlie laws of 1886 only applies to taxes levied and unpaid at the time of the passage of the act, and that in any event it does not apply to taxes for school purposes. The language of this act is, perhaps, unfortunate and difficult of construction ; it must be read in its entirety, and its different jirovisions must be con- strued in line with its general purpose, and, so far as possible, held to carry out that purpose. Its general purpose is to relieve the owners of dwelling-houses, or other buildings through which town boundary lines run, from the embarassmeut and annoyance of being subjected to taxation in the two towns, and to avoid controversies between the same in relation to their respective claims. It does speak of "taxes levied thereon, which shall remain unpaid by the owner * * * at the time of the passage of this act;" but. section two provides that "the occupant shall cause to be served upon the assessors, or one of them in both said town and city, or in both of said towns in the same or different counties, at least thirty days prior to the date fixed by law for the date of assessment, a written notice of his said election, together with a copy of this act, " etc. This provision that the notice of election shall be served at least thirty days prior to the date of assessment woilld be meaningless, if we were to hold that the act applied only to taxes levied at the time of its passage. On the contrary, it plainly indicates the intent of the legislature to make a general provis- ion not only for the benefit of existing cases, but of such as might arise after the passage of the act. Furthermore, the act refers to taxes in gen- eral, and I think must be held to include school taxes. 692 Tbachers. For the foregoing considerations, the appeal must be sustained, and the tax levied against the appellant in the town of Middletown must be held to be null and void, and the trustee of school district No. 21 of said town is hereby directed to withdraw the tax-list in question from the liauds of the collector, and to correct the same by striking therefrom the name of the Summit Mountain House Company. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Decision No. 3531, November 12, 18S6. TEACHERS. CERTIFICATKS-iANNDLMENT. t The infliction upon a pupil of unnecessary and crnel piinishment is good cause for annulling a teacher's certificate. A teacher, for an act of disobedience, ordeied a boy, fifteen years of age ito hold out a book, of the ordinary size used in schools, at arm's length, level with his slionlder. The boy, after holding it in that position from five to eight or ten minutes, let it fall and said he could not hold it any longer. On being ordered to hold it out again, he peremptorily re- fused. The teacher, then, with a curled maple rule, over twenty inclies long, one and three-quarters wide, and half an inch thick, struck him fiom fifteen to twenty blows on his back and thighs, and in so severe a manner an to disable him from leaving school without assistance. A physician was called and found his back and limbs badly bruised and swollen. The teacher on the succeeding day sent to liim a physician, who pronounced him "very badly bruised." It was ten or twelve days before he so far re- covered as to be able to attend school. The Superintendent expresses his unqualified disapprobation of a pun- ishment so severe and unreasonable. If the disobedience of the boy had been the result of sheer obstinancy and willfulness, it could not justify the infliction of fifteen or twenty blows with such a bludgeon, upon the Tjack and limbs of the boy. disabling him for a fortnight. Such a measure of punishment for such au offense would be sufficient ground for annulling a certificate. Per Young, March 39, 1843. The department will annnl the certificate of a teacher for cmel and unreasonable dis- cipline in the government of a school. Mr. Bly was employed as a teacher in district No. 7, Amity, by the trus- tees on the 4th of December last, and soon afterward commenced his school under a certificate of qualification granted by tl\e town superintendent. From the statement of the respondents, in answer to the appeal, it appears " tliat much dissatisfaction prevailed in the district, on account of the severe, not to say outrageous, manner pursued by the teacher in punishing the scliolars." And on a visitation of the school on the day above referred to by the town and county superintendent, but twenty-eight out of fifty- eight children on the teacher's list were present. " The great part of tlie absentees, Bly acknowledged, had been driven from the school in conse- quence of his severity, etc. He also remarked to us, that ' if he could get rid of a few more, he thought he could govern the rest.' " The respondent further states, during the examination "the greatest confusion, insubordination and anarchy continued ; " that the teacher was Teaciieks. 693 informed at the close, and after the children had left, in the most kind and friendly manner, that some method better calculated to preserve order in his school must be adopted, and he was advised to " address his pupils iu a spirit of kindness, eto„" at which he evinced great anger, announced his intention "to adopt and persist in his own couise, and to receive dic- tation from no man." The superintendents then informed him that in their judgment the indiscriminate use of the rod was improper, that the "insub- ordinate conduct of his pupils was in a measure owing to his indiscrimi nate and severe use, not of a rod, but of a bush about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and three feet long, with several branches well twisted together," and that unless a reformation iu this respect was promised, they should be under the necessity of depriving him of his certificate. This he peremptorily refused to do, and distinctly informed the superin- tendents that he should continue the same course of discipline he had adopted for the goiJ'ernment of his school. Under these circumstances, they deemed it their duty to annul his certificate. The practice of inflicting corporeal punishment upon scholars, in any case whatever, observes General^ Dix, has no sanction but usage. The Superintendent is not prepared, in the present imperfect condition of edu- cational science, entirely to prohibit its use as a means of school discipline, but he will sustain town and county superintendents in every effort to re- strict it to the smallest possible compass consistent with the preservation of order and government, and he will in no case tolerate the slightest abuse, in the discretion conferred in this r(!spect by usage, or otherwise, upon teachers. In this case the town and county superintendents were amply justifiable in annulling the certificate, and their proceedings are therefore confirmed, and the appeal dismissed. Per S. Young, February 1, 1844. A teacher's certificate of qualiflcatioa cannot be annulled without giving him notice and a reasonable opportunity, if he desire, to appear and be heard in defense. The trustees of district No. 5, in Guilford, employed Mr. Matteson to teach their school for the winter term. The school commenced November 1, 1847. November 2G, 1847, Mr. Garhart visited the school, examined Mr. Matteson and gave him a certificate. December 6, the superintendent stop- ped at the door of the school-house and told the teacher that complaints had reached his ears in regard to his mode of punishing scholars, and in- timated that his certificate might be annulled. December 30, the super- intendent served a notice upon the teacher that he should annul his certi- ficate unless certain complaints "arising from his mode of punishment" were cleared up. December 25, the teacher wrote the superintendent, re- questing an investigation of the charges and complaints against him. Jan- uary 5, the superintendent annulled the certificate, and gave notice thereof to the trustees, without having given the teacher any opportunity to reply to or explain the charges made against him, and assigning, as his reasons therefor, the complaints mentioned in his previous notice and his own ob- servations. The trustees all signed a paper stating that, in tlieir opinion, the charges against the teacher were of a trival character and wholly un- founded, and that the course of the superintendent was " under-handed, prejudiced and ungentlemanly," and "meets our imqualifled disapproba- tion." The conduct of the town superintendent in this case will hardly admit of a reasonable explanation. He visits a school .twice, and then gives the teacher a legal certificate. In less than a month he gives the teacher notice of his intention to annul his certificate, without having, in the meantime, 694 Teachers. ■visited the school or required a re-examination, and upon complaints not stated iu writing or assuming any tangible shape, but, so far as appears at the time, mere heresay reports and neighborhood gossip. The pretense that the superintendent had become satisfied, from "personal observa- tions," that the teacher was unqualified, is very strangely inconsistent witli the fact that he made no " personal observations " after granting the cer- tificate. . The teacher requested specifications of the charges. None were given. He desired to be heard in answer to whatever could be alleged against him. No opportunity was allowed. A certificate of qualification should not be annulled without a statement of the complaint, and an investigation of its truth, and an opportunity given to the teacher to be present during such investigation. Such are the rules prescribed by this department in proceedings to annul a teacher's certificate, and they are a part of tlie law. The superintendent proceeded iu this matter without a proper and needful statement of the charges and specifications, and without giving the teacher an opportunity to be heard iu defense. It is, therefore, decreed that the order of the town superintendent, annulling Mr. Matteson's certificate, be set aside. Per Morgan, February, 1848. A teacher's license should be annulled for intemperance. It must be borne in mind that, in the matter of the character of a teaclier of youth, the commissioner or other competent authority bases his certifi- cate upon the assurance that the applicant is of good moral character. Were the schools throughout the State accessible to and in charge of teachers guilty of the habit of drunkenness, it would present a spectacle at which the moral sense of the people would stand appalled. I could never grant a certificate to such a person setting forth among other things, that lie was qualified in respect to moral character to teach any district school; and if, unwittingly, I had given him such a testimonial, I should be com- pelled, upon evidence of his immoral practices being submitted, to retract a statement so clearly at variance with the facts disclosed ; the only practi- cal mode of doing which would be to annul the certificate which he held. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 7, 1860. Refusal to annul teacher's certificate for inflicting proper punishment. On a petition asking this department to annul the license of A. B., a teacher, it is alleged that the said A. B. inflicted cruel and unusual punish- ment upon a pupil. The severity of the punishment is conceded, but not to the extent nor in the manner charged. The facts appear to be that the pupil flatly refused to obey the teacher, by not taking the seat lie was directed to take. The teacher came toward the boy, intending to compel him by force to take the seat assigned to him. The boy,, with an oath, bade the teacher not come near him, and, as the teacher approached, the boy struck at him several times. The teacher caught the boy, and with force put him in his seat, the boy meantime kicking, striking, yelling and swearing. To stop this outrageous and unseemly noise, the teacher took the most effectual means at his command; he intercepted the passage of air between the lunn-s and. the vocal organs, long enough to suppress the disturbance, but not long enough to injure the boy. But the boy was not subdued by any such o-entle restraint, for no sooner was he left alone than he ran out of doors. The teacher pursued and caught him, and brought him back to the school-room, Teacoebs. 695 not, it appears, without some considerable force, for the boy resisted with all his strength ; and it would really not be strange if in. the struggle he received some severe blows. And for this the Superintendent is asked to annul the certiflcate of the teaclier. I decline to do any thing of the kind. The teacher, in the matter of the boy, did no more than he was compelled to do; he might have done mucli more, and still be acquitted of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment. It was not cruel, and if it was unusual, it was only so because the conduct of the boy was unusual. Petition denied. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- ent, March 24, 1863. Anuulment of a teacher's license for iDcompeteDce known to the commissioner does not require legal notice. The annulment of a license for inability, found to exist on a personal examination by the commissioner, requires no notice at all, and for the obvious reason that testimony is not available to discredit the deliberate judgment of the commissioner, founded upon his own personal knowledge. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 13, 1863. Entitled to a copy of charges, and to proper notice of time and place to appear and defend himself, when these relate to moral character. On the 35th of December, 1867, the school commissioner annulled the license of W. W. Alexander, upon charges aSecting his moral character. It is admitted that no copy of the charges was furnished the teacher and the only attempt to notify him to appear and defend himself, was a verbal authorization to the trustee of the district where tiie teacher was employed to give such notice, also verbal. In law and in fact, this was no notice at all. Commissioners cannot be too careful in examining and deciding upon charges afiEectiug the moral character of a teaclier, to proceed in accordance with the requirements of the statute and of the department. These were , established for the protection of teachers who may, very properly, insist upon a faithful and accurate observance of them. The attention of com- missioners is particularly called to subdivision 7, section 13, title 8 of the General School Act. The commissioner's action in annulling said license is hereby declared void, al) initio, for want of due notice to the accused. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, June 4, 1868. Annulmentof teacher's license for want of ability to teach, without any re-examina- tion, declared invalid. On the 3d day of February, an order was served upon the appellant by the commissioner, to show cause, on the 15th day of February, why the license held by him should not be annulled, and setting forth the intention of the commissioner, on that day, to examine him in reference to his ability to instruct common schools and also on charges specified in such notice as a cause for annulling said license. On the following day, the above-mentioned order to show cause was withdrawn and an order was served instead on tlie appellant, annulling his certiflcate. The commissioner claims that his action was under title 3, section 13, sub-division 6 of the General School Act. The clause cited gives the commissioner power and makes it his duty, " to re-examine any teacher holding his or his predecessor's certiflcate, and if he find him deficient in learning or ability, to annul his certificate." 696 Teacheks. But in tbis case, there was no such re-examination as is contemplated by the law. The act was, in my judgment, a mere arbitrary exercise of power by the commissioner. There is no occasion for, and I refrain from passing upon the question of the fitness of the appellant to hold a license as a teacher of common schools. Tliat question is not before me. The only issue presented here is whether he was legally deprived of the license that had been granted to him. Believing, as I do, that he was illegally deprived of it, I hereby declare the annulment of it by the commissioner, on the 4th day of November, 1867, to be invalid and of uo effect. Per A. B. "Weaver, Superintendent, March 13, 1869. A teacher's certificate should not be annulled for moral delinquencies known to the commissioner at the time of issuing the same, and where no departure from moral rectitude is shown to have occurred since. A certificate of qualification was granted to one Parks by the school com- missioner, notwithstanding it had beeen charged, and admitted by the teacher, that twice prior to the time of his examination for said license, he had played cards for money. The commissioner, in view of this moral delinquency, required Parks to bring testimonials as to character, which lie did, signed by reputable citizens, and in view of which the previous lapse of the teacher from morality in the respect noted, was condoned and the certificate issued. Subsequently, formal complaint was made to the commissioner against the teacher upon the ground of this previous delinquency, and the commis- sioner went through the formality of a hearing, upon which, however, noth- ing, not previously known to the commissioner, was elicited. The certifi- cate, however, was annulled. It does not appear that Parks had violated the dignity of his profession, by gambling, subsequent to holding said certificate, or that he had the reputation of being a gambler, which would of course unfit him for the business of teacher, but tliat his reputation for morality is good, and he produces strong testimony to that effect. Under these circumstances, I think the commissioner should have over- looked these two acts of indulgence prior to the granting of the certificate. The Superintendent would not for a moment countenance the licensing as teachers, of persons of immoral character; on the other hand, it is very hard to annul the certificate of a successful teacher, and one whose moral character is shown to be now good, for acts committed.some time ago. In all such cases there should be charity, and a disposition to help rather than hinder any one who is trying to reform and lead a better life, especially in a case of this kind, where the commissioner, with full knowledge of all the facts, issued the certificate. Order of commissioner annulling certificate vacated. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent, January, 28, 1876. In a proceeding to annul teachers' certificate on the ground of immoral character, the aim of the commissioner should be to inquire into the present character of the teacher. In a proceeding to annul a teacher's certificate on the ground of intoxica- tion charged against him, which intoxication occurred two years previous to the examination before the commissioner, the aim of the commissioner should have been so far as possible the present character of the teacher, and the events of two years past could only be material so far as they bore on the question of present character. The order of the commissioner annulling certificate set aside. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendeut. Decision No 3002, February 19, 1881. Teachers. 697 The cause assigned for the annalment of the teacher's certificate is "incompetency." This is a very gj'ave and serious finding, and should not be reached, as it embraces not nierely the ability to teach, but may also look to the moral character of tha teacher and his learning, without a full and fair investigation on the part of the com. missioner, afterriotioe to the teacher that such investigation would be had, giving him an opportunity in the presence of the commissioner to show his ability to teach, if that is called in question, and to refute any charges made by others and upon which the commissioner proposes to act. The school commissioner annulled the teacher's certificate, on the ground of incompetency on the 14th day of December, 1885. This annulment was made by tlie commissioner after a brief visit to the school on the 9th r than the 32d of June, namely, on the 8th day of Juno, 1883, had it not been for the ac- tion of the school board in closing the school through fear of an epidemic The school was closed by no act of the appellant ; he was at his post in Teach i.Kj. '^^ readiness to obey tlie orders of the board of education, and Uiere appears to be no reason why the two weeks from the IGth to the 8Uth of October should not be regarded as a part of the term for which he was employed. The closing was not a vacation in the customary sense of the term. The two weeks succeeding the 8th day of June must be regarded as an addi- tional term of service for which the teacher should receive additional com- pensation, and it would appear that the value of his services should be measured by the salary agreed upon in his previous contract with the trust- ees. Board ordered to pay appellant's claim. Per W. B. Ruggles, Super- intendent. Decision No. 3309, June 33, 1883. The acts and contracts of a de facto trustee, which are not illegal per ee, are valid and binding upon the district. An annual meeting had the power to order a tax for a teacher's wages after such wages have been earned, although the teacher was hired by a de facto trustee. The appeal is brought from the action of the annual school meeting direct-, ing the trustee to levy a tax and pay a teacher the sum of |195.84 as balance of wages due her. The point raised by the appellant is that the said teacher was hired by a "private individual and, not the trustee." It appears that the teacher was hired by a trustee appointed by the supervisor, and that his appointment was afterward vacated upon appeal to this department. The school was taught by the teacher employed by the de facto trustee, and the annual meeting adopted the resolution referred to. " While it is true that tlie appointment of Hill as trustee was vacated and set aside, he, nevertheless, at the time of the hiring of the teacher whose services the appellant asks shall not be paid for by the district, was the de facto trustee, and it is a well-established principle of law, and the ruling of this department, that the acts and contracts of a de facto trustee, which are not illegal pet se, are valid and binding upon the district. The district meeting by passing the said resolution ratified the contract made with the teaclier. But in this case it would not be necessary to find that the teacher was hired by a trustee whose election or appointment to office was regular be- fore she could be paid her wages. The teacher had rendered the district services by teaching the winter and summer terms, and the annual meeting directed and provided for the payment of $195.84 as balance due her for such services. The statute expressly gives a district meeting this power. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3369. September 30, 1884. Teacher cannot be paid for the time she did not bold a certificate. It appears that the teacher commenced to teach on or about the 29th day of September, 1884, and she did not procure a certificate until the 4th day of October. If between the 29th day of September and the 4th day of October, she was not possessed of a legal license to teach, her wages for that period cannot be paid from public money apportioned to the district, nor can they be made a charge upon the district for which a tax may be legally raised. It seems, however, that she was legally employed betw.een the 4th day of October and the 3d day of December, on which day, by proper legal procedure, her certificate was annulled by Isaac T. Haight, school commissioner of the second district of Columbia county. Prom this day until the granting of a new certificate to her, on the 3d day of Jan- uary, 1885, by Commissioner Silvernail, she was not a qualified teacher 710 Teachees. •within the meaning of the law, and for her services rendered during this period she could not be paid from public money or from moneys raised by tax upon the district. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3416, May 5, 1885. In drawing an order any sum allowed a teacher for board should be denominated wages, and the order can be drawn only in favor of the teacher. The trustee agreed to pay a teacher $3 per week and board. After trying several places, the teacher asked and was permitted to boardwitli the trustee. When the term of service was ended a new trustee was in office, who refused to allow the teacher the amount asked for board, namely, $3 per week for fourteen weeks. The trustee claims that the teacher is not entitled to the board, and that the $3 per week having been paid her, and she having received her board, the district owes her nothing. On the other liand the teacher maintains that she owes the board bill and must have the money from the districtto pay it. It has been uniformly held by the department that the mode of paymg teachers must be the same, no matter what the contract. The whole must be paid in the manner provided by law for the payment of teacher's wages. The wages of the teacher included the whole compensation allowed him or lier for board or any other object. In drawing an order any sum allowed for board should be denominated wages, and the order can be drawn only in favor of the teacher. The trustee ordered to pay the teacher the amount claimed. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3460, December 18, 1885. A teacher is entitled to pay for services during the time a school shall be closed by the trustee on account of an infectious or contagious disease in the district, when such closure occurs duiing a term for which the teacher was employed. ' A teacher can teach another school or engage in any other occupation during vacation time between terms for which such teacher was hired. • The appeal is brought from the refusal of the trustee to pay the teacher for three weeks of service as claimed. On tlie 2d day of September, 1884, this appellant and P. P. Warren, the trustee of school district No. 9, Schroon, entered into a contract under the terms of which Beile M. Doherty, then a duly licensed teacher, was to teacli the district school in said district for a period of thirty-two weeks at a weekly compensation of eight and one-fourth dollars. The thirty-two weeks were to be divided into two terms, the first term commencing on the 15th of September and ending on or about the 1st day of January following. The school was then to be closed duiing the winter months and until the last of April, owing "to the condition of the roads, severity of the weather, and the distance of the houses of the children from the school-house which is in a sparsely-settled portion of the Adirondack region." The balance of the thirty-two weeks were then to be taught. In accordance with this contract, the appellant commenced teaching the school on the 15th of September, 1884, and continued to teach the same imtil the 3d day of Decmber, 1884, when the school was closed by the trustee in obedience to an order of the board of healtli of said town "through fear of contagion of some disease then prevailing in said town." The school lemained closed by virtue, of said direction during the remainder of the first term. The school was not again opened until the 27th day of April, 1885, when the trustee directed that the second term should be commenced. This second term was continued until closed by the trustee , Teachers. 711 at the end of the scliool year, making the time actually taught twenty eight weeks and two days. It will be seen from the above that there were throe weeks and three days of this time during which the school was closed by order of the trustee; and the trustee of the district, elected at the annual meeting in 1885, refused to pay appellant for such time. The appellant thereupon offered to continue the school to make up for the lost time, but said offer was also refused by the trustee. The question to be passed upon is, that of the liability of the district to the teacher for three weeks aud three days. This is easily disposed of for the following reasons: First. As a matter of law, a teacher is entitled to pay for services dur- ing the time a school shall be closed by the trustee on account of an infec- tious or contagious disease in the district, when such closure occurs during a term for which the teacher was employed. The school was not taught by this appellant for the three weeks and three days for the reason that it was so closed. Second. It does not appear that there was any good or sufBcieut reason for refusing to allow the appellant to continue the school long enoMgh to complete a period actually taught of thirty-two weeks, although under the law. as above stated, this offer of service was not neces- sary upon the part of the teacher. , It is urged by the respondents that the appellant is not entitled to any compensation for these three weeks and three days for the reason that dur- ing the period the school was closed she taught a fchool in another district for a few weeks. This objection is without any force, as it appears that under the terms of the contract there was to be a vacation during the winter months, and it was during this vacation period tliat the appellant taught for three or four weeks a school in another district. This she was legally entitled to do, or to engage in any other work or business she might desire, as district No. 9, town of Schroon, had no claim upon her whatever for such service during the vacation period between the close of the first term, on or about the first of January and the opening of the summer term on the 37th day of April. The district is, therefore, indebted to this appellant under the contract for three weeks aud three days at eight and ime-fourth dollars per week, amounting to the sum of twenty-nine dollars and seventy cents. Per James E. Jlorrison, Acting Superintendent. Decision No. 3468, January 18, 1886. A teacher is entitled to her wages for tlio week spent in attendance v.i the teachers* institntc, and the trustees cannot require her to teach au extra week to make up for the time so spent. The appellant contracted with the board of education to teach three terms of thirteen weeks each, for the sum of 1500. She has fulfilled her contract except as to one week, during which she was ifi attendance at the teachers' institute held in the county. She subsequently, at the request of tlie board, taught an additional week. She has been paid the sum of $410.2G. The appellant should have been paid her wages promptly. She is entitled to her wages during the week she was in attendance at the teachers' insti- tute. She is also entitled to pay for the extra week taught, at the contract rate, which amounts to the sum of $12.82. I infer that the board under- took to require her to make up the week of her attendance at the institute. This they had no right to do. The board is ordered to pay the teacher the siuii of $102.56. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3533, September 15, 1886. 712 Teachers. CONTRACT. Every contract made with teachers in our common schools necessarily includes the condition that the agreement cannot be binding for a longer period than teachers mav bold certificates of qualification, and on the annulling of their certiticates all claim for future services ceases. The appellant, in the year 1845, had made a contract with the trustees of school district No. 10, in the town of Champion, to teach the district school for a limited period, and at a stipulated price per month for his services; and, before the expiration of the term limited by the contract, on the 27th day of November, 1845, for causes satisfactory to that officer, the town superintendent annulled the certificate of qualification, which act was affirmed by the county superintendent. On appeal to the department, it was deemed advisable, for the reasons stated in the decision then given, not to interfere with the acts of these officers, by a formal reversal of their decisions. The appellant claimed of the trustees of the district his wages, under his contract, for the unexpired term after the annulment of his certificate, as before mentioned; and those officers, or a majority of them, liaving refused payment, he appealed to the county superintendent, who declined inter- fering, on the ground that the appellant had no legal claim to compensation under his contract from the time his license as a teacher was annulled, and from this determination the appellant has" again appealed to this depart- ment. Every contract made by trustees with a teacher in our common schools necessarily includes the condition that the agreement cannot be binding upon them for a longer period than the teacher may hold a certificate of qualification. I do not mean by this that trustees cannot with a full knowl- edge of all the facts in regard to a want of license make a contract with an unlicensed teacher which will bind them personally, but I do hold that this department cannot in the exercise of its rightful powers and jurisdiction be called upon to enforce a performance of any such contract. I assume that when the trustees made the contract with the appellant for his services as a teacher, both parties understood that the appellant had a proper license, and that the contract was to cease whenever he became legally disqualified as such ; but if he be able to establish a diBerent con- tract by competent proof, then he must resort to another tribunal, for this department cannot afford him any relief. Tlie decision of the county superintendent is affirmed and the appeal dis- missed. Per N. S. Benton, July 13, 1846. A teacher employed under a contract, to teach by the month, specified as twenty-six days, is entitled to dismiss school every Saturday afternoon, or each alternate Satur- day, according to the custom of the country, and the trustees have no right to with- hold any portion of the amount due him for so doing. A contract was made between Mary Dwight and Jacob Harder, one of the trustees of district No. 1, Windsor, and part in Conklin, by which she was to teach the district school at three dollars a week for an indefinite time._ The trustees dissenting, on the twenty-second day of November, a new contract was made between said Mary Dwight and Jacob Harder, with the consent of the other trustee, Alanson Alden, by which she was to teach four months, at the rate of $13 per month of twenty-six days. The said Mary Dwight taught from November 33, 1847, to March 31, 1848, inclusive, a period of 131 days, deducting Sundays. She, therefore! taught four months of twenty-six days, according to contract. Teachers. 713 But it is alleged by Harder that tlie said Mary agreed to teach Saturdays or lose those days. The said Mary denies this, and alleges that "Satur- days " were not mentioned when the contract was made. The affidavit of Jared N. Hoadley confirms the allegations of said Mary Dwight. Hoadley swears that Mary Dwight agreed to teach twenty-six days for twelve dol- lars, on condition that she taught four months. Hoadley's affidavit proves a contract by the month, at $12, Such a con- tract would authorize the teacher to dismiss her school every holiday and Saturday afternoon, or every alternate Saturday, according to the custom of the district. And the custom of dismissing school every Saturday after- tenioon or every alternate Saturday is a good and wholesome one. The amount withheld by the trustees from Mary Bwi^ht is $3.11. It is adjudged and decreed that said Mary is entitled to receive from said trus- tees said sum of $3,11, in addition to the sum of $44.89 already paid to her, and the trustees are hereby ordered to pay the same to her forthwith. Per Morgan, June 7, 1848. Where one trustee engages a teacher to teach in the place designated by a district meet'iug- and the other two engage a teacher to teach in a place selected by them- selves, neither is a legal school. On© trustee cannot legally' engage a teacher for the district, neither can two trustees legally engage a teacher to teach in a place designated b;y themselves when the dis- trict have selected another place. The school-house in district No. 7, Guilford, Chenango county, was destroyed by fire in January, 1847. In February following, the inliabitnnts, in district meeting, voted to hire a temporary place for the school. Accord- ingly, a school was regularly opened on the 13tli of May, 1847, in the place so designated. In the following winter, two of the trustees opened a school in another place without the vote of the district, and gave an order upon the town superintendent for two -thirds of the teacher's money appor- tioned to the district, which was paid. In the meantime, Mr. Mills, the other trustee, opened a school in the house which had been designated by the district for the summer school. Each party claims a right to the public money, but neither is entitled to it, as neither school was legally established. In all cases the inhabitants of a district are to designate the place where the school shall be kept, and trustees alone are responsible for the expenses incuri'ed in support of a school opened by them without this authority from the district. One trustee cannot hire a teacher or open a school without the concur- rence of at least one other trustee. Nor is any act of the trustees valid without all being consulted, and without the concurrence of a majority. The public money obtained on the order of the two trustees could not be applied to tlie payment of their teacher, as the school was not a district school. It is, therefore, hereby adjudged and decided that the public money apportioued to district No. 7, Guilford, for teacher's wages, cannot be applied to the payment of either of the teachers' employed in the schools hereinbefore mentioned. Per Morgan, July 14, 1848. Where one trustee employs a teacher without consulting with his associates, and his action is silently acquiesced in until the expiration of the term, their approval of the contract will be imphed, and they should sign an order for the public money tor teachers' wages when applied to. This is an appeal taken by a teacher from the action of two of the trus- tees of school district No. 8, in the town of Oxford, Chenango county. 90 714 Teachees. Said trustees refuse to sign an order upon the town superintendent of Oxford for the sum of $20 to compensate the appellant for her services as teacher of the school in said district, upon the ground that the appellant was employed in January, 1854, as teacher by George Stratton, the third trus- tee, upon his own responsibility, the respondents not having been informed by said Stratton of the employment of the appellant, nor of the conditions either of time, wages or qualifications; and that, therefore, appellant is not entitled to any share of the public money for the school taught by her last winter. It appears that said Harriet "Webb was employed by one of the trustees in his official capacity to teach a public school in said district at the rate of $2 a week, and that she was so employed ten weeks. Neither of the other trustees appear to have dissented. Tliey cannot be presumed to have been ignorant of the fact, and must be considered as having acquiesced. This is the view which would be taken in any court of judicature having jui-is- diction of the case. The appeal is, therefore, sustained, and the town superintendent of the towij of Oxford is hereby ordered to pay to the said Harriet Webb, for her services as teacher in said district, the sum of f 20 from the share of the public money belonging to said district. Per V. M. Rice, October 23, 1854. Where two trustees employ a teacher, without coDsuHing the third, the contract is binding only upon the trustees making the bargain, unless the conduct of the third trustee is such that his acquiescence may fairly be inferred. This is an appeal of a trustee of school district No. 6, in the town of Vernon, Oneida county, from the action of his two colleagues, upon the ground that a teacher has been employed to instruct the school of said dis- trict, commencing on tlie 30th day of October last, and to continue through the winter, in and relating to which engagement the appellant was not con- sulted, and had no knowledge. The respondents acknowledge the fact as charged, pleading that they had no suspicion that he would object. The basis of this appeal rests upon broad principles, involved in the general laws of trust which govern all fiduciary transactions. Contracts entered into by all the trustees of a school district, and signed by two of them, are binding; and when so signed the presence of the third is pre- sumed until the contrary is shown. Two trustees can contract against the will of the third, if he was duly notified of a meeting of the trustees, or was consulted and refused to act. (9 Wendell, 17.) The appellant not being consulted in the contract with the teacher, Miss Delia A. 0. Alford, could in no sense be responsible, unless when he dis- covered the fact he should have acquiesced. Yet no fiduciary transaction can exist without all parties to it are cogni- zant. The contract in question is binding only with the respondents, but is void so far as the trustees officially and the district are concerned. The appeal is, therefore, sustained. Per V. M. Rice, November 21, 1854. A consultation of two trustees, without the presence and advice of the third, can result in nothing which can be regarded as the action of the board, unless the third has been regularly notified and fails to be present. The controversy, in this case, respects the validity of the contracts with three different teachers. No one of them has been engaged in a legal man- ner, for in no case have the trustees met and consulted together. A consultation of two trustees meeting^ by themselves, without the pres- ence and advice of the third, can result in nothing which can be regarded Teachers. 715 as the action of the board, unless the third trustee lias been regularly noti- fied of a meeting and continues absent after his colleagues have waited a reasonable time for liis attendance. The trustees cannot delegate any discretionary power to a third person to execute the decision to which they may have arrived; still less can anj' one of them do so, although they may doubtless employ the services of a mes- senger to convey to a proposed teacher intelligence of a positive and uncon- ditional determination; but this, for the sake of certainty, and to preserve the evidence of the matter, should be reduced to writing and authenticated by the signatures of a majority. It results in this case that, without reference to who may be the legal trustees, none of them liave contracted with any teacher in a manner render- ing their acts obligatory upon the district. Whether they have rendered themselves personally responsible to the proposed teacher is a different ques- tion, which it is not necessary now to consider. The principles herein stated will guide the trustees in contracting with a teacher. Any two of them may flx the time and place of a meeting for the purpose of acting upon this subject, giving the third trustee not less than forty-eight hours' notice of the time and place fixed upon and the object of the meeting. ■ They should examine the certificates of such teachers as may be proposed, and receive from them written propositions specifying the period for which they offer to teach, the amount of their salary, and the manner in which they are to be paid; and sliould make and sign a written memorandum — indorsed upon Ihe written proposition wliich may be accepted, or repeating it in terms which will identify it — of their action in the promises, filing the same with the district clerk. , This appeal is sustained. Per V. M. Rico, February 23, 1855. The vote of a district meeting to hire a certain teacher has no legal binding force upon the trustees, even though they may have agreed to abide such result. A district meeting, by a unanimous vote, selected a teacher, and the trus- tees had agreed to abide by such a decision; they, however, employed another teacher, and certain of the inhabitants of the district appeal against the proceedings of the trustees. Held, that the agreement by the trustees to abide by the decision of the district was of no legal consequence, as the selection of a teacher belongs to the trustees. This department cannot annul a legal contract with a teacher; it can only be done by some positive violation of duty on his part. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, December 9, 1 85C. Where a teacher has in good faith fulfilled a contract to teach, entered into with one trustee, the others not dissenting, the contract will be enforced without regard to irregularities in its inception. It appears, in this case, that the business of hiring a ieacher devolved, by common consent, if not by express direction, upon one of the trustees. He agreed with the teacher to pay her $3 per week if the number of schol- ars did not exceed eighteen, and $3.25 per week if the number was more than eighteen. The number attending was considerably more than eight- een, and tlie teacher claims the advance wages as agreed upon. Tlie present trustees refuse to allow her more than $3 per week. In the opinion of this department, there is nothing to justify any inter- ference with the contract that would not equally justify setting aside the whole proceedings. That there were grave irregularities in the course pur- 716 Teachers. sued is apparent, but for these and the consequences and misapprehensions resulting therefrom, the trustees are alone responsible. Tliey cannot plead their own neglect, nor that of their predecessors, as a sufficient ground for not fulfilling a contract duly executed by the party with whom it was made. The proceedings might be entirely set aside if their legal bearings alone were to be considered, but the teacher would still have a valid claim against the district for services rendered, the amount of which would have to be determined by competent authority, and I cannot think the award would be less than that already agreed upon. In this view of the case I cannot find sufficient reason for disturbing the contract made by the teacher with the trustee as above stated. She, having fulfilled her engagement in good faith, should not be made to suffer for the neglect of the trustees to proceed in a formal and legal manner. The trustees are, therefore, directed to give the teacher an order for her wages at two dollars and twenty-five cents per week, the amount agreed upon in the contract. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, February 16, 1858. Where an outgoiug trustee, in answer to an application of a teacher for the winter school, says that if he had the power to contract he would hire him, it is not a con- tract, even though the trustee had authority to hire. The appellant called upon the trustee for the purpose of securing the school for the ensuing term. The trustee was favorable to hiring him, but expressed a doubt as to his having the right to contract with him for a term to commence after his own should expire ; but said he would contract with him, if he was assured that he had the legal right to do so. The teacher regards this as a contract, and claims enforcement of it. The department has ever discountenanced the policy of tying the hands of tlie trustee newly elected to office, thus making him, or his administra- tion, responsible for a policy initiated by his predecessor. Whatever fea- tures of legal construction leading to different conclusions the question may have, the department will leave to the courts to decide. But that question aside, or even determined according to the construction of the g,ppellant, I cannot find in what transpired between him and the outgoing trustee, that which comprises the essential element of a contract. There is, therefore, in my view, no occasion for the interference of this department. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, December 1, 1859. The consent of three trustees, separately given to hire a teacher, does not make a legal contract. This is aTi appeal of J. E., one of the trustees, from the act of his asso- ciates in hiring a teacher. There is but one question formally before the department, and that is the legality of hiring the teacher. He was hired, as is customary in school dis- tricts, by going from one to another of the trustees, and getting the consent of each to his having the school. This is not a legal proceeding. In a cir- cular issued by the Superintendent May 31, 1858, the following language was used : " No official act will be regarded by this department as valiS, where it is shown that the same was not determined upon by a majority of the board, at a meeting duly called." It was considered that under tlie law of April 12, 1 858, if a district should elect three trustees, it would be because they deemed the action of three men indispensable to the welfare of the district. The assent of each separately taken is not a compliance with the law. I have no choice, therefore, but to say that no legal contract was made with the teacher. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, March 7, 1860. Teachers. ^l? A contract made with a teacher by two of the trustees, without consultation with the third, may be confirmed subsequently by taking the proper legal steps. Concerning the hiring of a teacher, it is necessary that the trustees meet to call a meeting to act upon the contract. They may pass a resolution confirming the contract already made by two of the trustees, but until such action has been had the contract has no binding validity. Per H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, January 9, 1861. Where one of the trustees is delegated to make known to teachers the conditions of engagement to teach, be acts as agent for the whole board, and the board is bound by the terms of agreement as stated by him and accepted by the teachers. On an appeal from the action of the trustees in discharging certain teachers from employment before the close of their engagement, the ques- tion before the department is whether the act of the trustees in discharging said teachers was or was not in violation of the contract entered into with them. The following facts are disclosed by the testimony submitted. 1. On the 19th of September, 1861, the trustees, at a meeting duly held, all being present, passed a series of resolutions, to the eilect that it was the mind of the board to employ as teachers in the different departments of the district school the appellants in this case, for the term commencing October 1, then ensuing, at wages named in the resolutions, and subject to the con- dition of a liability to be dischared if they sliould fail to fill their situations respectively to the satisfaction of the trustees. 3. G., one of the trustees, was formally or informally authorized to con- tract with the appellants under the authority of said resolutions. 3. The said appellants were employed by the trustee above named, but without any intimation on his part that any such condition as that named in the resolution, relating to the tenure of their term of service being dependent upon giving satisfaction to the 'trustees, was a part of the con- tract. Each of the teachers on her part consented to an engagement under- stood to be for a term of six months, at wages specified and subject only to the ordinary conditions that attach to any such contract. 4. The appellants entered upon their term of engagement, and discharged their duties to the evident and expressed satisfaction of the trustees until December 10. On that day the trustees adopted resolutions to the effect that the teachers then employed had failed to give satisfaction, and that the school be closed and the teachers discharged on the Friday following, December 13. 5. Notice was given to the appellants respectively of these resolutions, and causes of their discharge duly assigned, and they were directed to leave the school; but, by the advice of tlie dissenting trustee, they still continue in possession, and to discharge their duties as heretofore. The question before the department, as previously stated, relates to the just and legal claim of these teachers for a continuance of their services in said school until the expiration of six months, and for the wages agreed to be paid to them for such term. In regard to this claim, it must be determined by the principles that govern and control the relations of principal and agent. The' said trustee, G., in contracting with these teachers, acted as agent for the board of trustees. In considering how far the act of the agent is binding upon the principal we are not to look so much to the actual authority conferred, as to what third parties may reasonaL)ly have supposed the agent to be invested with. No principle of law is better established than this, it having been repeatedly affirmed by the highest courtB. The teachers had a right to 718 Teaohees. presume that the terms offered to them were authorized by the board of trustees. They assented to no other terms than these, hence were parties to no other contract. They cannot be permitted to suSer from the laches of the board, who permitted them to take theii- situations without inform- ing them of the terms prescribed by the resolutions. A contract made with a person authorized to represent the trustees is binding upon them, though contrary to the letter of their instructions. If any damage results to the trustees from this disregard of their instructions, the agent is responsible to them, but the trustees cannot shield themselves from the responsibility to the teachers. The conclusion is, therefore, tliat the contract with the appellant for a term of six months is valid and binding upon the trustees, and the services of these teachers cannot be discontinued before the expiration of said, term. Appeal sustained. Per E. W. Keyes, Acting Superintendent, January 25, 1862. Two of the trustees cannot hire a teacher without consultation with the third. This is an appeal from the proceedings of two of the trustees in hiring a teacher. The difiSculty that gives rise to this appeal proceeds directly from the vi- cious and useless practice of having three trustees to do the business that one could better do alone. Where there are three trustees it is very commonly the practice for two of them to agree upon some teacher who is afterward hired by one of them. Meantime one of the trustees becomes dissatisfied and unites with the third in hiring some other teacher. Of course a conflict of authority arises, the neighborhood is divided and the prosperity of the school is impaired. The evidence in this case shows that there has never been a meeting and consultation of the three trustees in relation to hiring a teacher at which any agreement has been had. It appears, however, that two of the trustees agreed to hire a certain teacher, but as the assent of the third trustee is nowhere established in such manner as to make the transaction legal, I must hold that the contract entered into cannot be enforced. Per V. M. Eice, Superintendent, April 7, 1862. Trustees of union free schools may hire teachers related to them within two degrees. It has been held by the Superintendent that the provision of the Gen- eral School Law prohibiting trustees from employing teachers who are re- lated to them within two degrees, without first obtaining the cojsent of two-thirds of the inhabitants, does not apply to union free schools, or to schools under special act of the legislature. The general rule governing such cases is, that when the special or union free school act is silent upon a given question, then the provisions of the general act will apply, unless they are incompatible with the provisions of the special or free school acts. The restriction contained in the general act in regard to the hiring of teachers, if it applied to all union free school districts and to districts under special acts, would frequently cause these districts much trouble, for these reasons: 1. The board of education consists usually of not less than nine mem- bers, and therefore under such a restriction a much larger class of teachers would be excluded than in ordinary districts; 2. These districts are usually much larger and more populous than or- dinary school districts, many of them having a population of over ten Teachers. 719 thousand inhabitants, and it would be therefore a great hardship, if not impossibility, to call a special meeting of the inhabitants to legalize the hiring of one of the relatives of a trustee, as provided in the general act. For these reasons, as well as others that might be mentioned, I. uniformly hold that the provisions of the General School Act before referred to do not apply to such districts as are organized under special act, or as union free schools. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, July 11, 1866. Where two trustees, in the temporary absence of the third, hired a teacher, lield,, that the contract was not valid for a longer time than the majority of the trustees saw fit to continue the services of the teacher. This is the appeal of H. S., a teacher, from the action of the trustees in discharging him from employment as teacher before the expiration of his alleged term of engagement. The following are the material facts : At the annual district meeting, G. B. was elected trustee for three years. At this meeting the appellant was present and urged P., one of the trustees holding over, to decide upon his application to teach the school for the ensuing winter term. B., the trustee elected that evening, was then absent from the district and could not be consulted. Upon the suggestion, however, of the appellant, the two trustees holding over conferred in regard to hiring the appellant to teacli the winter scliool. The result was that the appellant was employed by them, and he com- menced his term of service on the 2d of November following. On the 15th of February, at a meeting of the trustees, it was resolved to discontinue the services of the said H. S. from that time, one of the trus- tees dissenting. The appellant alleges that his contract was for a term of one hundred days, and asks to be allowed to complete the full term of his engagement or to receive pay therefor according to the terms of his contract. It is a principle well established that two trustees cannot act without consulting with the third, or giving him notice of consultation and action. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 26, 1864. If a teacher engages to teach by the month, the legal holidays will be allowed him. Three months from December 5, 1864, extend to and include March i, 1805. From December 5, 1864, for the next three months, there are only three legal holidays, Christmas, New Year's and Washington's birthday, and such school holidays as custom or express agreement has sanctioned in the district, together with any thanksgiving or fast days occurring within the term and appointed by the president or governor. If the teaclier keeps the school open on a holiday, he is not entitled to have such day's services counted in lieu of another day not a holiday, ex- cept by agreement with the trustees. The statute provides, section 7, article 1, title 3, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, that a deficiency, of not more than three weeks in the twenty-eight weeks required by law for the school year, shall be excused when such deficiency was caused by the attendance ot the teacher at an institute dur- ing his term. The trustees may allow the teacher the time or not, as they shall elect. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, March 15, 1865. The word "month," in law, means a calendar month ot thirty days. The word " month,'' in law, means a calendar month of thirty days. I 720 Teachers. cannot tell you the number of days in a school month. If we accept this, "from a given day in one month to the same day in the following mouth is a month," then the month will vary as to the number of days for school according to the number of Sundays, legal holidays and Saturdays allowed to the teacher. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, April 13, 1865. The approval of hiring certain relations for teachers must be had by a two-thirds vote at a district meeting. Under the statute of 1864, the approval of a majority of the inhabitants (voters) of a school district, in my judgment, corrects the di»ability of rela- tionship in the hiring of a teacher, and it cannot affect the question that such appioval is given at any time subsequent to such hiring. The law has been amended now, so that in future such approval must be had by a two-thirds vote, at a district meeting. Per V. M. Rice, Superin- tendent, May 8, 1865. A vacancy in the board of trustees does not deprive the remaining members of power to contract. A district meeting has no power over a contract made by the trustees with a teacher. Measure of damages for breach of contract by trustees. Upon an appeal from the refusal of a trustee to pay the wages of a teacher under a contract, the fact and terms of which were not disputed, the trustee sought to justify his refusal upon the following grounds: 1. That the contract was made when there was a vacancy in the office of trustee, one of them having i-emoved from the district, hence contract not binding. Held, that the remaining trustees were clothed with all the powers of a full board, and competent to contract. {Section 48, title 7, Oeneral School Act.) 2. That subsequently to the making of the contract, the district voted to employ another teacher. Ilelcl, that such a vote could have no possible effect in relieving the dis- trict from the obligations of a contract theretofore made for its benefit by its duly authorized agents, the trustees. 3. Tlie teacher might have secuied a school in another town, or might have obtained employment in a collar factory in the immediate vicinity of her residence. Hence the measure of damages should be only the actual loss she might have sustained from inability to find employment elsewhere. Held, that there is no law tliat requires the appellant, in order to pre- serve her rights, to have sought or to have accepted employment, even in her profession as teacher, at a point distant from that where she had agreed to give her services, much less that would compel her to engage in any other occupation however convenient to her residence. The principle in 2 Dcti. G09, cited as npplicable in this case. The fact that tlic district by upholding this contract will have to pay two teachers for the term of twenty weeks, will doubtless be felt as a hardship, but they are wrong-doers in the matter, and the appellant, as the injured party, is justly entitled to have her rights protected at my hands. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, April 13, 1869, A contract illegal in its inception, may be ratified by acquiescence of all trustees, and execution by teacher. A contract with a teacher, made by two trustees without consultation Teachers. 781 ■with the third, may be ratified by subsequent execution and tacit concur- rence of the third trustee. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 3, 1872. A contract by two of the trustees with a brother of the third trustee is of no binding force unless approved by the district. The brother of one of the trustees was employed as teacher by the other two trustees without the approval of a district meeting as required in such cases. Upon an appeal from this action, it was contended by the two trus- tees that as the brother of the teacher did not join with his associates in the hiring of his relative, the provision of the statute requiring the approval of two-thirds of the voters at a district meeting does not apply. This posi- tion is erroneous, the language of the statute being, '' but no person who is within two degrees of relationship by blood or maiTiage to any such trus- tee, shall be so employed, etc." A board of tmstees is as much restricted by the statutes, in employing a relation of one of the members of the board to teach the district School, as is a sole trustee. The contract of the trus- tees with the said teacher is declared to be without binding force upon the district. Per Neil Grilmour, Superintendent, June 8, 1874. Termination of contract at will of parties. A contract which reads as follows "and in case the trustee of said dis- trict shall become dissatisfied with the services of the said first party and for any cause shall wish to have his service as principal and teacher of said school cease and terminate, that said services shall cease '' is one that can be terminated at the will of either party. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintend- ent. Decision No. 2953, February 5, 1880. Hiring by two trustees. A trustee is entitled to notice of a meeting of the tmstees when a teacher is hired. When such notice is not given the hiring is illegal. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3059. Contract with de facto trustee. A contract between a de facto trustee and a teacher to teach the district school is legal and binding upon the district when made before the trustee was informed of the illegality of his election. Per Neil Gilmour, Superin- tendent. Decision No. 3953, February 11, 1880. Trustee cannot pay a relative within two degrees more than he is authorized to by a district meeting. A trustee who is authorized by a special meeting to hire his sister as teacher to teach and pay her $3.50 per week cannot hire her at a larger salary, and an agreement to pay her more than that sum will be void. Per Neil Gilmour, Superintendent. Decision No. 3180, March 11, 1882. The law prohibiting trustees from making contract with relative. It has been uniformly held by this department that the provision of the General School Law, subdivision 9, section 49, title 7, chapter 555 of the laws of 1864, prohibiting trustees from liiring teachers who are related to them within two degrees, without first obtaining the approval of two-thirds of the voters of the district, present and voting upon the question at an 91 722 TifiACHEKS. annual or special meeting of the district, does not apply to union free school distaicts. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3357, June 4, 1884. Where there is a direct conflict of evidence upon the question of the contract, and it is evident that the minds of the trustee and teacher did not meet on the question, the custom prevailing in the district can be inquired into for the purpose of throwing light, if possible, upon the question. , The contract between the appellant was entered into on the 30th day of August, 1884. It is agreed by the parties that the teacher was to enter upon his engagement on the following Wednesday, September 3. It fur- ther appears, without controversy, that the teacher was to continue in service four weeks, and if, at or before the expiration of that time, no dis-, satisfaction was expressed by the trustee, the engagement was to fuither continue; but at this point comes a direct conflict of evidence. The apT,_ pellant alleges that the contract was to be for a year, providing the pro- bationary period was satisfactory to the trustee ; the trustee, on the other hand, insists that the contract was only for the winter term, and that the employment of the teacher under the agreement might be terminated on, the giving of two weeks' notice. In this case the burden of proof is on the appellant to show by a pre- ponderance of evidence that the contract entered into was such as he states it was in his appeal. The agreement was a verbal one, and there were no witnesses present at any of the conversations had between the parties until the time when the -trustee notified the appellant that his services would not be required after the last Friday in March, 1885. The testimony of the witnesses is not in any way impeached, and I have ,ro. 3433, April 23, 1885. POWER OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONER TO ALTER. School commissioners hare the power to alter the boundaries of union free school It is the policy of the State to encourage the formation of districts, so far as may be, within the limits of a single town. This is an appeal from an order of Lewis 8. N. Miller, school commis- sioner of the second district of Rensselaer county, made upon the 11th day of January, 1886, whereby a portion of Union Free School District, No. 6, of the town of North Greenbush, was set off from said district No. 6 and attached to district No. 2 (which is a common school district) of the town of Greenbush, and also from an order of the said school commissioner and the supervisor and town clerk of the town of Greenbush, made upon the 30th day of January, 1886, to the same effect as the first mentioned order. There are two distinct questions in this case : First, whether a school commissioner has the power to divide or change the boundaries of a union free school district, and. Second, if he has the power, whether it was properly and judiciously exercised in this case, so as to promote the best interests of education in the locality affected. The power of a school commissioner to alter a union free school district is earnestly contested by the appellants. It is ably urged upon the argu- ment that by enacting the legislation providing for the formation and organization of union free schools, and for the government thereof, and particularly the enactment of chapter 210 of the laws of 1880, providing for the dissolution of union free school districts, the legislature showed its intention to leave it altogether to the residents of the district to determine whether or not they would have a union free school district, and also to deprive school commissioners from exercising over these districts the powers which they possess in relation to common school districts. The question is an important one. Although I find cases where the department has sus- tained commissioners in making orders affecting the boundaries of union free school districts, and one case, at least, where the department has overruled a commissioner in refusing to make such an order and directed him to make it ; I do not find that the power of a commissioner to make the order has been raised before the department, or that it has ever assumed to determine that question. It has been the policy of the State, from its earliest history, to confer upon the school authorities the power to divide the territory of the State into districts of such convenient size as would enable the inhabitants of each district to manage their affairs in their own way, subject to the gen- eral oversight and supervision of the State department, and also to alter and modify districts at pleasure according to the development of the terri- tory or changes in population. By section 1 of title 6 of chapter 555 of the laws of 1864, the duty of making such divisions and alterations la imposed upon the school commissioners in their respective commissioner Union Feee School Distkicts. 781 districts. The statutes providing for the changing of common school dis- tricts into union free school districts, leave it to the inhabitants of any district so laid out, or of adjoining districts co-operating together, to determine whether or not they will establish a union free school and become a union free school district, and upon their determining to do so, they are invested with certain enlarged powers and privileges. The purpose of this is obvious. The union free school system contem- plates and provides for a school of high grade with an academic depart- ment. The management of such a school requires a system more complex than that of a common school district. The people who desire, and set up, such a school are ordinarily the people to be safely intrusted with the com- plex machinery requisite to the management thereof. It evidently was the intention of the legislature to enable the inhabitants of any locality to establish schools of a grade and character suited to their circumstances and wants, and to invest such inhabitants with the powers necessary to the government of such schools, but the statutes which do this contain no sug- gestion of an intention to modify the general and long-settled regulations for the division of all the territory of the State into districts of such size and form as the authorities charged with the general supervision of educa- tion should deem best adapted to promote the interests of the same. The act providing for the dissolution of union free school districts is urged by the appellants as a legislative construction of the statutes pro- viding for the formation of such districts. It is said that if school commissioners possess the power to change the boundaries of union free school districts, then there was no legislative act necessary to enable them to dissolve such districts. I do not think so. The power to regulate the shape and size of a dis- trict is distinct from the power to determine the grade of the schools and the system of government within the district. The first power is with the commissioner ; the last with the inhabitants of the district. Of course, both must act pursuant to the law. The act for the dissolution of union free school districts is only to enable them to change back from a union free school, and its system of government, to a common school district and its way of doing business. It does not touch the subject of boundaries. It was an essential element in the general plan to enable any district to have the kind of school government it wants. Without it, the people who had voluntai-ily determined to organize a uuion free school would be unable to get rid of such a system even after they had demonstrated by experiment that they could not successfully maintain it. To obviate this difiiculty, and to make the plan complete, chapter 310 of the laws of 1880 was enacted. To hold that school commissioners have not the power to divide or add to a union free school district, would be to change the entire policy of the State from its earliest history, in reference to the school district system. It is not conceivable that the legislature would have expressed its intention to do this by the use of any equivocal language, or that it would have left the authority for so important and far-reaching a step to rest only upon inference or implication. I am, therefore, constrained to hold that the commissioner making the order appealed from in this case, had the power to make it. This precise question has been before the courts in this State. In the case of the People, etc., ex rel. The Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 3, Town of Onondaga, v. James W. Hooper, School Commissioner, etc., one of the ablest of our general terms, in a well-considered opinion delivered by the presiding judge, held that a school commissioner possessed the power to divide a union free school district. 782 Union Fkee School Disteicts. Having arrived at the conclusion that the commissioner had the power to make the order which he did, and knowing of no objection being raised as to the regularity of the proceedings, the only question remains as to whether the commissioner acted with sound discretion and for the educa- tional interests of the territory affected. It is to be presumed that he did so act, in the absence of ijroof otherwise. There is no such proof. On the contrary, a careful examination of the papers and exhibits submitted, makes me of the opinion that the educational interests of the districts affected will be the best subserved by upholding the order of the commissioner for the following considerations : First. The district affected lies wholly in the town of Greenbush. Here- tofore it has been connected with a district the balance of which lies wholly in the town of North Greenbush. The order of the commissioner attaches this portion to a district lying wholly in the town of Greenbush. The best results have not been attained in districts lying in different towns, and it has always been the policy of the State to encourage the formation of districts so far as may be within the limits of a single town. A marked illustration of the unwisdom, and indeed of frequent injustice of disre- garding town lines in the formation of school districts, is found iu the present case. The assessed valuation of real estate in the town of Green- bush is shown to be at full value, while in North Greenbush such valuation is only forty-eight per cent of the real value. The result of this is that the people in the territory now set off have been taxed for the support of the schools more than twice as much as their neighbors in the same school district. Second. The school-house iu the district to which the territoiy has been annexed is nearer and more conveniently located to the inhabitants of the district than is the school-house in the district from which it is set off. Third. The evidence shows that the people in the district affected desire to be set off as ordered, and it is the duty of the school authorities to respect such desire so far as reasonably practicable. The order appealed from affirmed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3526, Sep- tember 2, 1886. POWERS. A viDa voce vote to raise a tax for building in a union free school district is legal and binding upon inhabitants. Union free school districts may raise any necessary sum for building without consent of supervisors. New building must be erected upon site now owned and occupied by district, unless inhabitants direct otherwise. Board must not sell or tear down old house without consent of inhabitants, nor must they fence school lot, or supply house with school furniture, without direc- tions from inhabitants. By virtue of section 10 of the Free School Act, your district had power to vote such sum as the inhabitants deemed necessary for the purpose of building a new school-house, and the same section gives the inhabitants power to direct that the tax voted by them shall be raised by installments without restricting them, as in the case of districts under the general act, to a vote " to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes.'' The Superintendent is of the opinion, therefore, that a viva voce vote to raise a tax for building in a union free school district is legal and bindin" upon the inhabitants. 3. Union free school districts have power to raise any sum which the inhabitants may deem necessary for building purposes, without obtaining the consent of the school commissioner io whose district they are situated. 3. A taxable inhabitant is one who is liable to be assessed, whether he is actually taxed or not. Union Feee School Difi'KicTS. 783 4. Unless otherwise specially directed by the inhabitants the board of education must cause the new building to be erected on the site now owned and occupied by the district. 5. The board have no right to sell or tear down the old school-house, unless so specially directed by the inhabitants. 6. Where the inhabitants have conferred upon the board the simple power to build a new house for the district, the Superintendent is of tlie opinion that the board cannot safely proceed to fence the school lot, or supply the house with ordinary school furniture, without further action on the part of the inhabitants. They may seat the house or furnish teachers' desks, etc., because these articles are fixtures, and form properly a part of the house ; but more than this the Superintendent would not advise them to do unless authorized by the inhabitants. Per V. M. Rice, Superintend- ent, October 24, 1864. Board of education of union free school districts have no power to levy a tax for payment of teachers' wages, without vote of district authorizing it, except an estimate of needful amount for this purpose has been presented by the board at some annual or special meeting, and inhabitants neglected or refused to vote said tax. The " board of education " of a union free school district have no power to levy a tax for the payment of teachers' wages without a vote of the dis- trict authorizing it, except where an estimate of the amount necessary for this purpose has been presented by the board to some annual or special meeting and the inhabitants have refused or neglected to vote said tax. {See sections 15, 16 and 17, title 9, chapter 555, Laws of 1864.) Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, November 18, 1865. Union free school districts not limited to the amount they can raise for the building of school-houses, nor need they obtain consent of supervisor where more than $1,000 is to be raised for that purpose. Union free school districts are not limited as to the amount they can raise for the purpose of building school-houses, nor is it necessary to obtain the consent of the school commissioner where an amount exceeding $1,000 is to be raised. Section 18 of title 7 states the general rule only, and is therefore limited by section 10 of title 9, which gives a special rule for certain specified districts. Per V. M. Kice, Superintendent, October 3, 1866. No power to vote a tax for alleged services in affecting legislation in reference to the district. This is an appeal from the action of a school district meeting in union free school district No. 2, in the town of East Chester, county of West- chester, in voting to impose a tax of $1,290 upon said district, for the alleged purpose of paying the expense of lobbying against or opposing and procuring the defeat of a bill introduced in the legislature of this State during the session of 1868, to consolidate said district with certain other districts in said town. After careful examination and consideration, I have failed to find any authority or good reason to sustain the action of a school district meeting in voting a tax for the purpose of paying counsel to advocate or oppose a bill pending before the legislature. Collection of the said tax perpetually enjoined. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, December 21, 1868. 784 Union Free School Uisteicts. There is no provision of law which deprives the voters in union free school districts of the right of choosing their own chairman, to preside at school naeetings. Assump- tion by president of Doard of education of right to preside, not sustained. At the annual district meeting in union free scliool district No. 1, the president of the board of education in said district, claimed and exercised the right to preside. Tlie voters present, at the same time claimed and exercised the right to appoint a chairman for that purpose. Much con- fusion in the proceedings and much uncertainty as to the results, were the necessary consequence. The Superintendent, concerning the rights of the parties respectively, says: "There can be no doubt of the right of the voters at district meetings, to choose their own presiding officer. If a different rule could prevail in union free school districts, it must be in pui-suance of some special provision of law. The respondents do not cite, nor am I aware of the existence of any such provision." The facts set forth, held to be a sufficient ground for setting aside the proceedings of the meeting. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 12, 1869. THE UNIFORM BALLOT ACT. If the uniform ballot act does apply to school districts, and if the law had required that the vote in the present case should have been taken by ballot, and if said law as to uniformity of ballots had not been observed, the result would not, on that account, have been rendered void. Any person who knowingly or willfully violates, or attempts to violate, the statute re- lating to the uniformity of ballots, would be subject to a fine or imprisonment, but there is nothing in the law which would have set aside the results of an election held in. violation of its provisions. This district, No. 3, town of Flushing, is operated under a special act. A special district meeting was called and held, at which it was voted to appropriate the sum of $7,500 for the enlargement of the school building. One of the appellants' objections to the regularity of this meeting, or its proceedings, is to the ballot, on the ground that the provisions of chapter 367 of the laws of 1880, commonly known as the "Uniform Ballot Act," were not observed. The first section of this act is as follows : " Section 1. At all elections hereafter held within the limits of this State, for the purpose of enabling electors to choose by ballot any officer or officers under the laws of this State, or of the TDnited States, or to pass upon any amendments, law or public act or proposition submitted to the electors to vote by ballot under any law, each and all ballots used at any such election shall be upon plain, white printing paper, and without any impression, device, mark or other peculiarity whatsoever upon or about them to distinguish one ballot from another in appearance, except the names of the several candidates, and they shall be printed in plain black ink." It is conceded by the respondents that the ballots used were not in com- pliance with the provisions of this act. They varied in color, in size; they were without the prescribed captions and they were not printed in the pre- scribed size of type. Whether or not it was the intention of the legislature that the provisions of the uniform ballot act shonld apply at elections held at school meetino-s IS a question which is by no means free from doubt. It is not necessary "to determine that question, however, in order to dispose of the present case Section 1 of the Uniform Ballot Act, above set forth, limits the operation of that act to cases where an officer is to be elected or an act or a propo- sition to be determined is "submitted to the electors to vote by baUot tinder any law." There is nothing in the provisions of the statutes gov- Vacancy. 785 erning this meeting which requires that the question at issue should be determined by ballot. It was only required by the board of education that they " shall submit the same to the electors of said district at an annual or at a special meeting to be called for that purpose." It is true that section 3 of the special act; as amended, does provide that " all elections shall be by ballot, " but this unquestionably refers to elections for members of the board of education, and I can see no requirement of the statute which necessitated the taking of the vote in this instance by ballot, however proper and perhaps desirable that it should be done in that way. Further- more, if the Uniform Ballot Act does apply to school districts, and if the law had required that the vote in the present case should have been taken by ballot, and if said law as to uniformity of ballots had not been observed the result would not on that account have been rendered void. Any per- son who knowingly or willfully violates, or attempts to violate, the statute relating to the uniformity of ballots would be subject to a fine or imprison- ment, but there is nothing in the law which would have set aside the re- sults of an election held in violation of its provisions. The objection that the result of the balloting was not announced by the inspectors, but rather by the president of the board of education, has no force. They canvassed the vote and made and signed a certificate of the result and passed it to the president of the board, who announced the re- sult in their presence and at the proper time, and the act must be deemed to have been their own act. The fifth objection, that the question is not within the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, cannot be sustained. It was un- doubtedly the intention of the legislature to permit this district to operate its schools upon a system peculiarly its own ; but to concede that it was thereby removed from the supervision of the State authorities would be destructive of the educational system of the State. The action appealed from afiirmed. Per A. S. Draper, Superintendent. Appeal No. 3513, August i, 1886. VACANCY. Acceptance of incompatible office. A person elected at the same time clerk and trustee, and accepting the office of trustee, vacates the clerkship, and a new clerk must be elected or appointed in his place. Per Spencer, Superintendent, May 22, 1839. District officers cease to be such when set off from an old district to a new one. If a new district (15) was erected out of No. 2, and No. 2 was not de- clared a new district, it is in law the same district, although its territory may be diminished ; and the trustees and officers in office at the time of the division, and residing at No. 2, will continue such during the year for which they were elected. But such of them as reside in district No. 15 and do not change their residence to No. 2 cease to be officers of No. 2, by vir- tue of the provision of the statute which declares, in reference to a local officer, that a vacancy is created by an incumbent ceasing to be an inhabitant of the district for which he was appointed. Per Spencer, Superintendent, May 15, 1839. 99 786 Vacancy. A trustee cannot be librarian. A librarian is subject to the direction of the trustees and responsible to them. There is an incongi'uity in a man being subject and responsible to himself. There is the same incompatibility between the offices of librarian and trustee as collector and trustee. Per Spencer, Superintendent, Novem- ber 25, 1839. Where a town superintendent (supervisor) decides that a vacancy exists in the oflBce of trustee, he should wait one month after announcing his decision before assuming to fill the vacancy. This is an appeal from a decision and order of the town superintendent of Beekmantown, on the 23d day of November last, deciding that there were two vacancies in the office of trustee in said district, and appointing two persons to fill such vacancies. From a careful examination of the papers, I am satisfied that the town superintendent was correct in deciding that the vacancies existed ; but the district being one lying partly in two different towns, it required the action of the town superintendents of both towns to fill the vacancies by appoint- ment. (By section 30, article 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, the vacancy may be filled by the supervisor of the town in which the school-house is situated.) The appointments which were made were therefore void, although the town superintendent, in proceeding to fill the vacancies, may have acted in perfect good faith. But, even if he had the right to fill the vacancy, I am of opinion that he should have waited one month after announcing his decision that the office was vacant, in order that the inhabitants might have an opportunity to supply the vacancies if they desired to do so. Therefore, it is hereby declared that the appointments so as aforesaid made were and are irregular and void, and the clerk of said district is hereby ordered, within ten days after he receives this order, to call a special meeting for the purpose of filling the vacancies which exist in the office of trustee in said district. Per H. S. Randall, Superintendent, March 26, 1852. The refusal of a district collector to serve vacates his office. In case of a refusal to serve, on the part of the collector, a vacancy is created in the office by that act, which may be filled by appointment by ±he trustees. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, April 10, 1854. Where a collector cannot perform bis duties from sickness or otherwise, trustees must appoint. When a district collector is unable from illness or other cause to perform his duties, the trustees must appoint another in his place who will be entitled to hold the office for the remainder of the school year. Per H S Randall, Deputy Superintendent, April 19, 1854. An incapacity existing at the time of the election of trustees, which the voters have disregarded, must be judicially declared by this department, before a vacancv is created that will authorize a new election. Where one of the trustees elected at a district meeting was an alien bv birth, and had never filed in the office of the secretary of State an affidavit of having taken the incipient steps to be naturalized, necessary to enable him to hold real estate, it was held that he was not entitled to vote at a school district meeting, and that, upon the general principle that no person Vacancy. 787 is qualified to hold an office ■who is not himself entitled to vote, his election as trustee was void. But the proceedings of a subsequent special meeting of the district, assuming to decide that he was ineligible, displacing him, and electing another person in his place, were totally unauthorized, and such election was illegal and void. A district meeting can only elect in case of a vacancy caused by death, removal, or incapacity occurring after the election of the officer. An incapacity existing at the time of the elec- tion, and whicli the voters chose to disregard, must be judicially declared by this department or some other legal tribunal, upon direct proceedings for that purpose, before a vacancy can be created authorizing a new elec- tion. Per E. P. Smith,. Deputy Superintendent, June 23, 1857. A legal appointment by the supervisor, of a trustee to fill a vacancy, cannot be set aside by this department, nor be superseded by an election. On an appeal from the action of the supervisor, in appointing a person to fill a vacancy in the office of "trustee, the facts are as follows: A vacancy had occurred in the office of trustee, and a special meeting was called, after some delay, for the purpose of filling it. Meantime, however, the super- visor had appointed a person to fill the vacancy, and an appeal from his action is thereupon brought to this department. This proceeding on the part of the supervisor was strictly legal, and, in the absence of all evidence showing fraud or collusion, it cannot be set aside. The request that this department direct the calling of a new meet- ing, for the purpose of electing a trustee, cannot be granted. The person appointed by the supervisor to fill the vacancy, holding his office by legal and valid appointment, cannot be superseded by the action of a district meeting. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 6, 1859. Collector vacates his ofiBoe whenever, by leaving the district, he cannot perform col- lector's duties. The collector vacates his office whenever, by leaving the district, he is unable to discharge the duties of collector. You may, imder the circum- stances, regard the office as vacant, and appoint another; it is not neces- sary in order to create a vacancy, that the absence should be permanent. If it obstructs the business of the office, it is enough. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Suerintendent, January 26, 1865. Appointment of trustee by supervisor to fill vacancy is not for the balance of unex- pired term, but only till next annual meeting. An appointment of trustee by the supervisor, to fill vacancy, is not for the balance of the unexpired term, but only till the next annual meeting. If the vacancy is filled by a district meeting, the rule is different. A resi- dent of the district, and legal voter at town meetings, may or may not be qualified to vote at school meetings. The qualifications of voters at school meetings are very clearly set forth in section 12, title 7, chapter 555, laws of 1864. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 15, 1866. A trustee vacates his office by going into another State and teaching a term of school. It is established by the evidence that soon after his election as trustee, the respondent left the district, went to a western State, and there engaged in the business of teaching school in which he continued for several months, and that having returned to the district, he has again assumed to 788 YoTEES. • act as trustee thereof. This, however, lie cannot lawfully do, although he may not have lost his legal rights as a resident of the district, he a,t all events ceased for a considerable time to be an inhabitant thereof. And, as his absence necessaiily incapacitated him from performing the duties of the office of trustee, he thereby vacated the same. The respondent is therefore adjudged to have ceased to be trustee of the district from the time when he left it in the latter part of October last. Per Neil Gilmour, Super- intendent, June 30, 1874. VOTERS. An alien who is a legal voter may hold office in a school district. Mr. George Oliver, an alien, who was entitled to hold real estate, having taken the necessary legal steps for that purpose, was elected trustee of school district No. 1, Bombay, on the 4th day of October, 1843. The Superintendent is unable to see any good cause why any inhabitant of a school district, legally authorized to vote therein, should not be admitted to a free participation in the offices of the district, or rather why he should claim an exemption from the burdens which the law devolves upon the other inhabitants of the district in supervising its aflairs from year to year. There is, in reality, very little analogy in cases of this descrip- tion, to those against which our laws in reference to aliens were intended to provide. I am, therefore, disposed to hold any and every legal voter in a school district eligible as an officer therein.. Per Young, November 18, 1842. Proceedings earned by illegal votes will be set aside on appeal. Neither the Department of Public Instruction nor the moderator of a school district meeting has any right, under the statute, to prohibit any male person, who makes the declaration required by law, from voting; but it will be the duty of this department to correct and set aside all proceed- ings consummated or carried by votes clearly illegal, the result depending upon them. It is the duty of the person acting as chairman or moderator of a district meeting to permit any person challenged to make the declara- tion required by statute, and any refusal to perform this duty will Jbe good ground for setting aside the proceedings of a school district meeting. Per N. S. Benton, July 12, 1847. A chairman of a school district meeting is entitled to a vote upon all questions involv- ing the levying of a tax, or otherwise. This is an appeal from the proceedings of the annual meeting held in said district on the 5th day of April last, in voting a tax of $400 for the purpose of building a school-house therein. It appears by the papers in the case that the resolution by which the tax was authorized was passed by a vote of six to five against the same. The appellant claims that the resolution was illegally passed, because, 1. The clerk of the meeting refused to call the name of the chairman, denying his right to vote ; a. That had the chairman been allowed to vote, he would have voted against said resolution ; and 3. That one of the votes in favor of said resolution was given by a person who was not a legal voter in said district. Voters. 789 In their answer to the appeal, the trustees concede that the chairman was not permitted to vote upon said resolution, but they deny that he was law- fully entitled to vote thereon, on the ground that he was chairman of the meeting and only entitled to a casting vote. The trustees having made this concession have clearly shown that the proceedings of the meeting were not legally conducted, inasmuch as a legal vote was rejected, which, if received, might have aflected the result of the vote upon the resolution. The chairman was equally entitled to vote upon the question of raising a tax with the other tax payers and voters of the district, and the meeting had no right to deprive him of his privileges or others of the benefits which they might have received had his vote been counted. It is therefore ordered that the proceedings of the meeting aforesaid, so far as the same relate to the resolution authoring a tax of $400 for the pur- pose of building a school-house, be and the same are hereby set aside. Per H. S. Randall, Superintendent, June 25j 1852. « An alieo, though he has taken the Incipient measures to be naturalized, is not qualified to vote at a school district meeting in the district where he resides, unless an affida- vit of that fact be filed and recorded in the office of the secretary of State. This is an appeal taken by five of the inhabitants from the proceedings of a special school district meeting, holden in district No. 6, in the town of Montague, Lewis county, in the early part of October, 1854. The appellants aver that persons not duly qualified to vote did vote at said meeting, and that their votes affected the result. It seems that the only material vote of the meeting was carried by two majority, whereas the right of three persons to vote, who voted with the majority, was doubt- ful. One of them was a man working for a resident of the district, but whether he was of legal age and possessed the other requisite qualifications is by no means certain. The other two persons, Messrs. Fuller and Boyd, are aliens, and only during the we'ek that the meeting of May, 1854, stood adjourned to, did they file their intentions of becoming citizens. An alien, though he has taken the incipient measures to obtain naturalization, cannot hold real property or be a qualified voter at a school district meeting in the district where he resides. He is required to make a deposition oi afiirmation in writing, before an officer authorized to take the proofs of deeds to be recorded, that he is a resident of, and intends always to reside in the United States, and to be- come a citizen thereof as soon as he can be naturalized, and that he has taken such incipient measures as the laws of the United States require to enable him to obtain naturalization, which shall be certified by such oflBcer, and be filed and recorded by the secretary of State in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and such certificate, or a certified copy of it, shall be evidence of the facts therein contained. As Messrs. Fuller and Boyd did not comply with the requirements of the statute, and therefore could not become owners of taxable property, the conclusion becomes a necessary sequence that the vote was void. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, October 30, 1854. The law does not declare the quantity of real estate necessary to entitle a man to vote zit district meetings. The law gives no limit to the value of the real eatate which the resident of a school district must hold in order to entitle him to vote at district meetings. He may lease but a mere shanty, and pay the rent in money. 790 VOTEES. work, taxes or improvements, still he is a voter, even though he may have been exempted from the payment of teachers' wages on account of indi- gence. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, January 30, 1855. The right to vote at a school district meeting does not depend upon the fact that the person offering to vote has been actually taxed, but rather upon his liability to taxation. A motion to reconsider a vote of a district meeting may be made by a person voting with the minority, unless the meeting have a different rule. The objections of the applicants are that two persons voted at the dis- trict meeting, for the change of site, wlio are not enrolled upon the tax- list as taxable inhabitants ; that, by the list referred to, there are twenty- six taxable inhabitants; that only twelve "taxable inhabitants " voted in favor and twelve against the resolution changing the site ; that the motion to reconsider a former resolution adopted at a previous meeting, in regard to the site, was made by a person who, at such previous meeting, voted against the resolution of which he moved a reconsideration. The rule of legislative proceedings, which requires a motion for recon- sideration to be made by one who voted with the prevailing party, is not binding upon the district meetings, unless expressly adopted by them. There is, therefore, no force in the oh)jection based upon a departure from this rule, as it does not appear to have been acted upon by the inhabitants of district No. 14. The respondents allege that fourteen persons voted for the change of site. This is not inconsistent with the allegation of the appellants, for they acknowl- edge the twelve "taxable inhabitants" thus voted, and they aver that two persons whom they deny to be legal voters also voted for the resolution. It was then properly passed, provided the two persons named had a right to vote. Their title is impeached on the naked ground that they are not enu- merated on the tax-list. This evidence is not sufficient to bar their riglit to vote, which depends not on the fact that they are actually taxed, but upon their liability to taxation. It devolves upon the appellants to disclose affirmatively such grounds of objection to one who has been admitted to vote, as, if taken for true, in the very words stated, will repel every pre- sumption by which his claim might be sustained, by showing the absence of some essential qualifications. This the appellants have failed to do, and the objection must be disregarded and the appeal dismissed. Per E. P. Smith, Deputy Superintendent, September 15, 1855. Qualifications necessary to entitle aliens to vote at district meetings. On an appeal from the proceedings of a special meeting, it appears that the meeting had voted, by a clear majority, to enlarge the site and build a new school-house. It is claimed by the appellants that the meeting was controlled by illegal votes. It is insufiicient proof of their right to vote at district meetings that cer- tain persons have declared their intention of becoming citizens, and for- warded their declaration to the secretary of State, by mail, in time as they say, to have reached him before the meeting was held at which they voted. Such persons must clearly prove the actual filing of their declaration of intention before they can be regarded as legal voters at such election. Per E. W. Keyes, Deputy Superintendent, May 2, 1859. In electing trustees, the form of the ballot is not material, if it unmistakably express the voter's preference. The statute requires, when trustees are elected at the annual meeting, Voters. "^^^ that " the voters shall designate by their votes for which term each of the trustees is elected." The language by which such designation shall be shown is left to the voter's selection. Where two trustees are to be elected for different terms, the words on the ballot " long term '' and " short term " sufficiently indicate the intention of the voters. But it cannot be said tliat this form of ballot is the only legal form. Any form that sufficiently desig- nates the voter's intention must be held good under the statute. The principle governing is that a simple informality, or an immaterial omission, shall not deprive a lawful voter of his voice in the election. Per V. M. Rice, Superintendent, May 8, 1862. What hiring of real property is essential to constitute voter. The fact.that a man hires a house by the month or by the week, and pays the rent by his labor, and not in cash, does not change or take away his right to vote at school meetings. The rent of the house forms a part of the consideration paid for his labor. Per S. D. Barr, Deputy Superintendent, October 38, 1865. Chairman of the board of education may vote. The chairman of a board of education has a right to vote on all questions acted upon by the board, the same as any other member. Per V. M. Bice, Superintendent. Not eligible by virtue of real property owned by a wife. A person does not become eligible as a voter in a school district by rea- son of, the ownership in the district of real estate by his wife, which is managed and controlled by her alone. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, August 10, 1871. Same. To the same effect in similar case where it was shown that the person claiming the right to vote, paid the taxes upon his wife's property, and that he also had paid the consideration money for the premises so owned by her. These facts could not outweigh the fact that he did not own nor hire real estate within the district. Per A. B. Weaver, Superintendent, January 11, 1873. Constitutionality of the act conferring upon women the right to vote at school meetings. A more serious question is raised by the last ground of appeal, namely, as to the constitutionality of the statute conferring upon women the right to vote at school meetings. I am not aware that this question has been judicially passed upon by any of our courts ; and I do not find that it has ever been brought in issue or decided on an appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It is squarely in issue upon this appeal, and the result of the appeal must depend upon the decision of this point, inasmuch as, if all the 263 votes cast by women are rejected from the count, the majority for the resolutions would be changed into a minority. Bearing in mind that the power of the legislature in the enactment of laws is supreme, except as it is restricted by constitutional limitations, let us look briefly into the alleged conflict between the acts of the legislature and the organic law. Article 3, section 1 of the State Constitution, so far as it affects the ques- tion, provides as follows : 793 Voters. "Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years who shall have been a citizen for ten days and an inhabitant of this State one year next preced- ing an election, and for the last four months a resident of the county, and for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in which he may ofier his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election in the election dis- trict of which he shall, at the time, be a resident, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elective by the people, and upon all questions which maybe submitted to the vote of the people." The courts have uniformly held that this article and similar articles in the Con- stitutions of other States are to be taken as definitions of the qualifications of electors and limit the elective franchise to persons having the specified qualifications. (People y. Susan B. Anthony, 11 B^atch. 'iOQ; 9 Phil. (Pa.) a41 ; 53 Missouri, 58.) ' The act of the legislature, chapter 9, laws of 1880, entitled ''An act to declare women eligible as school trustees," provides as follows: "No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qual- ifications now rcijuired by law.'' In 1881 another statute was passed on the same subject, chapter 492 of the laws of that year. This was in the shape of an amendment to section 13, article 1, title 7 of the Consolidated School Law of 1864. This article 1 is entitled "of school districts and neighborhood meetings, the voters and their powers generally," and section 13 of said article, as amended in 1881, was made to read as follows: "Every person of full age residing in any neighborhood or school dis- trict and entitled to hold lands in this State, who owns or hires real prop- erty in such neighborhood, or school district liable to taxation for school purposes, and every resident of such neighborhood or district who is a •citizen of the United States, above the age of twenty-one years, and who has permanently residing with him or her a child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding, and every such resident and citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment-roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no other, shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting held in such neighborhood or school district." The material changes thus made consist in dropping out from the section the word "male," which before preceded the word " person, " and also omitting a clause requiring the voter to be entitled to vote at town meet- ings of the town in which the district is situated. With the exception of these changes and the substitution, some years ago, of the clause relating to the attendance at the district school of a child or children for eight weeks in place of a clause requiring the payment of a rate bill, the above statutory provisions, as to qualifications of voters at school meetings, have been in operation ever since the adoption of the Constitution of 1846. And the constitutional provisions, cited above, have been substantially as they are now, during the same period, except that in the year 1874 the words " and upon all questions which may be submitted to the vote of the people " were inserted by amendment. It will be observed by comparing the statutory requirments as to quali- fications of voters at school meetings with the constitutional definition of the qualifications of electors, that they difler materially in several important particulars, aside from the matter of sex. For instance, the Constitution requires of the electors citizenship for ten Voters. 793 days, inhabitancy in the State one year, residence in the county four months and in the election district thirty days. None of these conditions are essential under the statute. Under its provisions, in one of tlie contingen- cies specified, a person may be a voter at scliool meetings without citizen- ship, and without inhabitancy or residence other tlian at the time of voting. In certain contingencies named the statute imposes a property qualifica- tion which the Constitution does not. In another it formerly required pay- ment of a rate bill, and now certain attendance at school, as to which the Constitution is silent. If the statute is unconstitutional for the reason that it conflicts with that instinment in respect to the qualifications as to sex, by the same argument it has been unconstitutional for the last thirty-seven yeai's, by reason of the conflict with the Constitution in the several other particulars above referred to. And, in fact, there has been no time since the adoption of the first Constitution, in the year 1777, when the statutory provision prescribing the qualifications of voters at school meetings did not differ materially from the provisions of the existing Constitution pre- scribing the qualifications of voters at elections. Of course this line of argument is by no means conclusive, but it is a circumstance of some weight, in the consideration of the question in hand, that while for more than half a century, at least, the State lias been divided into school distiicts numbering from seven to twelve thousand, with usually one annual and several school meetings in each district each year, at which the voting for school officers and upon measures involving local taxation as well as upon a great variety of other measures of interest to the district inhabitants, has been proceeding under the regulation as to qualifications of voters prescribed by those school statutes, and while the multitude of school district dissensions arising out of the proceedings of such meetings have resulted in numerous litigations in which the courts have often been called upon to interpret these statutes, yet no case appears upon the records of the courts upon which the question of the unconstitutionality of these statutory provisions by rfeason of these divergences fi'om the constitutional provisions has been distinctly raised and judicially decided. It is regarded as appropriate and as a matter entitled to careful con- sideration, in construing the words of the Constitution, to look back at the situation of the country and its existing institutions and systems at the time and anterior to the time of its adoption. (Pottet-'s Dwarris, 657.) At the time of the adoption of the Constitution of 1846, and for years anterior thereto, there had been in existence in the State, a general com- mon school system, under which the State was divided into thousands of school districts, each of which had various well-defined powers exercised through the medium of district school meetings, and needful for the proper care and maintenance of the local schools and for the harmonious working of the system. The qualifications of voters prescribed by the statute were such as were considered best adapted for the peculiar character and needs of the system, and as before stated, varied essentially from the qualifications prescribed by the existing Constitution, for electors at ordinary elections. At the same time, another system was and long had been in existence — the system of popular elections. Under this system and as an essential part of its machinery, the State had been divided into many thousands of election districts, at which the popular will was exercised, through the elective franchise, in the maintenance of civil government. The qualifica- tions of electors were liere also such as were deemed best adapted to the character, necessities and successful operation of the particular system. 100 794 Voters. These two systems with their dissimilar provisions as to the qualifications of voters, had for years been moving along together, pm-i passu, without jar or discord. Referring again to the section of the Constitution in question, we find that the male citizen, having the other specified qualifications, and having been " for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in which he may offer his vote, shafl be entitled to vote at such election in the election district of which he shall at the time be a resident, and not elsewhere." The foregoing considerations induce me to the conclusion that the framers of the Constitution in the use here made of the words " election district," intended to refer solely to the election districts which had long been established throughout the State, under that designation, as an in- tegral part of the machinery of popular elections, and that it has no refer- ence or application to the established method of choosing school district ofiicers or of voting upon other matters at school district meetings. The objection to the constitutionality of the statutes, under the provis- ions of which women voted at the school meeting in question, must, there- fore, be overruled. Per W. B. Ruggles, Superintendent. Decision No. 3300, December 11, 1883. See, also, Election of Officers. PART V. SPECIAL LOCAL ACTS. ALBANY. \Cfhap. 444, Laws of 1866, OS amended.l Section 1. John 0. Cole, George W. Carpenter, Michael Delehanty^ Charles P. Easton, Paul F,. Cooper, John G. Treadwell, Charles Van Benthuysen, Stewart McKissick, James L. Babcock, Brad- ford R. Wood, Jacob S. Mosher and William C. McHarg, shall constitute a body to be designated and known as " Tae board of public instruction of the city of Albany." The members of said board shall be classified in the manner and shall hold their office for the terms, reapectlvely, as hereinafter pro^ vided. § 2. The said members of the board of public instruction are hereby divided Into three classes^ of four members each, as follows: John 0. Cole, George W. Carpenter, Michael Delehanty and Charles P. Easton shall compose the first class, and shall hold their oflBce for the term of three years; Paul F. Cooper, John G. Treadwell, Charles Van Benthuysen and Stewart McKissick shall com- S3se the second class, and shall hold their office for the term of two years; and James L. Babcock, radford R. Wood, Jacob S. Mosher and William C. McHarg shall compose the third class, and shall hold their office for the term of one year. The several terms of office of the members aforesaid shall commence on the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and they shall con- tinue to hold their office until their successors shall be elected as hereinafter provided. § 3. The members of the said board shall hold their first meeting on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, at four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, or as soon thereafter as may be» for the purpose of organization. They shall thereupon appoint one of their number president, who shall exercise all the powers usually incident to such office. They shall also appoint a suitable person other than a member of their body, superintendent of schools of the city of Albany, who shall, by virtue of his office, act as secretary of the board, and shall exercise all such powers and shall discharge .all such other duties as the board shall, from time to time direct, and shall be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed in rate the sum of three thousand dollars, per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, as clerk, who shall act as assistant secretary and shall perform clerical ser- vices in the office and under the direction of the superintendent of schools, and shall exercise such powers and shall discharge all such other duties as the board shall from time to time direct, and shall be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, how- ever, to exceed in rate the sum of seven hundred and twenty dollars, per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, superintendent of buildings and repairs, who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as the said board shall from time to time direct; the said superintendent of buildings and repairs shall be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at] any time determine; not. however, to exceed In rate the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum. (As ameTided by Laws qf 1867 ^ chap. 11, and by Laws g/1880, clmp. 120, and Laws qAISST, chap. 48.) § 4. Pour members of said board shall be chosen by ballot at the annual election to be held in said city, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, for the election of charter and ward officers, and also at each and every succeeding annual election thereafter, by the electors thereof who shall be at the time of the election residents of that part of the city which lies east of the line of Perry street. The clerk of the common council of said city shall cause the necessiiry ballot boxes to be provided at the expense of the city, for the use of the Inspectors of election of the several election districts of the city which lie wholly or partly east of said Perry street, in holding said election. All qualified voters at such election for city officers, who shall at the time reside in the election district in which they shall severally offer to vote, and east of said Perry street, shall be entitled to vote for two persons for the office of member of the board of public instruction, each of whom shall be at the time an elector and resident of that part of the city for which the officers are to be chosen. The ballot shall contain, written or printed, the names of the persons voted for, not exceeding two in number, with a proper designation, and shall be so folded as to conceal its contents, and to be indorsed " public schools." The ballot, on being received by the inspectors, shall be deposited by them in the box provided for that purpose. The election in all other respects shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the several existing laws relating to the election of civil sfficers by the people, so far as the same are applicable, and any person who may offer to vote at the election of the officers provided to be chosen by this act, may be challenged as to his qualifications as an elector as in other cases, and shall be subject to the like penalties for false swearing and Improper voting as are now provided by law relating to elections, for like offenses. The several Ipoards of inspectors of elections, after can- vassing and estimating the number of votes received by them for each candidate for said office, shall certify the result to the common council of the city, who shall, at the time they take action upon the returns of the said inspectors of election relative to the other officers chosen at said election, deter- mine the final result ; and the four persons who shall appear from the returns made by said Inspectors to have received the greatest number of votes for the office, shall be declared by that body to be duly elected, and shall each hold his office tor the term of three years from and after the first day of June nextSfollowing the election, and until his successor shall be elected. If, however, upon the exam- ination of said returns it be found and determined by the common council that no four of the persons 796 Albany. voted for, for the said office, have received the greatest number of votes, by reason of two or more of the candidates receiving an equal numher of votes, then it shall be deemed a faimre to elect any- one of them and the incumbents, whose term of office would have expired on the fluHt day of June next following shall continue in office for one more year and until then* ouccessors shall be elected ; anil the electors who shall be entitled to vote at the next annual election for members of the board shall be allowed to vote for four persons, two of , whom shall be de&ignated m the ballot for the short term and the four persons thus designated who shall have received the greatest number of votes for the said offlce, shall be deemed elected in the place of the four members holding over, and shall hold their office for the remainder of the term and until their successors shall be elected. 2 5 Any member of said board of public instruction may be removed lioni office for cause, by the affirmative votes of at least eight members of their body, provided, alwaysj that such member shall be served with a copy of the charges preferred against him and notice of trial, not less than twenty days previous to the day tixed for the hearing of the matter, by leaving such copy and notice at his residence in the city, or by sending' the same to his address by mail ; the accused member, on his appcarint; before the board for trial, shall have the usual privileges in similar cases extended to him in his defense. } 6. The said board shall have power to fill all vacancies In the office of member of their body that may occur from any cause, by the appointment of any person eligible to said office ; such appointment shall be made by ballot, and shall require not less than eight votes for that purpose; the person so appointed shall hold his office until a successor shall be chosen at the next annual election for charter and ward officers. At said election the electors who shall at the time reside within the limits pre- scribed in section four of this act, shall be entitled to vote for a person to fill such vacancy, and shall place in the ballot wbich contains the names of the two persons voted for as members of the board then to be chosen, for the full term, and so designated ; the name ot the person to be chosen for the short term shall also be properly designated, and the person receiving the greatest number of votes at said election for the short term, and shall be declared elected in the place ot the person appointed, as aforesaid, to fill the vacancy. 2 7. On and after the first day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, the said board of public instruction shall have the control and management ot the several public schools in the said city of Albany, east of the line of Perry street, and shall possess and exercise all the powers now conferred by law upon the present board of education of saitJ city. The said hoard of public instruction shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to fix and determine the different grades of study which shall be taught in the various departments of the several schools under their charge, and to change the ^jame from lime to lime as they shall deem best to advance the interest of the schools ; and also to adopt such rules and regulations for the administration and government of the schools and for the admission of pupils to the various departments therein as they shall determine, with authority at any time to alter and amend the same. 2 8. The said board of instruction shall have power to examine all applicants for the appointment by them as teachers in any of the schools under their charge; and no person shall be appointed and employed as a ^acher in either of said schools (except in cases of emergency, when a teacher may be temporarily employed), unless the board shall, after such examination, consider him or her well quali- fied to discharge the duties of the office, and shall give to him or her a certificate to that eflect, which certificate shall be signed on behalf of the board by the president and secretary thereof. 5 9: For the purpose of carrying out the provision of the last preceding section of this act, the board may appoint a committee trom their body at any time, to examine applicants for appointment as teachers, and the result of such examination shall be reported by the committee to the board for final action. 2 10. The said board shall have power at all times to fix the term for which any teacher shall be appointed ; to determine the kind of class books which are to be used in the several schools : the books thus adopted shall be uniform throughout all the schools as near as may be, and they may at any time adopt other books In the place thereof; to supply the requisite class books and stationery for the use of indigent pupils; to provide the several schaols under their charge with the necessary school appa- ratus, maps and music books, the expense thereof to be defrayed out of the school moneys of the city ; and generally to possess all the powers, to discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the obligations heretofore conferred and imposed upon the several school officers of the city by the several laws now in force, relative to the public schools of said city. 2 11. Seven members of said board shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and a majority of the members present at any meeting shall be sufficient to caiTy any measure, or to decide any question before their body for their action, except as is otherwise provided in the fifth and sixth sections of this act, and in case of appointment or dismissal of any teacher or officer of the board, when it shall require, in each case, the afflnuative vote of at least seven members thereof. 2 12. The tuition of the pupils of the several schools under the chaise of the board, shall be free to all persons who are residents of said city and entitled to attend the same. 2 13. The chamberlain of the city of Albany shall continue, as heretofore, to hold and receive all the school moneys of the city which now are or may hereafter come into his bands, and shall pay out the same on the orders of the board, and he shall, as heretofore, keep an account In the books of his office, with said board. All orders of the said board on the chamberlain for the payment of money shall specify the oblect for which the payment is to he made, and shall be signed by the president, and countersign eel hy the secretary thereof, or by such other officers or members thereof as shall be directed by said board to sign or countersign the same ; but no appropriation of money shall be made by the said board, nor any resolution adopted involving an appropriation or expenditure of money, for any purpose, unless by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to the said board, to be taken by yeas and nays, which vote ?hall be entered on their minutes. (As amended by Laws of 1875, chav 345, 2 1, and by Laws qf 1881, chap. 699.) Laws 187&, chap. 345, 2 2. All acts and parts of acts Inconsistent with the act are hereby repealed. 2 14. All the office furniture, text-books, stationery and school apparatus, as well as all other school property of the city which may be in the possession and under the control and management of the present hoard of education on the first day of June next, shall, on and after that day be regarded as in the possession, control and management of the said board of public instruction. § 15. The said board of public instruction shall report to the common council of the city, annually, and oftener if required by that body, the general conditions of the schools under their charge, and shall also, on or before the first day of November In each year, certify to the said common council, by a malority of their whole number, the amount of money which will be required for school purposes the ensuing year. In addition to the public money, specifying the several purposes for which the same will be required and the amount for each ; and the board of supervisors of the county of Albany shall upon the requisition of the common council of said citv. levy and collect the said amount upon the taxable property of said city, in the same manner as other taxes are levied and collected therein. appointment of commissioners of appraisal to the supreme court, at any general or special term in the third district. Such petition shall oe signed and verified according to the rules and practice ol the court by the president or any member or said board. It must contain a description of the real estate Albany. 797 3 16. No member of said board of public instruction shall receive any pecuniary compensation for his services as such member; nor shall any member thereof be directly or Indirectly interested in any contract entered Into by the board, nor shall he be paid for any work done, nor for niaterials or supplies of any kind furnished for the use ot the schools or of the board ; and any member -who shall violate either of the provisions in this section contained, shall forfeit a penal sum equal to three times the amount received by such member, to be recovered with costs of suit, to be brought in the name of the chamberlain of the city of Albany, whose duty it shall be to prosecute the action for its recovery with- out delay, in any court having Jurisdiction in the premises, and the amount recovered by him in such suit, after paying the necessary expenses of the prosecution and collection thereof, shall be for the benefit of the public schools of said city, and the same shall be credited by him to the said board of public instruction in their account with the city on the books of his office. 5 17. If auy person, being at the time a member of the said board of public instruction, shall accept the office of either mayor, recorder or alderman of said city, his office as such member shall thereupon become vacant ; the vacancy thus created shall be filled by appointment and election, in the manner provided in the sixth section ot this act. 8 18. The fourth and fifth sections of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight of the Laws of eighteen hundred and forty-four, and the second, third, fifth and sixth sections of chapter five hundred and six- teen of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, together with all other acts and parts of acts relat- ing to the district or public schools of the city of Albany, inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed, except the act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the city of Albany, west ol Perry street," passed July eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, which act is hereby continued In its original torce and eflfect, § 19. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to prohibit the board from causing vocal music to be taught in the schools, under the charge of one or more competent instructors, to be appointed by the board for that purpose. [ Chap. 703, Lawa qf 1869.] An Act to enable the Board of Public Instruction in the city of Albany to obtain sites for school-houses. Passed May ?« 1869; three-fifths being present. Seotion 1. Whenever the board of public instruction in the city of Albany shall have selected any lot or lots in said city, for the purpose of erecting a school-house thereon, and shall be unable to agree lor the purchase of the same, said board shall have the right to acquire title to the same in the manner and by the special proceedings prescribed in this act. S 2> For the purpose of acquiring such title, said board may present a petition praying for the * ' ' " ■ ■ ' isal to the supreme court, at any general or special term in the fned and verified according to the rules and practice ot the said board. It must contain a description of the real estate which the board seeks to acquire, and must In effect state the purposes for which such real estate is needed; that the same is necessary for the purpose of building a school-house thereon; that the board has not been able to acquire the title thereto, and the reason of such inability, and also the names and residence of the parties, so far as the same can, by reasonable diligence, be ascertained, who own or have a claim to own, or have estates or interests in said real estate; and if any such persons or infants, their ages as near as may he, must be stated, and It any such persons are idiots, or of unsound mind, or are unknown, that fact must be stated, to either with such other allegations and statements of liens or Incumbrances on said real estate as the board may see fit to make. } 3. A copy of such petition, with proof of service of a copy thereof, and of a notice of the time and place of presenting the same, must be served in the manner and on the persons, and lor the time required by the fourteenth section of the act entitled " An act to authorize the formation of railroad companies, and to regulate the same," passed April two, eighteen hundred and fifty, and any amend- ments thereto; and thereupon said petition may be presented to said supreme court, and such pro- ceedings may be had thereon as by the said act and amendments thereto are, or may be, authonzed in the case of railroad companies desiring to acquire the title to land. 2 4. On the payment or deposit by said board of the sums to be paid as compensation for said real estate, and for the costs, expenses and counsel fees as may be directed by the order ot the said court, made according to the requirements of said act and the amendments thereto, the title lo said real estate shall vest in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of Albany. And said board of public instruction shall be entitled to enter upon and take possession of said land, and to use the same for school purposes. And all persons who have been made parties to the proceedings shall be divested of all right, estate and Interest in said land forever. All real estate so acquired under and in pursu- ance ot the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be acquired for public use. 8 6. All of the provisions of the aforesaid act and of the amendments thereto relating to the proceed- ings which may be taken by railroad companies to acquire title to real estate shall apply, so far as the same are applicable, to the proceedings authorized by this act. \_Ohap. 500, Laws of 1870.] An Act extending the Jurisdiction of the Board of Public Instruction of the city of Albany. Passed April 28, 1870; three-fifths being present. Section l. All that portion of the towns of Bethlehem and WatervHet now embraced within the cor- ? orate limits of the city of Albany, and also that portion of the city lying west of Perry street, shall, or school purposes, from and after the passage of this act. be under the control, supervision and direc- tion of the board of public instruction, of the city of Albany, who shall possess and exercise therein all the powers now conferred by chapter four hundred and forty -four of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six. 5 2. It shall be the duty of every person having in his possession, or under his control, any moneys raised for school purposes, in that portion of the town or city above described, to pay over the same, within thirty days, to the chamberlain of the city of Albany, for the use of the board of public instruc- tion, and the residue of the school property in that portion of the towns and city aforesaid shall be transferted to and become vested in the corporation of the city of Albany. 3 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, so far as they relate to the public schools within the present corporate limlta of the city of Albany, are hereby repealed. '798 Albais'T. IChap. n, Laws o/1872.] An Act In relation to filling racancies in the Board of Public Instruction of the city of Albany.* Passed February 2, 1872 ; three-fifths being present. Section 1 The board of public instruction of the city of Albany shall have power to fiU all vacancies in the office of member oT their body, that may occur from any cause, by the appomtment of any nerson eSSble to said office ; such appointment shall be made by fiallot and sha 1 require not less than ?ight votes for that purpose ; the person so appointed shall hold his office until a successor shall be chosen which shall be done at the next ensuing annual election for charter and ward officers. At said' election each successor shall be elected by the electors qualified by law, who shall place on the ballot which contains the names of persons voted for as members of the board then to be chosen for the full term, and so designated, tbe name of the person to be chosen for the short term, also properly designated ; and the person receiving the greatest number of votes at said election, for the short term, shall be declared elected in the place of the person appointed, as aforesaid, to fill the vacancy, [ChAp. 312, Laws of 1873.] An Act in relation to the Free Academy in the city of Albany. Passed April 26, 1873 ; three-fifths being present. Section 1. The Free Academy, established by the board of public instruction of the city of Albany. under the provisions of chapter four hundred and forty-four of the laws of eighteep hundred and sixty-six, shall hereafter be subject to the visitation and control of the Regents of the Universita^ the same as the academic department of union ftee schools, as provided by section twenty-three of title nine, chapter three hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four ; and said Free Academy shall hereafter share in the annual distribution of the literature fund, and of all other moneys divided by the Regents of the University, in the same manner and to the same extent as other academies and the academic departments of union free schools. ■ [Ghap. U, Laws of 1875.] An Act to authorize the city of Albany to issue its bonds to procure means to pay in part for the erection of an edifice for a public hign school. Passed February 13, 1875 ; three-fifths being present. Section l. The city of Albany is hereby authorized to issue its bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, to pay in part the expenses Incurred and to be incurred in the erection and comple- tion of an edifice for a public high school in said city ; the said bonds to be of the denomination of one thousand dollars each, bearing interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum, payable semi-annually In the city of New Tork, with coupons attached for the payment thereof; ten thousand dollars of the principal to be reimbursable at the same place at the expiration of one year from the date of said bonds, a,nd the like amount in each year thereafter, until the whole amount herein authorized and issued shall he paid as hereinafter provided. , 2 2. The chamberlain of the city shall, on the requisition of the board of public instruction of said city, cause from, time to time to be prepared bontis of the city of Albany to the amount, when payable, and of the denomination specified in the foregoing section, and when so prepared, his honor the mayor of said city shall sign the same, and affix thereto the corporate seal, and they shall also be counter- signed by the chamberlain ; the said bonds when prepared, signed and countersigned as aforesaid, shall be sold by the chamberlain at public auction to the highest bidder, but at a rate not less than par, ten days previous notice having been given In the three designated city papers, of the time and place of sale, and the proceeds, less the incidental charges, shall be used for tbe purposes specified in the first section of this act. g 3. There shall be raised annually by tax, in such manner as other city taxes are levied and col- lected^ ten thousand dollars, or such proportion of said sum as will be required to redeem the bonds maturing the next ensuing year, issued under the authority conferred by this act \ and it shall be the duty of the chamberlain to certify annually to the board of supervisors of the county of Albany, the amount required for that purpose, and also the additional sum required to meet the interest for the ensuing year, on the then outstanding bonds ; and the two amounts thus stated shall be levied and col- lected as other city taxes are levied and collected. [07iap. 118, Laws of 1880.] An Act in relation to the sale and the proceeds of sale of certain school property in the city of Albany. Passed April 12, 1880; three-fitths being present. Section 1 . Whenever, In the opinion of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany, any school building in said city shall become unfit or inappropriate for school purposes, and it shall be deemed impracticable or not to the best advantage of said city to alter or repair said building or to erect a new building upon the site occupied by said building, and when it shall be thought best by the said board of public Instruction to sell the said property, and use the avails thereof in the purchase of a new site and erection of a new building thereon, the said board of public instruction shall, by resolu- tion, certify such facts, together with the manner in which it desires such property to be sold, and if at private sale, then to whom and tor what consideration, and if at public auction, the time and place of such auction, to the common council of said city of Albany ; and tbe said common council shall immediately take action thereupon, and, if it approve the said resolution, shall transmit the same to the mayor of the said city, and the said mayor snail have the same right to object to said resolution as to any other act of the common council of said city. In case of an objection being made by the said -.o^,^^® amended charter of the city of Albany, passed March 16, 1870, and farther amended April 15 1871, classifiea the members of the board of public instruction as officers of the city (section 1 of title 5) ; and also gave the mayor power to fill all vacancies, with the concurrence of the common council (section 6 of title 4). The foregoing law of 1872 was passed to restore to the board the power to fill all vacancies that may occur in the office of member of this body, as authorized In the original law of 1866. chapter 444, section 6, ihs*"«m i»w v» *ow. Albaky. 799 mayor to such resolution, lie shall, within ten days after its receipt by him, return the said resolution, together with his objections thereto, in writing, to the clerk of the said common council, and the sniu common council shall, at its next meeting thereafter, cause the said objections of the mayor to be entered In full upon its Journal, and shall, as soon as may be practicable thereafter, again proceed to vote upon said resolution. If the mayor shall approve such resolution, ov if he shall fail to return tho same to the said common council within ten days after the receipt thereof by him. or if, after the objections of the mayor are communicated to saifi coninioii council, two-thirds of the members thereof shall vote in favor of such resolution, notwithstanding the objections of the mayor, then, in either case^ the said property shall be sold by or under the direction of the said board ol public instruction, and in accordance with the provisions of said resolution; and upon the payment of the purchasr- money for said property to the chamberlain of the city of Albany, the mayor of said city shall duly execute, acknowledge and deliver to the purchaser of said property a good and sufficient conve.vaiKe of the same. 2. The chamberlain of said city shall i)lace such money as shall be received from the sale of such property to the credit of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany, and the said board shall use the same for the purchase of such sites and the erection of such buildings as it shall deem proper and necessary for school purposes in said city. Whenever the said board shall purchase any real estate for such purposes, it shall take the conveyance thereof to and In the name of tlie city of Albany, and the title thereto shall be vested in the said city. \Chap. 48, Laws of 1887.] An Act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled, " An act to amend chapter eleven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled * An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a Board of Public Instruction in the city of Albany, to establish free schools thei'ein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in the said city,' " and to provide for the payment of ihe salaries of the clerk and superintendent of buildings and repairs. Passed March 1, 1S37; three-fifths being present. The People ofOie State of New TorJe^ represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : SbctionI. Section one of chapter one hundred and twenty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled " An act to amend chapter eleven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. entitled * An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board uf public instruction in the city of Albany, to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in said city, is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 2 1. The members of the said board shall hold their first meeting on the first day of June, eighteen hundred and slxty-slx, at four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, or as soon thereafter as may be, for the purpose of organization. They shall thereupon appoint one of their number president, who shall exercise all the powers usually incident to such oflQce. They shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, superintendent of schools of the city of Albany, who shall, by vir- tue of his office, act as secretary of the board, and shall exercise all such powers and shall discharge all such other duties as the board shall, from time to time, direct and shall be allowed such compen- sation for hla services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed in rate the sum of three thousand dollars per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, as clerk who shall act as assistant secretary and shall perform clerical ser- vices in the office and under the direction of the superintendent of schools, and shall exercise .such gowers and shall discharge all such other duties as the board shall from time to time direct, and shall e allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not. how- ever, to exceed in rate the sum of seven hundred and twenty dollars per annum. The said board shall also appoint a suitable person, other than a member of their body, superintendent of buildings and repairs, who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as the said board shall from time to time direct; the said superintendent of buildings and repairs shall be allowed such compensation for his services as the said board may at any time determine, not, however, to exceed In rate the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum. 2 2. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain of the citv of Albany to pay out of any unappropriated moneys in his hand, the tsataries fixed in accordance with the foregoing section by the said board as ■conipensation to the said clerk and the said superintendent of buildings and repairs during the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven ; for thp payment of which orders shall be made and presented to him In due form of law by or on behalf of said board of public instruction, and in case there shall be In his hands no unappropriated moneys applicable to the payment of any such order or orders, then in that case the said chamberlain shall indorse upon said orrler or orders a statement that the sum therein mentioned is Justly due to the payee therein named from the city of Albany, and that the same will be paid, with Interest thereon, from the date of such indorsement, at the rate of five per centum per annum, on the second Tuesday of February, eighteen hunrlred and eighty-eight. 3 3. The said board of public instruction of the citv of Albany is hereby directed in certifying to the common council of the city of Albany the amount of money which would be required for -cbool pur- poses for the year eighteen hundred and elghtv-eight, to insert in said certification a sum equal to the amount of and estimated interest upon any orders paid by the said chamberlain so as aforesaid indorsed or to be indorsed by the said chamberlain, and such sums shall be raised by tax and the chamberlain shall reimburse any funds from which money may have been advanced under the provisions of section two and shall therefrom pay all orders. If any, so as aforesaid indorsed by him. 3 4. This act shall take effect immediately. • ««*««•«« {FroTlsious of the charter of the city of Albany relating to or affecting the board of public Instruction aud the schools of the city. ] 800- Albaky. IChap. 298, Laics of 1883.] An Act to provide for the government of the "City of Albany." Passed April 23, 1883; three-fifths being present. *•»♦** *» TITLE II1.~THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. § 11. The mayor may ob|ect to one or more and to each one of the Items of the annual budget to be prepared, as hereafter provided for, or may reduce the amount thereof, while approving of the other portions of the budget. In such case he shall append to the resolution of the common council, at the time of his signing it, a statement of items to which he objects, or which he reduces in amount, and any item .so objected to shall not take effect, or if reduced. It shall take effect only to the amount to which it is reduced, unless approved by a three-fourth vote as hereinafter provided. The mayor shall transmit to the conmion council a copy of such statement, and each item objected to orreduced'shall be separately considereil. If, on such reconsideration, one or more of such items be approved by three- fourths of all the members elected to such common council, the same shall be part of the annual budget, notwithstanding the objections of the mayor. This section shall apply to the appropriation for each of the city boards and commissions and for all other purposes, except that if any item of appropriation for the board of public instruction or the police board shall be objected to or be reduced by the mayor, he shall forthwith notify the secretary of the board thereof. The said hoard shall thereupon meet and cause the communication from the mayor to be entered in full upon its Journal. If three-quarters of all the members of the said board shall then vote in tavor of the original item so objected to or reduced, and the board shall notify the mayor and common council ot such vote, such original item shall be included In the annual tax budget, notwithstanding the objection of the mayor. 2 26. The common council pf said city shall have the power to pass such ordiuancesas it may deem proper and necessary for the protection of the several school lots under the control of 'the board of pub- lic Instruction of said city, and to prevent trespassing tliereon, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof. . RESTRICTIONS UPON THE POWERS HEREIN GIVEN. 2 28. No member of the common council or city ofBcer shall be interested in any contract In which the city 1s a party, directly or indirectly, either as principal or surety in such contract, nor shall any member of the common council, city officer or member of any city board or commission, or salaried employee thereof, or his partner, or any agent, servant or employee of such member, officer or com- missioner, or ot the firm of which he is a partner, or of his partner, purchase from, or sell to the city, or any officer thereof, any real or personal property, for the use of the city or the alms-house therein, or any board or offlcer thereof as such, or be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with the city or in any sale to or trom said city, or to its officers, and no member of the common council shall hold any office in the gift of the mayor or the commou council. The above provision shall apply to the mayor, and all other officers and clerks of said cftv. and of any board or commission thereof elected or appointed. But nothing herein containeii shall be so construed as to prevent anv ufBcer nf said city fi-om holding the office of cnramisaioner of deeds, bpt no officer, commissioner or employee of the city shall be eligible to or holil the office or position of Inspector of elections or poll clerk. * * * * * * ■» '^ » * g 31. Whenever any property, the title to which Is vested in the city or the title to which is held for any municipal purpose, by any hoard, offlcer or commission fronts upon any street, avenue or public place, the mayor may sign for the same on behalf of the city whenever duly authorized so to do by resolution of the common council. 2 35. No member or committee of the common council shall have power to emplov any person, incur any expense or purchase any materials for or on behalf of the city or any of its officers, boards or com- missions with respect to any building, street or place, the care, charge or superintendence of which is by law given to any city offlcer or other person, but in such case the resohitiou, law or ordinance of the common council authorizing the work, purchase or employment shall direct that it be done by and under the direction of the officer or person having such care, charge or superintendence ; and no bill oi claim for such work shall be audited or paid unless such offlcer or person shall first certify, in writing that the work has been properly done and the materials of the quality and kind and in the quantity m such bin or claim mentioned have been duly furnished, and that the price charged Is proper. g 37. It shall be unlawful for the common council, or for any officer, commission, board or department of the city of Albany to contract any debt or loan the credit of the city unless specially authorized so to do by act of the legislature, or to incur any expense for any purpose after the amount appropriated therefor has been exhausted, and It shall be unlawful to raise by tax any money to pay any debt ' or expense so incurred, and the members of the common council or of any commission, board or department knowingly and willfully voting for, and any officer knowingly and willfully incurring the same shall be personally liable therefor ; provided, however, that In case of extraordinarv casualtv or fire, or any other unforeseen and extraordinary emergency ,the common council may.on the written recommendation of the mayor, stating fully the grounds thereofand the amount required, and in detail the manner in which the appropriation for the year has been expended, by a three-fourths vote of all the members elected thereto authorize the expenditure of any amount by an officer .commission,board or department of the city which shall be absolutely essential to the performance of the duties Imposed by law upon such officer commis- sion, board or department. Such vote shall not be taken until the aforesaid recommendation of the mavor shall have been once published in the corporation newspapers. Any expenses incurred in pursuance of such resolution shall. If there be no funds applicable thereto, be included in a certificate of indebt- edness, to be subscribed by the finance board hereinafter named, or a majority of its members which certificate shall bear Interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, be made payable on the second Tuesday of February of the year following its issue, and be negotiated by the board of finance after five days" notice published in the city papers for bids therefor. The amount therefor with interest shall be included in the next city tax budget and be raised by tax. For emergencies of the nature above stated, the fire commissioners, by a unanimous vote, approved by ihe mayor may issue a certi- licate of indebtedness, which shall be provided for in the next budget lu the manner above stated Albany, 801 g 38. All appropriations hereafter nrade in or by the city tax bndget for municipal expenses shall provide for the necessary expenses and disbursements of the officer, board, commission or department lor which they are made, up to and inclndins the thirty-first day of December ot the year next follow- ing the year in which the appropriation is made, and the expenditure of the money appropriated shall be so regulated by the officer, l)oard, commission or department havlns the control thereof, and it sliall cover all expenses incurred up to that time. 3 39, All contracts made by the board, commission, department, officer or agent of the city Involving an expenditure of more than two hundred and fifty dollars, when the amount thereof is not directed to be paid by assessment upon property benefited, shall have Indorsed thereon a certificate of the chamberlain of the city or the disbursing officer of such board, commission or department to the effect tliat there is in his hands or has been appropriated a sum over and above the amount of all certificates previously given applicable to and sufficient to pay the amount in said contract provided to be paid. and said contract shall not takeefiect until so indorsed, and it shall be the duty of the chamberlain or other disbursing officer to give such certificate whenever there is in his hands or has been appropri- ated a sum applicable to and sufficient to pay the amount in said contract provided to be paid. And all persons furnishing supplies or doing work for the city in an amount less than two hundred and fifty dollars may demand of the chamberlain or other disbursing officer {if the appropriation out of which such claim should be paid is sulflclent to pay the same in addition to all other claims for which like certificates have been given, and the amountprovided to be paid by all contracts on which like certificates have been indorsed) a certificate to that effect, and the chamberlain or other disbursing officer shall reserve from such appropriation a sum sufficient to pay all contracts and claims so certi- fied by him. ANNUAL TAX BUDGET. 5 40. The common council of the city of Albany shall certify in the month of Novemberin each year to the board of supervisors of the county of Albany the amount required to be raised for all the expenses of the city and of Us several oflicers, boards, commissions and departments and each of them for the ensuing year, specifyingln writing the several purposes for which the money Is to be used, and it shall be the duty of said board of supervisors, when served with a certified copy of the resolution of said common council passed pursuant to the provisions of the charter of the city of Albany, and directing the imposition and collection of such amount, to cause such amount to be levied, laid, as- sessed and raised upon and from the taxable property of said city in the manner prescribed by law. ORDINANCES. 2 41. The common council Is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt ordinances prescribing ad- ditional duties and conferring additional powers (not inconsistent with existing laws) upon the sev- eral city officers, boards and commissions thereof, and requiring security to be given by any officer or clerk for the due performance of the duties of his office. ^ AUDIT OF CLAIMS. 8 47. Each account must state when and where the work was performed or the materials were fur- nished, and under what contract or under what authority it was performed or the materials were fur- nished, and must state, with reasonable detail, the character and amount of the work done and ma- terials furnished. The account must contain the names of each person interested in the same, or who makes any claim to any share or portion oi the sum to be paid. 1 48. Each account against the city of Albany or any of Its boards, departments or commissions, whether for twenty-five dollars or less, must be verified by the party or one, at least, of the parties in whose name the same Is presented, if there be more than one, and must be to the effect that the same is presented in the name or names of the real party or parties in interest, and that the contract was not made, or the work performed, or materials furnished In the name of one person for the benefit of another; and that no city officer, or member ot any board or commission of the city, or salaried em- ployees thereof, or the partner or any agent, servant or employee of such member, officer or commis- sioner, or of the finn of^which he is a partner, or of his partner is or has been directly or indirectly in- terested therein, either In the doing of the work or the furnishing of the materials, or has been paid or promised any thing for the letting of the contract. That the work as charged for was actually done, and the materials specified actually furnished and used at the times and places mentioned, and are of the value charged, or are at the prices specified in the contract. That no bill has been presented or claim made theretofore for the payment for such work, or materials, or for any part oritem of such work, or materials, except as therein stated, and if such bill has been theretofore presented, or snch claim has been theretofore made for the whole or any part thereof. It shall be stated to whom, or what board, body or commission it was presented, or made, the time, or times, thereof, and the action ot such person^ board, body or commission thereon, and when such action was taken. 8 49. The clerk of the common council shall prepare a blank form of verl flcation in accordance with the provisions of the last section, to be approved by the corporation counsel, and it shall be printed and furnished by said clerk gratuitously to all persons demanding the same, and who have a claim or demand of the aloresald character to present to the board, or the chamberlain or other officer, and no account, whether for twenty-five dollars or under, shall he presented to the chamberlain, or any board or conxmlssion, or the common council, or received or paid, or ordered paid, or acted upon, audited or allowed by him or it, unless the verification is in the form prepared by the said clerk. And in no case shall the account be paid, until three days after the meeting of the common council at which payment was ordered by it, or the audit by the chamberlain ; and such account shall not be paid bythe cham- berlain at all, unless the form and verification compiles with the provisions of this act. When paid, the original account or bill having the veriflcation attached shall be receipted by the party receiving, the money, or his duly authorized agent, and filed with the chamberlain or other proper officer, and is hereby declared to be a public record in his office. All claims and demands presented, including veri- fication, which shall not be allowed or paid, shall be delivered to and filed with the proper indorapment of the name, date and amount, by the chamberlain or other proper officer in his office, and shall be public records. JJiO. None of the provisions of sections forty-six. forty-seven, forty-eieht and forty-nine of this title of this act shall be held to affect the salaries of officers paid by the city; or the mode or manner in which payment thereof la made, or the wages of the city laborers, nor the disbursements made by the corporation counsel in the conduct of the cases broaght or defended by or for the city, nor the pay- ment of Judgments dbtained. against the city; nor shall the provisions of this act affect any contract now existing. And none of the provisions of said sections shall apply to the employment of counsel to old the corporation counsel in any legal matters In which the city is interested when such employ- nient is by authority of the mayor. 101 802 Albany. TITLE IT.— THE EXECUTITE POWER. • #*»••••• }9. It shall be the duty of the mayor: ..*-•• M To be vigilant and active In causing the ordinances of the city and laws of the State to be exe- cnted and enforced, and the affairs of the city to be well and economically administered, money due it to be collected, and contracts made with It enforced, and for such purpose he shall haye power to call together for consultation and co-operation all other city officers, boards and commissions* and it shall be his duty to compel the performance of the duties of their respective offices by them, and In case of non-performance, to suspend them from office. #« * * * • * • * 5 14; The mayor shall fill by appointment, until the next charter election, any vacancy which may occur by reason of the death, removal or resignation of any elective city officer, except a member of the common council and its clerk, and except a member of the hoard of public instruction, and in case of the death, removal or resignation of any officer to whose office the mayor has the power of ap- pointment or nomination, vacancies shall be filled in the manner prescribed for the original appoint- ment, except as to the commissioners of Washington park, a vacancy In which board shall bs filled as already provided for. g 15. The mayorshall have power at all times to examine the books, vouchers and papers of any de- partment, officer or employee of said city, or of any officers ^Jaid wages or salaries by its chamberlain, and ot tne excise commissioners, and to summon and examine, under oath, any person in connection therewith. 2 16. He shall also have power, if he deem it necessary, to employ once In each year, but not for a longer period than two months, an expert to examine the books, vouchers and papers of any depart- ment, officer or employee charged with the receipt and disbursement of public moneys. TITLE V. —CORPORATION COUNSEL, • •*«•**•• • 24- He shall be and act as the legal adviser of 'the common council and of the several officers, hoards and commissions of the city, and such officers, boards and commissions shall not employ other counsel. S 5. Uc shall appear for and protect the rights and interest of the city in all actions, suits and pro- ceedings brought by and against It or any city officer, board or commission of the city In bis or its offi- cial capacity. But it shall not be his duty to appear for or defend the actions of a city officer when s\ich act was by law performed for and in the interests of the county. 2 6. No written contract providing for the payment of two hundred and fifty dollars or more entered into hy the city or any of its officers, boards or commissions shall be acted under until there shall be indorsed thereon, by the corporation counsel or his assistant, a certificate to the effect that the city officer, board or commission which has executed the same on behalf of the city had authority and power to make such contract, and that such contract is in proper form and properly executed, and no bond (except those provided for in section t«n of title eighteen of this act) shall be accepted on behalf of the city by any officer, board or commission thereof until it shall have had indorsed thereon a certi- ficate, signed by the corporation counsel, or his assistant, to the effect that such bond is proper in its provisions and properly executed, and that it appears on the face thereof that the sureties, If any, required by law have properlyjustifled and executed the same. The corporation counsel shall draw all the deeds and leases to be made by the city, and whenever requested by the mayor or directed by resolution or ordinance of the common council, he shall prepare and draw up any contract or other paper thereby required. 5 7. He shall conduct all proceedings taken by the city, or any officer, board or commission thereof, for the acquiring of land by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, and for the opening, widen- ing or altering of any street, avenue or lane In said city, or for any other purpose. • * # * * 4e *'^*^# « TITLE TI.— CHAMBERLAIN. S 2. He shall receive and disbarse all moneys raised by tax In the city, including the monev raised by county tax for the maintenance of the alms-house therein. § 10. The chamberlain shall pay all accounts, claims, debts and demands in which the city of Albany is concerned. Such claims as are audited by the common council shall be paid upon the presentation of the original itemized voucher of the claim, debt or demand, certified to by the clerk of the common council that the same has been audited and allowed by the common council, and approved by the mayor. And It shall not be lawful for the chamberlain to pay any claim, debt or demand unless so certified to, except where by express provision of law the chamberlain Is directed to pay such claims debts or demands on the warrant of some city officer, board or commission, and except claims duly audited and payable out of the alms-house appropriation ; and excepting the customary disbursements of the board of finance, which may be paid without such voucher, but which shall be charged and included In a schedule to be presented to the common council, at its regular monthly meeting. 8 11. All claims exceeding twenty-five dollars shall be paid by checks on the bank in which the moneys of the city shall be deposited. Such checks must he signed by the chamberlain and counter- signed by the receiver of taxes. J 12. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain to report to the common council, once in each month, j^H*®""*^ °' moneys received by him during the preceding month, and from what sources received and the amount expended for each of the departments, boards or commissions, which report shall be printed m the Journal of that body. He shall keep Just and true accounts and books of all affairs thereof, and shall furnish statements of its affairs, in addition to his monthly reports, whenever required hy the mayor, common council or board of finance. - ^ ^^' li s^all be the duty of the chamberlain to report to the common council at its first regular meet- ing in November in each year, the amount received by him for and on account of each of the several ?}L **™S-"!l commissions, board, and departments of the city, including the alms-house, and the ♦«rl= .^ Ji^ ^^"^"V the several amounts were received. He shall also state under oath the expendl- i« ^f*^i °^ "I?* ^P,*" ***^ several purposes of such officer, commission, board and department as much thf fit^'i^rP^'^S^**'**'^^'*'?'^ "'2** ***? t)alance appearing by his books to the credit of each. It shall be the duty of each commission, board, department and officer authorized to contract for the doing of any Albany. 803 work or the furnishing of any materials or to incur any llaftility therefor, wl»ich is to be paid for out of any funds in the hands of the chamberlain, to furnish to said chamberlain on the thirty-flrst day of October in each year a detailed statement, duly verified, showing what claims or demands, except for salaries, wages and rent, have risen or been incurred by or under their or his order or direction respect- ively up to that date, which have not been paid by the chamberlain, and the chamberlain shall make an abstract of such reports and include such abstract In liis report to the common council. ? Ifi. The moneys collected by tax or otherwise, for the expenses of the city government, or for any specirtc purpose or object whatever, shall be applied by the chamberlain to the payment of such expenses and for such purpose or object and to no other. And it shall not be la\vful for the chau)ber- lain to apply any money collected or appropriated for one purpose to any other purpose; nor shall H be lawful for the common council to direct or order him to do so. In case anv moneys have been or may hpreafter be raised by tax or otherwise by the corporate authority of the city for any specific purpose or object, and that purpose or object shall have been fully completed and accomplished, and there shall remain in the custody of the chamberlain of the city any unexpended balances of the moneys raised as aforesaid, It shall be the duty of the chamberlain and he is hereby required to pay over any such bal- ance or balances on the first day of January in each year to the trustees of the general debt sinking fund of said city, and the same shall be by them applied and used in the same manner as other moneys received by them are used and applied in the payment of the bonded debt of the city, according to the provisions of section three of title eight of this act. TITLE Till.— BOARD OF FINANCE. 21' The common council shall, at its first meeting in January, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and every third year thereafter, appoint a citizen of said city, other than a city officer, who with the mayor and chamberlain of said city shall constitute the board of trustees of the sinking fund of the city of Albany, who shall be a body corporate and who together with the president of the common council and one alderman, to be designated by the common council, shall constitute the finance board of ttie city, g 6. Said board shall annually prepare a city tax budget which shall include all sums which shall be required for all. each and every municipal purpose during the year next following the first day of January thereafter, and shall report the same to the common council. Such report shall specify the several purposes for which the money should be raised and the amount required for each purpose, including the amount necessary for the maintenance of the police force and public schools in said city and the common council shall consider and adopt the same with such changes and amendments as shall seem to it proper, except that no changes shall be made In such items thereof as shall relate to the interest, principal or sinking fund fur the public debt ot the city, or In the appropriation for the police iorce and for the public schools. Provided, that for the tax budget which Is to be made in the fall of eighteen bundled and eighty-three, there shall be included therein all sums which may be necessary for the objects therein specified from November first, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, to January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and that the amounts raised by tax in the tax budget of eighteen hundred and eighty-two shall be expendi^d before January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, the officers, boards, commissions or departments charged with the expenditures thereof may mcur such liabilities as may be absolutely essential to the execution of their respective duties. 8 S. It shall be the duty of the board of police commissioners and the board of public instruction, each to certify to the finance committee on or before November first in each year. In detail, the several purposes tor which and the amounts In which it will be necessary that money should be raised by tax for the purposes of said boards respectively ; and the finance board shall insert such amount without change in the city tax budget to be prepared by it. » « « tt * « « * * TITLE XVni.— GENERAL PROVISIONS. •»«« «-»* ««« § 8. Any person who shall willfhlly swear falsely to any material matter in any oath or affirmation required by this act shall be guilty of perjury, and where by the general laws of the State any different or greater punishment Is prescribed for any offense In this act mentioned the person guilty of such offense shall be convicted and punished as In such general statutes prescribed. 5 14. All persons presenting bills for payment of claims against the city or any board or commission thereof shall use their own names or the names of the firm of which thevare members. If any person shall use a name other than his own, or that of the firm of which he is a member, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and any member of any board or commission, or any officer of the city, who shall knowingly pass, audit or pay any such claim shall be guilty of a like offense. The chamberlain, upon receipt of a complaint under oath and in writing, signed by any citizen, stating that he has reason to believe that any Illegal claim has been presented, shall withhold payment of the claims designated until satistled they should be paid. Willfbl false swearing on such complaint shall be deemed to be perjury, TITLE XXI.— ELECTIONS. Section 1. The officers of the city to he elected by general ticket at the charter election shall be the mayor, recorder, two aldermen from the city at large, police Justices, Justices of the Justices' court, police commissioners, and members of the board of public instruction. g 3. The annual charter election shall be held on the second Tuesday of April in each year, and the municipal year shall commence on the first Tuesday of May following. • « « » * • » » » 2 8. The clerk of the common council of Raid city shall at least ten days before each charter election, cause a notice to be inserted in the three official newspapers publi^^hed in the said city, and also to be posted in five or more public places In each election district, containing the time of opening and closing the poll, the place designated for holding the election, and a list of the officers to be chosen. The inspectors of election of each district and ward shall proceed as provided by the general laws of the State tn relation to elections other than towns. All the officers of said city to be elected from the city at large, except the police commissioners and members of the board of public instruction, shall be 804 Amsterdam. placed on aballot to he indorsetl * ' City," and the inspectors holding such election shall proride aballot- hox on which shall be distinctly marked " City, " wherein shall be deposited the ballots indorsed ' City. And when such police commissioners and members of the board of public instruction, or either one of them, are to be chosen, they shall be voted for by being named in a separate ballot or ticket, one of which shall be Indorsed " Police Commissioners," and the other " Board of Public Instruction," as the case may require ; and separate boxes shall be provided and liepi^ in each election district of said city for the reception of such ballots. The names of the candidates for aldermen (except aldermen from the city at large), supervisors and other ward ofHcers shall be on a bailot or ticket indorsed " Ward," aad be deposited in a box to be provided by the inspectors, to be distinctly marked " Ward." 2 9. The polls of the election in the several districts and wards of the said city of Albany, at the elec- tion to be held, as aforesaid, on the second Tuesday of April in each year, shall be kept open from the hour of eight in the morning until the hour of five in the afternoon. At the close of euch election the inspectors shall publicly proceed to canvass the votes, which shall be completed without adjournment or inteiTuption. When the canvass shall have been completed, the Inspectors shall thereupon pub- licly certify and declare the result, stating the number of votes given for each person for each respect- ive office, and shall file such statement and certificate on the same or next day after the canvass is completed with the clerk of the common council of said city, and the common councH, at its next regular nieetingthereafter, shall canvass such returns and declare the result. g 10. The persons elected at the charter election shall be sworn into office on or before the first Tues- day of May next following such election, and the persons elected as aldermen shall be sworn into office by the mayor or other presiding officer of the common council. § 11. Every person elected or appointed to any office under the city government, except constables and commissioners of deeds, shall on or before their terms of ofiQce begin, or within ten days after notice of such appointment, take and subscribe before the mayor, or any Judge of a court ot record, an bath or affirmation faithfully to perform the duties of his office, which oath or affirmation shall be filed in the mayor's office. ALBION. [Chap. 15, Laws of 1876.J Amends section 48 of chapter 12i of the Laws of 1842, »s follows : § 48. The territory or district of country embraced within and constituting the said village of Albion shaU be and constitute school district number one, ot the town of Albion, Orleans county; and when- ever the territory of said village shall be enlarged, the act of enlargement shall extend the boundaries of the said school district number one, of the town of Albion, so that at all times the boundaries of said village of Albion and of said school district [number onej shall correspond with each other. lChap.U2. Laws of 1879.} [Prom the village charter,] TITLE in. — SCHOOL DISTRICT— SCHOOL TRUSTEES. Section 1. The district of countrv constituting the village of Albion shall be and constitute union free school district number one of the town of Albion, and whenever the corporate limits of said vil- lage shall be changed, the act changing the same shall also change the boundaries of said school dis- trict whether specified in the act or not, so that at all times the boundaries of said village and of said school district shall correspond with each other. § 2. The persons who, on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy -eight, composed the board of education of said school district, are hereby declared to be members of said board and they shall continue to hold their offices for the terms to which they were severally originally elected and hereafter three of the nine members of said board shall be elected annuallv at the time and place of the election of trustees of said village under this act, to supply the places of those whose terms shall then expire ; and in case of any vacancy the said board of education shall fill the same until the next annual charter election, when the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term The said board of education shall continue to be composed of nine members, and their terms of office to be three years from the time of their election. g 3. The said board of education shall possess all the powers and perform all the duties imposed by . and be subject to all the provisions of title nine of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four and the several acts amendatory thereof, except that they shall be elected and hold office in pursuance of this act. § 4 . The treasurer of the village shall keep the moneys raised for school purposes as a separate fund, and shall set aside the first moneys received from the collector or collectetf by him on the general as- sessment-roll, as the MChool fund, to the amount voted by the trustees for school purposes, and no orders drawn upon him by any other body, board or person than the hoard of education shall be paid out of such fund, nor shall the said fund be loaned to any other fund nor in any way or manner di- verted from the specific purpose for which It was raised or set apart. The funds received from the State shall be set apart, and kept and paid out in the same manner, and no other. The said treasurer shall report, under oath annually within one week prior to the annual charter election, to the board of education, in detail, the school moneys received and disbursed bv him, and in case he violate any of the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished as provided by law. AMSTERDAM. [C%ap, 131, Lawsofl886, asammded.} [From city charter.] TITLE TII. Section 83. The school districts within the village of Amsterdam and town of Amsterdam as thflv existed at theJJme of the passage of this act shall remain as they now are. "SSiout chS^ie aSKtinSe snbject to all the provisions of laws of this State applicable to common schools therein ' excetitine m charged by this act, ond the school districts which shall be wholly within the boundroAht Si " Amsterdam, shall still be regarded ns school districts of the town of Amsterdam, and for all the pu?- poses of continuing the provisions of law respecting said school districts, thescho^s in said city a^aU Auburn. 805 exist and be controlled auder the general school laws of the State in all respects as In towns. The as- sessment-roll of the city of Amsterdam shall be considered a town assessment-roll in relation to all the property therehi, for assessment and taxation for all school purposes, and all the laws of this State re- fipectfn^ the levying and collecting of taxes for school purposes shall apply to all of said school districts remaining entirely within said city, excepting only as changed by this act. 2 62. The taxes in this title aforementioned shall, if practicable, be Included In one assessment, to- gether with the school tax hereinafter mentioned. The common council may require the assessors to levy and assess any such tax in the manner prescribed in section thirty-nine of this act. Otherwise itshall be the duty of the common council to raise the amount thereof by a general tax levied accord- ing to the annual asseesment-roU required to be died with the city clerk on or before the first Tuesday of September next preceding, as revised and corrected, and a true copy thereof, with the respective amounts to be paid by each tax-payer duly entered thereon, shall be filed with the city clerk within thirty days after such tax shall have been legally directed. The mayor and clerk shall immediately attach their warrant thereto, and the subsequent proceedings thereon shall be the same and of the same validity as if a new assessment and tax-roll had been duly made. g fi4. The boards of education of the union free school districts entirely within the city of Amsterdam shaM, as soon as practicable, after the passage of this act, and on or before the first day of April in each year thereafter present to the common council a detailed statement, giving the various ijurposes of anticipated expenditure, during the fiscal year beginning on the first day of March preceding and ending on the last day of February thereafter, and the amount necessary for each which shall have been voted by the electors of said union free school districts at their annual or a special meeting called for that purpose, and said common council shall levy and collect the same upon the taxable property of each of said union free school districts, and not upon any property outside the boundaries ot said union free school districts, in the manner as and with the general city tax, and the same wben col- lected shall be held by the treasurer of the said city subject to the order of the said boards of educa- tion. The said tax for school purposes shall be assessed upon and against the property of each of the said union free school districts separately, and ihe amount of said tax shall be kept in a separate col- umn in said tax-roll. The city treasurer shall collect and receive all taxes levied and assessed as afore- said for school purposes, the same as all other taxes within said citv, and shall have the same powers and authority with respect thereto as are given him by this act, with respect to other taxes levied and collected in said city. (As amended by section 6, chap. 254, Laws qf 18ff7.) - AUBURN. [Chav. 577, LawB of 1875.] An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to public schools In the city of Auburn. Section 1. The several school districts in the city of Auburn are hereby consolidated, an 2 23. The orphan asylum societies of the city of Brooklyn shall participate in the distribution of the school moneys raised in said city, In proportion to the number of children between the ages of four and sixteen, who have been under the charge of said societies during the past year, and instructed In such manner as is usual in common schools, and shall hereafter be annually entitled to such distributive share in the same manner, and to the same extent, as is now or shall be provided in respect to the common schools of said city. And all industrial schools in which induRtrial employments are taught in addition to the studies of the common schools, during some portion of the school day, and in which the pupils are clothed, fed and lodged, the said tuition and support being entirely free, shall participate in the distribution of the school moneys, in the same manner and under the same restrictions as the said orphan asylum societies at Brooklyn. (Section 1, chap. 76, Laws qf 1848, as amended by section 1, chap. 590. Laws of 1S74. ) §24. The schools ofsaid societies shall be subject to the general supervision of the board of education of said city, but remaining under the immediate direction and management of the said societies as heretofore. (Section 2, chap. 76, Laws of 1848. ) § 25. The orphan asylum societies and the industrial schools for indigent and homeless children, under the charge of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn, shall. In each and every year, be entitled to receive ten per cent of the gross amount of money received by the commlssioneis of excise in the city of Brooklyn, for licenses to sell liquors, ales and wines, and of fines for the breach of the laws in relatlou thereto, and the comptroller of the said city of Brooklyn shall, on the requlsl- 816 BE00KLT2»r. tion of the proper officers of the said societies, pay over to them, the officers, directors or trustees of the said orphan asylum societies and industrial schools, or such persons as they shall authorize to receive the same, a sum equal to tpn per cent of the gross sum received by the said commissioners of excise for licenses and fines as aforesaid, pro rata according to the number of orphans ami indigent children fed, clothed, lodged and taught in each of the said asylums or industrial schools free of expense ; the said pro rata to tie established and taken by the said comptroller from the report of the superintendent of public instruction for the said city of Jirooklyn for the distribution of the public school fund to the said orphan asylum societies and industrial schools. (Section 3, chap. 76, Laws of 1848. as amefnded bv chap. 255, Laws of 1875. ) . , -r. ,_ ^ _. ^ .. § 26. The board of education and the mayor of the city of Brooklyn are hereby authorized to sell any lands with the buildings thereon which, in the opinion of the said board, first declared by resolution, are not needed for school purposes, or that shall hereafter not be needed for school purposes, and to grant and convey the same. XSeciicn 1, chap. 473. Laws of 1883. ) § 27. The proceeds arising fronj any such sale shall be paid into the special school fund of said board of education, and deposited with the treasurer of the city of Brooklyn, to the credit of said fund. (^Stec- tUm 2, chap. 478, Laws of 1883.) Ghap. 335, Laws of 1886. An Act to provide for the annexation to the city of Brooklyn of the town of New Lota and for the acquisition and regulation of the water supply thereof. Section 1. All that territory now comprised within the limits of the town of New Lots, in the county of Kings, with the inhabitants and estates therein, is hereby annexed to, merged in. and made a part of, the city of Brooklyn in said county, and shall hereafter constitute a part of the city of Brooklyn, and shall be, and shall be known as, the twenty-sixth ward of said city, and except as in this act otherwise specially provided, shall hereafter be subject to and governed by the same laws, ordinances, rules and regulations, and entitled to the same rights, privileges, i^anchises and immunities as the said city of Brooklyn as constituted at the time this act takes effect. « * *-» t « « Sf * 2 3. All public property in said town, used for public educational purposes, and vested in said town, or in any public body, board, district, trustee or trustees, officer or officers, pertaining to the educa- tional department or public school system thereof, shall become the property of, and is hereby vested in, the board of education of the city of Brooklyn. All moneys collected from taxes levied, or to be levied, for educational purposes in said town, and all moneys and funds due or to become dne to said town, or any school district thereof, or which said town or school district is, or shall become entitled to receive, for educational purposes, shall be paid over to the said board of education, and shall be con- trolled, applied and disbursed by said board, as is now by law provided. §4. * * * But the propertyin suchtown.or school district.as now constituted, as the case maybe, shall remain liable for the said debts, liabilities and obligations, and the money to meet the same, principal and interest, as they accrue shall be raised by taxation upon the property of said town or school district now liable for said principal and interest, and the taxes raised, therefor when collected , by the city of Brooklyn, shall be paid over to the treasurer of the county of Kings, or other officer or person charpred with the payment of said Indebtedness as now provided by law; and all moneys received by said city from taxes or assessments levied before this act shall take effect, applicable to the payment of any such indebtedness, shall likewise be paid over to the officer or person charged with the duty of paying the same. ' 2 16. This act shall be held and construed to be a public act, and shall take efitect on the first day of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-six. ^ IChap. 65.3 An act to provide for the support of the public schools In the twenty-sixth ward of the city of Brook- lyn (late town of New Lots) for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and for the equitable apportionment hereafter of the State school moneys to the county of Kings, between the city of Brooklyn and the residue of said county. Passed March 11, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. The People qf ih£ State of New Tork^ represented in Senate and AsseTn^ly, do enact asfoUown : SectiosI, The county treasurer of Kings county is hereby authorized and directed, out of the State school moneys apportioned by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven upon the basis or population to the county of Kings, outside of the city of Brooklyn In said county, to pay to the city treasurer of the city of Brooklyn, to the credit of the board of education, Insaid city, the sum of four thousand five hundred and ninety-three and ninety-four one hundredths dollars, the said sum being the amount apportionablefrom said school moneysfor eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to the late town of New Lots, now the twenty-sixth ward of the city of Brooklyn, upon the basis of the population ofsaid town, according to the enumeration of the inhabit- ants of the said town \iy the United States census, taken in eighteen hundred and eighty. §2. Thesaidmoneysshallbeappliedby the board of education ofsaid city, exclusively to the pay- ment of teachers' wages in the said twenty-sixth ward (late town of New Lots). 2 3. It shall be lawful for the board of education of the city of Brooklyn, to apply the moneys appro- priated for school purposes in the city of Brooklyn, for the j'ear eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, to the support of the public schools In the twenty-sixth ward of said city (late town of New Lots) in common with the other schools of said city. ? 4. Hereafter, in the apportionment of the State school moneys to the county of Kings upon the basis of population the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion the same to the citjr of Brooklynuponitspopnlationincludlngthat of thelatetownof New Lots in said county, and to the residue of the county upon its population, excladlng that ot the late town of New Lota. { 5, This act shall take effect immediately, Buffalo. S17 [C7iap. 661, Laws of 1887,3 An act to provide for the appointment of members of tbe Board of Edncation of the city of Brooklyn and regulate their terra of office. Section l. The members of the board of education who were appointed by the mayor of the city of Brooklyn, July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-flve, and any members appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by the death or resignation of members so appointed, shall hold orace until July one, eigbt- een hundred and eighty-eight, and the members who were appointed July one, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and any members appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by the death or resignation of members so appointed, shall horn office until July one, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine. 2 2. The mayor of the city of Brooklyn shall, on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, appoint fifteen members of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to hold office for three years from that date in place of the fifteen members appointed in July, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, and of any members appointed to fill vacancy occasioned by the death or resignation of any members so appointed in eighteen hundred and eighty-three. And thereafter he shall, on or before July first in each succeeding year, appoint fifteen members to the said boardof education, to hold office for three years In place of the members whose term of office shall then expire. 8 3. The term of office of the members of the board of education of the city of Brooklyn shall be for three years from the first day of July in the year in which they have been or shall be appointed and until their successors shall be appointed, except In caso of vacancies, when the person appointed shall "hold office during the unexpired term to fill which he was appointed, and the mayor of the city of Brooklyn may at any time fill vacancies caused by death, resignation or otherwise, liy appointment, for the unexpired term. H- If the mayor shall refuse, fail or neglect for thirty days after the expiration of the term of a mem- ber of said board, as provided by this act, to make an appointment required by this act, such failure, refusal or neglect shall be in all respects equivalent to and taken as an express appoiutmeot of the mem- ber who may be at the time holding office. 1 5. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with tbe provisions of this act are hereby repealed. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. BUFFALO. iEsetract/rom the city charter^ chap. .'>19. Laws of 1870, as amended by cAop. 719, Laiaa of 1871, cliap^ 828, Xau5o/ 1S72, andchap. 181, Laws qfl^t.'] TITLE IL Section one makes the superintendent of education a city officer, and elected by general ticket Section two fixes the term of such superintendent's office at two years. TITLE XI. Section \. The city has power to establish, maintain and regulate public schools In the city. §2. The city shall be, by ordinance, divided into school districts, and from time to time ledivided, and in each district there shall be maintained one or more schools. \ 3. Such schools shall be open and free to all children between five years and twenty years of age residing within their respective districts. \^. The dty shall establish, maintain and regulate one or more schools, free to all colored children between the ages aforesaid, residing ia the city. § S. It may maintain and regulate a central school, into which maybe admitted pupils who have attended the district schools for two or more years, and who will be selected for merit la the manuer prescilbed by ordinance. % 6. The central school shall share In The school fhnd of this State, and In all appropriations to acad- emies. The district schools shall share in the school fund ofthis State and in the appropriations made to public schools. § 7 The city is hereby authorized to equalize the expenditures which may have been made in the several school districts within said city among the said districts. The assessors of said city shall on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, submit to the common council a state- ment shoeing the total val uation of school property and real and personal property within, said city, the value ot the lots, buildings and property owned by each of the said school districts, together with a statement of the assessed valuation within the boundaries of the same and the average rate between the same. The common council shall thereupon order a tax to be levied upon such distriqts wherein the ratio of school property to the assessable property Is less than the average ratio as shown by such statement, until all of such districts shall have paid a sum equal to such average rate. Such tax shall not exceed one handred thousand dollars in any one year. Such tax when collected shall be used 5olel$;foT the purchase of school lots and the erection, enlargement, repairs and furnLiUiug of school buildings for said city. g S. Such tax, when ordered, shall be assessed as follows : The assessors shall, as soon as practicable, make out an assessment-roll of the taxable real and personal estate in the district, and revise and correct the same In manner and form prescribed in title two. They shall make a fair copy of the corrected roll, and shall apportion the sum ordered to be raised upon the taxable property in such roll. They shall set down In a column to be prepared for that purpose, opposite to the several sums set down as the valuations of real and personal estates, the respective sums, in dollars and cents, to be paid as a tax thereon, and certify and deliver it to the comptroller. g 9, The comptroller shall deliver said rolls to the treasurer, and the like proceedings for the collec- tion of such tax shall be had as are provided for the collection of local assessments. (The former section teh of this title repealed; see chapter 181, Laws 1885.) §10. All expenses of the school department shall be included in and paid out of the general fund flr tax. \ 11. The superintendent of education shall be the head of th^ educational department. He shall, from time to time, recommend to the common council the courses of studies to be pursued in the diffferent schools, and such measures as will. In his Judgment, increase the usefulness and efficiency of the schools. He shall select the teachers to be employed in the different schools, and hire them for the period of time, at the compensation, and upon the terms and conditions provided by ordinance. He shall see that the course of studies and system of education eRtablished by ordinance are observed. If none be established by ordinance, he shall direct the course of studies and svstem of education to be pursued. The teachers shall be subject to his orders and directions. He "may suspend, ami for 103 818 Cambridge. cause and after a hearing, with the concnrreuce of the mayor, dismiss any teacher. He shall yearly* and oftener if required, make a statement to the common council of the condition of the schools. The superintendent of education shall appoint a clerk, who shall he well versed in the German as welt as the English language, who shall receive a salary of twelve hundred dollars per year. Nothing herein shall authorize but one clerk of said department. g 12. No charge whatever shall he exacted or received from any pupil m any of the schools ; out tie may be required to provide himself with school books and stationery, -, , , 1.1. 3 13. The common council shall annually publish a statement of the number of public schools, the number of pupils instructed therein the year preceding, the several branches of education pursued by them, and the expenditures for each school In detail. (See chapter 181, Laws 1885.) ILawB of 1S56, chap. 123, %tcti(m 30.] \ 30. The schools established and maintained by the Buffalo Juvenile Asylum shall participate in the distribution of the common school fund, in the same manner and degree as the comm,on scliools ot th& city of Butfalo. CAMBRIDGE. \Chav 671, iau;« 0/ 1873.] An Act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington county, New York, and constitute said village a single school district. Section 1. The village of Cambridge shall constitute one school district. The tuition In all schools under the charge of the hoard of education, lower than the high, school grade, shall be free to all per- sons, between the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing In said village ; and the rates of tuition in the high school grade shall be fixed by the hoard of education. 82. The title of all school property in this act mentioned shall he vested In the village of Cambridge, and such property shall he exempt from all taxation, and shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution ; and the said village shall have, power to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to It for the use of the public schools. It shall be the duty of tha several school districts heretofore existing in the village of Cambridge, within thirty days from the passage of this act, to transfer and convey to said village all common school property of whatever description, and to place in the care of the board of education all books and papers now belonging to said districts ; and the present school officers of the several districts of said village shall continue in office not exceed- ing thirty days after the passage of this act. with all the powers and duties now by law imposed upon them, for the purpose of closing such business. 2 3. For the purposes of this act, and pursuant to the provisions hereinafter contained, J.iraes S. Smart, James Ellis, R. K. Crocker, Henry Wells, C. T. Hawley and George Baker are appointed com- missioners of public schools In said village ; C. T. Hiiwley and George Baker shall hold offiice for one year; R. K. Crocker and Henry Wells for two years, and James S. Smart and James Ellis for three years, all from the next annual charter election in said village, who, together, shall constitute the board of education of the village of Cambridge until such time as their successors are elected and qual- ified ; and the said board shall be a corporate body In relation to all powers and duties by this act conferred upon them. \ 4. At the annual charter election of eighteen nundred and seventy-four, and at each succeeding annual charter election in said village, all qualified electors for village officers shall be entitled to vote by separate ballot, to be indorsed "'School Commissioner," for one person for the office of school com- missioner, who shall be an elector and a resident In said village ; and of the persons so voted for the two receiving the greatest number of votes for said ofllce shall be elected school commissioners for the term of three years, and until their successors shall he elected and qualified. But if more than twa persons receive the greatest number and an equal number of votes, or if, after one person is elected by the greatest number of votes, two or more other persons receive each an equal number of votes, then it shall be deemed a failure to elect either of the persons receiving such equal number of votes^ and the board shall have the power, and it shall he their duty, to fill such vacancy in the same manner as they are hereinafter empowered to fill vacancies, 5 5. All persons appointed or elected to the office of school commissioner shall, within ten days after receiving notice or their election to such office, take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this State, and file the same with' the village clerk ; and no commissioner shall receive anv pecuniary compensation for his services as a commissioner ; nor shall any member or officer of the boanl parti- cipate in the profits of any transaction of contract entered Into by the board, or by any member thereof as such, or be interested in such profits in any manner whatever. \ 6. No person being at the time president or trustee of the village of Cambridge shall be eligible to the office of school commissioner ; and if any member of said board accept either of the offices above named, his office in the hoard shall he vacant, and shall be filled by the said board as hereinafter pro- vided. And It shall he the duty of each school commissioner to visit all the schools under the direc- tion of the hoard at least once in each year, and the said board shall also provide that each of the said schools shall he visited by a committee of three or moro members of the board at least twice in each year. \ 7. The memhers of said board shall hold their meeting on the evening of the second Wednesday Bffijt after their election, each year, at seven and one-half o clock, or as soon thereafter as may be, for the purpose of organizing their body. They shall elect by ballot a member of their body to be president, and also a suitable person to be clerk, whose compensation shall be fixed by the board - * and the board shall have power and It shall be their duty to fill all vacancies that may occur in their body, by the election of a person eligible to the office, to hold office till the vacancy be filled at the next annual charter election, when the vacancy shall be filled by election for the residue of the term. 2 8. Tour memhers of the hoard shall constitute a quorum, and shall have power to decide any question before them, other than filling vacancies, selecting or changing text-hooks, or passing a resolution appropriating money ; and it shall be the duty of the said board in ait their expenditures and contracts to have reference to the amount of money subject to their order during the then current year, and not to exceed that amount; and no money shall he appropriated by the said board under this act to any school, except It ho under the exclusive and entire control of said board. {9. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be theirduty: First, To establish and maintain such schools. Including the common schools now existing in said village, as they shall deem requisite, and to alter and discontinue the.'^same. Second. To bnlTd, lease or contract for the occud*- tion and use of school-houses or rooms, and to alter, Improve and repair the same and appurtenances Cambridge. 81& «s they may deem advisable, provided such houses and appurtenances are owned by tfie village or duly leased by the said board of education for a term. Third. To adopt, alter, modify or repeal rules and regulations for the orpanization, superintendence, management, instruction and transfer of pupils of the puhUc schools, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and utility. Fourth, To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and appendages, and to purchase, exchange, improve and repair school fnmiture, books and apparatus, and to see that the village ordinances in relation to the public schools are observed. Fifth. To contract with, license, employ and pay all teachers In said schools and at their pleasure to remove them. Sixth. To allow the children of non-residents to attend any of the schools of said village under the care of the board, upon such terms as the board shall by resolution prescribe. Seventh. Todefraythe neces- sary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk, Eljihth. To report to the president and trusteesofthevillage whenever it may be advisable to sell any of the school property belonging to the village. Ninth. To prepare and report to the president and trustees of the village such ordinances and regulations as may be necessary for the safe-keeping of ail school property. Tenth. To present and certify to the president and trustees of said village, on or before the first day of April in each year, a detailed statement in wrif int; of the amount of monev which will be required the ensu- ing y^-.ar for school purposes, exclusive of the public moneys, specifying the several purposes for which it "ffill be required and the amount for each ; also true statements of receipts and disbursements of all moneys under the direction of the board and how expended. Eleventh. To transmit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, or such other officer as may be designated by law, between the first and fifteenth days of October In every year, a report In writing, dated the first day of October of the year of its transmission, and specifying— first, the whole time the schools have been kept and the whole number of days, including holidays, the schools were taught by qualified teachers ; second, the whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said village during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer, from the village tax andfromany other source, also the manner in which such moneys have been expended and what part remains unexpended; third, the number of children between the ages of five and twenty -one years residing In said village on the last day of September of that year; fourth, the number of children taught in said schools during Buch year, and the sum of the days' attendance of all such children ; fifth, the amount of money paid for teachers' wa^es in addition to the public moneys, and such other information in relation to the schools of said village as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may fVom time to time require. Twelfth. To have full power and control of the public schools In said village. 3 10. The president and trustees of said village shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal property in said village which shall be liable to taxation for village or county charges, such sum or sums of money as the board of education of said village shall declare necessary for any or all of the following purposes : J. To purchase school-houses, and also to purchase, lease or improve sites therefor. But the question 6f the choice of a site and of the purchase thereof shall be first submitted to the people, at such time and place and in such manner as snail be directed and provided by the trustees 2. To enable the board of education to build, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-bouses: and their out-houses. 3. To purchase, exchange, Improve and repair school apparatus, furniture and books for indigent pupils. 4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the public schools. 6. To pay tbe wages of teachers due after the application of the public moneys, provided the tax to be levied as aforesaid and collected by virtue of this act shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other village taxes. 3 11. Th amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses in any one year shall not be more than four times the amount apportioned to said village from the public school moneys of the State during the previous year; and the amount raised in one year for purchasing sites, erecting and repairing school-houses, shall not exceed one thousand dollars, unless a majority of the electors in said village, entitled now by the common school law of this State to vote at school meetings, present at a village meeting called by said board of education in the same form and manner as now prescribed by the common school law of this State, shall vote to raise a larger amount, and they may direct by such vote the moneys so voted to be levied in one sum or by annual installments with interest thereon, and the aald president and trustees ot said village shall cause such sum or such installments, with interest thereon, as shall be determined by such meeting, to be assessed and collected as provided in section eleven of this act at such times as they shall become due. 2 12. The president and trustees of said village shall have power and it shall be their duty to make all such ordinances as the board of education shall report necessary for the safe-keeping of the school property and to Impose penalties for the violation of the same, such penalties to be collected in the usual manner .and paid over to the village treasurer for the use of the board of education; and the said president and trustees, on the recommendation of the board of education, can sell any of the village school property and pay the proceeds of such sales to the village treasurer, to be expended again bv the board of education. 8 13. The village treasurer shall receive, hold and be accountable for all moneys of the board of edu- cation ; he shall open an account with said board, and keep the iiinds of said board separate from any others, and pay the orders of the hoard on the treasurer in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk of said board of education. 8 14. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of the county of Washington, from and after the- passage of this act, to direct that all moneys derived and collected on the inhabitants of the village of Cambridge, for common school purposes, whether the same shall be levied and collected as county taxes or otherwise, shall be paid over by the receiver of taxes for the said village to the treasurer thereof, for the sole use and benefit of the public schools within said villase ; and It shall be the duty of tbe board of education, to apply all such moneys to the support of the public schools of said village in conformity to law. 8 Ifl. All former or existing aots, or parts of acts, repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, so far as relates to said school district of the village of Cambridge. 8 16. The trustees of the village of Cambridge, at any annual or special village meeting to be called as now provided by law, shall, within sixty days after the passage of this act, file the consent of the village to this act with the Secretary of State ; the consent of the village shall be ascertained b^ a vote »f the electors thereof, to be taken by ballot, upon which shall be written " For consent to the act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington county. New York, and constitute said village a single school district," and " Against consent to the act to establish and maintain union graded schools In the village of Cambridge, Washington county. New York, and constitute said village a single school district," if a majority of the ballots so cast shall be against the consent of the village to the " Act to establish and mamtain uoloa graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington county, New York, and constitute said village a single school district, -then, this act shall be void. 820 Camillus A^q'D Geddes — Castletok and Southfield. CAMILLUS AND GEDDES.-DISTRICT NO. 1- ILawB of 1^2, chap, 249.] Section i. The legal voters In Joint scliool district number one, formed from parts of the towns of Camillus and Geddes, In the county of Onondaga, are hereby authorized, from time to time, at ai^ meeting of said school district, to enipower, by resolution, the trustees of said district to keep the accounts of the wages of the teacher of^the highest department of the principal school in said district separate from the accounts of the wages of the other teachers in said district, and to apply a Just pro- portion of the public money to the payment of such teacher's wages, and to make out a separate rate bill for the collection of the remainder of such teacher's wages from the scholars that were instructed by the principal teacher, which rate bill shall he collectible in all respects as other rate bills are col- lected. CASTLETON-DISTRICT NOS. 2. 3, 5 AND 7. [Laws 0/1855, chap. 510.] Section 1. The trustees of each of the school districts, two, three, five and seven, in the town ol Castleton, in the county of Richmond, shall annually, at least three weeks before their annual meet- ings, or three weeks before a special meeting which may be called for that purpose. In their rewpective districts, prepare an estimate of the amount which they shall deem necessary to pay the debts of their districts and for the support of common schools therein for the ensuing, year, exclusive of the money which they may be entitled to receive from the town superintendent, and including the sum required for building, for the purchase of necessary furniture, apparatus and boolis, and for contingent expenses, and shall caUse notice thereof to be posted for two weeks previous to said meeting. In at least five of the most public places in the district. And they shall present such estimate at such meet- ing, when the Inhabltants.so assembled shall vote thereon for each Item separately, and the same, or so much thereof as shall be approved by a majority of such inhabitants, shall be levied and raised by tax on such district, as now prescribed by law for raising school district taxes. 82. When the trustees shall have completed any tax list, they shall annex to such tax list a war- rant, directed to the collector of the district, for the collection of the sums of money in such list men- tioned, returnable in thirty days, and take from such collector approved security for the performance of his duty. Such warrant may be renewed from time to time, as now provided by law for the collec- tton of district taxes. The money so collected shall be paid to said trustees, and by them appropriated to the purpose for which the same was voted, unless otherwise directed by a vote of the Inhabitants at their annual district meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose. 2 3. The tax hereby imposed shall he a lien upon the lands taxed, to be enforced and collected by sale In the manner that county taxes are collected, upon a return to be made by said collector to the treas- urer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. iChap. 447, Laws of 1859, p. 1056.] Section 1. The provisions of the above act are extended and made applicable to school district num- ber SIX in the towns of Castleton and Southheld, Richmond county. •CASTLETON AND SOUTHFIELD- DISTRICT NO. 1. iChap. aSO, Laws o/1855.] Section 1. School district number one, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, In the county of Richmond, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the town superintendent of common schools for the towns in which said district is situated. 2 2, The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " The board of education," which board.shall consist of three members, two of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transac- tion of business^ James 0- Ludlow, James Anketel and Theodore Frean shall compose the first board of education, and hold their office from one to three years ; that is to say, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 2 3. At theiannual meeting of said district, in each year, there shall be elected for three years one member pf said board of education, who shall be a resident and taxable Inhabitant of said district; said election, apd all other elections provided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, to be appointed;hy said meeting or the moderator thereof, as the people assembled in annual meeting may determine; said election shall b^ by ballot, and shall be conducted in all respects and in the same manner as is now provided by law for the election of trustees in school districts in this State. 2 4. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within said district, and all the property belonging to the same, and they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights, powers and authority of town superintendent of common schools, and they shall provide for keeping a school in satd district at least eight months In each year, and as much longer as may be deemed prac- ticable ; they may appoint a collector, with all the powers and duties of a district collector, or mav employ the town collector of either of said towns for that purpose, and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the said board of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as is imposed by the laws of the town of which he Is such col- lector. They shall require at least one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once In each week, to render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. §6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in each year, upon all the taxable property and Inhabitants in said district, such sum as may be necessary, not exceeding In amount three-fifths of one per cent on the value of such taxable propertv, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the said towns of Castleton and Southfleld, and shall be ascertained from the last assessment rolls of said towns; and the said board shall add to their warrant, for collec- tion of such taxes, such amount as they m^y deem prqper for fees for collection, not exceeding five pei cent on the amount. (At, amended by. chapter 116, I^us q/ 1864.) § 6. The said tax shall be laid and collected between the first days of February and November In each year. {As amended by chapter 74, <^ 1856.) 'The above district Is now known as district No. 2. Middletown and Southfleld (chap. 428, Lawsot 1860), and the act amending the charter of Edgewater (chap. 879, Laws of 1872). ChAMPLAIJ?" — CLAKEifCE. 821 2". TMetown superintendents of common schools of the towns of Castleton and Sou thfleld shall pay- over to the board of education all the public moneys to which said district number one shall be entitled for school purposes. 2 6. The said board of education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they shall think proper, and submit thereto a full report, in writing, of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the num- ber of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and generally all the particulars relating to the schools In said district, which report, if said board think proper, may be published In pamphlet form, or in some newspaper published in the county, 2 9. The board of education shall have entire control of the district library ; they may employ a libra- rian, make such additions to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as they may deem necessary or proper. 210. A school tor colored children maybe organized and be supported as the other schools in said district under this act, 2 11. The said hoard of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it necessary; and whenever a ispecial meeting shall be called, notices of it shall be posted up in hvo public places in said district, at least one week previous to said meeting, and no business shall be trans- acted ai such meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 212. [Temporary, authorizing certain taxes for the completion of school-houses.] (See Oiisaection oi amended hy g 2, cimpterli^ of 18^, ) 2 13. All laws and parts of laws Inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to district number one, In the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, in the county of Richmond. 2 14. All the rights, powers and duties conferred on the trustees of said school district, by the annual meetings held therein in the years one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one and one thousand eight hundred and fltty-two, are hereby transferred to said board of educaiion, who are hereby authorized and empowered to do all the acta that the said trustees were required to do by the proceedings of said aoQUul meetings. {Laws 0/1856, chap, 74.] * * * The said board of education are hereby empowered and directed to keep the said school- houses belonging to the satd district, together with the furniture, library and scientific apparatus, insured in such sum as they may deem to be the true value thereof, and to levy and collect the cost and expense of the same, as hereinbefore provided. 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to purchase a suitable lot of ground, as a site upon which to erect a school-house for colored children, on the most Teas(mable terras which they can, and to pay for the sameoutof the moneys now in their hands for that purpose; and if the same shall not he sufficient to pay for said lot and erect the house thereon, the said ooard of educa- tion are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to levy and collect, by a tax upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, such sum, not exceeding three hundred dollars, as may be necessary and sufficient to purchase said lot and erect said house. CHAMPLAIN, District No. 1. Chap. 32, Laws of 183 :. Section 1. School district number thirteen of the town of Champlain in Clinton county is hereby abolished and the territory comprising said school district is hereby annexed to and made a part of union free school district number one of said town. 2 2. Said union free school district number one is hereby vested with the title to all the property. both real and personal, of said school district number thirteen, and shall be liable for all the debts and obligations of said school district number thirteen. 2 3. The board ot education of said union free school district number one is hereby authorized to make all reports relating to the aQ'airs of said school district number thirteen for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four, which would have been required by law from the trustee of said school dis- trict if this act had not been passed. 24. The school commlsstonscrs of the county of Clinton shall, in their apportionment of school moneys for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-four, apportion to said union free school district number one all moneys apportioned or apportionable to said school district number thirteen upon reports already made by said district number thirteen. 2 5. By and with the consent of the board of education of said union free school district number one and the consent of the trustee or trustees of the school districts now known as numbers three and fif- teen of said town, the whole or any part of said districts numbers three and fifteen, or either of them, may be annexed and made a part of said union free school district number one, by an order made by the school commi-'sionerof the district In which said school districts are situated. 2 6. This act shall take effect on the fifteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-four. CLARENCE. [Chap. 643, Laws 0^1872, a^ amended bysec. 1, c?iap. 815, Laws q/^1873.1 An Act to empower the levj-ing of a tax on Union school district number one in the town of Clarence, county of J-irie, for the purpose of creating a permanent fund lor the employment of teachers, and to regulate the Investment and management of said fund ; also to create the office of loan commis- sioner for said district, and to provide for the exemption of said district from taxes for the payment of teachers' wages. Section 1. Jared Parker, of the town of Clarence, in the county of Erie, having agreed with the taxable Inhabitants of the school district in said town known as " the TJnlon free school district num- ber one," and with the board of education thereof, that he will donate to said district, upon condition of the passage of this act and the carrying into effect of the same, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. In good bonds and mortgages, the board of education of said district shall receive said bonds and mort- gages, and they shall levy and collect a tax upon said district for the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, in ten equal anaual installments of fifteen himdred dollars each. With the first installment there shall be col- lected one year's mterest on the whole amount, and with each succeeding Installment the interest on the amount remaining untaxed for and uncollected of the said sum of fifteen thousand dollars, until the whole of said sum shall have been provided for. The sum of thirty thousand dollars, so donated by said Jared Parker and levied and collected by taxation, shall constitute a permanent fund for the objects and purposes specified for In this (ict, and for no other, and shall so remain forever. 822 Claekson. 1 2 The tat list for tlie fl rst installment herein provided for shall he Issued In the month of April. In the yea?mrthousand eight hundred and seventy-three. The interest of the said nermanent Band or soJSthlrpofasSwbenecessarj.shallhe devoted annually to the payment of teachers and shall be rDDortioned and applied with the exclusive view to the obtaining for the schools of the distnct the hestffinable teachers, and the balance, if any, shall be appropriated by said board of education m sii?h manner as they shall deem for the best Interest and benefit of f aid school. ,., j, . • . 83 A™m1fsmaybeafterthe passage of this act, a special meeting shall be called in said dlstnct. In the manner provided for and prescribed for calling annual meetings in such district, at which meet- s' a lo™ncom£lssioner for said*^ district shall be elected, whose term of office shall be for three years from the next annual meeting of said district, and at the end of such term and every three years there- afiS hire shatlbe elected, at the annual meeting of such district, .loan commissioner, whose term of office shall be for three years, and until hissuccessorshall be electedandqualifled. In case of a vacancy in such office the board of education shall fill such vacancy by appointment until the next annual meeting of the district, oruntilthe election or qualittcation of a successor Said loan commissioner before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and file with the board of education the oath of office prescribid by the constitution of this State, and shall execute and deliver to such board his bond, with sureties in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for thefull and faithful discharge of the duties of said office, which bond shall be made satisfactory to said board. Should the peijon so elected or appointed fall or neglect to appear and qualify within thirty days from the tlnw of such elec- tion or appointment, such failure or neglect shall he deemed a final declension of the office. Said loan commissioner may be removed from office for official misconduct or neglect of duty by the county Judge of Erie county ; but no removal shall be made unless said commissioner shall have been served with a copy of the charges, and have had an opportunity to be heard. -^ j. , • , 2 4 The loan commissioner, with the advice and consent of the board of education of said district, shall invest, and keep invested the whole of the said fund, and shall receive and immediately pay over to the treasurer of said district all moneys received for interest on said fund, and If interest can be obtained therefor for the district, the said treasurer shall deposit the same in some savings hank, or the same shall be loaned on call, as the board of education shall direct. The moneys belonging to sajd fund shall be kept invested by the loan commissioner in good bonds and mortgages on real estate in fee according to rules to be laid down and made by the board of education, and he shall have power to demand and receive, and to sue for and recover, the said moneys as directed by the said board. In the investment of said fund, other things being, equal, preference shall be given to borrowers residing In or near said district. For the purpone of satislying or assigning any such bonds and mortgages be- longing to .such fund, as may be, from time to time, required, such satisfaction or assignment shall be signed and acknowledged by the president of the board of education and the loan commissioner, and whensosignedandacknowled^editsballbe.proof that BUchbond and mortgage Is duly satisfied oi AogtcrnpH 1 5. In case the fund hereby created shall at any time become lost or impaired, the said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to levy and collect a tax upon the property of said district, to supply any deficiency that may arise from such loss or impairment until such loss or impairment is fully re-imbursed ; but there shall-not be levied and collected in any one year in said district a sum exceeding two thousand dollars for this purpose; such sum or sums so collected shall be Invested for the purposes of said fund as herein provided. 2 6. The loan commissioner shall receive an annual,salary to be fixed by the board of education ; such salary shall not exceed fifty dollars a year for his services, besides the necessary expenses and disburse- ments of his office. The treasurer shall also receive a salary not exceeding fifty dollars per year, to be fixed by the board, and such salaries, expenses and disbursements ehall be levied and collected as con- tingent expenses of said district. iCkap. 815, Laws ctflSTZ.I 1 2. The loan commissioner may in his discretion, in case of a sale of the lands mortgaged to said ■union school district, upon the forclosure of such mortgage, bid in such lands in trust for said district. and may sell the same on terms to be fixed by him in conjunction with the board of education, and may by deed, executed by him as such loan commissioner, convey the said lands. The money received upon such sale, together with any purchase-money mortgages taken on such sale, after deducting the expenses of such sales, shall be added to the capital fund to be Invested as prescribed byjsaid act. [CTap. 136, Lawso/ 1878.] Name of the district changed tothi Parkerunion free school district number one of the town of Clarence. CLARKSON. [Ohap. 154. Laws of 1859.1 SectionI. All that part of the town of Clarkson, in the county of Monroe, known as lots seven, eight, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty and twenty- one, and the north halt of lots twenty-two and twenty-three in sections five, township four, of the triangular tract ; that part of lots one and two and the north-east part of lot six. all in section six of the same town, and lately owned by Theodore Downs and now owned by John F. Hamlin ; lots seven and eight in section six and lot one (the farm now occupied by Samuel C. Perry), lots two, seven and eight In section ten, and lot seven and the west and middle parts of lots two and three to the east line of the farm now occupied by Frederick Nellis in section thirteen ; also lots nine and ten and the west half of lots eleven and twelve in section six ; also part of lot nine in section fourteen and north gart of lot two and south half of lot three In the tenth section of said township four, shall ereafter constitute a single school district for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, and for the pur- poses of a common school shall be known as school district number two In said town of Clarkson, and all the lands within theboundary lines of said Clarkson high school district, as aforesaid, shall be taxed for^the support of said high school. (As amended by c?iap.Z9i, LaivB of 1876 and chap. 353. Laws oj 1885.) 1 2. On the first Tuesday In May next, commencing at two o'clock In the afternoon, there shall be a meeting of the inhabitants of the district mentioned in the first section of this act, entitled by law to vote for the election of trustees of common schools, at which there shall be separately elected five trustees of said district ; the person first elected shall hold his office for five years, the second for four ?ears, the third for three years, the fourth for two years, and the fifth for one year from the said first uesday in May ; and a similar meeting shall be held annually thereafter on the first Tuesday In May, at the school-house in said district, at which there shall be elected one trustee to supply the place of the trustee whose term of office shall then expire, each trustee so elected to hold his office for five Olakksost. 833 years. The present trustees of said school district number two shall cause notlce!of the meeting on the first TuesUay oi iuuy uext, statmg the time, place aua object tnereoi, lo be posted iu three puDlic places within the said district, at least one week before the time appointed for said meeting, and simitar notice of the annual meetings thereafter shall be given by the trustees then to be elected, and their successors. If there shall be a failure to elect a trustee at any annual meeting, the trustee whose term of office would then expire shall hold until another shall be duly elected in his place, 2 3. All laws and regulations which now are or hereafter may he made applicable to the election of trustees of school districts, shall apply to the elections to be held under the second section of this act, so far as they shall be consistent with the tenns of this act. 2 4- -The trustees to be elected under the second section of this act shall constitute a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of " The trustees of the Clarkson high school," and shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties in respect to said district that the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. When five trustees shall have been elected in pursuance of the second section of this act, they shall be Immediately Invested with all the rights and powers, and become subject to the duties of the present trustees of school district number two before mentioned, and the powers of the present trustees shall thereiipon cease, ^ 5. The trustees to be elected by virtue of this act shall have power to organize, establish and maio- tain a classical school In said district, to be known as the " Clarkson high school, " which school shall be an academy, and shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other Incorporated acade- mics in this State, so far as shall be consistent with this act, and shall be entitled to a share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund, upon the same terms as other academies; and the Regents of the University shall recognize such academy as such, as soon as the required sum shall properly he invested in buildings, library and apparatus, and competent teachers employed. { 6. The trustees shall appoint one of their number president of their board, who shall preside at the meetings of said board when present, and when absent a president pro tempore shall be appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint a secretary who shall hold his office during their pleasure, and who shall record all the acts, doings and resolutions of said board, and also of the meetings of the taxable Inhabitants of said district, of which meetings he shall be the secretary, and in his absence a secretary pro tern, shall be appointed to discharge all such duties. They shall also appoint a collector and a treasurer, who shall respectively hold their offices for one year, and until others are appointed In their S laces, unless sooner removed by said board. Such collector and treasurer, before enterine upon the uties of their offices, shall execute and deliver to said board a hood in such penalty andwlth such suretifiR as such'board mav '•»milrp. -■ 8 7, Whenever a vacancy shall occur in said board of trustees by the death, removal from the district, or resignation of any trustee, the remaining trustees shall have power to appoint a person to fill such vacaucy, and the person so appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the person to supply whose place he shall have been appointed. 3 6. The taxable inhabitants of said district at any annual, special, or adjourned meeting, legally held, may vote to raise such sums of money as they shall deem expedient, not exceeding fiueen hundred dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in eald district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable lot or building for such purpose, and furnishing the same with the necessary furniture, library and apparatus, and may direct the trustees to cause the same to be levied and raised upon the real and personal estate liable to taxation in said district, by installments, as such meeting may direct, and to make out a tax for the collection of the same as often as such install- ments shall become due; and the legal voters at any such meeting may fix the compensation for collecting and paying over to the treasurer of said board the amount so levied. They shall also have power, in like manner, from time to time, to raise such sums as shall be deemed necessary for the payment of teachers' wages, for keeping insured and in repair their real and personal property, for the purchasing of fuel and for defraying the other ordinary expenses of maintaining schools ; but no tax shall be levied upon said district without the assent of the majority of the legal voters thereof, except as now provided by law. i { 9. The trustees to be elected by virtue of this act may purchase from the trustees of the Clarkson academy, who are hereby authorized to sell to them, the real and personal property now owned and possessed by the trustees of said academy, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by said parties ; but no money shall be paid or engagement entered into for the purchase of said real estate, unless a con- veyance thereof shall be made to the trustees, to be elected by virtue of this act, by the trustees of the first Congregational society of the town of Clarkson, and the trustees of Clarkson academy, so as to vest In the grantees a perfect title thereto, in fee simple. The trustees of said Congregational .society are hereby empowered, in their discretion^ to execute such conveyance. 2 10, The trustees to be elected by virtue of this act are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at Eublic auction, to the highest bidder, or at private sale, and to convey to the purchaser the school- ouse and site thereof, situated in said district, and to hold and use the proceeds for the purposes specified in this act. S 11, The trustees to be elected as above provided are hereby empowered and authorized to make such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and govern- ment of said schools, and to divide the same into primary and higher departments, and to regulate the transfer of scholars fi'omone department to the other; and to provide suitable instructors for each department ; to direct what text-books shall be used in the same ; to establish such primary or Infant school or schools as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same; to purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and Improve the same as they may think proper; to purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages; to purchase fuel and all other necessaries for the use of the school or scholars in said district, and to pay the contingent expenses thereof; to pay the wages of all teachers employed in the school or schools in said district^ out of the public money and funds applicable thereto ; to nx and regulate the terms of tuition fees in said primary and other higher branches m said school or schools; to sue for and collect in their corporate name any sum of money or tuition fees due to said district; to receive and apply to the use of said school or schools, or any department thereof^any gift, legacy, bequest or annuity given or bequeathed to them, and to apply the same according to the instructions of the donor or testator ; to take and hold any real estate granted or devised to them for the purposes of said school or schools, or any department thereof, and to apply the proceeds thereof according to the instructions of the donor or devisor, if not inconsistent with the purposes of public education and the laws of the State. { 12, The report now required by law to be made to the commissioner of common schools shall be made by said trustees ; and the public moneys payable to said district in the manner provided by law, shall he paid to the treasurer appointed by such trustees, whose receipt shall be sufficient voucher for all money so paid. 2 13. Said trustees shall have power to receive into said academy and cause tp be.lnatructed therein, any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to regulate and establish the terms of tuition 824 Clyde High School. of such resident or non-residenfpupils, and to reffulate generally the rates of tuition, and to graduate the same according to the studies pursued In the higher Enghsh and classical departments olsaid academy : the tuition fees In said academy shall not exceed three dollars per quarter for pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the said district, and for all other pupils shall not exceed five dollars each per quarter. . . - . ■ ^ i. • j i 14 After applying the public moneys applicable thereto, and the tuition fees which may be received for the instruction of pupils, in payment of the salaries and wages of teachers employed in said schools, and of the other expenses necessary for the support thereof, the said trustees .shall, unless the same shall have been previously raised, cause such additional sum as may be required to pay such wages, salaries and expenses to be assessed and levied upon the taxable property of said district, and collected in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of school district taxes in the several towns of this State. Not more than two taxes for such purposes shall ever be raised in one year ; and warrants for the collection of taxes in said district shall be issued under the hand and seal of the president or the major part of said trustees. i 15. All moneys raised in said district for the purpose of said school or schools, and all moneys to bo received by such district from the common school fhnd, literature fimd, or other source, shall be paid to the treasurer of said district, to he paid by him on the warrant of said board of trustees, and to be applied by them for the use of the said school or schools, according to the provisions of tlus act. CLYDE HIGH SCHOOL. iLaum of 1834, chapter 175, as amended by hhapter 268, Laws ey'1842.] SecTioN I. School district number seventeen, in the town of Galen, in the county of Wayne, shall form a permanent school district, not sub|ect to alteration by the town superintendent of common schools of the said town of Galen, and shall hereafter be known by the name of " The .Clyde high. school." ^2. The trustees ofthe Clyde high school shall be seven in number; and the first trustees shall be George Burrell, John Condlt, Svlvester Clark, Cyrus Smith, Isaac Lewis, William S. Stow and Calvin D. Tompkins j and shall hold their offices until the first annual meeting of said permanent school dis- trict, and until others are chosen. 2 3. Said trustees are authorized to receive gifts, grants and donations toward defraying the expen- ses of purchasing a site and building a suitable school-house for said high school. 5 4. Said trustees, on receiving the sum of one thousand dollars, or having the said sum secured to be paid to them by subscription or otherwise, shall have power to levy and cause to be raised by tax, upon the taxable Inhabitants of said permanent school district, a like sum of one thousand dollars ; but no such tax shall be levied until said trustees shall have called a special meeting of the taxable In- habitants of said permanent school district, in manner now provided by law for calling special school district meetings. 3 5. Said trustees shall report in writing to said meeting the amount of moneys received by them, the sum or sums secured to be paid to them, and the manner In which it is secured ; and if the sum of one thousand dollars appears to be paid or is secured to be paid to said trustees, said meeting shall proceed to elect a clerk and collector for said high school, who shall hold their offices until the first annual meeting of said permanent school district, and until others are chosen. 2 6. The trustees hereby appointed, and clerk and collector hereby directed to be chosen, shall be subject to the same penalties, and shall have the same powers and perform the same duties, as like officers directed to be chosen by chapter fifteen, title second and article fifth ofthe Eevised Statutes, and all subsequent elections shall be held under that act. 2 7. The trustees of said high school shall select a suitable site in the village of Clyde for the erection I of their school-house, and shall contract for and purchase the same, and thereon erect a school-honse of sufficient size to accommodate such children as may be required to be educated in said permanent ' school district, and shall furnish the necessary furniture and fixtures for the same. ' ? 8. School districts fourteen and seventeen, or either of them, may sell their district property, and pay the amount o( money arising from such sale or sales to the trustees ofthe Clyde high school. ? 9. Said trustees, on receiving such moneys, shall, if required by either district, deduct the amount fromthatpart ofthe tax hereby directed to be imposed on the taxable inhabitants ofthe individual district paying the same. §10. The school money, which school districts number fourteen and seventeen shall from time to time be entitled to receive from the commissioners of common schools in the town of Galen, shall be paid to the trustees ofthe Clyde high school, who shall be required to report to said commissioners In the same manner as other school districts are by law requirea to report. §11. The trustees receiving such moneys shall give their receipt for the same, and shall apply the money received exclusively to the payment ofthe teachers employed by them ; and it may be applied in such manner as to render the tuition of such poor children in said district as they may deem proper, gratuitous. §12. It shall be the duty ofthe trustees of the said high school to make an annual report, to the superintendent of common schools, ofthe state and condition of the said school. J 13. The trustees shall have the general superintendence of all schools taught in said school-house, and shall employ as many teachers and assistants as they shall deem necessary, and shall direct the course of Instruction, and regulate all the internal concerns of said school. (Section 2, actqflSi2.) The trusteesof said Clyde high school may from time to time rent or lease, for scholastic purposes, ^uch rooms or apartments In their school-house as in their Judgment may not be required for the use of schools therein established by them. ^Chapter 192, Laws of 1868.] Section 1. The hoard of the trustees of the Clyde high school shall have the power, and they are hereby authorized, to raise, from lime to time, by tax, to be levied equally upon all the real and per- sonal property in said high school district, which shall be liable for ordinary school district taxes, such sum or sums of money, not exceeding one-half of one per cent in any one year, as the trustees may deem necessary for the payment of teachers' wages, after applying all other moneys belonging to said district applicable to teachers' wages ; not more than two taxes tor such purpose shall be raised in any one year. 2 2. Said high school shall be free to all children between the ages of four and twenty-one years, residing in the district. §3. Saidboardof trustees may call special meetings ofthe inhabitants of said high school district whenever they may deem it necessary, or whenever petitioned by twenty-five of the taxable inhabit- ants of said district; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof In at least three public places in said district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for CoHOES. 825 mcta meeting. Such notice shall state the time and place of holding such meeting, and th» purpose for which the same is called, and no business shall be transacted at any such meeting except that stated ill the notice calling the same. 2 4. Whenever, in the opinion of the trustees, it becomes necessary to build an additional school- house, or houses, in the district, or enlarge or repair the one already built^they shall submit the plans and estimated cost thereof to the electors of said district, at i. special meeting to be called for that pur- pose, and if a majority of such electors, present at said meeting, shall vote in favor of the same, the trustees may carry the same into full effect. $5. The trustees shall prepare and submit to each annual meeting of said district, an estimate for the amount necessary for defraying the contingent expenses of the school for the ensuing year, specify- ing the purposes for which the same is to be expended. {6. The trustees shall, at the annual meeting, submit a full report in writing of their doings as trus- tees, and shall state therein the number of teachers employed in said school, the amount of salary paid to each teacher, the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, and from all other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district, the expenditures of the same, and all the particulars in detail relating to said school. {Chap, 332, Laws o/1876.] Section 1. The Clyde high school, established at Clyde, Wayneicounty, under the provisions of chapter one hundred and seventy-flve of the laws of eighteen, hundred and thirty-four, and the amendments thereto, shall hereafter. In Us academical department, be subject to visitation and control of the Regents of the University, the same as the academies and academic departments of union free schools as provided by section twenty-three of title nine, chapter five hundred and flfty-flve o! the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four; and said Clyde high school shall hereafter share In the annual dis- tribution of the literature tUnd, and of all other moneys divided by the Regents of the University, in the same manner and to the same extent as academies and academic departments of union tzea BChOOlB. COHOES. [Extract from Charter. Laws qf 1869, cTuzpter 912, title ^. ] President of the BoARn of Education. School Commissioners, Their Powers and Duties. Section!. Prudent hoard of education. There shall be appointed by ballot at a Joint meeting of the common council and the board of education, to be held on the second Tuesday after the first elec- tion under this act, and every second year thereafter, an officer to be styled the president of the board of education of said city, who shall enter at once upon the duties of and hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall be appointed. He shall have all the powers and perform all the'dutles con- ferred and imposed by this act, and shall receive an annual salary for all services rendered by him of three hundred dollars. In case of a vacancy in said office, the same shall be filled for the residue of the unexpired term, at a Joint meeting of the common council and the boaixl of education. Sut.aJoin& meeting for the purpose of appointing such president or filling such vacancy shall be called by the mayor and the time and place of such meeting designated by htm. Written notices thereof must be served by the clerk on each member thereof. Said officer may be removed by the vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to the common council and the boardof education in Joint meeting, for official misconduct or neglect of duty. i 2. School commitnoners. There shall be elected in each ward of said city, at the first election to be held undek' this act, two school commissioners, one of whom shall hold his office for one year, to be so designated on the ballot, and one school commissioner who shall hold his office for two years, to be so designated on the ballot. In each and every year thereafter, one school commissioner shall ha elected who shall hold his office for two years. The term of office of such school commissioners shall com- mence on the first Tuesday after the annual election. Such school commissioners shall have the powers and perform the duties imposed by this act, and shall serve without compensation. 2 3. Board qf education. The president of the board of education and the school commissioners shall constitute and be styled the board of education of the city of Cohoes, which shall be a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act. { 4. Meetings. The first meeting of the board shall be held on the second Tuesday after the annual election in each year. The board shall also meet for the transaction of business as often as once la each month, and ma^ adlourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or mability to act, by any two members of the board, as often as necessary, by giving . personal notice to each member of the board, or br causing a written or printed notice to be left at hia last place of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour of 8uch special meeting. 2 9. Omimon schools to be free. The common schools in said city shall be free to all children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing therein. 3 6. Title to acliool property. The title of school-houses, lots, furniture, books, libraries and apparalua, and other school property which has been heretofore or may be hereafter acquired, either as Hchoul districts or by the village or city of Cohoes, and within the bounds of said city, shall be vested in the city of Cohoes, and while the same are used for school purposes they shall not be levied upon or boII b^ virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation, and the said city may take, hold and dispose of In its corporate capacity, any real or personal property, transferred to it.by gift, grant, be- quest or devise, for the use of common schools in said city. J7. Sale of Softool property. The common council may, upon the recommendation of the board of education of said city, sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites thereof, and the mayor of the city ia hereby authorized to make and execute all necessary contracts, deeds and conveyances therefor, and the proceeds of such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city of Cohoes, and remain in bis hands as a fund for the nurchase or improvement of lots or sites for school-houses. 2 8. Any member of the board of education may be removed from office for official misconduct, or neglect of duty, by the common council, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof, but a writtea copy of the charges against such member shall be served on him at least eight days before any action shall be taken thereon, and he shall have an opportunity to refute such charges before he can he removed. 3 9. IhUies of president. The president of the board of education shall see that the school-houses, buildings and other school property are not unnecessarily injured or destroyed. He shall visit each of the schools in said city at least once In each month, and oftener if required by said board, and shall Serform such other duties as shall be required of him by said board, and shall perform such other utics as shall be rennlrp<1 of him h- said hoprd nf o-^'Taflon or otherwise. He shall, in connection with any three or more members of the board of education, examine and license all teachers in said city, 104 826 COHOES. 2 10. Trustees of library. The said board of educationshall be trustees of the school library or libraries in said city, and all provisions of law which, now or may hereafter be enacted relative to school Ubranes shall apply to said board of education. 2 U, Said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting after each annual election, or as soon thereafter as practicable, appoint a clerk of the board of education, who shall also be librarian, and as such clerk and librarian shall perform all the duties which are, or may be required by the gen- eral school laws and board of education. As clerk of the board of education he shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts of Jus- tice as evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such records, and all books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board, shall be at all times subject to the inspection of the common council or any com- mittee thereof. Said cleric and librarian may be removed from office by said board of education at any time at their pleasure by a vote of a majority of all the school commissioners elected. The clerk and librarian shall receive for all his services such annual salary as the board of education may determine, not exceeding three hundred dollars. {AaameTided by chap. 316, Laws q/1874.) 1 12. Nonresident pupils. The board of education may allow the children of persons not resident within said city, to attend any of the schools therein under their custody or control, upon such terms as they shall .prescribe in their by-laws or resolutions for the government and management of said schools. 2 13. General powers. Said board shall have the power and It shall be their duty— 1 . Organiz« echools. To organize and establish in said city so many primary departments or schools and departmentsof higher grades, including an academical department and such as they deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same in their discretion. 2. Enre school-houeea. To hire school-houses and rooms for purposes of said schools when necessary. 3. Build and improve school-houses. To build school-houses upon lots or sites purchased therefor in the name of the city, and to alter, repair or improve such school-houses and their appurtenances and to Improve the lots or sites of school -houses belonging to said city. 4. Purchase books, furniture, etc. To purchase books for indigent pupils, and to purchase and repair furniture, school apparatus and other necessary articles Including libraries. 5. Custody of school property. To have the custody, control and safe-keeping of the school-houses, buildings, lots, and all other school property belonging to said city of Cohoes, and to exercise the powers and discharge the duties in respect to the schools in said city, as appertain to trustees of school districts and of commissioners' districts. 6. Employ teachers. To contract with and pay all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure remove them, and to employ a superintendent of said schools. {,As amended by chapter 316, Laws pf 1874. ) 7. Pay teachers. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money appropriated and pro- vided by law for that purpose so far as the same shall be suflQcient, and to pay the balance of such w^es from the money authorized to be raised for that purpose by the provisions of this act. 8. D^ray contingeni expenses. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the hoard, including the salary of the president of the board. 9. To have entire control of schools. To have In all respects, nnless otherwise provided by this act, the Buperiutendence, supervision and management of the schools in said city. They may from time to time adopt, alter, modify and repeal all rules and regulatio'is for their organization, government and instruction, as they may deem expedient for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of good order In said schools. 10. Sale and purchase qf tchxiolprtw^ty. To report to the common council whenever in their opin- ion it may be advisable to sell any school-houses, lots or sites or other school property belonging to said city, and also to report to said common council whenever they shall deem it advisable to purchase any school-house, lots or sites or school buildings for said city. 11. To enumerate children of city. To cause an enumeration of all the children between the ages ot five and twenty-one years, residing In said city on the thirtieth day of September next preceding, to be made between the first and fifteenth days of October In each year, and to report the number ot such children at the time and in the manner as is by law required of school trustees. 12. Report to Superintendent of Public Instruction. To make and transmit between the first and fifteenth days of October in each year, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a like report in all respects as is required by law of trustees of school districts, and deposit and file the same as required by law. The city of Cohoes shall not be included in any commissioner's district heretofore created or authorized to be created or formed by the board of supervisors. 2 14. President to report to common council. It shall be the duty of the chairman of the board of education, within thirty days and not less than fifteen days before the annual election in each year, to make a report to the common council showing— 1. Number of children of school age. The number of children between the ages of five and twenty- one years residing in said city on the thirtieth day of September next preceding said report, and the number of scholars between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in said city who have attended the free schools therein during the preceding year, and the number attending each school including the evening schools. 2. Number <^ non-resident pupils. The number of scholars not residing in said city but who have attended the common schools therein during the same time. 3. Public moTiey received for teachers' wages. The amount of public moneysreceived^by the city cham- berlain applicable to teachers* wages, and the amount applicable to school libraries. 4. Money appropriated by common council. The amount of moneys appropriated or set apart by the common council for the use of said schools as required .by the provisions of this act, and the portions thereof appropriated to the respective funds. 5. Money received from sale of city property. The moneys received from the sale of city property 6. All other srnns for common school purposes. All other sums received by the chamberlain and appro- priated to the purposes of the common schools. 7. Modeof expcMiUure. The manner and purposes for which such sums of money shall have been expended specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditures and the amount remalnlnje unexpended, if any, in each fund respectively. § 15. PuhUcatUm of report. The common council shall cause the report required bv the last preceding section to be published In one or more of the newspapers published In said city at least two weeks next preceding the annual election. 2 16. Chamberlain to set apart moTuy/or school purposes. It shall be the duty of the chamberlain to annually set apart as soon as the same 1*5 collected, for the use of common schools, twenty-fiveper cent of all moneys raised by the common council In each year, except such moneys as msy be raised for extraordinary or special objects or local improvements. In addition to the amount required by section sixteen of title ten of said act, to be set apart for the use of common schools in said city the common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty to raise annually by tax to be COHOES. 827 evled equally upon all the real and personal estate In said city which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary city taxes, or for county charges, such sum as shari be required by said board of education, not exceeding oiie-quarler of one per cent on the assessed valuation of the taxable property in said city; said sum so raised as aforesaid shall be used by the board of education for the payment of teachers' wages and the contingent expenses of the schools. {As amended by chap. 316, Laws q/'1874,) 2 17. Money to be apportioned. All moneys so appropriated and set aside for the use of common schools, shall be apportioned by the board of education to the credit of funds for the following uses and pur- poses : 1. School rooms. To hiring school rooms and school-bouses. 2. Repairs. To enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurte- nances, and to Improve sites thereof, and for building school-houses. 3. Ji^eZ. To purchase fuel ; also stoves and heater, and to repair the same. 4. TeacTien' wages. To pay teachers' wages. 5. QmiiTiffent ea^enses. To pay contingent expenses. 3 18. Money, how used. Whenever the moneys appropriftted for the use of the common schools shall be apportioned and accredited to specific funds, as herein required, they shall not be applied to any other fund or purpose whatever during the then current year, but shall be used solely and exclusively for the purposes so designated. }19. PdU tax for school purposes. The common council shall have the power and It shall be their duty to levy and raise for the use of the common schools of said city, at the same time and In the same manner, and subject to the same exemptions as highway poll taxes are levied and raised by this act, a tax of one dollar from each male inhabitant of the age of twenty-one years and upward residing In said city, and the money so raised shall be placed to the credit of the contingent fund of said schools, and all the provisions of title fourteen for the enforcement of the collection of the highway poll tax shall be applicahle to the-collectlon of the school poll tax hereby authorized. 2 20. School moneys, how kept and drawn All moneys raised by virtue of this act, which the board of education is authorized to expend, shall be deposited with the chamberlain of the city to the credit of the respective funds under the control of the board of education as provided by law, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of a resolution of said board by drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the cleric of said board, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys and'accompanied by the amdavlt of the claimant, or some one in his behalf, to the correctness thereof. In the same manner required by the provisions of this act, in the case of accounts audited and allowed by the common council. No part of said school funds shall be borrowed or transferred by the city or its officers in any manner whatever, but shall remain in the treasury solely and exclusively for school pur- poses. Said board of education, in all their expenditures and contracts, shall have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order for any specific object during the then current year, and shall not exceed the amount so provided. In case any debt shall be incurred or contract made by said board of education, or any menibpr thereof, which shall require the expenditure of a greater sum than shall have been provided or appropriated for the use of the public schools, the city shall Dot be liable for the same, buttbemembersoftheboardofeducitlon voting therefor, or either of them, shall be personally liable therefor to the party entitled to payment. 3 21. Common council to raise money /or school purposes. It shall be the duty of the common council, upon the recommendation of the board of education, to take all necessary proceedings in the manner Erovided by this act, for the raising of money for extraordinary or special purposes, to raise money to uild or purchase school-houses and to purchase and improve lots or sites therefor. The money so raised, in case It shall be voted by the tax payers, as provided by this act, shall be paid to and k^t by the chamberlain of the cit^, distinct from other money, and shall be controlled and appropriated by the board of education, exclusively to the object or oblects for which it shall be raised, and no such money shall be appropriated or expended except by resolution of said board. J 22. School districts. For the purpose of distribution ofanj' money, now or hereafter appropriated by the State, for the support of common schools, in which the city of Cohoes or the schools therein shall be entitled to a share, there shall be constituted and shall be as many school districts as there have been employed in said city and duly Qualified teachers, who, and the successors of whom, shall have taught in the common schools therein for a period during the preceding year of twenty-eight weeks of five school days each, including the hohdays allowed by law, and the attendance of a teacher upon a teachers* institute within the county. Every evening school taught by a qualified teacher for a periled of five months shall be considered as and shall be a district. }23. Common council to pass school ordinances. The common council shall have the power and it shall be their duty to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of education may reirartaa necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries and all other school property belonging to or connected with the common schools of said city, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in tois act, and all such penalties may be collected by said board of education or common council in the same manner that penalties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and by him placed to the credit of the contingent fund. 224. Fyeaident to administer ocUhs. The president of the board of education is hereby authorized to administer oaths to all persons having accounts to be audited and allowed by said board as to the correct- ness thereof. J 25. J^ys of 1668. ) CORTLAND. [C9iap. 109, Laws o/'1883.] Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts lying within the corporate limits of th© village of Cortland, in the county of Cortland, in this State, are hereby consolidated anid incorporated into one school district, which shall be called " Cortland Union Free School District Number One '* and shall not be altered, except by legislative enactment. The boundaries of said union ftee school dis- trict shall be the same as the boundaries of the village of Cortland. § 2. James S. Squires, Edward D. Webb, .lames C. Carmichael, Frank Place, Jonathan L. Watrous, Hugh Dufl^, William H. Clark, Benton B. Jones and John W. Suggett. are hereby appointed commis- sioners of said Union Free School District Number One, and they and their successors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a body corporate to be styled "The Board of Education ot Cortland village," and are hereby invested with all the powers and charged with al! the duties con- ferred upon them by this act. A majority of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum. The board may adopt a common seal. § 3. Said commissioners shall meet and organize within twenty days after the passage of this act. and shall divide themselves into three classes of three each, and it shall be determined by lot who shall belong to each. Those belonging to the firat class shall hold office until the regular annual charter election of the village of Cortland in the vear one thousand eight hundred anil eighty-one ; those of the second class until the regular annual charter election of said village in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two; a°" those of the third class until the regular annual charter election of said village in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three; and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their offlee respectively. § 4. At the regular annual charter election of the village of Cortland In the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, and annually thereafter, at the regular annual charter election, there shall be elected in the same manner a*? other village offlcers, three commissioners to fill the places of those whose terms of office then expire. The commissioners thus elected shall hold their respective oflBces for the term of three years, and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the ctutles of their office, respectively, and such commissioners may be reelpcted. § 5. The said board of education shall ha-ve power to fill by appointment any and all vacancies that may occur in Its membership, from any other cause than the expiration of the terms of office of the members thereof, and the person or persons so appointed shall continue in oflflce until the ensuing annual charter election of said village, when a commissioner or commissioners shall be elected for the balance of the unexpired term or terms. (As amended by chap. 142, Laws q/ 1881.) 5 6. The commissioners hereby appointed, and those hereafter elected or appointed shall before entering upon their duties, take and file with the clerk of Cortland county the usual constitutional oath of office. All the records and minutes of the board of education, or a copy thereof, duly certified CORTLAKD. 831 by tbe secretary, shall be evidence in all courts and places of the facts therein contained. It shall be a suflScient execution and authentication of any document, paper or Instrument made by the board at education, in pursuance of this act, to have the same signed by the president and secretary thereof. The said commissioners hereby appointed shall, at their flrtst meeting, choose one of their number S resident, and shall fix the time of tne annual meeting of the board, and unless changed, the time thus xed shall be the time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall meet, for the trans- action of business, as often as once In each month, and may adjourn for any shortm- time. If the presi- dent is absent a president pro tempore may be appointed by the members of the board present. A president shall he chosen at the first meeting of the board after the regular annual charter election in each year. Any member of the board of education may resign by giving one month's notice to the secretary. Special meetings of the board may he called, as the board may determine, by resolution. 2 7. The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian ; one person may hold both oflflces and maybe a member of said board of education. The compensation ot the secretary and llbraiian shall be fixed by the board, but shall not exceed one hundred dollars per annum. (An amended by chap. 142, ZatwsQ/" 1881.) § 8. No member of the board of education shall receive any compensation or salary except as pro- vided for the secretary and librarian. (As arnended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881.) 2 9. It shall be the duty of the board of education, previous to the last day of February In each year, to estimate all the necessary expenses over and above the public moneys accruing to the said union free school district for the following purposes ; 1. To purchase, lease or improve sites tor school-houses or sites with buildings thereon. 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, rebuild and repair school-houses, out-houses, fences or appurtenances, and to lease rooms for sciiool purposes. 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair furniture, apparatus and other necessaries for the use of said schools, including boolts, for indigent pupils only. 4. To purchase fuel and pay teachers' wages ; to defray the necessary expenses of keepiuK the school- housesin order, includjnginsurance, expenses of library and salary of secretary ; to pay alt expenses incurred by law or necessary to carry into effect this act, and to refund loans legally contracted and pay interest thereon, (^s amended by chap. 142, Laws o/ 1881.) 2 10. It shall be the duty of the board of education after having made their estimates as above speci- fled or enumerated, for the current year, to transmit the same to the president and trustees of the vil- lage of Cortland who shall cause the sameto be published for two weeks prior to the ensiling annual charter election of said village. In two or more of the newspapers published in said village. (As amended by chap. 142, LawaoflSSl-) 2 11. The estimates so transmitted shall be submitted by said president and trustees of said village at such ensuing annual charter election, to a vote of the citizens of said village, entitled to vote at said election the same as the estimates of the president of said village for the ordlnarv expenses of said vil- lage, for the ensuing year. Each or any of said estimates of said board of education mav be voted on separately, or they may be voted on collectively as the said president and trustees of said village may determine. Such of said estimates as shall be approved by a m(\)ority of all the persons voting thereon shall be raised by tax, to be levied and collected m the same manner, at the same time and by the same officers, as the ordinary corporation expenses of taxes of said village are annually levied and col- lected. Provided, however, that no more than fifteen hundred dollars shall be raised as in this sec- tion provided, unless the vote shall be by ballot, the same as provided for in the charter (being chap- ter four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four) of said village for raising a specific sum of money for special purposes in addition to the ordinary expenses of said village. (As amended by chajp. 142, Laws q/'1881. ) J 12. The board of education may at any time in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, after the passage of this act, estimate all the necessary expenses immediately required for any or all the purposes mentioned in section nine of this act. The total amount of Bucii estimate shall not exceed thirty-five hundred dollars. The amount so estimated shall be transmitted to the president and trustees of sdid village, who shall immediately certify the same to said assessor. Said amount shall then be levied and collected in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty at the same time and in the same manner and by the same officers as the sums directed to be raised at the annual pharter election of said village held on the third Tuesday of March, In the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, for the ordinary and other expenses of said village. 2 13. The board of education shall have power : 1. To establish such rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of tHe school or schools in the several departments thereof as they deem necessary to secure the best educational results; to grade and classify the schools of the union free school district, and to regulate the admis- sion of pupils and their transfer ftom one class or department to another, as their scholarship shall warrant ; to prescribe the text books to be used In said schools, and compel a uniformity In the use of the same, and to furnish the same to any Indigent pupils out of any moneys provided for that pur- pose. 2. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings thereon ; to build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, remove, rebuild, and repair school-houses, uut-houses, fences, or appurtenances, and to lease rooms for school purposes, and to pajr all expenses legally incurred. Pro- vided, however, that said hoard of education shall create no liability for the payment of which money has not already been appropriated. 3. To purchase, exchange, improve, and repair school apparatus, hooks, ftimiture and appendages. Including books for indigent pupils, and provide fuel, pay teachers* wages, insuranceon buildings and Sroperty, salary of secretary and librarian, and dei):ay contingent expenses of the schools and the card. 4. To contract with, examine, and employ teachers in said schools and at the pleasure of the board to remove them. LAs amended hyc?iap. 142, LawsoflSSl.) §14. The board of education shall have power and it shaJl be their duty to organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said union free school district as they may deem necessary, or to alter or discontinue any of the same. 2 15. The said union free school district, for the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school moneys from any source (Including the apportionments from the income of the literature, com- mon school or United States deposit funds, or otherwise), shall be recognized and regarded the same as a school district under the general school law of the State. It shall be the duty ot the board of education to make an annual report to the school commissioner of the first commissioner's district of Cortland county, at the same time other school officers are required so to do, and (as near as may be making the necessary changes) in the same manner. And the said board of education may also cause so much of said report as they may deem proper, or a summary thereof, to be immediately published far two weeks In two or more of the newspapers published In said village. (As amended by chap. 142, Xaws 0^1881.) 833 Cortland. 3 16. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of the town of Cortland vllle, on the receipt of the public school moneys raised for or appropriated to said union free school district from any source, to Immedi- ately pay the same over to the treasurer of the village of Cortland, whose duty it shall be to credit toe same in a distinct and separate account to said board of educytion. And whenever any moneys are raised by tax, as provided in this act and the act of which it is amendatory, as amended by this act, the corporate authorities or officers of said village shall immediately atier the collection thereof pay the same to said treasurer, who shall immediately credit the same in a distinct and separate account to said board of education. Said treasurer shall only pay out said moneys on orders of the board of edu- cation signed by the president and countersigned by the secretary thereof, which orders can only be drawn' lu pursuance of a resolution of said board of education. The corporate authoiities of said vil- lage may require said treasurer to give additional security to them for the safe keeping of said moneys, aifd the performance of hia duties in relation thereto. {As amended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881. ) 3 17. The aoiount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses for any one year shall not be more than Ave thousand dollars, nor shall the aggregate amount to be raised in any one year for all the purposes contemplated in this act and the act of which it is amendatory as amended by this act exceed ten thousand dollars. (As amended by chap. 142, Laws q/1881.) ^ 18. If, for any reason, it shall become necessary. In the judgment of said board of education, to raise money for any of the purposes specified in this act, and the act of which it is amendatory, as amended by this act, at any other time than the annual charter election of said village, they shall certify to the president and trustees of said village the sum desired to be raised, the purposes to which it is to be applied and the reasons which make it necessary that such sum should be raised, and said president and trus- ■ tees shall thereupon forthwith call a special meeting, in the manner now prescribed In the charter of said village for calling such meetings, at which it shall be decided by ballot, in the manner prescribed in said charter for balloting at special village meetings, whether the sum certified as above provided shall be raised. In case It shall be decided to raise such sum, the same shall be levied and collected in the manner provided in said charter for levying and collecting the money voted to be raised at aspecial Tillage meeting. But the amount voted to be raised at any special meeting shall In no case exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, nor shall it cause the total appropriations, under this act, for the year then current, to exceed the sura of ten thousand dollars. It shall be the duty of the president and trustees of the village of Cortland, whenever, in their Judgment, the amount voted to be raised at any election for any or all the purposes mentioned in this act, and the act of which it is amendatory, as amended by this act, is too large to be raised by tax in any one year, to cause to be raised by tax only such a portion thereof as they deem expedient, and immediately to issue interest-bearing bonds or obligations of said village for the balance, in such form and denominations, and payable at such times and in such a manner as they may deem for the best interest of said village, and sell the same. The avails of said bonds shall be paid to said village treasurer, to the credit of said board of education. Said bonds, when they respectively become due, shall be paid by a tax to be duly levied and collected, or by issuing and selling other bonds in their place and stead, as the then corporate authorities of said village shall decide, having regard for the best interests of said village. (As amended by chap. 142, Laats of 1S.S1 .) § 19. The board of education may sell, in its corporate capacity, any real or personal school property in the union free school district when they deem it advisable, and the avails thereof shall be used for school purposes. The title to all the real and personal school property belonging to said union free school district, or to the former school districts and parts of districts included in and composing the same, is hereby vested in said board of education as a corporation ; provided that where the-school-house in a district, part ot which district lies within the boundaries of said union free school district, is situate without the boundaries of the said union free school district, this section shall not apply to snch district. 2 20. No person or corporation subject to taxation on real or personal property for the purposes con- templated by this act shall be otherwise taxed on the same property for school purposes. S 21. The various school offices in the several districts or parts of districts composing this union free school district shall terminate wheneverthis act shall take effect, except so far as may be necessary to close up all unsettled business In their several districts. All money and property In the hands of the officers of, belonging to or appropriated for, said districts, shall pass to and vest in said board of edu- cation, for the purposes contemplated in this act ; provided, that where the present school -house in a district, part of which district lies within the boundaries of said union free school district, is situate without the boundaries of said union free school district, this section shall not apply to such district. S 22. All tb^ schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between the ages of five and twenty-one years residing in the said union free school district. All questions of residence shall be settled by the board. § 23. All matters of controversy of a civil nature arising under this act, or the act of which it Is amendatory, as amended by this act, may be referred, by consent of the board of education and all other parties interested, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for his decision which, when made or rendered, shall be final and conclusive. (As amended by chap. 142, Laws of 1881.) § 24. This act shall be liberally construed by all courts and officers, so aa to fully carry out its intent and spirit. § 25. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of thisact, are hereby repealed, so far as relates to the said union free school district; but nothing herein contained shall apply to, or in any manner affect, the State normal and training school, at Cortland village. New York, or any law or laws in relation thereto. 2 26. Full, ample and complete power and authority are hereby vested in, and conferred upon, the president and trustees, assessor and other corporate officers of the village of Cortland, to fully carry out and perform the acts and duties required by this act, and It shall be their duty to carry out and perform the acts and duties required by this act, and It shall be their duty to carry out and perform said acts and duties with all convenient speed. S 27. This act shall take effect immediately, DKERPARK. \aiap. 573, Laws of 1S67,] Section 1. Section one of an act entitled " An act In regard to union free school district number one in the town of Deerpark, and to enlarge its boundaries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and: to build or purchase school-houses," passed Anrll four- teenth^ eighteen hundred and slxty-six, is hereby amended so as to read as follows ■ i 1. Union free school district number one, in the town of Deerpark, In the county of Orance l^ hereby enlarged so as to Include within its boundaries all additions made to it by the school commla- slonerln the year eiffhteen hundred and sixty-five; and all that part of school diHrictnumberelSht which hea west of the Neverslnk river, north of a line running Sue west from the railrSbrt^^^ DUKKIRK. 833 across the Neversink river to the Delaware riyer, and east of the present west boundary line of said onion ftee school district number one ; and the boundaries of said enlarged 'district shall be as follows, to wit : Beginning on the west side of the Neversink river, on the lands of Charles Weiss, at a large spring situated in the lower edge of the bank of said river, being the original corner of school dis- tricts numbers one and eight, and running thence south, seven and one-half degrees east, seven chains and ninety-four links ; thence south, seventeen degrees east, three chains and forty-eight links ; thence south, one degree west, Ave chains and forty-six links ; thence south, seven degrees west, five chains and twenty-seven links ; thence south, twenty-four and three-quarter degrees west, three chains and aeventj'-elght links; thence south seventy-one and one-half degrees west, eight chains; thence south, sixty-six degrees west, nine chains and thirty links to the south end of the west abut- ment of the Brie railroad bridge across the Neversink river; thence on a course due west sixteen chains to a white pine tree standing on the northerly bank of the Delaware river, near the north-east corner of Laurel Gfrove cemetery ; thence same course to the center of said river ; thence up the center of said river to the sluice or waste way of the Delaware and Hudson canal, on the line between the lands of M. Keetler and Buckley and Brothers ; thence along said sluice or waste-way to the Delaware and Hudson canal ; thence westerly along said canal to the line between lots numbers forty-four and forty-flve of the seventh division of the Neversink patent; thence along said lot line to the north-easterly corner of Barney Gorman's land; thence in a direct line to the lands of Eltlng Gud- deback ; thence along the line of said Cuddeback to the lines between the lands of S. V. Famum and Simon Westfall, on one side, and A. J. and Isaac Cuddeback on the other; thence along the line between S. B. Parnum and A. J. and Isasic Cuddeback to the north-east corner of the lands of S. B. Famum; thence north-easterly to a certain corner near a stone standing in the ground; thence alon^ the division line between the lands of A. J. Cuddeback and Solomon and Benjamm Van Vleet, crossing the highway to the Neversink river to a point nearly or quite opposite to the mouth of Mill brook; thence down the Neversink river to the place of beginning. Said enlarged district shall be known and designated as "union free school district number one." The inhabitants of that part of school district number eight so Included as aforesaid in union free school district number one, are hereby declared subject to all the duties, burdens and obligations, and entitled to the same benefits and privileges which the inhabitants of said union free school district number one bear and enloy ; and the board of education of said union free school district number one shall be and continue, during their respective terras of office, the board of education of such enlarged district, but nothing herein contained shall affect any liability or claim which may have accrued previous to the passage of this act. 2 2. Al\ acts of the "ooard of education of union free school district number one, done under and by virtue of said act, which Is hereby amended, are hereby legalized and contlrraed, provided that nothing in this section or act contained shall authorize or legalize the collection of any tax from the Inhabit- ants of that part of school district number eight under and by virtue of the tax list and warrant made out by said board, for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Sections two and three of the act of eighteen hundred and slxtv-slx authorized the raising of ¥10, 000 to build a school-house; and permitted the sale of the school-house sites and purchase of a new one. DUNKIRK -FORMERLY, PQMFRET. [Chap. 34, Lawsqfl858.'\ Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts 'now or heretofore existing within the limits of the town of Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua, which lately formed part of the town of Pomfret. in said county, are hereby consolidated into one entire school district, to be known as the Dun- kirk union free school district. The said district as herein enlarged and consolidated, shall, fVom and after the passage of this act, be under the direction, control and management of the present board of education of said district number one of said town of Dunkirk. iAs amended by,sec. 1, chap. 169, Lawt 0' 187M ? 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board to be styled the " board of education " which board shall consist of six members, and be a body corporate, a majority of whom shall consti- tute a Quorum for the transaction of business. Ebenezer R. Thompson, Samuel HlUiard, Joseph Mile- ham, James H. Van Buren, Julian T. Williams and Otis E. Tiffany shall compose the first board of edacation,andshaU]ioIdthfflrofi3icesfromone to three years, that is to say: two shall go out in each year, in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. f 3. There shall he elected each year in said district, by the qualified voters thereof, two members of said board of education, who shall be residents and freeholdprs of said district and shall hold their offices for three years, and until their successors in office are elected and qualified. The said election shall take place at the annual meeting of the district, when the taxable inhabitants of said district may deposit their ballots containing the names of two persons designated thereon for the said offices : the two persons receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected. The said board of education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election at any time within thirty days next preceding such election. {As amended by chap. 163, Latua qf 1883.) 2 4. The uuuuoi meeting ui said district shad be held on the first Moncmy oi October, in each year, at Bome place In said district, to be designated by the said board of education, at least two weeks prior to the time for the holding of such meeting. The said board of education shall give public notice of the time and place and object of such meeting, by publishing the same in the newspapers printed in said town of Dunkirk for the two successive weeks immediately preceding the week in which such meeting is to be held, and by posting copies of such notice In three public places in said district at least two weeks pnor to such meeting, which notice shall specify the number of the members of the board of education to Oe elected at such election ; and, at least two weeks prior to such meeting, said board of education shall appoint three suitable persons inspectors of such election, whose duties shall be to receive the ballots of the electors of said district and deposit themin a suitable box, to be provided for that purpose, and, after the polls are closed, and on the same day, to canvass the votes given at such election; and Immediately after canvassing such votes, to make a statement in writing, which shall be signed by them, or a.ma^lority of them, thereby certifying the number of votes cast at such election, which certificate shall also show the number of votes cast at such election for each person voted for as trustee at such election. Such certificate shall further show the persons who are, by the highest num- ber of votes, elected to the office of members of said board. Said inspectors shall, immediately there- after, make two copies of such statement and certificate, signed by them, or a minority of them, and shall forthwith dehver one copy thereof to the town clerk of said town of Dunkirk, and the other copy thereof to the secretary of said board of education. Said inspectors of election shall be entitled to a reasonable compensation for their services in the premises, to be paid by the said board of education. The polls of such election shall, in all cases, be opened at nine o^clockm the forenoon, and continue open until nine in the evening of the same day, and no longer. The provisions of law relating to the elections of State and mimtv offlrers shall nnnlv to the elections under this act, so far as the same are applicable. (As amended by sec. 2, chap. 169, Laws o/1875.) 105 834 Dunkirk. 55. SaidTjoard shall have power to All vacancies occurring in their own body, but the person so appointed shall hold his office only until the next annual meeting of said district, when the vacancy shall be filled by election. ,, „ i, ^. 26. The said board may make all necessary by-laws for their own govftrnment; they snail nave the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the property belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess within said district all the rights, powers and authority of trustees of school districts, and shall in all respects be subject to the restriction and con- trol of the commissioner of common schoolsforthe district, in the same manner as the common schools in this State are subject. They shall at their first meeting, and at their first meeting after the annual election in each year, appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall preside at the meetings of said board when present ; when absent, a president pro tempore shall act in his stead; they shall also appoint at said meeting one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts and res- olutions of the board, also act as clerk of school district ; in his absence, a secretary pro tempore shall be appointed to discharge said duties; they shall also appoint a treasurer, collector and librarian of said district, who shall hold their offices respectively one year from their appointment, and until others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such treasurer and collector shall each within ten days after notice in writing has been received of his appointment, and before entering on the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond in a penalty of twice the amount of the estimated amount of the money coming into his hands, and with such sureties as saiA board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten daysafter receiving such notice, such offlceshallthereby become vacated and such board of education shall thereupon mate an appointment to fill such vacancy. Such treas- urer's bonds shall be approved by the county clerk, and a copy thereof deposited in said county clerk's ofilce. 2 7. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business on the first Monday in each month, or on such other day of the week as they shall fix upon for the year, and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, by the secretary, or any other member of the board, as often as is necessary, by givinjj personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of said meeting; and if any of said board refuses or neglects to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no sufficient cause of his non- attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. 2 8. No member of the hoard of education, except the secretary, shall receive any pay or compensa- tion for his service?, nor shall it be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor for building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, directly or Indirectly, interested, either as principal, partner or surety In any such contract. All contracts made In violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the board for the use of the district. 2 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it necessary; they shall ^ive notice of the same, by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at least six public places in said district, and by publishing the same in said district, at least two weeks previous to the time fixed for such meeting ; which notice shall state the time and place of such meet- ing, and the purpose for which the same Is called ; and no business shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated In the notice calling the same. One week's notice of the annual meeting shall be given In said newspapers. 210. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, ihrniture, books and all the school property In said district shall be vested in said board of education; and the said board, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold.and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of the common schools in said district; and all the rights, powers and duties heretofore helonging to the trustees of the Dunkirk academy, and all grants of lan'l to said trustees by the Dun- kirk association, or by any members thereof, or otherwise, are hereby vested in the said board of edu- cation ; and all the rights, titles and interests which the said town of Pomfret, or the town or vUlaige of Dunkirk, or the trustees or said academy may have had, or does now have, in the plot of ground given by the said Dunkirk association, or any one belonging thereto, to the said trustees in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, or at any other time, as donation to endow an academy as laid down on a certain map and filed In the office of the county clerk of Chautauqua county on the eleventh dayof July, eighteen hundred thirty-eight, and entitled "map of the town of Dunkirk, in the Chau- tauqua county. State of New York, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, the termination of the New York and Erie railroad, " are hereby vested in said hoard of education, whose duty shall be to carry out the object of the donors as expressed hy them in a resolution adopted by said donors at a meeting held by them on the fourteenth day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight ; and the map so filed on the eleventh day of July, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, together with the inscriptions and acknowledgments thereon by the owner or owners of said land, shall be deemed and construed In all courts as a good and sufficient deed of said plot of land to endow an academy to the trustees of the said academy; and the title of said trustees to the land so donated shall not be forfeited from non- acceptance or usage by said trustees during the time it has been used as a burial place, and prior to the removal of all the remains of the dead therefrom, nor from any other cause; and said board of education are hereby authorized to enter at once Into the possession of said plot of land, and to have all the rights and powers hitherto vested in and possessed by the board of trustees of said village rela- tive to the removal of any remains of the dead which may be found therein. (As amended bv chao 17, Lawsofimn.) 211. The puhhc schools in said district shall be free to all children residing therein; but the board of education m^y permit children of persons not resident within said district to attend said schools on such terms as they may prescribe, and said board shall have power to sue for and recover such pre- scribed sum. Said board shaU require one of their number to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be neces- sary. . 2 12. Every resignation of officers, appointed or elected under this act, shall be.made to the board of education ; and such resignation shall not excuse said officer from the discharge of his duties until accepted by said board. 2 13. Said board of education shall cause an enumeration of the children between the ages of four and twenty-one years, in said district, and make, once in each year, such a report to the school com- missioner, at the time and In the manner prescribed by law, of trustees of school districts • and any parent, or guardian, or housekeeper refusing to give his or her own name to the person aonbinted bv said board to take such enumeration, and the number of the children between said ages living in his or her family, shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars ; said penalty to be sued for and recovered by said board, and appropriated to school purposes. 2 H. The town supervisor shall, upon the written order of the president and secretary of said board pa.y to the treasurer of said board, out of money in his hands belonging to said district such sums as eaiQ order may specify, and all moneys to he received shall be paid to the treasurer of said board who East Chester. S35 together with his sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay out any moneys except by resolution by said board and upon an order drawn by the president and certified by the secretary to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 2 15. Said board of education shall have the entire control of the district library, andmay*make such regulations in regard to the purchase and distribution of books, and management of said library^ as they shall deem proper, 8 16. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall have been last assessed by the town assessors of the town In which such district is situated, such sums as said board shall estimate to be necessary for thefollowing purposes, viz. : 1. To pay any deflciency in teachers' wages, after paying all the public money appropriated for such purpose; 2. To hire sites, school-houses and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary ; 3. To alter, repair and improve the school-houses belonging to said district and their apnurte- nances 3 4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district: 5. To pay all necessary contingent expenses of said school district, and of the board of education ; 6. To pay the librarian a salary of not to exceed twenty-live dollars a year ; 7. To pay thesecretary of said board a salary not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars per year. iAa amended by chap. 180, Laws of 1881.) 8. Any such sums as shall be authorized by a majority of the tax&ble Inhabitants, at any special meet- ing of said district, for the purposes specifl.ed in section seventeen of this act ; and the board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes, such amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, not exceeding five per cent on the amount to be collected. Said board shall have power to make all warrants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them returnable in sixty or ninety daySj at their discretion, and to renew the same whenever it shall become necessary: sucU warrant to be signed by the president and secretary, pursuant to a resolution of said board. In case it shall appear that the town assessment roll does not include all the taxable property of said district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said board. In the same mode required by law, and added thereto; and the collector of said school district shall In the collection of any tax authorized by this act proceed In the same manner, and have all the powers which collectors of towns and county taxes now pos* sess. S 17. Whenever in the opinion of said board it becomes necessary to procure a site, and build a school- house, to enlarge those already built, or to raise money for any necessary school purp6se not enumera- ted in this act ; they shall submit the plans, and the estimated cost of such buildings, site, and necessary appendages, to the taxable Inhabitants 01 said district, at a special meeting called for that purpose ; aud if a majority of such inhabitants present shall vote in favor of the same, the said hoard may pro- ceed to carry the same into eifect ; but no site purchased and house built, after the passage of this act, shall exceed in cost, Jointly, the sum of three thousand dollars, nor shall any addition to school-houses in said district exceed said amount: netthershallmorethanoneschool-house or addition to any school- house in said district be built In an/ one year ; nor shall any addition be made to e^ny school-house in said district the same year in which a new school-house is built; nor shall a greater sum than four hundred dollars be raised in any one year, for purposes not enumerated in this act, by said special meeting. i 18. Said board of education shall have the power to establish as many primary schools in said dis- trict as they may deem proper, and to have in all respects the- superintendence, supervision and man- agement of the public schools in said district, to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and public utility. 8 19. Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell or exchange any school- house, lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the district, they shall state such object in the notice of an annual or special meeting, and, with the consent of a majority of the taxable Inhabitants present at such meeting, may sell ot* dispose of such school-houses, sites or lots, to the best advantage. 2 20. Said board of education shall, at each annual meeting, submit a report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of money received from the State and from any other source, the expenditure of the same, and all the particulars in detail relating to schools in said district, which report may, if the board think proper, be printed. 2 21. All laws and parts of laws, inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed, so far as relates to said Dunkirk union free school district. (As amended by sec. 3, chap. 169, Laws of 1875. ) iChap. 17, Laws of 1880.3 2 2. The annual election for members of said board of education shall be on the second Wednesday of October, and the polls for said election shall be open from twelve o'clock noon till eight o'clock In the afternoon. - 8 3. All acts or parts of acts Inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. EAST CHESTER. IC^apter 334, Laws of 1853, as amended.'} Sbotion 1 . School district number four in the town of East Chester, Westchester county, shall form a permanent school district, but shall be subject to alteration in the manner prescribed for the altera- tion of school districts in chapter five hundred and fifly-flve of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and in such acts as may be hereafter enacted amendatory thereof. (As amended bv sec. 1, chap. 235. Laws (if 1673.) 8 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " The board of education of school district number four, in the town of East Chester," which shall be a corporate body, in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act ; said board to consist of nine membeiB five of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 8 3. The trustees of said district shall, within thirty days after the passage of this act, call a special meeting of the district, for the election of school officers, by giving notice as provided by law. There shall be elected at sui-.h meeting three members of said board of education, to serve until the first Monday In October, eighteen hundred and fifty-three ; three until the first Monday in October, eighteen JQiundred and fifty-four ; and three until the first Monday in October, eighteen hundred and fifty-five There shall also be elected at said meeting a district treasurer, collector, clerk and a librarian, each of 836 East - C n ester . whom shall serve until the first Monday in OctoDer, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. After said elec- tion the office of school trustee in said district shall be aboUshed. x^ ^ . „ ^ *r» .^ M. The annual meeting of the inhabitants of said district shall be held on the first Monday of Octo- ^Ts.^The'^aW^boaTd of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem It necessary, or whenever petitioned by twenty-five taxable mhabitants of said *l*stnct; they shall give notice ofthe same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at least five pubUc place* fn said district, at least one week previous to the time fixed for such meeting which notice shall state the time and place of holding such meeting, and the purpose for which the same Iscalled ; and no- business shall be transacted at any such meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. §6. At the annual meeting ofsaid district in each year there shall be elected three members ofsald board of education, who shall be residents of saitl district and shall hold office for three years. There shall also he elected at said meeting a district clerk and a district treasurer, each ot whom shall hold office for one year. The election shall be by ballot and shall be conducted in the same manner as the annual election for town officers. The polls for each annual or special election shall he opened at lour p. M and close at nine p. m. Said board of education shall appoint a district librarian and a clerk to the board of education ; and shall also appoint, at least thirty days preceding each annual or special election, three inspectors of election, who shall have the same powers as inspectors of general elections. (As amended by section 2, cfiapter 235. Laws of 1873.) , , „ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ,. j * 1 7 Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall he made to the board of education; and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse euqh officer from the discharge of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said 2 8. Any such officer may be removed from office, for any official misconduct or neglect of official duty, by a resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members thereof concurring ; but h written copy of.the charges against sucb officer shall be served upon him, and opportunity shall be given to every such officer to be heard in his defense, before any such resolution shall be adopted. 3 9. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this act (and not having refdsed to accept), who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars. to saSd board of education. It shall be the duty of such board of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutea, and, as such, hable to the penalties therein prescribed, in addition to the penalties in this section. 3 10. Every officer in this act mentioned, having in his possession, custody, care, charge or control, any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this -act or provided by law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the expiration of his term, or whenever snch officer shall resign, be removed from office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. 3 11. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for president and one for secretary ofsaid board, who shall hold office for one year. In the absence of the president or secretary at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be appointed for the time being. The district treasurer and collector shall, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of their election, execute and deliver to the said board of education a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as the said hoard may deem necessary, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their respective duties. In case such horid shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and the said board may maJce appointment to fill such vacancy. 2 12. The said hoard of education may make all necessary by-laws for their own government. Vacan- cies in the board, occurring by resignation or any other cause, may be filled by the board until the next annual election, when such vacancies shall be filled in the same maimer as those caused by expi- ration of term of office. The said board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or Inability to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving" personal notice to each member thereof, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting; and if any member ofthe said board refuses or neglects to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. No member ofsaid board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor foe building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner directlv or indirectly inter- ested, either as principal, partner or surety, in any such contract. All contracts made in violation of this provision shaU be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollus. 2 13. The title to the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances in this act mentioned, and all other school property in the said district, shall be vested in said board of educa- tion ; and the same, while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon and sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- tion. And the said board of education, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of the common schools in the said district, or any or either of them, or to mortgage or incumber the same for school purposes, with the consent of the district. They shall have and possess, within the said district, all the rights, power and authority of town supurmtendent of common schools. They shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools vrithin the said district and all the property belonging to the same. They shall require one of the members of said board to visit each school tn said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 2 14. The board of education shall have entire control and chaise of the district school library in said district. They may make such additions to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as they shall deem necessary. 2 15. The said board of education shall have power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax in each year upon all the taxable property and inhabitants iu sidd district, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town in which said district is situated, such sums as said board of education shall be authorized by a majority ofthe voters at any special or annual meeting of said dis- trict, to raise by tax for the purposes specified in sections sixteen and eighteen of this act and also such sums as may be necessary to pay the principal and interest of the bonded debt of said district falling due in that year. In case it shall appear that the assessment roll does not include all the taxable prop- erty in said district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said board of education in the mode required by law, and added thereto. (As amended by sec. 4, chap. 235, Laws of 1873.) East Chester. 837, T16. Whenever, in the opinion of said board of education, it becomes necessary to build a new school- 'house or school-houses, or to enlarge any of those already built, they shall cause plans and speciflca- tions thereof to be prepared, and an estimate of the cost of said building, buildings or enlargements, specifying the cost of said building, and the cost of the furniture required for said buildings separately, "Which statement shall be certified to as Just and true, according to said plans and specifications, by a com- petent builder or architect. The board of education shall then issue a notice of a special meeting of those entitled to vote at the annual election for school oflBcers, at which meeting said electors shall vote for -or against raising the amount given in said statement, and whether by issuing bonds in payment therefor or by immediate tax. The notice of said meeting shall be published for two weeks In succes- ■sion in at least two papers published weekly in said district, or if there be no paper published in said 'district, the notice of said meeting shall be posted for the same length of time in at least fifty public places in said district, and a certificate sworn to by the publishers of said papers, or a certificate sworn to by the poster of said notices, as the case may be, stating that notice was published or posted as the law directs, shall be filed with the clerk of the board of education, and entered on the minutes of the board, at the first meeting held thereafter; said notice shall state the purpose for which said meeting 18 called, and the amount to be authorized by the sale of bonds or otherwise. From the date of the pub- lication or posting of the notice to the day of meeting the plans and specifications shall be in the care ^nd custody of the clerk of the district, or such other person as the board may designate, and be open to the inspection of any one entitled to vote at said meeting. Whenever, at such meeting, a majonty of votes cast shall be in favor of raising the amount named in the notice of meeting, the board of educa- tion shall take such steps, as to them may seem necessarj', to build such school-house or school-houses ■ or enlargements, by contracting with responsible parties for the several kinds of work required by said Slans and specifications; and if the people so elect to issne bonds, not exceeding the amount authorized y the vote of the people at said meeting to pay for the same, said bonds shall be of such denomina- ^tion as may be convenient, and not have over twenty-one years to run, nor less than three years, and be made payable between those times in such amounts as may be the least burdensome to the people, always, provided, that some portion thereof shall be paid each year as aforesaid; and it shall be the duty •of the board of education to raise by taxation, In each year, the amount necessary to pay the interest due and the bonds maturing In each year. The bonds shall not be sold below par; shall bear .interest not to exceed seven per cent per anrium, payable annually, and shall be signed by the president and secretary of the board of education, and couniersignaed by the district treasurer, each of whom shall keep a separate record of the bonds signed by him, showing the amount, the date of issue, to whom issued and when due, and shall deliver to his successor in office such record, together with all similar records received by him from his predecessor. And the said board of education shall cause to be nublished, in their annual report, a statement of the amount of bonds paid during the previous year, and the amount outstanding, and at the first regular meeting of said board held after said annual report is made out, shall destroy all bonds which have been paid ofi. and the treasurer of the district shall deliver said bonds to said board, at the meeting aforesaid for that purpose. C^* aTocnded by chap. 29, Lawt of 1877.) {17. Whenever, in the opinion of the board. It may be advisable to sell or exchange any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the district, they shall report the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose, and, with the consent [of a {majority of the electors present at said meeting, may sell and dispose of ■ such school-bouses, lots or sites to the best possible advantage. } 18. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, out of the fhnds collected, and paid to them, as provided in sections fifteen and twenty-two of this act : 1. To purchase or lease and improve sites for school-bouses ; 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses and appurtenances, so as to afford .ample accommodation to educate all the children of the said dis- trict: 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the several schools and of the board of 'education; 5. To pay the wages of the teachers employed by them ; 6. To defray the expenses of insuring al' the school properly of said district. 219. The public schools in the district shall be free to all children residing In the district, but the board of education may permit children oi persons not resident within said district to attend said schools, on such terms as they shall prescribe ; the said board may, in the name of said district, sue for And recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or any person under whose charge such child -or children may be, all such suras as shall be so prescribed, with costs of suit. { 20. All moneys to be received by virtue of this act. and all moneys by law appropriated to or pr-o- vided.for said district, shall be paid to the treasurer, who, together with the sureties upon the official bond, shall be accountable therefor to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay out any of .such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and certi- fied by the secretary to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution, 821. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of East Chester shall pay over to the treasurer all the public moneys to which said district number four may be entitled. {22. The said board of education shall prepare and submit, at each annual meeting of the district, an estimate of the amount necessary to be raised for defraying the expenses of the district for the ensuing year, specifring the purposes for which the same is to be expended. 2 23. The said board of education tnhall, at the annual district meeting, submit a full report in writ- ing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in aaid district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State^ and from other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, the expenditures of the same, and all the particulars in detail relating to the schools in said district ; which report may, if the board think proper, be printed In pamphlet form, or in some newspaper published in the county. [Chap. 2ir, Latm of 1865.] FROTIDES FOR A RECEIVER OF TAXES AND ASSESSMENT IN THE TOWN. Section 9. The offices of collector of the town of East Chester, and of the several school districts therein, after said receiver shall have executed and delivered his bond, as hereinbefore provided, shall •cease to exist, and the same are hereby abolished, and all laws and provisions of law applicable to town collectors, and collectors of school districts In said town, not inconsistent with this act, are hereby made applicable to the said office of recelverof taxes hereby created. 2 10. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of said county, and the officers of the several school districts in said town, to Issue their warrants to said receiver of taxes In the same manner as warrants are now required by law to be issued to town collectors; and the said receiver of taxes is .hereby directed and required, od or before the first day of April in each and every year, to pay over to 838 Elb RIDGE — Elmira. tbe treasurer of salj county, and to the several persons entitledto receive tho same, all moneys remain- ing in his hands payable to said treasurer, or other persons, and to make a Just and proper retnni of ail taxes or assessments remaining uncollected in said town, in the same manner as now required by law, and the treasurer of said county, upon receiving such moneys, the making of such return, and the cer- tificate of the officers of the several school districts, In said town, and of the supervisor thereof, tliat he has paid the several town officers ;the moneys they were .entitled to receive, shall cancel and difl- charge the bonds of said receiver, and deliver to him a certificate thereof, which certificate, ugon being filed with the county clerk, shall be a full release and discharge of said receiver and his sureties. ELBRIDGE. (Village of Jordan.) ICJiap. 43, Laws q/"1867.] SbctionI. The Jordan academv. In the village of Jordan, is hereby constituted an academical de- partment in free school district number four, in the town of Elbridge, in the county of Onondaga, in the manner provided for that purpose bv section twenty-four of title nine of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Session Laws of this State, passed May second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. 2 2. When such consolidation is effected, said academical department shall be exempt from the opera- tion and effect of section eleven of said title, but shall in all other respects be subject to the provisions of said title, except as hereinafter provided. {3. The library and philosophical apparatus then belonging to said academy shall be used for the benefit of said academical department, unless the Regents of the University may otherwise order. 2 4. The terms of tuition in said academical department shall be fixed by the board of education, at snms not less than four dollars per term of fourteen weeks, and in that proportion for each student or scholar receiving instruction in said department, and which may be collected by action in the corporate name hereinafter mentioned. 2 5. The board of education may exempt. In whole or in part, from payment for tuition, such Indi- gent persons residing within the hounds of said district as they may think proper. 26. Said academy anddistrict number four, and the board of education thereof, shall be a body coi^ porate, under the name of the Jordan academy and free school. ELMIRA. Chap. 113, Lawtqf 1859, cu amended by chap. 139, Laws of 1864, erecting the city qf Elmira, and by ehaj>. 95,XaM»* q/" 1866.1 Chapter 139, section 14, title 2, Laws of 1864, and title 2, section 1, provides for the election of four com- missioners of common schools, to be elected on the first Tuesday in March in each year, and to enter upon their offices on the Monday following. The term of office is one year, and "until their success* ors shall qualify." Section l. From and after the thirtieth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- three, the territory embraced within the corporate bounds of the city of Elmira shall constitute ono school district, to becalled "TheSchool District of the city of Elmira;" and thenceforth the bound- aries of said school district and of said city shall always coincide; but no change In the boundaries of said city shall take effect as respects said school district until the close of the school year in which such change is made. The school commissioner of the county of Chemung shall assign or set off either to a new or adjoining district or districts, all territory lying without the corporate bounds of said city which formerly formed part of the union school district of Elmira. Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to release or discharge any taxes levied for school purposes for the school year end- ing at the time or times any changes in the boundaries of said school district shall take effect by virtue of this act, but such taxes shall be collected and the payment thereof enforced in the same manner as If thiaact had not been passed; but school taxes levied for defraying the expenses of the year com- mencing when such change Kha.H take efffect, shall be levied only upon the property taxable for school purposes within the several school districts affected by such change as they will exist for that year In case any extension of the boundaries of said city shall divide a school district so as to brine witliin said boundarie? any school lands or buildings belonging tosuch divided district, the trustee or trustees of saiddistrlct residing without such extended boumlaries, or if there be no such trustee at the time ofsuch extension, then such trustee or trustees as may thereafter be elected by the inhabitants of said distnct residing without said boundaries, ami the board of education of said city shall if thev can agree, make such regulations, arrangements or disposition of or respecting such school lands or build- ings as they may deem Just and proper, and for that purpose may provide for the Joint or common use of said lands or buildings ; or may sell the same or any part thereof, and make an eqniUMe divis- ion of the proceeds of such sale ; or the said board or said trustee or trustees may have and retain the exclusive property in and use of said lands or buildings, upon making proper compensation to the party surrendering its interest therein ; and in case the said trustee or trustees should so hold or use the said lands or buildings, the same shall, for school purposes, form and be a part of said school dis- trict and so long as said lands or buildings are so held or used, they shall be exempt from all taxation within said city. In case said trustee or trustees, and said board of education, shall fail to asrree in I^^^ls^or in part upon stich regulations, agreements or disposition of said lands or buildings themat- teraof difference between them respecting the same shall be submitted to the school commiss onerof f?f?^"t?^ county, who sha^l decide the same subject to appeal upon the matters decided, or any of them h'^J?^ ^VS^fP"^"'^^"/*^^ ^r"'^*'*^ Instruction in the manner prescribed in title twelve, chapter five hiS- Sj^^ lis ) ' eighteen hundred and sixty-four. Us amended by al, 1, c/mp. 259, 2 2. The said school district of the city of Elmira shall remain and continue separate and distinct for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified ; and for the purpose of the election of coraSon era shalYbe divided into live commissioner districts. The commissioner districtlSl continueThUhl erto. subjectonly to such changes as shall be made in making the boundariesof sSd schoo dStr^t and city correspond ; but the board of education of said city may at any time change or alter Lid comm?s sioner districts, provided no change is made which shall reduce the population of a commtssioS tnct to less than three thousand nhabitants ; and the said board of education raVfrom rime to time .V}?:t^^^t^u}^ri^^ ^^^ said union school district for school purposes into such and sJmany (HstriSl as they shall think proper. {Asamended by sec. 2, chap. 269, Laws of 1873 ) ^ oistncts 2 3. AnelS. Thurston, in commissioner district number one ; Stephen McDonald rp^iiriino- ,-n ^nm mi^ioner district number two ; Archibald Robertson, residing iA commissioner Xtrctn^Si^hr^^^ Civilian , Brown residing in commissioner district number four, and Sail BSfnnrSfncf?„' ™^!?^*^'T" ^L^^"''* ""'^^^'" ^^*^'?'"^ *^e>'eby appointed coramissionersinbeLlf ?f such d?^^^^^ respectively. The common counc of the city of Elmira shall within fiflppn rinvc Jo^l ti^^ „ ***s'^"cts this act. appoint four persons to act as school^comSioners in behSf^^^^^^^^^ Elmira. 839 who shall be residents thereof, and the said persons above named, and the persons appointed bythe common council of thesaid city as commissioners, and their successors to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred or Imposed by law. to be styled " the board of education of the city of Elmira," and are hereby invested with alt the powers and charged wiih all the duties conferred upon them by this act, A m^ority of commissioners shall constitute a quorum. g 4. On the second Tuesday In October, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, there shall he elected in the same manner that trustees of school districts are now elected, by each of said commissioner dis- tricts, one school commissioner, who shall be a resident of such district, to succeed the present com- missioner elected in such district. Biennially thereafter, on the second Tuesday of October, there shall beelected in each of said commissioner districts, the number of which is an odd number, one school commissioner. On the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and eighty, and biennially there- after, on the second Tuesday of October, there shall be elected in each commissioner district, the num- ber of which is an even number, one school commissioner. Each commissioner so elected in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, in a district the number of which is even, shall hold his office from the day of his election until the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and eighty, and until his successor shall be chosen and qualified to act. Each commissioner elected as above provided, shall hold his office from the day of his election until the second Tuesday of October of the second year thereafter, and until his successor be chosen and qualified to act. (As amended by sec. 1, chap 50, Laws 0/1877.) 2 a. On the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October, eighteen hundred and seventy- seven, and annually thereafter on the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October, the com- mon council of said city shall appoint two school commissioners for said union school district, to suc- ceed the two commissioners appointed by the common council, whose term of office shall next there- after expire. The persons so appointed shall hold their office from the time of their appointment respectively, until the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October of the second year there- after, and until their respective successors be appointed and qualified to act. Within ten days after receiving notice of his election or appointment, the person so elected or appointed shall take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the State, and file same with the clerk of the city. (_As amended by sec. 2^ chap. fiO, Laws nf 1S77.) J 6. All vacancies which mav occur in said hoard of education from any other cause than the expira- tion of their term of office, of the class known as commissioners at large, or commissioners appointed by the common council of the city of Elmira. shall be filled by the common council in the same man- ner that the original appointments are made, and vacancies occurring in like manner in the clasa known as district commissioners shall he filled by the said board of education. The commissioners so appointed shall hold their offices for the unexpired term of those whose places they are chosen to fill. Any member of the board of education may resign his office by giving five days previous notice In writing to the mayor of the city, who may. If he deems the reason sufficient, accept the same. {As amended by sec. 1 , chap, 717, Laws of 1869.) 5 7. Any member or the board of education may for neglect of duty, or other immoral or official mis- conduct, be removed from office by the common council of the city, by a vote of two-thirds present at any regularly called meeting thereof; butbefore final action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to explain or reliite them. \%. At the first meeting of the board of education, and at each annual meeting thei'eafter, they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and, whenever he shall be absent or unable to act, they shall elect a president pro tempore. At their first meeting the hoard shall fix the time for their next annual meetmg, and unless changed by a resolution of the board the time thus fixed shall be the time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall receive no compensation for their services. 89. The board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or in his absence or mability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of residence at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 2 10. The board ot education shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their offices dur- ing the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the said board ; and the samb fierson may hold the office of secretary and librarian. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceed- ogs of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The librarian shall have charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessary from time to time, and such assistants may be removed at any time by the board of education. 911. The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof certified by the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prima Jade evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and such record, the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council of the city or any committee thereof. \ 12. The common council of the city of Elmira shall have power, and It shall be their duty, to raise fi*om time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and pergonal estate in said school district, which shall be liable to taxation for town or county charges, such sums as may be determined upon, and certified by the board of education to be necessary and proper, for any or all the following purposes for the current year; 1. To purchase, lease, or improve sites for school-houses. 2. To build, purchase, lease, alter and repair school -houses, out-houses and appurtenances thereunto belonging. 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus ; but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books any scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the same. 4. To procure fuel, and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-house In order, exclusive of repairs, including insurance. 5. To defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the district library or libraries, including salary of librarian and superintendent. 6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, Including the salary of the secretary thereof. 7. To pay teachers' wages, after the application of the public money appropriated by law for that purpose. 8. To pay charges or expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act Into effect, or to refhnd loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to fulfill any contract duly made under the provisions of this act. % 13. The aforesaid tax, to be levied ana collected by virtue of this act, shall be levieil and collected in the same manner by the same collector, and at the same time that other city taxes are, and the pow- ers» duties and liabilities of the collector and his sureties shall be the same in reference to the collec- 840 Elmiha. tion of this tax as for other city taxes, and his Jurisdiction shall extend under this act to all territory embraced in the said scliuol uiotrici. In extending the city tax roil the school tax shall be placed in a separate column designated ''school tax," and at the end of each thirty days after the collector begins the collection of said tax, he shall pay to the treasurer of the said city all moneys collectea oa account of the said school tax, to that date. (As amended by chap. 861. Laws of 1871.) 2 14 The money raised for the purchase of school sites, and the building, repairing and furnishing the school-houses, shall be known as the ** special school fund," and all other moneys as the general school fund ;" and it shall be the duty of the board of education to keep accurate account of its receipts and expenditures, distinguishing between those of a general and those of a special charactCT ; and it shall not be lawful to expend any portion of the money raised for the use of one of said funds for the purposes of the other of said funds, except by permission of the common council. i.As amended by sec. 2, chap. 717, Laws of ,1869 . ) . ,. . § 15. All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appropri- ated tn or provided for said school district shall be paid to the treasurer of said city. who. together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall he accountable therefor in the same manner as for other funds of said city, and the board of trustees in fixinsr the amount of the treasurer's sureties shall include the moneys received hy virtue of this act. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct in relation to said money as for any similar misconduct in relation to other monevs of said city. 8 16. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source, for the use of com- mon, academic or high schools, in buildings therefor, shall be deposited with the treasurer for the safe- keeping thereof, to the credit of the board of education, until drawn as hereinafter provided for, and the said treasurer shall keep the account of the funds thus deposited with him separately and distinct from any other funds which he is or may be authorized to receive. Section 2, chapter 57, Laws of 1866, provides that "" section 17 of said act is hereby repealed." 2 18. The treasurer shall pay out the money received by him by virtue of this act only upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the secretary of the board of education, which draftsshall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made pay- able to the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state on what account said draft is drawn. 219. The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of Elmira, upon the official bond of the treasurer, or any collector of said city for any default, dehuquency or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping, and payment of any money In this &c£ mentioned. 2 20. The said board of education shall have power and it shall be their duty : 1. To organize, estabUsh and maintain such and so many schools, ih said school district, including -the common schools now existing therein, and including also any academy or high school, as they shafi deem requisite and expedient, and (.o alter and discontinue the same: 2. To purchase and hire scliool-houses and rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve them ; 3. Upon such lots and sites owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- houses, out-houses, and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; and for the purchase of said lots and the building and enlargement of such school-houses, upon obtaining the consent of two-thirds of the common council of said city, by a vote thereon duly taken and recorded, to issue the bonds of the city of Elmira to an amount not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, payable within ten years 'from the issue thereof, with interest thereon at not exceeding seven per cent, which bonds shall be signed by the mayor of said city ana the president of said board, and shall have affixed thereto the respective seals attested by the respective clerks of said city and said board, and may have attached thereto coupons or warrants for the payment of interest, which may be made payable semi-annually ; but such bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value, with accrued interest from the da'e thereof. (j4s amended hy sec 3, chap. 259, Laws of 1873.) 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, fiimlture. and appendages, and to provide fuel lor the schools, pay the necessary Insurance on buildings and school property and to defray contingent expenses of the school library ; 5. To nave the custody and safe-keeping ;of the school-houses, and all school property belonging to said district, and to see that the ordinances of the board of trustees in relation thereto be observed; 6* To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure remove them ; 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the money appropriated and provided by law for the support of common schools in said district, or by this act; 8. To defray the contingent expenses of the said board of education, the salary of the secretary thereof, and the librarian. iAs amended b^ sec. 3, chap. 717, Laws of 1869. ) 9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools of said district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations fortheir organization, government and instruction, or the reception of pupils and their transfer from one class to another, or ftom one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and utllitv ; 10. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, U may be advisable to sell any of the school- houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the corporation, to report the same to the common council : 11. To prepare and report to the conmion council such ordinances and regulations as may he neces- sary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and all property belonging to the city connected with or appertainmg to the schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinance and regulations, and annually on or before the day for the last regular meeting of the common council in March, to determine and certify to the common council the sums m their opinion necessary or proper to be raised, under the twelfth section of this act, for the year commencing oti the first day of October thereafter, specifying the amount required for each of the purposes therein mentioned ; 12. From time to time to adopt, amend or repeal such by-laws, rules and regulations respecting the meetings of said board and the transaction of its affairs as may be deemed proper. iAs am^ndM bv sec. A, chap. 2.59, Laws of 1873.) *■ f \ wy §21. Upon the reception of the report of the board of education, hy the common council of the city ot lilraira, in relation to the amount of money necessary for school purposes, as directed to be made in preceding section, the common council shall proceed to consider the same, and approve Increase or dimmish any or all of said estimates; provided, however, that the aggregate amount shall not fall helow a sum sufficient to defray all the necessary expenses for the support of the public schools in the school district of Elmira, including the academy, for the succeeding year. After having fixed the «?i?i^S nL^^fl^^P*^"fi^^i?'" ®?*^*V^T ^^l-*-^^ purposes mentioned in the last preceding section, the same shall be certified to the board of education, who shall, during such tiscal year, limit the exnenditures for|uch purpose, so that the same shall not exceed the appropriation. Us amended by 'sec. 3, chap. Elmira. 841 3 22. Between the first and fifteenth days of October in each year the board of education shall make and tranamit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a report of the condition of the schoolB under their supervision, in such form and embracing such statistics as the said Superintendent and the laws of the State require. 123. "Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it shall become advisable to establish a high Bchool or academy in connection with the school system by this act contemplated, and erect a suitable building therefor, they shall report that fact, together with an estimate of its entire cost, with the site, to the common council. The said common council, upon the receipt of such report and esti- mate, shall cause the questionofraislngthe proposed amount by tax to be submitted to the decision of the tax payers of the school district, In such manner as they shall deem best calculated to procure a fair expression from said tax payers. All further proceedings in relation to this special school tax by the said common council shall be as directed and set forth in section nine, title five of the ctty char- ter, so far as the same will apply to this act, except that if the tax is voted, the restriction in time of tliree years for re-imbursing any loan made as therein stated, is hereby removed, and the time left optional with the common council. 1 24. The trustees of Elmira academy are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer to the board of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as they Jointly shall deem most conducive to tht cause of education, the right, title and interest in and to all the estate, real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy, to be by them used In the pur- chase of a site, the erection of suitable buildings, the organization of an academic or high school, or for the maintenance of an academy In connection with the general free school system contemplated in in this act. The board of education, if they shall deem It necessary, may, with the advice and consent of the common council, organize and maintaia primary, secondary or high schools, or either of them In, or cause them to be taught in conn(>ction with, the Elmira academy, on such terms and conditions, and for such time, as shall be deemed expedient, by and. between said board of educatloa and the trustees of such academy. 2 25. The acadeniy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized, and when it has complied with the necessary requirements, shall be recognized as one of the academies of this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- tion of the income of the literature and other funds in the same manner and upon the same conditiona as the otheV academies of the State : and the Regents of the University of the State of New York shall pay annually to the board of education of Elmira the distributive share of the said funds to which ttad said academy shall be entitled. 226. Re[)ealed. fe ^1. iiiuch member ot the board ot education shall visit all the schools in said school district at least once In each year of his official term ; and the said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of their number at least once in each term, who shall report In writing to said board the condition of each school, and make such suggestions as they may deem proper. 228. The schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between the age of five and twenty-one years, who are actual residents of the said union school district. The board of education, shall decide all questions of residence arising under this section. The said board may allow the chlldrea of non-residents to attend the schools of said district, and shall prescribe the rates for the tuition of such non-residents, and also for all pupils over twenty-one years or age. (As ainended hy sec. 4, cliap. 57 Laws of 1866.) 1 29 The said board of education shall be trustees of the school district libraries of said union district, and all .the provisions of law which are now in force, or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, shall apply to said board of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district. They shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries which is therein con- ferred on the Inhabitants of school districts, and they shall have power to purchase, exchange, repair or dispose of any books or other property of said libraries, or cause It to be done, and apply the pro- ceeds to the purchase of other books or apparatus; also to provide suitable rooms and furniture for said libraries. 2 30. The title of the school-houses, sites, furniture, books, and all other school property belonging to the districts In this act mentioned, shall be vested iu the city of Elmira, and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- tion, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the said village, in its corporate capacity, shall be competent to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest or devise, for the use of the common schools or academy of said school district, whether the same be transferred In terms to said city by its proper ;ityle, or by any other designation, or to any person or personif, or corporation, for the use of said schools or academy. 231. The common council may, upon the recommendation of the board of education, sell any of the property. Including existing sites held by them by virtue of this act, upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous ; and the proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be by said board of education expended in the purchase, repair or improvement of school- houses, sites, or appurtenances, flirnlture or apparatus. 232. It shall be the duty of said board of education, at least fifteen days previous to each annual election for commissioners, to prepare and report to the common council a true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements under the provisions of this act, dnring the preceding year,iu which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 1. The moneys raised by the common council under the twelfth section of this act; 2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer; 3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer; 4. All other moneys received by the said treasurer, sub)ect to the order of the board of education, specifying the sources from which they shall have been derived ; 5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, speclf>ing the amount under each head of expenditure; and the common council shall, ten days before such election, cause the same to be published iu one or more of the newspapers of said city. 2 33. The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such ordinances and regulations as the board of education may report as necessary for the protection, preservation, safe- keeping and care of the school-houses, lots, libraries, and property belonsing to or connected with the schools of said district, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restric- tions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate said city, and all such penalties, and all others by this act imposerl, shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for violations of the city ordinances are by law collected ; and, when collected, shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, to the credit of the board of education, and shall besubjectto their order in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 2 34. The various school district, offices, in each of the districts herein embraced, shall terminate 106 842 Flushing. whenever this act shall take effect, and the board of education shall be chosen and organized, and shall enter upon the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees antt collector in each district shall retain the power nowjay law vested in such officers, until they, by.fi^-O diligence shall have closed up all the unsettled business of their several districts, and discharged all the indebtedness thereof, and for such purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of the inhabitants of such district, and, when voted at a legally called meeting, shaU levy and collect a tax sufficient to liquidate such indebtedness. , - , , , - 5 35 It shall be the duty of the clerk of each meeting held for the election of school commissioners in each district, within twenty-four hours after the result of said election is declared, to notify tha clerk of the city of the result, and the full name of the person elected commissioner of said district; and it shall be the duty of the city clerk with due diligence, after the appointment of commissioners by the common council, and after receiving notice of election in the districts, personally, or In writing, to notify the persons chosen of their appointment or election ; and any person who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and every person so elected or appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shalLforfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of the said board of education, forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act when volun- tary payment Is refused, and when received, to apply the same to the purposes of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed public officers within the intent and mean- ing of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one of part four of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed In addition to the penalty in thissection before provided. (As aniended by sec. 7, chap. 717, Laws of 1869.) S 37. The boanl of education may, when they shall deem It advisable, appoint a superintendent at common schools for the said school district, who may, eas oMcio, be secretary of said board. He shall be under the direction of the board of education, and they shall prescribe his general duties. In addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by the board, in the visitation and superintendence of the schools, he shall examine the quahflcations of teachers, and grant certificates in such manner and form as may be prescribed by the State Superintendent : which shall not be In force longer than a year, and which may at any time be revoked by the board of education. He shall be paid a salary oat of the general fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from office by the vote of a majority of all the members of the said board. 338. Repealed. i 3y. All aots and parts of acts, conilicting or Inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed, so &r as they aS^ct this act, g 40. TnlB act shall take effect immediately. [Chap. 139, Laws q/" 1864, title 10, section 9.] 3 9. The act of the legislature of the State of New York, entitled " An act in relation to the common echools In the village of Elmira," passed April 4, 1859, is hereby amended by striking out the word '* village," whenever the same appears in said act, and In the title thereof, and Inserting the word " city ^' In place thereof, and also by striking out the word " trustees," and the words " board of trus- tees," wherever the same appear in said act, and Inserting in place thereof the words " common coun- cil," and also by striking out the word "president," where the same appears in the sixth section of said act, and Inserting In place thereof the word " mayor," and also by striking out the words ' the board of trustees of," in the second Hne of section nineteen of said act. And all the provisions of said act, as so amended, shall apply to and be in force In said city, and In the school district and districts therein, as the same has heretofore applied to and been In force In the village of Elmira. FLUSHING, DISTRICT No. 3. [Chap. 638, Laws of IS57.J Section 1. School district number three. In the town of Flushing, In the county of Queens, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the school commissioner of the assembly district in which said school district is situated. g 2. Said school district shall hereafter be bounded ^ follows : Commencing in the north boundary of district number five, in the center of the front road leading from Clintonvllle to Flushing; thence north-westerly In a nearly direct line to the waters of Nostrand's cove, said line passing one hundred yards west of Jacob Wllklns' residence : thence following the waters of said cove to the East river, up the East river and the waters of Little Neck bay to the northern boundary of district number two ; thence westerly along said northern boundary to district number five ; thence northerly and westerly along said boundary, to the place of .beginning. 5 3, The said school district shall be under the management and direction of a board, which shall be styled the board of education, which board shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; and the determination of a majority of a quorum, at a meeting regularly called or duly assembled, shall be regarded as the determination of said board of education ; one member of said board of education shall be elected in each year in said district, who shall be legally qualified to vote at school elections therein, and shall hold office for the term of five years. The saldf election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district. The said board of education, within sixty days next preceding any annual or special election in said district, shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election ; and, in case they shall neglect to attend, the board may fill such vacancy ; and, In case of their failure to appoint, then those of the Inspectors who attend shall fill the vacancy by the appointment of a suitable person as Inspector. All elections shall be by ballot, and notice of the time and place of holding all elections, and the object thereof, shall be Dostt-d in eight or more public places within said district at least eight days before the day appointed for holding such election; and the like notice shall be published in a public newspaper printed and published In the town of Flushing, in at least two issues of such paper, one of which issues shall be in each of the two weeks Immediately preceding the date of such election, and no business shall be transacted at such meeting, except that stated in the call for the same. The meeting shall convene at two o'clock In the afternoon, the polls shall be opened at fifteen minutes after two o'clock, and remain open until seven o'clock in the evening. (As ammded hy chap. 4;i4, Laws of 1885.) § 4. In case at the election so held the approval aforesaid shall not be obtained, ft shall be lawful for the said trustees to call and hold subsequent elections within five years after the passage of this act, in all respects to be called and conducted as prescribed for said first election; but no succeeding dele- tion shall be held within one year of the time of holding a preceding election under this act. If a majority of the ballots cast at any such election shall contain the wordSj ^ In favor of additional school tax, the approval aforesaid shall be considered as given . (As amended by chap. 559, Laws of 1875. ) l\ Flushikg, 843 §5. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government; they Shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and of all the property belonging to the same; they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights. Sowers and authority of school commissioners ; they may appoint a collector with all the powers and utles of a district collector, or may employ the town collector for that purpose, and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the board of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as the laws of the town of which he is such collector "require. They shall appoint two of the members of said board who shall visit each school in said district at least once m each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may he necessary, and to see that the regulations are ri^dly adhered to. § 6. The said hoard of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding- tlie sum of Ave thousand dollars, by a tax or loan. Such loan may be secured by a mortgage upon the pubhc school property of said district, to be executed by said board in their official capacity; such money, when loaned, shall be paid over to said board of education, to be applied by them In purchas- ing a site and erecting or purch^lng a school-house for said district, in grading and regulating the grounds, and in building the necessary fences and-out-houses. § 7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax, in each, 'ear, upon the taxable property in school district number three as hereby enlarged, such sum as may je necessary to pay principal and interest on loans ; to furnish teachers, books, stationery and apparatus for the school-houses and rooms, and for such other purposes as they may deem proper. Such tax shall not exceed in amount four-tenths of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing, and the said board shall add to the amount of any such warrant, for the collection of taxes, such amount as they may deem proper, as the collect- or's fees for collecting, not exceeding five per cent on the amount of any warrant. (As amended hy sec. 1, cJiap. 367, Laws of 1873.) § 8. The school commissioner of the assembly district In which said school district Is situated shall gay over tothe treasurer of the board of education all the public moneys to which said district num- er three shall he entitled for school purposes. S 9. The said board of education shall call an annual meeting of the district at such time in the year as they may deem proper. They shall post up written or printed notices of the same In eight or more Sabllc places in said district, at least one week previous to such meeting; they shall submit thereto a ill report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of theschoois in said district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of money received from the State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposes, the expenditure of the same, and generally all the particulars relating to the schools in said district ; which report, Immediately after it Is made, shall be published in at least two newspapers published in Queens county. S 10. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the district school library ; they may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as they may deem expedient. 2 11. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school -houses in said district, they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground required, a plan of the building, with the estimated cost of the building and appurtenances, and shall enbmlt the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required to be called, and. If a m^ority of all the electors pres- ent vote in favor of the same, then the board may proceed to erect said school-house or houses in the manner proposed by said estimate. i 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said school district whenever they may deem it necessary ; notices of a meeting shall be posted in eight or more public places, and published in a county paper at least one week previous to such meeting, and no business shall be transacted at Buch meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. Any person entitled to vote at any district meeting shall be an elector or legal voter for all purposes under this act. ?13. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed so far as the same ate to district number three, in the town of Flushing, In the county of Queens. \_Cfiap. 367, Laws qf'1875.'} Seotion 1 amends section 7 of original act. (See above.) 8 2. AH that part of school district number live ot the town of Flushing which ilea within the cor- porate limits of the village of Whitestone Is hereby added to and included in said district number three, and the board of education of said district number three shall have and exercise the same powers and duties respecting such portion so added^ as if the same had been originally embraced in the district described in the act hereby amended. g 3 The said board of education and their successors shall take no steps in pursuance of the pro- visions of section one of this act until the same shall be approved by a majority of voters of said school district number three entitled to vote at school district meetings, voting at a special school district meeting, to be called and held by said board of education at the present public school-house in said dis- trict, after giving at least twenty days' notice of such meeting by posting the same in at least six public and conspicuous places in the said school district, and by publication of such notice in all the news- papers of said school district once in each week for two weeks. The said meeting shall be held from the hour of two o'clock in the afternoon until seven o'clock in the evening, during all which time the poll shall be open and shall be conducted in all other respects as now provided by law. The said board of education shall provide a box for said meeting, in which to receive the ballots hereinafter men- tioned. The ballots shall contain the words " In favor of additional school tax," or " opposed to addi- tional school tax," if anialorityof the ballots cast at such election shall contain the words, "infavor of additional school tax," the approval aforesaid shall be considered as given. Said ballots, voted as aforesaid, shall be canvassed by the said board of education or a majority of its members ; and the said board shall keep a record of the proceedings of such meeting, and shall file the same, together with a cevtificateoftheresult of such election, in the office of the town clerk of said town within five days after such meeting shall be held. [ Chap. 434, Laws qf 1885,] * Section 1 . Amends sec. 3, chap. 638, Laws of 1857, as in that act referred to. § 2. The said board of education shall, at their first meetinglafter the annual district meeting, choose * This chapter does not amend or repeal any particular section or sections, with the exception of sec. 3, of chap. 638, Laws of 1857. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this act are repealed. For this reason it becomes necessary to print both acta and they must be examined together. hi S44 Flushi]!^^g. one of their members for president, one for secretary, and a treasurer, who may or may not he a mem- be? of the board, each of whom shall be entitled to hold office for one year, or until hs successor quail- flea The treasurer before entering ufmn the duties of his office, shall execute and deliver to said board &?bond conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, with such penalty, and m such form, and with such surety as the board shall approve. ,.,..,,. , «♦*„« «„^ 3 3 The said hoard of education shall have power to appoint a district clerk at a salary not to exceed onebundreddoUursperyear. to hold the office during the pleasure of the board. 6 4 The board shall have power by appointment to fill vacancies that may occur in their numher, and the person so appointed shall hold office until the next annual election thereafter, or until his successor shall be duly elected or appointed. ^ .,. . * ^ * *i. ^ 3 5 The board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government, and for the order and irovernment of the schools, and for the protection of the property under their control. They shall have entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the property belonging to the same. They shall have and possess within the said district all the rights, powers and authority of the school commissioner of common schools of the first assembly district of the county of Queens. - ..,.„.,. j ^ *■ r 2 6. The said board of education shall each year appoint a collector, with all the powers and duties of a school district collector. The collector shall execute a bond, conditional for the faithful performance of his duties, in such penalty and form and with such sureties as the said board shall approve ; and such collector shall pay over all moneys collected by him, by virtue of his warrant, to the treasurer of the board of education. ^ ^ ^^ 5 7. It shall be the duty of the board of education of said district to make an annual report to tae school commissioner of tlie first assembly district of Queens county, at the time, in the same manner, and at the same extent, as other schools are required by law to make report. 5 8. The supervisor of the town of Flushing shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of edacation all the public moneys to which said district numher three shall de entitled. 2 9. The said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed to levy and collect by tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, such sum as the said board shall estimate or determine to be necessary: First, for the payment of the principal and Interest on the bonded indebtedness of said district, and, second, such additional sum said board sball estimate to be necessary for teachers' wages, repairs, insurance, school supplies, fuel and other current expenses incident to the proper maintenance ot good schools; provided that the amount raised for the lurpose specified under the second clause of this section shall not exceed fifty-five cents on each one anndred dollars of the assessed valuation of the taxable property in said district, as the same sball have been assessed by the assessors of the town of Flusliing, m their last preceding annual assessment-roll of said town. 2 10. Said board shall have power to issue warrants for the collection of taxes, returnable in sixty or ninety days after date, at their discretion ; and they shall have power to renew theeame whenever they shall deem it necessary. Such warrant to be signed by the president and secretary, or a mt^jority of the board of education, and tlie board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, not exceeding five per centum of the amount to be collected. 2 11. Whenever the said hoard of education shall deem It necessary to erect one or moreschool- houses in said district, or to enlarge the school-house or school-houses, or to purchase sites or lots for said buildings in said district, before they shall proceed to levy and tax for the same, they shall prepare an estimate and plan, showing the location proposed, cost of ground, and plans and estimated cost of buildings; and shall submit the same to the electors of said district at an annual meeting or at a special meeting to be called for that purpose ; and if a majority of the electors voting at such election shall vote in favoi of the same, then the said board of education may proceed to acquire litle to such sites or lots, and to erect or enlarge said school-house or school-houses in the manner proposed in said estimate and plan. § 12. The said board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to raise such sum as may be necessary for the purpose suecified in section eleven of this act, by a loan to be secured by bonds pledging the faith and credit of said district number three; provided, however, the amount raised shall not exceed the amount estimated and voted for by the electors, to be issued b^ said board of education in their official capacity, and signed by the president and treasurer. The said bonds to be issued in sums of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars each, and not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars of said bonds shall mature in any one year. The said bonds shall be issued at a rate of interest not to exceed six per centum, and sold at a price not less than their par value. 2 13. All former or existing acts or parts of acts repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, so far as the same relates to district numher three in the town of Flush- ing, county of Queens and State of New York. §14. This act sball take eflect immediately. FLUSHING, DISTRICT No. 5. [Laws of 1848, chap. 81, cls amended by chap. 117 of 18-19, and 284 q/" 1854.] Section 1. School district number five, in the town of Flushing, in the county of Queens, shall form A permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the town superintendent of common schools for the town in which said district is situated, 2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " The board of education," which hoard shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; Effingham W. Lawrence, Edward B. Mitchell. Samuel B. Parsons, William H. Fairweather and Thomas Leggett, Junior, shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold their offices from one to five years; that is to say, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 2 3. There shall be elected in each year, in said district, one member of said board of education who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district, and shall hold his office for five years; the said election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district; and the board of education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and of all other elections provided for by this act, except as provided in section fourteenth of this act, within thirty days next preceding any such election ; such elections shall be by ballot, and notice thereof .shall be given, the same shall be held and conducted, the votes shall be canvassed and the result of the election determined, in the same manner as in the case of the annual election of other village officers. 2 4. The board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the prop- erty belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within the said district, all the rights, powers Flushing. 845 and authority of town superintendent of common school!!. They may employ a collector, with all the powers and duties of a district collector, or may employ the town or village collector for that purpose ; and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed tipon said district to the treas- urer of the board of education in the same manner ami under the same conditions as is imposed hy the- laws of the town or vill^e of which he is such collector. They shall require two of the membere of said board to visit each schoolin said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 2 5. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum not exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, either by a tax on said district or by a loan, such loan to be secured by a mortgage upon the public school property of said district, to be executed by said hoard in their 3 6. The said board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are hereby authorized to- raise, may levy and collect a sum sufflcient to pay interest on loans, as the same becomes due ; and whenever any part of the principal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount suiBeient to pay the same, which sums, when collected, shall he paid over by said board in discharge of such principal and Intereot. 8 7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax in each year such sum as may be necessary upon all the taxable property in such tlistnct, two-flfths of one per cent on the value of such tancable property as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing, and the said board shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amountas they shall deem proper as the collectors' fees for collection, which compensation, however. Bhall in no case exceed Ave per cent on the amount of the warrant. {As amended by chap, 261, Lous 0/18690 2 8. The town superintendent of common schools of the town of Flushing shall pay over to the- treasurer of the hoard of education all the public moneys to which said district number five shall b& entitled for school purposes. i 9. The said board ot education shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they may tbinic proper, and shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in saiddistrict under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposes^ and the expenditure of the same, and, generally, all the particulars relating to the schools in said district ; which report shall, immediately after it is made, be published in a newspaper published in the town of Flushing, for two- weeks, and once in each week. 1 10. The board of edufation shall have control and charge of the district school libraryin said district; theymay employ a librarian, make such addition to the library and such regulations in relation thereto- as they may deem necessary. ? II, The school for the colored children under the charge of the female association in the village of Flushing may, with the consent of said association, be taken under the charge of the hoard of educa- tion and be organized as a district school, and be supported as the other schools in said district are underthis act. § 12. Whenever the said board'of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses in said district they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground required, a plan of the building, with the estimated cost of the building and appurtenances, and shall submit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting, to be called for that purpose in the same manner as other special meetings are required to be called, and if a majority of all the electors present at such meeting shall vote in favor of the same, then said hoard may proceed to erect said school-house or bouses in the manner proposed by said estimate ; and if the sum authorized to be raised by section five of this act should be insufficient to pay the estimated cost of such buildings and ground, with the expense of grading and regulating the grounds, building the necessary out-houses and fences, with the cost of the necessary books, stationery and necessary apparatus for th^ school- house and rooms, then the said board of education may raise a sum, in addition to the sum mentioned in section 6, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars ; and they are also authorized to levy and collect such amount as may be necessary to pay the principal or interest of such additional sum as may become due, in the same manner as is provided in section sixth of the said act. S 13. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem It necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof, in at least four public places in said village, and by publishing the same in a newspaper published in the village of Flushing, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meeting, which notice shall state the time and place of such raeetioK and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no business shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. [Chap. 346, Laws of 1675.'] Subjects the Flushing high school to the visitation and control of the Regentsjof the University, and admits it to a participation in the literature and other academic funds. [Chap. 477, Laws of 1317.} Section 1. From and after the passage of this act the territory embraced within the corporate limits of the village of Flushing, in Queens county, shall constitute one school district only, and the- boundaries of school district number five, of the town of Flushing, are hereby extended and changed so as to coincide and be identical with the boundaries of said village. 2 2. All districts adjacent to and bordering upon said district number Ave, as heretofore bounded, shall hereafter border upon and be bounded by the ^village of Flushing. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to release or discharge or in any way affect any tax for school purposes, in any district, levied prior to a change in the boundaries thereof, pursuant to the provisions of this act. Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 re-enact for this district sections 13, 8, 18 and 25 of title nine of the Consolidated School Act of 1864. Section 7 gives to the superintendent of public instruction the power for cause to remove members of the board of education. Section 8 confers upon the board power to fill vacancies in the same. [Section 2, chap. 187, Laws of 1878.] Confers upon the board of education power to employ a superintendent of schools. Other acts affecting this district have been passed, but chiefly of a special character for immediate, purposes, and not affecting the organization of the schools. a46 Flushing. iChap. 42fr, Laws of 18S6 ] i^FfTinM 1 The sum or sums of money which the board of education of school district number five of the t°„wn of FlushTngS declare necessary for the furtherance of the Powers vested m them by i«J «v,all not px-eeed in the agKregate in any one year seventy-live cents on each one hundred dollars ilthe assLsefvfluaUon of the tLable property in said district as the same shal hay e been assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing In their last precedrng annual assessment-roll ot said town FLUSHING, DISTRICT No. 7. ( Village of College Point 1 qprTinN 1 School district number seven, in the town of Flashing. In the connty of Queens, shall foim a fermanentlSool district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the school commissioner ot the occPTiihiv district in which said school district is situated. . 32 Sa!d Sol district shall hereafter be bounded as follows : commencing at the south-west comer in tL cent?? of ^he front S from the village of Flushing.to CUntonviUe and north boundary of district number five ; thence westerly along the north line of said district number five to the waters of FSrhine bay -thence northerly along the waters of said bay to the Bast nver; thence an easterly ?Lrse along the waters of said river until it comes to Nostrand's cove and .the north-west boundary SrdTtrict lumbefthree: and thence along the west boundary of said district number three to the ^Ys The saTdTstiict shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled the "board of education." which hoard shall consist of five members, three or more of whom shall constitute a quoruni for the Samaction of business, Augustus Drebling, francis Zoeller William E. Chisholra Conrad Pappen- iSMen. and Herman A. Schleicher shall compose the flrat board of education.and shall hold that office from one to live years, thiic i= lu say : one bhall go out of office in each year, ana in the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. .*■,.,.« *i. 3 4. At the first annual meeting held In said district, and at each annual meeting thereafter, there shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for five years, who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district. Said election, and all other elections pro- vided for by this act, shall be held by three inspectors, who shall be appointed by the board of educa- tion, at least thirty days preceding such election, and shall be by ballot, and conducted in the same manner as the annual election. . , - ^. . i, - 5 5. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for president, one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold oftice for one year ; the treasurer Bhall execute a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty, in such form and withsuch sureties as the said board shall approve, and the said board of education may make all necessary by- laws for their government. They shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and of all the property belonging to the same. They shall have and possess within said district all the rights, and powers, and authority of school commissioners. They may appoint a collector, who shall have all the powers and duties, and shall be subject to all the con- ditions that district collectors now are, or may employ the town collector for that purpose, and such collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the board of education, in the same manner and under the same conditions as the laws of the town of which he is such collector require. They shall appoint two of the members of said board, who shall visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render shch assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the regulations are rigidly adhered to. 2 6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, either by tax on said district or by a loan, such loan to be secured by a mortgage upon the public school property of said district, to be executed by said board in their oflBcial capacity. Such money, when raised by tax or loaned, shall be paid over to said board of educa- tion or treasurer thereof, to be applied directly by them in purchasing a site and erecting or purchasing a school-house or school-houses for said district, in grading and regulating the grounds and building the necessary fences and out-houses. 2 7. The said board of education are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax in each year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums as may be necessary for teachers' wages, to pay the interest due on loans and a part of the principal, to furnish the teachers with necessary hooks and stationery, to furnish the necessary apparatus for the school-house and rooms, and for such other purposes as they may deem proper. Such tax shall not exceed in amount one-fourth of one per cent on the value of such taxable property as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Flushing; and the said board snail add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they may deem proper as the collector's fees for collecting, which compensation, how- ever, shall in no case exceed five per cent on the amount of any warrant. 28. The supervisor of the town in which said school district is situated shall pay overto the hoard of education all the. public moneys to which said district number seven is or shall be entitled to for echoolpurposes. 2 9. The said board of education shall call an annual meeting of the district at such time in the year as they may deem proper. They shall post up written or printed notices of the same in eight or more public places in said district, at least one week previous to said meeting, and shall submit thereto a full report in writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools In said district under their charge and the number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, as well as the amount required in the district for school purposeSj and the expenditure of the same, and generally all the particulars relating to the schools in said district, which report shall, immediately after it is made, be published in one or more newspapers published in the village of Flushing, 2 10. The board of education shall have entire control and charge of the district school library In such district. They may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library, and such regulations ia relation thereto as they may deem expedient. 2 II. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary toerect one or more school-houses in said district, they shall prepare an estimate showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground required, apian of the building with the estimated cost of building and appurtenances, and shall submit the same to the electors of said district at a special meeting called for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required to be called; and if a majority of all the electors S resent vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to erect said school-house or school- ouses tn the manner proposed by said estimate. 2 12. The said board of education may call special meetings of said school district whenever they m^ deem it necessary. Notices of a meeting shall be posted in eight or more public places, and published in a county paper at least one week previous to such meeting, and no business shall bo Fort Covington. 847 transacted at such meeting except that stated In the notice calling the same. Any person entitled to vote at any district meeting shall be an elector or legal voter for all purposes under this act. 2 13. All lawB and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as the same relate to district number seven, in the town of Flushing, county of Queens. \aiap. 311. Laws of 1869 ] (Village charter of College Point.) Section 1. The boundaries of school district number seven of the town of Flushing shall be the same as the boundaries of the said village of College Point; and the trustees of the village of College Point shall, on the requisition of the board of education of school district numher seven, cause to be assessed, levied and collected with their annual tax, the amount which the said board of education of school district number seven are now authorized and directed to levy and collect, and pay the same as soon as collected to the treasurer of the said board of education. [Chap. in. Lawitofif^l Section!. Section four of chapter four hundred and forty-nineof the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled "An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to Issue bonds and borrow money for tbeerection of a school-house in said village, and to increase the school tax in said village," is hereby amended so as to read as follows : g 4. The trustees of said village are hereby authoiized to increase the annual tax for school parposes in said village from one-half ofone per centum now allowed by law, to an amount not exceeding six- tenths of one per centum for the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and annualSy thereafter. § 2. The trustees of the said village of College Point, shall take no steps in pursuance hereof until the same shall be approved by a majority of the voters of said village voting at a special election to be called by the trustees of said village, by giving at least twenty days' notice before fcuch election, by posting notices In at least six public places in said village, and by publibhing the same in all news- gapers published in said village once a week for two weeks. The said election shall be held from the our of twelveo'clock noon until seven o'clock In the afternoon and such election shall in all things be conducted as are the annual elections for trustees in said village. The ballots received at said elec- tion shall be endorsed " school tax," and in order to be canvassed shall contain the words "intavorof increasmg the annual school tax " or "against increasing the annual school tax." If a majority of the ballots so canvassed shall contain the words "in favor ol increasing the annual school tax" the approval above mentioned shall be consldereil as given. A certificate ol the result of said election shall be filed by the canvassers thereof in the office of the county clerk of Queens county within five days after said election. FORT COVINGTON. [Laws of 1853, cfiap. 155.] Section!. There shall hereafter be elected in school district number one, formed of school districts numbers one and two, in the town of Fort Covington and county of Franklin, three or five trustees, who shall respectively hold their offices three or five years (as the term of oflUce may be). Preserved Ware, Warren L. Manning, William Hogle, G. A. Streeter, H. B. Mears, and George A. Cheney are hereby appointed trustees of. said district, and shall respectively hold said office as follows, namely : The term of office of Preserved Ware and Warren L. Manning shall expire at the same Ume that the term of office of Henry A. Paddock, a trustee of said district, shall expire; the term of office of Wil- liam Hogle and G. A. Streeter shall expire at the same time that the term of office of A. M. Lincoln, a trustee of said district, shall expire ; and the terra of office of H. B. Mears and George A. Chenev shall expire at the same time that the term of office of Christopher Briggs, as trustee of said district, shall expire. S 2. The tnistees of said district, and their successors In office, shall constitute a hoard of education for said district; and, for the purposes of this act, in addition to the present powers and duties of trus- tees, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and title of " Thp hoard of edii* cation of the village of Fort Covington ;" and said corporation shall have power to establish and organ- ize a classical school in said village, to he known by the name of the " Fort Covington acaoemy ; " and such classical school shall be subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other Incorporated acade- mies of this State, an repayment of the money so borrowed. 2 6. All moneys required to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by the law apportioned, appropriated to or provided for said district, whether from the school, literature or Uniteii States deposit ftinds, or under the act to establish free schools throughout the State, or other- wise, shall be paid to the treasurer of the said district, who, together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as the treasurer of the county of Stpuben is for moneys which comes into his hands, and shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduci . §6. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act, to be received by him, upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned bv the secretary of said board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said hoard, and shall be 854 HORNELLSVILLE. made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the same, but he shall receive no compensa- 5 7 The tieasurer'of said district shall, before entering upon his duties, execute a bond with at least two sureties to Ur presented to and approved by the said board of education. He shall receive all moneys collected by the collector, and give his receipt for the same, and shall draw upon the super- visor of the town for the amount due and apportioned from the common school fund, and upon the Comptroller of the State for the amount appropriated from the literature fund, and receive all moneys from any and all sources that may belong to or be due to said school district or academic department, and receive all money from foreign scholars, and give his receipt for the same, and shall pay ail drafts drawn by the president and secretary of said board, and shall report annually at the annual meeting of the board, also at the annual meeting of the district, and shall present a statement of his accounts to the board at any time they may retiuire, and shall surrender at the end of his term of office all moneys and papers in his hands as such treasurer to his successor in office, 2 8. The supervisor of the town of Hornellsville aforesaid shall pay to the treasurer of said district all moneys apportioned to said district and which shall come into his hands, upon the draft of eaid trpag- nrer countersigned bv the members of said board, which said draft, so drawn and connterslgned, shall be as valid and effectual and have the same force and effect as if drawn by the trustees , of a school district, payable to the order of a duly qualified teacher. § 9. A collector shall be elected, chosen or appointed for said district, as now provided by law. and have and perform the same powers, rigbts and duties and be liable to the same obligations, penalties, pains and proceeding as now provided by law, except that said collector shall, within the life of his warrant or the renewal thereof, pay all moneys collected by him as such collector to the treasurer of said school district. g 10. The said board shall have power and it shall be their duty, 1. To organize and establish such and so many schools or departments In said districts as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same, 2. To purchase and hire school -roonis or houses, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with build- ings thereon, to be used as school -houses, and to fence and Improve such sites as they may deem proper. 3. Upon such lots and upon such sites owned by said district, to build, enlarge, alter. Improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable, 4. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture, appar- atus and appurtenances, and to see that their ordinances In relation thereto are observed. 5. To contract with, license and employ all teachers in said schools or departments and the academi- cal departments therein, and at their pleasure to remove them. 6. To pay the wages of the teachers in said schools out of the moneys apportioned, appropriated and provided by law, for the support of common schools In said district, and the wages of the teachers of the academical department out of the moneys appropriated to said department from the income of the literature and United States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue of the wages of the teachers in said schools and academical department, from the moneys authorized to be raised for that purpose by section fourth of this act, by a tax upon said district. 7. To defray the contingent expenses of said common 6Chools and academical department, and the expenses of the school library of said district, and the necessary and contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of the secretary. 8. The said board to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of com- mon schools of said district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and Instruction, or the recepHon of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their good order, prosperity and utility, and they shall have the power to expel or suspend any pupil or scholar from any of the said schools or departments for such time as they may see fit, when in their judgment the welfare and good order of said schools or academical department may require. And to have power on the first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or at any time thereafter, to establish In said schools an academical department to receive into said schools or academical department, pupils resid- ing out of said district, and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of said schools, and In such academical department, and to collect such fees in the name of said district ; to regulate the transf'='!- of scholars from one department to another, and for their transfer from class to class ; to direct what text-books shall be used in said schools and academical department ; to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, furni- ture and appendages, and fuel and other necessaries for the schools and academical d^artment, and to establish In said district as they may see fit. 9. To sell, whenever in their opinion it may be advisable, any of the school-houses, lots or sites and appurtenances, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to said district. Such sale shall in no case, however, be made unless a petition, duly verified by the president of said board, setting forth the necessity or expediency thereof, shall first be presented by said board to the county court of Steuben county, and an order authorizing such sale and specifying the terras and conditions thereof shall be granted by said court. Notice of the presentation of such petition to said judge shall be published in all of the newspapers published in said district at least ten days before the presentation thereof. All moneys arising from such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the district, and all securi- ties taken on account of any such sale or sales shall be made payable to him. 10. To prepare and report to the trustees of the village of Hornellsville such ordinances and regula- tions as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school- houses, lots and sites and appurLenances, and all the property belonging to the district, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations. 11. To cause to be prepared jukI published in the newspapers published in said district, at least ten days before the annual meeting of the electors of said district, a fall report ; 1st, Stating what schools have been kept during the year and for whitt time. 2d. The whole number of teachers employed, and in what department and salary. 3d. The number of children on the roll in each department, and the average attendance of each. 4th. The number of children In the district between the ages of Ave and twenty-one years. 5th. The amount of school money received by the treasurer, and from what source received. 6th. An itemized statement for what purpose expended. 7th. And such other information as they may deem necessary to publish. _1.2. To make and direct between the first and second Tuesdays in October, to the school commis- sioner of the district in which said school district Is, a report in writing dated on the first day of October of the year In which it is made, and shall sign and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk of the town of Hornellsville aforesaid, and every such report shall certify: 1st. The whole time any school has been kept by qualified teachers, and the whole number of days including hollidays, in which the school was taught by qualified teachers. ' 2d. The amount of their drafts upon the supervisor or treasurer of said -district for the payment of teachers wages during such year, and the amount of their drafts upon him for the purchase of hooka ana school apparatus during such year, and the manner In which such moneys have been expended. Hudson". 855 3d. The nunibeV of children taught in the district school or schools during snch year, by quallfled teachers, and the sum of the days' attendance of all snch children upon the school. 4th. The number of children residing in the district on the last day of September previous to the ranking such report, between the ages of five and twenty-one years, and the names of the parents or other persona with whom such children respectively reside, and the number of children residing with oach. 5th. The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public money paid therefor, the amount of taxes levied in said district for purchasing school -houses, sites for building, hiring, pur- chasing, repairing and insuring school-houses, for foci, for district liabraries, or for any other purpose allowed by law. and such other Information in relation to the schools and the district as the superm- tendent of public instruction mny from time to time require. § 11. The board of education shall provide that each department shall be visited by a committee of one or more of their number at least once in each term. 2 12. The academical department to be established as aforesaid, shall be under the visitation of the regents of the university of this State, and shall be subject to its course of education, and matters per- taining thereto (but not in reference to the buildings or erections in which the same is conducted, unless in case the buildings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the common school department) to all the regulations made In regard to academies by the said regents ; and in such department, the qualifications, for the entrance of auy pupil shall be the same as those established by the said regents tor admission into anyacademy of the State under their supervision : and such academical department shall share in the distribution of the Income of the literature fund, with acadamies in the State, subject to the visitation of the regents of the university. Such academical department shall be known as the Hornell Free Academy, and shall be forever free to all persons of school age, who are residents of the said district, and who shall comply with the regulations of said board of education. 213. It is hereby provided that In case the board of education shall lieem it expedient to purchase additional sites or lots and to erect additional buildings for the use ot said school, or to erect a building for an academy in said district, they shall submit the question to a vote of the tax payers of the district, at the annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purijose, specifying the amount to be raised and the manner of raising it, which vote shall be taken by ballot, and if a mHlority of the per- sons voting shall he in favor of the propositions of the board of education, then they shall have the power to raise the sum of money voted for that purpose by tax on the real and personal property in said district, which shall be liable to taxation for town and county charges. In like manner as other taxes are raised in said district; and the board of education are authorised and directed, when neces- sary, to borrow in anticipation the amount of taxes to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid, and give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the hoard of education and under the seal of the disti'ict, as security for the repayment of the money so borrowed. The moneys to be raised and paid In annual installments, or otherwise, as the board shall deem expedient; such proposition, stating the object thereof, shall be first published in all the newspapers published in said district, at least two weeks before said meeting. 2 14. This act shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying within the bounds of dis- trict number seven, of the town of Hornellsville ; and the ottlcu of school commissioner, so far as is applicable to said district, except as herein provided, is hereby abolished. g 15. This act shall take effect the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and all acts and parta of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 2 Ifi. There shall be five trustees In said school district number seven : orM of whom shall be elected at each annual meeting of said district, and those hereafter so elected shall hold their office for the term of Ave years. {Addedby chap. 294, Laws qf 1S81. ) § 17. There shall be a special school meeting held at the village hall. In the said village of Hornellsville, in sail! district, on the last Tuesday of June next, at two o'clock in the afternoon of that day, to elpct the two additional trustees required by this act, and the clerk of said dUtrict shall give the same notice of saltl special meeting now required by law for an annual meeting; and at said special meeting the electors of said district shall elect one trustee for four, and one trustee for five year, from the Wednes- day next following the second Tuesday of October last past, and shall designate by their votes for which term each is elected, and said trustees so elected, together with the trustees now in office, and their successors, shall constitute the board of education of the village of Hornellsville. {Added by c/tttp.2y4, LawaoflS&U) HUDSON. iChap. 55, Laws of 1881.] Section!. The superintendents of public schools in and for the city of Hudson, appointed by the common council of said city, and in office when this act takes effect, shall hold their office until the expiration of the term lor which they were respectively appointed, and until a successor or succes- sors shall be appointed and qualified. And all their official acts and proceedings taken or had by them heretofore shall be held and adjudged in all respects valid and binding upon all the parties thereto. 2 2. Saldsuperlntendentsand their successors, as hereinafter provided, shall constitute a board to bo hereafter styled "The board of education of the city of Hudson," which shall consist of five mera- bers, and be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred by this act. and three members of said board .shall form a quorum for the transaction of business. The common council of said city shall, at the regular monthly meeting held In the month of May in each year, appoiot one , member for the board of education in place of the member whose term of oftice shall expire on the fol- lowing first day of June, The term of ofllie of such member shall comraeuce on the first day of June following such appointment, and shall continue for five years. Should a vacancy occur, otherwise than by expiration of term of office, the common council shall appoint some per.^^on to fill the unex- pired term ot the member whose term of office has become vacant. The members of the board of edu- cation appointed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall respectively, before entering upon the duties of their office, file with the city clerk a bond to the elty of Hudson in the penal sum of Iwp thousand dollars, and with such sureties as the common council shall direct; the said bond tobecoh- ditloned that the principals therein, respectively, shall and will faithfully perform the duties of thpir office, and account for all money to be received by them, or drawn from the funds in the hands of the city treasurer by virtue of this act; the form ot such bond, and the sufliciency of such sureties, to be approved by the common council. 2 3. Any member of said board may be removed by said common council for malfeasance or mis- feasance in office, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of said common courtcU, upon written charged and cpecificatious of such misconduct being presented to said common council, signed by one member of said common council, or by one member of said board(of education; provided, however that a copy of such charges and specincallons shall be personally served on the member sought to be removed, at least twenty days before the hearing and examination of such charges and specifications 856 HuDSOK. Dy the common council, or a committee tliereof, and at such liearlng a^.-^ examination sM shall have full opportunity to cross-examine the witness, to present evidence, and be lieard in hisown Slf Inca^-S chafjzesandspeciticationsare proved and sustained, the defending memher of said board shall pay all expenses and counsel fees incurred by him In his defense. - • , J 4 The said boaVd of education shall hold their first meeting within ten days after receiving from the Secretary of State a certified copy of this act. and the annual meetings of said board shall bPhe d on the first Mondav of July in each year. At the first meeting, and at the annual meetings in Schvearthereaft-er; said board shall organize by the election of one of their members as president, and when ^aid president shall he absent, such board shall elect a president pre teni., who shall possess all the Dowei-s of the president at such meeting. The said board shall meet as often as once In each month. Special meetings may be called by the president, or any three of its members by eiviog per- sonal notice to each member, or causing a written or printed notice of such meeting to be Jett at his last place of residence at least twenty-four hours before such meeting. No member of said hoard shall be entitled to or receive any fee or compensation for his services, but the said board may, at their annual or other regular meeting, designate and appoint some suitable peraon — not a member of the ]joard — by a vote of not less than a majority of the entire board, to act as superintendent of public schools for the ensuing school year, and snch person so appointed shall receive such salary as the board may direct, not to exceed one thousand dollars per annum. Such superintendent may be removed at any time by the said board, and in case of removal or resignation at any time he shall be entitled to receive only the prorata share or portion of such annual compensation as may be then due. The acting '-uperintendent, who has had general supervision of the public schools since September first, eighteen hundred and eighty, hhall be held to have been appointed, according to law, and shall hold said oflSce under this act as above, or until a successor be appointed ; and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion to the city of Hudson, from the school moneys of the State, the same amount as provided for other cities where special snpervision of the schools is maintained. Said appropriation to begin with the school year in which this act is passed. go. The superintendent appointed nnder the provisions of this act, or some member the board designate, shall be the secretary, or secretary pro tem. of said board of education, and perform the duties thereof, but shall receive no com])ensation other than that to be paid to him as superintendent under the provisions of this act. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and perform such other duties in connection with the schools as said board may prescribe. The said records, or a transcript thereof, certified bv the spcri'tiiry or secretary pro tem.. shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such records, and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall at all reasonable times be subject to the inspection of the common council, or a committee of the same. g 6. Said board of education shall have the power and it shall be their duty— 1st. To divide the citv into school districts, to esiabhsh, organize and reorganize snch and so man^ schools in said city, including the common schools now established therein, as they shall deem reciuisite and expedient, and to discontinue the same. 2d. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lot- or sites for school -houses, and npon such lots and upon liny sites now owned by said citv, and used for school purposes, to build, enlarge, improve, alter, and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, subject to the provisionsof this act. 3d. To purchase, improve and exchange school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and to have charge of all the realiand pirsonal property of said city, provided for school purposes, including the joint school district liSary of the city of Hudson, make all proper and necessary regulations con- cerning the same, and they nmy appropriate for tho benefit of said library or for apparatus necessary for the schools, out of the moneys annually raised in the said city for school purposes, an amount not exceeding one huntired dollars in addition to the library money received from the State, and see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto are observed. 4tb. To appoint a librarian who shall, under their direction, have special charge of the library, and to pay the said librarian a salary not exceedius fifty dollars per annum out of the school funds of the city. 5th. To defray all the expenses connected with the schools out of the moneys provided for school purposes. 6th. Til examine, license, employ, and pay all teachers of the schools under their ch arse and at their pleasure remove them. No teacher employed as such shall be a member of the hoard of education. 7th. To determine the kind of class-hooks to he used in the several schools. The books thus adopted to be uniform throughout all the schools as near as may be. 8th. To have the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools of said city, and adopt alter and repeal rules and regulations for their organization, government and Instruction, for the reception of pupils and for their transfer from one school lo another, and generally for the pro- motion of their good order and utility. 9th. The said board of education shall also have power to allow the children of persons not" residents of Hudson to attend the schools ol said city iiptin such terms as the board shall by resolution prescribe. The money so received from non-residents to ii-j used for school purposes. g 7. No person shall be eligible or appouited to the office of member of the board of education who shall at the same time be a member o1 the common council, yor unless at the time of his appointment he shall be a resident of the city and an elector; and whenever such appointee shall cease to be a resi- dent his office shall thereby become vacant. §8. No otftcerof said board of education, ov any other person, shall havepowor to make or shall make any purchases, create any liability, or contract, any debt on the part of said board, unless specially authorized by said hoard, or by his title f-o to d'\ and no account, claim or demand shall Ue audited, allowed or paid by said board unless the .same was so authorized ; nor shall any member of said board be directly or indirectly interested in any contract made by said board. § 9. Each member of the board shall visit all the schools nnder their charge not less than oncein each year, and said board shall provide that each tchuol shall be visited by a committee of their number at least once in each term. §10, The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books.- apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property, shall be vesteil in the city of Hudson, and the same, while used or appropri- ated for school purposes, shall not be levied ur sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be sub- ject to taxation for any purposes whatever. And the said citv in its corporate capacltv shall be able to take, hold and dlsnose of any personal or real estate transferred to It by grant, gift, bequest or devise for the use of the schools of said city, whether the same be transferred in terms to said rity by its proper style or by any otller designation, or lo any person or persons or body for the use of said schools. g 11. The common council of said city may. by a two-thirds vote of all its members, upon the recom- mendalion of said board of education, sell any of the school-honst-s, sites, lots, or any of the school property now or hereafter belougin-; to said city, upon such terms as the common council shall deem reasonable ; the proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of tatd city, and deposited to Huntington. 857 tlio credit of the board of educalion, und shall be by said board expended in the purchase, repairs or improvunient of schocl buildings, lots, sites, or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. i 12. The common council of said city of Hudson, at the regular monthly meeting in January in eacli year, shall appropriate out of the general fund raised under the provisions of the city charter, for the annual expenses and general purposes of the common schools of the city of Hudson, an amount not less than seven thousand dollars. , ,, ., , ^ 13. In case any school buiklinp shall be destroyed by fire or otherwise, or in case any school build- ing shall be iu the opinion of the board of education untit for school purposes, or in case it shall be necessary, in the opinion of said board, to add to, to enlarge, or repair any existing school buildings, their out-houses or appurtenances, then, upon the recommendation of four-fiflliBof the members of the board of education, the common council of the city of Hudson may, by a vote ol two thirds of all the members thereof, raise the amount necessary for such ijurposeon the credit of the city, and pay and discharge the same from the sum raised for city purposes, in accordance with the proviblons of section forty-one of title four of the city charter, except that should the amount required exceed the sum of one thousand dollars, the common council may issue bouils of such form as such council shall firesciibe, for the amount exceeding such sum of one thousand tloUars, at a rate of interest nut exceed- iig six p''r cent per annum, and payable at the rate of one thousand dollars a year; said sumof one thousand dollars, and the interest on all bonds remaining unpaid and issued in accordance with the provisions of this section, to he paid out of the sum raised, in accordance with the provisions of section forty-one of title four of the city charter. Said amount shall not in the aggregate exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, iu any one year, for the purpose of adding to, enlarging or repairing any existing school building. Nor shall more than ten thousand dollars be expended in the erection of anyone school building; nor shall the number of school sites be increased, or a school-house or Bchool-housL's in addition to the number now existing be erected, except by a majority vote of the tax payers of the city at au election held for that purpohe, subject to the provisions of title seven of the city charter. H-l. All moneys appropriated, raised or received pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys approi>i-iated or provided hy law for said city, shall be paid to the treasurer ofsaid city, , wlio shall, with his sureties upon his official bond, be accountable therefor, and shall bw liable for official misconduct in relation to such moneys in the same manner and to the same extent in every way as for other moneys, and similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said city. All mon- eys so raised, appropriated and provided for school purports shall he deposited to the credit of the board of education of saiil city, separate and distinct from anyotli^rr funds by the treasurer of the city. The said city treasurer shall pay out such moneys upon drafts drawn by the president, and counter- signed by tiie secvetarv of said board of education, and no such drafts shall be drawn except by virtue of a resolution of said board, and shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the aainc, or to their order. g 15. The said board may cause suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of Hudson upon the official bond of the treasurer of the city of Hudson for any default or official misfeasance or mal- feasance in relation to any of the moneys appro|>riated or raised for school purposes. g 16. Whenever in the opinion of the board it may be ailvisable. it shall be their duly to recommend to the common council of the city ol HuLlson such ordinances as they may deem necessarv to carry the foregoing powers into execution, and annually, on or before the monthly meeting in October in each year, to certily the sums necessary or proper to he raised under the. preceding sections of this act. to make the animal report to the 8rate Superintendent o( Public Instruction on or before the first day of November of such matters as shall be required, and on or before the last Thursday of December in each year, to report to the common council of the city of Hudson a detailed statement of the receipts and disbursements for the school year next preceding such report. g 17. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the common council immediately after the appointment of any person as member ofsaid board of education, in writing, to notify him of his appointment, and if such person shall not. within ten days after receiving such notice, take and file with said clerk the conslitutional oath of oftlce, the common council may consider it a refusal to serve, and proceed to fill the vacancy occasioned by such refusal. § 18. This act shall take effect immediately, and all existing provisions of laws relating to the com- mon schools of the city of Hudson are hereby repealed. [Chap. 298. Laws qf 1886. | Entitled " An act to provide for borrowing money upon the credit of the city of Hudson, to erect a -public school building iu said city, and procure site therefor. " HUNTINGTON. [Chap. 387, Laws qf 18.17.1 Section 1. School districts numbers three, four and five of Huntington, in the county of Suffolk, are hereby consolidated for the purposes in this act specified, and shall hereafter for such purposes form but one school district, to be called the union school district of Huntington. 2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board to be styled " the board of education," ■which board shall consist of six members, four or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. George A. Scudder, Brewster Conklln, Smith Woodhull. Brewster Skidmore, Richard R. Post and George W. Conklin, shall compose the first board of education, who shall be divided into three equal classes, each class containing two members, and shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, so that the first; class shall serve to the first annual meeting ensuing; the second one year and the third two years from said meeting. g 3. At the annual meeting of said district, to be held on the first Mondav in January in each year, there shall be elected for three years, two members of said board of education, who shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of said district, as also a clerk, librarian and collector, for one year; and in case of a vacancy of any office in said board or other office of the district, occasioned by the death of such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district, or any cause other than the expiration of the term of office of persons elected, said board of education may make an appointment to fill such vacancy until the next annual meeting. g 3. At the annual meeting of said district, to be held on the second Tuesday in October in each year, there shall be electedj for three years, two members of the said hoard of education, who shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of said district; also, a clerk of the district, and a librarian for one year; and in case of a vacancy in said board, or other office of the district, occasioned by death, refusal to ser\'e or removal from the district, or any cause other than expiration of terra of office of pr-'^jnns plf^cted, said ho'<'-i of «»dncatinn mny make ag annointment to fill such vacancy until the next anuual meeting. (As amendfd by chap, 769, Laws qa 1868.) 108 858 HUNTINGTOX. 1 4. Said board of edncaf.ion shall possess all the powers and he snb|ect to all the duties in respect to said district that the trustees of common schools now possess, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed bv this act. , „ ^ ^ §5. The legal voters of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally held, may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building and site for such purpose, to erect suitable out-buildings, to inclose- the same with a suitable fence, and for such other improvements as may he considered necessary, and also direct the board of education to cause the same to be levied by installments, anil make out a tax list for the 'collection of the same, as often as such installments shall become due; and the said hoard of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of the money legally voted bv said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official bond as representatives of said district, as also to collect by tax from.said district a sum sufflcient to pay interest on said loans. ^ 6. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school, and divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars from one department to tbe other, and provide suitable instructors for each department, direct what text- boobs shall be used in the same, purchase fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district; and all contracts made by them In their official capacity shall be binding upon them and their successors in office ; to fix and regulate the terms of tuition fees In said primary and other higher branches in said school or schools, to sue for and collect in their corporate name any sum of- money due to said district, to receive and apply to the uses of said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest or annuities, given or bequeathed to said district for the purposes of said school or schools, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms and instructions of the donor or testator ; to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of said school or schools, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher employed by them in said schools. 8 7. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the restriction and control of the commissioner of common schools for the district in the same manner as the common schools in this State are suvject. 8 8. Every person elected or appointed to any office mentioned in this act who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and every person so elected or appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said district. 2 9. The trustees of said districts numbers three, four and five, holding office at the time of the passing of this act, shall, as soon as it can be done conveniently, sell, at public auction or priva.te sale, as they shall deem expedient, the district property in their respective districts, and after paying the Just debts of the respective districts, apportion the balance so received from each district among the taxable inhabitants thereof in the ratio of their several assessments upon the last assessment roll of the town. [Chap. 306, Laws of 1870.] An act to exempt the Union School district of Huntington from certain of the provisions of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as amended by chapter four hundred and six of tlie laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, being an act entitlecl "An act to amend an act entitled *An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- tion^' passed May second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and to abolish rate bills authorized by special act," and to enable said Union school to take and receive the benefits of the bequest of Nathaniel Potter, deceased, known as the " Potter School Fund," and to provide for the payment of teachers' wages. Section 1. In addition to the duties Imposed upon the teachers by section fifty-three of title seven of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixt5'-four, as amended by chapter four hundred and six of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the teachers of the union school district of Huntington shall keep a record of the names of the parents and guardians of all children attendiug said school. §2. It shall be the duty of the board of education of the union school district of Huntington, on or before the second Tuesday of October, in each and every year, to ascertain from the teacher's list and make out a statement of the names of the parents or guanlians of children attending said school, and of persons sending children to said school, and the number of children each has sent, and the number of dai's each chilil has attended, and also a written statement of the proportion of such parents, guard- ians, or persons who have sent children to school, of the balance necessary to be raised,> beyond the pub- lic moneys apportioned to the district, for the payment of teachers' wages, each in proportion to the number of days, and children sent by such parent, guardian or person ; and also a written list of the parents of said children attending school, whose names are not on the tax list, and of those whose names stand lowest on the tax list. 23. The said board of education, within ten days thereafter, shall present said statement and list, under their iiands, to the trustees of the fund bequeathed to said school by Nathaniel Potter, deceased, and known as ** The Potter School Fund," to enable said trustees to apply the moneys in their hands to the education of the children whose ijarents' names are not on the tax list, and in case of any surplus, to apply the same toward the education of children whose parents stand lowest on the tax list, until the whole is absorbed, according to the provisions of said bequest. 24« The inhabitants of said school district entitled to vote at the annual school meeting, when duly assembled at such meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present, to vote a tax to pay whatever deficiency there may be in funds for the payment of teachers' wages ; the amount of which deficiency shall be ascertained by deducting from the whole amount the public moneys appor- tioned to the district, and all moneys in the hands of the trustees of the Potter school fund then appli- cable to the education of the children of the poor in said school district; and if the inhabitants shall neglect or refuse to vote a tax for this purpose, or if they shall vote a tax which shall prove insufficient to cover such deficiency, then the board of education are authorized, and it is hereby made their duty, to raise by district tax any reasonable sum that may be necessary to paj^thc balance of teachers' wages remaining unpaid, the same as if such tax had been authorized by a vote of the inhabitants. 2 5. .Section sixteen, title seven, chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the laws of eighteen, hundred and sixty-four, as amended by chapter four hundred and six (section eight) of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-soven shall not apply to the union school district of Huntington. « 6. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are to he deemed inapplicable to tlie umon school district of Huntington. IsLTP. 859 ISLIP. {Chap. 455, Laws o/1865. 1 Sbction t. School district number twelve, in the town of Islip, in the connty'of Snfrolk, shall form s union free school district. 52. The said districi shall be under the direction of a board to bo stvled "the board of education," Buch board to consist of three members, two of whom shall constitute 'a finonim for the transaction of business- Robert W. Pearsall, Stephen Sharp and William Metcalf shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold their office from one to three years, from the second Tuesday in October next, that is to say, one shall go out of ofBce in each year, and in the inverse order In wliich their names stand recorded in this stction. 23. At the annual meeting held in said district in eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and at each anuual meeting thereafter, there shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for the term of three years, and who shall be a resident and tux payer in said district. 2 4. The said board of education shall, at their first meethig, choose one of their number president, and one clerk, and one treasurtr, who shall hold office until the annual raeetins of said board. The said board of education shall also appoint one of the taxable inhabitants of their district collector of the moneys raised and to be raised within the same lor school purposes, who shall hold such appointment during the pleasure of the board. The said treasurer and collector shall each execute a bond conditioned for the faithful pevformauco of his duties and with such sureties as the board shall approve. 85. The said hoard of education may_ make such by-laws as they may deem necessary for their own fovemment ; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within heir said district, and all property belonging to tbe same; they shall require one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the rules and regulations are strictly enforced. And the said board of education shall have the power to take by purchase or by devise, and to hold any real and personal estate necessary for the purposes of this act, ami also to sell and convey the school-house or school-houses and site or sites situated in their district, and to execute and deliver good and valid conveyances therefor when authorized by a majority of votes of the tax payers of the said district present at a special meeting called for that purpose. 2 6. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax once in each year upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall have been last assessed by the town assessors ot the town in which said district is situated, such sums as said board shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes : 1. To pay teachers' wages ; 2. To alter, repair and improve tho school-houses belonging to said district and their appurtenances ; 3. To hire sites, school-houses and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary; 4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district; 5. To pay ail necessary contingent expenses of said school district and board of education. 3 7. All moneys belonging to tne said district shall be deposited in a bank or trust company to be des- ignated by the board of education. No moneys shall be paid out, except by direction of said board, and upon the order of the president, countersigned by the secretary. §8. Whenever Bald hoard of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses in said district or to enlarge that or those already built, they shall submit the plans and estimated cost of such buildings and of furnishing the same, to the voters of the said district, at an annual meeting or at a special meeting called Tor that purpose; and if a majority of such voters present shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to carry the said improvements Into full effect. ^9. The said board of education. In addition to the other taxes which they arc authorized to raise by this act, may levy and collect a sum sufficient to pay interest on loans as the same becomes due ; and whenever any part of the principal of siid loans oecomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount Bufficient to pay the same, -which s-ims, when collected, shall be paid over by said board in discbarge of such principal and interest; and uvi said board shall arid to the amount of any wnrrant lor the collection of taxes such amount as tht^y shall deem properas the collector's fees for coUection.which compensation, however, shall in no cise exceed five per cent on the amount of any wa-rant. $1U. The public schools in the district shall be free to all the children residing in the district; and the said board of education may permit persons not residents within the sairl district to attend such schools on such terms as they shall prescrihe; and the said board may, in their corporate name, and for the benefit of the said district, sue for and recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or any person under whose charge such aon-resident child or children may be, all such sums as shall be so prescribed with costs of suit. J 11- The supervisor ofthe town of Isliixor such other officer as may be authorized to receive the school moneys from the county treasurer for said town, shall pay over to the treasurer ofthe said dis- trict all the public moneys in his hands apportioned to the said district number twelve. 1 12. The collector of this school district shall, in the collection of any tax authorized by this act, proceed in the same manner and havo all the powers which collectors of town and county taxes now g 13. The said hoard of education shall submit a full report in writing, at the annual meeting, of said district, of their doings as such board, and they shall state therein the number attending their schools; how many white children and how many colored ; the condition of schools In said district under their charge and the number thereof ; the studies pursued; the amount of money received from the State and other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district lor school |)urposes. and the expenditure ofthe same, and generally ^i 1 th; particulars r 'I icing t'l school? in tb* district. 2 !*■ The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- trict. They may employ a librarian, make such additions to the library and such regulations therefor as they shall deem necessary. 2 \h. A school for colored children may be organized by said board, and be supported in the same mnnner as other schools shall be supported under and by virtue of this act. } Ifi. The said board of education may call special meetings of said Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and the amendments thereto that are or may hereafter he made. 860 Ithaca. ITHAOA. iChap. 125, Zaws of 1874.] An act to provide for the establishment.of a system of graded schools in the village of Ithaca, Section 1 All school districts and parts of school districts in the village of Ithaca, together with that nortion of territory directlv eastof and adjoining said village corporation, and bounded as follows : On the east by a line parallel to the east boundary of said corporation and distant one hundred and twenty rods therefrom ; on the north and south, respectively, by continuations ot the north and south bound- ary lines ot the said corporation ; and on the west by the said village corporation, shall, for the purpo- ses hereinafter mentioned, form one school district, to be called " the Union School district of the vil- lage of Ithaca." Said district shall not be altered except by legislative enactment. 2 2 Douglass Boardman, Benjamin F. Taber, John L. Whiton, William L. Bostwick, RufUs Bates, John Gauntlett, Francis M. Finch, Peter B. Crandall, Joseph C. King, Henry D. Donnelly, Marcus Lyon and Edward S. Esty, are hereby appointed commissioners of the aforesaid union school district, and the said persons hereby appointed, and their successors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred or Imposed by law, to be styled "The Board of Education of the village of Ithaca," and are hereby invested with all the powers and charged with all the duties conferred upon them by this act. A majority of the commis- sioners shall constitute a quorum. 2 3. The commissioners hereinbefore mentioned shall meet and organize within twenty days after the passage of this act. At the said meeting they shall divide themselves into three classes of four each, andit shall be determined by lot who shall belong to each class. Those belonging to the first class shall hold oflSce until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five; those of the second class until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- six ; and those of the third class until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their offices respectively. § 4. At a regular election of village oflflcers of the village of Ithaca, to be held on the first Tuesday in March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and annuallv thereafter at each said village elec- tion, there shall be chosen, in the same manner as other village officers are chosen and by a vote of all the inhabitants legally qualified to vote at a district school meeting in this State, four commissioners, to fill the places of those whose terms of office expire on the second Tuesday of October next succeed- ing such election. The commissioners thus chosen shall hold their respective offices for the tei-m of three years from the second Tuesday in October next succeeding their election, and until their success- ors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of their offices respectively. This act shall not be so construed as to disqualify any commissioner aforesaid for re-election. The collector of the village of Ithaca shall be the collector ex-o^cjo of the said "■ Union School district of the village of Ithaca, '"^and his authority and jurisdiction shall extend to all taxes levied by the said board of education of the vil- lage of Ithaca during his term of office as such village collector, and shall continue until his final set- tlement with said board of education as required by section twelve of this act. (-4s aTuended by sec. 1, chap. 46, Laws qf 1877.1 2 5. The commissioners elected by virtue of this act shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, take and file with the clerk of the county of Tompkins the oath of office prescribed by the con- stitution oi this State, and they shall be members of the board of education of the said union school district. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to fill all vacancies in the said board which may occur from any other cause than the expiration of their term of office. The commissioners so appointed shall hold their offices for the unexpired term of those to supply whose places they were appointed. 2 6. Any member of the board of education may, for neglect of duty, or either Immoral or official misconduct, be removed from office by the board, by a vote of two-thirds present at any regularly nailed meeting thereof; but, before final action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to explain or refute them. Any member of said board may resign his office by giving one month's previous notice, in writing, to the said board, who may, if they deem the reason sufficient, accept the same. 2 7. At the first meeting of the board of education, and at each annual meeting thereafter, they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever he shaU be absent, or unable to act, they shall appoint a president pro tempore. At their first meeting the board shall fix the time for their next annual meeting, and, unless changed by a resolution of the board, the time thus fixed shall be the time for future annual meetings. The board of education shall receive no compensation for their services. § 8. The hoard of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or in case of his absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his residence, with some person of suitable age and discretion, at least twenty-four hours before the lime for such special meeting. 2 9. The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the said board ; and the same per- son may hold the office of secretary and librarian. Thp secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The librarian shall have charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessary, from time to time, and such assistants may be removed at any time by the board of education. The record of the board of education, ov a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prima/acie evidence of facts therein stateil, and such record, the books, accounts, vouch- ers and papers of the said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the trustees of the vil- lage, or any committee thereof, or any tax payer, and a transcript thereof may be taken. 2 10. The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said union school district which shall be liable to taxation for town or county charges, such sums as may be determined upon to be necessary and proper, for any or all the following purposes, for the current year : 1. To purchase, lease or Improve sites for school-houses; 2. To build, purcha-ie, lease, alter and repair school-houses, out-bouses and appurtenances thereto belonging ; 3. To purchase, exchange. Improve and repair schoo' apparatus and provide suitable and n^^cessary text-books for the pupils of the several schools under their care ; provided, however, that It shall ba Ithaca. 861 optional vriih said board of education to provide suitable and necessary text-books for the pupils attend ■ ing the high school. (Xa amended by sec. 3, chap. 4fi, Lawa of 1877. ) 4. To procure fuel ami defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-houses in order, exclusive of repairs, including insurance ; iS. To defray the contingent expenses of the several schools and the district library or libraries, includ- ing salary of librarian and superintendent; 6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, including the salary of the secretary thereoi ; 7. To pay teachers' wages, afte* the application of the public money appropriated by law for that pur- pose: 8. To pay charges or expenses Incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act into effect, or to refund loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, or to pay such sums as shall be required to fullill any contract duly made under the provisions of this act. §11. The tax af(iresaid,aTKt all.other taxes to be levied and collected by virtue of this act, shall be assessed, and the tax list made out and delivered to the proper officer for collection, witbin thirty days after the same shall have been voted, except aa herf-iu otherwise provided. The said tax list or lists shall. In respect to manner, form and other particulars, be made out the same as school district tax lists are required to be made by sections sixty-ttve, sixty-six, sixty-seven, si.xtj'-eight, sevenh', seventy-one, seventy-two and seventy-four of title seven of the general school law of the State of New Yorlc. The board of education shall attach to said tax list or lists their warrant for its collection, directed to the proper officer, and signed by the president and secretary of the board. The said warrant shall be the same in form aa a warrant issued by the trustees of a school district of the State, and it shall have a like force and effect as are given to a warrant of the trustees of a school district by section eighty-one of title seven of the general school law of the State, The board of education may renew, from time to time, as they shall deem proper, any warrant issued for the collection of any tax assessed by them by virtue of this act. The said board may amend and correct any tax list made out by them, when any error shall have been discovered, in the manner and lorm prescribed by section eighty-seven of title seven of the general school law of the State. The board of education, upon delivering any tax list and warrant to the collector, shall retain a copy of the same for themselves, and snail take a receipt from the collector for the said tax list and warrant, which receipt shall specify the amount to be collected, and the return day of the said tax hst. The board of education shall also, ImmHdlately upon the dehvery of any tax list to the collector, pubhsh a notice thereof in two of the village papers, designating some convenient place where said collector shall attend on Monday and Saturday of each AVeek, for four successive weeks next alter the delivery to him of said tax roll' and warrant, from nine o'clock in the morning to six o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of receiving said taxes. It shall be theduty of the collector, before receiving any warrant for the collection of money, to exe- cute a bond to the board of education, with two or more sureties to be approved by the said board in such amount as they shall deem reasonable, conditioned for the due and faithful execution of the duties of his ottlce. His Jurisdiction under this act shall extend to all the ten-Itory embraced in the said union school district. Also, he shall have the same power to execute the warrants delivered to him beyond the limits of the district as is given to the collector of a school district by section eighty-tive of the general school law of the State. g 12. It shall be the duty of the collector of the village of Ithaca, after receiving any tax list from the board of education, to attend at the place and time designated by the board in their published notice, as provided by section eleven of this act, and receive such taxes as maybe there and then tendered to him. He shall receive for his services on all sums paid in as aforesaid and all other sums paid before the expiration of four weeks after receiving such tax list and warrant, one per cent ; on all sums collected by him after the expiration of the time mentioned he shall receive three per cent ; and in case a levy and sale shall be necessarily made by said collector, he shall be entitled to traveling fees at the rate of ten cents per mile, to be computed from the academy or high school building of the village of Ithaca. All such percentages and fees he shall collect as above in addition to the taxes so paid to or collected by him. It shall be the duty of the collector, before the expiration of his warrant, to pay over all moneys received by him by virtue of its authority, except his percentage of compensation, to the treasurer of the village of Ithaca, whose receipt shall be his sufficient voucher therefor. He shall settle with the board of education, at their llrst regular monthly meeting after the final expiration of such warrant, and shall account to them for all moneys received by him upon the tax list delivered to him. He shall also comply with section seventy-live, title seven of the general school law, the same as Is required of the collector of any other school district of the State; in which case the board of education shall credit him with the amount to which he shall be entitled by virtue of the said section. {As amended by ace. 2, chap. 46, Laws qf 1877.) 1 13. It shall be the duty of the board of education to proceed with the account of money so credited to the collector, the same as trustees are directed to do under like circumstances, by section seventy-six, title seven of the school law aforesaid. And, further, all the provisions of sections seventy-seven, seventy-eight, seventy-nine and eighty of the said title of the general school law shall have the same application to the taxes of this union school district as to those of other school districts of the State. The board of education shall also have the same power to sue for and collect any tax as is given by section eighty-six of the aforesaid article of the general school law to trustees of school districts. In case the ofQce of collector shall become vacant by the death, resignation, refusal or inability of the incumbent to act, the board by appointment may All the vacancy for the unexpired term. And the said board are empowered to appomt a collector at their organization, who shall hold his office until the second Tuesday in October, one thousand eight hundred and seventj-'flve. 3 14. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not he less than two nor more than five times the amoimtappropnated to said union district, or the several districts com- posing the same, from all the common school funds of the State during the previous year; nor shall the amount raised In any one year for the purchase of sites, erecting and repairing school-houses and the appurtenances, exceed three thousand dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. 215. Alfmoneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appro- friated to or provided for said union school district, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of thaca, who, together with the suretiesupon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor In the same manner as for other funds of said village, and the boardof trustees of said village, in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties, shall Include the moneys received by virtue of this act. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct in relation to said moneys as tor any similar misconduct In relation to other moneys of said village. i 16. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source, for the use of common, academic or high schools, in buildings therefor, shall be deposited with the treasurer for safe-keeping 862 Ithaca. theraof, to the credit of the board of education, until drawn as hereinafter provided for^ and the said treasurer shall keep the account of the funds thus deposited with him separate and distinct from any other funds which he is or may be authorized to receive. g 17. The treasurer of the village of Ithaca shall, at the proper time in each year, draw upon the countv^ treasurer or other proper oflBcer for all moneys appropriated to said union district from the common school, literature, or other funds of this State; and he is hereby authorized to receive the same for the said union district, as provided for In the preceding section. 2 18. The treasurer shall pay out the moneys received by him by virtue of this act only upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the secretary of the board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be pay- able to the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state on what account said draft is drawn. The treasurer, when required to do so by the board of education, shall make to them awritten state- ment of the moneys received and disbursed by him on their account, tojfether with the amount in his hands at the time of such statement. At the end of his ofldcial terra he shall settle with the said board of education, and pay to his successor in offlce, to the credit of the said board, all monej's remaining in his hands subject to their order. He shall be entitled to the same percentage for receiving and pay- ine out the moneys committed to his charge by virtue of this act as he is by law entitled to receive. His compensation for receiving and disbursing the moneys committed to his charge by virtue of this act shall be determined by the board of education. g 19. The hoard of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted, in their corporate name, upon the official bond of the treasurer or any collector of said village, for any default, delinquency or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping and payment of any money in this act mentioned. § 20. The said hoard of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said union school district, includ- ing the common schools now existing therein, and including also any academy or high school, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 2. To purchase and hire school-houses and rooms, loth or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve them. 3. Upon such lots and sites owned by said village to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- houses, out-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable. 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for pupils (save as hereinbefore provided), furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools, pay the necessary insurance on buildings and school property, and to defray the contingent e^fpenses of the school library. (As amended by sec. 4, chap. 46, Laws (\f 1877.) 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses and all school property belonging to said union district, and to see that the ordinances of the board in relation thereto be observed. 6. To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools, and at their pleasure to remove them, 7. To pay the wages of such teachers ont nf the money appropriated and provided by law for the support of common schools in said union district or by this act. 8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of the sec- retary of the board. 9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the schools of said district, and, from time to time, to adopt, alter, inodifj' and repeal, as thev mav deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one class to another, or from one school to another, and generally for their good orderjprosperity and utility. 10. To sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the district, when authorized to do so by a majority vote at any regular or special election of the voters of the district, upon such terms as the board shall deem most advantageous- and the proceeds of all sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Ithaca, and shall be by said board of education expended in the purchase, repairs or improvements of school-houses, sites or appurtenances furniture or apparatus. ' 2 21. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of education, it shall become advisable to establish a high school or academy In connection with the school system by this act contemplated, and erect a suitable building therefor, they shall cause an estimate of the cost of a suitable site and buildins to be made and shall cause the question of raising the amopnt required by tax to he submitted to the decision of the voters of the union school district, in such manner as they deem best calculated to procure a fair expression from said voters. Incase the tax shall be voted, the same may be raised in installments the amounts of which, and the times of payment, shall be left optional with the board of education The provisions of this section shall extend to all amounts required for building school-houses, where the estimated cost exceeds three thousand dollars. 222. The trustees of Ithaca Academy are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer to the board of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as they shall deem most conducive to the cause of education, the right, title and interest in and to all the estate real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy to be by them used for the purchase of such a site, the erection of suitable buildings^ the organization of an academic or high school, or for the maintenance of anacademy in connection with the general free .=;chool svstem contemplated in this act The board of education, if they shall deem it necessary, may, with the advice and consent of the board of trustees aforesaid, organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools, or either of them in or cause them to be taught in connection with, the Ithaca Academy, on such tpmis and conditions andforsuch time as shall be deemed expedient by and betweensaid board of education and the trus- tees of such academy. 2 23. The academy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized and when it has complied with the necessary requirements, shall he recognized as one of the academies of this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- tion of the Income of the literature fund and other funds in the same manner and upon the -iame con- ditions as the other academies of the State; and the Regents of the University of the State of New York shall pay annuallyto the hoard of education of Ithaca the distributive share of the said funds to which the said academy shall be entitled. 2 14. The board of education shall report annually the condition of the union school district of Ithaca to the school commissioner of the western district of Tompkins county, in the same manner and to the same extent as other school districts are by law required to report. The said commissioners in mak- ing apportionment of school money, shall designate the amount due said union district separate from other school districts m the town of Ithaca, and certify the amount due said district for teachers* Ithaca. 863 wages and library, to the treasurer of the village of Ithaca and also to the treasurer of Tompkins county. The said treasurer of Tompkins county shall. Upon the draft of the treasurer of the village of Ithaca, pay annually to him the sum thus certified as flue the said union school district. g 25. Each member of the board of education shall visit all the schools in said union school district, at least once In each year of his official term, and the said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of their number, at least once in each temi, who sball report, in writing, to said board the condition of each school, and make suggestions as they may deem proper. § 26. The schools organized under this act shall be free to all papHs between the ages of Ave and twenty-one years who are actual residents of said union school district. The board of education shall decide all questions of residence arising under this section. The said board may allow the children of non-residents to attend the schools of said district, and shall prescribe the rates for the tuition of such non-residents, payable always in advance. 1 27. The said board of educatiou shall be the trustees of the school district library of said union dis- trict, and all the provisions of law which are now In force, or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, shall apply to said board of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district. They shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys, appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries, which is therein conferred on the inhabitants of school districts, aud they shall have the power to purchase, exchange, repair or dispose of any Iwoks or other property of said library, or cause it to be done, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other boobs or apparatus ; also to provide suitable rooms and furniture for said hbrary ; and further they may appropriate for the benefit of said library, out of the moneys annually raised in said district by the school tax, an ainount not exceeding one hundred dollars, in addition to the library money received Irom the State. 3 28. The title of the school-houses, sites, furniture, books, and all other school property belonging to the districts in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the union school district by this act created ; and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, or other process, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; and the said union school district, in its corporate capacity, shall be competent to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest, or devise, for the use of the common schools or academy of said union school district, whether the same be transferred in terms to said dis- trict by Its proper style, or by any other designation, or to any person or persons, or corporation, for the use of said schools or academy. g 29. It shall be the duty of the board of education, between the first and fifteenth days of Octo- ber, of each year, to prepare and pubHsh in one or more of the newspapers printed in the village of Ithaca, a true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements under the provisions of this act for the preceding year, ending September thirtieth, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 1. 'I he money raised by the board of education under the tenth section of this act. 2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village from the county treasurer. 3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the village under the tenth section ot this act. 4. All other moneys received by the said treasurer, subject to the order of the board of education, specify! nj; the sources from which they shall have been derived. 5. The manner In which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under each head of expenditures, and the person or persons to whom the money has been paid. 6. Such other information as they shall deem proper in regard to the condition of the schools under their care. §30. The board of education may, whenever ihey think proper, prepare anrl publish a cataloj^e of any school or schools under their care, together with such other information as they may deem tor the best interests ot said schools. § 31. The various school district offices In each of the districts herein embraced shall terminate when- ever this act shall ta!:e eflbct, and the board of education shall be chosen and organized, and shall enter upon the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees and collector in each district shall retain the power now by law vested in such officers, until they, by due diligence, shall have closed up all the unsettled business of their districts and discharged all the indebtedness thereof, and for sucli purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of all the inhabitants of such district, and when voted at a legally called meeting, shalilevy and collect a tax sulflcient to liquidate such Indebtedness. Nothing in this section containel shall be construed to annul or interfere with the IurisdictiOD of school district officers over any territory or parts of school districts lying outside the )oundaries of said union school district, as defined in the first section of this act. 8 3ii. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the village, immediately after the election or appointment of any person to any office mentioned in this act, personally or in writing to notify him of his election or appointuient, and any person, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars: and every person so elected or appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of the said board of education, forthwith, to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, when voluntary payment is refused; and when received, to apply the same to the purpose of education in said district. All officers mentioned In this act shall be deemed public officers within the intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and as such, liable to the penalties therein prescribed, In addition to the penalty in this section before provided. §33. The board of education may. when they shall deem it advisable, appoint a superintendent of schools for the said union school district, who may. ex officio, be secretaiy of said board. He shall be under the direction of the board of education, and they shall prescribe his general duties. In addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by the board In the visitation and superintendence of the schools, he shall examine the qualifications of teachers, and grant certificates lu such manner and form as may be prescribed by the State Superintendent ; which shall not be in force longer than a year, and which may at any time be revoked by the board of education. He shall be paid a salary out of the general fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from office by the vote of a miijorlty of all the members of said board. 5 34. All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, confiicting or Inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, so far as they affect this act ; but nothing in this act shall be so construed to limit, restrain or annul the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In all matters of dispute, which shall be referred to him by appeal, and which shall arise under and by virtue of this act, or under and by virtue of any other act which is now, or shall hereafter be applicable to the schools, school officers or school property of or In said district, hia decisions or orders shall be final and binding. 2 35, This act shall take effect immediately. 864 Jamaica. An act in relation to the elecHon of tnistoe*? of*' The Tl hnrn Acarlemv, " the transfer and disposition of its tUDds and property, and the dlsbuUitioti ol said corporation. Passed January 25, I8S4; three-fifthB being present. The Ppoph of the State of New York, represented in Seuale and Assembly s do enact as followa : Section I. The trustees of "The Tihaca Acailemy," ciccfed at tlie annual meeting of the memberg of r=ai(J curpoi-ation held in the year one thou.ianii eight Inui'lred and sixtv-nine or a m^ority of theru, are hereby Huthoilzed and empoweietl to call a special nieetitipof the tnembers of said corporation, to be held in the village of Ithaca, at a time anVl place to be desii^nated in the notice of said meetln.?, for the election of twelve trustees of said "The Tlhiica Acaiieniy " in the place and stead of such trustees as may have been heretotore elected, and for such other purposes as are conteniplati-d by the provi- sions of this act. Notice Of such meeting and the purposes thereof shall be given by said trustees, or a majority of them, to the members of said corporal ion. by publication of said notice In the newspaper printed at Albany in which lethal notices are rp(mir<_'d lo be published, and also in two of the public newspapers printed in the said rUlage of Jlhiica, at least once In each week for four successive weeks ImmeJiaielyprecedtng the time of holding said meetnig. The members of said corporation present at Kiicb meeting, by majority vote, bhall by biiiloL elect twelve tiustees of said corporation, who shall have and pohsess all of the powers and pi'ivileses conferred upon the trustees of ** The Ithaca Acad- emy." by the act of incorporation of said academy and the acts amendatory thereof and relating thereto, except as the same may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act. g2. The members of said corporation may, by a two-thirds vote ufthe members present atsaid meet- ing, so authorize and direct the trustees elected as hereinbefore provided, to transfer and convey unto the " board of education of the village of Ithaca," by a good and sutBcient deed of conveyance, and for a nominal consideration merely, the title in lee to all of the real estate owned by said "The Ithaca Academy" in said village of Ithaca, and all of tli<' interest of said corporation therein, for the purpose of erecting a building or buildings thereon for Rchnol, literary and educational purposes. The trustees of said "The Ithaca Academy" elected asatoresaid, on being so authorized and directed by the mem- bers of said corporation, as aforesaid shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to, trans- fer and convey, as aforesaid, the title in fee to the real estate owned by said " The Ithaca Academy " in th3 manner and for the purposes atoresaul, , g 3. The members of said corporation may, by a two-thirds vote of the members present at said meet- ing, so authorize and direct the trustees elected, as hereinbefore provided, to assign, transfer and set over all of the personal property owned by said " The Ithaca Academy " for a nominal consideration merely, unto such persons, corporation or corporations as said trustees shall by resolution desijrnate, to be held by such persons, corporation or corporations, in such manner or under such trusts as said trustees shall by vesolution designate; and the interest and incume, only, from llie money ami Invested funds ot said "The Ithaca Academy" shall be appropriated and expended by such persons, corporation or corporations for the same general uses and purposes, or far some, or one, or more of tbe same, as said interest and income are now and have heretofore been nsed and appropriated by the actmg trustees of " Tbe Ithaca Academy ; " and on being so authorized and directed by the members of said corpora- tion, said trustees shall, and they hereby are enipowere tlonal sums, not exceeding $10,000 In any one year, as the taxable Inhabitants of said " Kingston School District " may, at any meeting regularly called, authorize or direct, for the purchase of school-houses, lots or sites for school-houses, and to defray the expenses of the erection of school-houses and their appurtenances, or for such other purposes as are included within the powers and duties of the board of education as hereinafter mentioned. (As aTnended by sec. 1, chap. 40, Laws of 1864, and chap. 761, Lawt qf 1871.) 2 14. For the purpose of collecting any tax or taxes voted to be raised or levied by said board of edu- cation, such board shall make out or cause to be made out a tax list, in the manner by law provided In cases of school district taxes, and shall Issue their warrant in like manner for the collection thereof, and shall deliver the same to the collector, which warrant may be renewed from time to time, by said board. In their discretion. The collector, upon receiviug such warrant, shall Immediately proceed to • Evident clerical error In numbering, g 10 being omitted altogether. 868 KmesTON. collect tlie taxes directly thereby to be collected ; and in making such collections, shall proceed in tne same manner, possess the same powers and be entitled to the same fees as collectors of taxes in school districts. 2 15. All moneys raised or to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said Kingston school district, whether from the common school or literature fund, or under "An act to establish free schools throughout the State," or otherwise, shall be paid to the treasurer appointed by said board. The said treasurer shall be liable to the same pen- alty, for official misconduct in relation to the said moneys, as the treasurer of the village of Kingston would be, for any similar misconduct in relation to moneys of said village. 1 16. Ail moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received by said Kingston school district, for the use of the public schools therein, shall be deposited for safe- keeping with th.e treasurer appointed by said board, and the said treasurer shall keep all the funds which may come to his hands, separate and dis- tinct from all other moneys, and any violation of this section shall be deemed a misdemeanor and pun- ished accordingly. g 17. The treasurer shall be furnished by the board of education with, necessary books in which, to enter and keep his official accounts ; and he shall keep a true account of all the moneys received and disbursed by him, and of the parties from whom received, and to whom and for what purpose paid out. He shall also keep an account with every teacher or other person employed by the board of education, and every ofncer of the district who shall receive any pay or compensation ; and sliall make reports to the board whenever required by them. The drafts drawn on the treasurer shall be num- bered consecutively, and the treasurer, in any question of priority of payment, shall pay all such drafts in the orderof their respective numbers, unless otherwise specially directed by the board of education. The books of the treasurer, and also the records of the proceedings of the board of education, shall at all times be subject to inspection by the taxable inhabitants of said district. 2 18. No moneys shall be paid from the treasury, except on drafts drawn by the president and coun- tersigned by the secretary of the board of education, in pursuance of a resolution of said board, which draft shall be made payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive said moneys, and shall state on their face respectively the purpose or service for which the same are drawn. § 19. The said board shall have power, and it shall be-their duty : Mrst—To establish and organize in said Kingston school district bo many primary school districts, primary departments or schools, and departments of higher grades, including an academical depart- ment, to alter and discontinue the same as they may deem advisable. jSscond! — To hire or purchase school-houses, school-rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, or sites with buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve such, sites, and to sell the same with their appurtenances, as they may deem proper ; provided such sale be authorized by a vote of the district. Third—To build, enlarge, alter, improve ana repair school-houses, with their out-houses and appOF- tenances, as they may deem advisable. Iburth—'Eo have the custody of the said school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture and appuvi^ nances, and to see that the ordinances in relation to the care and safe-keeping of the same be observed. Mfth—To contract with and employ all teachers in said public schools— the number of teachers not to be less than one for every fifty pupils attending such schools. SuciA— To pay teachers' wages after the application of the public money which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose, from the money authorized by this act to be raised for that purpose. I^enth— To defray all necessary and contingent expenses of establishing and maintaining the said public schools, with proper furniture, library and apparatus, and the necessary and contingent expenses of said board of education. Mffhth—To have in all respects the superintendence and management of the public schools of the said school district, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expe- dient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction ; for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one department to another, and generally for their good order and gov- ernment ; to receive into said public schools pupite residing out of the said "Kingston School Dis- trict ; " to regulate the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils and to collect the same : to expel any scholar for misconduct or cause iijurious to the interests of the school ; to regulate the transfer of pupils from one department to another ; to direct what text-books shall be used in said public schools : to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; to provide fuel and other necessaries for said public schools, and to appoint assistant librarians, as they may from time to time deem proper, and regulate their duties. § 20. The said trustees shall be trustees of the school libraries In said school district, and all the pro- •visions of law relative to school district libraries shall apply to said trustees in like manner as to the trustees of anyschool district; they shall also be invested with the same discretion as to the disposi- tion of the moneys appropriated by law, for the purchase of libraries, as is conferred by law upon the Inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide rooms for such libraries, and the neces- sary furniture therefor. The librarian shall report annually to the board the condition of the libraries under his charge ; and the said board shall make all purchases of books for said libraries, and direct the mode of their distribution, § 21. The ti+.le to the school-houses, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the said board of education, and the same while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be subject to taxation, and shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, except for teachers' wages, and the purchase-price of articles bought by direction of said board, and except that the lien and all proceedings for enforcing the same, of mechanics and others for labor, and material furnished in erecting, altering or repairing buildings, and their appurtenances shall in no way be affected or impaired by this act : and the said board, in its corporate capacity, shall have full right and authority to take and hold any pei-sonal and real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, subject to the limitations provided by Jaw, Intrust for the public schools or educational interests of said Kingston School District, whether the same be in terms to said board in its corporate name or by any other designations, or to any per- son, persons or bodies for the benefit of said public schools ; and all real or personal estate so trans- ferred shall be accepted, held, used and applied as specified in the article or deed of transfer. 2 22. The said board of education shall, once in each year, and at least fifteen days before the annual meeting for the election of officers, make a report to the inhabitants of the district, in which they shall set forth the whole amount and items of the moneys received, raised and collected by them during the year preceding the date of such report, and the amount and items of the expenditures for the same time, also the number and condition of the various schools and departments in said school district; the number of pupils attending such schools and departments during the year, the number and names of the teachers employed by them, and the text-books in use in such schools ; the number of volumes and condition of the books in the libraries of said district; and such other facts and information rela- tive to the affairs of said district as in their Judgment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof; KlM"GSTOi?". 869 and shall have less than one thonsand copies thereof printed and ready for the examination of, and dlfltributioQ among tUe laxaDie luaabitaDLfl of said district at the ofllce of said board of education, at least one weelc prior to the time of the annual meeting for the election of officers in the said Kingston School District. (Asamended by sec. 2, chap. 40, Laws of 1864.) g 23. Tbe academical department which may be established as aforesaid, shall be entitled to its dis- tributive share of the literature fund in like manner and on like conditions with the academies of the State; and the same academical department shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the Cniversity, In like manner with the other academies of this State. ^ 24. It snail be lawful for the inhabitants of any school district in the town of Kingston, adJoinlofr said Kingston school district, at any annual or special meeting, by a vote of a majority of the legal voters present, to declare said district to be a primary district, and to form a part of the said " Kingston School District." They shall then elect one trustee and one clerk. In the manner provided by this act» and shall hold their ofBce for the term of three years from the first Monday of January following. The said trustee shall be a member of ihe said " Kingston Board of Education," and the said primary district shall be subject to all the conditions, rules and regulations of said " Kingston Board or Educa- tion," the same as any other primary district included In the said " Kingston School District," but no such action of any school district shall take effect, or become operative for any purpose, until said *' Kingston Board of Education" shall by resolution accept such school district as such primary dis- trict. ^ 25. Nothing in this act shall he construed to affect or impair the powers or duties of the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, in relation to the school districts hereby consolidated, but the same shall apply and be. in force as to the school district hereby created, and the school or schools which may be maintained in said districts, in like manner with the other districts and schools of thlB State. 1 26. On the third Wednesday in May, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, a meeting shall be held at the court-house. In the said village of Kingston, of the persons qualified to vote at school district elec- tions in the several school districts mentioned in the first section of this act, at which the president of the board of trustees of the village of Kingston, or, in case of his non-attendance, any one of the trus- tees of said village to be designated by a majority of those present at the opening of the meeting, shall preside and regulate the proceedings, and decide all questions which may arise thereat, at the said meeting. And it shall then and there be determined by the vote of a majority of those who may attend and vote at the said meeting, whether the board of education, herein mentioned, shall or shall not organize; the votes shall he by ballot— on each ballot shall be written or printed, "For the School Law," or "Against the School Law." The poll shall open at eight o'clock In the forenoon, and remain onen to six o^clock in the afternoon. A clerk or clerks to be appointed by the presiding officer shall receive the votes, keep a proper poll list of the persons voting, and canvass the votes given. The result of the said election shall be certified In due form by the presiding officer, and his certificate thereof be filed within twenty-four hours after the poll shall close.with the clerk or other proper officer of the said board of trustees. If a majority of the votes thus given be " For the School Law," the said board of education shall organize as provided by this act ; but if a minority of the said votes shall be " Against the School Law." then and thereafter the provisions of this act shall be of no further force or effect, and the said several school districts mentioned In the first section hereof shall be and remain separate school districts, as they now are. [Sec. 3, Chap. 40, Laws qf 1864.] 9 3. The annual meeting of the Inhabitants of the Kingston school district, for the election of officers, shall be held at such times as is now or shall be hereafter designated in the general school law of this State for holding annual school meetings at such convenient place within the district as shall be desig- nated by the Kingston board of education. In case of the failure of the inhabitants of the Kingston school district from any cause to hold the annual meeting at the time specified, the same may be held at such other time thereafter as the board of education shall by resolution designate. And It shall be the duty of the board of education, after such failure, forthwith to make such designation and give the requisite notice thereof. [Chap. 342, Laws ^1880. ] Section 1. It shall be the duty of the president of the Kingston board of education, and of the super- visor of tbe town of Ulster, formerly Kingston, before any of the tax lists are prepared for the collec- tion of taxes in the Kingston school district in the county of Dlster, which district was created under and by virtue of the provisions of chajiter three hundred and sixty-six, of the Laws of eighteen hun- dred and sixty-three, and embraces within its boundaries as part of the territory included in the city of Kingston, and also q part of the territory included in the present town of Ulster, formerly Kingston, to proceed to inquire and determine whether the valuation of real property upon the assessment-roll of said town is substantially just as compared with the valuation of real property upon the assessment- roll in the city of Kingston, so far as said Kingston school district is concerned, and if determined not to be so, they shall alter the valuations of property lying in either town or city so as to make the ratio of valuation Just and equal as near as may be throughout the entire Kingston school district. The assessment shall be based upon such equalized valuations. If the supervisor and president aforesaid are unable ta agree, they shall summon a supervisor from some adjoining town who shall unite in such Inquiry, and the finding of a majority shall be the determination of such meeting. Before pro- ceedluK to equalize, the president of the board shall take and subscribe the usual oath administered to supervisors. The same compensation shall be allowed to said president as Is now allowed by law to supervisors for such work. g 2. Whenever any tax assessed upon any real estate In the Kingston school district appearing in the tax list delivered to the collector of said school district shall be unpaid at the time the collector is required by law to return his warrant, he shall deliver a statement of all such unpaid taxes to the Kingston board of education, accompanied by an affidavit made before any officer authorized to administer oaths, that the taxes mentioned in such account remain unpaid, aud that after diligent efforts he has been unable to collect the same, and if said board shall be satisfied with the truth of said aflfldavit. he shall be credited by the said board of education with the amount thereof. § 3. Upon receiving any such account from the collector, the said Kingston board of education shall compare the same with the tax list, and if they find it to be a true transcript, they shall attach thereto a general description of the lots and pieces of land upon which such taxes were imposed or assessed and deliver the same to the treasurer of the county of Ulster, with a certificate of the correctness thereof. g 4. From the time of the delivery of such certificate to the county treasurer, the said taxes shall be a lien and charge upon the lands upon which they were respectively assessed, superior and anterior to any other Hens, claims and charges thereon, and the same proceedings In all respects and with like 870 Little Falls ak-d Manheim — Lockport. effect shall be had for the collection of the taxes, interest and expenses by the sale of such lands by the county treasurer of Ulster county, as now are or hereafter may be provided by law m relation to 3 5 Any person having or claiming any interest in the lands included in such account can at any time' before the sale thereof discharge such taxes and stay all proceedings against the same or any par- ticular parcel thereot, by payment of the amount of the tax charged thereon with ten per centum Interest and accrued expenses, and after sale may redeem the same within the same time and upon the finme terms as if sold for county taxes. ^ ^^ ■«-. ^ ,, , p 3 6 The county treasurer of Ulster county shall account for and pay over to the Kingston board of education all moneys received by him for taxes and interest under the provisions of this act. 8 7 This act shall take etfect immediately, except so much thereof as relates to the compensation to be paid to the president of the board of education, in relation to which it shall take effecton the expira- tion of the termof the present incumbent. LITTLE FALL3 AND MANHEIM. IChap. 193, Laws qf 1866 ] Section ] . School district number one of the towns of Little Falls and Manheim, Herkimer county, ia hereby constituted a free school district. ,„ ,.,, ^,. ,, „..* 6 2 The tmstees of said district and their successors In office shall cause to be raised annually by tax «n the taxable property of said district a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars, which sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be applied in addition to the pubhc money appropnated to said -district, to the payment of qualified teachers wages. ^ ^^ x ^ ,i j * .la ^ 2 3 Any surplus of the moneys so raised remaining after the payment of all wages due to quallned teachers may be applied by said trustees and their successors in office to the purchase of fuel and neces- sary appendages, books and apparatus for the use of the school in said district. , _,. ^ . ^ 2 4 The school commissioner of the commissioner district m which said school district number one is situated shall have Jurisdiction to alter the same in like manner with districts oot under special act, provided, that no alteration whereby any property shall be set off from said school district shall be nude without the written consent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. LOCKPORT. [Zaw$ of 1S47, chap. 51 ; Laws of 1850, cJiap. 77 ; Laws of 1866, chap. 378.] Section 1. All the territory embraced in primap^ school districts numbers one, two, three, four, five, «ix and seven, as now constituted, which lies within the boundaries of the city of Lockport, and all ■other territory within the boundaries of said city, are hereby consolidated for the purpose and to the extent In this act specified ; and shall hereafter, to such extent, form but one school district, to be called the union school district of the city of Lockport. Such parts of any of said primary districts as now bounded, as are outside the boundaries of said city, shall be annexed to adjoining districts in the town of Lockport. } 2. Said seven school districts shall remain and continue separate and distinct, for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified; and shall be called " primary school districts," and numbered as follows; Said district number one shall form primary district number one; said district number two shall form primary district number two ; said district number seven shall form primary district num- ber three; said district number fifteen shall form primary district number four; said district number eight shall form primary district number five ; said district number sixteen shall form primary district number six; and said district number Ave shall form primary district number seven. Said districts Bball not be subject to alteration except by the acts of the Legislature, or by resolution of the boanl of education hereinafter created. The schools in said primary districts shall be useu as preparatory schools for the instruction ot children until they arrive at a certain age, and attain a certain profi- ciency in learning, who shall then be transferred, upon the proper testimonials, Into the union school hereinafter mentioned; the age, qualifications and testimonials to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules And regulations of the board of education hereinafter created. 2 3, Sullivan Cavemo, residing in primary district number one ; "William G. M'Master, residing In Snmary district number two; Joseph T, Bellah, residing in primary district number three; Silas H. [arks, residing in primary district number four; Isaac G. Coulton, residing in primary district num- ber five ; John S. Woolcott, residing in primary district number six, and Edwin L. Boardman, residing in primary district number s«ven, are hereby appointed trustees In behalf of such districts respectively : and Nathan Dayton, Samuel Works, Jonathan L. Woods, Lyman A. Spaulding and Hiram Gardner are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said union district. The trustees so named, and their suc- ■cessors, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of the board of education for the city of Lockport. 2 4. On the first Monday of September next there shall be elected In the manner that trustees ot school districts are now elected, by each primary district, one trustee (who shall be a resident of such primary district), to fill the places of those named In the last section. In behalf of such districts respect- ively. On the first Monday of October next there shall be elected In like manner, by a meeting of the Sersons quaUfied to vote for school district officers, residing within the bounds of said union district, ve trustees, residents of said union district, to fill the places of those named in the last section in T)ehalf of said union district. Annually thereafter on the days specified for such elections, there shall, In like manner, be elected four tmstees to fill the places of those whose turns shall next thereafter expire, as hereinafter provided. The trustees named in the third section above shall hold their offices until the first Monday of January next ; and until their successors shall be chosen and enter upon the discharge of their offices respectively. Every officer elected under this act shall enter upon the duties of his office on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall hold his office for the term hereinafter provided, and until his successor shall be elected and shall enter upon the dis- charge of the duties of his office. Within ten days after any such election the clerk of such district shall certify to said board of education the names of the officers so elected. All elections under this act for trustees and district clerks shall he held at some public and convenient place in the second dis- trict, and In the union school district respectively ; and the board of education shall, at their first regular meeting, after the first day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, by resolution desig- nate and appoint such places, and shall publish such resolution for three successive publications in each of the daily newspapers published in the city of Lockport, and the places so des^ated shall be and continue the places for the holding of such elections until changed by said board of education, and all changes therein shall be published bv said bortT-fl a= iforesaid. At all such elections of trustees and clerks In the several districts apart from the union district, the polls of such elections shall be LOCKPORT 871 opened at the hour of eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and remain open for the reception of ballots until the hour of two o'clock In the afternoon, when ttie polls shall be closed and shall he opened for the union district at twelve o'clock at noon, and coatintie open for the reception of ballots until four o'clock In the afternoon, when the polls shall be closed.' (As amended by chapter 2M, LawsQfl87Z.). g 5, Within ten days after the first election of trustees of said union district, as provided In the last Bection, all the tnistees so elected by said primary and union districts, or a majority of them, shall meet and cause the whole number of trustees so elected to be divided into three classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of office of the first class shall expire at the end of one year; of the second class, at the end of two years; and of the third class, at the end of three years from the first Monday of January next. There shall also be elected In each of said districts, at the time of so electing trustees, a clerk, who shall hold bis office for one year, and until his successor be ■elected and enter upon the duties of his office. S 6. There shall annually be appointed. My said board of education, a collector, librarian and treasurer of said union district, who shall each, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his appoint- ment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education * bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, la case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiv- ing such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall thereupon make an appointment to supply SQch vacancy, 2 7. Notices for annual elections and alt other meetings of said' districts shall be given by said board of education, at least ten days before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of the newspapers printed in the village of Lockport ; and if such notice be for an election or meeting of said union district, by posting the same on the door of the school-house in each primary district ; l( such notice be for an election or meeting of any primary district, then by posting such notice on the door of the school-house in such district. S 8. In case of a vacancy of any ofllce mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district for which he shall have been elected or appointed, his incapacity, or any cause other than the expiration of the term of office of persons elected, said board of education may make an appointment lo fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold bis office for the unexpired term or the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed §9, Said board of education shall be a corporate body. In relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act ; a m^ority of the board shall form a quorum. flO. Said hoard of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to of said school districts, that the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to. and such other powers and duties as are given or Imposed by this act. The clerk, collector and librarian of said union district shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to said union dis- trict, that like officers of common schools now possess or are subject to. and such other powers and duties as are given or Imposed by this act. The offices of collector and librarian, and two of the trus- tees of each of the school districts hereby consolidated, shall be abolished from and after the time when said union school shall go into ooeratlon. In the mean time, such officers and the several dis- tricts in district meetings, shall continue to discharge such ordinary powers and duties as said board of education may by resolution prescribe; but they shall not possess or exercise any right or power which may conflict with the provisions of this act, or impair the powers hereby intended to be con- ferreft on said board of education, or in any way embarrass the said board of education in the exercise of the powers or in the discbarge of the duties conferred or imposed upon said board by the provisions of this act. $11. Said board of education shall, at its first meeting, and annually thereafter, at their meeting held next after the first of January in each year, appoint one of their number president and another aecretary. In the absence of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be appointed for the time being, 2 12. The secretary shall keep a record ot the proceedings of said board of education, which record, : or a transcript therefrom, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts as pre- sumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. g 13. Kach member of said board of education, and every other officer of said union district, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Con- stitution of this State and file the same with the secretary of said board. 2 14. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To establish and organize so manypritnary schools as they shall deem requisite and expedient, -And to alter and discontinue the same ; 2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school -houses, and to fence and improve them as they may think proper ; 3. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lot or site now owned by any primary district, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages : to provide fhel for the schools, and defray their contingent expenses and the expens.es of the library and salary of the librarian. 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, apparatus, books furniture and appendages, and see that the ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto he observed ; 6. To contract with and employ all teachers in all schools under their charge, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money and tuition fees to he received by them accordmg to the provisions of this act. so far as the same shall hesnfflcient. and the deficiency, if any out of the moneys to be raised for general purposes of education under and by virtue of the Drovislons of this act; 8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said union school, subject to the limitations and restrictions here- inafter contained, and to designate some person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous lo issuing the warrant for the collection thereof; and. by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the secretary, to exempt from the payment of the whole or any part of the tuition fees such persons as they may deem entitled to such exemption, from indigence or any other sufficient cause • and the said board may include the amount so exempted or remitted in the estimate of the amount necessary to be raised under the provisipns of the flfteentii section of this act, and when collected the same shall be ■credited to the teachers' fund.* ♦ Of course this and the following paragraph are superseded by the general provisions of school law making all schools free. . 872 LOCKPORT. 9. After the close of each quarter of said union school to make out a rate-bill containing the name ot each person liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said union school, who shall not have paid the same- prior to mabinfj out such rate-bill, according to the provisions of the last preceding subdivision of this, section, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each dollar for collector's fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of making out every rate-bill); to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the president of said board ora majority of the members thereof and deliver the same to the collector, who shall col- lect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized and req^uired to execute like warrants issued by the trustees of common school districts, and who, in the execution of the same, shall be under the same protection, possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties as such collectors now have, possess and are subject to in respect to like warrants ; and, for this purpose, the Jurisdiction of said board of education and of said collector shall extend to any other district or town, and to anv resident of such other district or town who may he liable for tuition in said union school, in the same manner and with the like authority as to said union district or residents of said union district; 10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act; to prescribe the course of studies therein, the books to be used, and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies and books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and public utility, for tha protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school- houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all other property connected with or appertaining to such schools ; U. To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be published in such manner and form as they may deem best calculated to give general information ; to cause one copy thereof, together with a copy of this act, to be kept in each of said schools ; and such parts thereof as relate to such schools, respectively, to be read therein at least once during each quarter ; 12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the visitation and control of the super- intendents of common schools of the town, county and State, In the same manner as the commoQ schools in this State are subject. 2 15. Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate hy the best means in their power, and determine by resolution the amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education in said union school district for the current year, and for all other purposes provided for by this act, over and above the moneys to be received from the Regents of the University, from the State and for tuition, and shall transmit a copy of said resolution to the common council dS the city of Lockport, and said common council shall assess and collect the amount so certified, by a tax upon all the taxable property of eaid city, upon the same assessment roll, and at the same time and In the same manner that city taxes are now required to be assessed and collected, and the amount so estimated and collected shall be paid by the city treasurer upon orders drawn in pursuance of resolu- tions of said board of education, such orders to be signed by the president of said board and certified hy its secretary. The amount of money so to be raised in any one year shall not be less than the amount received in behalf of all said districts from the State school tax for the year next precedini;, nor more than four times that amount, unless such greater amount shall be authorized by a vote of the- inhabitants of said union district, at a regular meeting of such district ; and said board is hereby authorized, in making the estimate for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, to include a sufficient amount to pay all expenses contemplated by the foregoing provisions, which shall accrue before the first day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven ; and whenever any money shall be needed for the use of any primarv or secondary district, for any of the purposes contemplated by this aot. saldhoaid- of education shall estimate and certify the same to said common council, whose duty it shall be to assess and collect the same by tax on the taxable property of such primary or secondary district, in. the same manner as above provided for the assessment and collection of the general tax, and the mon- eys so collected shall be paid on orders drawn as above provided, and shall be applied for the benefit of the respective districts upon which the same shall have been assessed. 2 16. Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, forthwith to purchase a suitable lot, so situated as best to convene the whole of said union school district, not to exceed in cost the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested, hy deed, in said board of education ; to cause said lot to be graded, fenced and otherwise properly improved; to erect thereon a suitable and proper building or buildings, to be built of stone or brick, not to exceed in expense the sum of eight thousand dollars, nor to cost less than five thousand dollars ; furnish the same with all proper, useful and necessary furniture, apparatus and appendages ; as soon as the build- ing is in proper condition, employ a sufficient number or well educated teachers, male and female, and cause a school to be commenced therein, to be called '* the Lockport union school," in which shall be taught only the higher branches of education. The tuition fee in said union school shall not exceed two dollars each per quarter for pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the territory of said union district ; for all other pupils, said tuition fee shall not be less than two dollars nor more than five dollars per quarter. No tuition fee shall there- after be charged, nor any rate-bill be made, for tuition in the primary schools, but the same shall be free fichools. (Seeno^f;, p. 641, ante.) 1 17. Said board of education shall, as soon as practicable, make an estimate of the amount of money which, in their opinion, will be necessary for the purposes in the last section specified, and also foe such puiyoses specified in section fourteen of this act as may he needed or required for the first year, and shall forthwith assess, levy and collect, the same, by tax upon real and personal estate, as specified in section of this act. They shall, for this and all other taxes to be raised by them, make oat a tax list. In the manner and form In which like tax lists are now made out by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is applicable : annex thereto a warrant, in like form, signed by the president or a minority of the members of said board, and deliver the same to the collector; which, when so made and signed, shall be as effectual, to all intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants when made by the trust- ees of common school districts Said board may. in respect to the collection of all taxes, conform to- the provisions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first sections of the one hundred and eightieth chapter of the Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the collector to comply with the provisions of said sections, so far as the same are applicable. Said board may so far vary from tha provisions of saiii sections, as to time and places, as to render them applicable, and may make such warrants returnable at sixty or ninety days, in their discretion, instead of thirty days, as now required by law In respect to such warrants made by trustees of common school districts; but all property now exempt, by section twenty-two, title five, chapter six, part third of the Revised Stat- utes, from execution, shall be exempt from all such warrants. 2 18. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys hy law appropriated to or provided tui -..lid tllainct, shall be paid t<he treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties upon hts- LocKPOKT. 873 official bond, shall be accountable therefor to said board of edacatlon. Said treasnrer shall not pay ont of any such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn In pursuance of such resolution. § 19. Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings maybe called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. No member of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any member of said board, or any other officer of either of said districts, to become a contractor for build- ing or malting any Improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner directly or indi- rectly interested either as principal, partner or surety in any such contract. All contracts made In violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, to be prosecuted for and recovered by said board. 3 20. Instead of the report now required by law to be made by trustees of school districts to the town superintendent of common schools, the trustee to be elected for each primary disti'ict shall, within the time now required by law, make such report to said board of education, and shall therein embrace such other and further matters as may be required and prescribed by said board, or as such trustee may think the interests of such primary distnct or school may require. Said board of education shall annu- ally, between the first of January and the first of March in each year, make to the town superintendent of common schools a report containing all such matters relating as well to said union district and union school as to said primary districts and their schools, as is now or shall hereafter be required by law, or the regulations of the Superintendent of Common Schools, to be reported to said town superintendent; and such other and further matters as they may deem advisable. Such report shall be received, by said town superintendent, instead of the reports now required from each of said seven districts. A copy of auch report shall be flleil with the secretary of said board. § 21. Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such and so many members of their board as they may deem proper, not less than three in number, a visiting committee, whose duty Jt shall be to visit said union school and each of said primary schools as often as once in each quarter, and make a report ia writing to said board, showing the state and coqditlon of each, school, school-house, apparatus and appendages, and subh other matters as said board may require of them, and such sug- gestions for the improvement of the same as they may deem proper and aidvisable; such reports shall be filed and kept among the papers of said board. Such board may, in their discretion, cause such reports, or any parts of the same or the substance thereof, and any and all other matters relating to said Bcnools, to be published in such form as they may deem advisable. They shall, at the close of each year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers a report of the moneys received and expended ,by them during the year, and such other matters as they deem advisable. , 5 22. Whenever, iu the opinion of said board, the interests of any primary district require the sale or exchange of the school lot therein, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and hold the proceeds thereof for the use and benefit of such primary district. 3 23. The title of school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property In this act mentioned, shall be vested in said board of education ; and the same, while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of edu- cattoii in their corporate capacity shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequestor devise for the use of said schools or any or either of them ; provided, however, that said board shall not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said union school lot. } 24. Every officer in this act mentioned, having at the time the possession, custody, care, charge or control of any property belonging to said schools or any or either of them, or any money raised by the provisions of this act or provided by law for the purposes of education In said village, shall, at the expiration of his term, or whenever such officer shall resign, be removed from office, cease to act. or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. ^ ^ ^ _, 825. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board of education ; and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer from the discharge of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said board. 3 26. Any such officer may be removed from office for any official misconduct or neglect of official duty by resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members thereof concurring. Opportunity shall be given to every such officer to be heard In his defense before any such resolution shall be adopted. § 27. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned In this act, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars ; and every person so appointed or elected, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recov- ered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said village. All officers mentioned In this act shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and meaning of section thirty -eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed, in addition to the penalty in this section before provided. , 8 28. The several libraries of the said seven districts are hereby consohdated into one. Said board of education shall cause a suitable and proper room to be fitted up in said union school building, and fur- nished with necessary and suitable fixtures, furniture, apparatus and appendages, and transfer said library thereto, and put it under the charge of a librarian. They shall annually allow and pay to said librarian such salarv as In their opinion shall be a fair and reasonable compensation for his services, but not to exceed the sum of fifty dollars in any one year. They shall pass such by-laws for the regu- lation and preservation of said library and for the discharge of the duties of the librarian as they may think necessary. The library money hereafter to be received in behalf of said districts shall be paid hythe town superintendent to the treasurer of said board. Said board shall expend such money entirely for the purchase of books and maps for the library. g 29. Lands of residents and non-residents of said districts may be sold by said board for uncollected taxes, assessed thereon for school purposes by virtue of the provisions of this act, In the same manner and by like proceedings as the trustees of said village adopt to sell lauds for unpaid taxes assessed for village purposes, and such sales shall have the like effect as sales so made by the trustees of said vil- lage ; or, the lands of residents and non-residents of said districts said board may cause to be returned to the county treasurer. In the same manner as trustees of common school districts are now authorized by law to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such taxes out of any money in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses; and such proceedings, in all 110 874 LocKPORt. respects, shall thereafter be had by said county treasurer and the board ol supervisors of the county of Niagara, in relation to all lands so returned as they are by law required to take in respect to unoccu- Died and unimproved lands of non-residents when so returned by trustees of common school districts ; tut no lands shall be so soJd or returned until a reasonable effort shall have been made to collect such taxes by warrant, as provided in section seventeen of this act, and the collector shall have returned that he cannot collect the same. 2 30. Said board of education may cause a school for colored children to be taught m said village, and include the expenses thereof in the amount so to be raised annually by tax for contingent expenses and other purposes of education provided for in this act. 2 31. Said board of education may organize in said union school a department for the instruction of teachers, for such parts of the year and under such rules and regulations as they may by their by-laws adopt relative thereto. 2 32. Said board of education may at any time hereafter, whenever in their opinion the wants and interests of said schools shall require it, establish a class of so many schools, Intermediate and primary and union schools, as tbey may deem advisable, to be called secondary schools ; and for this purpose consolidate such and so many of said primary districts as they may deem advisable, prescribe the tuition fees and course of studies therein, and so arrange and regulate the system of instruction in all of said schools that the transfer of pupils shall thereafter be from the primary directly Into the sec- ondary, and thence into the union school ; and for this purpose, and for the organization, government and regulation of said secondary scbools, said board shall have all such powers as are hereinbefore conferred upon them in respect to said primary and union scbools, and their districts and property. 1 34. Said board of education shall have power to borrow money, from time to time, whenever neces- sary, by reason of the non payment of taxes, or a failure to collect a sufflcient amount to pay the cur rent expenses of the schools under its charge, as contemplated and provided for in section fifteen of this act, as amended ; but in no case shall they borrow a greater amount than the amount estimated and reported to the common council, as provided by this act as amended. [Cftap. 77. Laws 0^1850.] } 2. " The said board of education for the city of Lockport " is hereby authorized to increase the rates -of tuition fees in the union school under its charge and to graduate the same according to the branches of instruction pursued, and may require fees for tuition of non-resident pupils to be paid in advance. 9 3. Said board of education is hereby authorized to appoint a superintendent of the schools under its charge, with such powers and duties and compensation as said board shall prescribe, and such superin- tendent shall have power to examine and give certificates to all teachers who shall be employed In said nnion school district, and such certificates so given by said superintendent shall have the same force and effect as certificates given by county or assembly district superintendents have heretofore had and now have. 2 4. From and after the first day of March, eighteen hundred and slxty-slz, all secondary schools under the charge of the board of education for the city of Lockport shall be free, and no fees for tuition therein shall be charged or collected by said board. 3 5. Said board shall not raise by tax, upon the property in the union school district, any money for the salaries of teachers In the union school district which shall accrue after the first day of April next. 3 6 The acts and doings of said board of education, in accordance with the provisions of their act of incorporation, since the act entitled " An act establishing free schools throughout the State/* passed March 26, 1,319, took effect, are hereby ratified and confirmed. g 7. The public money which shall be apportioned to the districts included in the said union school district shall be paid to said board, and be applied by them to teachers' wages, in the several schools in their charge in said district, in proportion to the average number of scholars pursuing common school studies in each of said schools. The annual report of the receipts and expenditures, required to be published by said board, shall specify all sums received, and from whom, and all persons to whom pay- ments were made, and the general character of the demands paid. Upon the application of said board of education to " the Regents of the University of the State of New Tork," said Regents may acknowledge and declare said union school to be an academy : and It shall thereafter be an academy, subject to and to be governed by the provisions of the act authorizing said anion school, and subject to such rules and regulations as said Regents may prescribe. [Chap. 95, Laws 0/1868.] Section 1. All taxes hereafter to be levied and collected within the bounds of the** union school dis- trict of Lockport," for contingent expenses appertaining to the union school, the secondary schools, the primary schools, and the colored schools, shall be levied and collected of all the taxable property, real and personal, in said union school district, as one general tax, and shall be expended for the benefit ofthesaid several schools, under the direction of the board of education for the village of Lockport; and no separate tax on the union school district, the secondary school districts, pnmary school dls- tncts, or for ihe colored school, shall hereafter be levied or collected for contingent expenses, but the expenses of purchasing a lot, or lots, for secondary or primary schools, and the erection of buildings or other permanent fixtures thereon, shall be levied and collected of all the taxable property, real and per- sonal, m each of the said several districts. [Ohap. 365. Laws of 1865.1 Section sixteen, of title nine, is as follows : 2 16. The boundaries of the union school district shall be and the same are hereby changed to include all the territory contained in the limits of the city of Lockport, not now included in the said district. [ Chap. 822, Laws of 1867. J Section 1. The common school report now required to be made by the board of education for the city of Lockport shall hereafter be made to the Stale Superintendent of Public Instruction, Instead of the flcbool commissioner of the first assembly district of Niagara county, as the same has heretofore been made. 1 2. The public money apportioned to the union school district of the city of Lockport shall hereafter be paid to the treasurer of the board of education for the city of Lockport. Instead of the supervisor of the town of Lockport, as the same has heretofore been paid. Long IsLAifD City. 875 iOhap. 729, Laws of 186S.} Section 1 . The board of education for the city of Lockport is hereby authorized to unite any two or more primary school districts within the bounds of, '* The Union School District of Lockport," for the pur- pose of purchasing a site and erecting a school-house for the Joint use of such districts, and for the pur- pose of enlarging, repairing, or improving the same. And such districts, when so united, shall, for the purpose above-mentioned, be treated, in all respects, as one district. 22. Said board of education isliereby authorized to raise, by tax, upon the taxable jiroperty of the primary and secondary districts included in said *' Union School District," as prescribed by law, in addition to the amounts authorized to be raised by section fifteen of an act entitled " An act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport," passed March thirty-one, eighteen hundred and forty- seven, such amounts as shall, firom time to time, be needed for the purchase of sites and the erection of school-houses, and for the purpose of enlarging, repairing and improving the same. LONG ISLAND CITY. {Chap. 461, Laws (if 1871.] TITLE IX. — OF THE CHAIITER OF LONG ISLAND CITY. Of the laws relating to Public Instruction of Long Island City. Section 1. The mayor of Long Island City shall have the power and it shall be his duty to appoint one citizen from each ward of said city as a member of the board of education of Long Island City, under the name and title of commissioner of public instruction. The first appointment shall be made within ten days after the passage of this act. Said commissioners of public mstruction shall serve as school commissioners for their respective wards ; and if any of said commissioners shall change his residence from the ward for which he had been appointed commissioner, he shall be deemed to have vacated his office, and the mayor of Long Island City shall appoint a commissioner of public instruc- tion to fill such vacancy. The commissioners of public instruction shall hold oflBce for a term of not less than two nor more than four years, at the discretion of the mayor; but in no case shall the term of -offlce of more than three-fifths of the members appointed to the board terminate within any one year. The first commissioners of public instruction so appointed shall enter upon theduties of their office on the first Tuesday after their appoi ntment, and the term of office of all commissioners of public Instruc- tion shall thereafter expire on the last Monday of June ; but such commissioner shall continue to dis- charge the duties of his office until his successor shall qualify. Chapter II. Of the Board of Education, its powers and duties. Section 1. The commissioners of public instruction shall constitute a board of education for Long Island City. They shall meet on the last Tuesday in June of each year, except the first year, for the purpose of organization, and thereafter for the transaction of business as often as they may determine ; xhey shall elect one of their number president. 3 2. The board of education shall have power : 1. To appoint a city superintendent of schools, whose duties, powers, salary and term of offlce, except SB herein otherwise provided, shall be regulated and determined by the board. 1. To employ and to discharge teachers, to designate their duties, and to fix their salaries ; to employ necessary workmen, and to provide necessary materials for repairing, altering and enlarging public school buildings, or other buildings connected therewith. 3. To remove itom offlce any school offlcer who shall have been, directly or Indirectly, interested in the ftirnishing of any supplies or materials, or in the doing of any labor, or In the sale, purchase, or leasing of any real estate, or in proposal, agreement, or contract, In any case in which the price or con- sideration is to be paid, in whole or In part, either directly or Indirectly, out of any school moneys ; or who shall have received, from any source whatever, any commission or other compensation in connection with any of the matters aforesaid; and an^ school offlcer who shall violate the preceding provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of havmg violated his oath of offlce, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the State prison, not exceeding two years, or both, and shall also be ineligible to a city offlce. Under this act, the board of education shall also have power to remove from offlce any school officer, who shall have been guilty of immoral or disgraceful conduct in any matter connected with his official duties, or which tends to bring discredit on his offlce, or the school system. If one or more school offlcers or tax payers of Long Island City shall present a written charge to the board of education, accusing any school offi- cer of a violation of any of the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the said board to cause the same to be fully investifjated. All testimony taken upon any such Investigation shall be under oath ; and the board of education shall have the power to compel any witness who may have been duly summoned to appear and testify before the said board or any committee thereof. 4. To pstabllsb new schools as hereinafter nrovided. , . ^ .. 5. To draw from the moneys, which shall be raised for the purpose of public education, such sums as may be required for the purpose of defraying the necessary incidental expenses of the board, and such further sums as may be required for the payment of the salaries of the superintendent and such teachera asmay be appointed by virtue of the authority vested in the board by this act, and of such ofher expenses as may be necessarily incurred by the board in pursuance of the provisions of this 6." To visit and examine the schools subject to the provisions of this act. 7. To make rules and by-laws for the government of the board, its members and committees, anii general regulations, to secure proper economy and accountability In the expenditure of the school 8. To dispose of such personal property used in schools, or other buildings under the charge of the board, as the trustees or committees having the immediate charge shall certify as no longer required for use therein ; and all moneys realized by the sale of any such property shall be paid into the city treasury. 9 And for the purposes of this act, the said board of education of Long Island city shall possess all the' powers and privileges of a corporation, to sue and be sued in any of the courts of the State except that the title to all the property of the public or ward schools, both real and personal, shall be vested in the corporation of Long Island city. 3 3. It shall be the duty of the board of education : 1 On or before the first day of February, in each year, to report to the common council of said city 876 LONQ ISLAKD ClTY. an estimate of the amount which shall De requirea lor eacn district during the year for the purpose ol meetine the current annual expenses of public instruction in said city, for purchasing sites for erecting huildinis or for the leasing huildings, and for furnishing, fitting up, altering, enlarging and repairing the hnildines and premises under their charge for the support of schools which shall have been organ- ized since the last annual apportionment of the school moneys made by the board, and of such further sum or sums aa may be necessary for any of the purposes authorized hy this act. 2. To apportion all the school moneys which shall have been raised for the purpose of meeting the current annual expenses of public schools. ., „ . ^, ^ j, a ■■, • 3 To file with the city clerk of said city, on or before the first Monday of April, in each year, a copy of their apportionment, stating the amount apportioned to each of the pubhc schools of the city. 4 To provide evening schools for those whose ages or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- ing' the day schools estahUshed by law, in such of the ward school-houses or other buildings used for school purposes in said city as they may from time to time deem expedient. 5. To appoint teachers for the evening schools, and to furmsh all needful supphes for such evemng 6 Whenever it shall appear to the board of education that the trustees of any ward are neglecting any school under their control, to the detriment of the pupils in said schools, the board of education shall have power to suspend from oflBce such trustees until the next city election, when their success- ors shall be elected ; and the said board of education shall have power to take charge of such schools, to manage the same, to furnish all needful supplies until the successors of said trustees enter upon the duties of their office. But the said board or education shall not take charge of any such school on account of any alleged neglect, until the board of trustees of the ward in which said school Is situated shall first have been notified of the neglect charged, and have an opportunity of being heard before flaid board or its committees on the subject. , « .,- ^ ,- , ^,_ 7. To furmsh all necessary supplies, or make regulations for fnrmshmg such supphes, for the several schools under their care ; but when such supplies are furnished by the board of education, they shall be fiimished by contract, with the lowest responsible bidder, proposals for which contract shall be advertised for the period of at least once a week for three weeks. 8. To make and transmit, between the fifteenth day of November and the first day of December in each year, to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the common council of Long* Island City, a report in writing for the year ending on the thirtieth day of September next preceding, stating the whole number of schools within their Jurisdiction ; the length of time such schools shall have been kept open; the amount of public money apportioned or appropriated to all the schools of the city; the number of children taught in each school ; the whole amount of money drawn from the city treasurer for the purposes of education during the year ending at the date of their report, dis- tinguishing the amount received from the general fund of the State, and from all other and what sources ■ the manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, and such other information as the State Superintendent of PubUc Instruction may from time to time require in relation to public instruction in Long Island City ; and the report which the board of education is hereby required to make shall be held and taken to be a full compliance with every law requiring a report from said board, and from any officer of Long Island City, except the city superintendent, relative to the schools in the' said city, and any matters connected therewith. 9. The clerk of the board of education shall have charge of the rooms, books, papers and documents of the hoard, and shall, in addition to his duties as secretary of the board, perform such clerical duties as may be required by its members or committees. 2 4. It shall be the duty of each member of the board of education; 1. I'o attend ail the meetings ol the board; and il any commissioner shall refuse or neglect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the hoard, after having been personally notified to attend, and if no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant, and shall notify tbe mayor to fill such vacancy. . 2. To transmit to the board of education all the reports made to each of them by the trustees or their respective wards. 3. It shall be the duty of each commissioner, in his respective ward, to exanune in respect to every expense certified as correct by a majority of trustees of any ward, and to audit every such expense which may be Just and reasonable, and no expense shall be paid trustees unless audited in this manner. He shall also examine, at least once in every quarter of a year, all the public schools in his ward, in regard to the punctual and regular attendance of the pupils and teachers, the number, fidelity and competency of the teachers, the studies, progress, order, discipline and the cleanliness of the pupils ; the cleanli- ness, safety, warming, ventilation and comfort of the school premises, and whether or not the provi- sions of this act relating to the teaching of sectarian doctrines or the use of sectarian books, or papers, have been violated, and to call the attention of the trustees, without delay, to every matter requiring immediate action. He shall also, on or before the thirty-first day of December in each year, make a written report to the board of education, and to the board of trustees, in respect to the condition, efBciency and wants of the ward, in respect to schools and school premises. POWBBS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES. 2 5. It shall be the duty of the trustees for each ward, and they shall have the power 1 . To have the safe-keeping of all the premises and other property used for, or belonging to, the ward schools in their respective wards. 2. Under such general rules and regulations, and subject to such limitations as the board of educa- tion may prescribe, to conduct and manage the said schools ; to famish all needful supphes therefor, and to make all needful repairs, alterations and additions in and to the school premises, but shall not. without the written authorization of the board, expend more than twenty-five dollars a month. 3. To procure as may be necessary blank books, in one of which a statement of the amount of all moneys received and paid by the trustees, or otherwise for, or on account of each of the schools con- ducted by them, and of all movable property belonging to each school shall be entered at large, anrf signed by such trustees ; and in one book minutes of their meetings shall be kept, and in other books, the principal teacher of each school, and each departmentin the school, shall enter the names, ages, residences of the scholars attending the school, the name of the parent or guardian of each scholar, and the days on which the scholars shall have respectively attended, and the aggregate attendance of each scholar during the year ; also the days on which each school shall have been visited by the city super- intendent of schools, the school officers of the ward, and the members of the board of education, or any of them, which entries shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the principal teacher in such • school or department. The said books shall be preserved by the trustees as the property of the schools, and shall be delivered to their successors. 4. To make, at least five days before the first day of January in every year, or such other days as may be designated by the board of education, in the case of aschool kept open after the twenty-fifth day of December, and transmit to the board of education a report in writing, dated the thirty- tirst day of Lo]N"G Island City. 877 December, which shall he signed and certified by a majority of the trn'stees, and which report shall Btate the whole numher of schools within their Jnrisdiction ; the length of time each school shall be kept open , the whole number of scholars over four and under twentynDne years of age who shall have been taught free of expense to such scholars in their schools during the year ending with the date of the report, which number shall be ascertained by adding the number of children on register at the ■commencement of each year, which shall be considered the total for that year ; the average number that has actually attended such schools during the year, to be ascertained by the teachers keeping an exact account of the number of scholars present every school time or half day, which being added together and divided by four hundred and sixty, or, if less than a year, by the numher of school ses- sions, shall be considered the average of attending scholars, which average shall be sworn or afQnned to by the principal teacher of the school ; a detailed statement of the amount of moneys received for or paid on account of their respective schools during the years from or by the treasurer of the city, and of the purposes for and the manner in which the same shall have been expended, and a particular account oi the state of the schools and of the property and affairs of each school under their care, and the titles of all books used, with such other information as the board of education shall require; and, for the purposes of this act, each department shall, whenever practicable, be considered as a sep- arate school. 5. To render, at theexpiration of their respective terms of office, to their successors, a Just and full account in writing of all moneys received by them for school purposes, and of the manner in which the same shall have been expended, and to pay any balance which may remain in their hands to their successors. 6. To meet statedly at times to be by them appointed, and Jto declare Vacant, by the votes of a majority of the trustees of the ward, the seat of any person elected or appointed as a trustee, who shall refuse or neglect, without satisfactory cause shown by him to the said trustees, to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board of trustees, after having been personally notified ; and to notify tbe clerk of the board of education, at least twenty days previous to any general city elec- tion, of any vacancy that will exist in the board of trustees for said ward, at the expiration of the cur- rent year, with the cause or reason of such vacancy or vacancies. OF THE CITY STTP ERIN TEND EN T. 26. The city superintendent of schools shall be clerk to the board of education. He shall take and subscribe, before thecity clerk, the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the State. He shall hold office for the term of two years, and until his successor be appointed, subject to removal by the board, on complaint, for cause stated. He shall receive as a compensation for his services not more than one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and shall be subject to such mles and regulations as the board of education may establish. 3 7. It shall be especially the duty of the city superintendent : 1. To visit all the schools of the city participating in the apportionment of public moneys, at least once in every month ; to inquire into all matter relating to the government, course! of instruction, books, studies, discipline ana conduct of said schools, and the condition of tbe school-houses, and the school generally ; to advise and to counsel with the trustees in relation to their duties, the proper stud- ies, discipline and conduct of the public schools, the course of Instruction to be pursued, and the books of elementary Instruction to be used therein, and to exiunlne, ascertain and report to the board of edn cation whether the provisions of this act in relation to religion; sectarian teaching, books and papers have been violated tn any of the public schools of the city, and to make a monthly report to the board of education, concerning the schoolsivlsited by bim, andadding such comments, Inrespect to the matters above specified, as he may consider necessary and advisable ; and to transmit to the respective boards of trustees copies of so much of such reports as relates to public schools under their management. 2. Under such general mles and regulations as the board of education may estabUsh, to examine into the qualifications of persons proposed as teachers in any of the public schools, such examination shall be conducted by the city superintendent of schools, in the presence of two or more commissioners, or before all the members of the board should one of the commissioners require it. In which case the majority of the members shall decide as to the qualifications of such persons as teachers. Licenses shall be granted to those persons who may be employed as teachers, which shall be in the form pre- BcribedTby the by-laws of the board, and shall he signed by the city superintendent, and by at least three commissioners designated for the purpose, who shall certify that they were present at the exam- ination and concur in granting the license. The license of any teacher tmay be revoked for any cause aflectingthe morality or competency of the teacher, by the written certificate of the city superintend- ent and a written concurrence of a majority of the members of the hoard, but no such action shall be taken until at least ten days' previous notice has been allowed ; nor shall it take effect until such cer- tificate of revocation has been filed in the oflBce of the clerk of the board of education, and a copy served upon the teacher. It shall be the dutj^of the city superintendent to re-examine any teacher upon the written request of any two commissioners of the board of education, or of the three trustees of the ward In which the teacher is employed. The city superintendent, in his annual report to the board of education, shall Include a list of the licenses granted and revoked, and, generally, by all tbe means in his power under the regulations of the board of education In respect thereto, to promote sound education, elevate the character and qualifications of teachers, improve the means of instruction and advance the interests of the schools committed to his charge. 3. The city superintendent shall be subject to such general rules and regulations as the State Super- intendent of Publlo Instruction may prescribe, and appeals from his acts and decisions may be made to the State Superintendent, in the same manner and with like effect, as In ases now provided by law in respect of the county superintendent, and he shall make annually to the State Superintendent oJ Public Instruction, atsucli times asshall be appointed by him, a report in writing contaming the whole number of schools in the city, distinguishing the schools from which the necessary reports have been made to the board of education by the commissioners and trustees of common schools and containing a certified copy of the reports of the board of education to the clerk of the city, with such additional information as the State Superintendent of PnbUc InBtmctlon may require. 4. It shall he the duty of the board of education, by general rules and regulations, to provide a proper classification of studies, scholars and salaries in such manner that, as near as practicable, the system of instruction pursued in the public schools, and the salaries paid to the teachers shall be uni- form throughout the city. OF THB SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 2 8. Whenever the county clerk shall receive notice from the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion of the amount of moneys apportioned to Queens county for tbe support and encouragement of schools therein, the treasurer of Long Island City shall Immediately lay the same before the board of supervisors of said county and shall apply for, and receive the school moneys apportioned to Long Island city, and shall place the same In the city treasury. 878 Long Island City. 29 The common council of Long Island City shall annually raise and collect by tax, upon all the taxable property of said city, a sum of money equal to the sum specified in the wtiihated amount reauired^bv the board of education for public school purposes, not exceeding three-fourths ot one per- cent on one hundred dollars valuation of such taxable property, in the same maimer as the contingent charges of the said city are levied and collected, to be applied to the purposes and benefit ot the public schools of the said city ; and the board of education shall apportion the money so raised to the public schools according to the number of children over four and under twenty-one years of_age who were actual residents of Long Island City at the time of their attendance in such schools without, charge, the preceding year ; and the average in all the schools in Long Island City shall be ascertained by adding together the number of such children present at such morning and afternoon sessions, and. dividing the sum by a number corresponding to the actual number of morning and afternoon sessions held in any school since the last annual apportionment. The sum apportioned to any school under the charge of the board of education shall be paid by the treasurer of the said city upon the drafts drawn on him by the board of education, signed by the president and countersigned by the clerk of the board and by the commissioner of the ward for which the money is to'be paid, and all drafts shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the same, except that the payment of wages and aalarie-s may be m^de by pay rolls, upon which each person shall separately receipt for the amount paid to such person ; and in every case of payment by a pay roll, the draft for the aggregate amount of wages or salaries included therein shall be made payable to the oflacer designated for the purpose by the by-laws of the board of education. {As amended by chapter 428, Laws qf 1873.) 2 10. The board 'of education shall require from the executive committees conducting evemng and other schools by the appointment of the board, and from the trustees, managers, or directors of the schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of school moneys, a lepovt in all respects similar to that required from the trustees by the fourth subdivision of the fifth section of this title. 2 11. And In making the apportionment among the several schools, no share shall be allottevl to any school from which no sufficient annual report shall have been received for the year ending on the last day of December preceding the apportionment. g 12. "Whenever any apportionment of the public money shall not be made to any school, in conse- quence of an accidental omission to make any report required by law, or to comply with any other regulation or provision of law, the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment to be made to such school, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, to be paid out of the money on hand ; or if the same shall have been distributed out of the public money to be received In a succeeding year. OP THE EBECTION OF SCHOOLS. 2 13. The board of education may authorize the erection of a new public achool-house, upon tha written application of a majority of the trustees for the ward. It shall be the duty of the board of education to decide finally upon every such application within thirty days after the same shall be pre- sented to it. J 14. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a school or schools in any of the wards of saia city, it shall be lawful for the school officers of said ward to proceed to organize one or more schools, such as may be authorized by the board of education, and procures school-house, by purchasing or hiring the same : or by procuring a site and erecting a building thereon, according to plans and specifl- cations and contracts which shall have been duly filed with and approved by the board of education ;. the erection of which said building, and the fitting up thereof, and the fitting up of any hired building, shall be done by contract with the lowest responsible bidder, proposals for which contract shall be advertised once a week, for three weeks, previous to deciding upon the estimates thereon, unless such fitting up shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars; and the expense of establishing and organ- izing any school, as above mentioned, shall be paid out of the revenues levied and raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. § 15. It shall not be lawful for the board of education of Long Island City, nor for any of the city authorities, to appropriate or to pay out any of the public funds for the purchase or erection of frame buildings for pubfic school purposes in Long Island City. 2 16. They shall, before erecting or enlarging any building to be owned and used for public school pur- poses, hold in fee simple in the name of the corporation of Long Island City, a strip of land lying parallel with and adjacent to either side of such public school building, at least twenty-five feet in width, by one hundred feet in depth, and as much more as the board of education may deem necessary for public school purposes, to be left free of all buildings and structures that may obstruct light, or ventilation ; and it shall be the duty of the board of education to have all the main stairways, stair- cases, and halls of said schools rendered fire-proof, and the ceilings in all new public school-rooms con- structed at least fifteen feet above the next floor below. 2 17. No contract sball be made by the officers of public instruction of any ward for the purchase of any site without the consent of the board of education, or for the erection or fitting up, or repairing of any building, when such repairs shall exceed In amount the sum of twenty-five dollars as authorized In this act, until a statement in writing of the amount required for that purpose shall have been pre- sented to the board of education by said school officers, and, together with a copy of the working, drawings, plans and specifications of the work to be done, pursuant to the provisions of this act, sball have been duly filed and approved of, as herein required, and an appropriation shall have been made by the board of education therefor. OF THE DISCONTINUANCE OF SCHOOLS. 8 18. Whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circumstances in the immediate vicinity of any- public school, or to the small attendance of scholars therein, or any other sufficient reason, it shall appear to the board of education necessary and proper to discontinue such public school in any of the wards of this city, the said board shall give notice to the trustees of said school of its Intention to con- sider the propriety of such discontinuance ; and in thirty days after such notice may proceed to inves- tigate the matter, and if a majority of the school officersj of the ward shall consent to the same, and If said board shall determine, by a vote of a majority of all the members thereof, or without such consent by the unanimous vote of all the members of said board, that It is proper to close the same. It shall be the duty of said board to withhold all moneys which may have been apportioned or appropriated for the support of said school, and the said school shall not thereafter participate in any subsequent appor- tionment of the school moneys. So soon as the same shall take effect the mayor of the city shall be notified thereof by the said ooard, and the said school-house and site may thereupon be used or dis- posed of as a part of the general property of the city, LOKG ISLAKD CiTY. 879 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 5 19. No compensation shall be allowed to the commlsaioners or trustees of any schools for any ser- -vice perfonnecfby them ; but they shall receive any reasonable expenses which they may have incurred In attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed by the board of education. S 20. Every school officer who shall refuse or neglect to render an account, or to pay over any balance In hifl hands at the expiration of his term of office, shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, which sum, together with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected by the hoard of educsr tion, who shall prosecute without delay for the recovery of said forfeiture, together with the unpaid balance ; and In the case of the death of such school officer, suit may be brought against his reprosenta- tives, and all the moneys recovered after deducting expenses shall be placed at the disposal of the board of education. , ^ , « - 2 21 . Every person in the employ of the board of education, and every school officer, and every officer and teacher of a school or society, who shall willfully sign a false report to the board of education, shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of twenty-flve dollars, and shall be deemed guilty of misde- meanor; and every such person or officer, who shall willfully misapply any of the public funds com- mitted to his care, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be punished by law. i a. The following shall be substantially the form of oath or affirmation to be made by the teacher : ''AB, of Long Island City, teacher of No. department, being duly sworn or affirmed, declares and says, that to the best of (his or her) knowledge and beUef, the average number ot chil- dren actually residents of Long Island City, at the time of attending said schools, between the ages of four and twenty-one years, who attended said school or department each school time or half day, from the day of — —to the first day of January was ; said average having been obtained by adding together the number of scholars present each school term or half day, and dividing the total by four hundred and sixty, agreeably to the fifth section of this chapter." . . * 2 23. In any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against any commissioners or trustees of com- mon schools, for any act performed by virtue of, or undercolor of their offices, or for any refusal or omissionlto perform any duty eujoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the Superintendent, no cost shall be allowed to the plaintiff In cases when the court shall certify it appeared on the trial of ;the cause, that tho defendants acted in good fatth. But this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the State Super* Intendent of Public Instruction. . ...,._„ ^ *.« j * i 24. All children between the ages of four and twenty-one, residmg in the city, shall be entitled to attend any of the public schools therein, and the parents, guardians or other persons having the cus- tody or care of such children shall not be liable to any tax, assessment or imposition for the tuition of any children In any public school in said city other than is hereinbefore provided. „. .. 2 25. The clerk of the board of education is hereby authorized to administer oaths and take affidavit* in all matters appertaining to the schools in Long Island City, and for that purMse shall possess all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of the fees or emolumenta. 2 26. On and after the passage of this act, the present limits of all school districts within Long Island City shall be abolished, and the limits of the various school districts shall hereafter correspond to the ▼ariouB ward limits ot said dty, and the jurisdiction of the county superintendent of schools for Queens county shall cease within the Umlts of Long Island City. All the trusts, estates or property held by or vested in any of the public or district schools, or any of the boards of trustees and board of education, managers or directors thereof, as organized or existing under any special or general act, and all the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of said boards of trustees and boards of education, managers or directors shall remain and continue, and be vested, and is hereby vested in the board of education of Long Island City, which board is and shall be held as the lawful successors of the said boards of trustees and board of education, managers or directors, In the execution of every trust ; and the corporate existence of said boards of trustees, managers or directors Is hereby merged In the said, board of education of Long Island City, subject to the provisions and restrictions of this act. 2 27. Any provision of law inconsistent wita the provisions herein contained is hereby repealed. [CTiap. 519, Laws of 1887.] An act to provide for public school-houses In Long Island city. Passed June 3, 1887 ; three-fifths being present. The P^iple of the State qf New Tork, represented in Senate and Assembly^ do enact as Jollows : Section 1. At any time after January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight. Long Island city 18 hereby authorized to purchase lands in said city, and erect public school-houses thereon, but theaggre- fate amount to be expended for such purpose shall not exceed thesumof seventy-flve thousand dollars, 'hlrty-five thousand dollars of said sum shall be expended for the purchase of land and the erection of a public school-house in the first ward of said city, fifteen thousand dollars for the purchase of land and the erection of a public school-house In the second ward of said city and twenty-five tbou&and dollars for the purchase of lands and the erection of a public school-house in the third ward of said city. The site or location of any public school shall be determined by the school trustees of the respective wards. 2 2. No lands shall be purchased as aforesaid except the terms of such purchase have been advertised for one week In the corporation newspapers of said city and approved by the mayor ; all work to be done and materials fhrnlshed in and for said public school-houses shall be done by contract with the lowest responsible bidder, with such sureties as such board shall require; proposals for every such contract shall be advertised once a week for three weeks in the corporation newspapers of said city, and the material, plan and construction of said public school-buildings shall conform to the require- ments of chapter four hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled * ' An act to revise the charter of Long Island city." and the acts amendatory thereof. 2 3. For the purpose of fhrnishing the money to meet the expenditure hereby provided for, bonds shall he issued by Long Island city, to be known and designated as public school bonds, signed by the mayor and city clerk of said city, said bonds shall be of the denomination of five hundred dollars each, payable in twenty years, and the annual interest accruing thereon shall be collected as part of the city taxes for each and every year, the amount so collected shall be applied to the payment of interest on such bonds; said bonds shall bear interest at the rate of four and one-half per centum per annum, pay- able semi-annually, and shall not be sold for less than par. The said lands and public school -buildings are hereby specially pledged for the payment of the principal sum of the bonds authorized by this act for such purpose. § 4. Within two years before the maturity of said bonds, it shall be the duty of the common council of said city to provide, by a general tax, the amount necessary to pay the principal of said bonds, the same to be collected as part of the city taxes ; and which sum shall be applied to the payment of sfud public school bonds, ana for no other purpose. 2 5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 56. r" • *^' - » - . This act shalT take effect inmiediately. 880 Lyoi^s. LYONS. [Chap. 129, Lam of 1856, 05 arnended lyy chap. 290, Laws of 1860, and "by chap. 260, Laws of 1863.] Section], Schooldlstrictnumbersix, in the townof Lrons, county of Wayne, shall, forttie purposes in this act specified, be hereafter knowu and called " the Lyons union school." ? 2. Said district shall not he subject to alteration, except by an act of the legislature, or by some resolution of the board of education hereafter created. g3. John T, Mackenzie, Saxon B. Garritt, Morton Brownson, Lyman Sherwood, Caleb Rice, Zebulon Moore, Georfje W. Cramer, William H. Sissou, and Aaron D. Polhamus, residing in the said district, are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said district. The trustees so named, and their successors in office, to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation, by the name of •' the board of education for the village of Lyons," § 4. On the third Monday of December next there shall be elected. In the manner that school district officers are now elected, by a meeting of the persons qualified to vote for school district officers, resid- ing within the bounds of said district, nine trustees, residents of said district, to fill the places of those named in this act. Annually thereafter, on the days above specified, there shall, in likemanner.be elected three trustees to fill the places of those whose terms shall next thereafter expire, as hereinafter provided. The trustees named In this act shall hold their offices until the first Monday of January next, and until their successors shall he chosen and enter upon the discharge of the duties of their offices respectively. Every officer elected under this act shall enter upon the duties of his office on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, and shall hold his office for the term herein- after provided, and until his successor shall be elected, and shall enter upon the duties of his office. Within ten days after any such election, the clerk of such district shall certify to said board of educa- tion, the names of the officers so elected. 3 5. Within ten days after the first election of trustees, as provided in the last section, all the trust- ees so elected, or a majority of them, shall meet and cause the whole number of trustees so elected to be divided by lot into three classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of office of the first class shall expire at the end of one year ; of the second class, at the end of two yeM-s ; and of the third class, at the end of three years from the first Monday of January next. There shall also be elected in said district, at the time of so electing trustees, a clerk of said district, who shall hold liis office for one year, and until his successor be elected and enter upon the duties of his office. § 6. There shall annually be appointed, by said board of education, a collector, librarian and treasu- rer of said district, who shall each, within ten days after receiving notice in writing of his appoint- ment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not he ^ven within ten days after receiv- ing such notice, such office shall thereby become vacant, and said board shall thereupon make an aijjpointment to supply such vacancy as often as it may occur. f 7. Notice for annual elections and all other meetings of said districts shall he given by said board of ■education, at least two weeks before such election or meeting, by publishing such notice once in each week in each of the newspapers printed in the village of Lyons, and by posting the same in at least five of +hp mo'st public places in said district. 3 8. In case of a vacancy from any cause of any office mentioned in this act, of persons elected, said board may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office until the first Monday of January following the next annual school meeting of said district; at euch annual meeting some suitable person shall he chosen to fill any unexpired term, continuing longer than to the said first Monday of January. In case any such vacancy exists at any time aft^ir the pas- sage of this act, on or before the first day of September In any year, and shall not be filled within twenty days thereafter by said board, it shall be the duty of said board forthwith to call a special meeting of said district, for the purpose of filling such vacancy, upon the usual notice for district meetings. If such hoard refhse or neglect to call such meeting as herein specified for the period of ten days, then it shall be the duty of the clerk of said district, upon like notice to call such meeting. The pereon elected at such special meeting, upon filing his acceptance and oath of office with said board, shall be entitled forthwith to enter upon the duties of such office and shall hold the same for the whole unexpired term of the person whose vacancy he was elected to fill, {As amemded by chc^, 27« Laws qf 1878. ) § 9. Said board of education shall be a corporate body, for the purposes and in relation to all the pow- ers, conferred on them by virtue of the provisions of this act, and also by virtue of the provisions of an act entitled "An act In relation to school district number six in the town of Lyons, Wayne county," passed April 19, 1855, all of which said act, inconsistent with this act, is hereby repealed. A majority of said board shall form a quorum. f 10. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to said school district, that the trustees of common schools now possess or are subject to, not inconsistent with this act, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. The clerk, col- lector and librarian of said district shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to said district, that like officers of common schools now possess or are subject to, not inconsistent with this act, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. The offices of trustees collector and librarian in said district, at the time of the passage of this act, shall be abolished from and after the time when said union school shall go into operation under this act, excepting so far as It shall be necessary for said trustees and collector to collect any tax heretofore voted, levied or assessed In said district, or any rate bill, or tax for exemptions, necessary to he raised for the payment of teach- ers' wages, that shall have accrued at the time of the passage of this act, or at the time said school shall go into operation under this act, or for any arrearages for taxes or rate bills, or other matters the said trustees and collector are hereby authorized and required to continue their terms of office resoect- tvely, for the purpose of collecting such or any tax and rate blU, or either ; and If not already assessed And warrants issued, as required by law, time is hereby given them for that purpose and closing un such arrearages ^herein stated, and for such purposes only said trustees and collector shall have allthe powers, and be subject to aU the duties and liabilities that like officers now possess and are 211. Said hoard of education shall, at its first meeting, and annually thereafter, at their meetlmr held next after the first of January in each year, appoint one of their number president and another secretary. In the absence of either of such officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be appointed for the time being. wa.i«, a, iiicsiucut § 12. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of education, which record or a transcript therefrom, certified by the president and secretary, shall be received in all courts as presumptive evidence of the facts therein set forth. 2 13. Each member of said board of education, and every other officer of said school district, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Con- Lyons. 881 stltution of this State, and flie the same, or a certificate thereof, signed by the officer administering the same, with the secretary of the said board ; but no fee or compensation shall be taken or demanded for administering such oath. 2 14. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty; 1. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school lot and buildings belonging to said district, and to fence and improve the same as tney may think proper; 2. Upon such lot to alter^ improve and repair the school building and out-houses thereon, and to build, enlarge, repair and improve out-houses and appurtenances thereon, as they may deem ad- visable ; 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; to provide fuel for the said school, and defray their contingent expenses and the expenses of the library and salary of the librarian ; 4. To have the custody and safe-keepinR of the apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and see that the ordinances and by-laws of said board in relation thereto be observed and enforced ; 5. To contract with and employ all teachers in all the schools under their charge, and also a janitor and librarian, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 6. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money and tuition fees to be received by them, according to the provisions of this act, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be raised as provided for by this act ; 7. To divide said school into four grades, according to the branches of instruction pursued therein ; commencing with the primary departments ov grades, designating the same by numbers first, second, third and fourth, concluding with the academical department; 8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said school, subject to the limitations and restrictions hereinafter contained, and to designate some person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to issuing the warrant for the collection thereof; and, by a resolution of said board, to be recorded by the secre- tary, to exempt from the payment of the whole or any part of the tuition fees such persons as they may deem entitled to such exemption from indigence ; but no deduction for tuition fees shall be made by said board of education for the non-attendance of any pupil at said school after the time of the com- mencement of such pupil in any quarter until the close thereof, unless the same shall be satisfactorily excused to said board of education, within five days after the close of such quarter; 9. After the close of each quarter of said school to make out a rate bill containing the name of each person liable to pay tuition fees for tuition in said school, who shall not have paid the same prior to making out such rate bill, according to the provisions of the last preceding subdivision of this section, for the amount for which such person is Ilaole. adding thereto a sum not exceeding five cenis on each dollar for collection fees (which fees shall be fixed by said board at the time of making out every rate bill) ; to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof, to be signed by the president of said board or a majority of the members thereof, and deliver the same to the collector, who shall collect the same in the same manner as collectors of school districts are by law authorized and required to execute like warrants, and, for this purpose, the jurisdiction of said board of education and of said collector shall he the same as trustees and collectors of common schools now possess ; 10. To have In all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act; to prescribe the course of studies therein, the books to be used, and establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies and books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem, expedient, rules, regulations (and ordinances for the oraantzation, government and instruction of such schools, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one department or grade to another, for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and publicutility, for the protection, safe-keeping and preservation of said school- houses, out-houses, lots and appurtenances, and all other property connected with or appertaining to such schools ; 11. To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to he published in such manner and form as they may deem best calculated to give general information. The matters contained in subdi- visions one, two and three of this section shall not embrace any outlays beyond the sum or sums voted in each year by said district, to be raised by tax therein ; 12. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the visitation and control of the super- intendent of common schools of said town, and Superintendent of Public Instruction of said State, in like manner as the common schools in this State now are ; 13. Said board of education are empowered to establish, organize and maintain aclaasical department in the school under their charge in said district, agreeably to an act passed April nineteen, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, entitled "■ An act in relation to school district number six, in the town of Lyons, Wayne county." And the said Regents are hereby authorized and required, at their next apportionment of the literature fund, to add to the portion to which this school may be entitled, such sum as said school would have been entitled the previous year had they made their annual report in season ; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall affect the rights and duties of said board of education, granted or imposed by this act, or the statutes of this State relating to common schools. 2 15. Said board of education shaU have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise from time to time, by tax upon the real and personal estate within the bounds of said district which shall he liable to taxation for the ordinary taxes of said village, or for town or county taxes or charges, such sums as may be determined, by resolution of said board, to be necessary to meet any deficiency iFor fuel, for the payment of teachers' wages, salary of janitor and librarian, and for text-books for exempts, as contem- plated by this act, without a vote of the district, and also such other sum or sums of money as shall, or may at any time be voted by said district, for any purpose connected with the suljject of education In said district, to provide for which, power shall be given to said board, by the provisions of this act, the laws relating to common schools, or the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Instruc- tion of said State. Said board shall, at each annual meeting, submit an estimate of the amount of money which will. In their opinion, be needed for all the purposes of education and other purposes pro- vided for by this act (except to meet deficiency for the payment of teachers' wages, and purchase of text-books for exempts, over and above the moneys to he received from the town superintendent, tui- tion fees, and literature fund), to be voted at such meeting, and shall cause the sum or sums, so voted at such meeting, to be raised by one assessment and warrant, with power of renewal, as hereby granted to trustees. Such assessment may be made and levied, and warrant issued, in any one year as often as such tax shall be voted. Taxes to meet any deficiency for the payment of teachers' wages, and the purchase of text-books for exempts, may be assessed, levied and collected by said board of education. In the same manner that taxes are assessed, levied and collected, as in this act provided, whenever the same shall be deemed necessary by said board. The taxable inhabitants of said district are hereby authorized, at any regular meeting of such district, to levy and raise, in the manner now provided by law for raising money by tax in school districts, from time to time, such sum or sums as shall be neces- sary for the purposes of education in said district. (Section 16 is repealed. ) 111 882 LTOi^s. 5 17. Said board shall, as soon as practicable, after any tax shall have been voted by said district, for the purposes in this act expressed and intended, forthwith assess, levy and collect the same, by tax upon real and personal estate, as specified in this act. They shall, for said tax and all other taxes to he raised by them, make out a tax list, in the manner and form in which like tax lists are now made by trustees of school districts, so far as such form is applicable, using as a basis for all assessments the last completed town or village assessment roll or warrant, or both, as the case may m their opinion require and annex to such tax list a warrant, in like form, signed by the president or a majority of the members of said board, and deliver the same to the collector; which, when so made and signed, shall be as effectual, to all intents and purposes, as like tax lists and warrants when made by the trustees of common school districts. _ „ . , , „ ,_ , ■ ., j* -j j 2 18 All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropnated to or provided for said district, or to which the same shall at any time be entitled, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor to said board of education, when thereunto required. Said treasurer shall not pay out any of such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order signed by the president and certified by the sec- retary, to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 1 19 Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act. by the secretary, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. No member of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not he lawful for any member of said board, or any other offi- cer of said district, to become a contractor for building or making any improvement or repairs author- ized bv this act, or be in any manner directly or indirectly interested, either as principal, partner or surety,' in any such contract. All contracts made in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, to be prosecuted for and recovered by said board. 2 20. Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such and so many members of their board as thev may deem proper, not less than three In number, a visiting committee, whose duty it shall be to visit said school as often as once in each quarter, and make a report in writing to said board, showing the state and condition of each department or grade of said school, the school-house, appara- tus, library and appendages, and such other matters as said board may require of them, and such sug- gestions for the improvement of the same as they may deem proper and advisable; such report shall be made at least one week prior to the close of each quarter, ana shall be filed and kept among the papers of said board. Such board may, in their discretion, cause such report, or any part thereof, and any other matters relating to said school, to be published in such form as they may deem advisable. They shall, at the close or each year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers a report of the moneys received and expended during the year, specifying therein all sums received, and from whom, and all persons to whom payments were made, and the general character of the demand paid, and such other matters as they may deem advisable. .-2 21. The title to the present site, buildings, furniture, books, apparatus and each and every of the appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in said hoard of education ; and the same, while used for or appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. 2 22. Every officer In this act mentioned, having the possession, custody, care, charge or control of any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this act, or provided by law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the expiration of his terra, or whenever such officer shall resign, be removed from office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. 2 23. Every resignation of officers appoi nted or elected under this act shall be made to the board ; and such resignation shall have no force or eSfect, nor in any degree excuse such officer from the discharge of his duties, until the same he accepted and approved by a resolution of said board. 2 24. Any such officer may be removed from office for any official misconduct or neglect of official duty by resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members concurring. Written notice of the charges shall be served upon, and opportunity shall be given to every such officer to be heard in his defense before any such resolution shall be adopted. 2 25. Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this act, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars ; and every person so appointed or elected, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sura of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recov- ered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed public officers, within the intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein prescribed, In addition to the penalty in this section before provided. J 26, The said board shall cause th6 library belonging to said district to be kept in a suitable and proper room in said school building or other place in said district, properly fitted up and fumished with necessary fixtures, furniture and appendages, and shall put the same under the cnarge of a libra- rian; they shall annually allow and pay to the said librarian such salary as in their opinion shall be a feir and reasonable compensation for his services; they shall pass such by-laws for the regulation and preservation of said library and for the discharge of the duties of the librarian as they may think necessary. The library money hereafter to bo received in behalf of said district shall be paid by the town superintendent to the treasurer of said board ; said board shall expend such money entirely for the purchase of books and maps for the library. 2 27. Lands of residents and non-residents of said districts may be sold by said board for uncollected taxes, assessed thereon for school purposes by virtue of the provisions of this act, in the same manner and by like proceedings as the trustees of the village of Lyons adopt to sell lands for unpaid taxes assessed for village purposes, and such sales shall have the like efffect as sales so made by the trustees of said village ; or, the lands of residents and non-reaidents of said district, said board may cause to he returned to the county treasurer, in the same manner as trustees of common school districts are now ftuthorized by law to return unoccupied and unimproved real property of non-residents of their dis- tricts for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury raised for contingent expenses; and such pro- ceedings, in all respects, shall thereafter be had by said county treasurer and the board of supervisors of the county of Wayne, in relation to all land so returned, as they are by law required to take in respect to unoccupied and unimproved lands of non-residents when so returned by trustees of com- mon school districts ; but no lands shall be so sold or returned until a reasonable effort shall have been jnade to collect such taxes by warrant, as provided in section seventeen of this act, and the collector shall have returned that he cannot collect the same. Malone. 883 2 2'A Saifl board "of education may organize a department in said school for the instruction of teachers, for such parts of the year, and under such rules and regulations as they may by their hy-laws adopt iu relation thereto. [_Chap. 550, Laws of 1855.] The following is the law referred to in sections nine and fourteen of the foregoing act ; ' Section 1. The trustees of school district number six, in the town of Lyons, In the county of Wayne, and their successors in office, are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the name *' of the Lyon3 union school," and empowered to establish, organize and maintain a classical department in the school under their charge, in said district, by that name, which department shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University of this Stale, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incor- porated academies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and to share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, as the academies thereof; provided, however, that this act shall not affect the rights and duties of said trustees and district, under the statutes of this State relating to common schools. [CJiap. 260, Laws of 1863.] Section 1. The hoard of education of the village of Lyons shall not hereafter collect or receive any fees or compensation for the Instruction in the school under the charge of said board, of pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the territory embraced in school district number six in Lyons, known as the Lyons union school ; the charges for tuition of all other pupils admitted into said school shall be regulated by said board from time to time, as they shall deem proper. §2. Any sums necessary fot the payment of teachers' wages, after applying to that purpose any moneys, or Income In the hands, or under the control of said board, applicable thereto, shall be levied and collected upon the taxable property of said district, as other taxes are now required by law to be levied and collected. g 3. Sectiou sixteen of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine of the Session Laws of 1S56 is hereby repealed. [Cftap. 240, Xaws 0/1876,] Section 1. The board of education of school district number six, of the town of Lyons.Wayne county, shall not have any right or power to incur, make or create any liability or debt, ormake any contracts or agreements, express or implied, for any purpose whatever, exceeding in the aggregate of all such debts, liabilities, contracts and agreements, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in any one year, without first having a vote of said district, at an annual or special meeting thereof, authorizing the same. This restriction shall not apply to contracts or agreements with teachers, Janitor, librarian, or liabilities or debts for dellclency for fuel, or text-books for exempts. § 2. The fiscal year of said district shall end on the fifteenth day of November of each year, and It shall be the duty of said board of education, immediately thereafter, and before the succeeding first day •of December, to make in writing, a full, accurate and detailed statement of all moneys raised or received by the said board or any of the officers of said district, specifying the sources from which moneys were received, the amounts paid or agreed to be paid to any and every teacher,Janitor or other persons, the ■cause or object of such payment; the amount of demands outstanding and audited against said dis- trict, with the names of the persons to whom the same were audited, or those claiming the same, and the objects or purposes for which the same were audited or claimed, together with the estimates of said board of education of the expenses or- amounts necessary to be raised or voted by the said district for the succeeding fiscal year ; and such other matters necessary to inform the inhabitants of said dis- trict of the pecuniary or fiscal condition of said district as the said board ofediication may deem proper to embody in such report. Said report shall be published once In each week in all the newspapers published In the village of Lyons, during the period between the first day of December and the suc- ceeding third Monday of that month In each year. A failure on the part'of the said board of education to make such report shall be sufficient cause for the removal of the members thereof, of either of them, from the office of trustees of said district. [ Chap. 27, Laws of 1878, ] 22. The clerk of said district shall hereafter act as the secretary of said board of education and may receive such reasonable compensation for his services as said board shall determine. MALONE-DISTRICTS, NOS. 1, 14, 15 AND 23. ICIiapter 370, Laws qf 1858. ] Section 1. School districts numbers one, fourteen, fifteen and twenty-three, in the town of Malone, In the county of Franklin, are hereby consolidated, for the purposes in this act specified, and shall hereafter form but one school district, to be called " The village scheol district of the town of Malone. " ^ , 1 2. Said district shall have five trustees, all of whom shall be resident freeholders, and any three of ■whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. On the first Tuesday in May next, after the passage this act, at seven o'clock in the afternoon, the legal voters of said consolidated district shall assemble at the court-house in the village of Malone, and organize a school district meeting, by appointing a moderator to preside at said meeting, and a clerk to keep the minutes of its proceedings, and shall then proceed to elect five trustees, a clerk, hbrarlan and collector of said district, in the manner prescribed bv law for the election of officers of school districts. The term of office of the clerk, librarian and collector of said district shall be one year, and those first elected, as above pro- vided, shall hold office for one year from the next annual meeting In said district : and the term of office of the trustees of said district, who shall be elected after the first election, shall be five years. The said trustees elected at said first election shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, so that one shall serve one year, a second two years, a third three years, a fourth four years, and a fifth five years, firom the next annual meeting in said district. There shall be elected in each year after the present, at the annual district meeting In said district, one trustee to supply the place of the trustee whose terra of office will then expire. A'^acancies in any of the offices in said district shall be suppUed as provMpd bv law for flilln? vacancies in such offices in school districts. And said trustees shall pos- sess all the powers, and be sublect to all the duties In respect to said district, that the trustees of school 884 MaloisTE. rtistrlcts possess and are subject to, and to such other powers and duties as ^/e conferred orimpo^^^^ this act, or may be conferred or imposed by law. ,The said meeting hereby directed to be held shall nx the time for holdine the annual meeting in said district. ^ ^^ . j , j- i.^„*Q. 1^3 tL several school-houses, and all school district property belonging to the said several distncts hereby consoHdated, shall form and after the passage of this acft be, the property of the said consoli- dated district, to be hPld. used and disposed of as the like kind of property may be held, used and dis- ^?rTL^Lid^sevl''rS°scKl^^^^^ and such other as may from time to time be hired purchased or erected in said district for that purpose, may be used for primary schoolsm said district, and the said district may in the mode prescnbecf by law for hiring, erecting or purchasmg school-houses, hire, pur- chase or^Ject, at suitable and convenient points in said district, school-houses for primary schooU, and a school-house for a central school, for instruction in the higher grades of the English and common branches hereinafter prescribed, upon sites to be hired or purchased in the mode prescribed by law. 2 5 The said schools shall be wholly supported by the moneys appropriated to said district, and by tax upon the taxable property in said district; and the said district shall receive its due pupil ana library apportionments, according to the number of persons in said district over four yeare and under twenty-one years of age, authorized by law to be enumerated and reported with those tormmg the bapis of the apportionment of public moneys, to said district, and district quotas according to seqtion three, chapter one hundred and eighty of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six ; and all moneys apportioned or apportionable to the said several districts by this act consolidated, upon reports already made by the trustees of said districts, but not yet paid, shall be paid to tbe trustees of said consolidated district ; and the said consolidated district shall draw for the year eighteen hundred and fifty-eight its due pupil and library apportionments, according to the number of pupils in said district as aforesaid, without regard to the length of time that a school shall have been kept in said district by a quahfled teacher, in said year eighteen hundred and fifty -eight, and from district quotas for said year, 1 6. The legal voters of said district, at said meeting hereby authorized, without any other notice than the publication of this act in the several newspapers published in the village of Malone. at least one week before the said meeting, and at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally held, after such notice of any such annual, special or adjourned meeting, and of its objects as is by law required, may vote to raise such sums of money as tlicy may deem expedient for hiring or purchasing school- houses or sites for school-houses, aiid erecting and repairing school-houses, and for hiring and paying- teachers, and purchasing maps, charts, globes and books, and providing fuel, and erecting and main- taining out-buildings. and inclosing and improving the grounds connected with the school-houses in said district, and defraying the contingent expenses of said schools. But no more than one thousand dollars shall be raised by taxation in any one year, over and above the sums necessary to be raised for the payment of teachers' wages. 2 7. The trustees of said consolidated district are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said schools, and to divide the same Into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transfer of scholars from one department to another, and provide suitable instructors in each department, and direct what text-books shall be used in the same ; but no higher or other branches than reading, spell- ing, penmanship, geography, English grammar, arithmetic, history, English composition, and declama- tion, shall be taught in said schools ; and no person not a resident of said district, and authorized to bfr enumerated and reported with those forming the basis of the apportionment of public moneys to said district, shall be permitted to attend any of the said schools. g8. The said schools shall be free to all persons in said district authorized to be enumerated and reported with those forming the basis of the apportionment of public moneys to said district, and na charge for tuition shall be made against any such persons, or against their parents, guardians or employ- ers, either by rate bill or otherwise, 2 9. The trustees of said consolidated school district are authorized from time to time to make' arrangements with the trustees or principal of the Franklin academy, in the village of Malone, to teach in any or all of the several branches of education herein prescribed, any number of the scholars in.said school district, on such terms and conditions as they shall deem expedient. S 10. The said district, and the officers thereof, and the schools therein, shall, in all respects, be sub- ject to the jurisdiction and control of the commissioners of common schools of the district in which the said consolidated district is located, and to the State superintendent of common schools, the same as other school districts, and the officers thereof, and the schools therein, and all the general laws and. regulations of this State in relation to common schools, shall apply to the sold district and its officera and schools, except as herein otherwise provided. [Chap. 7, Laws of 1867.] Section 1. The five existing trustees of the village school district of the town of Malone, associated with five trustees of the corporation of Franklin academy, in said village, and their respective success- ors in office, shall constitute a board of education for said village school district, § 2. Upon the passage of this act the board of trustees of said Franklin academy shall elect five of Its members, who shall be residents of said village school district who shall be associated with said, school district trustees, to form the board of education established by the foregoing section. Said academy trustees, so elected, shall determine by lot their respective terms of office, so that one shall serve one year, one two years, one three years, one four years, and one five years, and in each case the period of service shall commence and end with that of the trustees of said village school district. After such first election the said board of trustees of Franklin academy shall, at the time of the annual meeting of said village school district, elect one of Its members to supply the place of the trustee whos& term of office shall then expire. The trustees of said village school district shall continue to be elected as provided by section two of chapter three hundred and seventy of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight. § 3. The said board of education, when it shall be duly organized under the foregoing provisions, shall have the care, management and control of all the schools in said village school district, and also of the academy therein ; but nothing in this act shall be held in any wise to affect or impair the separate cor- porate existence of said academy of any rights or privileges appertaining to it at such corporation, except aa herein expressly provided. Andgenerally, except as qualified by this act, the said board of education shall have, possess and exercise all the powers and privileges conferred upon such boards, in school districts, other than those whose limits correspond with those of any city or incorporated village by title nine of chapter five hundred and fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four. The saiddistrlctschoolsshallbefreeonly to those persons residing in the district, authorized to be enumera- ted and reported with those forming the bases for the apportionment of public money to said district, and the said academy shall also be free to the persons above mentioned, and to all other permanent residents of the district. To all other persons, whether from within or without the limits of said dis- trict a just and remunerative rate of tuition shall be charged, which rate shall, from time to time, be iixed by said board of education. (As amended by sec. \, chap. 197, Zaws o/lSSO.) MEDiiirA. 8S5 "2 4. Except as modified by the foregoing; provisions, so much of title nine, of chapter five hundred «nd fifty-five of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as relates to school districts, other than those whose limits correspond with thoso of any city or incorporated village, is hereby extended and 2nade applicable to " the village school district of the town of Malone." 1 5. So much of chapter three hundred and E5eventy, of the laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, being " An act to consolidate school districts one, fourteen, fifteen and twenty-three, in the town of Malone, in the county of Franklin," as confiicts or is inconsistent with the foregoing provisions is hereby repealed. [ Chap. 11, Laws cf 1882.] Section 1. The village school district of the town of Malone may hereafter, at any annual school meeting, vote a tax upon the taxable property of said district, not exceeding one-half of one mill on the dollar of the assessed valuation of the property thereof, to be expended under the direction of the board of education, for the maintenance or the library of said district and of a reading-room connected therewith, for the care of the library building, and for the purchase of boobs, periodicals and news- papers, and for other necessary expenditures in connection with said library and reading-room. g 2, The sums voted in pursuance of the first section of this act shall he included in the annual tax- 4ist of said district, and be levied and collected in the same manner as the other taxes of the district. \_Chap. 35. Laws of 1881.] Authorizes the borrowing of $15,000 for building, furnishing and heating a new school-house, and the issuing of bonds therefor. MEDINA. [Laws qf 1849, cAop, 286, as atnended by chap. 381, Laws of 18i)0.] Section 1. There shall hereafter be elected in school district number twelve, formed partly onto! the town of Ridgeway and partly out of the town of Shelby, in the county of Orleans, and lying princi- ,'pally within the village of Medina, in the manner now provided by law, three trustees, who shall respectively hold their offices three years. Christopher Whaley, Silas M. Burroughs, John Ryan, Daniel Starr, Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss are hereby appointed trustees of said district, and shall respectively hold said office as follows, namely: The term of office of Christopher Whaley and -Silas M. Burroughs shall expire at the same time that the term of office of Roswell Starr, as trustee of said district, shall expire ; the term of office of John Ryan and Daniel Starr shall expire at the same time that the term of office of Isaac K. Burroughs, as trustee of said district, shall expire ; and the term of office of Isaac W. Swan and Archibald Servoss shall expire at the same time that the term oi office of Nathan Bancroft, as trustee of said district, shall expire. 2 2. The trustees of said district, and their successors in office, shall constitute a hoard of education for said district ; and, for the purposes of this act, in addition to the present powers and duties of trus- tees, are hereby constituted a oody politic and corporate, by the name and style of" the board of edu- cation of the village of Medina; and said corporation shall have power to establish and organize a classical school in said village, to be known by the name of " the Medina academy," and such classical school shall he subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other incorporated academies of this State, and shall,be entitled to share In the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund, upon the flame terms as other academies of this State ; and the Regents of the University shall recognize said academy as such, as soon as the required sum of money shall be expended in buildings and competent teachers employed therein. 8 3. Said board of education shall appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall pre- side at the meetings of said hoard when present ; when absent a president pro tempore shall be appointed in his stead. They shall also appoint one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts, doings and resolutions of said board; and in the absence of the secretaryasecretary pro tempore shall he appointed to discharge such duties. They shall also appoint a collector, librarian and treasurer of said district, who shall respectively hold their offices one year from their appointment, and until others are appointed In their places, unless sooner removed by said board ; such collector, librarian and treasurer shall each, within ten days after notice of their appointment in writing, and before -entering upon the duties of their office, execute and deliver to said hoard of education a bond, in such penalty and with sucTvsureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not he given within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and said board of education shall thereupon make an appoint- ment to supply such vacancy. § 4. The said board of education shall have power to fill any vacancy which may happen by rea- son of the death or removal from the said Idistrlct of any member of said board, and the officer so appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired time of the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed. § 5. Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, In respect to said district, that the trustees of common schools now possess, or are subject to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 2 6. The taxable inhabitants of said distrct, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting, legally held, may vote to raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable buildmg for such purpose, and direct the trustees to cause the same to be levied and raised by installments, and make out atax for the collection of the same as often as such installments shall become due ; and the legal voters at any such meeting are authorized to fix the compensation for collecting and paying over to the said board of education the amount so levied. g 7. The inhabitants of said district shall have no power to rescind the vote to raise such sum of money litany subsequent meeting, unless the same be done within ten days thereafter; nor shall they have power to reduce the amount of the same after the expiration of ten days from the time the tax was first levied, hut may omit such sum as shall remain unappropriated after paying for the site and erec- tion of the house or purchase of suitable building. . g 8. The said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain by loan the whole or any part of the money legally voted by said district, and secure the payment of the same by their official bond. 29. The comptroller of this State is hereby authorized and directed to loan to the said board of educa- tion such sum as the said board of education shall certify to said comptroller to have been voted hy -the inhabitants of said district. In pursuance of this act, not exceeding the sum of five thousand dol- lars, outof the moneys in the treasury belonging to the capital of the common school fund, and for the purpose of purchasing a site and erecting or purchasing a suitable building for a school-house in 886 MiDDLETOWN". said district ; and the monev when loaned shall be charged upon the l)ooks of thp coniptroller to saifi district and the same shall be paid over to said board of education, to be applied by them for tne pur- pose of" purcliaslOK a site and erecting or purchasing a school-honse for said district. i,„a„ta. 2 10 Se sum so loaned shall be paid fo the Comptroller of this State, in annual InstallrQents- thlreafter. as determined by the voteof said district raising such sum of money, with annual interest *^(f l^The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to sell at public auction to the highest bidder, the school-house and site thereof belonging to said district, by giving Pupl>^ notice to be Wosted in ten public places in said district ten days previous to such sale, and appiy the proceeds Trisin? from such sale toward purchasing a site and erecting a school-house in said district, or to such other purpose as said district shall direct; such sale may be made upon such tenns of credit as said board of education shall determine upon, and a bond and mortgage taken by said board for the whole or any part of the purchase-money, or price for which said site and house may be sold, and such bond and mortgage may be sold and assigned by said board at par, for money to be applied by them as herein. ^TS The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to make such by-laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of swd school, and divide the same into primary and higher departments, and regulate the transter ot scholars, from one department to the other, and provide suitable instructors for each department, direct what text-books shall he used in the same, purchase fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district, and all contracts made by them in their official capacity shall be binding upon them and their successors in office ; to fix and regulate the terms of tuition feesin said primary and other higher branches in said school or schools; to sue for and collect in their corporate name any sum of money due to said district ; to receive and apply to the uses of said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest or annuities given or bequeathed to said board, and apply the same according to the instructions of the donor or testator ; to take and hold any real estate given or bequeathed to said board for the purposes of said school or schools, or any department thereof; and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms and instructions of the donor or testator; to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of said school or schools, or any department thereof, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher or teachers employed by them In said school or department thereof, 2 13. Said board of education shall in all respects be subject to the restrictions and control of the superintendents of common schools of the town, county and State, in the same manner as the- com- mon schools in this State are subject. 2 14. Said board of education shall have power and are hereby authorized to receive into said academy, and cause to be instructed therein, any pupil or pupils residing in or out of said district, and to regulate and establish the terms of tuition fees of such resident or non-resident pupils ; and said board of education shall have power to regulate the tuition fees and rates of charges for instruction in the higher English and classical department's of said academy, and shall have power to make such application of the money raised for the support of common schools in said district, for the payment of teachers' wages, as said board shall determine, and may divide and apportion the same, in such man- ner as said board shall deem best, to pay the salaries of teachers employed in said academy, or the elementary English schools connected therewith, or maintained in said district under their supervi- sion. The rates of tuition in the elementary English branches, in the schools, maintained in said dis- trict, shall be subject to the general laws relating to common schools ; and, after applying such portion Qf the money received in said "district, as said board shall determine, toward the support of such elementary English depariments, such sum, not to be less than-one-half of all the moneys received in said district for the support of common schools therein, the additionar sum required to pay teachers' wages, and provide fuel and other contingent expenses necessary to the support of such elementary- schools shall be estimated, assessed, collected and applied in the manner provided in chapters one hun- dred and forty and four hundred and four of the Session Laws of eighteen hundred and forty-nine, or in such other manner as shall he hereafter provided by law for the support of common schools. 2 15. All moneys raised in said district for the purposes of said school, and all moneys to be received by such district from the common school fund, or other source, shall be annually paid to the said board of education, and be applied by them for the uses of said school or schools, according to law. 2 16. The members of said hoard of education, before receiving any moneys belonging to said district, shall severally execute to the town superintendent of common schools of the town of Kidgeway their separate bonds, with two sufficient sureties, to ba approved by said town superintendent, in a penalty at least double the amount to be expended by them for the benefit of said school during the next ensu- ing year, conditioned that such trustee giving such bond will faithfully accountJbr the expenditure of all moneys he shall receive for said district, and pay over the balance remaining in his hands at the time of the expiration of his office to the other trustees ; and the district at any legal meeting thereof may require the penalty of such bond to be increased, or additional security to be given by either or all the trustees, if they shall deem the same insufficient ; ajid any trustee, treasurer of said district, or member of said board, who shall apply any moneys belonging to said district to his own use, shall be- deemed guilty of embezzlement. MIDDLETOWN. [Chap. 431, Laios o/1867.] Section 1. Every district or common school located in the village of Middletown. and every school which may hereafter be located in said village under the provisions of this act, shall be free to all chil- dren between the ages of four and twenty-one years, residing in said village. 2 2. All that part of the town of Wallklll Included within the corporate limits of the village of Mid- dletown shall hereafter constitute one school district. There shall be elected in said district, as soon after the passage of this act as the trustees of the village can order an election for that purpose, after giving two weeks' notice in two papers of said village, of the time and place of holding such election, nine persons, who shall constitute and be designated " the board of education of the- vill^e of Middletown,*' which board shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers conferred upon them by this act. The term of office of three of the members of said board shall expire on the first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. The term of office of three others of the members of said board shall expire on the first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and the term of office of the remaining three shall expire on the first Tuesday in April, eighteen hundred and seventy. The term of office of the several members of said board shall be determined by lot at the first meeting of the said board after their election. And there shall be elected annually thereafter, at the time of the election of officers of the village of Middletown, three members of said boai-d of edu- cation. MiDDLETOWJSr. 887 2 3. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property in said village, in this act mentioned, shall be vested in said board of education, and such property shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose. And the said board of education. In its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest, or devise, for the use of the schools in said village, estabUshed by authority of ihis act. 2 4. The first meeting of the board of education shall be on the Tuesday next after their election ; and the annual meeting of the board thereafter shall be on the second Tuesday of April. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum, and be competent to transact any business of said board. The said board shall elect one of their number president; and whenever he shall be absent, a president j9ro tempore may be appointed. The members of the board shall not, directly, or Indirectly, receive any compensation for their services, nor for any services connected with said schools; nor shall they be directly or indirectly interested In any contract connected with said schools, or school property, or in furnishing supplies for the schools under their charge. The said board shall appoint a clerk, who shall hold his ofQce during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. The said clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. Such record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, or by the jjro tempore president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prtma/ocie evidence of the facts therein set forth. The said board may appoint a superintendent, who shall, under the direction of said board, have the superintendence of all the schools under the charge of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may require, and who shall hold his olfice during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall .be fixed by the board. (As amended by aeo. 1, chap. 368, Laws of 1870). g 5. The trustees of said village shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal property in said village which shall be liable for the ordinary village taxes, such sum or sums of money as the board of education shall certify to the said trustees to be necessary for any or all of the following purposes : 1. To purchase, lease, or Improve sites for school-houses; . 2. To buUd, purchiise, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances ; 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 4. Topurchase fuel andpay the contingentexpenses of the schools under their supervision, and the expenses of the libraries of said schools; 5. To pay the wages of teachers, after applying to that purpose all the public school moneys and all the other moneys received by said board, or that shall be under their control, and which may by law be appropriated and provided for that object; provided that no moneys shall be raised for the pur- .chasing of any site, or the erecting of any school-house, or the enlarging of any school building already erected, unless the consent of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of said village, authorized to vote, and voting at an annual or special meeting called for that purpose, be first obtained ; 6. The trustees of said village are hereby authorized and directed to raise by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, the moneys to be levied and collected as herein provided. The taxes to be levied as afore- said, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other village taxes. 2 6. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appropriated to and provided for the schools of said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Mlddletown, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same manner as for other moneys of said village, and who shall be liable to the like penalties for any official misconduct in relation to school as to other moneys of said village. Such moneys shall be deposited with such treasurer to the credit of said board of education, and shall be paid only by order of said board on drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk, payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and said treasurer shall keep the funds received by him under this act separate and distinct from any other funds. 2 7. The said board shall have the power and it shall be their duty : 1. To establish and organize in said village such and so many free schools as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the same in their discretion ; 2. To hire school-houses or rooms for school purposes ; 3b To alter, Improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advlaablc. 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expenses attending the same ; 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school buildings, out-houses, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances in relation thereto are enforced ; 6. To contract with, license and employ all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to remove them; 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and provided by law for that purpose: 8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk; provided the account of such expenses shall be first audited and allowed by the said board for education ; 9. To exoend all moneys raised by virtue of this act for building school-houses, purchasing sites, and other purnoses for which the same may be raised, in such manner as they may deem proper ; 10. To have. the entire supervision and management of the schools In said village, established under and by virtue of the nrovislons of this act; and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they mav deem exnedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and Instruction, for the recention of nuolls. and their transfer from one school to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their decree of scholarship may warrant, and generally for the promotion of the good oirder and prosperity of said schools : 11. To sell and dispose of any school buildings, lots or>ites, whenever in the opinion of the board it may be advisable ; 12. To determine and certify to the trustees of the village, on or before the first day of March m each year, the sums of money in their opinion necessary to be raised, under the provisions of this act, for the year commencing on the first day of April following, specifying the purposes for which the same are required. S 8. The board of education shall have a regular meeting at least once in each quarter, and shall appoint at such meetings one or more committees, each to consist of not less than two of their mem- bers to visit all the schools under their supervision in said village, and such committee shall visit all such schools at least twice during each school term. 2 9. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident (within the village to attend any of the schools of said village under the control of said board upon such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe. g 10. The said board of education shall be trustees of the school library or libraries in said village. 888 "MiLXOKo and all the provisionrbf law relative to'district scTiool libraries shall apply to said board . They shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by law lor the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the Inhabitants of school districts. It shall be tne duty of said board, In their discretion, to provide rooms for the school libraries of said village, i.ne clerk of the board shall be the general librarian. The board shall also appoint one or more librarians to have the care of the books, and to superintend the letting out and return thereof. The several local librarians shall from time to time inform the general librarian of the condition of their libraries, and the said board, or the general librarian, under the direction of said board, may make all purchases of books for the libraries of such schools, and exchange or cause to be repaired the damaged books belonging thereto. , „ ,, , ^ i. i *• i t. Ml It shall be the duty of said board, at least twenty days before the annual charte r election m each year to prepare and make to the trustees of the village a correct report of the receipts and disburse- ments of moneys under the provisions of this act, dijring the preceding year, in which accounts shall be stated under appropriate heads . 1. The moneys raised by the trustees of the village under the provisions of this act; 2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village from the county treasurer; 3. The moneys received by the board under the third section of this act ; 4. All other moneys received by the treasurer subject to the order of the board ; 5. The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying the purpose for which each amount was paid, and the amount on hand, if any, specifying the fund to which the same belongs, or the deficiency, if any, specifying the fund in which such deficiency exists. And the said board shall cause such report to be published in one or more newspapers of said village ten days before such election. (As amended by sen. 2, chap. 368, Laws of 1870. ) 5 12. The trustees of said village shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to pasaeuch ordi- nances and regulations as the said board of education may report as necessary and proper, for the pro- tection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school buildings, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools in said village, and to impose proper penalties for the violation of the same, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said village, and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner as the penalties for the violation of other village ordinances, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the village, and be subject to the order of the board of education, in the same man- ner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. g 13. It shall be the duty of the trustees, within fifteen days after receiving the certificate of the board of education required by the fifth section of this act, of the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the fifth section of this act, to certify to said board of education that the amount will be raised by them for the year commencing on the first of April. thereafter, for the purpose mentioned in said fifth section, distinguishing between the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school-houses, which amounts shall be subject to the disposal of the board of education. 2 14. It shall be the duty of the trustees of district number three, in the town of WalHdll, within three months from the passage of this act, to transfer and convey to said board of education all school-houses, sites, lots, and all other school property of whatever name and description, and to place in the care of the board of education all school-district records, account books, vouchers, contracts, papers, and all other school property , and the said school oflQcers of the said district shall continue in office until the unfinished business of said district shall have been finally closed up, not exceeding three months after the passage of this act, with all the power and duties now by law imposed upon them. 2 15. The said board of education shall, annually, make a report to the school commissioner of the second assembly district of Orange county, in the form and within the time required by law, of the trustees of common school districts. And it shall be the duty of the school commiBsionere of Orange county to apportion for the use of the board of education of Middletown, such portions of the school and library moneys as it shall be entitled to by its annual report. In the same manner as such moneys are apportioned to towns, certifying the same to the county treasurer of Orange county The said county treasurer of Orange county shall pay over to the treasurer of the village of Middletown for the use of the board of education created by this act, such proportion of the school and library moneys apportioned to the said county of Orange, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for teachers wages and libraries, as said school commissioners shall, certify to be the Just proportion of said board of education, in the same manner as school and library moneys are paid to aupervisore of [Chap. 468, Laws of 1880.] videilSow.?^'^A S^f h^? n°rf *^®*T?°?"^^''^f«?^^^-^ J"'?e:e of Middletown. Section two thereof v^o- nf ^^riHli/^^^ •»« ^li^^^} ^^V' ""K^^J-T^ of Wallkill included within the corporate limits of the vUfage So1dl8t?lJt;" ^ ^" ^ ^ first section of this act, shall hereafter constitute one MILTON -DISTRICT No, 1. (Village of Ballston Spa.) ICfMp. 874, Laws of 1872.] . Section 1. Union free school district number one, in the town of Milton, is hereby enlarged so as \a rnnf't'-n J^'*^?'"" '^^^ bouudaries all that part of the towns of Milton and Ballston, Saratoga county! herein qnH^i^^?'.5° "^11= ?^S?°°y^§\,^*^T>* P^^°'^ ^^ ^^^ ^.«^n ""^e between the towns of Milton and Saratoga Springs where the track of the Rensselaer and Saratoga railroad crosses the said town ne • thenffi along the said town hue south to the north-east corner of the town of Ballston; thence sSuthS? =«.^n°'^''^'^'^^^^^?^*^*^®'°'«'°sofB^"8tonand Malta to a point in said town line due east from thf south-east corner of the corporate limits of the village of Ballston Spa; thence due west to th?said i?n'i^n;^f?f'''=?i^''^'^**^^**^,^?^P^i^^^."°^^t^ of the village of Ballston Spa; thence west ilong the sou^h line of the village of Ballston Spa to the south-west corner thereof; thence due west from the smith- west corner ofthe village of Ballston Spa to a point due south from'the point in iKwHlne between LevPr^^P^^*^^l?*'J.^'*"^'''i^T^"'t°'^s^^^■■^tt^« highway leading south from the hSuse of Cornelturw ^^flr=f m'"*^!'^""^^^^ James Conner, intersects said town line; thence due north to said noint of hou.P in"=i^ i J*'^'^^%"Sf-';^ ^^°"S the center of said highway to the north-west corner of tie dweH^^^^ SfS?,™^',?-*'*'^^^^'^'^^'*^' now occupied by Cornelius W. Leversee; from thrnorth-west ?orSfr tLs^dsoStev^'bSti^fh^^^'nJ'' ^^^ southerly bank of the KayadWossTraTc^ek ; tSe aK ine said southerly bank to the dam across satd creek, belonging toAyhatis knowp as the"Chapmaa MiLTOX. 889 Ikctory;" thence alorjf said dam across said creek to the northerly bank thereof, from the northerly- bank of Baid creek at the end of said dam, in a straight line, to the rear end of the line between lots eighty-flve (85) and eiRhty-six (8fi), as laid down on a map of lands owned by Blood & Thomas " (said map was filed March ninth, elffhtoen hundred and flfty-two, in the Saratoga county clerk's office, and reference is had to the same In this description); thence along the line between said lots eighty-flve <85) and eighty-six (86), and along the line between lots thirty-two (32) and thirty-three (33), and lots two hundred and thirty-two (232) and two hundred and thirty-three (233), to the southerly point of lot ■one hundred and eighty-nine (189), as laid down on said map, thence nearly north, along the rear line or west end of lots on said map, numbered consecutively from ninety-four (94) to one hundred and twelve (112), and to the center of the highway running east and west by, and forming the north bounds ■of said lot one hundred and twelve (112); thence along the center of said highway, east, to the cen- ter of the highway running northerly by the east end of said lot one hundred and twelve (112) ; thence along the center of said highway, northerly, to a point In the same, which is due west from the place of beginning; from said point due east to the place of beginning; the said district so enlarged shall be known and designated as " union free school district number one, Milton." 2 2, The inhabitants of the said district so enlarged are hereby declared subject to all the duties, bur- dens and obligations, and are entitled to the same benefits and privileges which the inhabitants of the present union free school district number one now have and enjoj; ; and the present board of educa- tion of said union free school district number one shall be and continue during the respective terms of office for which they have been elected the board of education of such enlarged district; but nothing herein contained shall affect any liability or claim which may have accrued previous to the passage of this act. As the terms of office of the respective members of said board of education shall expire. their successors in office shall be elected, pursuant to the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred and flfty-flve of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four. g 3. The title to all the real and personal estate, appertaining to the school herein mentioned, shall be vested in the board of education, and the said hoard of education shall be a corporate body In rela- tion to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act, and a majority of the board shall form a quorum. 2 4. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shortertime. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or Inability to act, by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as neces- sary, by giving personal notice to each member thereof, or causing a written orprinted notice to be left at his place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of meeting. And if any member of the said board shall refuse or neglect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and if no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. No member of said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be law- ful for any member of said board to become a contractor for building, or making any Improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, directly or indirectly, interested, either as princi- pal, partner or surety, in any such contract. All contracts made in violation of this provision shall bo absolutely void, and the person violating shall forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, to be prosecuted for and received and used by said board for school purposes. 1 5. la case of a vacancy in any elective office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the death of such ■officer, his removal from the district, refusal to serve, his incapacity, or any cause other than the expiration of the term of office of persons so elected, said board of education may make an appoint- ment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual election, when the Inhabitants shall fill such vacancy by an election for the unexpired term thereof. 2 6. Notices for annual meetings and all other meetings of said districts shall be given by the board of education, at least ten days before such meeting, by publishing such notice once In each of the newspapers printed in the village of BallstoiiSpa, and by posting the same on the door of each school- house in said district. 2 7. Said board of education, and the clerk, the librarian, and the collector of said district, shall seve- rally possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties and liabilities in respect to all the schools in said district, that the trustees and other officers of common schools now possess or shall be subject to by law, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. 2 8. Each member of said board shall visit all the schools in said district, at least twice In each year of his official term, and said board of education shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more of their number at least once in each term. 2 9. When any officer of the said union district, or of the said board of education, shall have paid any moneys in or about the prosecution or defense of any suit commenced by or against him, in the dis- charge of the duties of his office, or for acts done by color thereof, it shall be the duty of said board of education, unless it shall appear to them that the same were paid in consequence of the willful neglect or misconduct of the claimant, to ascertain the amount thereof by the best means in their power, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said district, in addition to the sums authorized to be raised for school purposes in said district by this act, and when so collected to pay over the same to the person entitled tnereto by virtue of this act. 2 10. The treasurer shall be furnished by the board of education with necessary books in which to «nter and keep his official accounts; and he shall keep a true account of all the moneys received and disbursed by him, and of the parties from whom he received and to whom and for what purposes paid out. But no money shall be paid from the treasury except on a draft, signed by the president and countersigned by the clerk, and sealed with the seal of the board of education, in pursuance of a reso- lution of said board, which draft shall be made payable to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive said moneys, and shall state on its tace the purpose or service for which the same is drawn. The treasurer shall keep, in a book furnished and prepared for that purpose, an accurate account of all drafts so drawn on and paid by him, stating the person to whom payable, and for what purpose and sum drawn and out of what fund payable. The drafts drawn on the treasurer shall be numbered consecutively, and the treasurer, in any question of priority of payment, shall pay all such drafts in the order of their respective numbers, unless otherwise specially directed by the board of education. The books of the treasurer, and also the nroceedings of the board, shall at all times be subject to inspection and examination by the inhabitants of said district. The treasurer shall receive a compensation to be fixed by the board. He shall report In writing to the board of education, at least five days before each annual meeting, the aggregate sum of money received by hira from all sources during the past year in his official capacity, and the sums received on account of each particular fund, the amount disbursed by him, and to whom and on what account and for what purpose paid, and the amount remaining on hand, Ir any, with a statement of all drafts paid by him during said year, the person to whom and the fund out of which payable, respectively, which report shall be filed by the clerk with the official papers of the board. And, with each annual report, the treasurer shall return to the board the drafts paid by him during the preceding school year. 2 11. The clerk shall keep in a book to be provided him for that purpose, an accurate account of all drafts drawn by the president on the treasurer ; the person to whom payable, and the fund out of 113 890 MiLTOisr. which the same is to he paid, and the purpose for which it is drawn. The said cleric. In a(\dition to Tuch othPr duTleras are Q-r may he imposed on him by law or required of him hy theboard shall keep- irf.nord S the DrSeSings of said board of education, which record or a transcript thereof, certiflea b "the presidenF anf secrVtary. shall be received in all courts and for all purposes as presumptive evi- dence '^fiJJ^.i^^^^Va'Jd'ofVduVa^^^^^^^ is hereby authorized to borrow, from time to time on the credit of said distHct,^he sum of twenty thousand dollars, to be expended in purchasmg, buildmgor repairing 't ?? For t'S p^'rposf of effecting such loan, and as evidence thereof, said board are authorized to issue thVbonds or cScates of indebtedness of said district to the person or persons from whom the money mar be borrowed, said bonds being issued only upon a resolution of the board passed at a Seetin- thereof at which at least a majority of its members shall he present and shall he signed by SlprelideS and c^^ ^7 tt»e clerk of the hoard, and sealed with the seal of the board of ^VlT'^sSd bonds shalMiot be negotiated at less than their par value; they shall, bear interest at the rate if seven per cent, payable semi-annually. Five thousand dollars of _said pnncipal shall mature la the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, five thousand dollars in the year eighteen hundred and eiffhty-five five thousand dollars in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety, and five thousand dollars in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-flve; and for the purpose of mafeing sucH payments said board is authorized and required annually to levy and collect, in the same manner as other school taxes are collected In said district, a sum sufficient to extinguish such amount ot Interest, or of such loan and Interest as mature that year, in addition to all other moneys raised for said distnct. (Asamendedby chap. 3il, Laws of \Si3.) ^ -^ i. „ t, xt. . ^ * 315. The said board ofeducation shall have power, and it shall be their duty: , . , ^ _^ 1 To establish and organize, whenever it shall he deemed advisable, an academical department within said district to be known by the name of the " Ballston Academy." which school shall be sub- ject to the visitation of the Regents of the University of this State, and to all laws and regulations ap- plicable to the incorporated academies thereof, and shall he entitled to all the privileges of such acad- emies, and to share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State, the same as the other academies thereof. . , , , , . j. . • ^ . , ,- ^ *i, * 2 To establish and organize such and so many pnmary schools in said district, including forthat puiv pose the common schools therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discon- tinue, or change and consolidate the same. . - ^ , ,. j ^ i. 3. To build, purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence, im- prove, adorn and repair the same, as they may think proper. _ , ..... 4. Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lots or sites, now owned by any school distnct within the limits of said union district, erected by this act, to build, enlarge, _aUer, improve, adorn and repair school-houses, out-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable. ... , ^ 5. To purchase, exchange,' improve and repair school apparatus, globes, maps, furniture anci appena- ages, books for the indigent pupils and for the school library, to provide fuel and hghts, and defray tue contingent expenses of the schools, of the board, the library and the salary ol the librarian and clerk. 6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, and all the real and per- sonal property belonging, or which shall belong, to said union school district and primary schools, and see t hat the ordinances and by-laws of said board, in relation thereto, be observed. . , 7. To contract with, and employ, teachers competent in the several departments of instruction ; to remove them at any time for neglect of duty or immoral conduct, and to pay the wages of such teacli- ers out of the -moneys appropriated for that purpose. 8. To pay the wages ofsucli teachers out of the public moneys and tuition fees received for that pur- pose, and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to he raised by tax for general purposes of education under this act. 9. To fix the rates of tuition fees in said academy and to designate some person or persons to whom the same may be paid, 10. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of all the schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of this act, to prescribe the course of studies therein, the hooks to be used, and to establish a uniformity in respect to such course of study and books ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules, regulations and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such schools, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, for the expulsion of any pupil from any of said schools for misconduct, for the promotion of morals and good order in said schools, their prosperity and public utility, for the protection, eafe-keepiug and care and preservation of school- houses, lots, sites, fences, ornamental trees and shrubbery, and other appurtenances, and all other property connected wuli or appertaining to sucli scUool-houses, and to cause such rules, regulatione. ordinances and by-laws to be printed and published in such manner as they may deem best calculated to give general information thereof. 11. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall he their duty, to raise, from time to time, hy tax upon all the real and personal estate within the bounds of said district which shall he liable to taxation for town and county charges, such sums of money as may be determined by resolu- tion of said board to be necessary for any and all the purposes mentioned in this act, or to meet any deficiency for any purpose of education in said district, to provide for which power is hereby given to said board by the provisions of this act, or any law relating to common schools, or the rules, regula- tions or any order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 12. Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make an estimate, by the best means in their power, of the amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education and other purposes provided for by this act over and above the public money and moneys to he received from the other sources, if any, and shall cause the same to be raised upon one assessment or warrant ; and not more than two taxes for such purpose shall be raised in one year. The amount of money so to he raised for teachers' wages, to be raised in any one year, shall not be less than the amount received from the State for the support of said schools for the year next preceding, nor shall more than four times that amount be raised by the hoard of education for such purpose unless such greater amount shall be authorized by a vote of the voters at school meetings of said school district at an annual or special meetinff of such district, when they shall have power to vote such sum or sums as they may deem necessary for such purposes, 2 16. All the primary and intermediate schools and departments, and the academy in said school dis*- trict, and which shall bo under the charge of the board of education, shall be free schools, and no tui- tion shall be charged nor any rate bill made out for the tuition, in the regular or prescribed course of study of any pupils of lawful school ago who are or may be actual residents of said free school district, but said board of education shall have power to establish or charge such rates of tuition as they shall see fit for non-resident pupils and for the instruction of all pupils in anv branch of learning not em- braced in the regular course of study prescribed by said board of education. Milton — Monticello. 891 2 17. They shall, for all taxes raised by them, make out a list in the manner and form in wfiich tax lists are or shall be required by law to be made by trustees of school districts, so far as such form it, ap- plicable, annex thereto a warrant in like form, signed by the president or majority of the members of said board, and deliver the same to the collector, which, when so made and signed, shall be as effectual to all intents and purposes as like tax lists and warrants when made by the trustees of common school districts in this State. Said board may, in respect to the collection of taxes, conform to the provisions of the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-flrst sections of chapter one hundred and eighty of Session Laws of one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and require the collector to comply with the pro- visions of said sectiona so far as the same are applicable. Said board may make their warrants return- able at discretion, not less than thirty days, nor more than ninety days from the issuing thereof. The Bald board may assess, levy and collect the amount of taxes to be raised under the preceding sections, in not more than two annual installments. All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said districts, shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor to the said board of educa- tion. 8 18. The said board of education shall annually make a like report, in all resppcts. as required from trustees of common school districts to the school commissioners. A copy of the reports of said, boards of education shall be filed with the clerk or secretary of the board. The said board of education shall, at the close of each school year, publish in one or more of the village newspapers, a report of the moneys received and expended by them during the year, showing the sources from whence received and the objects of expenditure, and such other matters pertaining to public instruction in said district as they shall deem expedient. 2 19. All the school property o( said board of education, real and personal, while used for and appro- priated to school purposes, shall .be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution . Said board of education, in their cor- porate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Saitf board shall not have power to sell, grant, dispose of or incumber said academy or school lots. No portion of the library money paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, hut shall be appropriated exclusively for the increase and benefit of the library and for school appa- ratus. 220. All the lands included In the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein under this act. without regard to the residence of the owners thereof, and the board of education may cause them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as trustees of common schools are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for unpaid taxes as.sessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of said taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and such proceed- ings. In all respects, shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required by law ia relation to such lands when so returned by trustees of common school districts. 3 21. The taxes Imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed to be enforced and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are upon a return to be made by the collector to the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. 2 22. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, the said district shall be regarded as organ- ized under and subject to all the provisions of title nine, chapter five hundred and flfty-flve of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and of any amendments thereto that are or may hereafter be made. MILTON AND BALLSTON-DISTRICT No. 12. [ChapUr 228. Laws qf 1848.] Section 1. The trustees of school district number twelve in the towns of Milton and BallstoOr in the county of Saratoga, are hereby directed and empowered to set apart from the school moneys appropriated to such district an amount equal to that which is drawn by the enumeration of children under the age of sixteen, who work in any manufacturing establishment in said district, for the pur- pose of estabhshing an evening school. 5 2. The trustees of said district are hereby directed to employ a suitable teacher, who shall com- mence an evening school in the district school-house in the aforesaid district on the first Monday pvenlner after the twentieth of September in each year, and the trustees are hereby authorized and empowered to levy and collect in the usual manner school bills are now collected by law, a sum not exceeding fifty cents for every child attending the school for each quarter of thirteen weeks. The trustees. shall not continue such school for a longer lime than two quarters of thirteen weeks each, and no longer than sufficient money to pay the expenses of the same can be collected under the provisions of this act. MONTICELLO. IChap. 664, Laws f= c™J*^?.P^r^^ IV^^'^Z^^^^^ 3" ^^.s ^*=t mentioned, shall be vested in the board of education, and. the same shall not be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose; and the said board ol" ferrS^Titb^v'^frff.^^^^^^^ :«-,i M? ^^ '^^ gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of the common schools or of the free library in nf wUhfehp';?n\S?^^^^^^^ ^^*^*^ ^^ll^^y ^,f'^ ^2"'^ fo-- school purposes shall be sold or SspH aT tV >? ^ul *^°^^^B* ?^ the trustees of the village first obtained, as hereinafter provided, "'='^"^*='* g 5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said village, immediately after the election of any person as S^'Stif ^°^"?PJ^. sS.*»«°iS' Per|onally or in writing to notify him of his election; and if Sy sS pel^ ^l?l'^^%i°^'"^ of education shall have power, at any regular meeting, to fill any vacancies that mav occur in the .number of trustees from any other cause than the expiration of their tSm of serJi^ JJSJ'lli"? ""^ ^,^'^'^ ^° *osen must, within ten days after being notified by tL clefs o™ald board of rtll^e ' subscnbe the constitutional oath and file the saiie with the derk of Mid 57. Removal from the village, or failure to attend three sncccaslve regular meetinas of thp hoard SJJ h2 mf T'' I '■esignatlon of the oBce of trustee of common schools uffi this act^m? the vacMc; may be filled as hcrerabefore provided. Any trustee of common schools in saM^llie elected S?;SS S^ ?^i.' "^7^1^ removed from office by the trustees of said village tor oflicial miSSk ■ but a wri^ ten copy of the charges against such trustee shall be served upon him, ami he shall be Slowed t/I refnse such charges of misconduct before removed. allowed t» «,!. „v,.'V^ an""?' meeting of the board of education shall bo held on the second Wednesday next after the.charter election, in each year, when they shall elect a president and vlS-presldlnt. wh? s^fan hi „f their number, and a clerk, who may be of their number ThpTitiSi(^nt^^i\T^i:^^j I, " S«vl|»?^ffl^M Newbueqh. 897 g U . The board of education sball have T>ower, and it shall be Us duty : 1. To establish and organize In said Tillage such and so manj' public RcboolEi and departments of higher grades (including an academical department), and schools for colorod children, as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same at its discretion ; 2. To hire, purchase, and prei^are houses or rooms for the purpose of free public schools ; 3. To alter, improve and repair school-houses and appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ; 4. To purchase, exchange, impi'ove and repair school apparatus, books, furuiture and appendages, and to defray the expenses of the free libraiy ; 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, fhmlturc and appen- dages, and to see that the ordinances of the trustees of the village and the rules of the board of educa- tion in 1 elation thereto are observed ; fi. To contract with and emplw' all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to remove them ; 7. To provide evening schools for those whosoages or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- ing the day schools established by this act ; 8. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys from all sources appropriated and provided by law for this purpose ; 9. To defraj' the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the wages of Janitors ; 10. To expend all moneys raised by this art for butlrllng school-houses, purchasing sites, and other purposes for which the same may be raised, in such manner as they may deem proper; 11. To have the superintendence and management of the common schools in said village, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government, and instruction; for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degree of scholarship may war- rant, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and public utility ; and If at any time an academical department shall be established by said board, it shall be entitled to its distributive share of the literature fund, in like manner andonhice conditions with the academies of thi.s State, and shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, in like manner with the other acadcnnesof this State. g 12. The common council of the city of Newbnrgh shall *jave the power, and it shall be their dtity to raise from time to time by tax, or as hereinafter provided, to be levied equally upon nil the real and personal property In said city which shall be liable for the ordinary city taxes, such sum or sums of mon?y as the board of education shall deem necessary for any or all of the following purposes: 1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses. 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-housea and appurtenances. 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture antl appendages. 4. To procure fut-l and pay the contingent expenses of the free schools, the expensiJd of the free libiary, and the annual salary to tho clerk and his assistants. 5. To pav the wages of teachers, due after the application of the public school moneys, and all other moneys received by said board, or under their control, which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose. And the board of education are authorized and directed, when necessary, to raise by loan either In anticipation of the taxes to be levied as aforesaid in this section, or the bonds to be issued as proi'lded for in section thirteen of this act. the moneys to be raised, levied and collected as afore- said ; the taxes to be levied as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same timo and in the same mann'^r as other city taxes. (As amended by section 1, chapter 122, Laws qf 18ri9.) 2 13. The board of education of tho city of Newbui^h shall determine and certify to the common council of said city, on or before the first day of October in each year, the sums in their opinion necessary or proper to be raised under the twelfth section of this act, specifying the sums required for the year, commencing on the first day of October, for each of the purposes therein mentioned. And it shall be the duty or said board of education In all its expenditures and contracts, to have reference to the amount of moneys whichshallbesutilect to their orderdurlng the current year, and not to exceed that amount (except when in the opinion of said board of education a special emergency arises by rea- son of the destruction of any school building or buildings, or of tho library buikUng by fire or other- wise, then it shall be the duty of said board of education. In a supplemental estimate, to determine and certify to the common council of said city the sums necessary for thereconstniction of any such school building or buildings or library building, which sums shall be raised by said common council In the manner hereinafter provided) ; and all sums thus deemed necessary and proper shall be levied and collected In the same manner as other city taxes ; provided, however, that whenever the said board of "education shall determine and certify to said common council, either annually or specially as afore- said, that it wl 11 be necessary to i*aise a certain sum or sums of money for the purposes of constmcting any building or buildings in this act mentioned, then the said common council shall proceed to raise the amount of the sum or sums of money thus determined and certified by said board of education, and for that purpose shall have the power to raise three-quarters of said 6um orsums of money on the credit of the city of Newburgh, and the said common council, for that purpose, are hereby authorized and shall have the power to issue bonds on the credit of the city of Newburgh ; but the time of the paj-ment of any bonds thus issued shall not extend beyond a period of four years. And it is further Provided that said common council shall provide for the payment of such bonds in four or a less num- er of successive years, In annual installments, by levy and collection in the same manner as other city taxes. And it is also provided that during the period covered by the Issue and payment of said bonds as aforesaid, the board of education shall not determine and certify to said common council (except in cases of special emergency as aforesaid, or for additions to or alterations of buildings), any sum or suras of money as necessary for construction, unless by and with tho consent and concurrence of said common council. {As amended hy section 2, chapter 122, Laws of 1869.) g 14. It shall be the duty of the trustees of the village, within fifteen days after receiving the certifi- cate of the board of education, required by the thirteenth section of this act, of the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the twelfth section of this act, to certify to said board of educatinn that the amount will be raised by them for the year commencing on said first day of October, for the pur- poses mentioned in said twelfth section, 3 15. It shall be the duty of the board of education on or before the first day of October in each year, to prepore and report to the trustees of the village a true and correct statement of the receipts and dis- bursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 1, Tho moneys raised by the trustees of the village under the twelfth section of this act . 2, The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village, under the .distribution of the public monevs of the State ; 3, The moneys received by the board under the fourth section of this act ; A, All other moneys ' received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the board, specifying the sonrces; 113 898 New Eochelle. 5. The manner in which said Bums of money shall have been expended, sp€y:ifying the amount paid nndereach head of expenditure; and also in detail, so far as may be necessary, to give the name of each party, company or corporation to whom any money ortmonej's may have been paid, together with the nature of the service or object for which such money or moneys were paid. And the said boai-d shall cause the same to be published (within two weeks after making such report) in two of the newspapers published in the city of Newburgh. {As amended by sec. 3, cfiap. 122, Laws q/i869.) g 16. The boani of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty to keep and maintain, in the building on the east side of Grand street between First and Second streets^n the city of Newburgh, recently erected by them, one free library, to be known as the " Newburgh Free Library " for the use of the pupils in the schools undertheir charge, and of the residents of said city. They shall receive all moneys which are now or may hereafter be appropriated to the district by virtue of any law relating to school district libraries, and shall expend the same in the manner provided by such law. and all the provisions of law which now are or hereafter may be passed relative to district school libraries, shall apply to said board. They shall have power to expend in the purchase of books, such moneys as may be received for the tuition of non-resident pupils, together with the moneys received for penalties incurred for the loss, injury or destruction of books, or of their detention or other cause, or any other moneys that may lawfully come to their hands applicable to said purpose. They shall have power to direct the sale or exchange of any books of which there are duplicate copies in the Ubrar>', or that may be regarded as of improper character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books; and shall keep the books of the library in good repair, and shall make such arrangements ns shall be necessary for theirpreservation and circulation. They shall have power to accept the donation of books or other property to such library, and to receive or hold, for the use of the public, the books of any library that may now or hereafter he granted for that purpose, and to make provision for their preservation and repair. They shall have power, and it shall be their duty to appoint a librarian, who shall have charge of^the library under their direction and control, with power to appoint such assistant librarians as the eaid board may direct, and subject to their approval ; and the board shall annually fix the compensa- tion which the said Ubrarian and his assistants shall receive, and which sum shall he raised as provided by subdivision four of section twelve of this act. ■g 17. 'Whenever, in the opinion of the boai-d, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, they shall report the same to the trustees of the village, and with the consent of the trustees shall sell and dispose of such school-houses, lots or sites to the best possible advantage. 218. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. and all school moneys by law appropriated to and provided for said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Newbui-gh, who, together with the sureties upon his ofacial bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same man- ner as for any other moneys in said village. Such moneys shall be deposited with such treasurer to the credit of said board of education, and shall be drawn only in pursuance of a resolution of said board, by a draft drawn by the president (or vice-president, in his absence), and countersigned by the clerk, pay- able to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and said treasurer shall keep the funds received by him under this act separate and distinct from any other funds ; but nothing in this act contained shall be regarded as prohibiting the temporary loan, by the board of education, to the trustees of the village, of any surplus moneys which may stand to the credit of the board of educa- tion on the books of the treasurer, the trustees of the village replacing the same whenever it may be required by the said board. §19. The trustees of the said village shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to pass such ordmances and regulations as the said board of education may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, library, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools insaitl village; and, to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said village ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for the violation ot the village ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the village, and be subject to the order of the bo"vd of education in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. ? ?P.- T?® ^^}^ ^'^^''^ ^^ educatien shall have power to allow the children of persons not residents within the village to attend any of the tree schools of said village, under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe. 8 21. The said board of education shall make an annual report to the school commissioner of the Bchool commissioner's distnct in which said village is situated, containing the facts required to be reported by the trustees of school districts ; and said districts shall participate in the apportionment ot the public school moneys m the same manner and upon the same conditious as common school Qistncrs. * XEW KOCHELLE. lOliap. 133, Laws of I85T.J Section 1. School district numter one in tlie town of New Kochelle shall form a permanent school district, and shal, not be subject to alteration by the district commissioner of common schools for the district in which it is lot'ated. ? 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board of trustees, to be styled " the boarti of education of school district number one. In the town of New Kochelle," which shall be a body coroorato In relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon thorn by this act ; said board to comist ofnlne "'??''£,'■,? "/'"'stecs, Ave of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 8 3. That the annual meetings of the voters of the said district shall be held at such place as the fr/1'? -h'Sf?;'.'?,'^^*'' ?E'"';"H'l'? "'f ""■?' ¥"";?'"■ °f ^P"'' 'n «'«^" S"^'"'- "nd e llrst meeting unde? this act shall be held on the first Monday in April next, at the town-house In the said town, at which fiThK?",?'""™?".?" '""!",?'?! thereof shall nominate three persons to act as inspectors of elect on at that meeting, and there shall then be elected by ballot nine trustees, who shall constitute the Hrat bo.ard of educTtion under this act, and who shall hold their offices .as follows, viz. : Three fbr one y?ar three for two years and three for three years so that there shall be elected three trustees at each an- nual niee ing thereafter: and Immediately after the first election, as aforesaid, the chalraian aiKl sec- rJtaryoftho sad meeting shall divide by lot the trustees so elected into threi classes- those in the first class to hold their office for one year ; those in the second classfor two 5"™ and those iS the third class for three vears from the time of their election as aforesaid ; and thereupon tl eofflco of anv e'list 'J? i™,?'??^ "^f"^ i"^'-I."'K ^"^l" ""^iF. and notice of such meeting for the s^d first Monday In jSrii next shall be given by the trustees of the said district, then in oflice, at least tWrt?davs nrevfousto sSrh "a i""i^; ?i' P<>s""S a ™ *™ »/ Prtnted notice thereif In five publ c placei In tlie S^UtriS ,1 ^ \- ^' ";? """."Ji.' meeUngpf said district in each .year, from and after the said mSstiS^ of flret Mon- ?hnn hA^i'Vi T"' ^^"^ *?" ^ '='^'='""' ""^« members of the distnct and Sedt?v?tl therein and shall hold their said office for three years ; there shall also be elected at said firet meeting aS 'etch We-w Eochelle. 899 annual meeting thereafter, a district treasurer and a district collector, who shall respectively hold office for one year ; which said election and all other elections under this uct, shall hebyhallot; and the qualifications of voters shall be the same as for voters at the election of school officers ; and notice of such annual meeting shall be given by posthij? up a written or printed notice thereof, signed hy the f (resident and secretary of said boanl of education, in at least five public places In the said district, at east thirty days previous to such annual meeting, which said notice shall state the time and place of meeting ; and any officer elected under this act may he re-elected; said board of education shall ap- point three inspectors of election, at least thirty da.vs previous to any election under this act, after the first; and such Inspectors shall receive the ballots and declare the result of the election, § 5. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it necessary, or whenever petitioned for in writing by twenty-five of the legal voters of said district ; and notice of such special meeting shall be given In the same manner as hereinbefore mentioned for notice of annual meetings, which notice for special mooting shall state the time and place for hold- ing the same and the purpose for which the same is called ; an^l no business shall be transacted at such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the sjim*', 8 6. The said board of education shall, at their first meeting (which shall he held within ten days after their election as aforesaid), choose one of their number for president and one for secretary of said board ; which said officers shall hold their said oflicos for one year, and such officers shall be chosen an- nually thereafter. In the absence of the president or secretary at any stated or special meeting of the board, a president or secretarj' may be appointed for the time being. 'g7. The district treasurer and collector, within ten days aftei receiving notice in writing of their election, signed by the inspectors, whose duty it shall be to pive sucli notice, shall execute and deliver tothesaitl board of education a boml. in .such, penalty and with such sureties as the said board may deem sufficient, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their respective duties ; and In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated; and the said board may make appointment to fill such vacancy ; and all moneys to be collected or re- ceived hy virtue of this act, and all moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said district, shall be paid to the treasurer thereof, who, together with the sureties on his olllclal bond, shall be account- able therefor to the said board of education, who may, whenever deemed necessary, sue for the same In their corporate name ; and said treasurer shalll not pay out any such moneys except by a resolution of the said board and upon an order signed by the president and certified by the secvetarj-, to be drawn in nuvsuance of such resolution. 2'8. Every resignation of offlcera appointed or elected under this act shall he made to the board of education, and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor In any degree excuse such officer from the discharge of his duties until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of the said board ; and any such officer may be removed from his office for any official misconduct, by a resolution of the board, two-thirds of the whole number constituting said board concurring : but a written copy of the charges against such officer shall be served upon him, and opportunity shall be given to him to be heard in his defense, before any such resolution for his removal shall be adopted. Vacancies in the board, occurring by resignation or any other cause, may be filled by the said board until the next an- nual election, when such vacancies shall be tilled in the same manner as those by expiration of term of office : and if from any cause the election of any officer does not take place on the day appointed, such office shall not thereby become vacant, but the old officersshall continue to discharge their respective functions until others are elected or appointed Jn their place. All officers mentioned in this act shall be residents of the district and entitled to vote therein, and shall be deemed public officers within the Intent and meaning of section thirty-eight of title six of chapter one, part four of the Revised Statutes, and as such liable to the penalties therein prescribed. g9. Every officer In this act mentioned, having In his possession, custody, care, charge or control, any property belonging to said district, or any money raised by the provisions of this act, or provided by law for the purposes of education in said district, shall, at the exi)iration of his term of office, or whenever such officer shall resign, be removed from his office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property and pay over all such money to the board of education. § 10. The said board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their own govern ment. The said board shall meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may atJloum forany shorter term; special meetings maybe called by the president, or In his absence or incapability to act by the secretary, or any other member of the board, as often as may be necessary, by giving personal notice thereof, in writing, to each member, at least twenty-four hours before the hour or meeting, and If any member of the board shall refuse or neglect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, and If no satisfactory cause for liis non-attendance be shown, the board may declare his office vacant, and such vacancy may be filled In the mannermentioned in the eighth section of this act. No member of the said board shall receive any pay or compensation for his services, and it shall not be lawful for any member of the said board to become a contractor for building or making any Improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or to be In any manner directly or Indirectly Inter- ested, either as principal, partner or surety In any such contract, and all contracts made in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the pei"son so violating shall forfeit the sum of fifty dol- lars, and alt forfeitures or penalties under this act, and all money payable to, or belonging to the said district, may be prosecuted for, by, and in the name of theboard of education, and on recovery shall he paid over to the treasurer of the district, for the use of the common schools therein. g U. The title to the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances in this act mentioned, and all other school property In the said district, shall be vested in the said board of education, and the same while used for or appropriated to school purposes shall be exempt from all taxes or assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon and sold by any warrant or execution. And the said board of education. In its corporate capacity, may take, hold, and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it hy gift, grant, bequest, or devise, for the use of the common schools in said district, or any or either of them,and may mortgage or incumber the same for school purposes, whenever an thorized so to do by a majority attending any annual or special meeting duly called. They shall have and possess within the said district all the rights, powers and authority of district or county- commissioners of common schools. They shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools in said district, and of all the property belonging to the same, and they shall require one of their number to visit the said schools at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that all the regulations appertain- ing to the same are rigidly adhered to. f la. The board of education shall have the control and chaise of the district school library in said district; they may employ a librarian, make stich additions to the library, and such regulations con- cerning the same, as they shall deem necessary and proper: provided such regulations shall not con- flict with the general mles and regulations established by the Superintendent of l*ublic Instruction. 8 13. The said board of education shall have power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax, in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants ih saitl district (as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town In which said district is situate), such sum as shall be authorized by a miOority of the voters at any special or annual meeting of the district, for the purposes specified 900 N"ewto"wk. in ppctinns fmirtoen nnd sixteen, and the said board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes Buch amount as they may deem proper for fees for collection, not exceedingflye per cent on the amount to be collected. Said board shall have the power to make all warrants for the collection ot the taxes authorized as aforesaid, retnrnable at sixty or ninety days, in their discretion, and to renew the .same whenever it shall become necessary. And in case It shall appear that the assessment roll does not inchideall the taxable property of such district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said board in the mode required by law, and added thereto. .. i. i, ., i ,j. 1 14. Whenever, in the opinion of the said board, it becomes necessary or expedient to bniKl an addi- tional or new school-house or houses in the district, or to enlarge those already built, they shall sub- mit the plans and estimated cost of such building, and of furnishing the same, to the electors ot the said district, at the annual meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose ; and if a majority of such electors present shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to carry the said Improvements into full effect. , . ^, j. ,, ,. g ]5. 'Whenever, in the opinion of the said board of education, it may he advisable to sen or exchange anv of the school-houses, lots or sites, thev shall report the same to the electors of the said district, at an annual meetuiff or at a special meeting called for that purpose, and if a majonty of the electors present at such meeting shall be in favor of the same, the said board may sell or dispose of such school- houses, lots or sites, either at public auction or private sale, as they may deem most advantageons, and give good and valid conveyances for the same, in the usual form of conveyance by corporations ; and, on receipt of the purchase-money, shall pay over the same to the treasurer of the district. § 16. The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, out of the funds col- lected and paid as provided or mentioned in sections thirteen and twenty-one, and from any funds belonging to the said district, in the hands of the treasurer : 1. To purchase or lease and improve sites for school-houses when authonzed as aforesaid ; 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and the proper out- houses and appurtenances, so as to afford ample and proper accommodations to educate all the chil- dren in said district; 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, maps, furniture and append- ages; 4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the said schools and of the board of educa- tion - 5. To hire teachers, and to pay the wages of such as shall be employed by them; I'.. To defray the expenses or insuring all the school property belonging to the said district ; 7. To cause to be made and adopt a common seal forthe said corporation,wlthsuch device or inscrip- tion as they may think proper. §17. The public schools in the district shall be free to all the children residing in the district; and the said board of education may permit persons not resident within the said district to attend such schools on such terras as they shall prescribe; and the said board may, in their corporate name, and for the benefit of the said district, sue for and recover of the father or mother, master or mistress, or any person under whose charge such non-resident; child or children may be, all such sums as shall be 60 prescribed, with costs of suit, g 18, The supervisor of the town of New Rochelle, or such other officer as may be authorized to receive the school moneys from the county treasurer for said town, shall pay over to the treasurer of the said district all the public moneys in his hands apportioned to the said number one. §19. The said board of education shall prepare and submit, at each armual meeting of the district, an estimate of the amount necessary to be raised for defraying the expenses of the district for the ensuing year, specifying the purposes for which the same is to be expended. § 20. A school for colored children may be organized by the said board of education, and be supported in the same manner as other schools shall be supported under and by virtue of this act. g 21. The said board of education shall, at the annual district meeting* submit a full report, in writ- ing, of their doings at such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, the number of teachers employed; the number of scholars attending the said schools, the studies pursued, and the amount of moneys received from the State and from other sources, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, the expenditures of the same, and all other particulars in detail concerning said schools, with such suggestions as they may think proper to make in relation thereto; which report may, if the board think proper, be printed in pamphlet form and circulated among the voters of the said district, or published iu some newspaper printed in the county, 2 22. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to district number one, in the town of New Rochelle ; but said district, and the ofBcers thereof, shall con- tinue to be subject to the decisions, rules and regulations made and established by the Superintendent of Public Instj-uction. IChap. 131, Laws of 1882. ] Authorizes the district to borrow money and Issue bonds to build new school-house. NEWTOWN. lOkap. 807, Lam q/ 1867. ] Section 1. School district number three, in the town of Newtown, in the county of Queens, shall form a permanent school district^ and shall not be subject to alteration by the school commissioner of the school commissioner district m which said district is situated. 2 2. The said district shall be under the control and direction of a board to be styled " the board of education of district number three, Newtown," which board shall consist of Ave members, three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and it is hereby jjrovided that the members of village of wliich he is collector. } 6. The said board of education shall provide for, and cause to be held, at least two general examina- tions of the pupils in each department of the schools, by u competent person or persons of recognized ability, with a view to mark the protlciency attained by the scholars. The first examination shall be held in the month of June, open to the public ; the second at such time as may seem most practicable in the Judgment of the board, and previous to the semi-annual promotions. The eald board shall also provide for an examination of the teachers employed, and for all others who may apply for appoint- ments to teach in the schools of the district for the purpose of determining the grade and qualillca- tions of such teachers. These examinations shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the board may adopt, with the concurrence of the school inspectors, and the results of all examinations shall be made known in writing by the authorized examiner, and shall accompany the report to be pub- lished annually by the said board of education. 2 7. The said board shall appoint one or more of its members a committee to visit the schools at least once a week dunng the time they are in session, for the purpose of ascertaining if any and what sup- plies are needed, to see that the regulations are maintained and discipline properly enforced. 2 8. Whenever additional school accommodations are re(iuired, tho said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, by tax on said district, to be levied and collected in the same maimer as taxes are authorized by the general school law to ha levied and collected In schoo' districts of this State. 89. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered for the general purposes of this act, to levy and collect by tax in each year upon the taxable property of said district, such sum as may be necessary, not exceeding in amount the sum of one-half of one per centum on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Newtown ; and the said board of education shall add to their warrant for the collection of such taxes, such amount as they may deem proper for fees for collection, not exceeding five per centum on the amount collected. 2 10. The supervisor of the town of Newtown shall pay overto the treasurer of the said board of educa- tion all the moneys to which said district number three shall be entitled for school purposes. 2 11 . The said board of education shall have the same control and charge of the district library, and be subject to the same regulations in regard to it, as are trustees of school districts; they may appoint a librarian and make atlditions to the library, and, with the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, such regulations for the management thereof as they may deem necessary. 2 12. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to buy land and to erect one or more school-houses in said district, they shall submit the plans and estimated cost of such land and build- ings to the electors of such .district, at a special meeting called for that purpose, of which meeting ten days' notice shall be given, by advertisement, or by posting of notices in five public places In said district, and no business shall be transacted but that stated in the notice calling said special meeting. And if a majority of such electors shall vote in favor of the proposed purchase of land and of the erection of the proposed new school-house or houses, the said board may proceed to make such pur- chase and to erect said school buildings, and if the sums authorized to be raised by sections eight and nine of this act shall be insufficient to pay the cost of such lands and buildings, then the said board are hereby empowered to raise and collect such additional suras,not exceeding live hundred dollars annually, until the debt incurred is liquidated ; such additional sums shall be levied and collected in the same manner as provided in sections eight and nine of this act. The said board shall advertise for proposals, and the contracts shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidders. 2 13. The said board of education shall hold regular monthly meetings in the school-house or other convenient public place, on the last Friday of every month, between the hours of six and ten o'cloct p. M., which shall be open to the public for the purpose of hearing reports or complaints, and for the transaction of general business by the board. Special meetings may also be called by the presiden*^ of the board of education or any three members thereof. The clerk shall notify the school officers, and shall state In the call the object of the meeting, if otherwise than for the completion of unQnlshed business. 2 14. The board of education shall cause to be prepared, and snbmit in writing annually, a full report of their proceedings : and shall state therein the number of teachers employed, their names, residences and the salaries paid to each ; the number of schools, and of pupils attending the same ; the amount of school moneys received and from what sources and expenditure of the same ; and generally on all matters of interest relating to the schools in said district. The report shall be placed on record and preserved for future use, and shall be printed (with the Inspector's report) for the information of the tax payers, in pamphlet form, or be published in some- newspaper published in the county. DUTIES AND POWERS OF VHE SCHOOL INSPECTOR. . 2 15. The school inspector for said district number three shall tako office on the first day of April fol- lowing his election; he shall attend the regular and special meetings of the hoard of education, and may recommend or oppose any appropriations for school purposes, and confer with the board in the appointment of teachers and others, but shall not vote. He shall visit the schools in his district at least four times in each year, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the school buildings, and the different departments of the schools, aud to report on the same : 1. In relation to their sanitary condition ; 2. The number in the classes, and the studies pursued ; S. The proflciency of the pupils ; 4. The attendance of teachers and scholars ; 5. The time of assembling and dismissing, and the number and length of the recesses allowed. It shall be the duty of the Inspector to oversee all repairs made, and to note the quality and quantity of supplies and materials furnished by the order of the board. He shall audit all bills or claims for salanes, repairs, materials, books and supplies ; which, when so audited and passed by a vote of a minority of the board of education, shall be paid by the treasurer of said board of education. The inspector shallreportannually, before his term expires, the amount of school moneys received from the State, as well as the amount raised in the district for school purposes, and also for what purposes 902 Newtows-. ' the same has been expended, the accommodation afforded, and the state of the school ProPP' ty- S™! I'fJ'Evlry pSre?ec?ert?th?i,oard of oa^^^ nnder this act, shall he entitled to receive, and the inspectors of election sha" e'™*„f ™5?'''?;.^'?^^^^ the time for which such candidate has been elected, and whether for a ful term or to BH^^^ and every officer elected or appointed, neglecting or refusins to file "s cerHflcate, or retusmg or^ tills act, shall be or become directly or indirectly interested by way of ^?™^ssIonor otherwise m any contract or undertaking for the erection of new school-bouses, for purchasing of land or tor the lur- Sin- of any books or other supplies or materials, or for the performing of any labor or work for any Sfth^schoo^sites or buildings ulider their chavge,' nor. shall the board hereafter employ or appoint any person to whom a salary Is to be paid, who is within four degrees of re atfonship by blood or mar- ri^e to any member of said board of education, unless by a unammous vote pi said board lis. All acts or parts of acts pertaining to said school district which are incoosisteut with tliis act are hereby repealed. TJEWTOWN — DISTRICT No. 11. [Cliap. 535, Laws o/lS79.] AN ACT to establlsli school district number eleven in the town of Newtown, Queens county. Passed June 20, 1879. Section 1 The territory comprised within the boundaries mentioned in the next succeeding section of this act, or so much thereof together with so much of the adjoining territory, if any, as shall be desig- nated therefor, as hereinafter provided, shall be and is hereby constituted a separate school distnct of the town of Newtown, in the county of Queens, and shall be known and designated as school district number eleven of the town of Newtown. . §2. Until the boundaries of said district shall be modified or changed as hereinafter provided, said district shall be bounded and described as follows: Beginning at a point on the westerly hne of the Trains Meadow road, opposite the residence of Alexander Baxter ; running thence southerly to Wood- side avenue ; thence across said avenue to the southerly line thereof: thence along said line to a point where it intersects the eastern boundary line of land belonging to Francis Walker ; thence along said last-mentioned line south-westerly to the northerly line ot land belonging to Joseph Cornell; thence south-easterly and southerly along the easteriy line of said Corneirs land to the northerly line of the Flushini^and North Side railroad ; thence along said northerly line of said railroad to the southerly line of Thomson avenue : thence westerly along the southerly line of said avenue to the eastern boundary line of land of Isaac Soper; thence southerly and westerly along said Soper's land to the western boun- dary line of land of John J. Moore ; thence southerly and along said last-mentioned line to the northerly line of property now or lately belonging to George G. Andrews; thence easterly along said northeriy Ihie to tho western line of property of Herman Witle; thence southerly along said western line to the southerly line of the Calamus Creek road ; thence along the southerly side of said road to the westerly line of Fisk avenue; thence southerly along the westerly line of said avenue to the southern boundary line of land of T. Burroughs Hyatt: thence along said boundary line westerly, northerly and north-westerly to a point where said boundary line intersects the eastern boundary line of land now or formerly belonging to James Maurice; thence along said last-mentioned line to the northerly line of the Bushwick and Newtown Turnpike or shell road ; thence along the northerly line of said turnpike to the easterly line of Bett's avenue, or Featherbed lane; thence along the easterly line of sai J avenue or lane to the northerly line of Thomson avenue ; thence along said last-mentioned line to the easterly line of Greenpoint avenue ; thence north-westerly along said line to Woodside avenue: thence along the northerly side of said avenue to the westerly line of land belonging to the estate of Charles Meyers ; thence northerly along said westerly line to the southerly line of land of S. Fiske "Worthington ; thence westerly :along said southerly line to where said line meets the Trains Meadow road; thence along the easterly line of said Trains Meadow road to the point or place of be- ginning. § 3. Within twenty days after the passage of this act, the school commissioner in and for the second assembly district of j^ueens county shall prepare and serve upon a taxable Inhabitant of the district hereby created, a notice in writing describing said district and appointing a time and place therein for the meeting of the inhabitants for the purpose of electing district officers for said district. §4. Upon receipt of such notice it shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify the other inhabitants of such district, qualified to vote, of school meetings, of the time and place of such raeet- inffs by posting a copy of such notice In at least ten public places within such district at least six days before such meeting. §5. There shall be elected at such meeting three trustees, a district clerk, a librarian and a collector of taxes for such district; the said district clerk, the librarian and the collector of taxes shall hold their respective offices from the time of such election until the second Wednesday of October, one thousand eight hundred and eighty; and annually thereafter on said second Wednesday of October, their successors shall be elected for the term of one year. Of the trustees so to be elected at such, meeting, one shall hold office from the time of said election until the second Wednesday of October, one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the other until the second Wednesday of October, one thou- sand eight hundred and eighty-one, and the third until the second Wednesday of October, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two. The electors at such meeting shall designate by their votes the term for which each of said trustees is elected. On the second Wednesday of October, one thou- sand eight hundred and eighty and annually thereafter, one trustee shall be elected for such district to hold office for the terra of three years. 2 6. The annual meeting of such district shall he held therein on the second Wednesday of October in each and every year, at such time and place as the trustees or a malority of them shall elect. §7. As soon as practicable after the pas-^nge of this act, it shall be the duty of the school commis- sioner of the district In which the town of Newtown is situated, to revise, alter and change the boun- daries aforesaid, and to alter said school district number eleven, as the public Interest may require under and pursuant to the provisions of title six of chapter five hundred and fifty-tlve of the laws of eighteen humlred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction,*^ and the several acts amendatory thereof. Hew York. 903 28. At the annual school meeting to be held in each of the school districts in said town of Newtown in the year eighteen hundred and' seventy-nine, it shall be lawful for the persona duly qualified to vote at such meetnigs, respectively to vote for or against redistricting the town of Newtown, The chair- man and clerk of each meeting shall certify the number of votes so given for and against such redis- tricting to said school commissioner, and if a majority of the votes so given shall be in favor of redis- tricting said town, it shall be the duty of such commissioner to proceed as soon as practicable thereafter under and pursuant to the provisions of said act, to redistrict said town in such manner as will best promote public interests. g 9. For the purpose of altering said school district number eleven, as hereinbefore provided for and for the purpose of redistricting said town, in case such redistricting shall be ordered as aforesaid, the said school commissioner, the inistees of the several school districts in said town to be affected by such alterations respectfully, and the supervisor and town clerk of said town shall severally have and poss- ess all the powers, duties andfunctions conferred on such officers respectively by the acts above refen-ed to for the- alteration of school districts in towns, any thing in any statute in this State to the contrary notwithstanding. 2 10. The said school district number eleven and the several school districts in said town after the alteration thereof by redistricting the tnwn, in case such redistricting shall he made as aforesaid and the officers of said school districts, and each of them shall severally have and possess all the powers, duties and functions, and be aub|ect to all the provisions and restrictions prescribed by said acts for like school districts and school officers, 5 11. This act shall take effect immediately. NEW TOKK CITY. Sections op the New York City Coksolidated Act of 1382, Applicable to the School System. Section 96. Any ordinance, act or resolution passed by the common council or the board of education, after January thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, authorizing the Increase of the salary of any person or persons, whose salary is payable out of the city treasury, to take effect prior to the date of feuch ordiuance, act or resolution, shall be and the same is hereby declared to be void. (1865, chap. 10, ga, Comp. 146,) TITLE T,— APPROPRIATIONS AND THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND APPORTIONMENT. Section 189. The mayor, comptroller, president of the board of aldermen, and the president of the department of taxes and assessments, shall constitute the hoard of estimate and apportionment. The first meeting of said board in every year shall be called by notice from the mayor, personally served upon the members of said board. Subsequent meetings shall be called as llie said board shall direct. At such meetings the mayor shall preside, and one of the number shall act as secretary. The said hoard shall, annually, between the first day of August and the first day of November, meet, and, by the affirmative vote of all the members, make a provisional estimate of the amounts required to pay he expenses of conducting the public business of the city and county of New York, in each depart- aient and branch thereof^ and or the board of education for the then next ensuing financial year. In uch provisional estimate they shall include such sum as may be necessary for the payment of the interest on the bonds of the said city and county which shall become due and payable within said year, and such sum as shall be necessary to pay the principal of any bonds and stocks which may become due and payable from taxes durmg said year, and also so much as-may be necessary to pay the proportion of the State tax required to be paid by the city and county of New York In said year. Such provisional estimate shall be prepared in such detail as to the aggregate sum allowed to each depart- ment and bureau as the said board of apportionment shall deem advisable, l-or the purpose of mak- ing said provisional estimate, the heads of departments and the hoard of education shall, at least thirty days before the said provisional estimate is required to be made as herein provided, send to the board of estimate and apportionment an estimate in writing, herein called a departmental estimate, of the amount of expenditure, specifying in detail the objects thereof, required in their respective depart- ments, including a statement of each of the .salaries of their officers, clerks, employees and subordi- nates. The same statement aslo salaries and expenditure shall be made by all aiher officers, persons and boards having power to fix or authorize them. A duplicate of these departmental estimates and statements shall be made at the same time to the board of aldermen. The board of estimate and apportionment shall consider such departmental estimates and other statements in making the pro- visional estimates herein provided, and in approving the salaries of the officers, clerks, and other per- sons before named. After such provisional estimate is made by the hoard of estimate and apportion- ment, it shall be submitted by said board, with their reasons for it in detail, within ten days, to the board of aldermen, wnereupon a special meeting of said board shall he called to consider such estimate, and the same shall simultaneously be published in the City Record; and it shall be their duty carefully to consider and Investigate the said provisional estimate and the reasons assigned therefor; but such consideration and investigation shall not continue beyond fifteen days. Any objections to or rectifica- tions of said provisional estimate made by said board of aldermen shall be made by said board in writing, and transmitted by the clerk thereof to the board of estimate and apportionment, who shall proceed to the consideration of such objections or rectifications, and after such consideration shall make a final estimate. Should the said board overrule the oblectlons or suggestions made by the board of aldermen, the reasons for such actiou shall be pubUshed in the Oiiu Record. After the pro- visional estimate has been returned by the board of aldermen to the board of estimate and apportion- ment, and before the final estimate is made, the said last-mentioned board shall fix such sufficient time or times as may be necessary to allow the tax payers of said city to be heard in regard thereto, and the said board shall attend at the time or times so appointed for such hearing. After the final estimate ia made in accordance herewith, it shall be signed by the members, and when so signed the said several' sums shall be and become appropriated to the several purposes and departments therein named. The said estimate shall be filed in the office of the comptroller and published in the City Record. (1873, chap. 325, § 112, Cmnp. 172.) The Board op Education. IChap. 17.] Education. titlei, — tde public schools and their management. 2 1022. There shall be in the city of New York a board of education, which shall, under that desig- nation, have full control of the public schools and the public school system of the city, subject only to 904 Kew York. the eeneral statutes of the State upon education. Said board shall consist of twenty-one commisBion- ers of common schools, appointed by the mayor. On the third Wednesday of November in every Tear the mayor shall appoint seven commissioners of common schools, who shall take office on tne first day of January next succeeding, and hold office for the term of three years. Any vacancy in the said office of commissioners of common schools, by death, resignation, or otherwise,^ shall be mied py appointment by thp mayor for the remainder of the unexpireil term. Said commissioners shall hold no other office of emolument under either the city. State, or national governments, except the offices of notary public and commissioner of deeds. (1873, chap. 112, §§ 2, 4, Comp. 737.1 ' §1023. The city of New York is hereby divided into eight school distncts, as lollows; First district— First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth wards. Second district— Seventh, tenth, thirteenth, and fourteenth wards. Third district— Ninth and sixteenth wards. Fourth district— Eleventh and seventeenth wards. Fifth district— Fifteenth and eighteenth wards. ' Sixth district— Twentieth and twenty-first wards. Seventh district— Twelfth, nineteenth and twenty-second wards. , Eighth district— Twenty-third and twenty-fourth wards. (1873, chap. 112, g 1, Comp. 737.) 9 1024. On the third Wednesday of November in everv year, the mayor shall appoint in each school district one Inspector of common schools, who shall take office on the first day of January next suc- ceeding, and hold office for the term of three years, Any vacancy in said office of inspector of com- mon schools, by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the mayor for the unexpired term. (1873. chap. 613, g 4. as amended 1874. chap. 329, Comp. 739. 1873, chap. 112, g 7, Comp. 738.) _ 3 1025. On the first Wednesday in December in each year, the board of education shall appoint one trustee for each ward, to hold office for the term of five years from the first day of January then next. Said trustees shall be residents of the ward for which they are severally appointed. Any vacancy in the said office of trustee of common schools, by death, resignation, 'or otherwise, shall be filled by the board of education for the unexpired term. (1873, chap. 112, g 6, as am,ended 1873, chap. 2Sl, g 1, Comp. 738.) „ . , , g 1026. The members of the hoard of education shall meet on the second Wednesday of January. In each year for the purpose of organization, and thereafter, for the transaction of business, as often as they may determine ; they shall elect one of their number president, and shall appoint a clerk, and as many assistant clerks and other officers for the transaction of the business of the board as may be nec- essary, who shall severally hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, and whose respective duties, powers and compensation shall be regulated and determined by the board. Said board shall have full control of the public schools and public school system of the city, subject only to the general statutes of the State upon education. (1851, chap. 836, g 2, as amended 1854, chap. 101, g 2, Comp. 740. 1873, chap. 112, § 4, Crnnp. 738.) § 1027. The board of education shall have power: 1. To take and hold property, both real and personal, devised or transferred to it for the purpose of public education in the city of New York. iSee 1873. chap. 112, g 2. ) 2. To appoint acity superintendent of schools, and one or more assistant superintendents, and also a superintendent of school buildings, whose respective duties, powers, salaries, and terms of office, except aa herein otherwise provided, shall be regulated and determined by the board of education ; and to employ, under the superintendent of school buildings, necessary workmen, and provide neces- sary materials for repairing, altering, and enlarging school or other buildings ; but this provision shall not be construed to compel the trustees of any ward to use or employ such workmen or materials for any purpose whatever. (1851, chap. 386, §1, Comp. 741.) 3. To appoint principals and vice-principals for the grammar, primary and evening schools under Its control, upon the written nomination of a majority of the trustees of the ward, staling that the nomination was agreed to at a meeting of the board of trustees, at which a majority of the whole num- ber in office were present. In case the persons nominated for the positions of principal or vice-prin- cipal by the trustees, as hereinabove provided, are not appointed by the hoard of education within twenty days after their nomination, the said board of education shall, after the expiration of that time, have the sole power to select and appoint such principal or vice-principal as said board may. by a majority of the whole number In office, at a general meeting or a special meeting called for that pur- pose, determine, (1873, c/iop. 112, g8, Q>mp. 739.) 4. To discontinue any school whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circumstance in the Imme- . dlate vicinity of any school, or to the small attendance of scholars therein, or other sufficient reason, it shall appear to the board of education necessary and proper. But before discontinuing any school, the said board shall give notice to the trustees of the ward of its intention to consider the propriety of such discontinuance, and in thirty days after such notice may proceed to Investigate the matter, and if a majority of the school officers of the ward shall consent to the same, and if the said board shall determine by a vote of a majority of all the members thereof, that it is proper to close the same, it shall be the duty of said board to withhold all moneys which'mav have been apportioned or appropri- ated for the support of said school, and the said school shall not thereafter participate In any subse- quent apportionment of the school moneys. So soon as the same shall take effect, the comptroller of the city shall be notified thereot by the said board, and the said school-house and site may thereupon be used or disposed of as a part of the general property of the city. (1851, chap. 386, § 27, as ameiuied 1854, chap. 101, g 2, Comp. 573.) 5. To draw from the moneys which shall be raised for the purposes of public edncation such sums as ♦ may be required for the purpose of defraying the necessary incidental expenses of the board, and such further sums as may be required for the payment of the salaries of such clerk and other officers as may be appointed by virtue of ihe authority vested in the board, and of such other expenses as may be necessarily Incurred by the board in pursuance of the provisions af this chapter. (1851, cJiap. 386, g 2, Comp. 741.) 6. To visit and examine the schools subject to the provisions of this chapter. 7. To make rules of ordur and by-laws for the government of the board, its members and commit- tees, and general regulations to secure proper economy and accountability in the expenditure of the school moneys. 8. To oriranize an Institution for females similar to the free academy, as the same existed in eight- een hnndred and fifty-one. When so organized, all the provisions of this chapter relative to the Iree academy shall apply to each and every oue of the said Institutions now existing or hereafter estab- lished as fully, completely, and distinctly as they could or would if It was the only institution of the kind : to distinguish each existing and future institution by an appropriate title ; and to purchase, erect, or lease sites and buildings for each aud all of the said Institutions, provided that no additional Institution shall be authorized or organized by the board of education unless a majority of the whole number of members of the said board shall vote in favor thereof. -9. To use and control the premises known as the hall of the board of education, at the corner of Grand and Elm streets ; to direct the purposes for which the same may be occupied, and to make all JSTew Yoek. 905 the repairs, alterations and additions in and to the same which the board may deem advisable ; and to provide such additional sites and huUdlngs as may he necessary for the purposes of this chaptpr, the title of which shall in all cases he vested in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York, but no such additional site or bulUiing shall be provided except with the consent, by vote, of three-fourths of all the members of said board. (18&9, chajf. 473, § 3, Comp. 760. 1871, cltap. 674, g 100, aubd, 2, Comp. 757.) 10. To dispose of such personal property, used in the school or other buildings under the charge of the board, as the trustees or committees having the Immediate charge thereof shall certify Is no longer required for use therein, and all moneys realized by the sale of any such property shall be paid into the city treasury. 11 . To remove from office any school officer who shall have been directly or indirectly interested in the furnishing of any supplies or materials, or in the doing of any work or labor, or in the sale or leas- ing of any real estate, or in any proposal, agreement or contract for any of these purposes. In any case in which the price or consideration is to be paid, in whole or in part, or directly or indirectly, out of any school moneys, or who shall have received, from any source whatever, any commission, or other compensation in connection with any of the matters aforesaid ; and any school officer who shall violate the preceding provisions of thia section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and Imprisonment in the city "-rison not exceeding one year, and shall also be ineligible to any school office. The board shall also Luve power to remove from office any school officer who shall have been guilty of Immoral or dis- graceful conduct in any matter connected with his official duties, or which tends to discredit his office or the school system. If one or more school officers or tax payers of the city of New York shall pre- sent a written charge to the hoard of education, accusing any school officer ot a violation of. or a lia- bility to, any of the provisions of this section, It shall be the duty of the said board to cause the same to be fully investigatt^d. All testimony taken upon any such investigation shall be under oath ; and the court of common pleas shall have power, upon the application oithe board of education, to com- pel any witness who may be summoned to appear and testify before the said board or any committee thereof. (1851, chap. 38fi, ? 2. as amended 1864, chap. 351, S 13, Comp. 711.) r.!. Whenever it shall appear to the board of education that the trustees of any ward are neglecting any school under their control to the detriment of the pupils in said school, to take charge of such school, to manage the same, to furnish all needful supplies, and to appoint the proper teachers there- for, until the first day of January next succeeding. But the snid board of education shall not take charge of any such school on account ot any alleged negtect until the board of trustees of the ward la •which said school is situated shall first have been notified of the neglect charged, and have an oppor- tunity to be heard before said board or its committees on the subject. (1866. c/tap. 323, § 2, Comp. 756. ) 13, With the consent of a majority of the trustees for the ward, or without such consent, by a vote of two-thirds of the board of education, to discontinue any grammar, primary, evening or colored school ; and the said board may also authorize the establishment of a new school, upon tho written application of a majority of the trustees for the ward. It shall be the duty of the board of education to decide finally upon every such application within thirty-five days after the syme is presented to It; and if the said board shall omit to do so, or shall deny the application, and a m^orlty of the inspectors for tho district shall certify that there is probable cause for granting the ajiplication, the trustees may appeal to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose decision in the matter shall be bind- ing upon all the parties, and If adverse to the application, the same shall not be renewed during the term of one year next thereafter. (1351, chJap. 3S6, §23, as amended li*6i:, chap. 351, 2 17, Cmnp. 751.) 14. And for the purposes of this chapter *the said board shall possess the powers and privileges of a corporation. 81028. It shall bo the duty of the hoard of education: 1. To apportion all the school moneys which shall have been roised for the purposes of meeting the current annual expenses of public instruction, to the schools entitled to participate therein by tho pro- visions of this chapter. (1851, cfiap. 386, §3, as amended l^i, chap, 101, Comp,742.) 2. To file with the chamberlain of said city, on or before the first Monday of April in each year, a copy of their aipportlonment, stating the amount apportioned to the schools under the charge of the hoard of education, and to the trustees, managers and directors of tho several schools enumerated in thlschai'ter. 3. To provide evening schools for those whose aees or avocations are such as to prevent their attend- ing the day schools established by law, In such of the ward school-houses or other buildings usrd for school purposes, and in such other places in said city as they may from time to time deem expedient, and also to provide schools for colored children, and also a normal school or school for those desirous to become teachers, and for teachers which shall he attended by such of the teachers In common schools as the board of education, by general regulations, shall direct, under penalty of forfeiture of their situations as teachers by omitting to attend, which forfeiture shall be declared by the board of education ; and to appoint teachers for the normal and colored schools, and also upon tho nomination of the trustees of the respective wards to appoint teachers for the evening schools, and said board shall furnish all needfhl supplies for the evening, normal and colored schools, {Aa aviended 1S66, chap. 823, ConiB. 744.) 4. To furnish all necessary supplies, or make regulations for furnishing such supplies for the several schools under their care, but when such supplies are furnished by the board of education they shall be obtained by contract, proposals for which shall be advertised for the period of at least two weeks. 5. To make and transmit, between the fifteenth day of January and the first day of February in each year, to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to the common council of the city of New York, a report, in writing, bearing date on the thirty-first day of December next preceding, stating . the whole number of schools within their jurisdiction, specially designating the schools for colored children ; the schools or societies from which reports shall have been made to the hoard of education within the time limited for that purposo; the length of time such schools shall have been kept open; the amount of public money apportioned or appropriated to said school or society ; the number taught In each school; the whole amount of money drawn from the city chamberlain tor the purposes of public education durlngthe year ending at the date of their report, distinguishing the amount received, ll'om the general fund of the State, and from all other and what sources ; the manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, and such other Information as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction mav. fi-om time to time, rec^uire In relation to common-school education in the city and county of New York ; and the report which the board of education is hereby required to make shall he held aud taken to be a full compliance with every law requiring a report from the said board, or any officer of the city and county of New York, except the city superintendent, relative to the schools in the said city, or any mutters connected therewith. If the board of education shall neglect to make such annual report within the time limited, the share of school moneys apportioned the city and "county of New York may, in the discretion of the State Superintendent of Puhiic Education, he with- held until a suitable report shall have been rendered. {As amwided ftj/ 1854, c/ta/w, 101. 267, { 1.) 6. By general rules and regulations to provide the proper classification of studies, scholars and sola- 114 906 New Yoek. lies in such manner that, as near as practicable, the Bystem of Instrnction pursued In the common schools, and the salaries paid to teachers, shall be uniform throughout the city. (1851, chap. 386, § 13, as amended I6bi, chap. lOi, Comp.7'i9.) , ..,. , ■ a ^ 1 1029 The title to all school property, real and personal, purchased with any money denvea irom the distribution or apportionment of theschool moneys, or raised by taxation in the city of New York, shall be vested in the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of said city, but shall be under the care and. control of the board of education, for the purpose of public education, and all suits la relation to the same shall be brought in the name of said board ; and no contract or contracts shall be made by the Bchoul officers of any ward for the purchase of any site without the consent of the board of education, or for the erection or fitting up or repairing of any buildins, wheu such repairs shall exceed in amount the sum of two hundred dollars, as authorized in this chapter, until a statement in writing of the amount required for that purpose shall have been presented to the board of education by said school officers, and, together with a copy of the working drawings, plans and spe^ ifiiations of the work to be done, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall have been duly filed and approved of as herein required, and an appropriation shall have been made by the board of education therefor. (1861, c/iop. 336, g 25,asamended 1853, chap. 301, § 14, Cmnp. 752.) g 1030. All tht! trusts and estates held by or vested in the Public School Society of the city of New- York, as organized and existing previous to its several acts in compliance with the provisions of act entitled "An act relative to common schools in the city ot New York," passed the fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and flfty-three, which have not been conveyed by the said society, and all the rights, powers and duties of the said society which yet remain therein, shall continue and be vested in the board of education of the city of New York, which board Is and shall he held to be the lawful successors of the said society in the execution of every trust. (1854, cAap. 267,2 2, Comp.758. ISbXchav. 301.) g 10^1. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of common schools : 1. Tr) attend all the meetings of the board of education, and if any commissioner shall refuse or neg- lect to attend any three successive stated meetings of the board, after having been personally notified to attend, audit no satisfactory cause of his non-attendance be shown, the board may declare hlsofiBce vacant. 2. To transmit to the hoard of education all reports made to them by the trustees and Inspectors of their respective wards. 3. To visit and examine all the schools entitled to participate in the apportionment. (1851, chap. 3S6, §8, Camp. 745.) g 1032. Whenever, in any laws, thewords "board of education" or "commissioners of common schools" shall occur, said words shall be taken to mean and comprehend, respectively, the board of education and commissioners of common schools as herein provided for, (1873, chap. 112, g 5. Camp. 73S.) § 1033. The clerk of the board of education shall have charge of the rooms, books, papers and docu- ments of the board, and shall, in addition to his duties as secretarv of the board, perform such other clerical duties as may be required byits members or committees. He is authorized to admmlster oaths and take affidavits in all matters appertaining to the schools in the city and county of New York, and for that purpose shall possess all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of tlie fees or emoluments thereof- (18Jl, chap. 380; §g 5, 37, Comp. 745, 755.) 2 1034. It shall be the duty of the inspectors of common schools, or a majority of them, in their re- spective districts, to examine in respect to every expense certified as correct by a majority of the trus- tees of any ward in the district, and to audit every such expense which may be Just and reasonable; and no expense shall be paid unless autlited in this manner. They shall also examine, at least once in every quarter, all the schools in the district, in respect to the punctual and regular attendance of the pupils and teachers ; the number, fidelity and competency of the teachers ; the studies, progress, order and discipline of the pupils ; the cleanliness, safety, warming, ventilation and comfort of the school premises, and whether or not the provisions of the school laws, in respect to the teaching of sectarian doctrines, or, the use of sectarian books, have been violated, and call the attention of the trustees, without delay, to every matter requiring official action. They shall also, on or before the thirty-first day of December in each year, make a written report to the board of education and to the board of trustees, in pspect to the condition, efQciency and wants of the district in respect to schools and school premises. (1851, chap. 386, g 9, as amended 1S64, chap. 351, g 14, Coinp. 745.) ' g 1035. It shall be the duty of the trustees for each ward, and they shall have the power : 1 . To have the safe keeping of ail the premises and other property used for or belonging to the ward schools and the ward primaries in their respective wards. (1S51. cJiap. 3!^5, § 10, Comp. 746. ) 2. To appoint, by a majoiity vote, at a meeting of the board of trustees, teachers other than princi- pals and vice-principals, and also Janitors. (1864, chap^ 351, g 21, Comp. 760. ) 3. Under such general rules and regulations, and subject to limitations as the hoard of education may prescribe, to conduct and manage the said schools ; to furnish all needful supplies therefor, and to make all needful repairs, alterations and additions in and to the si,-hool premises. (1S64, chap. 351, § 19,) 4. To procure, as may be necessary, blank books, in one of which a statement of the amounts of all moneys received and paid by the trustees, or otherwise, for or on account of each of the schools con- ducted by them, and of all movable property belonging to each school, shall be entered at large and signed by such trustees ; and In one hook minutes of their meetings shall be kept ; and in other books the principal teacher of each school and department shall enter the names, ages and residence'; of the scholars attending the school, the name of a parent or guardian of each scholar, and the days on which the scholars shall have respectively attended, and the aggregate attendance of each scholar during the year; also the davs on which each school shall have been visited by the city and assistant superin- tendents of schools, and the school officers of the ward, and the members of the board of educatmn or any ot them, which entries shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the principal teacher in such school or dL'partment. ' The said hooks shall be preserved by the trustees as the property of the school and shall be delivered to their successors. a. To make, nt least five days before the first day of January In every year, or on such other day as may be dpsignated by the board of education, in the case of a school kept open after the twenty-fifth day of Dpcember, and transmit to the board of education, a 'report In writing, dated the thirty-first day of Decomher. which shall be signed and certified bv a majority of the trustees, and which report shall state the whole number of schools within their Jurisdiction, especially designating the schools for colored children, the length of time each school shall have been kept open, the whole number of scholars over four and under twenty-one years of age who shall have been taught free of expense to such scholars In their schools, during the year ending with the date of the report, which number shall he ascertained by adding to the number of children on register, at the commencement of each year the number admitted during that year, which shall he considered tho total for that year : the average number that has actually attended such schools during the year, to he ascertained bv the teacht-rs keeping an exact account of the number of scholars present every school time or half day which being adiled together and divided by four hundred and sixty, or if less ihan a year by the number ot school sessions, shall be considered the average of attending scholars, which average shall be sworQ New Yoke. 907 or affirmed to by the principal teacher of the school ; a detailed statement of the amount of moneys received or paid for or on account of their respective schools durins the year, from or by the chamber- lain of the city, and of the purposes for and the manner In which the same shall have heen expended ; and a particular account ot the stale of the schools, and of the property and affairs of each school under their care ; and the titles of all books used, with such other information as the hoard of educa- tion shall reauire ; and for the purposes of this section each department shall, whenever practicable, be considerea as a separate school. 6. To hold, as a corporation, all personal property vested in or transferred to them for school pur- poses in their respective wards. 7. To render, at the expiration of their respective terms of office, to their successors, a Just and true account in writmg of all moneys received by them for school purposes, and of the manner in which, the same shall have heen expended, and to pay any balance which may remain in their hands tu their successors. S. To meet statedly at times to be by them appointed, and to declare vacant, by a vote of a majority of the trustees of the ward, the seat of any person elected or appointed as a trustee who shall refuse or neglect, without satisfactory cause shown by him to the said trustees, to attend any three successive stated meetings of the trustees, after having been previously notitted to attend. {As wmeTiatd. 1854- chap. 101.) § 1036. All expenses incurred for the support of common schools in the respective wards shall be cer- tified by the trustees of common schools in such wards, or amajority of thera, and delivered to the in- spectoi'S of said ward ; and it shall be the duty of said inspectors to examine and audit the same, and upon said Inspectors being satisfied of their correctness, to certify the same to the board of education. All bills audited and paid shall be flled with the board of education. (1851, chap. 386, J 29, Comp. 753. See 1864, ckap. 351, § 12. ) g 1037. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a school or schools in any of the wards of the said city, It shall be lawful for the school officers of said ward to proceed to organize one or more schools, such as may be authorized by the board of education, and to procure a school-house, by pur- chasing: or hiring the same, or by procuring a site and erecting a buildmg thereon, according to plans and specifications and contracts which shall have been duly filed with and approved by the board of education, the erection of which said building, and the fltting up thereof, and the fitting up of any- hired building, shall be done by contract, proposals for which shall be advertised for two weeks previ- ous to deciding upon estimates thereon, unless such fltting up shall not exceed the sum of two hun- dred dollars. (1851, chap. 386, f 24, Comp. 752.) g 1038. The board of trustees for the ward, by the vote of the majority of the whole number of trus- tees In office, may remove teachers employed therein, other than principals and vice-principals, and. may also remove Janitors, provided the removal is approved in writing by a majoritv of the inspectoi-s for the district, and provided, further, that any toacher so removed shall have a light to appeal to the board of education, under such rules as it may prescribe, and the said board shall have power, after heaving the answer of the trustees, to reinstate the teacher. ii664,chnp. i5I,gl2, Qrnip. 760.) gl039. The city superintendent shall be subject to such general rules and regulations as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may prescribe, and appeals from his acts and decisions may be made to the Superintendent in the same manner and with like effect as In cases now provided by law ; and he shall make annually to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, at such times as shall be appointed by him, a report in writing, containing the whole number of schools in the city and county, distinguishing the schools from which the necessary reports have been made to the board of education by the commissioners, inspectors and trm,tees of common schools, and containing a cerUfied copy of the reports of the board of education to the clerk of the city and county, with such additional intorniation as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. (1855, chap. 386, § 12, as amended 1854, chap. 267, § 1, Comp. 749. ) § 1040. The city and assistant superintendents of schools shall tafee and subscribe, beforethe clerk of the board of education, the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State; shall each hold office for the terra of two years, and until his successor is appointed, subject to removal by the board, on complaint, for cause stated; shall respectively receive such compensation as the board of education may designate, which shall not be changed durmg the terra of office of any incumbent ; and shall be subject to such rules nnd regulations as the board of education may establish. It shall be specially the duty of the city superintendent: 1. To visit every school under the charge of the board of education as often as once in each year ; to inquire into all matters relating to the government, course of Instruction, books, studies, discipline and conduct of such schools, and the condition of the school-houses, and of the schools generally, and to advise and to counsel with the said trustees In relation to their duties, the proper studies, discipline and conduct of the schools, the course of Instruction to be pursued, and the books of elementary in- struction to be used therein ; and to examine, ascertain and report to the board nf education whether the provisions of the act in relation to religious sectarian teaching and books have been violated in any of the schools of the different wards of the city, and to make a monthly report to the board of education, stating which of the schools have been visited by him, and adding such comments, in re- spect to the matters above specilied, as he may consider necessary and advisable, and to transmit to the respective boards of ward trustees cojiies of so muchof such reports as relates to schools under their management. (1851, ckap. 386, S 11, Comp. 747. As amended, 1854, chap. 101.) 2. Under such general rules and regulations as the board of education may establish, to examine into the qualitications of persons proposed as teachers in any of the schools under the charge of the board. Such examination shall be conducted by the city superintendpnt of schools, or such one of his assistants as he may designate. In the presence of at least two inspectors of common schools, v7ho shall be designated for the purposeby the by-laws of the board of education. Licenses shall be granted to those persons found, npon such examination, to be entitled thereto, which shall be in the form pre- scribed by the said by-laws, shall be signed by the city superintendent, and by at least two inspectors, designated for the purpose, who shall certify that they were present at the examination and concur in gi-anting the license. The Hcense of any teacher may be revoked for any cause affecting the morality or competency of the teacher, bythe wntten certificate of the city superintendent and the written concurrence of two of the inspectors for the district in which the teacher is emploved ; but no sucli action shaU be taken until at least ten days' previous notice has been allowed, nor shall It take efifect imtil such certificate of revocation has been rtled In the office of the clerk of the board of education, and a copy served upon the teacher. It shall be the duty of the city superintendent to re-examine any teacher upon the written request of any two inspectors of the district, or three trustees of the ward In which tlie teacher is employed. Any teacher whose license has been revoked as aforesaid, may appeal to the State Superintendent of Public Instmction, within ten days after service of a copy of a certificate of revocation, by the service of a written notice of appeal upon the city superintendent and in case such appeal is taken, the teacher shall not be disqualidcd until the revocation Is confirmed by the State Superintendent. The city superintendent, in his annual report to the board of educa- tion, shall Include a list of the licenses granted and revoked by him. (As amended, 1864, chap. 351, § 16 ) 908 New York. 3. Generally, by all the means In his power, under the regulations of the board of education in respect thereto, to promote sound education, elevate the character and qualitlcations of teachers, improve the means of instruction, and advance the interests of the schools committed to his charge, (AS amended, 1854, chap. 101.) _ . . „ . § 1041. The t.u per intend en t of qchool buildings sball take and subscribe, before the clerk of the board of education, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and give such security for the faith- ful neilormance of the duties of his office as the board of education may direct and the department under his charge shall be subject to such rules and regulations as the said board may establish, one of which shall prohibit the performance by him of any work on other account similar to that performed under the regulations so established. (1851, cAap. 386 ' 39, as amended, 1854, chap. 101, Comp. 755.) 8 1042 Any teacher may be removed by the board of education upon the recommendation of the city suuerintendent, or of a majority of the trustees for the ward, or oi a majority of the inspectors for the district but only by a vote of three-fourths of all the members of said board. (1864, cTiap. 351, g 12, Comp 760; 1871, chap. 574, g 100, mbd. 2, Comp. 756; 1869, chap. 437, § 3, Camp. 700. 3Bim, 177, 1851, chap '3.S6, § 33, as amended, 1854, chap. 267, ^ 1, Cimip, 754.) g 1043 The foUowiug shall be substantially the form of oath or affirmation to be made by the teacher: " A. B. , of the city of New York, teacher of No. department, being duly .sworn or affirmed, declares and says that to the best oi (his or bar) knowledge and belief the average number of children, actual residents of the city and county of New York, at the time of attending said school, between the ages of four and twenty-one years, who attended said school or departmeut, each schooj- time or half day from the day of to the first day of January, was Said average haviug been obtained by adding together the number of scholai-s present each school- time or hall day and dividing the total by four hundred and sixty. " 2 1044. No compensation shall be allowed to the commissioners, inspectors, or trustees of common schools for any services performed by them, but the commissioners and Inspectors hhall receive their actual and reasonable expenses while attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed by the board of education. (1851, c/wp. 386, g30, Comp. 753.) g 1045. No school officer shall be interested in any contract, payments under which are to be made, in whole or in part, out of any money derived from the school fund or raised by taxation for the sup- port of common schools. No teacher employed in any of the schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of the school moneys shall be eligible to the office of commissioner, inspector, or trustee of common schools. (Id., gSS, Comp. 755.) g 1046. Every school officer who shall refuse or neglect to render an account, or to pay over any bal- ance in his hands, at the expiration of bis term of office, shall tor each offense forfeit the sum of fifty dollars, which sum, together with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected by the board ot education, who shall prosecute without delay for the recovery of such forfeiture, together with the unpaid balance ; and in case of the death of such school officer, suit may be brought against his repre- sentatives, and all money recovered, after deducting expenses, shall be placed at the disposal of the board of education. (Id., g 31, Comp. 753.) § 1047. Every person in the employ of the board of education, and every school officer, and every officer or teacher of a school or society, who shall willfiilly sign a false report to the board of educa- tion, shall, for each offense, forfeit the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall be deemed guilty of mis- demeanor ; and every such person or officer who shall willfully misapply any of the public funds com- mitted to his care, sball be deemed guilty of embezzlement. (JoJ., g 32, as amended, 1854, chap. 101, Comp. 754. ) §1048. In an V suit which shall hereafter ^be commenced against the commissioners or trustees of common schools for any act performed by virtue of, or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where the court shall certify that it appeared, on the trial of the cause, that the defendant acted in good faith. But this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. (1851, chap. 366, g 34, Comp. 754. ) g 1049. Every school officer shall, at the time of his election or appointment, be a resident of the district or ward for which he is appointed, and every trustee removing from the ward for which he is appointed, and every school officer removing from the city, shall thereby vacate his office. (1864, chap. 351. § 8, C&mp. 759.) . 2 1050. Every person appointed to a school office in said city shall, before entering on the duties of his office, and within fifteen days from the time ot being notified of his appointment to fill a vacancy, take and subscribe, before the clerk of the board of education, the oath of office prescribed by the Con- stitution of this State, and the pcbool office to which any person who shall omit to take the said oath within the time and in the manner above prescribed, may have been appointed, shall be vacant at and from the expiration of the said fifteen days. (Jd., 2 10.) g 1051. All children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, residing in the city and county, shall be entitled to attend any of the common schools therein ; and the parents, guardians, or other persons having the custody or care of such children shall not be liable to any tax, assessment, or impo- sition for the tullion of any children, other than is hereinbefore provided. (1851,. cftap 386 235 as amended, 1878, chap. 106, 2 1. Owip. 754.) ' § 1052. All schools which hav been organized under the act entitled " An act to extend to the city and county of New Jfork the provision of the general act in relation to common schools, "passed April eleventh, eighteen hundred and forty-two. and the acts amending the same, or organized or adopted under this chapter, shall he called common schools, " ward schools," or ward primaries, and each class shall be numbered consecutively according to the time of their organization or adoption, and all such schools shall be under the supervision and government of the commissioners, inspectors and trustees of the ward in which they are located. (1842, chap. 150; 1851, cliap. 386, g 6, Comp. 745.) ' S 1053, The schools in the several wards shallbeclassifledasgrammar,primary,and evening schools (1861. cftap. 351,212, Comp.759.) 2 105(. Whenever the clerk of the city and county shall receive notice trom the State Superintendent of Publiclnstructionof the amount of moneys apportioned to the county ofNew York for the support and encouragement of common schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the hoard of aldermen of said county : and the chamberlain of the said city shall apply for and receive the school moneys apportioned to the said county as soon as the same become payable, and place the same in the city treasury. (1851, chap. 386, g 14, as amended, 1854, chaps. 101, 267, 2 1< Comp. 749.) TITLE II. — THE COLLEGE OF THE CITT OP NEW YORK. § 1055. The College of the City of New York, formerly known as the Free Academy in the citv of New York, sball continue to be a separate and distinct organization and body corporate and as such shall have the powers and privileges of a college, pursuant to the revised statutes of this State and be sub- New Youk. 909 Ject to the provisions of the said statutes relative to colleRea, and to the visitation of the Regents of the University, in like manner with the other colleges of the State. (1866, chap. 264, g 1, Oomp. 761, 23 Sun, g fi8. ) 1 1056. The members of the said board of education, together with the president of the college, shall be ex-offlcio the trustees of the said co11e{;e, and shall have and possess the powers conferred upon, and he subject to the duties required of the trustees ot colleges by the revised statutes. The president of the college snail be a member of the executive committee of the said trustees for its care, govern- ment, and management. i^Id. . ^ 1; 1612, chap. 631,^2, Oomp. 762.) § 1Q57. AU acts of the legislature which were In force on March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in regard to the said Free Academy and to Its control, management, support, and affairs, and which are not Inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and not since modified or repealed, are hereby declared to be applicable to the said college. (1866, chap. 264, § 3, Comp. 761.) § 1058. The College or the City of New York shall be entitled to participate In the distribution of the Income of the- literature and other iundsln the same manner and upon the same conditions as the other colleges of the State, and the regents of the University of the State of New York shall pay annu- ally to the board of education of the citj;; and county of New York, the distributive share of the said funds to which the said College of the city of New York shall by law be entitled, and which shall be applied and expended for library books for the said college. (1851, chap. 386, §36, Comp. 754.) g 1059. The trustees of the College of the City of New York shall annually, on or before the fifteenth day of November, report to the board of estimate and apportionment such sum, not exceeding one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars in any one year, as they may require for the payment of the salaries of the professors and officers of thtj said college, for obtaining and furnishing scientific apparatus, books for the students, and all other necessary supplies therefor, and for repairing and altering the college buildings, and for the support, maintenance, and general expenses of said college. (1S66, chap. 637, § 1, 05 amended^ 1872. cJiap. 471, Comp. 761.) I lu60. The board of education shall continue to furnish,'through the College of the City of New York, the benefit of education gratuitously, to persons who have been pupils in the common schools of the said city and county, for a period of time to be regulated by the board of trustees not less than one year. And tlie trustees, upon the recommendation of the faculty of the said college, may grant the usual degrees and diplomas in the arts to such persons as shall have completed a full course of study in the said college. (1851, chap. 38fi. $ 3, a« aTtiended, 1854. cfeop, 267, § 1. Comp, 743.) 5 1061. The trustees of the College of the City of New York shall make and transmit annually, on or before the first day of February in each year, to the board of aldermen, and also the secretary of the board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, a report, dated on the thirty-first day of December next preceding, which report shall state the names and ages of all the pupils Instructed in such college during the preceding year, and the time that each was so instructed, specifying which of them have completed a full course of study therein, and which have received degrees, medals, and other special testimonials ; a particular statement of the studies pursued by each pupil since the last {irecedmg report, together with the hooks sucb student shall have studied, in whole or in part, and if n part, what portion; an account or estimate of the library, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and matbematLcal or other scientific instruments belonging to such college ; the names of the instructors employed in said college, and the compensation paid to each ; what amount of moneys the board of education received during the year for the purposes of such college, and from what sources, specifying how much from each, and the particular manner, and the specific purposes for which such moneys have been expended; and such other information In relation to education In the said college, and the measures of the board of trustees in the management thereof, as the board of aldermen, or the Regents of the University of the State of New York may, from time to time, require. (1854, chap, 386, § 3, «i6d. 7, 05 amended, 1854, chap. lUl, Comp, 743.) TITLE m.— MISCELLANEOUS. ? 1062. No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion of the school moneys In which the relig- ious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be taught, inculcated, or practiced, or in which any book or books, containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the particular doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall bo used, or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of any other religious sect, or which shall refuse to permit the visits and examinations provided for in this chapter. JBut nothing herein contained shall authorize the board of education to exclude the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections there- from, from any of the schools provided for by this chapter ; but It shall not he competent for the said hoard of education to decide what version, if any, of the Holv Scriptures, without note or comment, shall be used in any of the schools ; provided that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to violate the rights of conscience as secured by the Constitution of this State and of the United States. (1851, chaP' 386. § 18, Camp. 750.) 8 1063. The schuol established and maintained by the Vive Points House of Industry in the city of New York, the school established and maintained by the Ladies' Home Missionary Society ot the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the institution in Park street, near the place usuallv called the Five Points, in the salil city, and the Industrial schools established and maintained under"the charge of the Children'.-* Aid Society, in the city of New York, shall participate In the distribution of the common school fimd, in the same manner and degree as the common schools In the city and county of New York, and shall be subject to the same regulations and restrictions as are now by law imposed on the common schools of New York. (1855, cJiap. 405, § 1, Gomp. 768; 1862. c^ojd. 258, § 1, Omip. 768.) § 1064. The board of education shall require from the executive committees conducting schools by appointment of the board, and from the trustees, managers or directors of the corporate schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of school moneys, a report in all respects similar to that required from the trustees of each ward by section ten hundred and thirty-flve of this act. And In making the apportionment among the several schools, no share shall be allotted toany school or society tram which no sufficient annual report shall have been received for the year ending on the last day of December immediately "preceding the apportionment. (1851, chap. 386, I 20, as amended, 1854, c/iop. 101, Comp. 730.) § 1065. Whenever an apportionment of the public money shall not be made to any school, in conse- quence of any accidental omission to make any report required by law. or to comply with any other regulation or provision of law, the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment to be made to such school according to the equitable circumstances of the oase. to be paid out of the public money on hand, or If the same shall have been distributed, out of the public money to be received in a succeeding year. (,Id., S 21.) 21066. The New York Orphan Asylum School, the Roman Catholic Orphon Asylum School, the schools of the two half-orphan asylums, the school of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New York, the school for the Leake and Watts Orphan House, the school 910 New York. connected with the alms house of the said city, the school of the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans the schools of the American Female Guardian Society, the schools established and maintained by the New York Juvenile Asylum, by the New York Infant Asylum, by the Nursery and Child's Hos- pital, including the country branch thereof, the school organized under the act entitled " An act to extend to the city and county of New York tht provisions of the general act m relation to common schools." passed April eleven, eighteen hundred and forty-two, or an act to amend the same, passed April eighteen, eightpen hundred and forty-three, or an act entitled "An act more effectually to pro- vide for common school education in the city of New York." passed May seventh, eighteen hundred and forty-four, or any of the acts amending the same, and including such normal schools lor the educa- tion of teachers as the board of education may organize, and such schools as may be organized under the provisions of this chapter, shall be subject to tht; general supervision of the board of education, and shall be eutltieU to participate in the apportionment of the school moneys as provided for In this chap- ter, but they shall be under the immediate direction of their respective trustee^*, managers and direc- tor.-, as herein provided. (1851, c/wzp. 386. g22; 1851, chap. 332, g 3U, Ckmp. 1746; 1865, c/iaj3. 106, §24, Cump. 1773, as amended, 1853, cliap. 301, § 13, Comp. 751.) §111(57. The trustees, managers and directors of any of the corporate schools entitled to partici- pate in the apportionment of the school moneys, may at any time convey their school-hnuses and sites to the corporation of the city of New York, and transfer any of their schools to the board of education, on the terms and in the manner agreed upon and prescribed by the board of education, so as either to merge the said schools in the ward schools or adopt them as ward schools ; and the same shall then be ward schools, subject to all the rules, duties and liabilities, and enjoy the same rights as if they had been originally established as ward schools. (1651, chap. 386, § 29, as amended, 1853, chap. 301, §15, Comp. 752.) g IDfiS. The board of education are authorized and directed to provide and maintain a nautical school in said city, for the education and training of pupils in the science and practice of navigation ; to fur- nish accommodations for said school, and make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the number and compensation of instructors and others employed therein ; to prescribe the government and discipline thereof, and the terms and conditions upon which pupils shall be received and instructed therein, and discharged therefrom, and provide in all things for the good management of said nautical school. And the said board shall have power to purchase the books, apparatus, stationery and other things necessary or expedient to enable said school to be properly and successfully conducted, and may cause the salj school or the pupils or part of the pupils thereof to go on board vessels in the harbor of New York, and take cruises in or from said harbor for the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge in navigation and of the duties of mariners. And the said board are hereby authorized to apply to the United States Government for the requisite use of vessels and supplies for the purposes above men- tioned. n873, chap. 28, g 1, Qytnp. 764.) g 1069. The board of education is hereby authorized and required to distribute to the managers of the New York Institution for the Blind a ratable proportion of the said school fund to every blind pupil in said institution, without regard to age. (1839, chap. 200, g 4, Comp. 1786.) § 1070. The said board of education shall appoint annually at least three of their number, who Ehall, subject to the control, supervision and approbation of the board, constitute an executive committee for the care, government and management of such nautical school, under the rules and regulations so pie-cribed. and whose duty it shall be, among other things, to recommend the rules and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for such school. (1873, chap. 28, § 1, Comp. 764.) § 1071. After the establishment and organization of the said school, the expenses thereof, and of car- rying out the provisions of this chapter, shall be defrayed from the moneys raised by law for the sup- port of common schools in the city and county of New York. gl072. The chamber of commerce of New York is authorized to provide for and appoint a committee of its members to serve as a council of the nautical school, whose duty it shall be, as far as may be, to advise and co-operate with the board of education in the establishment and management of such school, and from time to time to visit and examine the same, and to communicate, in respect thereof with the board of education or such executive committee thereof, and to make reports to the chamber of commerce which may transmit to the State Superintendent of Puolic Instruction such reports, or any thereof, or an abstract of the same, with such recommendations aamay be deemed advisable. (Ja., |4.) [Chap. 835.] An act relating to the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled. Passed May 22, 1872. TJie People oftkeStafe of New Forft, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : g 3. The school established and maintalnedbythe above-named society,for the education of crippled children, shall participate in the distribution of the common school fund in the same manner and de- gree as the common schools of the city and county of New York. iChap. 230.J An act relative to the Hebi^ew Orphan Asylum. Passed April 21, 1874. The People of the State school for 5 1. The board of education of the city of New York are hereby authorized to nrovlrte »r,H .„..„. ■ an evening high school for males in said city, to be located on the east slS thereof in .^h"'?i'' seventh, tenth, eleventh or thirteenth wards o^sald city, which location shall be leffto'the Judgment Ogdeksburgh. 913 and discretion of the said board of education, who are also authorized to famish accommodations for '5aid evening high school and make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the number and compensation of teachers and others employed therein, and to make it correspond in the number and grade of studies pursued, and as nearly as possible in all respects to the evening high school for males now maintained in the school building of grammar school number thirty-fl ee in the city of New York. § 2. Section three of said act is hereby amended so as to read as follows: g 3. The hoard of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York are hereby authorized to appropriate annually the necessary sum for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. 2 3. This act shall take effect immediately. C Chap. 341, Laws of 1887. ) An act in relation to the powers of the board of education of the city of New York. Section 1. The board of education of the city of New York is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint the principal, vice-principals, teachersand janitors of the evening high schools now existing, or which may be created. In said city. 3 2. This act shall take effect immediately. OGDENSBURGH, iChap. 382, Laws of 1857.] Section 1. All that territory comprised within the corporation limits of the vlll^e of Ogdensbnreli, lying in the town of Oswegatchle, and those parts of school districts numbers one and twenty-one, o1 the town of Oswegatchie, lying without the said corporation limits, are hereby consolidated and organized Into one school district, subject to the control of a board of education as hereinafter pro- vided, 2 2. The district hereby organized shall participate in the distribution of the school moneys and library money, in the same manner as other school districts. 'Whenever the board of education shall be organized under this act, the amount to which the district shall be entitled from the moneys dis- tributed by the State, shall be paid over to the treasurer of the village of Ogdensburgh, subject to the orders of the said board of education. The amount to which said district shall be entitled for the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven- shall be determined by the school commissioners of the county of St. Lawrence, and the supervisor of the town of Oswegatchie shall pay the amount so determined to the treasurer of said village, upon the order of said school commissioners. \ 3. The supervisor and town clerk, together with three of the Justices of the peace of the town of Oswegatchie, shall, on or before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and flfty-seven, meet and divide the moneys derived from the sale of the school lot in said town, between the school district hereby organized, and the remainder of said towns in proportion to the number of persons between four and twenty -one years of age, residing in the said village district and the said remainder; they shall also at the same time estimate and determine the value of the interest of the town of Oswegatchie exclusive of the Interest of the village of Ogdensburgh In the academy building and grounds; they shall deduct the value of the Interest of said town in such academy buildings and groUnds from the share of the moneys derived from the sale of the school lot which would fall to the said district by this act organ- ized; and shall make and subscribe a record of such division, estimate and deduction, and the result thereof; one copy of which shall be filed with the town clerk.and another with the village clerk. Such acts, when completed, shall divest said town, except the village of Ogdensburgh, of all interest In • Ogdensburgh academy buildings and grounds. That portion of the said moneys arising from the sale of the school lot remaining to this district shall be subject to the control of the board of education, within the provisions of this act. \ 4. On the second Wednesday of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, the electors of said village. In the same manner as the charter elections are held, shall meet and choose nine of their number as school commissioners, who, when organized as hereinafter provided, shall constitute the said board of education. Within eight days after notice of their election, they shall take the oath of oflQce prescribed by the Constitution and file the same with the village clerk; within ten days after their election, the persons so chosen and qualified shall meet and by lot arrange themselves into three equal classes, and class number one shall continue in office for one year, class number two for two years, and class number three for three years ; provided, however, that no term of ofBce shall expire until a successor. is chosen and qualified; and on the same day in each year thereafter, three persons shall be chosen aa school commissioners for the term of three years. Any person so elected or appointed to such office for neglect or refusal to serve without cause shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be sued for, collected and applied as other penalties provided for in this act. } 5. One of said commissioners shall be selected by a majority of their number as president of the said board of education, which office shall continue for one year ; the president shall preside, when present, at all meetings of the board. \ 6. The village clerk shall be tx-offic^ clerk of the hoard of education ; he shall attend its meetings, make, engross and keep in a hook provided for that purpose a record of all the doings, votes and reports of said board. \ 7. The board of education may elect any person not a member of their own body superintendent of schools, who, In addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by said board, shall visit and supervise the schools in said village, examine into and determine the qualifications of all teachers and grant certificates to such as are qualified as are now granted by school commissioners, but which shall be valid for only one year, and may be revoked for cause by himself or by resolution of said board; he shall make out all annual and other reports touching the condition of the schools and all matters connected therewith. The term of office of such village superintendent shall be three years ; his salary shall be fixed by the hoajd of education, and be a charge upon said village of Ogdens- burgh. } 8. In case of a vacancy In the said board of education, by refusal to serve or otherwise, the said board may supply the same by appointment until the next annual election, when a commissioner shall be chosen for the remainder of the unexpired term. J 9. The treasurer of the village of Ogdensburgh shall be ex-oMcio treasurer of the board of educa- tion: he shall receive all school moneys, and keep the same under the respective heads of "teachers* fund," "general ftind," "special fund," and "academy fund," to which such moneys shall belong, to the credit of the board of education of the village of Ogdensburgh ; he shall pay out the same only on the warrant of said board, in favor of the person entitled to receive it, si^ed by the president and clerk ; he shall report on the first day of each month, to said board, the receipts of all moneys since his previous report, from what source and to which fund, the sums paid out, from which fund and to 115 914 Ogdensburgh. whose order and the balance of each ftind remaining on hand, with any general In^onnatlOT ^edallr reauired in ^ting by said board ; he shall give bonds for the faithful pertormance of his duUes in tWa office fnlsnm not less than donble the amount of moneys to come to ^lia band^; the fom. a^^^^^ and sufficiency of tbe securities to be fixedand approved by said board of education, and be shall renew tbe same as often and whenever said board by resolution shall reguire. „„„«,« „„rt dntips midPr 210 The board of education shall be a body corporate in relation to their Po^eis and duties under this act- five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except that when the question invofves the appointment of school superintendent, or the removal of such superintendent or any teacher: the raising of money or the expenditure of over one hundred dollars, the assent of a majority of the whole board shall be requisite, and all questions shall be taken by ayes and nays, and the votes Sade a matter on record; any member of said board of education, or any officer supenn^^^ or teacner appointed by it. maybe removed for cause, after flv« days' notice, by resolution ot said *'Tll' The members of said board of education shall not receive any compensation for their services asVuch, but sh^lT iJe repSd all actual disbursements incurred by them as such officers, nor sM^^^^^ be interested as principal, partner or surety, in any contract connected with the schools or uistatute under the charge of said board, nor in the making, erecting, furnishiDg or supplying any thmg what- ever for the use of or connected therewith. Neither the superintendent nor any teacher In the schools organized under this act, nor any member of the hoard of village trustees, clerk, treasurer or coUector. of said village, shall be eligible to the office of school commissioner. ^ ^ a *• ™,* i 12 The trustees of the village of Ogdensburgh shall provide for the said board of education a suita- ble room in which to hold their meetings, together with the proper and necessary furmture, stationery, fuel lights, and books for record; said board shall meet as often as once m each month for the trans- action of business, and special meetings may be called by the president or any three members of the i 13.' The said board of education, when organized as herein provided, shall be and they are hereby invested with full and perfect title to all sites, lands, buildings and all and every other property belong- ing or pertaining to the school districts within the bounds of the district hereby organized, and of the Ogdensburgh academy, to be kept and used for school purposes, except as hereinafter provided, and said board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to take and hold any and all real and per- sonal estate or other things by grant, gift, devise, bequest, for the use of the schools or msntutft nnder its charge, and to use the same or sell and apply the proceeds as shall in its Judgment best carry out the instructions of the donors, or subserve the interests of the schools. ■ 2 14. Within ten days after notice of an organization of the board of education, the trustees of the several districts hereby consolidated shall make , execute and deliver to the said board, a deed in fee simple of all lands, sites, buildings or fixtures owned or possessed by said districts, and shall also ■deliver to said board all school furniture and any and all school property, belonging to or connected with said school districts, and also all school moneys in hand or uncollected, and all tax and rate bills ■nncollected, and at the same time report to said board an annual statement of all indebtedness of their respective districts, insurance, teachers employed, their names, compensation and penod of contract. . ^ ^ 2 15. The said board of education shall, within thirty days after receiving the reports required by sec- tion fourteen, from the trustees of said school districts, ascertain the amount of the indebtedness of each district, after the application of all its available means, and certify the same to the board of village trustees; they shall also, within the same time, determine what improvements and alterations axo necessary in the school-houses, and the cost of the 6ame beyond any funds applicable to such purpose, and certify the same to said trustees ; and the said board of village trustees shall assess such several sums on all the taxable property in each of the respective districts where the money is to be used, and collect the same along with the fi.rst village tax collected thereafter, and place.the same to the credit of the board of education with the village treasurer. 2 16. All the taxable property within the bounds of the district hereby organized shall be liable to taxation under this act ; and taxes shall be apportioned upon the property within the corporation according to the valuation in the last village assessment roll, and upon property lying without the vil- lage corporation, according to the valuation to be fixed by the village assessors, which they shall each year ascertain and assess as they do other property, and attach at the end of the village roll. 2 17. On or before the first day of May next, and on or before the first day of May in each year there- after, the board of education shall determine and certify to the trustees of the village of Ogdensburgh the amount of money over and above all other funds in hand applicable to that purpose, required for teachers' wages for the year commencing on the first day of April ; and said board shall at the same time determme and certify to the said village trustees what sum of money, exclusive of any applicable to such purposes, is necessary and requisite to defrt^ for the year the expense for fnel, books for indi- gent scholars, school furniture and apparatus, insurance, leasing additional school-rooms, repairing of houses, out-houses, fences and other expenses ordinarily incident to the maintenance of such schools ; and the said trustees shall cause to be assessed the several sums of money so certified, on the taxable property and corporations within the district hereby organized, and collect the same along with the first village tax thereafter collected ; which sums shall he placed with the village treasurer to the creditof the board of education, the first sum to the "teachers fund," and the other sum to the "gen- eral fund," provided, however, in no case shall the assessments for these purposes, in any one year, exceed forty cents on the one hundred dollars, on the property valuation of the said assessment rolls liable for said tax ; and, in addition thereto, for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the sum of two thousand six hundred dollars, two thousand dollars of which shall be appUed to the repairs of school buildings and six hundred dollars to cover present deficiencies ; and warrants to collect a greater sum shall be void. In addition to the sums heretofore authorized to he raised, the said board of education shall at the same time certify to the common council of the city of Ogdensburgh, the sum which they shall deem necessary to be raised to pay the salary of the superintendent of schools In said city not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars, and the ssud common council shall cause the same to be collected in the same manner as other moneys for the support of schools in said city, and place the same to the credit of the board of education In the general fund. Whenever the aforemen- tioned assessments are valid, if for any reason the collector's unable to collect the full amount of his warrant, the trustees shall supply any deficiency to these two ftinds, provided for by this section, out of any moneys which may come into the village treasury, and shall deposit the same as above pro- vided. {^8 amejided by chapter 249, Laws of 1868, chapter 335, Laws qf 1869, and chapter 186, Laws of 8 18. The common schools and the Ogdensburgh Academy, hereafter to be kept and maintained in the district hereby organized, shall be free to all persons between the ages of four and twenty-one years, whose parents or guardinns are actual residents of the district. The superintendent of schools and city clerk are hereby authorized to administer oaths and take affidavits in all matters pertaining to the schools and academy provided for by this act, which shall have the same validity as If adminis- tered or taken by a justice of the peace, but they shall receive no remuneration therefor. (As amended by chap. 70, Laws of 1881.) Ogdeksbuegh. 915 S 19. The trustees of the Ogdensburgh academy ehalT 'at the time specified in section fourteen, make, exeoute and dehver to the board of education, a deed m fee simple of the Ogdensburgh academy and p-ounds, and also deliver over to said board all property of whatever kind or nature pertaining to said, academy, with a report of all indebtedness, the names and compensation of its teachers and the time for which employed. *■ ^ ^on a vote of the taxable Inhabitants of said district. The said board shall have power to regulate and establish the tuition of resident and non-resident pupils, attending the academical department of said school, hut they shall have no power to transfer pupils from the primary to the academical department, without the consent of the parent or guardian of such pupils. The free school department in said dis- trict shall have all the branches taught therein, as contemplated by the free school laws of this State. 2 2. The said board of education shall keep separate accounts of the receipts and expenditures received and incurred in the maintenance of the several departments of said school, and all moneys received properly belonging to th6 classical department, shall be expended in the maintenance of such department, and all moneys received, properly belonging to the free school department, shall bo expended In sustaining such department. 918 ORANGETOWiS'. y^ Thp school commissioner of the school commissioner district, in which said free school jsjocate^ mlv with the conS of the Superintendent of PubUc Instruction, alter sa d district, ^y adding thtrko any partor portion of an adjoining district, provided, that a majority of the taxable ShlhitanSrincluded in such part or portion, shall petition in writing, to be added to said free school *"| 4"''The trustees to be elected in said district shall hereafter be elected by^^allot „^nd the vote upon, all resolutions, authorizing the raising and expenditure of money, shall a-lso be by ballot. 2 5. All acts and parts of acta inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, ORANGETOWN. [ Chap. 303, Laws of 1859. p. 684, as amended by chap. 227, Laws of 1866-3 Section 1 The union free school district number four. In the town of Orangetown, county of Rockland, shall form a district, and shall not be subject to alteration, except in the manner prescribed \ 2 The said district shall he under the direction of a board, to be styled the "board of education." which board shall consist of five members, and be a body corporate, a majority of whom shall consti- tute a quorum forthe transaction of business. , J ^«. ■ n-i. i 3 The proceedings of the meetings held in January, eighteen hundred and flfty-eight, and in December eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, in the election of the board of education, are hereby con- firmed, and the persons then elected shall continue to hold oface for the time for whicli they were 8 4 There shall be" elected at each annual meeting in said district, to be held on the second Tuesdays of October in each year, two persons (except every third year, when only one shall be elected), who shall be residents and inhabitants liable to pay taxes for school purposes In said district, to act as members of said board of education, and who shall hold their offices for the term of three years. The said election, and all other elections provided for by this act, shall be held hy three Inspectors, who shall he appointed by the board of education, at least thirty days preceding such election, which election shall be by ballot, and conducted in the same manner as general elections. (As ainended by sec. 1, cTuip. 227, Laws of 1866.) j.i. Said board shall have power to fill vacancies occurring in their own body, but the person so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual meeting of said district, when the vacancy shall b& filled by election. 2 6, The said board may make all necessary by-laws for their own government; they shall nave the entire control and management of all the common schools within said district, and all the property belonging to the same. They shall, at their first meeting, and at their first meeting after the annual election tn each year, appoint one of their number president of said board, who shall preside at the- meetings of said board, when present; when absent, a president pro tempore shall act in his stead; they shall also appoint at said meeting one of their number secretary, who shall record all the acts and resolutions of the board, also act as clerk of school district; in his absence asecretarypro tempore shall be appointed to discharge said duties ; they shall appoint two of Its members, to he styled the commit- tee of education, whose duty it shall he-to visit the school tn the district once in each month, to exam- ine and license teachers, and such other duties as are specified In the by-laws of the board ; they shall also appoint a treasurer, collector and librarian of said district, who shall hold their offices respectively, one year from their appointment, and until others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such treasurer and collector shall each, within ten days after notice in writing lias been received of his appointment, and before entering on the duties of his office, execute and deliver to said board of education, a bond In a penalty of twice the-amount of the estimated amount of the money coming into his hands, and with' such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and such board of education shall thereupon make an appointment to fill such vacancy. Such treasurer's bond shall shall be approved by the county^ clerk, and a copy thereof deposited in said county clerk's office. 57. The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business, on the first Monday in each month, or on such other day of the week as they shall fix upon for the year, and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, by the secretary, or any other member of the board as often as is necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his res- idence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of said meeting ; and if any member of said board refuses or neglects to attend any three successive stated meeting of the hoard, and if no sufficient cause of his non-attendance be shown, the hoard may declare his office vacant. 3 8. No member of the board of education, except the secretary, shall receive any pay or compensa- tion for his services, nor shall it be lawful for any member of said board to become a contractor for building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner, directly or Indirectly, interested either^ pnnclpal, partner or surety, in any such contract. AU contracts made in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the board for the use of th« iistric*. { 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district wheneverthey may deem it necessary; they shall ^ve notice of the same by posting up a written or printed notice thereof in at least six public places in the said district, and by publishing the same in the newspapers published in said distnct, at least two weeks previous to the time fixed for such meeting ; which notice shall state the time and place of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same was called ; and no business shall he transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. One week's notice of the annual meeting shall be given in said newspapers. 5 10. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, and all other school property in said district, shall be vested in said board of education, and the said board, in its corporate capacity may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of common schools in said district. " g 11. The public schools in said district shall be free to all children residing therein, but the hoard of education may permit children of persons not resident within said district to attend said schools on such terms as they may prescribe, and said board shall have power to sue for and recover such pre- scnbed sum. Said board shall require one of their number to visit each school in said district at least once In each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary. "^ *^ "" i 12. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made to the board of education, and such resignation shall not excuse said officer from the discharge of his duties until accepted by said board. """co uum Oswego. 919 ?13. Said board of education shall cause an enumeration of the children between the ages of four and twenty-one years in said district, and make, once in each year, such a report to the school commis- sioner, at the time and in the manner required by law of trustees of school districts ; and any parent, or guardian, or housekeeper, refusing to give his or her own name to the person appomted by the said board to take such enumerationj ancf the number of the children between said ages living in his or her family, shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars, said penalty to be sued for and recovered by said board and appropriated to school purposes. ' 8 14. The town supervisor shall, upon the written order of the president and secretary of said board, pay to the treasurer of said board, out of money in his hands belonging to said district, such sums as said order may specify, and all moneys to be received shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together with sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable to said board of education ; said treas- urer shall not pay out any moneys except by resolution of said board, and upon an order drawn by the president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn In pursuance of such resolution. 2 15. Said board of education shall have the entire control of the district library, and may make such regulations in regard to the purchase and distribution of books and man^ement of said library as they shall deem proper. { I6. Said board of education shall have the power, and are hereby directed, to levy and collect by tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and inhabitants in said district, as the same shall have been last assessed by the town assessors of the town in which said district is situated, such sums as Said board shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes, viz. : 1. To pay any deficiency in teachers' wages, after paying all the public money appropriated *; " -nch purpose ; 2. To hire sites, school-houses and rooms for the use of said school district when necessary 3. To alter, repair and improve the school-houses belongfng to said district, and their appurtenances ; 4. To insure the school-houses and property belonging to said district ; 5. To pay all debts and any necessary contingent expenses of said school district and of the board of education ; 6. Any such sums as shall be authorized by a m^ority of the legal voters, at any special meeting of said district, for the purposes specified in section seventeen of tlris act, and the board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes, such amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, not exceeding five per cent on the amount to be collected ; said hoard shall have power to make all war- rants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them, returnable in sixty or nmety days, at their dis- cretion, and to renew the same whenever it shall become necessary ; such warrant to be signed by the president and secretary, pursuant to resolution of said board. In case it shall appear that the town assessment roll does not include all the taxable property of said district, the property omitted shall be assessed by the said board in the same mode required by law, and added thereto ; and the collector of said school district shall, in the collection of any tax authorized by this act, proceed in the same man- ner and have all the powers which collectors of town and county taxes now possess. 2 17. Whenever, In the opinion of said board, it becomes necessary to procure a site and build a school-house, to enlarge those already built, or to raise money for any necessary purpose, not enumer- ated in this act. they shall submit the plans and the estimated cost of such building, site, and neces- sary appendages, to the Inhabitants liable to pay taxes for school purposes of said district, at a special meeting called for that purpose ; and if a majority of those present shall vote in favor of the same, the said board may proceed to carry the same into effect ; but no site purchased and house built after the passage of this act shall exceed in cost. Jointly, the sumot ten thousand dollars, nor shall any addi- tion to school-houses in said district exceed that amount ; neither shall more than one school-house, or addition to any school-house In said district, be built in any one year, nor shall any addition be made to any school-house in said district the same year in which a new school-house is built ; nor shall a greater sum than four hundred dollars be raised in any one year, for purposes not enumerated in thia act, by special meetings. (As amended by sec. 2, chap. 227, Laws of 18&6.) 5 18. Said hoard of education shall have the power to estabUsh as many primary schools in said dis- trict as they may deem proper, and to havein all respects the superintendence, supervision and man- agement of the public schools in, said district: to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for.their good order, prosperity and puhhc utility. 3 19. Whenever in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell or exchange any school-house, lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the district, they shall state such object In the notice of an annual orlspecial meeting, and with the consent of a majority of theinhabitants, Itableto pay taxes for school purposes, present at such meeting, may sell or dispose of such school-houses, sites or lots, to the best advantage. J 20. Said board of education shall, at each annual meeting, submit a 'report, in writing, of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the number of scholars attending the same ; the studies pursued ; the amount of Inoneys received from the State and from any other source ; the expenditure of the same ; and all the particulars, in detail, relating to schools in said district ; which report may, if the board think best^ be printed. 2 21. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as relates to school district number four, in the towa of Orangetown, Bockland county. OSWEGO. IChap. 463, Laws qflSGQ^ as subsectuentlj/ amended.'} (From the city charter.) TITLE VII. — OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. Section l . At the annual election of the city of Oswego to be held on the first Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, there shall be elected six commissioners of common schools whose term of office shall commence on the Tuesday next following said election and shall continue, two of them for the term of one year, two for the term of two years and two for the term of three years. At the fli-st meeting of such commissioners after their election they shaU determine by lot which com- mlasioners shall hold for one year, which for two years, and which for three years. And at each annual election in said city thereafter two commissioners shall he chosen to succeed the persons whose terms of office are about to expirQ, The said commissioners shall be elected by ballot by the electors of said city, but no elector shall place upon his ballot the names of more than three persons for the office of school commissioner at the first election under thte act, nor the name of more than one person for 920 Oswego. such school commissioner at a subsequent election^ and the six persons voted for at the first election and eligible to the oflBce who shall receive the highest number of votes shall be commiasioners of common schools in said city as hereinbefore provided. And at each subsequent election the two per- sons receiving the higbest number ot votes shall be commissioners of common schools in said city, to hold office for three years. And no ballot for commissioners shall be counted upon which more than three names at the first election and more than one name at any subsequent election shall be con- tained. The term of office of the present school commissioners of this city shall expire on the second Tuesday of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and tbereafter the board of education shall be composed of the six commissioners elected as herein provided. The persons so chosen shall be officers of the cily-at-Iarge and not of any particular district or section of said city. The said commissioners shall be voted for upon a separate ballot to be endorsed "* school," which ballots shall be deposited in separate boxes to be provided in each ward, and to be marked " school. " (As chaTiged by chap. 46, Laws of 1879.) I § 2. In case of a vacancy happening in the office of school commissioner in said city, by the resigna- tion, death, removal from the city, failure to elect or qu'Hlify, or for any other reason, such vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the term by the common council, who, upon the nomination of the- mayor, shall appoint a suitable person or persons to fill said vacancy. (As changed from § 3 (o l2hy chap. 46, Laws or 1879.) § 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. {As changed by chap. 46, Laws of 1879.) § 4. Any commissioner of common schools in Bald city may he removed from office for official mis- conduct by the board of education of said city, by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof; but a written copy of the charges preferred against said commissioner shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity of refuting any such charges of misconduct before removal. 2 5. The board of education shall be a corporate body In relation to all the powers and duties con- ferred upon them by virtue of this act, to be styled the " Board of Education of the City of Oswego." A majority of the said board shall constitute a quorum. At each annual meeting of the board, on the Wednesday following the second Tuesday in March they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent a president pro tempore may be appointed. The members of the board shall receive no compensation, nor ehall they be interested directly or indirectly, in any contract for building, or for making any improvements or repairs, or for other expenditure whatever provided for by this act. The board of education shall have the care of the gospel and school lands, and the securities taken therefor, belonging to' said city, and shall have power to sell the same, and apply the proceeds In such a manner as they shall deem most lor the interest of the schools of the city. {As amended by chap. 235, Laws of 1879.) S6. The annual meeting of said board shall be held on the Wednesday following the second Tuesday of March in each year. The board shall also meet for the transaction of business as often as once a month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called as often as may he necessary by the president with the written concurrence of four members of the board, or in his absence or inability to act, with like concurrence of any five members of the board, by causing a writ- ten or printed notice of such meeting, with the names of the members calling the same, to be given personally to each member of the board, or left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. Such hotice shall specify the object of such special meet- ing, the action of which shall be limited to the object so specified. {Asam-endedby chap. 235, Laws ther information .elat- ing to the common schools of said city as may, from time to time, be required by the State Superin- tendent of common schools. § 13, £)ach school commissioner shall visit all the schools in said city at least twice in each year of 116 922 Oswego. his official term, and the said board of education shall provide that each of said scliools shall be visited by a committee of three or more oftheir number at least once in each term. ? 14. The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident m said city to attend the schools of said city under the control and care of said board, upon such terms as said board shall by resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid therefor. 2 15, It shall be the duty of said board In all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to the am.ount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the then current year, and not to- exceed the amount except that by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to said board, a sum not more than one-half of the expenses of any building erected by said board for school purposes, may be contracted for or expended by said board, in addition to the amount applicable to that purpose in the year when such erection is made, which sum shall be raised and paid out of the amount applicable to that purpose in the year when such erection is made, which sum shall be raised and paid out of the moneys appUcable to that purpose in the next fiscal year. The State school moneys appropriated for the use of the schools of said city shall belong to the fiscal year in which the same may be received by the treasurer of said city. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of said city to deposit all moneys in his hands belonging to the public school fund, in such incorporated bank as will 'pay him the highest interest therefor, and the interest received thereon shall be credited by him to the board of education and shall become and be a part of the j>ublic school fund of said city, and shall be stated by him in his annual report to the said board hereinbefore provided for, or at any other time when required by said board. (As amended 6y chap.235. Laws of 1^9.) 1 16. The said board of commissioners shall be trustees of the school libraries in said city, and all the provisions of law which are now or hereafter may be passed relative to school district libraries shall apply to said commissioners. In the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district compre- hending said city ; they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by tbe law of this State for the purchase of libraries which Is therein conferred on the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide room or rooms and the necessary fur- niture therefor. The librarian shall report to the board the condition of the city library or libraries under their charge, and the said board or secretary thereof under the direction and by resolution of said board, may make all tbe purchases of books for said library or libraries, and may direct the mode of their distributlon,'and may cause to be repaired damaged books belonging thereto, and may sell any book in said Ubrary or libraries that may be deemed useless, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for said library or libraries. 2 17. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, fhmiture, books, apparatus and appurtenances and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Oswego, and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied or sold by virtue of any warrant or execu- tion, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever, and the said city in its corporate capacity shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any personal or real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest or devise for the use of the common schools of said city, whether the same be transferr^ in terms to said city by its proper style or by any other desigmition, or to any person or persons or body for the use of said schools. 2 18. The common council of said city shall, upon the recommendation of said board of education, sell any of the school-houses, sites, lots or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to said city, upon such terms as the common council shall deem reasonable ; the proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, and shall be by said board expended in the purchase, repairs or improvement of school-houses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 2 19. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days beiore the annual election for commis- sioners in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 1. The moneys raised by the common council under the ninth section of this title. 2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from tbe county treasurer. 3. The moneys received by the treasurer of the city under the ninth section of this title. 4. All other moneys received by the treasurer of said city subject to the order of the board specifying the sources from which they have been derived. 5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under each head of expenditure; and the common council shall, ten days beiore such election, cause the same to be published in all the newspapers of said city. 220. The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty to pa^ such ordinances and regulations as the said board of education may report as necessary for the protection preservation safe-keepingandcareof the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages libraries and all necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools of said city, and to impose proper penal- ties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incor- porate the said city ; and ail such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected ; and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, to the credit of the said board of education, and shall be subject to their order in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act §21. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said city, iramediatelv after the election of anv nerson as commissioner of common schools, personally or in writing, to notify him of his election • and if anv such person shall not, within ten days after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscrihft the constitutional oath, and file the same with the clerk of said city, the common council mav consider It as a refusal to serve, and proceed to supply the vacancy occasioned by such refusal ■ and the Der«?on so reftising shall forfeit and pay to the city treasurer, for the benefit of the schools of said city , a penalty 222. No officer of said board of education, or any other person, shall have power to make orphan make any purchases, create any liability, or contract any debt on the part of safi board, unless sneclaui authorized by the said board or by this titleso to do. and no account, claim or demand shall be audited allowed, or paid by the said hoard, unless the same was so authorized, nor unless the same shallhe verified in the same manner that town acconnts are required to be verified. The secretary of the said board shall have power to administer any oath, or to take any affidavit in respect to any matter relat- mg to ttie business of said board or the affairs of the common council of said city g 23. Tlie common council of said city are authorized and directed to raise by tax durinir the fiscal year beginmng February 15, 1873, the sum of $12,573.61 or so much thereof as the board of education fJt'i?^^^*^?-*'* ^1 necessary to pay the deficiencies of the fiscal year ending at that time and to borrow SoreSu'l collection thereof, so much of said amount as shall be certified to be necessary S OWEGO. 923 [Chap. 218, Xaio« 0^1873.] Section l . The board of education in the city of Oswego ma/ and shall certify to the common council of said city on or before the fifteenth day of May, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and on or before the first day of April in each subsequent year (Instead of the fifteenth day of February as heretofore provided), the sums in their opinion necessary and proper to be raised forthe purposes men- tioned in the ninth section of title seven of said acts as amended for the fiscal year, commencing on the fifteenth day of February preceding. 2 2, The word " scholar as used in the tenth section of said title as amended shall be Interpreted to mean "child." 8 3. The registry of voters in the city of Oswego, made for the charter election in March, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, may and shall be used as the registry for the election of common school commissioners in May thereafter; and any person who shall have become a voter in any ward, subse- quent to the charter election, may vote at the succeeding election for school commissioners in such ward. The provisions of this section shall .apply and be in full force for all years subsequent to the year 1873. 2 4, This act shall take efiTect immediately. [Chap, 367, Laws of 1876, as amended ij/ chap. 44. Laws of 1883,] (Amendments to city charter. ) 2 3. No person shall be eligible or elected or appointed to any ofllce in and for the city of Oswego, unless he shall he at the time an elector and resident ot said city, and no person shall be eligible or be appointed or elected to apy office in any ward in section one designated as a ward officer, unless he shall he at the same time an elector and resident of said ward ^ and no person shall be eligi ble or elected or appointed to the office of mayor, alderman, school commissioner, commissioner of public charity, fire commissioner, police commissioner, commissioner of public works, supervisor, collector of taxes and assessments or assessor, after the passage of this act, unless at the time of his election or appoint- ment he shall be a resident and elector for the district for which he is elected or appointed, and when- ever any officer shall cease to be a resident of the city or of the ward or district for which, he is elected or appointed, his office shall thereby become vacant. 2 28. No member of the common council shall be appointed to any oflQce by the common council, nor shall any member of the hoard of education, common council, or any other city officer or member of a board of commissioners be interested in any contract in which the city is a party, neither shall any of the said officers furnish directly or Indirectly to the city, or for its use in any of the departments, goods, wares, merchandise, teams, labor, materials or supplies, nor be interested, directly or indirectly, In any bill or claim therefor, under the penalty of the forfeiture of his office and the loss ot his claim. iCJiap. IM, Laws of 1878.] Section 1. The board of education of the city of Oswego shall not purchase, and shall have no power to purchase, lots or sites for school-houses, or to build or enlarge school-houses upon lots or sites now or hereafter owned or acquired by said city, unless two-thirds of all the members of s^d board shall vote in favor of such purchases, building or enlargement. OWEGO. [Chap. 309, Laws of 1861, as amended hy chap. 141, Laws (if 1865.] Section 1. All school districts and parts of school districts lying within the corporate limits of the village of Owego, in the county of Tioga, in this State, are hereby consolidated and incorporated Into one school district, which shall be called the union school district of the village of Owego. 8 2. The schools organized under this act, to be designated the "union schools of the village of Owego," shall be free to all pupils between the age of five and twenty-one years residing in said union school district, and no rate oill shall hereafter be imposed therein. But non-residents of said union school district, if otherwise competent, may be admitted into any school within said union school dis- trict organized under this act, with the written consent of the board of school commissioners, or a m£^ority of them, upon such terms and conditions as to tuition or otherwise, as such board may from time to time prescribe. $3. Said union school district shall be divided into five sub-districts, each ward of said village to constitute one sub-district, to correspond in number and boundaries therewith. 2 4. The said union school district shall be under the control and direction of six commissioners, who shall be called the "board of school commissioners." Each sub-district shall be entitled to one commissioner, who shall be a resident thereof, and one shall be elected from the village at large, who shall be the president of the board. 25. Charles H. £verset of sub-district number one; John L.Matson, of sub-district numbertwo; Andrew Coburn, of sub-district number three; William Smyth, of sub-district number four: H. D, Pinney, of sub-district number Ave, and T. I. Chatfleld, at lai^e, are hereby appointed commissioners until their successors are elected.as hereinafter provided. 2 6. At the next election of corporation officers of Owego, there shall be elected a school commla- Bloner from each district, and one at large, in the same manner and at the same time, as other cor- poration officers are elected, in place of those appointed In section five ; and thereafter at each annual charter election, two commissioners shall be elected to fill the places of the two whose terms of office will expire as hereinafter provided. 2 7. The board of commissioners shall be divided into three classes, and it shall be their duty within ten days after the first election under this act, to meet and determine by lot which two commission- ers shall serve Sot one year, which two shall serve for two years, and which, two shall serve for three years. 2 8. The board shall have power to fill all vacancies that may occur In their number, from any other cause than the expiration of their term of office, and the person so appointed shall hold his office until the next annual election of corporation officers. , . ^i, , . 2 9. The board shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall hold their office at the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be determined by them also. 2 10. It shall be the duty of the board, previous to the fifteenth day of January, in each year, to esti- mate all the necessary expenses, over and above the public moneys aocruing to the said union school district for the following purposes : 1. To purchase, lease or Improve sites for houses, or sites with buildings thereon; 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve and repair, Bchool-houBes, out-houses, fences or appur- tenances. 924 OwKGO. 3. To purchase, excbange, imx)roveand repair school apparatus, books, maps, charts, furniture and all necessary appendages, including hooks for indigent pupils only ; - , . ^^ 4. To purchase fuel and pay teachers' wages ; also, to deiray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-houses in order, including insurance, expenses of library and salary of librarian; to pay all expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry into effect this act, and to refund loans legally con- tracted, and pay interest thereon. _ , ^, . ^- i 2 11. It shall be the duty of the board of commissioners, after having made their estimates as above enumerated for the current year, to transmit the same to the trustees of the village of Owego, whose duty it shall be to incorporate the amount with the estimated corporation expenses of the village, and certify the same to the assessors of the corporation. g 12. The additional amount so certified to the assessors shall he levied and collected at the same time, and in the same manner, and by the same officers, as the other village expenses are. § 13. The board of commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said union school district as they may deem necessary, or to alter or discontinue any of the same ; To establish such rules and regulations concerning the order and discipline of said school, or schools, in the several departments thereof, as they may deem necessary to secure the best educational results ; to grade and classify the schools of the said union school district and to regulate the admission and their transfer from one class or department to another as their scholarship shall warrant ; to prescribe the text-books to be used in said schools, and to compel a uniformity in the use of the sime, and to furnish the same to any pupil out of any moneys provided for that purpose ; 2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lota or sites for school-houses, and improve the same ; also, to make loans when necessary, and pay all expenses legally incurred ; 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, including books for indigent pupils, and provide fuel; pay teachers' wages, insurance on buildings and property, salary of secretary and librarian,and defray contingent expensesof the schools and board of commissioners; 4. To contract with, examine, license, and employ teachers in said schools, and at the pleasure of the board remove them. 2 14. It shall be the duty of the board to make an annual report to the school commissioner ofTioera county at the time, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as other schools are required by law to make. And said union school district, for the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school mon- eys from any source, shall be recognized and regarded as a school district under the general school law of the State, and it is herein further provided that nothing in this act shall be construed to limit, restrain or annul the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In all matters of dispute which sh all be referred to him by appeal, and which shall arise under this act, or under and by virtue of any other act, which la now or shall hereafter be applicable to the school, school officers, teachers, patrons of schools, or school property of said union school district, his decision or orders shall be final and binding. 2 15. It shall be the duty of tlie Bupervlsors of the town of Owego, on receipt of the public school moneys, to ^ay over the same to the treasurer of the village of Owego, whose duty it shall be to credit the same, with all other moneys that may come into his hands for school purposes, to the board of com- missioners, and pay out the same only on the orders of the board, signed by the president and counter- signed by the secretary thereof, which orders shall only be drawn in pursuance of a resolution of tlie commissioners, 2 16. All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. and all school moneys appropriated to or provided for said union school district, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village or Owego, who, together with his sureties, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other funds of said village; and the board of trustees, in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties, shall include the moneys received by virtue of this act. 2 17. The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses for any one year shall not be less than two nor more than four times the amount appropriated to said union school district, or the sev- eral districts and parts of districts composing the same, from all the common school funds of the State during the year previous; nor shall ihe amount to be raised in any one year, for the purchase of sites, erecting and repairing school-houses, and their appurtenances, exceed one thousand dollars, except as hereinafter provided. 218. It shall be the dutyof the board, whenever in their Judgment it shall be necessary to raise more than the amount specified in the preceding section, to order an election for that purpose, and advertise the same for two weeks previous to said election in all the newspapers published in the said union school district, specifying the time when and the place where it will be held, and the object for which the money is to be raised; such election to be conducted by the board of commis- sioners, In the same manner and governed by the same rules and regulations as the usual charter election. 2 19. The board are hereby authorized to make all needful rules, by-laws and regulations for their own proceedings, and for the order and government of the schools and protection of the property under their control. 220. The title, safe-keeping and custody of all school-houses, sites and their appurtenances, books, furniture, and all other school property belonging to the said union school district, or to the former school districts and parts of districts included m and composing the same, shall be vested in the said board of school commissioners as a corporation, who shall have power to hold, dispose of, or transfer the same as the interest of the said union school district may seem to require. And said property while held for school purposes shall not be levied upon or sold, by virtue of any warrant, execution or other process, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose. 221. The various school offices inthe several districts composing this union school district shall ter- minate whenever this act shall take effect, except so far as may be necessary to close up all unsettled business in their several districts. 2 23. It shall be the duty of the board of school commissioners to procure suitable blank books for the use of the teachers to be employed in the schools under the charge of said board- and it shall be the duty of each teacher, so employed, to enter in one of said blank books the names of the pupils attending his or her school or department thereof, their ages, the names of the persons who send them, and the number of days each pupil attends ; and also the facts and dates of each inspection of the school by the said board, or any member thereof, or other official visitor, any other facts, and in such form as the said board or the Superintendent of Public Instruction may require. And each teacher shall, by his or her oath or affirmation, verify his or her entries in such book ; and the entries so made and verified snail be regarded as primafacie correct, and shall constitute the record of facts herein required to bo noted and kept; also the school lists from which the daily, or average daily, attendance shall be deter- mined. And such oaths or affirmations may be taken before the president of the said board of school commissioners. And the president of said board of school commissioners shall have the power and It Shall be his duty, when required, and without charge, to take any affidavit ot administer and certi^" Oyster Bay. 925 any oatli or afflrmation within said union school district. In all cases pertaining to any school, school matter or proceeding under the charge or Jurisdiction of said board when any affidavit, oath, or aflarma- tion may hy law be authorized or required. § 24. Each member of the said board of school commissioners shall visit all the schools in said union school district under the charge of said board, at least once in each year of his oflBcial term, and the said board of school commissioners shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of their number at least once in each term, who shall report In writing to said board the condition of each school, and make such suggestions as they may deem useful or proper, §25. The record of the said board of school commissioners, or a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary under oath, ehaU be received in all courts and places as prima J(wl& evidence of the facts therein set forth. 2 26. Said board of school commissioners shall, at the end of each school year, submit a report in writing of their doings as such board for the preceding year, and shall state therein the number and con- dition of the schools in said^union school district under their charge, and tbe number of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, and from any other source, the expenditure of the same and for what purpose or objects, and all the particulars in detail relating to the schools In said union school district under their charge, and making any suggestions which they may think useful, which report may, if the board think proper, be published in one or more of the newspapers published in said union school district, the expenses of said publication to be defrayed from any moneys in the hands of said board set apart for such purpose. g 27. The board of school commissioners, in its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, transferred to it by gift, grant, devise, or bequest, for the use, benefit, or advantage of any particular school or schools organized under this act. §28. Hereafter, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the village of Owego, immediately after the election of any person to the office of school commissioner, under this act. to notify him in writing of such elec- tion, and within ten days after receiving notice of such election (or in case the board appoint a com- missioner, one or more to All a vacancy or vacancies, then within ten days after such appointment) : the said commissioner or commissioners, before he or they shall be permitted to discharge any of the duties of such office, shall take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and file the same with the village clerk. \ 29. All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, repugnant to, or inconsistent with the provisions of this act, or the act to which this act is an amendment, are hereby repealed so far as relates to the said union school district of the villi^e of Owego. OrSTER BAT-DISTRICT No. 4. [CAop. 359, LanBi q^ I860.] Section 1. School district number four In the town of Oyster Bay, in the county of Queens, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject ;to alteration by the town sujierintendent, or school commissioners for the town in which said district Is situated. 2 2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled " the board of education," which board shall consist of five members, three ormore of whom shall constitute a quorum for tlio transaction of business. Daniel V. Weeks, Jacob P. Count and Jacob S. Underbill shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold their office from one to five years; that is to say, one shall go out of office In each year, and In the order in which their names stand recorded in this section. 3 3. There shall be elected in each year. In said district, one member of said board of education, who shall be a resident and taxable inhabitant of said district^ and shall hold his office for five years. The said election shall take place at the annual meeting of said district: and tbe board of education shall appoint three suitable persons as Inspectors of said elections^ and of all other elections provided for by this act, within thirty days next preceding any such election; such election shall be by ballot, and notice thereof shall be given, the votes shall be canvassed, and tbe result of tbe election determined in the same manner as in the case of the annual election of town officers. 24. The board of education may make all necessary by-laws for their government ; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within the said district, and all the prop- erty belonging to the same; they shall have and possess, within said district, all the rights, powers, and authority of school commissioners. They may appoint a collector with ail the powers and duties of a district collector, or may employ the town collector for that purpcse ; and such collector shall col- lect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district, to the treasurer of the board of educa- tion in tbe same manner and under the same conditions as are imposed by the Jaws of the town ol which he is collector. They shall require two of the members of said board to visit each school in said Qistrict at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that.the regulations are rigidly adhered to, 2 5. The board of education of said district are hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax in each year, upon all the taxable property in said district, such sums as may be necessary, not exceed- ing in amount one-half of one per cent on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Oyster Bay ; and the said boaR-d shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem proper, as the collector's fees for collection of taxes, which compensation, however, shall in no case exceed five per cent on the amount of any warrant. {As o-mended hy chap, 355, haws of 1869.) 2 6. The town supervisor of the town of Oyster Bay shall pay over to the treasurer of the board of education all the pubhc moneys to which said district number four shall be entitled for school purposes. \ 7. The said board of edu cation shall call an annual district meeting at such time in the year as they think proper, and shall submit thereto a full report In writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and condition of the schools in said district under their charge and the num- ber of scholars attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of moneys received from the State, as well as the amount required in tbe district for school purposes, and the expenditure of the same, and, generally, all the particulars relating to the schools in said district ; which report shall, immediately after it is made, be pubUshed in a newspaper published In the town of Oyster Bay, for two weeks, and once In each week. 2 8. The board of education shall have control and charge of the district school library in said dis- trict ; they may employ a librarian, make such addition to the library and such regulations in relation thereto as they shall deem necessary. 2 9. The said board of education may call special meetings of said district whenever they may deem it necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by posting up a vtrltten or printed notice thereof In at least four public places in said village, and by pubhshing the same In a newspaper published in the vil- lage of Glen Cove, at least one week previous to the time fixed for said meeting, which notice shall state the time and place- of such meeting, and the purpose for which the same is called ; and no busi- ness shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that stated in the notice calling the same. 926 Oysteh Bay. OYSTER BAY— DISTRICT No. 5. (Village of Glen Cove.) Z€9iap. S73, Laws qf 1857.] Section 1, School district number five, in the town of Oyster Bay, in tho conniy of Queens, Incladlnff ■within its boundaries the village of Glen Cove, shall form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alterations by the town or county superintendent of common schools for said town of Oyster Bav, or said county of Queens. ^, , , ^ j.- ,i §2. Thft said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled the board of education ; such hoard shall consist of five members, three of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Isaac Coles, Joshua T. Wright, Stephen B. Craft, Joshua Kirlc and Samuel Frost shall compose the first board of education, and shall hold their office from one to five years : that is to say, one shall go out of office in each year, and in the order in which their names stand recorded in this gS, At the first annual meeting held in said district, and at each annual meeting thereafter, there shall be elected one member of said board of education, who shall hold his office for the term of five years ; also a district collector, both of whom shall be residents and tax payers in said district ; and said collector shall collect and pay over the school moneys assessed upon said district to the treasurer of the board of education, in the same manner and up.on the same conditions as the town collector ; and the hoard of education shall appoint three suitable persons as inspectors of said election, and all other elec- tions as provided bv this act, within thirty days next preceding any such election ; such elections shall be by ballot, and notice thereof shall be given, the same shall be held and conducted, the votes shall be canvassed, and the result of the election shall be determined in the samem,anner as for town officers. 2 4. The said board of education shall, at their first annual meeting, choose one of their number for president, one for secretary, and one for treasurer, who shall hold office for one year. The treasurer shall execute a bond conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties, in such form and with such sureties as the said board shall approve. An election for said officers shall he held thereafter on the same day of the same week of the same month on which the first election was held. If from any cause the election shall not tate place on the day appointed^ it shall be held within one week thereafter, tfntil such election, the old officers shall continue to perform their respective duties. 2 5. The said board of education may make such by-laws as they may deem, necessary for their own government; they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools within their said district, and all the property belonging to the same ; they shall have and possess, within the said district, all the rights, powers and authority of town or county superintendent of common schools; they shall require one of the members of said board to visit each school in said district at least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to the pupils as may be necessary, and to see that the rules and regulations are strictly enforced. And the said board of education shall have the power to take by purchase and devise, and to hold any real and personal estate necessary for the purposes of this act, and also to sell and convey the school-house or school-houses, and site or sites, situated in the district, and to execute and deliver good and valid conveyances therefor, when author- ized by a malority of the votes of the tax payers of the said district present at a special meeting called for that purpose. 2 6. All moneys belonging to the said district shall be deposited in a bank or trust company, to be designated by the board of education, or loaned out on interest upon ample security under the direction of the board of education. No moneys shall be paid out, or securities changed, except nnder the direction of the board of educa- tion, and then only by order of the president, countersigned by the secretary. 2 7. Whenever the said board of education shall deem it necessary to erect one or more school-houses in said district, and before they shall proceed to raise any money as provided In section eight, they shall prepare an estimate, showing the location proposed, the cost of the ground, a plan of the building, with the estimated cost of construction, and shall submit the same to the electors of said 4listrict, at a special meeting to be called for that purpose, in the same manner as other special meetings are required to be called ; and if a majority of all the electors present shall vote in favor of the same, then the said board may proceed to erect said school-house or houses in the manner proposed by said estimate ; and if the eum authorized to be raised by section eight of this act should be insufficient to pay the estimated cost of such erection or erections and premises, with the expense of grading and regulating the grounds, building the necessary out^houses and fences, with the necessary hooks, stationery and appurtenances for the said school-house or houses and rooms ; then the said board of education TatKy raise, in addition to the sum mentioned in section eight of this act, and in the manner therein authorized, a sum. not exceeding one thousand dollars ; and they are also authorized to levy and collect such amount as may be necessary to pay the principal or interest of such addiaonal sum or sums, as the same may become due, in the manner provided by pection nine of this act. 1 8. The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to raise a sum, not exceeding three thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a school-house or houses in said district, either by tax on said district or a loan to be secured by a mortgage upon the public school property of said dis- trict, to he executed by said board in their official capacity, signed by the president and secretary, or by the issue of certificates of loan, in sums not less than one hundred dollars, the said certificates to be signed by the president of said board, and to be a lien upon the school (Strict property. 2. 9- The said board of education, in addition to the other taxes which they are authorized to raise by this act, may levy and collect a sura sufficient to pay interest on loans as the same becomes due ; and whenever any part of the principal of such loans becomes due, they shall levy and collect an amount sufficient to pay the same ; which sums, when collected, shall he paid over by said board in discharge of suchpnncipal and interest. 2 10. The said hoard of education is hereby authorized and directed to levy and collect by tax 'in each year such sum as may be necessary for teacher's wages and contingent expenses upon all of the taxable property in said district not exceeding sixty-five one hundredths of one per centum on the value of such taxable property, as the same shall be assessed by the assessors of the town of Oyster Bay, and the said board shall add to the amount of any warrant for the collection of taxes such amount as they shall deem proper, as the collector's fees for collection, which compensation however ^!J .L«° ^^ ^H^ exceed five per centum on the amount of any warrant. (, Amended by chap! 236 Laws r the year eighteen hundred and sixty-nine. The city chamberlain shall make out the assessment-roll and apportion the tax, and make a copy thereof for the collector, for which he shall receive such compensation as the common council may determine. All the provisions of law in relation to the assessment and collection of taxes and the return of the same, if collected at the time provided in the charter of said city, shall, so far as applicable, apply to the assessment, collection and return of said school-tax at the time provided in this section. [Chap. 200, iaws of 1887.] An act to separate the union free schools of the city of Rome from the third school commissioner's district of Oneida county. Section 1. All that part of the city of Rome, known as the " union free achools of the city of Rome," as at present constituted, shall hereafter be excluded from the third school commissioner's district of Oneida county ; and no person residing within the bounds of said *' union free schools ot the city of Rome " shall be entitled to vote for school commissioner for said third school commissioner's district of Oneida county. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. SAG HARBOR. ICJiap. 441, Laws qf 1862, as amended by chap. 295, Laws Gf 1864, and cUap^ 251, Laws qf 1881.] Section 1. School districts number twenty-one and eleven of the town of Southampton, and num- ber nine of the town of East Hampton, and so much of the abandoned school district of the town of Southampton lying contiguous to tne union school district of Sa^ Harbor as shall be designated for that purpose by an order of the school commissioner in whose district such school district Is to be, filed with the clerk of the town of Southampton on or before the thirty-first day of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, are hereby consolidated for the purposes in the act specified, and shall here- after, for such purposes, form but one school district, to oe called "the union school district of Sag Harbor." The portion of school district number nine of the town of East Hampton not embraced in the corporation limits is hereby attached to the adjoining school district of the town of East Hampton. {As amended by chap. 295, Laws of 1864, and chap. 251, Laws qf 18S1.) §2. The said district shall be under the direction of a board to be styled " the board of education,'* which board shall consist of six members, four or more of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Cleveland S. Stillwell, Brlnley D. Sleieht, Oliver R. Wade, "William H. Glea- son, Stephen B. French and Jonas Winters, shall compose the first board of education, who shall he divided into three classes, each class containing two members, and shall determine by lot their respect- ive terms of office, so that the first class shall serve to the first annual meeting ensuing, the second one year, and the third two years from said meeting. 3 3. At the annual meeting of said district to be held on the second Tuesday of October in each year, which, as well as all special meetings, shall be held at the corporation hall, or at such convenient place In said district as the board may in their previous notice designate, there shall be elected by ballot, for three years, two members of said board of education, who shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of said district. The polls of said election shall he kept open for one hour ftom the time of opening the same, or such longer time as the board may in their previous notice indicate. (As ajnended by chap. 295, Laws of I86i.) 2 4. Said board of education shall possess the powers and authority aud he subject to the same duties and liabilities in respect to said district as trustees of common schools in this State ; S 5. Said board of education shall also have the power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To appoint a clerk and librarian, who may be of their number, who shall hold oflflce during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by a vote of the taxable Inhabitants of 8(ud district: 2. To divide the said school into primary and higher departments ; to regulate the transfer of scholars from one department to the other ; to provide suitable instructors for each department, and direct what text-books shall be used therein ; 3. To fix and regulate the rates of tuition for resident scholars in said primary and other higher branches In said school or schools, to sue for and collect. In their corporate name, any sum of money due to said district, and to levy a tax upon the taxable property of said district for anv deficiency which may exist for the payment of teachers' wages. (As amended by chap. 205, Zauw qf 1864.) Sag Harbor. 947 4. To establish and cause to be kept a school in said village for the Instruction of colored children. 6. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and control of said school or schools, and to hire, pay and discharge any teacher employed by them in said school; C. To purchaiie fuel and other necessaries for the use of the school or schools in said district ; and all contracts made by them in their ofRclal capacity shall be binding upon them and their successors In office, provided that no contract shall be made fbr a longer period than two years, except contracts relat- ing to the construction of buildings authorised by this act, and the loans which may be necessary to effect that purpose ; 7. To make such by-laws as they may deem necessary to secure the prosperity, order and government of said school; 8. To receive and apply to the uses of the said school or schools, or any department thereof, any gift, legacy, bequest, devise or annuities, given, bcnueathed or devised to said district for the purposes of said school or schools, and apply the same, or the interest or proceeds thereof, according to the terms or instructions of the donor or testator ; 9. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk : 10. To fill any vacancy which may happen in said board by reason of death, removal or refusal to serve, of any member or officer of said board; and the person so appointed in the place of any member of the board shall hold his ofSce until the next annual meeting ot said district ; 11. To prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same to the purposes of education in said district. 2 6. The said board may declare vacant the placeof any member thereof who, without satisfactory cause, shall omit to attend the legally called successive meetings of the board. 27. Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be made in writing to the § resident of the board of education, and such resignation shall have no force or effect, nor in any egree excuse such officer from the discharge of his duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said board. 2 8. The several schools under the care of the said board shall, as to the common school department thereof, be subject to the supervision of the commissioner of common Kchools in like manner as the other common schools in this State. 2 9. The clerk of thesaid board shall attend all school meetings of the inhabitants of said district, and also all the meetings of the board, and act as secretary thereof. He shall notify all officers elected or appointed of their election or appointment within two days therealter. He shall keei) a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as they may prescribe. The said record or tran* script thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima/acie evi- dence of the acts of said trustees. 2 10. The village collector shall be ex-oMcio collector of said school district, and shall possess the powers and authority, and be subject to the same duties and obligations, as such officer in the several school districts of this State. 211. The village treasurer shall be ea;-o^ct'o treasurer of said school district, and all moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys or other funds by law appropriated to, or provided for the schools of said village, shall be paid to him as such treasurer. He shall be liable to the same penalties for any official misconduct in relation to said moneys as for any similar miscon- duct in relation to the other moneys of said village. He shall keep the funds authorized by this act to be received by him separate and distinct from any other fund which he is or may by law be authorized to receive. He shall pay out all school moneys, on the warrant of the board of education, signed by Its president and clerk. He shall receive for all moneys that he shall disburse upon said warrant one- half of one percent; provided that for all service required of him under this act he shall not receive an amount exceeding twenty-five dollars In any one year. 8 12. Such treasurer and collector shall severally, before entering upon the duties of their offices, ex- ecute and deliver to the said board of education a bond, with such sufficient penalty and sureties as the board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices. And in case such bond shall not be given, such offices shall thereby become vacant, and said board shall thereupon make other appointments to supply such vacancies. J 13. It shall be a sufficient notice of any annual, special or adjourned district meeting, to publish such notice in the papers printed In said village, and by affixing a copy of the same on the outer door of the district school-house (if there be any), and posting a copy of the same in five other puhMc placea in such district ; the posting of said notice to be done at leaat five days before such meeting, and no other notice of any such meeting need be given. 8 U. The legal voters of said district, at any annual, special or adjourned meeting legally held, may bv a three-fifths vote raise such sum of money as they shall deem expedient, not exceeding the sura of ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of purchasing a site and building a school-house in said district, or for the purpose of purchasing any suitable building and site for such purpose ; to erect out-buildinga. to inclose the same with a fence, and for such other Improvements as may be considered necessary, and may also direct the board of education to cause the same to be levied by Installments, and make out a tax list for the collection of the same as often as such Installments shall become due ; and the said board of education are hereby authorized to obtain, by loan, the whole or any part of the money legally voted by said district, and secure thepayment of the same by their official bond as representatives of said district, as also to collect by tax from said district a sum sufficient to pay interest on said loans. 2 15. The valuations of taxable property in said district shall be ascertained, as far as possible, from the last assessment roll of the said village. (As atnended by chapter 295, Laws of 1S&4.) § 16. The said board of education shall have power to establish and organize a classical department In said school, to be known by the name of the " Sag Harbor academy," and such academical depart- ment shall be under the visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall be subject in its course of education and matters pertaining thereto (providing said district comply with the provisions of the statutes now In force relating to the organizing and chartering of academies or academical depart- ments), and to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the said Regents ; and in such department the qualifications for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by the said Regents for admission Into any academy of the State under their supervision. And such academical department shall share in the distribution of the Income of the literature fund and of the income of the United States deposit fund, with the academies In the State subject to the visitation of the Regents. 2 17. The trustees of said districts numbers twenty-one and eleven, of the town of Southampton, and number nine of the town of East Hampton, holding office at the time of the passing of this act, shall, within three months after the organization and estabUshment of the union school under this act, sell at public auction or private sale, as they may deem expedient, the district property in their respective districts. 948 Salem. SALEM. ILaws '-flve, and aa heiBlnbefore provided. SENECA PALLS. [Chap. 389, Laws of 1867.] Section 1. School districts number one, two, three and eight, of the town of Seneca Palls, are hereby consolidated Into one school district, to be known as the educational district of Seneca Falls. g 2. The public schools within the said educational district shall he under the exclusive charge of a board of education consisting of seven members, of which the president of the village of Seneca Falls shall be one, and the said board shall be known and designated as the board of education of Seneca Falls. §3, The said board of education of Seneca Falls shall be a body corporate, with all the powers of school trustees under the union free school law^ and all the other general powers of a corporation under the Revised Statutes. Josiah T. Miller, Simeon Holton, Burnet B. Boardman, Gilbert Wil- coxen, John Cuddeback and Oliver S. Latham, together with the president of che village of Seneca Falls, shall constitute the said board until the second Monday in April, eighteen hundred and sixty- eight. g 4. At the first annual town meeting held in said town of Seneca Falls, next after the passage of this act, the qualified electors of said town residing within the limits of said educational district shall elect six members of said board of education ; and at each subsequent town meeting two members shall be elected ; each elector voting at such first election shall designate on his ballot one person for one year, one for two years, and one for three years ; and the two persons for each term having the highest num- ber of votes shall be declared elected, and shall hold their office for the term specified; term com- mencing on the second Monday In April next after such election. At each subsequent election, each elector shall vote one name, and the two highest shall be elected and shall hold their office fcTT three years. The officers holding such town meeting shall provide a separate box for ballots for " board of education ; " and they shall designate one of their number to receive the ballots, and they shall con- duct the election In all other respects as that for the election of tow^n officers. The clerk of the board of education shall keep the poll list of the district. Every person elected a member of the board of education shall benottflpd of his election by the town clerk, and shall take and file with the said towu clerk theusual oath of office within ten days after receiving personal notice of such election within Bald town. Vacancies in the board shall he filled for the unexpired term by a two-thirds vote of the remaining members of the board, exclusive of the president of the village, and the said members shall vote until a choice is thus made. f 5. The said board shall meef for the transaction of business as often as once In three months, and the president may call special meetings by causing a notice thereof to be personally served on each member in said town, at least twenty-four hours before said meeting shall be held. At the first regular meeting of the board next after the second Monday in April, in each year, the said board shall elect one of their number president for the ensuing year. They shall also elect a superintendent of schools, ■who shall he, ea; o#cio, clerk of said board, and chief librarian of said district. The said suoerintendent shall be under the direction of the hoard, and they shall prescribe his general duties ; and may. in their discretion, allow him an assistant librarian, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by the board. In addition to such other duties as may be devolved upon the superintendent by the board, in the visitation of Schools, he shall examine the qualifications of^ teachers, and grant certificates in such manner and form as may be prescribed by the State Superintendent, and which may at any time be revoked by the board of education. The superintendent shall be paid out of the school fund, such iflalary as the board of education may fix; and he may be removed by a vote of a m^ority of all the members of said board. The members of said board shall not receive any compensation for services rendered as such members; nor shall they be interested in any contract made with said board for the purchase, sale or repair of any property ; nor shall any relativeof any member of the board be employed as a teacher In said district, except by a unanimous vote of the board. { 6. The said board of education shall have power and 1 1 shall he their duty to raise, from time to time, by tax to be levied on all the real and personal estate in said educational district, liable to town and county taxes. In the same manner as town and county taxes are raised, such sums as they shall deter- mine to be necessary and proper for the maintenance of the public schools within said district as free schools ; and such additional sum as may be necessary for the purchase of sites and the building, repairs or equipment of school-houses within said district, and the payment of any interest or principal which shall become due and payable by said district ; and the said board of education may make sucb 958 SEiq^ECA Ealls. temporary loans on the credit of the district for the ordinary expenses of the schools, as may become necessary in any year in anticipation of the animal collection of taxes ; but the said board shall not be authorized to purchase any site, to construct any building, or to create any debt (or the purchase of any new site or the construction or alteration of any building unless the same shall have been authorized by a vote of the taxable inhabitants of said educational district. A meeting of the taxable inhabitants uiaj be caued by tne said board of education at any time to take such vote upon giving at least two weeks' public notice of the time, place and object of such meeting*; such notice to be published ia each of the weekly newspapers published in said village, and not more than two such meetings shall be called in any one year, and there shall be at least four months between such meetings. The presi- dent of the board, or in his absence, the president of the village, shall preside at such tax meeting, and the clerk of the village and the secretary of the board of education shall be clerks of such tax meeting. The resolutions of such tax meetings passed by said meeting and certified by the presiding ofiQcer and said clerks shall be conclusive evidence of the action of the taxable inhabitants of said district and it shall be the duty of said officers to attend said meetings and truly to certify the resolutions thereof. But the aggregate tax for ordinary school purposes and exclusive of the sums required for the purchase of sites and the building, repairing, furnishing and renting of school-houses, levied in said district in any one year shall not exceed the one-half of one per cent upon the taxable property in said district, as the same shall appear upon the last assessment roll filed in said town. Whenever any district tax meetins shall vote to purchase any school site or to build any school building within said district, and authorize the issue of bonds therefor, the said board of education may issue the bonds of said district on interest for such an amount and in such sums and on such time as the said tax meeting shall authorize and the board shall approve. The form of said bonds andthemodeofdisposing of them shall be fixed by said board, and all moneys received thereon shall be held by the treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls, as other school moneys are held under this act, subject to the drafts of said board forthe purposes for which such bonds shall have been authorized; said bonds shall be signed by the president of said board of education, attested by the clerk and seal of said district, and they shall he countersigned by the pretiident and clerk of the village of Seneca !Falls ; and they shall be a specific lien and charge upon the school-houses and property, real and personal, of said educational district, and ratably upon all taxable property within said district. The secretary of the board shall keep a record of all the bonds issued under this act with a brief description thereof. The said bonds shall be numbered and the records shall show to whom and on what account each bond was issued by said board. (As ajncTided by chap. 174, ^awjs 0/1871.) 27. The taxes imposedby the board of education shall be collected of the taxable inhabitants of said district upon the warrant of said board, in the same manner as the taxes imposed by the board of trus- tees of the village of Seneca Falls are collected; and the collection of said district taxes may be enforced in the same manner as such Tillage taxes. The treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls shall be the collector and treasurer of the said educational district; and his jurisdiction shall extend, under this act, to all the territory embracedin the said educational district. The tax to be levied in the said district as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be levied and collected in the same manner, and at the same time, and for the same compensation, that other village taxes are ; and the powers, duties and liabilities of the village treasurer and his sureties, shall be the same for the collection of this tax and for the payment of any school moneys held by him as for village taxes ; and the board of trustees of said village, in fixing the amount of the treasurer's sureties, shall include the moneys to be received by said treasurer under this act. 2 S, All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source for the use of common, academic or high schools within said district, shall be kept by the said treasurer separate and distinct from any other funds which he is or may be authorized to receive; any increase or interest or profit received thereon shall be added to said funds. The treasurer of the village of Seneca Falls, under the direction of the said board of education, shall draw upon the county treasurer, or other proper officer, for all moneys appropriated to the schools within saia district, from the common school, literature or other funds of this State, or of the county of Seneca ; and the treasurer is hereby authorized to receive the same for the said educational district. § 9. The treasurer shaU pay out the moneys received by him, by virtue of this act, only upon drafts drawn by the president of the board of education, countersigned bv the secretary of the board, which drafts shall not be drawn except In pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made payable only to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state on what account said draft is drawn; except that said treasurer may take up any lawful bond of said district, at the maturity thereof, or pay any coupon due for interest thereon, without such draft, provided such payment shall have bopn authorized by a resolution of said board. 1 10. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To establish and organize in said educational district so many primary departments or schools and departments of higher grades- including an academical department, and to alter and discontinue the same, as they may deem advisable ; 2. To hive or purchase school-houses, school-rooms, lots or sites for school-honseg, or sites with buildings thereon, to be used as school-houses, and to fence and improve snch sites, and to sell the same with their appurtenances, as they may deem proper, provided such purchase be authorized by a vote of the district ; 3. To build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, with their out-houses and appurtenances, asthey may deem advisable; 4. To have the custody of tho said school-houses, books, furniture and appurtenances, and to see that the ordinances in relation to the care and safe-keeping of the same be observed ; 5. To contract with, and employ all teachers in said public schools, the number of teachers not to be less than one tor every fifty pupils regularly attending such schools: G. To pay teachers' wages from the money authorized by this act to he raised for that purpose • 7. To defray all necessary and contingent expenses of establishing and maintaining the said 'public schools with proper furniture, library and apparatus, and the necessary and contingent expenses of said board of education. v "a o «» 8. To have in all respects the superintendence and management of the public schools of said district and trom time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and recu- lattons for the organization, government and instruction ; for the reception of pupils and their transfer Irom one department to another, and generally for their good order and government; to receive into said public schools pupils residing out of said education districts ; to regulate the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils, and to collect the same ; to expel any scholar for misconduct or cause Inlurious to the interests of the school ; to regulate the transfer of pupils from one department to another! to direct what text-books shall be used in the public schools; to provide and keen In repair school apparatus f^}r^J^V^^^'^^% and appendages ; to provide fhel and other necessaries ibr the said public schools, and » 1^^ Th*" ^^^'^';^°*V''*'"^^'^^^C *g ^^^^ may from time to time deem proper, and regulate their duties. ^XiA^ «.Li 1^ • *!?■ school-ho&ses, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other wSn2\SP«J^^'° this act mentioned, shall be vested in the said board ofeducatlon, and the sme while used or appropriated for school purposes shall not be subject to taxation, and shall not be le^ Seneca Falls. 959 on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, except for teachers' wages and the bonds of said ilfs- trlct. Issued by order of the said board, and except that the lien, and all proceedings for enforcing the same, of merbanics and others for labor and materials furnished in erecting, altering or repairing buildings and their appurtenances, shall in no way be affected or impaired by thjsact; and tlie saiu board, m its corporate capacity, shall have full right and authority to take and hold any personal and real estate transferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, subject to the limitations provided by law, in trust for the public schools or educational interest of said educational district, whether the same be in terms to said board in its corporate name or by any other designation, or to any person, persona or bodies for the benefit of said public schools ; and all real or personal estate so transferred shall be accep- ted, held, used and apphed as specified in the article or deed of transfer. Any person willfully injuring any property belonging to or which shall be in the custody of said board of education shall be liable to punishment as and for a misdemeanor— and doing such wlllfnl injury is declared to be a misde- meanor. 2 12. The said board of education shall once in each year, and at least fifteen days before the annual town meeting, make a report to the inhabitants of the district, in which they shall set forth the whole amount and items of the moneys received, raised and collected by them during the year preceding the date of such report, and the amount and items of the expenditures for the same time, also the number and condition of the various schools and departments in said school district ; the number of pupils attending such schools and departments during the year, the number and names of the teachers employed by them, and the text-books In use in such schools ; the number of volumes and condition of the books in the libraries of said districts ; and such other facts and information relative to the affairs of said district as in their Judgment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof; and shall publish such report In the weekly newspapers regularly published in the. said village of Seneca Falls. ? 13. It shall be lawful for the inhabitants of any school district in the town of Seneca Falls, adjoin- ing said educational district, at any annual or special meeting, by a vote of the majority of the legal votei's present, to declare said district to be a part of said eiiucational district, and if accepted, the said district shall become a part of said educational district and be subject to all the conditions, rules and regulations of said board of education, the same as any other districts included in the said educational district ; but no such action of any school district shall take effect or become operative for any purpose, until said board of education shall by resolution accept such school district as a part of such educa- tional district. S 14. The said board of education shall bo trustees of the school district libraries of said district, and all the provisions of law which are now in force, or hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, shall apply to said bourd of education in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district, so far as the same is or shall be consistent with this act. They shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys appropriated by the laws of this State, for the purchase of libraries, which is therein conferred on the inhabitants of school districts ; and they shall have f tower to purchase, exchange, repair or dispose of any books or other property of said libraries, or cause t to be done, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other hooks or apparatus; also to provide suitable rooms and furniture for said Ubraries. 2 15. The trustees of the " Seneca Falls academy " are hereby authorized and empowered to transfer to the board of education hereby created, either immediately or at a future time, on such conditions as they Jointly shall deem most conducive to the cause of education, the right, title and interest in and to all the estate, real and personal, and all bequests belonging to said academy, to be by them used in the purchase of a site, the erection of suitable buildings, the organization of an academic or high school, or for the maintenance of an academy in connection with the general free school system con- templated in this act. The board of education, if they shall deem it necessary, may, with the advice and consent of the board of trustees, organize and maintain primary, secondary or high schools, or either of them in, or cause them to be taught in connection with the Seneca Falls academy, on such terms and conditions, and for such time as shall be deemed expedient, by and between said board of education and the trustees of such academy. 2 16. The academy connected with the school system contemplated by this act, when organized, and when it has compiled with the necessary requirements, shall be recognized as one of the academies of this State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in the distribu- tion of the income of the literature and other funds, in the same manner and upon the same conditions as the other academies of the State; and the Regents of the University of the State of New York shall pay annually to the board of education of Seneca Falls, the distributive share of the said funds to which the said academy shall be entitled. 2 17. The various school district offlcea, in each of the districts herein embraced, shall terminate whenever this act shall take eflfect, and the board of education shall be organized, and shall enter upon the duties of their office, except as herein otherwise provided. The trustees and collector in each dis- trict shall retain the power now by law vested in such ofllcers, until they, by due diligence, shall have closed up all the unsettled business of their several districts, and discharged all the indebtedness thereof, and for such purpose shall, if necessary, call meetings of the inhabitants of such district, and, when voted at a legally called meeting, shall levy and collect a tax suflacient to liquidate such indebtedness. The said school district officers shall severally transfer to the said board of education all the school property and all the property of their respective districts, on or before the first day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven ; and the said board of education shall take possession of the same, except that the property of Joint district number two shall be disposed of or divided as is now provided by law on the dissolution of school districts ; but the said board of education are authorized, instead of making such division, to make any other settlement or adjustment with the inhabitants of such Joint district, nor residing within said educational district, as may be acceptable to said board and a majority of said Inhabitants, or which shall bo accepted and approved by the trustee or trusteesof said Joint district not residing in the town of Seneca Palls. The said board of education is also authorized to deduct from the first tax levied upon the taxable property of the inhabitants of any school district, by virtue of this act, the amount of money heretofore raised by tax in any such district, which shall be turned over to the said board by the trustees of any district, in pursuance of this act ; such deduction to be made ratable from the tax of each of such inhabitants, as the same shall appear upon said educational dis- trict tax list. 2 18. The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth; and such record, the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the boai*d shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the trustees of the village, or any committee thereof, or the Justices of the peace or supervisors of the town. 2 19, The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the village of Seneca Falls, upon the official bond of the treasurer of the said village, for any default, delinquency, or official miscouduct In relation to the collection, safe-keeping and payment of any money in this act mentioned. iW. All acts and parts of acts Incoosistent with this act are hereby repealed; and this actshall take efl'ect immediately. 960 Sma Sing/ SING SIKG. [Chap. 314, iaw« of 1854, a5 amended hy chap, 199, Zaw* Qf 1859.] Section 1 The village of Sing Sing shall form a permanent school district, and the electors residing within the bounds of said village, at their annual charter election, or at any time thereafter, u_pon the usual notice being given, may determine by a majority of votes, by ballot, upon the expediency of establishing free schools in said village. The trustees of the village shaU conduct the election, and the ballots having written or printed on them the words "For free schools," or "Against free schools," shall be duly canvassed, and the result declared by them in the usual manner. a 2 The trustees of said school district shall be elected in the manner and shall hold their offices for the terms prescribed by the common school law of this State ; and upon the decision of the legal voters of said village in favor of establishing free schools, it shall be the duty of the district trustees, on or before the first day of December of each year, to estimate, determine and certify the amount of money, in addition to the funds now provided by law and apportioned to the district, that will be required to support all the schools under their charge; the said amount shall in no case exceed three times the whole amount of funds "for the support of schools " that shall have been Apportioned for the year pre- ceding. 1 3. The supervisor of the town of Ossining shall, on the presentation of the certificate of the said trustees specifying the amount of school moneys necessary to be raised for said district authorized by the preceding section, prepare a separate tax list and assess therein the required amount of school moneys upon the taxable property within the said school district, according to the estimated value thereof in the town assessment roll of that year, and shall deliver such tax Hst to the town collector of the town of Ossining ; and the said sum required to be raised as aforesaid shall be inserted in each year in the supervisor's warrant to the collector of the town of Ossining, which shall authorize and require the said collector to collect the said taxes as the same are assessed in the said tax list, to be delivered to him by the supervisor of the town of Ossining, as aforesaid, and to pay the same over to the trustees of the said school district, within the same time that he is required to pay over town and county taxes; and it shall be the duty of the said collector to collect the same with the other yearly taxes, and he shall pay over the whole amount certified to be necessary, exclusive of the fees of collection, to the treasurer of the trustees of said school district, within the time required by said warrant; and any violation or neglect of official duty under this act shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a breach of his official bond as such collector ; and in collecting such taxes, the said collector shall have the same powers he now has in the collection of town and county taxes, and he shall be subject to the same duties and obligations; and the county treasurer of the county of Westchester, upon the complaint of the said trustees, or either of them, shall have the same power to enforce or com- pel payment by the said collectors of any taxes collected or received by him by virtue of this act, as he now has to compel town collectors to pay over town or county taxes collected or received by them. § 4. The town superintendent aforesaid shall have the authority and exercise the duties prescribed in the general school law of this State over the said school district, and shall pay out of the funds paid into his hands by virtue of the preceding section, upon the drafts of the trustees, such sums as may be certified by them to be due to qualified teachers that have been employed by them, and include such payments, with any balances or deficiencies, in his annual report of the schools of his town to the department, and for record; he shall also be authorized, upon a vote of the inhabitants of the district at their annual meeting, or the application of the trustees, to apply the " library money " apportioned to the said district to the purchase of text-books and school apparatus until the schools are sufficiently supplied. g 5. The district trustees aforesaid shall be authorized to raise by tax, annually, for the purchase of fuel, ordinary repairs and improvement of the school property of the district, a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars ; and in case of the enlargement, rebuilding or the erection of new school-houses, the said trustees shall be authorized to levy and raise on the taxable property of the district, with the assent of the school commissioner, the amount required for such object, which sum shall not exceed four times the usual amount authorized by law for building new district school-houses, which amount so levied, shall be collected as other school moneys are, by the town collector, and paid to the treasurer of said trustees, who shall make an exhibit and statement of all such receipts and expenditures with his other accounts in his book, annually, as required by the school law aforesaid. § 6. There shall be, after the establishment of free schools in said village on the preceding plan no rate-bill for the attendance of scholars or any other exaction whatever made out against or demanded by the trustees of any person sending children to such schools in the village of Sing Sing. \Gkap. 326, Lawsqf 1857.] Section 1. The trustees of the permanent school district of the village of Sing Sing erected into a free school district by an act of the legislature, and a vote of the Inhabitants of said village in con- formity with the provisions of the first section of said act, are hereby authorized and empowered to borrow a sum of money not exceeding five thousand dollars for the purpose of completing their new central school-house, upon the lot recently purchased; and they are hereby authomed to morteaffe said school lot, and Improvements thereon, as security for the payment of the money so loaned in annual installments of not less than five hundred dollars until the same shaU be paid ' 2 2. The powers and duties exercised by the trustees of the district in compliance with the nrovisions of section five of said act. levying the sum of one thousand six hundred dollars per annum for build- inga new school-house, are hereby legalized and confirmed; and shall be continued until all the expenses of building and furnishing said school-house shall have been paid and re-imbursed And whenever the.bullding of another school-house shall become necessary, and shall be so determined bv the vote of the inhabitants of said district, then again shall the trustees have the same power to nm- ceed in levying and co Ipcting (and borrowing If need be) in like manner herein provided for the erec- tion of said school buildings, and providing furniture therefor, § 3. The third section of said act is hereby amended, so as to authorize and require the town collector to pay over all moneys levied by the town supervisor under the direction and By authority of said act to the treasurer of the trustees of said free school district. """'^tj ui aam an ^J--'^^^ treasurer of the trustees of said school district is hereby required to give a bond with two sufficient sureties, to be approved by the district clerk and president of the village of Sing Sine in twice the amount of moneys that may com into his hands, in tlie manner required to he done bv thP siinpr visor of towns on receiving school moneys, as provided in the school law of eighteen hundred and fiYtv- Eix. and with the same guards and liabilities for its faitht\il disbursement, and the transfer of anvfnnds or property remaining in his hands belonging to the district, to his successor at the exSratioS of ld2 office, or when required by a vote of the distnct. cipirawon oi ma Stephektowk. ®^^ STEPHENTOWN, [Chap. 46, Laws of n95t passed March 2S, Kent and Kadclif*8 fictjistoft, vol. 2, j). 251.] . Whereas, it is represented to the Legislature that there is a certain fiind given, the Interest of which Is to he appropriated for the encouragement of Echools In that part of Stephentown, in the county of Rensselaer, known hy the name of the twelve thousand acres ; and the freeholders on said land mteres* ted in said ftind have by their petition prayed to he incorporated, that they might be enabled to choose trustees for the better man^ement of said fund ; therefore, I. Be it enacted hp the People (tf the State of New York, represented in Innate and Aseeinblv, That the freeholders residmg on that part of Stephentown known hy the name of the twelve thousand acres, are hereby constittited and declared to be one body corporate and politic, in fact and in name, by the name of the trustees of schools in Stephentown." and by that name they and their successors may forever hereafter have perpetual succession, and shall and may by the same name be persons capable in law to sue and he sued, implead and be impleaded, answering aud being answered unto, defend and being defended, In all courts and places whatsoever, and that they and their successors may have a common seal, and may change and alter the same at their pleasure, anil shall be in law capable of pur- chasing, holding and conveying any estate, real or pprsonul, for the use of said corporation, jirovtded such estate shall not excee^ the Fum of three thou'^and dollars. II; And he it further enacted. That Hosea Moffat, David Gould and Jonathan Niles shall he and they ■ are (hereby declared to be the first trustees for the freeholders of that nart of Stephentown aforesaid, and shaU continue to be trustees for the purposes afo'-esaid until the last Tuesday in May next, and until others shall be chosen in their places ; and that It shall and may be lawful for the freehold- ers residing in that part of Stephentown aforesaid for the time being, to assemble on the last Tuesday cf May in each year, at such time of the day and place as the trustees for the time being, or a major part of them, shall appoint by advertisement, andunder the direction of said trustees, orsuch oftbem as shall be present, who are hereby made inspectors of such election, and then and there, by a m^ority of voices, to elect three discreet freeholders to be trustees as aforesaid, who shall continue in otticu until the last Tuesday in May in the next ensuing year, and until others shall he chosen in their places. III. And be it further en-icted. That when and as often as any vacancy shall happen by death, removal, resignation, or neglect to serve of any of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for one or more of the trustees to. notify a meeting of the freeholders aforesaid, for .the election of atrustee or trustees to fllLsuch vacancy or vacancies, and that said trustee or trustees shall remain in office daring such time as the person or persons in whose place he or they shall he chosen would have done in.case such vacaacy had not happened, and no longer TV. And be it furtlier enacted. That the said freeholders, at their annual meeting to be held as afore- said, and at such oth-sr times in the year as the said trustees, or a majority of them, may think neces- sary to advertise for the purpose, shall be and they are hereby authorized and empowered from time to time to make, ordain, constitute and establish, such prudential rules, orders and regulations, as a malority of such freeholders so assembled shall Judge necessary and convenient for the better securing to the said corporation the property hereby vested in them, for the m,ore equal distribution of the incfbmeof all such corporate property among the schools within the bounds of said corporation, and also for well ordering and regulating the schools in such manner as will best promote the education of children; iOhap, 505, Laws qf 1866.] S::CTiON 1. Isaiah B. Coleman, Edwin A. Eollo and Hiram A. Carpenter of Stephentown, in the county of Rensselaer, are hereby appolntod commissioners of the school fund of Stephentown, in the county of Rensselaer, and shall hold their offices for the terms following: The said Coleman for the term of one year, from April first, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; the said 'Edwin A. RoUofortwo years from said April first, and t'le said Carpenter for three years from said April first, and said persons shall severally hold their said oificcs until tlieir successors severally shall be dtil v elected and qualified ; and they and their successors shall be a body corporate, and have the general powers of a corporation, and shall also have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To take and hold, for the purposes of said tnist, any estate, real or personal, which has or may ■ have been devised or bequeathed, given, granted or conveyed to salrl town or to the school fund thereof, by whatsoever name or howsoever otherwise tho same may have been given, with the same effhct as If given to said corporation after this act took efffect : ' 2.' To lease any real estate that may bel6ng to such fund, for such time not exceeding twelve years, and upon such conditions as they shall Judge best ; 3. To sell the same with the consent of the town in town meeting assembled, for such price and upon such terms of credit as shall appear to them most advantageous ; 4. To invest the proceeds of such sales and all tho personal estate that may come to their hands. In loans, secured by bond and mortgage on unincumbered real estate, of tho value,- exclusive of buildings, of double the amount loaned, or In stocks of this State, or stocks, bonds or other obligations of the United States; 5. To purchase any real estate so mortgaged [upon a foreclosure whenever they shall deem it for the Interest of said fund ; 6. To return the amount paid to them for principal upon the like security ; 7. To apply the rents and profits of such r>^al estate, and the Interest on such loans, to the support of common schools in said town, hy paying over to thfe trustees of the several school districts in said to wn, in the same manner and at, the same time as the public money is apportioned by the superintendent of common schools of the district In which said town is located ; 8. To keep a )ust and true account of the receipts and expenditures of all moneys which shall come to their hands by virtue of his office, in a suitable hook or hooks to be provided by him, and render a just and true account of the proceeds of the sales, and the interest on the loans aforesaid, and of the rents and profits of the real estate aforesaid, and of all other receipts by him and of the expenditures an d appropriation thereof by them, and of the vouchers therefor, on the last Tuesday next preceding the annual town meeting in each year, to the board of auditors of town accounts, to be audited and allowed; 9. To deliver over to their successors in office all books, papers and sureties relating to the same at the expiration of their respective offices, and take a receipt therefor, which shall be filed in the clerk's office of said town. t 8 2. Any willfUl neglect or refusal' to perform any duty imposed by law on said commissioners shall be a misdemeanor and punishable as such, and also by a penalty of fifty dollars against any such com- 131 962 Syracuse. missioner so neglecting or refusing, to be sued for and recovered by the superintendent of common schools of the district in which said town is situated, n his name of office -u ^ ^ a =.-♦., » 3 There Ghall be elected, at the annual town meeting of said town, in eighteen hundred and sixty. Hpven a commissioner of said school fund, to hold his office for the term of three years, and annually thereafter a like commissioner shall be elected in the place of the commissioner whose term as afor& naid is about to expire. A.nd in case any commissioner, after he shall have entered upon the duties ot sa d office shall die, resign or remove from said town, it shall be lawful for the supervisor and any three lustlces of the peace of said town to assemble in joint meeting, and by appointment under theii hands or the hands of a majority of those present, fill said vacancy till a successor shall be elected and Qualified as aforesaid, which shall be done at the next annual town meeting; and any person elected to fill a vacancy shall hold his office only for the remainder of the term. $4 Before any commissioner elected or appointed as aforesaid shall enter upon the duties of hia office he shall execute a bond with sureties to the satisfaction of the supervisor of said town, to be siffhified by his approval to be indorsed on the same, in the penal sum of at least twice the amount of tJ^ estate belonging to said fund, conditioned that such person shall faithfully execute the duties of said trust, and shall pay, according to law all moneys which shall come to his hands as commissioner, and render a lust and true account thereof to the said board of auditors of satd town. 2 5. The said commissioners shall not charge or receive any sum or allowance for their services, but the actual and necessary expenses of said commissioners shall be a town charge, and shall be audited by the board of town auditors, and paid as other town charges. J 6. Nothing in this act contMned shall affect the funds or the control thereof new m the custody of said town, or held by the authority thereof, and belonging to the present school faiid ot said town. SYRACUSE. \CHiap. 26, Laws of 1885.] (Extract from City Charter.) TITLE VI. — SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS. § 95. The term of office of the commissioners of common schools shall be two years, and upon the expiration of the term of office of any of the present incumbents, a school commissioner shall be elected for the term of two years. §96. They shall be voted for on separate ballots Indorsed "school," and shall serve without com- pensation. TITLE XI. — BOARD OF EDUCATION. 2 174. The commissioners of common schools of the several wards shall constitute the board of edu- cation of the city. The board shall meet annually on the second Tuesday after the annual charter election, and appoint a president from their own body and a clerk. A majority shall coristitute a quorum, hut a less number may adjourn. The president shall have a vote on all questions, and in his absence a president pro tem shall be appointed. The president and clerk shall hold their offices at the pleasure of the board ; and the compensation of the clerk shall be fixed by the board. 1 175. The clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, which record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth.' Such records, and all the books and accounts or said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee thereof. The clerk shall perform the duties prescribed by law and such other duties as the board may prescribe. 1 176. The board of education shall annually report to the common council, on or before the first day ot April after the charter election, a detailed statement of the amount estimated by them to be necessary to be expended by said board, for each of the following purposes for the current year : 1. .To defray the expenses of teachers' wages. 2. To procure fuel and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school-houses in order, exclu- sive of repairs. 3. To detray the expenses of Janitors' service. 4. To defray the expenses of the district library, as consolidated into the Central City Library. 5. To defray the expenses of temporary repairs upon school-houses. * 6. To defray the contingent expenses of the board, including the purchase of books, apparatus and supplies. 7 The amount of moneys on hand and the amount receivable during such year by said board for school purposes, other than from city taxes. § 177. Upon the reception of the report, in the last section required to be made, the common council shall proceed to consider the same and approve, increase or diminish any or all of said estimates; but they shall not diminish the aggregate amount so that the sura to be raised by the city shall be less than twice, nor increase the same so that the said suiji' shall be more than five times the amount received during the current year from the State for school purposes. After having fixed the amount to be expended for each and all of the purposes mentioned in the last preceding section the same shall be certified to the board of education, who shall, during such fiscal year, limit the expenses for such purposes so that the sums s>all not exceed the said appropriation, and not lessen the length of time that public schools are required to be kept open by the general statutes of this State. In case a greater sum shall be expended for any purpose than the appropriation, the city shall not be liable for the same, but the members of the board of iducation voting therefor, or either of them, shall be person- ally liable therefor to the party entitled to payment. ? 178 The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, subject to the provisions of this act: 1. To have the care and custody, provide for the safe-keeping of school-houses, their outhouses books, furniture and appendages, and the Central City Library in said city. 2. To contract with, license and employ all teachers of the several public schools therein. 3. To contract for purchasing sites and for building, enlarging ajid furnishing all echool-bouses authorized by the common council, and to superintend the same. ^- '^<{^^^^'^^c^ fo'' the temporary repairing of all school-houses and for all repairs and improvements round the same. J>. To audit accounts and order the payment of the same if contracted by them, for either of the Dur- poses stated m section one hundred and seventy-six of this title. 6. To make all selections of books for the Central City Library and for school purposes in said city. Syracuse. 963 7. To divide the city Into school districts in such manner as they shall deem proper, and regulate and d'^fine the boundaries and the number of teachers for the same. 8. To supply the places and perform the duties of commissioners of common schools, and In respect to the several school districts in the city to supply the place and perform the several duties required to be performed by trustees of the several school districts in this State by the general statutes relating to common schools. ■gl79. At such time as the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall direct returns to be made to him in each year; said board shall make and transmit to him a report In wrltmg, containing an account and description of all the common schools kept in said city dunng the preceamg year and the time i;hey have severally been kept; the number of children taught in said schools respectively ; the number of children over the age of five and under the age of twenty-one years residing in said city on the first day of January of that year; the whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said city during the year preceding, distinguishing the amount received from different sources; the manner in ■which said moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause; the amount of moneys I'eceived for tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the public moneys. They shall also make such other or furtlier reports as maybe required by the common council or by any statute of the State now or hereafter applicable to them. § 180. The common council shall have the power and it shall be their duty lo raise each year, by tax upon the real and personal estate of the city which shall be liable to taxation for ordinary city taxes, or for county or city charges, in addition to the amount of school moneys now or hereafter appropriated, as provided by law for common schools in the city, such sums as may be determined by the common council to be necessary or proper for any or all of the following purposes : 1, To purchase, lease or improve sites of or for school-houses ; and to build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, Improve or repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurtenances ; but the amount raised in any one year for buying sites, and erecting school-houses and appurtenances shall not eifceed thirty thousand dollars. (,As amended by chap. 368, Laws of 1837. ) '2. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, famiture and appendages; but the power herein granted, shall not be deemed lo authorize the furnishing of class or text-books forany scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish, the same, except In and for the primary departments. 3. To procure fuel and defray the expenses of the common schools and the expenses of the Central City Library. 4. To pay the wages of teachers due after the application of the public money, which may by law )e sppropriated and provided for that purpose. 3 181 . The common council shall cause the amount of the tax at any time ordered to be raised. In pur?uance of this act, to be added to the amount which is otherwise authorized by law to be raised by tax in said city, and the common council shall cause the same, with the fees thereon, to be assessed, levied and collected at the same time, and by proper warranty and in the same manner and as a part of the taxes raised annually for city purposes. 2 182. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, which the board of education is author- ized to expend, on being raised as therein provided, with all other moneys received from any source for school purposes, shall be deposited for the safe keeping thereof with the treasurer of the city to the credit of the school funds, and shall be drawn out in pursuance of resolution or resolutions of said board, by warrants drawn by the clerk of the board, and countersigned by the president thereof, pay- able to the order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys; and the treasurer shall keep the school funds authorized by this act to be received by him separate and distinct from any other ftinds which he is or may by law be authorized to receive ; nor shall any of the moneys belonging to the school funds be paid out, by the treasurer except upon such warrant; nor shall any part of said school funds be borrowed from said funds directly or indirectly by the city, or in any manner trans- ferred to any city fund ; but the same shall remain in the treasury, to be drawn therefrom only for flchool purposes and in the manner herein provided. g 183. The city of Syracuse shall be taken and deemed a town for all purposes of making returns in resDPct to common schools, and for receiving moneys for school and library purposes from the State -or other sources ; and, by virtue of this act, it Is hereby declared to be a school comaiissloner district. {Cliap. 397, Laws of 1S86.] This act annexes the village of Geddes to Syracuse. S 7. The term of office of the members of the board of education of the village of Geddes is hereby extended until the third Tuesday in February, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. §8, The superintendent of common schools of the village of Geddes shall continue to act as such until the expiration of his term of office, subject to the supervision of the board of education of said city. rC7mp. n. Lawaqfim.} An Act to amend chapterthree hundred and ninetj'-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty- six, entitled " An act changing the eastern boundary line of the town of Geddes, annexing certain territory to the ■lity of Syracuse, and providing for the government thereof. " Section 1. Section seven of chapter three nundred and ninety-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six, entitled "An act changing the eastern boundary line of the town of Geddes. annexing certain territory to the city of Syracuse, and providing for the government thereof," is hereby amended so as to read as follows: 57. All those parts of union school district number three, and school district number five of the town of Geddes. annexed to the city of Syracuse. In and by the first section of this act. are hereby transferred to the control of the board of education of thw city of Syracuse, and the tnistees of said districts shall immediately turn over to said city all real and personal property belonging to said dis- tricts, together with all claims for moneys due said districts on account of uncollected taxes, tuition, bills or public moneys of any kind, and all claims against said districts to ail amount not exceeding the sum of the claims so to be transferred, shall be paid by said city. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall equitably apportion all public moneys affected by this act in case any question arises concerning the same, and the city of Syracuse is hereby authorized to borrow such sums as may be necessary to conduct said schools until the public moneys due or to become due to said districts shall be received. } 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 964 Troy. TROY. [Chap, 126, Laws of 1873.] Section 1. The public schools of the city of Troy shall be under the management and control ver at all times to fix the term for which any teacher shall be ap- pointed, and to determine the text-hooks which shall be used in the several departments of the public schools, and which shall he uniform as near as maybe, in those of the same grade; to supply the requi- site text-books and stationery for the use of Indigent pupils ; to provide the several schools under their charge with the necessary school apparatus, maps, etc., the expenses thereof to be defrayed out of the school moneys of the city; and generally to possess all the powers, to discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the obligations heretofore conferred and imposed upon the present board of education of the city of Troy, except as is herein otherwise provided. 8 11 Eight members of said board shall be required to constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- ness; and a majority of the members present shall he sufficient to carry any measure or to decide any question before them, except In the filling of vacancies as specified in the sixth section of this act, and In the selection or change of text-books, as provided In the tenth section of this act, and in cases of any resolution or contract, appropriating or involving the appropriation of money for any purnose, when it shall require, in each and all cases, the affirmative vote of at least eight members of the board ; and in cases of the election of any officer of the board and the appointment ov dismissal of any teacher, when it shall require in each such case the affirmative vote of at least seven members thereof. §12. The tuition of the pupils of the several schools under the charge of the board shall be free to all persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years, who are residents of said city and entitled to ■attend the said schools. 3 13. The common council of the city of Troy shall have power, and it shall be their duty to raise by tax, to be levied equally upon all real and personal estate in said city which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary city taxes, or for city or county charges, such sum or sums of money as may be neces- sary or proper for any or all of the following purposes : 1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses, provided that the purchase of sites aforesaid shall he agreed upon in loint committee of three from each body named in this act ; and in case of dis- agreement, the decision shall, rest with the common council ; 2. To enable the board of School Commissioners to build, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-houses and appurtenances ; 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, booics, furniture and appendages. But the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with text-books &ny scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furpish the same ; 4. To procure fuel and defray tjbe contingent expenses of the public schools, and to pay wages of teachers due after the application of the public moneys which maj' by law be appropriated and pro- vided for that purpose ; provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other city taxes ; 6. And the amount to be raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses in any one vear, shall not he less than twice nor more than four times the amount apportioned to said city IVom the school moneys of the State during the previous year, nor shall the amount to be raised in any one year for purchasing sites and erecting and repairing school-houses exceed ten thousand dollars, unless in the opinion of the common council, a larger sum should be required to meet unforeseen contingencies. And the common council of said city are authorized and directed when necessary, to raise by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, the moneys so to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid, 3 14. The said board of school commissioners shall have ^ower and it shall he their duty : 1. To establish and organize such and so many schools, including the common schools now existing therein, as they shall deem requisite or expedient, and to alter or discontinue the same ; 2. To build, lease or contract for tho occupation and use of Bchool-houses or rooms, and to Improve the same as they shall deem proper ; 3. To alter, improve and repiair school-houses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; but no such alterations. Improvements or repairs shall he made upon any building, out-house or appurte- nance, unless the same shall be owned by the city of Troy, or duly leased by the said board of school commissioners for a term of not less than three years : 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for Indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to defray their ordinary contingent expenses ; 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books and furniture, and to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto be observed ; 6. To contract with, license and employ all teachers In said schools^ and to remove them. 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriaied and provided by law for the support of schools In said city, so far as the same shall be sufncient ; and the residue thereof from the moneys authorized to be raised for that purpose by section thirteen of this act, by tax upon said city, as therein provided ; fi. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of said board, including the annual salaries of the clerk and the superintendent of the schools : 9. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools In said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal as they may deem expedient, rules ■ and regulations for their organization, government and instruction; for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosper- ity and public utility ; 10. Whenever, in the opinion of the said board. It may be advisable to sell any of the school-bouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the san:ie to the common council; 11. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may he neces- sary or proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sites, and appurtenances, and all the propertv belonging to the city, connected with or appertaining to the schools, and to suggest proper penalties; for the violation of such ordinances and regulations; and annually, on or before the first day of February in each year, to determine and certify to said common council the sums, In their opinion, necessary or proper to be raised under the thirteenth section of this 966 TjiOY. act, spccifving the sump required for the year coininencing on the flrst of March thereafter, for each of thepurposes therein mentioned, and the reasons therefor. ^ 12 Between the first day of October and the first day of November, in each year, to make and trans- mit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a report in writing, bearing date thefirstol October in the year of its transmission, and stating : First. The number of school-houses in said city, and an account and description of all the public schools kept in said city during the next preceding year, and the time they have severally been taught. Second. ThR number of children taught In said schools resDectively. and the number of children over the age of five years, and anderthe age of twenty-one years, residing in said city on the thirtieth day of January of that year. Third, The whole amount of school moneys received by the chamberlain of said city during the yeat ending on said thirtieth day of September, distinguishing the amounts received from the county treasurer from the city tax, and from any other source. Fourth. The manner in which moneys have been expended; and whether any, and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause. Fifth. The amount of money received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages In addition to the public moneys, with such other information relating to the public schools of said city as may, from time to time, be required hv the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 2 15. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, appurtenances and appendages, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of Troy ; and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold hy virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever; and the said city, in ite corporate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of the public schools of the said city, whether the same shall be transferred in terms to said city by its proper style, or by any other designation, or to any person or persons or body for the use of said schools: g 16. The common council in said city may, upon the recommendation of the board of school com- missioners, sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any other school property now or hereafter belonging to said city, upon such terms as the said common council may deem reasonable. The pro- ceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and shall be by the said board of school commissioners again expended in the construction, repairs or improvements of other school- houses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 2 17. The common council of said city shall have the power to pass such ordinances and regulatlona as the said board of school commissioners may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safe- keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, and all necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city ; and to impose proper fienalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the existing aws relative to said city, and all such penalties shall be collected In the same manner that the penal- ties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the chamberlain of the said city, and be subject to the order of the board of school commissioners in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. g IS. It shall be tlie duty of said board of school commissioners, at least fifteen days before the annual general election in said city'of Troy, to. prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of moneys, under and in pursuance of the pro- visions of this act, during the next preceding year, in which accounts shall' he stated under appro- priate heads. (As amended by chap. 32, Laws of ISSO. ) 1. The moneys raised by the common council under the thirteenth section of this act. 2. The school moneys received by the chamberlain of the city from the county treasurer, distin- guishing between the sum received from the State, and the sum raised upon the city by the board of supervisors. 3. The moneys received by the common council under the fifteenth section of this act. 4. All other moneys received by the chamberlain subject to the order of the board, specifying the sources. 5. The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specifying the amount under each head of expenditures. And the common council shall, within ten days before the general election, cause the same to be once published in the official newspapers in said city. (As ammded fey chap. 32. Laws of 1880.) 2 19. It shall be the duty of the common council, within fifteen days after receiving the certificate of the board of school commissioners required by the fourteenth section of this act, the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the thirteenth section of this act, to determine and certify to said board the amount that will be raised by them for the year commencing on the first of March thereafter, for the purposes mentioned in said thirteenth section, distinguishing between the amount to be raised for teachers' wj^es and contingent expenses, and the amount to be raised for the repair of school-houses, which amounts shall be subject to the disposal of the said board of school commissioners. 2 20, The chamberlain of the said city of Troy shall receive and hold all moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act or received by said city, for or on account of the public schools, and shall pay out the same on the orders of the said board, and on ttie first day next following the' second Tuesday of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, he shall open an account in the books of his office with the said board of school commissioners,, and shall then transfer to said account all balances which may exist In the account kept between the city of Troy and the present board of education on the day of April aforesaid, and said chamberlain shall keep the funds authorized by this act to be received by him, separate and distinct from any other fund which he is or may by law be authorized to receive. All orders of the said board on the chamberlain for the payment of money shall be made in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of the said board, shall specify the oblect for which the payment Is to be niade, and shall be signed by the president and clerk of said board and countersigned by the comptroller of said city of Troy. 2 21. It shall be the duty of said board. In all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to the amount of money which shall be subject to their order during the then current year and not to exceed that amount. 2 22. The smd board shall have power to allow the children of persons not resident within the city to attend any of the schools oi said city under the care and control of said hoard, upon such terms as the board shall hy resolution prescribe, 2 23. It shall be the duty of each school commissioner to visit all the public schools under the direc- tion of the board, at least once in each year, and the said board shall also provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more membere of the board at least twice in each year. 2 24. It shall be the duty of the hoard of supervisors of the county of Rensselaer, from and after the passage ot this act, as hitherto, to direct that all moneys levied and collected on the inhabitants of the cityot iroy, for common school purposes, whether the same shall be levied and collected as county taxes or otherwise, shall be paid over hy the receiver of taxes for the said city to the chamberlain tnereof lor the sole use and benefit of the public schools withlp said city ; and It shall be the duty of ipe uoaru of school commissioners to apply all such moneys to the support of the public schools of said city in conformity to law. Troy. 967 § 25. No raembor of said board of school commissioners shall receive any pecuniary compensatloa for his services as such member ; nor bhall any member or officer of the board participate in the proflts arising from any transaction or contract entered into by thf board or any member thereof as such, or be interested therein in any manner whatever. Any person violating any provision of this section shall he deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. g 26. ^0 person being at the time either mayor, city attorney or alderman of the city of Troy, shall be eligible to the office of school commissioner of this board. And any member of said board accept- ing cither of the offices above named, shall thereupon vacate his ofBce in the board, and the vacancy shall be filled by the said board as already provided. 2 27. From and after the second Tuesday of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, the office of any member or officer of the present board of education of the city of Troy, is hereby abolished. 2 28. AU acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. g 29. This act shall take effect immediately. [Chap. 162.] An Act to provide for the erection and furnishing of certain public buildings in the city of Troy, and to authorize said city to borrow money for the payment of expenses incurred in the erection and furnishing of such buildings. Passed April 18, 1881 ; three-fiilhs being present. The Fettle of the State of New Tork, represented in ScTiate and Assembly, do mact as follows : Section 1. Whenever the board of school commissioners of the city of Troy shall determine, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of said board, that It is necessary for the educational Interests of said city that a new school building should be erected, or that an existing school building should be substantially rebuilt, in said city, the said board shall notify the mayor of said city of their action. Such notification shall be accompanied with a detailed statement, in writing, showing the reasons for such action, and with plans and specifications of the proposed building which have been approved by said board, and estimates of the expense of erecting or rebuilding the same, and of supplying such building with heating apparatus, and fixtures, and furniture proper for school purposes. § 2. Upon presentation to the mayor of the matters and information above set forth, by either of the boards berein named. It shall be his duty to cause to be published in the official newspapers of said city a notice of the matter which has been presented to him, stating, among other things, the estimated cost of the proposed improvement, and of a time, not less than eight days from thp first publication of such notice, when he shall hear all persons who may desire to be heard in relation to the same. After such hearing, or opportunity to be heard, has been given, if the mayor shall deem it necessary that the proposed new building should be erected or existing building should be substantially rebuilt, he shall so declare in writing, which shall be filed in the office of the comptroller of said city, and a copy thereof communicated to the board who have applied for the erection or substantial rebuilding of the desired structure. If he shall deem the proposed building unnecessary, he shall likewise so declare in writing, which shall be filed and communicated as last aforesaid, and thei-eupon no fiirther proceeding shall be had in said matter. g 3. In case of approval by the mayor, as above provided, he shall, at the earliest day practicable, coranninicate the whole matter to the common council of said city, which shall thereupon proceed to hear and act upon the same, and shall have power to affirm or reject the action taken, and the approval given by the mayor. § 4. Whenever it Is determined, by the approval of the mayor and the confirmation of his action by the common council as above required, that any new building sliould be erected, or existing building should be substantially rebuilt and furnished, under the t)rovis1on8 of this act, the Bald work shall be done by contract only, and the contracting board of said city are hereby authorized and directed to advertise in the usual manner for proposals for all such work. All bids shall be in writing and shall be accompanied by a written guarantee signed by two responsible persons, to the effect that the bidder will enter into such contract if awarded him. Such bids and guarantees shall be enclosed in a sealed. envelope addressed to the contracting board of said city, and shall be opened in the presence of said board when in session, and not before. The contract or contracts shall be- awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, but the said board are hereby authorized to reject any bids which they deem dis- advantageous to the interests of said city. The execution of all contracts, made by virtue of this act, shall be under the Immediate supervision of the board of commissioners who have applied for the erection of the new building, or that an existing building should be Fubstantially rebuilt, but all drafts drawn' upon the chamberlain of said city in payment of work performed or material fhmished under such contract shall be drawn by the city engineer and the city 6U_perintendent in the manner now provided by existing laws in relation to work performed and materials furnished for public pur- poses In said city. The president of the board of school commissioners and the chairman of the com- mittee on buildings of said board shall be ex-offido members of the contracting board, when said board ia convened for the consideration of any matter relating to the schools of said city, under the pro- visions of this act and not otherwise. g.'>. Upon the awarding of any. contract or contracts under the provision of this act^ and the com- mencement ot theworkherelnprovidedfor.it shall be lawful for the city of Troy, and said city is hereby directed to borrow a sum of money sufficient in the aggregate to pay the price or prices of all work to be performed and materials to be furnished under any such contract or contracts. § 6. To secure to the lender or lenders of the money which may be borrowed under the provisions of this act the payment of the principal sum so borrowed and interest thereon, the city of Troy is hereby authorized to Issue the bonds of said city, under the signature of the mayor and chamberlain, and to be countersigned by the comptroller, to an amount not to exceed the Hnm borrowed, as above author- ized, which bonds shall be payable at such time or times as shall be agreed upon by the mayor, comp- troller and chamberlain. The said bonds shall bear a rate of interest not exceeding four per cent per annum, and shall be negotiated at not less than par. All moneys borrowed or received as aforesaid shall be applied by the said chamberlain in payment of the contract price or prices of the work per- formed and materials furnished, when the said work shall be performed and the said materials furnished, in accordance with the provisions of the contract or contracts therefor. i 7. The board of estimate and the common council shall, in the manner provided by existing laws, raise by tax in each year in which the bonds authorized to be issued under this act shall bpcome pay- able, a sum of money sufficient to pay said bonds and the interest thereon, according to the terms thereof. i 8. AU acts or parts of acts inconsistent with or repugnant to this act are hereby repealed. H g. This act shall take eflF^ct immediately. 968 Utica, [Laws o/"lS42. chap. 137, as amended by chap. 131 of 1844, cW- 184, titU 10 of 1848 cfcap. 66 of 1850, cAap. "^o/lSM aJ^W 572. Laws of 1857, chap. llf). iaws q/^ 1867, cftap. 116. Lotos of mo, cJiap. 666. iaws (if 1873, areii cAop. 243, Laws of 1877.] Section 1. At the next annual election for city oflicera to be held in the city of Utica there shall be elected six commissioners of common schools for the said city, who shall be elected in the same man- ner as justices of the peace, supervisors aud constables are elected in said city pursuant to the act incor- 22 within ten days after their election, the persons so elected shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution, and file the same with the clerk of said city ; and they or a majority of them shall thereupon meet and cause the whole number of commissioners so chosen to be divided Into three classes, to be severally numbered first, second and third. The term of office of the first class shall expire at the end of one year, of the second class at the end of two years, and of the third class at the end of three years ; but each class shall continue in office until their successors are elected and have taken the oath of office. g 3. At every annual election for city offlcersin said city after the next, there shall in like manner be elected two commissioners of common schools, to supply the places of those whose term of office is about to expire ; they shall hold their office for three years, and until their successors are elected and have taken the oath of office. The tei-m of office of all commissioners elected pursuant to the provis- ions of this act shall commence on the first Monday after the first Monday in March next succefeding their election. } 4. The common council of said city may make appointments of commissioners of common schools, to fill vacancies which may occur from any cause other than ths expiration of the term of office of the person elected. The. commissioners so appointed shall hold their office for the unexpired term of those to supply whose places they are appointed. 2 5. Any commissioner of common schools insaidcity may be I'emoved from office for official mis- conduct by the common council thereof, by a vota of two-thirds of the members thereof. 26. The commissioners of common schools in s.iid city shall constitute a board to be styled the " com- missioners of conwnon schools in the city of Utica," which shall bo a cori>orate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act* a majority of the board shall form a quorum. At their first meeting after each annual city election they shall elect one of their number chairman, and whenever the chairman shall be absent from a meeting of the board they may appoint a chairman pro tempore ; they shall also elect a clerk, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board; the said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services. 8 7. The clerk of said board shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof, which record, or a trans- cnpt therefrom certified by the chairman and clerk. sTiall be received in all courts as prima facte evi- dence of the facts therein set forth ; and such records, and all books, papers and accounts or the said board, shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee thereof. 88, The common council of the said city shall have the power, and it shall be their duty,torMse from time tp time, by tax upon the real and personal estates Jn said city which shall be liable to tax- atioji,for tl^e oyiJinary city taxes or for town or county charges, such sums as may be determined and certified by the' said board of commissioners to be necessary or proper for any or all of the following purposes ; 1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses j 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses and their out-housea and appurtenances ; ■ . 3. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; 4. To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, and the expenses of thedistnct library of said city, which shall be in addition to the amountof school-moneys now or here- after appropriated or provided by law to be raised for common schools in said city ; provided, never- theless, that such tax sljall be levied but once in each yfiar, and that the whole amount to be raised stiall not in any one year exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars. (Ab amended by sec. 1, cAap. 243, Laws ^ 1877.) 2 ?. The common council shall cause the amount of the tax, at any time ordered to be raised in pur- suance of thp last section, to be added to the amount which they are otherwise authorized by law to raise, by tax m said city, and they shall cause the same, with the collectors' fees thereon, to be assessed, levied and collected at the same time, by the same warrant and in the same manner with the taxes raised for city expenses under and by virtue of the forty-fourth section of the act to incorporate said city. 2 10. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law ap- propriated to or provided for said city, shall he paidto the treasurer of the said city, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other moneys of the said city; the said treasurer shall also be liable to the same penalties for any official misconduct in relation to the said moneys as for any similar misconduct in relation to the other moneys of the city. 2 11. After the passage of this act the treasurer of the said city shall not pay out any moneys in his hands, received by the said city either as school moneys or collected or received by virtue of any of the provisions of this act, excepting upon an order drawn upon him and signed by the chairman and clerk of the said board of commissioners ; and no such order snail be drawn except by virtue of a resolution of the board. 2 12. The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the city of Utica upon the official bond of the treasurer, or of any collector of the said city, for any default, delinquency or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping or payment of any moneys in this act mentioned. 2 \Z. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty: 1. To establish and organize such and so many common schools in said city (including the common SntiuuVthe sL^e"-^ existing therein) as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and dla- im'pro?e'*?hem'll Se^^dtlm S?op\?f "' ^°"^ '°''™' ^°^ '^^^ ^' ^''^ ^°'' achool-houses. and to fence and im;.rSPi*o„^'^^^ '?*® 2^ ^^l®**' ^^^ '"P9^ *"y sites now owned by said city, to build, enlaree alter T T^^r.r^-?„^.W^^*=*^?Pl■^^"^^?L°"^-^o.^«^^ ^^^ appurtenances, as they may deem advisable ■* ' the dT?tSr.MVhr±®L*«^^^?^*^ l¥,?°^'^^'J^^^^ expenses of the common schools, and the expenses ot «f£.? fni^^il^''?^ ^^ ^*'^ ^■'F^'^*^**'^ shalTbe in addition to the amount of school moneys now or here- th^lP«^?hTl«^i?t*"' P'i?';i'^^'**^/\^^.^° he raised for common schools in said iS;p?o\S neve? theless, that such tax shall not be laid oftener than once in each year, and that the wUle arnoSnt to Utica. 969 be raised shall not In any one vear exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars. {As amended bu section 2, cTiapterUb, Laws of 1867, p. 135.) 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, apparatus, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the common cotincil in relation thereto be observed ; 6. To contract with and employ all teachers in the common schools, and at their pleasure to remove them: 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which shall be appropriated and pro- vided in the said city, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the tuition fees they shall he authorized to collect or receive, as herein provided ; and in case the said school moneys and tuition fees shall be insufficient to pay such wages, and to pay the deficiency out of the moneys to be raised by the common council of said city, in pursuance of the eighth section of this act ; 8. To fix the rate of tuition fees in said schools at a sum not exceeding two dollars per term, which shall be a period of not less than eleven weeks, and to designate a person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to issuing a warrant for the collection thereof; and to exempt from the payment of the whole or any part of the tuition fees such person as they may deem entitled to such exemption, for Indigence or any other sufficient cause, and cause a list of the persons so exempted, with the extent of their exemption, to be kept by the clerk of the board ; 9. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an annual salary to the clerk, which shall be fixed by the board, and which shall not exceed five hundred dollars; provided that the accounts of said necessary expenses shall first be audited and allowed by the common council. (Aa amended by flection 2, chapter 118, Laws of 1870.) 10. After the end of each school term to make out a rate biH containing the name of each pereon liable to pay tuition fees, who shall not have paid them (prior to the making out of such rate bill) t« the person or persons designated by the hoard for that purpose, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each dollar of the sum due, for collector's fees, and to annex to such rate bill a warrant for the collection thereof; U. To deliver such rale bill, with the warrant annexed, to one of the collectors of taxes of said city, who shall execute the same in like manner and with like effect with the other warrants for the collec- tion of taxes placed iij his hiinds;;^ or, in their discretion, to deliver the same to a collector to be appointed by said board of commissioners, who shall, if required by said board, excecute to said com- missioners in their corporate capacity a bond, with one or more sureties, to be approved by said com- missioners or a majority of them, which bond, as to its penalty and conditions, shall be the same as is by law required to be executed by the collectors of school districts; and the said board of commis- sioners shall have the same power and authority, in resard to said bond and the collection thereof, as the trustees of school districts have by law in regard to the bonds given by collectors of school dis- tricts ; and the said collector shall have the same power in the execution ot said warrants that the col- lectors of taxes of said city have by virtue of this act; 12. To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of the common schools in said city^ and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and Instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of good order, prosperity and pub- lic utility; 13. Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council ;' 14. To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regulations as may be neces- sary or proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preser\'ation of school-houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and annually to determine and cerfify to the said common council the sums In theiv opinion necessary and proper to he raised under the eighth section of this act, specifying the sums required for each of the several purposes therein mentioned ; 15. To unite, with the commissioners of schools of any adjoining town, and form, regulate and alter any dlstrlctoutof any portion of the said city and such town whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper t|Q do so; in which case. so far as such district or districts are concerned, the said board shall, during the existence of such districts, have the same powers and duties which the commission- ers of schools in towns have ; 16. Between the first day of July and the first day of August, In each year, to make and transmit to the county clerk a report in writing, bearing date the first day of July in the year of its transmission, and stating : I. The whole number of districts separately set off within the said city, in pursuance of subdivision fifteen of this section; 11. An account and description of all the common schools kept in said city during the preceding year and the time they havu severally been taught ; III. The number of children taught in the said schools respectively, and the number of children over the age of five and under sixteen [21] years residingin the city on the first day of January of that year. IV. The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of the said city during the preced- ing year, distinguishing the amount received from the county treasurer from the town collector, and from any other and what source ; v. The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any and what part, remains unexpended, and for what cause ; VI. The amount of moneys received for tuition fees during the year, and the amount paid for teach- ers' wajres, in addition to the public moneys, with such other information as the superintendent of common schools may from time to time rennire. i 14. All persons collecting or receiving tuition fees, pursuant to the designation or the warrant ol the Baid board, shall be liable for all moneys thus collected or received by them, in the same manner as col- lectors are for moneys received hv them for taxes, and any collector of the said city and his sureties shall be liable upon his official bond for any default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct, in the duties with which he may be charged umler or by virtue of this act, in the same manner and with the like eflfectasfor any other official default, delinquency, ue^deot or misconduct: and such collector shall also be liable to the same pi-n-dties fur any such official misconduct as for any similar misconduct in relation to any other duties of his office. . ^ „ . ^ .,_ 3 15. The warrant annexed to any rate bill, pursuant to the provisions of this act, shall be under the hands of the commissioners, or a majority of them, and shall command the collector to collect from every person in such rate bill named the sum therein set opposite his name ; and In case any person s* named shall not pay such sum on demand, to levy the same, together with the fees of said collector, by distress and sale of goods and chattels of the person who ought to pay the same, or of any goods and 122 %• 970 Utica. chattels in his possession, -wheresoever the same may be found in the city of tJtica, and to make retom of such warrant to the treasurer of said city within thirty days after the delivery thereof. 2 16 Such warrants shall have the like force and effect as warrants issued by the boards of supervis- ors to' the collectors of towns ; and the collectoi-s of the said city are authorized to collect the amount due from any person or persons in the said city in the same manner and with the same power that col- lectors of a school district have for the collection of tax or rate hills issued by the trustees of school i 17 The board of commissioners shall possess the same powers which the trustees of school dis- tricts have for the collection ot tuition fees which shall not be collected by the warrant issued by thein with rate bills, and subject to the same regulations ; and they may, in like manner as the trustees of school districts, correct and amend errors in making out any rate bill, and refund to any person any sum improperly collected in consequence of such error. - . . x ^ r * g 18 1 1 shall be the duty of the said board, in all their expenditures and contracts, to have reference to the amount of moneys which will be subject to their order during the then current year, for the partic- ular expeniiture in question. ^ . . ., -^ ^ ,, g 19. The said board of commissioners shall be the trustees of the district horary in said city, and all the provisions of the act entitled " An act respecting the school district libraries," passed April 15, 1839, and all other laws which now are or may hereafter be passed relating to district school libraries, shall apply to the school commissioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school dis- trict comprehending the said city ; they shall also be vested with the discrttion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by the fourth section of chapter two hundred an'l thirty-seven of the statute of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of school dis- tricts. It shall be their duty to provide a library room and the necessary library furniture, and appoint a librarian to make all purchases of books for the said library, and from time to time to exchange or cause to be repaired damaged books belonging thereto ; they may also sell any books which they deem useless or of improper character, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for the said library. ^20. It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the annual election for city ofla- cers in each year, to prepare and report to the common council true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of moneys under and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the preceding year, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 1. The moneys raised by the common council under the eighth section of this act ; 2. The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county treasurer and the col- ' lector of taxes for town and county charges In said city ; 3. The moneys received for tuition fees ; 4. All other moneys received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the board, specifying the sources ; 5. The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditure; And the common council shall, ten days before the said election, cause the same to be published, with the statement required to be published by the thirty-tliird section of the act to incorporate the said citv. g 21. The said board shall be subject to the rules and regulations from time to time made by the Superintendent of Common Schools [Superintendent of Public Instruction], so far as the same may be applicable to them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. §22. The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall he their duty, to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of commissioners may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and preservation of the school-houses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all the necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said city ; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and be subject to the order of the board of commissioners, in the same manner as other moneys raised i)ursuant to the provisions of this act. g 23. Whenever the said board shall report to the common council that it is advisable to sell any of the school-houses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the city, it shall be the duty of the common council to sell the same without unreasonable delay, and upon such terms as the said council may deem advisable. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be silbject to the order of the said board, to be expended by them in the purchase, leasing, repairs or improvements of other school-houses, lots, school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. g 24. The title of the school-houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property hereinbefore in this act mentioned, shall be vested in the city of TJtica ; and the same, while used for or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose what- soever ; and the said city, in its corporate capacity, shall be Uable to take, hold and dispose of anv real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of common schools of the said city, whether the same shall be transferred in terms directly to said city by its proper style, or by any other designation or to any other designation, or to any perSon or persons or body, for the use of said schools. 225. All former acts and parts of acts in relation to common and freeschoolsin the said city, Incon- siBtent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. [Laws of 1850, chap. 66, as amended ty chap, 258 of 1852, and chap. 384 of 1854, chap. 115, Laws of 1867, chap. 666, Laws of 1873, and chap. 243, Laws q/ 1877.] Section 1. The board of school commisioners of the city of Utica shall annually prepare an estimate of the amount of money necessary to be raised in said city, for the then ensuing year, for the payment of teachers' wages (exclusive of the money now required or which may hereafter be required by law to be appropriated or apportioned from the State school money for the use of common schools in said city), and present the same to the common council of said city ; and said common council shall cause the same to be levied and collected in the said city, in the same manner as other city taxes are levied and collected; but the sum to be raised by virtue of this section shall not in any year exceed two and one-half times the sum appropriated or apportioned to the city for the last preceding year by virtue of the law in reference to common schools, (^s amended by sec. I, chapter 115, Laws of 1867, and sec. 2, chap. 2i^, Laws of \Sn.} g 2. The said board of commissioners shall appoint a superintendent of common schools for the city, to hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and to perform such duties in the care and oversight of the schools m the city as it may charge him with. He shall be paid such compensation for his ser- Utica. 971 vices as the board shall from time to time determiiie, which shall be audited and allowed as other town enarges are In tne said city. He shall have power to take aflldavits and acknowledgments in all matters connected with the common schools of said city. (As amended by section 1, chapter 666, Laws qf 1873.) {Chap. 272, Laws o/1853.] Section 1, After the passage of this act, the commissioners of common schools in the city of Utica. for the time being, shall be the trustees of the Utica academy, and possess the powers and perform the duties which the present board of trustees thereof possess and are charged with. § 2. The said academy shall be one of the common schools of the said city of Utica, but shall continue subject to the visitation of the Kegents of the University, and entitled to all the rights and privileges which it has hitherto possessed. 2 3. A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum to transact business. {Chapter 115, Laws of 1867.] 2 3. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the city of Utica, immediately upon the receipt by him of any money appropriated, taised or designed for the use of the common schools of said city, to deposit the same in the bank or banks in which he is required to deposit the moneys of the said city ; and to cause the same to be immediately entered and continually kept in and by accounts separate and dis- tinct from the general account and all other accounts of the city treasurer \ and he shall cause all money which shall be raised (and be received by him) for the purpose of buying sites and building school-houses in said city, to be kept, in manner aforesaid, in anci by a separate account, distinct from the other moneys designed for school purposes. And the said moneys for the use of the said schools herein mentioned shall not be used, paid out or transferred by said treasurer, or in any way whatever, except upon the order of the commissioners of common schools in saiil city, in the manner now provided by law, \Chap, 7, Laws of 1846.] Section 1. When the board of school commissioners of the city of Utica shall be of opinion that It Is necessary to erect one or more new school-houses, or to enlarge any of the school-houses for the accommodation of the common schools in said city, it shall be their duty to state such necessity, with the reasons therefor, in their annual report, required to be made to the common council of said city, together with an estimate of the expense of erectmg or enlarging the same. (^ As amended by sec. 2, chap. 666, Laws of IS73.) g 2. At the succeeding charter election, each elector of said city may, upon a separate ballot, write or print the words "For new school-houses," or "For enlarging school-nouses, or "Against new Bchool-houscs," or " Against enlarging school-houses," and In canvassing the ballots, the inspectors of election shall make a return of the number of ballots containing either of such expressions, to the common council of the city, in the same maimer that they make returns of votes given for city officers. At any election, when a vote by ballot Is to be taken, the inspectors of election in the several election districts In said city shall provide a soparate box at each poll, in which the said ballots shall be deposited, and which boxes shall be labeled " school-houses. " (,As amended hy sec. 1, chap. 672, Laws- qf 1857, and sec. 3, chap. 666, Laws of 1873. ) §3. If the number of ballots containing the words "For new school-houses" or "For enlarging school-houses," exceed those containing the words " Against new school-houses, or " Against enlarg- ing school-houses." it shall be the duty of the common council, In addition to the moneys which they are otherwise authorized by law to raise by tax in the said city, to raise, in the same manner that moneys are now raised for the ordinary expenses thereof, either in the ensuing year, or in one, two or three successive years, as they shall elect, such sum or sums of money as the board of school commis- sioners In their said report shall have estimated to be necessary for the erection or enlargement of said new school-house or school-houses, and for no other purpose whatsoever. (As amended by sec. 4» o?iap, 666, Laws of 1873. ) 3 4. Such moneys when raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the city and be kept by him distinct fcoxa. other moneys in his hands, sublcct to be drawn by the board of school commissioners for the expenses oferecting such proposed school-house or school -houses, or for the enlargement of others, and for no other purpose whatever, except that should any sura remain after the erection or enlarge- ment of a school-house or school-houses, the same shall be transferred by the school commissioners to the " contingent fhnd," so called. {As amended hy sec. 5, chap. 666, Lawa of 1873. ) {Chap. 164, Xaws of 1856, as amended hy sec. 3, chap. 572, Laws qf 18S7 ."j Section six amends section 106 of the act of 1849, as follows : 8 106. The board of commissioners of common schools may, from the moneys received by them for the school district library, defray the contingent expenses of the library and the salary of the librarian. For the purpose of the distribution of any moneys now or hereafter appropriated by the State for the support of common schools, In which the said city of Utica shall be entitled to a share, every one hundred children, between the ages of four and twenty-one, in said city, as ascertained in the last preceding annual report of the commissioners of common schools therein, or otherwise, according to law, shall be deemed to be a school district for the purpose aforesaid, and shall be calculated and stated accordingly in the reports of said commissioners. $ 4. Such moneys when raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and be kept by him distinct from other moneys in his hands, subject to be drawn by the board of school commissioners, for the expenseaof erecting such proposed school-house or school-houses, and forno other purpose whatsoever, [CJiap. IS, Lawsqf IS62, iiilelO.} §124. The act entitled "An act In relation to common schools in the city of Utica," passed April seventh, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the several acts amending the same, shall continue In force, excepting wherein their provisions are expressly amended, any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. [Chap. 9, Lnws qf lSfi6.] This law authorizes the city to borrow $25,000, to be paid in three equal annual installments, by a tax to be levied and collected like other city taxes, the money to be paid on the order of the commission- ers of common schools, and to be expended in erecting a building for the Utica academy. 972 Warsaw — Waterloo. {Chap. 269, Laws of 1858.] Section 1. The commissioners of common schools of the city of Utica Cfia:-oJ?tcio tnjstees of the Mhool district library of said city) are hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations, from time t» Sm?forthe&rr^^^^^^ and care of the books of the said district library as they may deem SldlSt- LI may therein designate and determine such valuable books as cannot !>? circulated with- out mSeriallnj^y; to be hooks of reference not to be taken from the library rooms without the special SeSffon of tie commissioners, or the librarian, under their instructions, and subject to such rulei Snd^ondltions as thev may impose ; and they may also exercise, and authorize the hbranan to exercise, d?scret?ona?rp^efito the delivery of books to minors, and irresponsible persons; any exercise of S authority by the librarian to be a subject of appeal to the board of commissioner. The Sfld cora- Sioners may impose fines for the violation or non-observance of said rues and regulaUons, not Speeding the fines authorized to be imposed by the trustees of school district Ijbranes under the gen- l?al regulations respecting the same ; and the rules and regulations so made and adopted by them shall be obligatory upon all persons and officers having charge of said library, or using or possessing any of the books thereof, and may be enforced in the same manner that the said general regulations concern- ing the books in school district libraries framed by the Supenntendent under the act respecting libra- rils, passed April 15, 1839, may be enforced. The said general regulations framed under the said act shall be applicable to and remain In force in regard to the said library of the city of Utlca, except whea the same shall be inconsistent with the rules and regulations made by the said commissioners undter and by virtue of this act. [Chap. 572, Laws of 1857.^ 2 4 All claims and accounts presented to the board of school commissioners shall be in writing. They shall be numbered and filed, and a brief entry of the name of the claimant, number, nature and amount of the clmra, made in a book to be kept for that purpose, prepared with appropnate letters and columns, so that the entry shall serve as an alphabetical index to the claim. j., , . v. The book shall be provided with columns. In which shall be entered, after the claims, the date when audited, and the amount, if any, allowed thereon. . , .. * * ♦,,„ The school comtnissioners shall annually, at least ten days before the charter election, report to the common council an abstract of the claims and accounts presented and allowed during the year, as shall appear by such record, classifying the same under appropriate heads. [ C^ap. 666, Laws of 1873 ; j Besides amending several sections in the foregoing as shown above, in section six confers gener^ authority upon the common council to borrow money in anticipation of taxes voted for the erection or enlargement of school-bouSes. WARSAW. IChap, 222, Laws 0/IS68.] Section 1. The board of education of the union school in district number two of the town of Warsaw is "hereby authorized to- establish rates of tuition in the academical department of the said union school, and to ctfllect the same in the same manner as the trustees of other academies in the Stat6. By chapter 51, Laws of 1881. certain acts of the board of education are legalized, and thfe board Is authorized to foreclose and collect a certain mortgage. It also directs the disposition to be made of the money received therefrom. WATERFORD. \Chap, 176, Laws q/ 1881.] Section 1., The board of education of union free schuol district number one, town ofWaterford, county of Saratoga, shall have power to appoint a clerk, who may or may not be one of their number, and hold liis office till the first meeting of the board after the annual election of trtistees, unless removed by them for cause ; his compensation shall be fixed by the board, not to exceed fifty dollars per annum. The said clerk shall keep a record of all proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may direct or their by-laws prescribe. The said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the president and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth; and' such records and all the books, accounts, vouchers'and papers of said board shall bo in the keeping of the clerk, subject at all times to the inspection of the supervisors of the town of Waterford and school commissioner. {As amended by chap. 1T6, Laws of 1881 . ) WATERLOO. iCkap. 151, Laws of 1853.] , Section 1. Tlie trustees of school districts numbers one and fifteen., respectively, in the town of Waterloo, In'the county of Seneca, shall annually, at leeist three weeks before the annual meetfng^ of the taxable inhabitants of their respective distviCLd, prepare an fcsu.maie of lue amount 01 money which they shall deem necessary to pay all the debts of their respective districts, and for the support of common schools therein, for the eniiulng year, exclusive of the moneys which said districts respect- ively may be entitled to receive from the town superintendents of common schools of said- town of Waterloo, and including the sums required for the purchase of necessary furniture, apparatus, books, repairs and improvements of school-houses, and for contingent expenses, and shall cause written or printed notices thereof to be posted up for two weeks thereafter, in five or more of the most public places in their respective districts ; and said trustees shall present said respective estimates at such annual meetings of said Inhabitants of their respective districts, when thp inhabitants of said districts at which such estimate Is presented, entitled to vote at school district meetings, then present, shall vote thereon ; and the amount of money then voted by a majority of such Inhabitants, present at said meeting, shall be levied and collected by a tax upon the taxable property of said district in which It was voted, in the manner now provided by law for levying and collecting taxes for district school pur- poses. 22. Wheneverthe trustees of said respective districts shaU have completed their respective tax lists, they shall attach thereto and Issue their warrant to the collector of the district returnable in thirty days,.for the. collection of the same, and shall take from the collector of their said district approved Watbktown. 978 security for the faithful performance of his duty, and for paying over the moneys collected by him thereon. Such warrants" may be renewed from time to time, as said trustees may deem proper, as to any tax remaining unpaid at the time of renewal. The money so collected shall be paid over to the trustees of the district from which the same was collected, and shall be by them expended and appro- priated for the purpose for which the same was voted. §3. In case any annual school district meeting of said Inhabitants, of either of satd districts, shall have passed without such estimate having been presented by the trustees of said district, then such estimate, upon the notice hereinbefore mentioned, may be presented and voted upon at any duly adjourned annual meeting, or at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, and the sum then voted shall be levied and collected upon the taxable property of the district in which It is voted in the same manner as if voted at an annual meeting : and for the present year said estimates may be made and presented, after notice as aforesaid, to any duly adjourned annual meeting, or to any special meet- ing duly called for that purpose, in either or both of said districts, and may be voted upon at any such adjourned or special meeting ; and any tax voted at any such adjourned or special meeting, for the pur- poses aforesaid, shall be levied and collected in the same manner as if voted at an annual meeting of said inhabitants of said district. S 4. All taxes Imposed under this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, and be enforced and collec- ted by sale, in the manner that county taxes are, upon a return made by said collectors, respectively, to the treasurer of said county of Seneca, of all unpaid taxes In said districts respectively. S 5. All statutes inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed, so far as they relate to said districts. t CTiap. 238, Laws 1&^5. J Section 1. The trustees of school district number one, in the town of Waterloo, In the county of Seneca, and their successors in ofBce, are hereby created a body corporate, by the name of the "trus- tees of Waterloo union school." and empowered to establish and organize a classical school In said district and in the village of Waterloo, which school shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the TJnlversity of this State, and to all laws and regulations applicable to the incorporated acade- mies thereof, and shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, and share In the distribution of the moneys of the literature fund of this State as the academies thereof; and said trustees shall have authority to make regulations respecting the attendance of the children of the said district In the school-houses thereof, the transfer of them from one room or school-house to another, the Instruction and studies to be given and pursued in said schools ; provided, however, that this act shall not affect the rights and duties of said trustees and district under the statutes nf this State relating to common schools, or undpr any snecial act relating to said district number or" S 2. Said trustees shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, rules and regulations prescribed in title nine, chapter five hundred and fifty -five, of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- four, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts, relating to public instruction." (Added oy cliap. 624, Laws qf 1887.) [CTiap. 15, Laws qf 1859.] Section 1. The provisions of the act entitled " An act to change the school year, and to amend the statutes In relation topublio instruction," passed April 12, 1858, shall apply to.the union school and districts number one and fifteen, in the town of Waterloo, county of Seneca, so far as the same relates to the time and place of holding the annual meetings of the taxable inhabitants and legal voters of said districts and school, and so far as relates to the time of making the annual reports of the trustees thereof, and no further. 2 2. All the acts of the trustees of the said school and districts, and the votes, acts and doings of the taxable inhabitants and voters in said school and districts, had and done since the passage of said act of April 12, 185S, at their district meetings, are hereby declared to be valid. 2 3. Nothing in this act contained shall affect any action or proceedings,"In which said trustees, or the collectors of said districts, or school, or either of them, are a party, commenced prior to the passage of this, act. WATERTOWN. [Oiap. 520, Laws q/1865, as atnended by chap. 153, Laws qf 1867, and chap. 511, Laws qf 1868.'] Section 1. There shall be elected at a special election, to be held in the village of Watertown. on the first Monday in June, eighteen hundred and slxty-flve, in the same mannerand under the same regu- lations as the water commissioners of said village are elected, nine persons to be commissioners of com- mon schools of said village. The persons so elected shall, within six days after receiving notice of their election, take the oath of oflSce prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and file the same with the village clerk. 82. Within ten days after the election, said commissioners shall meet at the trustees' room of said village, and shall determine by lot which three of the nine persons so elected shall serve for the term ending on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and which for the term end- ing on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and which for the term ending the second Monday In June, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. 53. There shall In like manner, on the first Monday of June in each year thereafter, be elected three commissioners of schools of said village, to supply the places of those whose term of office then expires, who shall hold their office three years and until others are elected ani have taken the oath of office. The term of the office of all the commissioners elected pursuant to this act shall commence on the Monday next after their election. 2 4. The board of commissioners may make appointments of commissioners of common schools to flU vacancies which may occur from any other cause than the expiration of the term of office of those elected The commissioners so appointed shall hold their office until the Monday next succeeding the next annual election ; and at each annual election there shall be chosen a commissioner to supply the place of any person so appointed, and any person thus elected shall serve out the unexpired term, and the board at any time shall determine by a two-third vote what constitutes a vacancy. Any commis- sioner of common schools In said village may be removed for official misconduct by a two-third vote of the village trustees. 2 5 The commissioners of common schools of said village shall constitute a board to be styled " the board of education of the village of Watertown," and shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum. The first meeting shall be held on the second Monday of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and the annual meeting each, year thereafter on the second Monday of Juno in each year. At the first flieetlng^and annually thereafter, at the ,annual meeting, they shall elect one of their number presi- 974 Watertowk. dent, and when he shall be absent a president pro tempore shall be chosen ; bat such president sl^ oniv nave a casting vote The said commissioners shall receive bo compensation foiiheii services, nlv shaU they be^interested, directly or indirectly, In any contract for bnilding or for makmg any improvement or repairs provided for by this act They shall meet for business as often as once each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the president, or by any two members of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of the board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be left at his last place ot residence at least twenty- four hours before the hour for such special meeting. , ^ , , ^ g6 The said board shall appoint a clerk, who shall hold his office during its pleasure, and shall fix his compensation. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as it may prescribe. The satd record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth ; and such record, and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the public. , ^ . - g 7. The board of trustees of said village shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said village which shall he lia- ble to taxation for the ordinary village taxes, or for village and county charges, such sums as may be determined and certified by the said board of education to be necessary and proper for any or all the following purposes : 1. To purchase, lease or improve sites for school-houses ; 2. To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school-houses, and their out-houses and appurtenances; 2. To purchase, exchange. Improve and repair school apparatus, hooks, mineral and geological speci- mens, furniture and appendages ; but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the furnishing with class or text-books any scholar whose parents or guardian shall be able to furnish the same ; 4. To procure fuel, and defray the contingent exjienses of the common schools, and the expenses of the laboratory, cabinet and school library of said village, and the necessary contingent expenses of said board, including the compensation of the clerk of the board ; 5. To pay teachers' wages after the application of public moneys which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose ; provided, nevertheless, that the tax to be levied as aforesaid, and col- lected by virtue of this act, shall be collected in the same manner and at the same time as the other village taxes ; 6. The amount per year raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not be less than twice nor more than six times the amount appropriated to said village from the common school fund and other public moneys during the previous year; nor shall the amount in any one year for buying flites^ renting rooms and repairing school-houses exceed two thousand dollars, except as is hereinafter provided. And the board of trustees of the village are authorized and directed, when necessary, to borrow in anticipation of the one year's amount, or any part thereof, of taxes so to be raised, col- lected and levied as aforesaid. 2 8. All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said village, shall be paid to the treasurer of said village, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same manner as for other moneys of said village. Said treasurer shall not receive to exceed one-half of one per cent for receiv- ing, safe-keeping and disbursing said school moneys, and shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct in relation to said school moneys as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said village. 8 9. All moneys required to be raised by virtue of this act, or received by said village for the use of common schools, shall be deposited for the safe-keeping thereof, with the treasurer of said villafTC, to the credit of said board of education, to be kept separate and distinct from any other funds. The treas- urer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act to be received by him, upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the clerk of said board of education ; and no such draft shall be drawn, except by virtue of a resolution of the said board of education, and shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys, or to their order. 2 10, The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name of the village of Water- town, upon the official bond of the treasurer or of any collector of said village, for any default, delin- quency or official misconduct in relation to the collection, safe-keeping or payment of any moneys in this act mentioned. g 11. The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 1. To establish and organize such and so many schools in said village, including the common schools now established therein, as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same: 2. To purchase or hire school-houses, rooms, lots or sites for school-houses, and to fence and improve them as they may deem proper, with money provided in section seven of this act ; 3. Upon such lots and upon any sites now owned by said village to build, enlarge, alter, Improve and repair school-houses, out-nouses and appurtenances as they may deem advisable ; 4. To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, cabinet specimens, books for indi- gent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools and to defray their contin- gent expenses, and the expenses of the school library ; 5. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the school-houses, out-houses, books, furniture, appa- ratus, cabinets and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the board of village trustees, in rela- tion thereto, be observed ; 6. To contract with and employ all teachers of the schools under their charge, and at their pleasure remove them ; 7. To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys, literature and other funds which shall he appropnated and provided in the said village, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the money authorized to be raised for that purpose by section seven of this act. by tax on said village; 8. To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the compensation of the 9. To have the superintendence, supervision and management of the public schools of said village and from time to time, to adopt, alter and modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules imd regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their eood order nros- penty and public utility -. t. , h "=• 10. Whenever in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any of the school-houses lotsor sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to the viUage, to report the same to the board of village trustees ; 11. To prapare and report to the village trustees such ordinances and regulations as maybe necessary and proper for the protection and safe-keeping, care and preservation of school-houses, lots and sitM Wateetowst. 975 and appurtenances, and all the property belonging to the village, connected with or appertaining to the scuools, and to suggest proper penalties lor ihe violation d with tbR clerk or sprr^tarv of the board The bonrd nf pSi^!^7t?AT, ?^^ dose of each year, publish, In one or more of the village ne^^apeJs'^re^ortlf S Wbedsport. 979 afid expended by litem during the year, showing the Bources from whence received and the objects or expendUure. }2L Wheoever, in the opinion of said board, a sale or exchange of any primary school-liouse or house and lot would be proper, said board may cause such sale or exchange to be made, and may buy a new site or may at any time build a new house for the accommodation of pxxy portion of said district, when authorized thereto by a vote of the tax payers of said union district, to be called together as herein provided. ^ 22. All the school property of said board of education, real and personal, while used for and, appro- priated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. Said board of education, in their corporate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of said district or any schools under their charge. Said board shall not have power to seli, gi'ant, dispose of or incumber said academy school lots. No portion of the library money paid to said board of education shall be expended for teachers' wages, but shall be appropriated ekcluslvely for the increase and benefit of the library. 2 23. All the lands included in the bounds of said union district shall be subject to taxation therein under this act, without regard to the residence of the ownersthereof. and the board of education miy cause them to be returned to the county treasurer in the same manner as trustees of common schools ,are authorized to return unoccupied and unimproved real estate of non-residents of their districts for unpaid taxes assessed thereon. Said county treasurer shall pay to said board the amount of such taxes out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise specifically appropriated, and such pro- ceedings in ali respects shall thereupon be had in relation to such taxes and lands as required by law in relation to such lands, when so returned by trustees of common school districts. S 24. The sud board of education may permit children of persons not resident within said union dis- trict to attend any school in said union district on such terms as they may prescribe ; and said board may, in their corporate name, sue for and recover of the persons liable therefor, all such sums as shall be prescribed, with costs of suit. g 25. The taxes Imposed by the provisions of this act shall be a lien upon the lands taxed, to be enforced and collected by sale in the manner that county taxes are upon a return to be made by the collector to the treasurer of the county of all unpaid taxes in said district. §26. Whenever any officer of the said union district, or of the said board of education, shall have paid any moneys in or about the prosecution or defense of any suit commenced by or against him, in the discharge of the duties of hfs office, or for acts done by color thereof, it shall be the duty of said board of education, unless It shall appear to them that the same were paid in consequence of the Will- ful neglect or misconduct of the claimant, to ascertain the amount thereof by the best means in their power, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said dis- trict, in addition to the sums authorized to be raised for school purposes in said district by this act, and when 50 collected to pay over the same to the person entitled thereto by virtue of this act. §27. The provisions of sections twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty -four, twenty-flve and twenty- eight, of chapter one hundred and twenty-nine, and of section three, chapter one hundred and eighty. Laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-six, shall apply to and form a part of this act. WEEDSPORT. [Chap. 212, Laws q/ 1858.] Section" 1. School district number eight. In the town of Brutus, Cayuga county, shall be hereafter known as "the Weedsport union school," and that shall be its corporate title, in which name all returns shall be made, contracts entered into, and its trustees and other officers shall be known as officers of " the Weedsport union school." g 2. There shall continue to be the same officers of the said district as of other common school districts, and with the same rights, privileges, powers and duties, except as hereinafter pro- vided. g 3. In addition to the officers now provided by law, there shall be in said district, not less than three nor more than nine officers, which number shall be determined by the legal voters of the district, at their next annual meeting, who shall be known as " the board of education " of said district, with such powei's and duties as are herein provided, to be elected at the same time and in the same manner as the trustees of said district are elected, and to hold their offices, after the first election, for three years. 5 4- The proceedings of the annual meeting in said district, in October, eighteen hundred and fifty- seven, in the election of aboardof education, are hereby confirmed, and the persons then elected as such board shall continue to hold those offices for the time at that meeting designated for each, and at each annual meeting in said district hereafter, one-third of the members of soiu board shall be elected in place of such of them whose terms of office shall then expire, and in case of an increase of their number at the next annual meeting, the number added shall be then elected, and lots drawn by the other members, to determine the length of time which each shall hold, so as to have one-thli'd of them go out of office each year, and a majority of them shall, for all purposes, constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 2 5. The board of education, by this act established, shall have power : 1. To pass such by-laws as they shall deem proper for the regulation and exercise of their lawful business and powers, and for the regulation of the school ; 2. To fill any vacancy wliich may happen in said board, until the next annual meeting. 3. To have in all respects the supenntendeuce, management and control of said union school; to establish in the same an academic department whenever in their Judgment the same is warranted by the demand for such instruction; to receive into said district any pupils residing out of the district, and to regulate and establish the tuition fees of such non-resident pupils in the several departments of the school; to regulate the transfer of scholars from one department to another, and from class to class, as their degree of scholarship may warrant, and to direct what text^books shall be used therein ; 4. To graduate the amount of the rate-bill in said district, upon the scholars attending the several departments of said school. In proportion to the amount of wages paid to the teacher of each depairt- ment, making all proper allowance for the superintending charge of the principal of the school over the whole; 5. To contract with and employ such teachers, and such numbers of teachers, as they shall deem necessary and competent, in the several departments of instruction in said school ; to remove them at any time for incompetency, neglect of duty, immoral conduct, or want of adaptation to their position, and to require thera to conform to such rules and regulations as they shall make in reference of the schooL . 980 YON-JKEBS. 6. To expend the librnry money of the district in the purchase of such boots as they may deem best, and to appoint a suitable person as librarian and make such rules and regulations for his gov- ernment, and the control and management of the library and apparatns of the school as they shall think proper. 56. It shall be the duty of each member of the board of education to visit every department of the school at least twice during each term, and for the hoard to meet from time to time, as occasion may require, during each term, to attend to the hiterests of the school. f 7. The academical department, established under the provisions of this act, shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall be subject, In its course of education and matters pertaining thereto (but not in reference to its buildings), to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the said Regents. Iv such department, the qnaliflcatioas for the entrance of any pupil shall be the same as those established by the said Regents for the admission into any academy oi the State under their supervision. § 8. Nothing herein contained shall be bo construed as to affect the supervision of said school by the commissioners of common schools of the commissioner's district in which it is locate(l, hut the same shall, for all purposes, except as herein expressed, be and remain as one of the common school districts of the said town of Brutus. § 9. Ail contracts made by the trustees and by the board of education shall be made in the name of " the Weedsport union school," in which name shall all suits be prosecuted and defended, and the trustees shall represent the body corporate. In all suits and legal proceedings, and the service of process upon either one of them, shall be suflScient to commence an action against the corpo- ration. 5 10. All the real estate and personal property, rights, privileges and powers of the said school district number eight, are hereby vested in and shall belong to the said "the "Weedsport union school." fi 11. All the powers, duties and obligations not herein expressly conferred upon the board of education shall remain with the trustees of the district, the same as though this act had not been passed. CITY OF TONKERS. iChap. 397, Laws of 1881.] Section 1. On the tenth day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, each and every school dig- trict-in the city of Yonkers, whether organized by special law or otherwise, shall be consolidated Into one school district, and the trustees to he appointed under this act and their successors In office shall be trustees of such consolidated school district, and shall form and constitute and be known by the corporate name of " The Board of Education in the city of Yonkers," and thereupon the term of office of the trustees of said several districts, and of all the school officers of said districts, shall cease. |2. The board of education in the city of Yonkers shall be composed of fifteen trustees, who shall be appointed and hold their office in the manner and for the period hereinafter provided. 2 3. On or before the flftepnth day of June, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, the mayor of the city of Yonkers shall appoint fifteen competent and reputable persons trustees of schools, who shall be residents of the said city. The said trustees shall at their first meeting divide themselves Into five classes consisting of three trustees in each class, and shall hold their offices from the tenth day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, at noon, as follows : the first class for one year, the second class for two years, the third class for three years, the fourth class for four years, and the fifth class for five years. The term of office of each trustee thereafter shall be for a term of five years from the expiration of the term of his predecessor, and until his successor shall have been appointed and qualifi».d. 2 4. Between the first and fifteenth days of June in every year succeeding the year eighteen hundred and eighty-one, the mayor of the city of Yonkers shall appoint three trustees to succeed the trustees whose terms of office shall expire in any such succeeding year. i 5. The officers of said board shall be : a president, a vice-president, a clerk and a treasurer. The city treasurer shall be the treasurer of said board of education. 3 6. The said trustees shall meet at the common council chamber, Manor Hall, In said city, at elsrht oVIock in the evening on the second Tuesday of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and organize. They shall appoint one of their number president; they shall appoint a suitable person, not a member of the board, clerk of the board of education, who shall, by virtue of his office, act as secretary and keep the minutes and accounts of the board. He shall also act as superintendent of common schools of the city, and perform the duty of supervision, and shall perform all such other duties a« the board shall, from time to time, direct, ami shall be allowed such compensation as the said board may deter- mine. The said president and vice-president shall hold their office for one year and until their suc- cessors shall have been duly appointed. The said clerk shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board. § 7. The mayor shall file his appointment of said trustees in writing in the city clerk's office, on or before the said fifteenth day of June, in each year when such appointments are made, and the city clerk shall then, within five davs thereafter, notify the persons so appointed, by mail, of their appoint- ment. Within ten days thereafter the said persons so appointed shall take and file in the office of the city clerk of the city of Yonkers the oath of office required by the Constitution of the State of New York, and shall thereupon be qualified to act as members of said board of education. 5 8, Any person who shall neglect or refuse to take or file said oath of office within ten days after such notice in writing by mail, from the city clerk, shall be deemed to have declined the office and the said office shall be deemed vacant. * § 9. In case any vacancy shall occur in the office of trustees by reason of death, resignation removal from the city or refusal to qualify or serve, or from any other cause, the mayor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold his office for the unexpired term of the person whose office had become vacant. Such appointment in writing shall be filed with the city clerk. The city clerk shall thereupon notify the person, and such person so appointed shall oualifv as provided in section seven. h"'*'"j' 2 10. The said board of education is hereby constituted the successor of the several hoards of educa- tion and of the trustees of common schools in the town and city of Yonkers. All property both rerf and personal, now vested in and belonging to the said several boards of education and of the trustees of the said several school districts, and in the said several school districts, shall pass to and become vested m the board of education created by this act. All property belonging to the said board of edu- cation, when used for and appropriated to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes o* everv nature and kind whatsoever, and shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of anv warrant or execution. And all debts due and owing or legally contracted by the said several boards of educa- tion and school trustees shall be assumed and paid by the said board of education hereby created YONKBRS. 981 The said consolidated district shall constitute a separate school commissioner's district, and the clerk of said board of education shall be the school commlsstoner thefeof. 2 11. A trustee duly appointed who declares that he will not accept or serve in the office of trustee, or who refuses or neglects to attend three successive stated meetings of the board without rendering a good and valid excuse therefor to the board, vacates his office by refusal to serve. § 12. The trustees of the several school districts in the town and city of Yonkers shall make out and deliver to the board of education hereby created, at the first meeting, a detailed statement uf their sev- eral districts, showing all the school property, both personal and real, in their several school distrfcts, and the estimated value thereof, the number of school-houses in their districts, the 6i2e thereof, and the materials of which the same are built, the departments into which the school are divided, and the average attendance of each school and department, the number df volumes in the school library, the number and names of the teachers employed in each, their rank, and the salaries paid to each, the amount of money in the hands ot their collector and treasurer, and of any other school offlcei:, the balance on hand on the first day of October last, the amount of money ordered to be raised at the last annual meeting of the district, and the purposes for which it was appropriated, the receipts and expen- ditures of the said trustees since the thirtieth day of September last, the amount of money due and owing to the district, the amount of indebtedness of the district, and such other facts as they may deem necessary to make a full and complete statement of the condition of the schools in their several districts. 3 13. Neither the mayor nor any member of the common council shall hold the office of trustee under this act. S 14. The several collectors and treasurers and other school officers in said town and city having in their hands any school moneys belonging to their respective districts, shall also render to the said board of education, on its organization, a full and complete statement of their accounts since the pre- ceding thirtieth of September, together with their vouchers, which statement shall he verified by " oath. Such accounts shall be audited by the said board of education, and on such auditing the said collectors and treasurers and other school officers shall, upon the order of the said hoard, pay over to the treasurer of the board of education hereby created, to the credit of the board of education in the city of Yonkers, the sum found due irom them, and upon such payment being made the said board of education shall cancel and discharge the bonds given by the said officers respectively. 2 15. The annual meeting of the board of education shall be held on the second Tuesday in July. Stated meetings shall he held at least once In each month. At each stated meeting theie shall be appointed one or more visiting committees, whose duty It shall he to visit every school In the city at least once, and to report on the condition and prospects of the schools at the ne:ct stated meeting of the hoard. A m^Oorit^ of the trustees in office shall constitute a quorum of the board. 2 16. The said consolidated district shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a union free school district under the laws of this State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not incon- sistent with the provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond with any Incorporated village or city, and the boards of education therein, and the corporate authority of such cities and villages, are made applicable to the school district hereby consolidated and established, and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of the city of Yonkers. The said board of education shall from time to time, as they shall deem expedient, make additions, alterations or Improvements to or in the sites or structures belonging to the diHtrict, purchase other sites or structures, erect new buildings, purchase apparatus and fixtures or other necessary property for the district, as they shall determine. ' i 17. The said board of education shall, on or before the first day of October In each year, make to the mayor and common council of the city of Yonkers an annual report to the first day of September next preceding, setting forth the number and condition of each school under its charge, a statement of all the expenses and liabilities incurred, with all the disbursements made by it during Ihe preced- ing year, ana all other matters of interest relating to the schools. The common council shall cause said report to be published. } 18. The said board shall, on or before the first day of October in each year, determine by resolution the amount of money to be raised, which, when added to the money annually apportioiieU to the said schools in said city out of the fhnds belonging to the State, will, in their Judgment, be neces-ary to support all the schools under their superintendence for the ensuing current year, and for the fhrthcr- ance of any of the powers vested in them by law. The said resolution shall set forth in a detailed statement the various purposes of anticipated expenditure, and the amount necessary for each, and a copy of such resolution shall be certified by the president and clerk of said board, under the seal of said board, and delivered to the mayor and common council of said city. It shall be the duty of the common council to levy and collect annually such amount as the board of education shall have deter- mined at the same time and in the same manner as other general city taxes are levied and raised for the ensuing year, and such common council shall have no power to withhold or refuse to levy and col- lect by tax such sums so determined by such resolution to be necessary for teach-ers' wages, for super- intendence, for the ordinary contingent expenses of supporting the schools in such consolidated district, and stationery and books, and for the expenses of said board of education. In case such common council shall refuse to levy and collect any other of the sums specified in such resolution. It shall com- municate to such hoard of education In writing its objection to each such item, and the reason of such objection as to each item, and the board of education shall publish such communication, S 19. After the said board of education shall have delivered to the mayor and common council, by filing with the city clerk, the certified copy of the resolution determining the amount of money to be raised, all as prescribed in the foregoing section eighteen, the said board of education shall thereupon be authorized to borrow, each calendar month from October to April inclusive, upon the credit of the citjf of Yonkers, such money as such board shall determine will be necessai-y for the support and maintenance of the schools during such month, not exceeding in each such month one-sixth of all the moneys to be raised by tax for school purposes under this act in the then current year. Such loans shall be evidenced by the bonds of the city of Yonkers, whjch shall be signed by the president and clerk of said board, sealed with its corporate seal, be of such denominations as such board shall determine, and shall be conditioned that the city of Yonkers will pay the principal named therein with interest at a rate to be specified therein and not greater than six per centum per annum, and shall mature and be payable by the city treasurer six months after their respective dates, unless the mayor of the city shall, in writing, require any bond or bonds so issued to be made [rayable at a sooner date. The city clerk, upon request, shall re^ster such bonds In his office, ahd shall countersign the same and affix the corporate seal of the city thereto, and thereupon they shall be of force. Such bonds shall be sold, as such board shall direct, at not less than their par value, and the moneys realized there- from shall be paid into the hands of the treasurer of said board, and be paid out only for the support and maintenance of the schools. The city treasurer shall keep a separate account of all school moneys received by him, and shall pay out the same upon warrants signed by the president and clerk of said board of education. Such warrant shall be drawn only by authority of the board, and only as the said money shall be actually needed for disbursement. The city of Yonkers shall be responsible to 983 YONKBRS. said board of education for the faithful performance by the city treasurer of the duties of treasurer ""Vlo*^ Thfsliid boarTshali make suitable and proper provision respecting, security to be given by the officers under said board for the faithful performance oAheir respective duties. Any interest orincome o?the mSnevsir. the hanus of the city treasurer Lo the credit of said board shall go to tbe credit of sSdfuS Such treasurer shall receive no compensation other than his salary as city treasurer He sSl render to said board of education in writing, and as often as it shall require, statements reports Indiulonnation concerning the moneys and funds In his hands, and the interest and income thereon. T2K before the tirst day of May in each year the common council bhall ^ause to be paid to the treasurer of said board, to ihe credit of said board of education, the balance of all moneys which shall have been levied by tax in said city in the current year for school purposes over and above the principal of all bonds iss^ued by said board under section nineteen of this act, and registered In the Sffice of the city clerk during the preceding months Ironi October to Apnl. inclusive. The words -cu^eiit year," as used in this act, aesignates the term from the first day of October in any year to the first day of October in the next succeeding year. ,., , ^ i. , , .. ^ , „■»- „ A f^ The said board of education shall provide all suitable text-books, accommodations and facilities for the oroper instruction of the children of said city, and shall have entire and cn elusive charge and control of the public schools in the city of Yonkers, subject to the powers of supervision and direction vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The said board ol e2^, Laws of 1880. J Section 1. The board of education of union free school district number one, of the town of Deerpark, Orange county, and school district, number four, of the town of Johnstown, Fulton countv, are hereby severally authorized and empowpred to employ, in behalf of said district, a superintendent of common schools, who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are provided by the laws of the Staie of New York. 22. Said union free school district nutnber one, of the town of Deerpark, Orange county, and school alatrlct number four of the town of Johnstown, Fulton countv. shall, upon and after the passage of this act, severally have all the powers and possess all the priviletrea conferred upon cities and incor- porated villages by section six, of title three, of chapter Ave hundred and flfty-flve, of the Laws ot Deerpark — Oleaj^. 983 eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," as theisame was amended by chapter three hundred and sixty-four, of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-six, entitled " An act to amend section nine, of chapter Ave hundred and hixty-seven. of the Laws oi^eighteen hundred and seventy-flve, entitled ' An act to amend chapter five hundred and flfty-flve, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled * An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction.' " JOHNSTOWN, DISTRICT No. 16. iClmp. 379, Laws of 1881. J Section l. The board of education of union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johns- town, Fulton county, is hereby authorized and empowered to employ, in behalf of said district, a superintendent ot common schools, who shall have such powers and shaU perform such duties as are provided by the laws of the State ot New York to be performed by superintendents of common schools. § 2. Said union free school district number sixteen of the town of Johnstown, Fulton county, shall, upon and after the passage of this act, have all the powers and possess all the privileges conferred upon cities and incorporated villages having a population of five thousand and upwards by section six of title three, of chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," as the same was amended by chapter three hundred and seventy-four, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy- six, entitled " An act to amend section nine, of chapter four hundred and sixty-seven, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled 'An act to amend chapter five hundred and fifty-five, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled ' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public iDstruction.'" LITTLE FALLS, DISTRICT No. 1. iCkap. 231, Laws of 1879.] Section 1. The board of education of school district number one. In the. village of Little Falls, are authorized and empowered to employ In behalf of said district, a superintendent of common schools, who shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are provided by the laws of the State of New York. LANSINGBURGH. {Chap. 79, Lawa of 1882.] Section!. The trustees of school district number one of the town of Lansingburgh are hereby authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district a superintendent of common schools, who shall, under the direction of said trustees, have the general supervision of ail the public schools in said distiict, and perform such duties as the said trustees may prescribe. CLEAN, UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 1. {Chap. 168, iaws 0/ 1882. ] Section 1. The trustees of union free school district number one of the town of Clean are hereby authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district a superintendent of common schools who shall under the direction of said trustees have the general supervision of all the public schools in said district and perform such duties as the "Md trustees may prescribe. LIST OF THE TITLES OF THE GENERAL AND SPECIAL ACTS OF NEW YORK RELATING TO SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION. The following list is supposed to contain the titles of all acts relating to schools and education, passed by the Legislature of this State. A few, which were merely appropriation bills, have been purposely omitted, and perhaps some others have been overlooked, as in their compilation reliance has to be placed largely upon indexes which prove to be defective. The arrange- ment is, in the main, alphabetical by names of towns to whicli the acts relate. To this a chronological order is subordinate prior to 1868 ; from and after 1868, the chronological order is more distinctive. The General Acts are separately set forth under Gr., as also those relating to Gospel and school lots whether general or special. Those relating to the city of New York, also those concerning normal schools, whether general or special, will be found under N. Those relating to the school fund are separately given under S. An act to conflrm the proceedings of the Joint school district, composed of district No. G, in Adams, and district No. 6, in the town oflleuderson, in the county of Jefferson. Passed April 1, 1846. Sess. Laws, p 54. An act to incorporate the Albany Lancaster school society. Passed May 26, 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner^s ed. ), p. 890. Section 10 required the city to pay §500 a year toward the support of the school. An act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the Albany Lancaster school society." Passed February 12, 1813. Sess. Laws. p. 21. Repealed the sixth section, and changed the sum entitl- ing a person to a scholarship to $2d. An act to incorporate a school for people of color in the city of Albany. Passed April 12, 1816. Sess. Laws, p. 83. The act incorporates the " Albany school for educating people of color," vests in the trustees the title of a lot of land, and permits them to hold real and personal estate with an income not to exceed $1,000 annually. An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany. Passed April 17, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 260. Authorizes the election of commissioners of common schools in the several wards of the city east of Peri'y street, and the organization of a board, with power to organize districts and appoint trustees. The school moneys were to be apportioned to the city and to the county separately. The Lancaster schools were to share in its distribution. The part of the city west of Perry street formed a separate district. An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany." Passed January 25, 1831. Authorizes a tax on district No. 6, to build a school-house. An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools In the city of Albany. " Passed April 11, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 153. Authorizing taxes to build school-houses. An act relating to the second school district in the city of Albany. Passed April 25, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 472. Authorizes the trustees to erect a school-house, mortgage the lot and building, and to exact ten per cent on each rate bill for tuition, to pay the principal and interest. 124 986 A List of Acts An act farther to amend the act entitled " An act to amend the several acts relating to the city of AlbLy and S combiS the same into one act," passed April 13, 18^. Passed May 1, 1834. Bess LawB. p 416 Section 3 repeals the thirteenth section of said act, givmg $500 yearly to the Lancaster school. Section 13 continues in force the act of April 11, 1831, relating to common schools m the city of Albany, for five years from May 1, 1834. An act to provide for the erection of district school buildings In each district east of Perry street in the city of Albany. Passed April 20, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 20d. Raises by tax »25,000, m, ten annual inltallmenti; for building school-houses, and authorizes the loaning of that sum to the city from the capital of the common school fund. An act to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools in the city of Albany." Passed Mav9 1837 Sess. Laws, p. 406. The first two sections relate to the raising and apportionment ot taxes Jbr the support of schools. The third and fourth sections forbid districts ea.st of Perry street from voting taxes, or disposing of district property, and required them to keep a record of proceedings of school meetings. An act relative to the common schools in the city of Albany. Passed May 8, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 390 Apportions §100 to each school east of Perry street, and $25 to each district west of said street, tor • repairs and contingent expenses ; and directs school moneys to be apportioned to the Albany orphan asylum for the payment of the wages of teachers. An act amendatory of the several acts relating to district schools in the city of Albany. Passed Aprils, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 115. An act to amend an act relating to the district schools of the city of Albany, passed April 8,1844. Passed May 13, 184.5. Sess. Laws, p. 265. An act to authorize the city of Albany to raise money by tax to build a district school-house. Passed April 12, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 482. An act authorizing an additional sum of money to be raised iu the city of Albaro^,for school purposes. Passed April 17, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 676. An act in relation to common schools in the city of Albany, west of Perry street. Passed June 18, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 1037. An act amendatory of the several acts relating to district schools in the city of Albany. Passed April 14, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 051. An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany ; to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in said city. Passed April 7, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 986. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to create a hoard of public instruction in the city of Albany ; to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools in said city, " passed April 7, 1866. Passed January 31, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 37, vol. 1. An act to authorize the inhabitants of Joint school district No. 5. in the town of Attica, county of Wyoming, and town of Alexander, county of Genesee, to raise money. Passed April 2, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 286. An act to divide the town of Alfred, in the county of Allegany. Passed March 16^ 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 9-1. Erects the towns of Independence and Almond, and directs the moneys derived from the sales of the gospel and school lots to be divided. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Amherst, county of Erie, to raise certain moneys for school purposes. Passed April 5,1866. Sess. Laws, p. 850. An act for the collection of a school district tax in Joint district No. 3, in towns of Aahford and Bast Otto, in Cattaraugus county. Passed April 10, 1857. Sess, Laws, vol. 1, p. 699. An act ill relation to school district No. 12, in the town of Attica. Passed April 3, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 176. Authorizes apportionment of moneys to district. An act authorizing the application of the common school moneys in the village of Athens and in the city of Hudson to the education of poor children. Passed April 15, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 244. This law modified the general law, and set apart the public money in Athens and Hudson for the benefit of the poor exclusively. An act to incorporate the city of Auburn. Passed March 21, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 119. Title 8 of this act related to schools. An act to regulate the free schools In the city of Auburn. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 751. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to regulate the free schools in the city of Auburn," passed April 10, 1850. Passed March 23, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 365. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend an act to regulate free schools in the city of Auburn, " passed April 10, 1850, passed March 23, 1857. Passed February 19, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 33. An act to amend an act to regulate free schools in the city of Auburn, passed April 10, 1850. Passed March 19, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 349. An act to incorporate the Cayuga asylum for destitute children. Passed April 10, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 279. Section 12 made the school kept in this asylum a separate district school, and gave it a distribu- tive share in the public money and in the school money raised in the city. An act to authorize the mayor and common council of the city of Auburn to raise money by tax to pay for building a school-house in district No. 5. Passed April 14, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 955. Authorizes a tax of $250. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 7. the town of Augusta, Oneida county, to con- vey real estate. Passed April 21,1865. Sess. Laws, p. 938. An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 7, town of Augusta, Oneida county, to convey a certain lot of land. Passed March 16, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 321. An act for the relief of Stephen Sprague, Orange Spaulding and Robert R. Cowan, late trustees of school district No. 12, in the town or Aurelius. Passed March 22. 1633. Sess. Laws, p. 96. Authorizes a tax to pay the costs of a suit against them. An act to enable the hoard of public instruction in the city of Albany, to obtain sites for school- houses. Passed May 7, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1663. Relatin^g to Schools. 987 An act to legalize certain official acts of a m^ority of the board of eclucatloQ of the city of Aubnrn, in relation to the location of a school-house In district No. 6, of satd city. Passed March 28, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 322. An act to authorize the supervisors of the city of Auburn, to pay to the board of education of said city, certain money now in possession of said supervisors. Passed April 14, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 507. An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the public schools of the city of Auburn. Passed March 14, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 201. An act in*relation to filling vacancies in the board of public instruction of the city of Albany. Passed January 31, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 31. An act to change and fix the number of trustees of the Attica union free school and academy. Passed April 11, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 061. An act in relation to the free academy in the city of Albany. Passed April 26, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 446. An act authorizing union free school district No. 1, of the town of Athens, to issue bonds and to bor- row money for the purpose of erecting school buildings and purchasing a site. Passed February 20, 1874. Sess. Laws, p, 21. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the public schools of the city of Auburn," passed March 4, 1871. Passed March 31, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 114. An act to authorize the city of Albany to issue its bonds to procure means to pay in part for the erec- tion of an edifice for a public high school. Passed February 13, 1S75. Sess. Laws, p. 15. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to create a board of public insti-uction in the city of Albany, to' establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools In said city," passed April 7, 1866. Passed May 15, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 332. An act conflrmiDg the title of the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Amherst, in the county of Erie, to the lands and property of the Williamsville academey, in said county. Passed May 28, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 522. An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to public schools in the city of Auburn. Passed June 10, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 670. An act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty-flve, of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty- two, entitled *'An act to condense and amend the several acts relating to the village of Albion." Passed February 8, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 8. An act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty-flve, of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty- two, entitled " An act to condense and amend the several acts relating to the village of Albion." and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 4, 1879. The charter of the village of Albion con- taining their school act. An act to amend chapter five hundred and seventy-seven of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relating to public schools in the city of Auburn. " Passed May 19, 1879. An act to amend chapter eleven, of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled " An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board of public instruction in the city of Albany, to estab- lish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools In said city.'" Passed April 12, 1880. An act in relation to the sale, and the proceeds of sale, of certain school property in the city of Albany. Passed April 12, 1880. An act authorizing the board of public instruction of the city of Albany to make and let contracts to build, complete and furnish a certain school building in the said city of Albany. Passed March 10, 1886. An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Auburn to Issue certificates of indebtedness, to provide for the erection of a new high school building. Passed May 12, 1886. An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Auburn to issue certificates of indebtedness to provide for the erection of a new high school building. Passed June 4, 1886. An act to amend chapter two hundred and twenty of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled " An act to amend chapter eleven of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled * An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to create a board of public instruction In the city of Albany, to establish free schools therein, and amendatory of the several acts relating to the district schools In the said city,' " and to provide for the payment of the salaries of the clerk and superintendent of build- ings and repairs. Passed March 1, 1887. B. An act to authorize the board of education of the Baldwinsvllle union school district to borrow money. Passed April 19, 1867. Sess. Laws, p, 1125, vol. 1. An act In relation to school district No. 3, in the town of Batavla. Passed April 25, 1839 Sess Laws, p. 210. An act to authorize the inhabitants of consolidated school district No. 2, in the village of Batavia, Genesee county, to raise money. Passed March 29, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 45. An act to enable the trustees of consolidated school district No. 2, in Batavia, to levy a tax for the support of a school therein, Pas-sed June 25, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 566. An act to enable the trustees of school district No. 7, In the town of Bath, to hold by deed a certain lot therein mentioned. Passed March 31, 1815. Authorizes certain persons to convey, bv deed, flUy acres of land to the trustees of district No, 7, to be held in trust for the benefit of the common schools In the settlement known as Pleasant Valley. An act to authorize the trustees of union school district No. 5, in the village of Bath, in the county of Steuben, to raise money by tax. Passed January 24, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 10. An act In relation to schools in the village of Binghamton. Passed April 19, 1861. Sess. Laws p 752. 988 A List of Acts An act to amend an act entitled " An act Jn relation to schools in the vlUaire of Blnghamton," passed April 19, 1861. Passed April 25, 1864. Seas. Laws, p, 843. An act to amend chapter 322, of the Laws of 1861, entitled " An act in relation to schools in the village of Binghamton." Passed April 14, 1866. Seas. Laws, p. 1250. An act to incorporate the city of Binghamton. Passed April 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 588, vol. 1. Title 11, p. 645, relates to common schools. An act in relation to district No. 1, In the town of Boonevllle, Pa-'sed May 5, 1837. S*s. Laws, p. 344. Authorizes the sale of site, the purchase of a new site and the erection of a school-house, and the raising of a tax to defray the cost. An act to authorize school district No. 11, in the town of Brasher, in the county of St. Lawrence, to sell their lot. Passed September 20, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 419. An act relative to the common schools of the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 2, 1836. Sess. liaws, p. 136. Authorizes taxation for the building of school -houses. An act relative to school district No. 6, in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 3, 1837. Sess. Laws, E. 120. Confirms the proceedings of a school meeting in changing the site, and the sale of a school" ouse. An act relative to common schools In the city of Brooklyn. Passed March 23, 1843. Seas. Laws, p. 39. An act further to amend an act entitled " An act relating to common schools for the city of Brook- lyn," passed May 23, 1843. Passed April 6, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 298. An act to amend an act entitled "An act relating to common schools for the city of Brooklyn." Passed March 23, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. M4.j An act to enlarge the act entitled "An act relative to common schools in the city of Brooklyn," passed March 23, 1843. Passed May 14,1845. Sess. Laws, p. 327. Authorizes the formation of school districts for colored children. An act to appoint a superintendent of common schools of the city of Brooklyn. Passed January 28, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 14. An act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the board of education in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 4, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 237. An act to amend an act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the board of education in the city of Brooklyn, passed April 4, 1850. Passed March 17, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 237. An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell a certain school lot. Passed April 10, 1850. Seas. Laws, p. 771. An act to amend " An act to revise and amend the several acta relating to the city of Brooklyn," passed April 4, 1850. Passed June 19, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 442. Section 15 relates to the money to be raised by tax for the support of schools. An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh and the town of Bushwick Into one municipal government, and to Incorporate the same. Passed April 17, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 829. Sec- tion 13, title 11, relates to schools and the board of education. An act to amend an act entitlpd '* An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburgh and the town of Bushwick Into one municipal government, and to incorporate the same," passed April 17, 1854. Passed April 6, 1857. Section 11 authorizes the board of education to maintain a nor- mal school. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to reorganize and regulate the common schools and the hoard of education in the city of Brooklyn," passed April 4, 1850. Passed March 7, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 84. An act to authorize the appointment of an assistant superintendent of common schools in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 3, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 803. An act tor the relief of common schools in the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 11, 1866. Sess. Laws p. 1118. An act to authorize the city of Brooklyn to borrow money, upon certificates of indebtedness, for the purchase of school sites and in the building of school-houses. Passed April 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1527, vol. 2. An act to provide for the existing deflclency in moneys applicable to the support of common schools in the city of Brooklyn. Passed March 30, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 308. vol. 1. An act confirming the reports of the trustees of certain school districts in the county of Broome. Passed April 13, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 222. An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Brownville, in the county of Jeffterson Passed May 4, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 391. An act relative to districtNo. 8, In the town of Brutus. Passed January 31, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 6. An act to provide for free schools In the town of Bushwick. Passed October 16, 1847. Sess Laws. p. 427. ^ An act In relation to schools in the town of Bushwick, Kings county. Passed April 1, 1852. Ses5 Laws, p. 158. An act to amend an act entitled *' An act to provide for free schools In the town of Bushwick " passed October 16, 1847. Passed June 18, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 816. An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to Incorporate the city of Buffalo." nassed Anrll 20, 1832. Passed March 12, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 37. ^ , t»«.3<:u Apm An act to amend an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Buffalo. " Paissed Mav 11 1837 Sess. Laws, p. 437. ' An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to Incorporate the city of Buffalo " nassed Anrll 20,1832. Passed May 12, 1838. Sess. Laws,p. 37. An act further to amend the charter of the city of Buffalo. Passed February 14, 1839. Sess Laws p. 18. Section 22 of this act made the city schools ftee to all children under sixteen years of age. * Relating to Schools. 989 An act to consolidate and amend the act toiocorporate the dty of Buffalo, passed April 20, 1832, and the various acts amendatory thereof, Passed April 7, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 116. Title 9 relates to " common and other schools. " The common schools are free to all white children under sixteen years of age^ and free schools are provided for all colored children. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Buffalo,'* passed April 20, 1832, and the various acts amendatory thereof, passed April 17, 1943. Passed March 29, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 224. An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge Its boundaries. Passed April 13, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 447. Title 6 relates to schools. They were made free to all white children over the age of five and under the age of eighteen. An act to amend an act entitled '* An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge its boundaries," passed April 13, 1853. Passed April 4, 1856. Section 13 relates to taxation in school districts. An aet to amend an act entitled " An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo, and to enlarge its boundaries," passed April 13, 1853, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 16, 1861. Sess. Laws, p. 620. An act to incorporate the Buffalo Juvenile Asylum. Passed April 7. 1856. Sess. Laws, p, 175. Sec- tion 30, p. 177, permits the schools of the asylum to share in the school fund. An act to authorize school district No. 10, of the town of Binghamton, to borrow money to build a school-house, and for other purposes. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 425. An act to amend an act entitled '* An act to consolidate the cities of Brooklyn and William sburgh, and the town of Bushwick, into one municipal government, ami to incorporate the same," passed April 17, 1854, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed May 6, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 6, p. 1355. Sec- tion 6 provides for classifying members of the Board of Education. An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to the schools in the village of Binghamton," SEissed April nineteen, eighteen hundred and sixty^one, as Incorporated into the charter of the city of Inghamton, in title eleven of the act entitled "An act to Incorporate the city of Binghamton," passed April nine, eighteen hundred and sixty-seveu, and the various acts amendatory thereof. Passed April U, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 320. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Binghamton to borrow money for the purpose of purchasing a Rite for a high school, and erecting and furnishing a building thereon. Passed March 30. 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 313. An act extending the Jurisdiction of the board of public instruction of the city of Albany. Passed April 28, 1870. Vol. 2, p. 1139. Made to embrace portions of Bethlehem and Watervliet. An act' to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo. Of which title eleven relates to education. Passed April 28, 1870. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, pp. 1161 and 1208. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the city of Binghamton," passed April 9, 1867, and the several acts amending the same. Passed April 7, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 699, of which sec- tion eleven and section twelve relate to education, p. 711. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 21. 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2. p. 1438. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to authorize the common council of the city of Bingham- ton to borrow money for the purpose of purchasing a site for a hich scliool, and erecting and furnish- ing a building thereon." Passed April 12, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 567. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 30. 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 1057, An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to elect a superintendent of public Instruction, and associate superintendents. Passed May 6, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 676. An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to Orphan Asylum societies at Brooklyn," passed March 7, 1848. Passed June 1, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 811. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed April 12, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 93. An act in relation to the care and investment of the Adam Haverling school fund in the hands of the trustees of the village of Bath. Passed May In, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 287. An act to authorize school district No. 12 of the town of Broadalbin to electa committee to take charge of moneys bequeathed to the district. Passed May 17, 1879. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell certain lands. Passed March 18, 1881. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Brooklyn to sell lands not needed for school purposes. Passed May 25, 1883. An act to amend chapter eight hundred of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty -six entitled "An act to provide for the appraisal of, and acquiring title to, lands taken for, or in addition to sites for district school-houses," as amended by chapter three hundred and twenty-nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and to extend It to the city of Brooklyn. Passed April 12, 1886. An act conferring certain powers upon the trustees of the Batavia Library Association, and the trus- tees of Union Free School District No. 2, of the town of Batavia. Passed May 2, 1887. An act to provide for the support of the public schools in the twenty-sixth ward ot the city of Brook- lyn (late town of New Lots) for the [year 1887, and for the equitable apportioument hereafter of the State school moneys to the county of Kings, between the city of Brooklyn and the residue of said county. Passed March 11, 1887. An act to authorize the treasurer of the city of Buffalo to return to the comptroller, before May Ist, 1887, and before May 1st of each and every year thereafter, the consolidated school fund rolls of 1S86, and of each and every year thereafter, received before March 1st, 1887, and before March Ist of each and every year thereatter, without the publication, without adding interest or making a transcript thereof Passed April 18, 1887. 990 A List op Acts C. An act to authorize the erection of a school-house in the village of Canandaigua, and for the main- tenance of a school for colored children, to be kept therein. Passed April 14, 1852. Sesa, Laws, p. 430. An act to repeal the act entitled " Ad act to authorize the erection of a school-house in the village of Canandaigua, and for the maintenance of a school for colored children, to be kept therein," passed April 14, 1S52; and to authorize the trustees of said village to sell the said school-house and the lot on which it stands. Passed April 8, 1«59. Seas. Laws, p. 447. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Castleton, and county ol Richmond, to mortgage the property belonging to the district tor certain purposes. Passed .Tune 30, 1853. Sess. Lawd, p. 950. An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, la the county of Richmond. Passed April 10, 1355. Sess. Laws, p. 471. An act to enlarge the powers of school districts Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 7, in the town of Castleton, in the county of Richmond. Passed April 14, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 942. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, in the county of Richmond," passed April 10, 1855. Passed April 1, 1S56. Sess. Laws, p. 103. An act for the collection of unpaid taxes in school district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, Richmond county. Passed March 31, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 453. An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act to establish free schools in district No. 1, in the towns of Castleton and Southfleld, in the county of Richmond," passed April 10, 1856. Passed April 2, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 200. An act to Incorporate the Catskill Lancaster school society. Passed March 14, 1817. Sess. Laws, p, 77. Section 7 authorizes the society to receive the school moneys apportioned to district No. 1. An act to repeal "An act to incorporate the CatsklU Lancaster school society," passed March 14,1817, and for other purposes. Passed April f20, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 332. Section 2 makes the village of Poughkeepsie a permanent school district, and requires the public moneys to be paid to the trustees of the Poughkeepsie Lancaster school society. An act relative to the town of Cameron, in the county of Steuben. Passed April 18, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 197. Directs the overseers of the poor to apply §50 to the support of schools, and, from time to time thereafter, to pay the commissioners of common schools such sums as the inhabitants, or a mf^orlty of them, at any annual town meeting, should direct. An act^ln relation to Joint school district No. 1, of the towns of Camillus and Geddes, in the county of Onondaga. Passed April 13, 1852. Sess. Laws. p. 378. An act to levy a tax In Joint school district No. 7. In the towns of Canton and DeKalb, in the county of St. Lawrence, to re-Imburse Sylvanus Styles and Theodorus Prisbie certain expenses incurred in behalf of said district. Passed May 7, 1847, Sess. Laws, p. 234. An act for the relief of the trustees of school district No. 10, in the town of Chatham, in the county of Columbia. Passed April 11, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 338. An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 12, in the town of Chenango, to sell a school lot. Passed February 19, 1834. Sess. Laws, p. 15. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Chenango, In the county of Broome, to sell and convey their school lot. Passed May 5, 1834. Sess. Laws. p. 506. An act to establish a free school in district No. 3, in the town of Cherry Valley. Passed April 11. 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 305. An act to confirm the otficial acts of Hiram W. Jackson, of the town of China, as superintendent of common schools. Passed March 26, 1849. Sess. Laws, p, 189. An act to further amend the act entitled "An act to Incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school and to provide for the management and support of such school," passed April 6, 1859. Passed Aoril ll' 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 1119. An act to amend the flrst section of an act passed April 6, 1859, entitled "An act to Incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school, and to provide for the management and support of such schoof." Passed February 18, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 47. An act for building a school-house and maintaining a school in the town of Clermont. Passed March 27, 1791. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol, 2, p. 248. Authorizes the appropriation of moneys in the hands of the overseers of the poor, from excise and flues, for the erection of a school- house and for mamtaimng a school-master in said town. An net to authorize and require the trustees of Joint school district No. 14, of Clay and Cicero to levy and collect a tax for the relief of Hiram M. Wright and Joseph Rector. Passed April 7 1845 Sess. Laws, p. 33. Anactfor the relief of George Kill. Passed May 26, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 670. Refers to district No. 10, In the towns of Clay and Lysander. An act to incorporate the Clyde high school. Passed April 24, 1834. Sess. Laws, p' 221. Erects dig- tncts Nos. 14 and 17 into a permanent school district by the name of the " Clyde high school." An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Clyde high school, " passed Anril 24 1834, and for other purposes. Passed Aprin2, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 328. ou^piu^. An act to reduce the number of trustees of Clyde high school, and for other purposes concernine said school. Passed November 30. 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 509. <> ^.Ml>.v.'=,liul^ aaiu ■An act relating to the Clyde high school, in the town of Clyde. Passed April 14. 1858. Sess. Laws, >fe" 'pL\°er]gkrS 3oN'86S"''llL? Law^pf^^^^^^^^^ ''°- '• °"'"^'"''"' ^'='^'"'"'» '=°™"'- *<' -» '=■" <==" An act to establish free schools in the village of Cohoes. Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 740. Relating to Schools. 991 An act entitled "An act to amend the charter of the village of Cohoes." Passed Aprin2, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 631. Sections 49 to 76 relate to schools. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to amend the charter of the village of Cohoes," passed April 12, 1855. Passed April 15, 1857. Sess. Laws, p. 307, vol. 2. An act confirming the acts of the commissioners of common schools, in the division of the school district composed of parts of the towns of Colesville and Windsor, in the county of Broome. Passed AprU 16, 1834. Sess. Laws, p. 147. An act in relation to school district No. 7, of the town of Cortlandt, county of "Westchester, empow- ering the trustees of said district tp extend the time for the payment of loan, and authorizing them to sell part of school site. Passed April 10, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 373. An act to legalize the formation of school district No. 18, in the town of Cortlandt, Westchester county. Passed April 18, 18fil. Sesa. Laws, p. 751. An act authorizing the commissioners of common schools in the town of Covert, in the county of Seneca, to alter the time of apportioning the public school money to the trustees of the several school districts of said town. Passed May 1, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 518. Requires them to meet on or before the first Tuesday in June. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 5, Cobleskill, Schoharie county, to sell real es- tate. Passed March 30, 1866. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 547. An act to make the town of Cambria a part of the first school commissioner's district of Niagara county. Passed March 28, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 270. An act to make the tovvn of Chester a part of the second school commissioner's district of Orange county. Passed February 15, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 70. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Corn- ing/' passed April 13, 1859. Passed March 30, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 121. An act authorizing Catskill union freo school district No. 1, of the town of Catskill, to borrow money to erect and improve school buildings. Passed April 14, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. ^4. An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Corning.*' passed April 13, 1859. Passed April 24, 1368. Sess. Laws, p. 650. An act to amend an act entitled *' An act to incorporate the village of College Point, in Queens county," passed April 5, 1867. of which section 13 relates to the boundaries of school district No. 7, of Flushing. Passed April 24, 1869, Sess. Laws, pp. 667 and 672. An act to Incorporate the city of Cohoes. Title 10 relates to the appointment of president of the board of education, school commissioners, their powers and duties. Passed May 19, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, pp. 2323 and 2361. An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a school-house iu said village and to increase the school tax in said village. Passed April 12. 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 878. An act to authorize school district No. 3, of the town of Castleton, In the county of Klchmond, to borrow money for the purpose of completing a school building in said district, and to provide for the payment thereof. Passed April 13, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 988. An act to empower the levying of a tax on union school district No. 1, in the town of Clarence, county of Erie, for the purpose of creating a permanent fund for the employment of teachers, and to regulate the investment and management of said fiiud: also to create the office of loan commissioner for said district, and to provide for the exemption of said district from taxes for the payment of teach- ers' wages. Passed May 11, 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1525. An act to establish and maintain union graded schools in the village of Cambridge, Washington county, New York, and constitute said village a single school district. Passed June T, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1040. An act to authorize the trustees of " the Clyde high school " district, In the town of Galen, Wayne county. New York, to borrow money and issue bouMs or certificates of indebtedness therefor, for the purpose of purchasing site and building and repairing school-house in said district, and furnishing the same. Passed February 20, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 24. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the city of Cohoes," passed' May 19, 1869. Passed May 2, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 373. An act in relation to school commissioner districts and school commissioners in the county of Cayuga. Passed May 21, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 703. An act to repeal chapter 171 of the Laws of 1853. entitled " An act to establish a free school In dis- trict No. 3, In the town of Cherry Valley," passed April 11, 1853. Passed March 20, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 65. An act In relation to the Clyde high school, in the village of Clyde, Wayne county. Passed May 15, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 317. An act to further amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school and to provide for the management and support of such school," passed April 6, 1859. Passed May 24, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 402. An act to change the name of the union free school'dlstrict No. 1, of the town of Clarence. Passed April 15, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 146. An act to amend chapter 449 of the Laws of 1871, entitled "An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to Issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a school-house in said village, and to increase the school tax in said village." Passed May 26, 1880. An act to provide for the establishment of a union free school or schools within the corporate limits of the village of Cortland. Passed April 9, 1880. An act altering the school commissioner district in the county of Chemung. Passed May 25, IbSl. An act to amend chapter 109 of the laws of 18S0, entitled " An act to provide for the establishment of a union firee school or schools within the corporate limits of the village of Cortland." Passed April 23, 1881. An act authorizing Catskill union ft*ee school district No. 1, of the town of Catskill, to borrow money to erect and improve school buildings. Passed February 8, 1883. 993 A List of Acts An act to annex school district Ko. 13, of the town of Champlaln, to nnion free school district No. 1 of said town and to provide for the alteration of school districts Nos. 3 and 15 of said town. Passed March 11, 1884- An act authorizing and directing the board of trustees of the village of Cobleskill to execute, Issue and sell bonds of said village and apply the proceeds thereof to the payment of the debt incurred in the erection and completion of a public school building therein. Passed March 11, 1885. An act to erect a third school commissioner district ia the county of Chautauqua, to divide said county luto three school commissioner districts, and to provide for the appointment and election of school commissioners therein therefor. Passed May 12, 1885. An act to further amend chapter IM of the Laws of 1859, entitled " An act to incorporate the trustees of Clarkson high school, and to provide for the management and support of such school." Passed May 27, 1883. An act to authorize the board of education of union free school district Xo. 1, of the town of Cox- sackle, in the county of Greene, to Issue bonds to obtain money for the erection of a public school building and payment of a site, and for other purposes connected with public education in said school district. pMsed March 26, 1886. An act to amend chapter 585 of the Laws of 1865, entitled "An act to establish Cornell University, and to appropriate to it the income of the sale of public lands granted to this State by Congress, on the 2d day of July, 1862 ; also to restrict the operation of chapter 511 of the Laws of 1863. Passed May 7, 1887. An act to authorize the city of Cohoes to borrow money to meet a deficiency in the expenses of said board in the support of common schools in said city. Passed February 8, 1887. An act to amend chapter 449 of the Laws of 1871, entitled " An act authorizing the trustees of the village of College Point to issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a school-house in said village, and to mcrease the school tax in said village." Passed April 4, 1887. An act to legalize the action of a special meeting of union free school district No. 7, of the town of Cortlandt and county of Westchester, and to authorize the savings banks of the State to invest In the bonds of the district directed to he issued at such meeting. Passed May 4, 1887. D. An act for the more easy pleading in certain suits, and for the relief of school districts Nos. 6 and 14, In the town of Deerfleld, and county of Oneida. Passed March 30, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 106. Author- izes districts to plead general issue, and gives double costs to defendants in case of nonsuit or discon- tinuance. An act in regard Ito union free school district No. I, in the town of Beerpark, and to enlarge its boundaries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and to build or purchase school-houses. Sess. Laws, p- 1248. An act to amend an act entitled * * An act In regard to union free school district No. 1, in the town of Beerpark, and to enlarge its boundaries, and authorize the board of education thereof to raise money to purchase sites, and to build or purchase school-houses," passed April 14, 1866. Passed April 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1536. An act authorizing the election of three trustees and a district clerk in school district No. 16, located in the village of Belhi. Passed February 26, 1851. ^ess. Laws, p. 23. An act to provide for the "erection of a new school-honse In school district No. 16, in the town of Belhi, in the county of Delaware, and to change the site thereof. Passed April 2, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 178. An act changing the time for holding the annual school meeting in district No. 16, of village and town of Belhi. Passed April 30, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 1045. An act to authorize school district No. 20, in the town of Benmark, Lewis county, to levy and col- lect a tax. Passed April 19, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 93. An act to transfer the town of Belhi ftom the first to the second commissioner district of the county of Belaware. Passed Aprii22, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1476. An act to amend section 1, section 4 and section 21, of chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, In the town of Pomfret, a union free school district." Passed April 24, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 146. Relates to town of Bunkirk, taken from town of Pomfret after 1858. An act to allow and empower the trustees of school district No. 2, of Dryden and Caroline, Tomp- kins county, to rent the upper room of their school-house. Passed April 28, 1870. Sess. Laws. vol. 2, p. 116. An act to enable the commissioners of the land office to convey a school-house lot to the trustees of school district No. 3, in the town of Bannemora. Passed May 13, 1872. Seas. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1550. An act relative to the care and education of deaf mutes. Passed April 12, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 473. Extends provisions of existing acts to " Institution for the Improved Instruction of Beaf Mutes."' An act in relation to the Central New York Institution for Beaf Mutes, at Rome. Passed February 4, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 7. An act in relation to the Western New York Institution for Beaf Mutes. Passed May 15, 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 316. An Act in relation to the valuation of the property of the president, managers and company of the Belaware and Hudson Canal Company, in school districts for the purposes of taxation. Fassed June 1, 1880. E. An act to establish tree schools in school district No. 4, in the town of East Chester, in Westchester county. Passed June 8, ia53. Sess. Laws, p. 723, An act to amend "An act relative to the common school fund of the town of Edmeston countv of Otsego." Passed February 26, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 19. i ^ j "» Kelatii^g to Schools. 993 An act to amend chapter 44 of the Laws of 1828, helng an act relative to the common school fund of the town of Edmeston, in the county of Otsego. Passed March 31, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 415. An act to confirm and make valid and eflfectual the several proceedings taken to organize the union free school of the town of £llicott. Passed April 23, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 770. An act in relation to common schools in the village of Elmira. Passed Anril 4. 1859. Sess. Laws d 297. An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Elmira," p/issed Apul 4, 1859. Passed February 19, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 95. 'An act to incorporate the city of Elmira. Passed April 7, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 248. Section 9, of title 10, relates to schools. An act relative to Erasmus Hall. Passed April 1, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 91. The trustees of Erasmus Hall ate made trustees of the school district composed of what Is called the " Old Town," in Flatbush, and the commissioners of common schools of the town are required to pay over to them the school moneys, to which that part of the town was entitled. The money was to be expended in the education of such poor children sent to said academy a&ia the opinion of the trustees were entitled to gratuitous education. This law was re-enacted in the Revised Statutes of 1827, and appears to be still in force. An act to incorporate the village of Bdgewater. Passed March 22, 1866, p. 441, vol. 1. Subdivision 16, of section 1, of title 3, relates to schools. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the village of Edgewater," passed March 22, 1866. Passed April 22, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1400, vol. 2, amends the former act. An act to incorporate the village of Edgewater. Passed March 26, 1866, p. 441, as amended by chapter 517, p. 1400 of the Session Laws of 1866. An act to authorize the sale and conveyance of a portion of the site of the central school of the union free school district No. 1, of the town of Ellicott. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 212. An act to legalize the proceedings of an annual school meeting, held October 13, 1868, in district No. 2, town of East Chester, Westchester county, N. Y. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 804. An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the village of Elmira," passed April 4, 1859, and the amendments thereto. Passed May 8, 1869. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1732. An act to amend, consolidate and re-enact an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the village of Edge- water,'* passed March 22, 1866, and an act amending the same, passed April 22, 1867, and to extend the' Eowers ot the corporation of which section 7 of title 9 relates to education. Passed May 5, 1870. Sess. laws, vol. 2, pp. 1543 and 1565. An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools In the village of Elmira, " passed April 4, 1859. Passed April 28, 1871. Sess, Laws, vol. 2, p. 1942. An act to reduce the number comprising the board of education of the union school district No. 2, of the town of Ellington, county of Chautauqua. 'Passed March 22, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 201. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in school district No. 4, in the town of East Chester, Westchester county," passed June 8, 1863. Passed April 17, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 358. An act to amend an act in relation to common schools in the city of Elmira, passed April 4, 1859. Passed April 22, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 382. An act to amend chapter 235 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish free schools in school district No. 4, in the town of East Cheste^, Westchester county,' passed June 8, 1853." Passed March 3, 1877. Sess, Laws, p. 30. An act to amend chapter 113 of the Laws of 1859, entitled "An act in relation to the common schools In the village of Elmira." Passed March 20, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 48. An act to amend chapter 44 of the Laws of 1828, entitled "An act relative to the common school fund of Edmeston, in the county of Otsego," and supplementary thereto. Passed April 17, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 170. An act for the relief of school districts wishing to contract with boards of education of cities, to edu- cate their children in city schools. Passed May 3, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 239. An act to provide for the enlargement of the school-house site of school district No. 9 of the towns of Ellicott, Ellery and Gerry, in the county of Chautauqua. Passed May 18, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 307; F. An actgrantlngreliefto the trustees of school district No. 3, in thetownofFabius. Passed January 27, 1838. Sess. tjaws, p. 7. Authorized to sell a part of their school-house lot. An act to authorize the trustees of Farmer's Hall academy to be trustees of a common school district, and for other purposes. Passed April 12, 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 196. The first section makes the trustees of the academy trustees of the school district comprising the village of Goshen for six years, provided a majority of the taxable inhabitants give their consent, and such consent, given every six years, may continue them in ofQce. Section 2 permits an apportionment of school moneys among the districts in Elizabethtown and Essexs in the county of Essex. Section 3 repeals the act of April 15, 1814, relative to the village of Athens. An act to authorize the assessment and collection of certain money within school district No, 11, in the town of Farmington. Passed April 25, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 452. Authorizes a tax for $138.60. An act to provide for the payment of certain expenses of the trustees of school district No. 11, in Farmington, in the county of Ontario. Passed April 24, 1833. Sess. Laws, p. 271. An act to legalize the proceedings of the trustees and electors of school district No. 17 (formerly No. 23), of the town of Fishkill. and to authorize the present trustees to raise money to p^ certain debts and expenses. Passed March 4, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. .^. An act in relation to school district No. 18, in the town of Fishkill. Pat'sed April 13, 1861. Sess. Laws, p. 530. An act to make the common school in district No. 4, in the town of Fishkill, Dutchess county, free, and to provide a tax for that purpose. Passed February 28, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 88. 125 994 A List op Acts An act to authorize school district No, 11, of the town of Fiahkill, to borrow money to build a school- house, and for other purposes. Passed April 19, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1062, vol. 1. An act in telation to common schools in the town of Flathush, In the county of Kings. Passed April 30, 1844. Sess. taws, p. 360. An act in relation to common schools in the town of Flatbush, In the county of Kings. Passed May 12, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 301. An act to authorize a sale of the real estate of school district No. 2, of the town of Flatbush, in Kings county. Passed November 27, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 505. An act relative to the managers of a free school in the town of Flushing, in Queens county. Passed Auril 10 1818 Sess. Laws, p. 121. Authorizes the commissioners of common schools of the town of Flushing to pay to the managers of the free school association the school moneys apportioned to school district No. 5. An act to establish free schools in district No. 5, in the town of Flushing. Passed March 10, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 87, An act to amend " An act to establish free schools in dfstrict No. 5, In the town of Flushing," passed March 10, 1848. Passed March 21, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 160. An act to amend " An act to establish free schools In district No. 5, in the town of Flushing," passed March 10, 1848. Passed April 15, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 617. An act to establish free schools in district No. 3, in the town of Flushing. Passed April 16, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 431. An act authorizing the hoard of education of Forestville union free school district No. 16, of the towns of Hanover and Sheridan, in the county of Chautauqua, to borrow money, to be used in the erection of a new school-house. Passed March 15, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 217. An act directing a grant of land for the site of a school-house In school district No. 2, in the town of Port Covington, in the county of Prauklin. Passed February 16. 1821. Sess. Laws, p. 45. Directs the grant of a square acre of land. An act for the relief of Nathaniel Colver, and for other purposes. Passed March 21, 1823. Sess. Laws, p. 89. The fourth section directs that the school lot shall be laid out in an oblong square, having a fi-ont of two chains and fifty links on High street. An act to establish a board of education In the village of Fort Covington. Passed April 11, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 285. An act to authorize the board of education of the village of Fort Covington to sell the sites oi the present school-houses in said village, and for other purposes. Passed March 26, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 517, An act authorizing the town of Fort Edward to dispose of certain public moneys. Passed April 18, 1826. Sess. Laws, p. 276. Appropriates fl50 poor money to the support of schools. An actfor the relief of the trustees and collector of school district No. 3, in the town of Frankfort, in the county of Herkimer. Passed March 21, 1828. Confirms an assessment and tax list. An act to define and establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens county. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 210. An act to authorize school district No. 10, of the town of Binghamton, to borrow money to build a school-house, and for other purposes. Passed April 16, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 425. An act for the suppression of the trade in and circulation of obscene literature, illustrations, adver- tisements, and ^ticles of Indecent or immoral use, and obscene advertisements of patent medicines Passed April 28, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 856. Imposes fines for violation of the provisions of the act. one- third of which shall be applied to the school fund of the county in which the same is recovered. An act to consolidate a part of certain school districts in the town of Pomfret (Fredonia), county of Chautauqua, with district No. 8 of said town. Passed May 7, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1509. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to establish) ftee schools in district No. 5, In the town of Flushing," passed March 10, 1848. Passed April 21, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 476. An act to provide for the purchase of a new school-house site, and for the erection of a school-house thereon, in school district No. 3, at Whitestone, in the town of Flushing, in Queens county, and for the sale of the present school-house and site in said district. Passed April 7, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 720. An act to define and establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens county; to provide for the purchase of a new school-house site and erection of a new school-house thereon, and for the sale of the present school-house and site in said school district. Passed March. 13. 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 156. * An act amending an act entitled "An act to establish free schools in district No. 3, in the town of FlUBhing,"passedAprill6, 1857, enlarging said district and authorizing a greater school tax therein. Passed May 1, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 556. An act supplementary to chapter 76 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act to define and establish the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Flushing, Queens county ; to provide for the pur- chase of a new school-house site, and erection of a new school-house thereon, and for the sale of the present school-house and site in said district." Passed March 11, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 78. An act to provide for the erection of a school-house in school district No. 3, of the town of Flatlands. in the county of Kings. Passed April 18, 1874, Sess. Laws, p. 222. An act to Increase the number comprising the board of education of the union free school district No. 1, ofthetownof Fort Edward, county of Washington. Passed May 21, 1S74. Sess. Laws, p. 713. An act In relation to the Flushing high school in school district No. 5, of the town of Flushine. Queens county. Passed May 15, 1S75. Sess. Laws, p. 333. An act to provide for the purchase of a site and the erection of a school-house in school district No 3, of the town of Flatbush, m the county of Kings. Passed May 15. 1876. Sess. Laws, p. 334, An act to amend chapter 367 of the Laws of 1873, entitled "An act amending an act entitled 'An act to establish free schools in district No. 3 of the town of Flushing,' passed April 16, 1857. enlarelnir s^ distnct, and authorizing a greater achool tax therein." Passed June 9, 1875. Sess. Laws. p. ^ Eelating to Schools. 995 An act to establisli the boundaries of school district No. 5, of the town of Fluehing, and to provide for the collection of school taxes therein, and conferring additional powers and duties upon the board of education of said district. Passed June 15, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 523. An act to authorize the board of education of Falrp ort union free school district No. 9, of the town of Perinton, Monroe county, to issue coupon bonds to replace the moneys loBt by the district, through the . Appropriates the net proceeds of 500,000 acres of land first sold after the passage of the act, to he a permanent fund for the support of common schools. No dis- tribution of the income was to be made until the'interest should amount to 850,000 annually. Thisact laid the foundation of the common school fand. An act forthe payment of certain ofllcers of government, and for other purposes. Passed April 9, 1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 328. Section 54 authorized the governor to appoint five commissioners to draw up a plan for the organization and establishment of common schools. , An act for the establishment of common schools. Passed June 19, 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 600. This was the first law for the organization of common schools. It was repealed 996 A List of Acts in 1814. and superseded by an amended act. This in its turn was repealed and revised in 1S19. The revisers whose work is Known as the Revised Statutes, framed a new statute, which took enect Januarvl 1828 and which repealed all general laws on the subject of a previous date. Section 18 per- mitted the Albany Lancaster school society to share in the distribution of the revenue of the school fund. An act to amend an act entitled "An act for the establishment of common schools. ' Passed Marcn 4, 1813. Sess. Laws, p. 29. Directs the mode of distributing money. ' An act forthe better establishment of common schools. Passed April 15, 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 229. This is a general revision of the school laws of June 19. 1812, prepared on the report of the superintend- ent showing the defects in that law. It was thought fit to pass an entirely new act and repeal the first act' Bv the twenty-eighth section, the public money appropriated to the city of Albany was to be naid to the trustees of the Lancaster school in said city, to be applied to the education of such poor children in said city as in their opinion should be entitled to gratuitous education. An act to amend the act entitled "An act for the better establishment of common schools." Passed April 18, 1815. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 3, p. 260. An act for the support of common schools. Passed April 12, 1819. Sess. Laws, p. 187. A re-enact- ment of the school laws, and a repeal of the acts of April 15, 1S14, and April 18, 1815. An act for the relief certain school districts. Passed April 14, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 204. A general relieving act authorizing the distribution of school money to them. An act for the relief of certain school districts. Passed February Ifi, 1821. Sess, Laws, p. 40. A general relieving act, allowing the districts to share in the school moneys, notwithstanding their failure to make their annual reports . ' An act relative to the Incorporation of Lancastrian and other schools. Passed Pehruary 23, 1821. Sess Laws, p. 54. Authorizes the jBegents of the University to incorporate Lancastrian schools. .■With the consent of a m^ority of the inhabitants of any district in which such schools might be estab- lished, they were to be regarded as district schools, and to share in the distribution of the revenue of the school funds and other school moneys. An act for the 'payment of the ofBcers of government therein mentioned. Passed Aprils, 1821, Sess. Laws. p. 248. Section 2 abolishes the office of superintendent of common schools, and imposes the duties upon the secretary of State. An act to amend the act entitled "An act for the support of common schools, " passed April 12, 1819. Passed April 17, 1822. Sess. Laws, p. 287. This act, section 7, first authorized appeals to the superin- tendent in the district school controversies, and made his decision final. An act further amending the act for the support of common schools. Passed April 19, 1823. Sess, Laws, p. 238. An act to provide permanent funds for the annual appropriation to common schools, to increase the literature fund and to promote the education of teachers. Passed April 13, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 237. The first section transfers to the school fund the balance of the loan of 1736, and $100,000 of bank stock. The third section added itl50.000 to the literature fund, and placed the revenue of It at the disposal of the K-egents. This revenue was directed to be distributed to academies." In proportion to the number of pupils instructed in each academy or seminary for six months during the preceding year, who shall have pursued classical studies, or the higher branches of English education, or both ; and that no pupil ahall be deemed to have pursued classical studies, unless he shall have advanced as far at least as to have read the first book of the ^neid of Virgil in Latin ; and no student shall be deemed to have pur- sued the higher branches of an English education unless he shall have advanced beyond such knowl- edge of common, vulgar and decimal arithmetic, and aucli-proflciencyin English gi-ammar and geogra- phy as are usually obtained in common schools." The body of the act contains no allusion to " the education of teachers," hut we may infer from the title that the academies which, were to receive the income ot the large addition to the literature fund were expected to expend it witli special reference ta the education and training of common school teachers. An act concerning the Revised Statutes passed at the present meeting of the Legislature. Passed December 4, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 11. Section 4, subdivision 7, repeals "all statutes and parts of statutes, consolidated and re-enacted in title 2, of chapter 15, or repugnant to the provisions contained therein ; and all statutes and parts of statutes concerning common schools," from and after December 31, 1827. Section 7 repealed all statutes consolidated and re-enacted in those parts pf chapter 15, not comprised in the second title thereof, or repugnant to the provisions contained therein," from and aft er December 31, 1828. Of chapter 15 of the Revised Statutes, entitled ""of public instruction," title 2, which applied to common schools, took effect January 1, 1828, and the remaining titles January 1,1829. An act to repeal certain acts and parts of acts. Passed December 10, 1828, Sess. Laws, p, 34. Sub- division 262 of section 1 repeals "An act for the support of common schools, passed April 12, 1819. and all acts amending the same, or relating to the subject-matter thereof, to take effect December 31, 1829." Chapter 15 of the Revised Statutes, entitled "of public instruction," of which, title 2 took effect January 1, 1828, and the rest January 1, 1829, was enacted as a substitute for all previous laws relating to com- mon schools. The act of 1819 repealed all former statutes relating to the same subject. An act to amend certain provisions of the Revised Statutes, and iu addition thereto. Passed April I 20, 1830. Sess. Laws, p. 384. Section 5 changed the rule of apportionment by making it among thfr several towns and cities according to population. Section 6 enlarged the right to appeal. An act concerning district school-houses. Passed February 17, 1831. Sess. Laws, p, 47. Provides that after the building of a school-housp, the site shall not he changed while the district remains un- altered, nor tlien without the consent of the commissioners of common schools, nor without a vote of two-thirds ot the voters at a special meeting in its favor. Also provides for the sale of the site and property of a district in which the site has been changed. An act to amend the act for the relief and support of indlgentperaons (part 1, chap. 20, title 1). Passed April 25, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 346. Section 4 requires all superintendents of the poor to cause all children over five and under sixteen years of age to he taught as children are taught in common schools at least one-fourth, of the time they remain in the poor-houses. Section 6 forbids the enumeration of such children by the trustees of school districts. An act to amend the Revised Statutes relating to common schools. Passed April 21, 1831 Sess Laws, p. 247. Applies the provisions of section 26, Revised Statutes, to districts formed as well as to altered districts, so that they may draw public moneys if they have been formed from districts which have had a school kept for three months. Kelating to Schools. 997 An act relating to common schools. Passed April 26,1832. Sess. Laws, p. 513. Authorizes the pur- chase of Hall's lectures on Bchool-keeping for each district in the State. An act to amend the act relating to common schools. Passed April 26, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 547. Directs school district taxes to he collected under section 2 of the act of 1831, April 21, amending the Revised Statutes. An act concerning the literature tund. Passed May 2, 1834. Sess. Laws. p. 425. Requires the rev- enue in the treasury and the excess of the revenue of the fund, over $12,000 a year, to be expended m the education of common school teachers. An act relating to public instruction. Passed March 14, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 30. Relates to dis- tribution of a report upon the education of common school teachers, and makes seven trustees ol any academy a quorum to transact business. An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15. of part first of the ReVised Statutes, entitled "of common schools." Passed May 11. 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 356. Changes the time when the commissioners of common schools are to make their reports from October Ist to August 1st, and the time for county clerk to make and transmit his abstract from December to October 1st. Section 3 makes warrants for rate bills of like force as warrants of the board of supervisors to collectors of taxes. Section 4 author- ized the' sale of old site, whenever the site had been legally changed. An act relating to public instruction. Passed April 13. 1835, Sess. Laws, p. 65. Authorizes the taxable inhabitants of any school district to levy a tax of $20, to buy a district library, and to levy also, yearly, flO, to make additions. An act concerning common schools.. Passed May 1, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 310. Authorizes the pub- lication of school laws and decisions. In pursuance ofthls act General Dix prepared the volume known ^is "School Laws and Decisions." An act concerning common schools. Passed April 22, 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 231. The first three sections require the reports of trustees and commissioners to contain a statement of the moneys expended for teachers wages, in addition to the public money paid therefor. The third section requires academies having departments for the instruction of common school teachers to report to the superintendent of common schools. An act to appropriate the income of the United States deposit fund to the purposes of education and the diffusion of knowledge. Passed April 17, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 220. The second section appro- priates $110,000 annually to the support of common schools. The fourth section appropriates $.=)5. 000 annually to the purchase of books lor district school libraries. The eighth section appropriates §28,000 from the income of the United States deposit fund, and $12,000 from the income of the literature fund, to be distributed by the regents of the university to academies, under certain restrictions, one of which was that every academy, receiving as its distributive share a sura equal to $700, should establish and maintain a department for the Instruction of common school teachers. These appropriations have been annually made since the passage of the law. The surplus revenue has been bestowed upon col- leges, academies and literary Institutions. An act respecting school district libraries. Passed April 15, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 150. An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15, of the first part of the Revised Statutes, relating to common schools, passed May 3, 1839. Sess. Laws, p. 302. An act to amend title 2, of chapter 15, of the first part of the Revised Statutes, relating to common schools. Passed May 26, 1841. Sess, Laws, p. 236. This act reduced the number of Inspectors or schools to two in each district ; authorized the purchase of two or more sites ; provided for schools for colored children; for the publication of a periodical for three years, devoted to the cause of education; created the oflflce of deputy superintendent for each county, and permitted the superintendent to des- ignate any one of the clerks In his office a general deputy superintendent, with power, in his absence, to perform all his duties. An act amendatory of the several acts relating to common schools. Passed April 17, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 163. Abolished the offices of Inspectors and commissioners of common schools, and created thatof "town superintendent of common schools." All appeals were required to he made to county superintendents ; and appeals from their decision might be brought to the state superintendent within fifteen days after service of a copy thereof. An act in relation to common schools. Passed January 28, 1845. Sess, Laws, p. 7. An appropria- tion hill. An act to increase the capital of the common school fund. Passed May 10, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 193. Adds $84,358.15. received from the United States, under an act of congress passed September 4, 1841, being the proceeds of the sales of public lands, to the common school fund. An act to prevent the disturbance of evening schools in the several school district houses In this State. Passed May 13, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 249. An act to amend the law in relation to common schools. Passed April 1, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 50. Requires the trustees not to make an enumeration of Indian children residing in school districts who have not attended school for the last three months. And requires town superintendents to apportion their distributive share of the public money to Indian children in any district In which they have been Instructed by a competent teacher during four months of the preceding year. An act In relation to the dissolution of common school districts. Passed April 15, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 70. An act to abolish the office of trustees of the gospel and school lots, and to transfer the powers and duties of the same to the town superintendent of common schools. Passed May 11, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 210. An act in relation to suits agamst district school officers. Passed May 1, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 163. An act in relation to the payment of taxes in school districts. Passed May 7, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 232. An act in relation to reports of State officers. Passed November 11, 1847. Sess. Laws. p. 452. Re- quires the annual report to he completed before the expiration of the current calendar year, and to ha transmitted to the legislature immediately after the commencement of the next annual session. An act for the establishment of teachers' institutes. Passed November 13, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 459. An act to abolish the office of county superintendent of common schools. Passed November 13, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 456. 998 A List of Acts An act In relation to appeals to the superintendent; of common schools. Passed November. 19, 1847, Sess. I^aws, p. 489. An act relative to the valuation of property for school purposes in school districts situated in differ- ent towns. Passed December 11, 1847. An act relative to the office of town superintendent of common schools, and amendatory of the Bevised Statutes entitled " of public instruction." Passed December 15, 1347. Sess. Laws, p. 683. An act establishing free schools throughout the State. Passed March 26, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 192. An act to amend an act entitled " An act establishing free schools throughout the State," passed March 36, 1849. Passed April 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 561. An act making appropriations for the support of common schools for the years 1849 and I860. Pa^ed March 30, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 236. Section 2 appropriates money from United States deposit or liter- ature fund to such academies as should educate common school teachers, one or more academy in each county, not to exceed $250 to any county. An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to suits against district school officers, " passed May 1, 1847. Passed April U, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 545. An act to amend chapter 480, of Session Laws of 1847, entitled * ' An act relative to the office of town superintendent of common schools/' and amendatory of the Revised Statutes entitled "of public instruction," passed December 15, 1847. Passed April 11, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 534. An act to amend "An act establishing free schools throughout the State," passed March 26, 1849. Passed January 31, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 12. An act requiring the supervisors of the several towns to take further security from the town superin- tendents of common schools whenever it is necessary for tlie safety of the public money. Passed April 6, 1850, Sess. Laws, p. 345. An act to submit to the people at the next annual election the question of the repeal of the act estab- lishing free schools throughout the State, Passed April 10, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 804. An act to establish free schools throughout the State. Passed April 12, 1851. Sess. Iiaws, p. 292. An act to amend the act entitled *' An act to establish free schools throughout the State." Passed July 9, 1851. Sess, Laws, p. 809. An act to authorize the superintendent of common schools to purchase Webster's Unabridged Dic- tionary for the common school districts of this State. Passed July 9, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 828. An act to legalize the acts of the several school districts of this State, providing for the support of common schools. Passed July 10, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 939. An act to provide for the care and instruction of idle and truant children. Passed April 12, 1853, Sess. Laws, p. 358. An act to provide for the instruction of common school teachers. Passed June 17, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 800. Appropriates to academies instructing students for common school teachers, ten dollars a year for each scholar, not exceeding twenty-five — the money to be paid from the United States deposit fund or literature fund. An act to provide for the establishment of union Iree schools. Passed June 18, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 528. An act in relation to recoveries against school officers. Passed June 30, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 951. An act creating the office of State superintendent of public instruction. Passed March 30, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 230. Created the department of public instruction, and transferred to It the superin- tendence of the common schools. The secretary of State had been ex officio superintendent from April 3, 1821, to April 8, 1854. An act in relation to school moneys. Passed February 6, 1855. Seas. Laws, p. 21. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to provide for the instruction of common school teachers, " passed June 17, 1853. Passed April 13, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 765. An act to appropriate the avails of the State tax, and other school moneys for the support of schools, and for the expenditure of a portion of the library money in providing the school districts with the laws and decisions relating to public instruction. Passed March 14, 1856. Sess. Laws, p, 37. An act to provide for the distribution of standard works of American authors among the libraries of district schools. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws, p, 311. An act to provide for a more thorough supervision and Inspection of common schools, and further to amend the statutes relating to pubUc instruction in this State. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws p. 285. An act to amend the law of taxation for the support of schools, and to change the mode of distribu- tion of school moneys. Passed April 12, 1856. Sess. Laws, p. 296. An act to change the school year, and to amend the statutes In relation to public instruction Passed April 12, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 269. An act to amend section 85, of chapter 480, of the Laws of 1847. Passed April 16, 1858 Sess Laws p. -451. An act to provide for the more effectual insurance of school-houses. Passed April 12 1860 Sess, Laws,rp. 537. ' " An act requiring school district lines to be definitely described and recorded. Passed April 16 I860 Sess. Laws, p. 782. ' An act for the establishing academical departments In the different " union schools." Passed Aorii 22, 1862. Sess. Laws, p. 812. ^ An act to amend the statutes in relation to public instruction. Passed May 2, 1863, Sess, Laws p. 638 ' ' ' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction." Passed May 2 1864 Sess, Laws, p, 1211. ' An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relatine to nnhlif^ instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed May 1. 1865. Sess, Laws, p. 1337. reiaung to puDUe Eelatikg to Schools. 999 An act to provide for the appraisal of, and acQuiring title to, lands taken for or in addition to sites ior district school-houses. Passed April 23, 1B66. Sess. Laws, p. 1749. An act in relation to the security to be given by the supervisors of towns. Passed February 28, 1866. Seas. Laws, p. 149. An act to ameQd.chapter 800, of the SessionLawsof 1866. relative to the taking of land for erection of school-houses. Passed May 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 2067, vol. 2. An act to increase the salary of the office of school commissioner. Paeaed March 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 119, vol. 1. An act in relation to the valuation of the property of railroad companies in school districts, for the purpose of taxation. Passed April 23. 1867. Sess. Laws, p. 1744, vol. 2. An act to amend an act to revise anfl consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction, EELssed May 2, 1864, and to abolish rate bills authorized by special act. Passed April 16, 1867. Sess. aws, p. 964, vol 1. An act providing for the application of moneys hereafter collected In the Metropolitan excise dis- trict for certain flues, and from licenses for the sale of liqaors. Passed May 10, 1867. Sess. La^s, vol. 2, p. 2223. Appropriates the moneys thus collected in the counties of Kings, Queens and Rich- mond, to the support of schools, first deducting the amount required by law to be paid to the Inebriate asylum and Inebriates' home. "An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general act relating to public instruction." Passed April 7, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 712. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general act relating to public Instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed April 26, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1729. An act in relation to academies and academical departments of union schools, and the distribution of public funds. Passed May 29, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 997. An act to secure to children the benefits of elementary education. Passed May 11,1874. Sess. Laws, p. 532. An ant to amend an act entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," passed May 2, 1864. Passed May 21, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 703. An act relating to free instruction in drawing. Passed May 14, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 311. An act to confer on boards of supervisors further powers of locallegislatton and administration, and to regulate the comi>ensatlon of supervisors. Passed June 5, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 556. or which sub- division 28, first section, relates to union school districts, sale or exchange of real estate. Page 562. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled * * An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public Instruction." Passed June 9, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 638. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled *' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction." Passed March 3, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 36. An act to amend chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction. " Passed April 17, 1877 Sess. Laws, p. 160. An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books In schools. Passed June 5, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. 440. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction. Passed April 25, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 198. An act to amend section 7, of title 13, qf chapter 555, of thelLawsof 1864, entitled *' An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction." Passed April 25, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 198. An act to amend section 28, chapter 482, of the Laws of 1875, entitled " An act to confer on boards of supervisors further powers of local legislation and administration, and to regulate the compensation of supervisors. " Passed May 9, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 295. An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts. Passed May 13, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 304. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled ** An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction. " Passed April 2, 1879. An act to amend chapter 219, of the Laws of 1877, entitled "An act for the relief of sr.hool districts wishing to contract with boards of education of cities to educate their children in city schooLij. Passed May 28, 1877. An act to amend sections 2 and 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled '* An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts . " Passed May 29, 1879. An act to amend chapter 647. of the Laws of 1863, entitled * * An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction, " passed May 2, 1861. Passed May 8, 1879. An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 and 10, of chapter 24S, of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers In certain school districts.' " Passed May 31, 1880. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled '* An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public Instruction." Passed February 13, 1880 . An act to provide for the dissolution of union free school districts in certain cases. Passed May 8, 1880. An act to declare women eligible to serve as school trustees. Passed February 12, 1880. An act in relation to the boundaries of school districts. Passed May 7, 1881. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public Instruction. " Passed June 3, 1881. An act to amend chapter 655, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public Instruction, as amended by chapter 406, of the Laws of 1867, and by chapter 567, of the Laws of 1875. Passed June 15, 1861. An act to further amend section 16, of title 7, of chapter 555. of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relating to public instruction." Passed July 12, 1881. An act to facilitate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies. Passed July 25, 1881. 1000 A List of Acts A.n act to repeal chapter 223, of the Laws of 1681, entitled " An act in relation to the boundaries of school districts. " Passed June 8, 1882. An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 and 10 of chapter 248. of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts.' " Passed May 1, 1882. An act to amend chapter 675, of the Laws of 1881, enUtled "An act to facIUtate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies. " Passed June 8, 1882, An act amending section 2, of chapter 405. of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 and 10 of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in cer- tain school districts. ' " Passed June 29. 1882. An act to amend section 2, of chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act to amend sections 2 and 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, entitled * An act in relation to the election of ofBcers in cer- tain school districts. ' " Passed May 1, 1882. An act to amend chapter 675, of the Laws of 1881, entitled " An act to facilitate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies." Passed June 8, 1882. An act to regulate the instruction of common school teachers in academies and academical depart- ments of union schools. Passed June 7, 1882. An act to amend section 16, of chapter 179, of the Laws of 1856, entitled " An act to provide for a more thorough supervision and inspection of common schools, and further to amend the statutes re- lating to public instruction in the State." Passed May 16, 1883. An act to amend section 10, of chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, as amended by chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, entitled " An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts." Passed April 2, 1883. An act to amend chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acte relating to public instruction." Passed April 19, 1883. An act to amend section 18, of chapter 528, of the laws of 1881, entitled "An act to amend chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled 'An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruc- tion,' as amended by chapter 406, of the Laws of 1867, and by chapter 567, of the Laws of 1875," Passed April 23, 1883. An act for the relief of non-resident tax payers who, or whose children or wards, are attendants at any free schooi. Passed May 31, 1884. An act to amend section 60, title 7, and sections 5 and ID, title 9, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. Passed March 22, 1864. An act to amend chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878, as amended by chapter 405, of the Laws of 1879, and chapter 172, of the Laws of 1683, entitled ' An act in relation to the election of officers in certain school districts. " Passed April 3, 18S4. An act to amend chapter 694, of the Laws of 1867, entitled " An act in relation to the valuation of the property of railroad companies in school districts, for the purpose of taxation," and to extend the provisions ofethis act to telegraph, telephone and pipe-line companies. Passed May 31, 1SS4. An act in relation to the study of physiology and hygiene in the public schools. Passed March 10, 1884. An act to amend chapter 413, of the Laws of 1877, entitled " An act to prevent frequent changes of text-books in schools."^ Passed May 31, 1884. An act to amend section 50, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consoli- date the general acts relating to pubUc Instruction," and the acts -amendatory thereof and supplemen- tai*y thereto. Passed April 21, 1864. An act further to amend chapter 675, of the Laws of 1881, entitled " An act to facilitate the payment of school taxes by railroad companies," as amended by chapter 319, of the Laws of 1882. Passed June 13, 1885. An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the feneral acts relating to public instruction," and chapter 413, of the Laws of 1884. and chanter 694 of the laws of 1867. Passed May 27, 1885. An act to amend sections, of chapter 585, of the Laws of 1865. entitled "An act to establish Cornell University, and to appropriate to it the income of the sale of public lands granted to this State by Congress on the second day of July, 1862 ; also to restrict the operation of chapter 511, of the Laws of 1863," as amended by chapter 654, of the Laws of 1872. Passed June 10, 1886. An act authorizing the publication of the school laws of this State and making an appropriation there- for. Passed May 28, 1886. An act to amend chapter 248, of the Laws of 1878. entitled " An act in relation to the election of offi- cers in certain school districts. " Passed April 24, 1686, An act to amend chapter 555, of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consolidate the several actsrelating to public Instruction," as amended by chapter 492, of the Laws of 1881 Passed June 15, 1886. An act to amend section 50, title 7, chapter 555, Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and con- solidate the general acts relating to public instruction, and the acts amendatory thereof and sunnle- mentary thereto." Passed May 6, 1886. ouiii^ic ♦^■^? ^f}^ provide for the distribution of the Code of Public Instruction to the several school dis- tricts of the State and making an appropriation therefor. Passed June 24, 1867. An act to amend title 7, of chapter 555. of the Laws of 1864, entitled " An act to revise and consoli- date the general acts relating to public instnjction. " Passed Wy 16, 1887 consou- An act in relation to the employment and pay of teachers in the public schools. Passed May 16 1S87 ♦it^iJi^H^*^ *°i^'ias substantially in charge of th& society whose pnnclpal founder and promoter was DeWitt Clinton. s-^vicuj-, wuuso All act to incorporate the trustees of the Firat Protestant Episcopal charity school in the city of New York. Passed ftfarch 14, 1806 Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), voi:4,p.378. This actinco^ porated a school to be kept instead of the freeschool maintained for many yeara previous, under the care and management of the corporation of Trinity Church. uuuci mo loA^ "aL?T*^„l/yw5KL^"*'^"Qf?^°'^^?^ °? t;^*^^ schools in the city of New York. Passed March 30, 1811. Sess Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed..), p. 172. Gives to the fVee school society $4,000 of the moneys arising from the excise duties, then m the city treasury, and $1,000 a year thereafter. M^.^^^iVVf,?^T"H^ ^° ^^^ ^o} ^"il"^^ "An act for the establishment of common schools'.^' Passed March 12 1813. Sess. Laws p 38. The general school actof 1812 did not apply to New York city Bv this act the city was permitted to sharein the distribution of the revenue of the school fund The f^ilS^lA •■''«^ociety of the economical school in the city of New York, the African free school and of such ™>?,':E°*k'^'' ,^/'P°»= societies in saW city as now support or shall hereafter establish charity schools withm the said city, who may apply for the same." *Ke dlstrihution was to be in nroportlon tS the average number of children taught between the ages of four and fifteen years "but waito he na^d t» no society whose school had not been kept for nine months in the previouryear? Thrchndren were to be taught free of expense. The trustees of the several schools were to make ti the school comnfJ^ Eelating to Schools. 1013 sioners reports similar to those of the trustees of common schouls. and the school commissioners to the superintendent of common schools. The public money was to be applied to the payment of teach- ers' wages, Tlie trustees of the several societies were declared inspectors of the schoais ol their respect- ive societies. An act respecting the free school society of New Tork. Passed April 5, 1817. Sess. Laws, i>. 150. Oranted S2.U00 out of the excise fund. An act to incorporate the Hamilton free school (New York), and for other purposes. Passed April 17, 1818, Sess. Laws, p. I■= ^''^ '' Oswego," parsed t.tVpok't?„S'2? a'^rro'mlPsS? l5i'e°re*rVat°eS'&rc'Stim te^i'l^t^ P^S""'^ "" isn" ¥eBs'"Laws"vol.*l.'pf foM.""" °^ ^*°°' ^^^'^^'on^rs '» ^^^ ^"y of Oswego. Passed April 17, vnrio^es. 'V^^rtmt 18°6?"s?ss°Laws,°p.°IS.''° '° """"^ "™'^ "" "''°°' '^^'^ »"* '"' o'"" Pa1?ed MS'^'i;'lJ41"'seB^!■LS,t 24!^''°°' ''^"'^' ^°- "■'"*« '"'-"f 0'^^»^- Chenango county. Eelatikg to Schools. 1017 An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 11, in the town of Otselic, to raise money hy tax on said district to pay the costs and expenses incurred by said district or its trustees, in a suit against Isaiah Lewis. Passed April 30, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 15y. An act to consolidate the several school districts within the'corporate limits of the village of Oswego and to establish free schools In the same. Passed April 23, 18&V. Sess. Laws, p. 739. An act to amend an act entitled *' An act to consolidate the several school districts within the cor- porate limits In the village of Owego, and to establish tree schools in the same," passed April 23, 1864. Passed March 17, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 250. An act concerning the legacy bequeathed by David Jones for the benefit of a charity school. Passed March 24, 17y5. Sess. Laws (WebsterA Skinner's ed.), vol.2, p. 24^. Three hundred pounds bequeathed for the education of the poor, directed to be loaned on good land security by the overseer of the poor of Oyster Bay^ and the Interest thereof forever applied to the instruction and education of such poor children In said town as said overseers should deem objects of charity. An act to authorize the tnistees of the Oyster Bay academy to be the trastees of a school district. Passed April 12, 1823. Sess. Laws, p. 170. With the consent of the taxable inhabitants, the trustees of the academy were to be trustees of the common school district composed of the village of Oyster Bay, for six years, and chey were to continue such trustees, provided such consent should be renewed every six years. An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. Passed April 16, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 223. An act to alter school district No. 4, in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county. Passed April 13, 1800. Sess. Laws, p. 605. An act to amend an act entitled " An act In relation to academies and schools In the village of Ogdensburg," passed April 13. 1857, and for other purposes. Passed April 17, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 511. An act in relation to chapter 839 of the Laws of I86G, relative to the consolidation of school districts Nos. 7 and 28, in the town and county of Ononduga. Passed April 21, 1S68. Sess. Laws, p. 531. An act to authorize the adoption of an academical department in the union school district of the village of Owego. Passed January 2.^, 1869, Sess. Laws, p. 22. An act to amend an act entitled ** An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster Bay, Queens county," passed April 15, 1657. Passed April 17, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 440. An aci to amend an act entitled "An act In relation to academies and schools In the village of Ogdensburgh," passed April 13, 1857, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 832. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to alter school district No. 4, in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county," passed April 13, 1860. Passed April 27, 1869. Sess. Laws, p. 820. An act to amend an act entitled *' An act In relation to academies and schools in the village of Og- densburgh," passed April 13, 1857, and the acts amendatory thereof. Passed March 27, 1871. Sess. Lajtvs, p. 358. An act authorizing the trustees of union free school district No. 9, of the town of Oyster Bay, Queens county, to issue bonds and borrow money for the erection of a new school-house in said district. Passed April 19, 1871. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1157. An act to enable the supervisors of the county of Tiogatoconvey title of the old county clerk's olfice, and the land on which it was built, to the school commissioners of the union schools of the village of Owego. Passed March 6, 1873. Sess Laws, p. 101. An act to amend title 7, entitled " of the hoard of education," of an act entitled " An act revising the charter of the city of Oswego," passed April 16, 1S60. Passed March 20, 1873. Sess, Laws, p. 180. An act to authorize the board of education of "union free school district No. 1, of the town of Ovid," in the county of Seneca. State of New York, to sell and convey a portion of the land occupied as a site for the school-house of said district. Passed March 5, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 72. An act to authorize the hoard of education of the city of Ogdensburgh to borrow money for school purposes. Passed March 2.\ 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 96. An act to extend the limits of union free school district No. l, of the town of Ovid, in the county of Seneca, and to dissolve school districts Nos. 3 and 4, in the town of Romulus, in said county. Passed April 9, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 165. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Ogdensburg to raise money for the purpose of finishing and furnishing additional school rooms for the common schools of said city. Passed May 15, 1878. Sess Laws, p. 329. An act to legalize the acta and proceedings of the Inhabitants and trustees of school district No. 29, in the town and county of Onondaga. Passed May 24, 1878. Sess. Laws, p. 446. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to revise the charter of the city of Oswego, " passed April 16,1860, and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto. Passed April 29, 1879. City charter containing the school act. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Ogdensburg to raise money for the purpose of finishing and jfurnishlng additional school-rooms of said city. Passed March 4, 1880. An act to ainend chapter 382, of the Laws of 1857, entitled ' ' An act in relation to schools and acade- mies in the village of Ogdensburgh. Passed March 29, 1881. An act conferring additional powers on the trustees of union free school district No; 1, of the town of Olean, Cattaraugus county, and granting additional privileges to said district. Passed May 16, IS82. An act to amend section 1, of chapter 236, of the Laws of 1869. entitled " An act to ampnd an act entitled ' An act to establish a free school in district No. 5, town of Oyster Bay, Queens county,' passed April 15, 1857." Passed April 16. 1883. An act to amend section 4, of chapter 303, of the Laws of 1859. entitled "An act to Incorporate the union free school district No. 4, town ol Orangetown. county of Rockland, and to repeal section 1, of chapter 227, of the Laws of 1866, entitled " An act to amend the act incorporating the union free school district No. 4, town of Orangetown, county ol Rockland. Chapter 391. Passed May 19, 1887. 128 1018 A List of Acts An act relative to school district No. 1, in the town of Palmyra and county of Wayne. Passed April 6, 183(1 . Sess. Laws, p. 121. Authorizes the district to sell its school-house ancl lot to the Palmyra high school. An act relative to union school district No. 1, In the town of Palmyra. Passed March 19,1847. Sess. Laws, p. 20. An act m relation to consolidated school district No. 1, In the town of Palmyra, Wayne county. Passed April 7, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. GOO. An act to conflrm the proceedings of the trustees of school district No. 11, in the towns of Pamella and Leray. In the county ot Jefferson^ Passed April 5, 1«44. Sess. Laws. p. 104. An act in relation to common schools in the village of Penn Yan. Passed April 17, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 647. An act to authorize the comptroller to loan money to the Penn Tan union school district from the common school fund. Passed April 14. 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 320. An act to amend an act in relation to common schools in the village of Penn Yan, passed April 17, 1857- Passed April 8. 1859. Sess. Laws. p. 453. An act in relation to school district No. 8, in the town of Phelps, in the county of Ontario, Passed April 19. IS.'iS. Sess. Laws, p. lOS-. An act to make the union school of Phelps a free school. Passed February 27, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 79. An act to secure to school district No. 4, In Edmeston, and No. fi, in the town of Pittsfield, in the county of Otsego, the legacies of Adin Deming, deceased. Passed March 16. 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 109. An act for the relief of Mumford Olark, collector of school district No. 6, in the town of Pittslord. Passed January 31, J843. Sess. Law?, p. 10. An act in regard school district No. 16, In the town of Pittstown, in the county of Rensselaer. Passed March 15, 18G6. Sess. Laws, p. 297. An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 1, 2 and h, of the town of PlattshUTgh, Into a free union single district, and to vest the government thereof, and of the academy therein. In a board of educa- tion. Passed May 8, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 2026. An act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomfret, a union free school district. Passed March 17, 1S58. Sess,. Liiws, p. 55. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, In the town of Pomfret, a. union free school district," passed March 17. 185^; and to legalize certain acts of the board of education of said district. Passed March 31, 1864. Sess, Laws, chap. 98, p. 150. An act relative to appropriating the surplus poor funds in the town of Gouverneur, In the conntv of St. Lawrence, for the benefit of common schools. Passed March 31, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 165. Re- quires SI.OOO to be paid to the trustees of public lands in said town and loaned and the Interest applied annually to the support of common schools. An act authorizing the overseers of the poor of the town of Saranac to pay over certain moneys In their hands to the commissioners of common schools In said town. Passed February 5, 1829. Sess^ Laws, p. 89. An act relative to moneys in the hands of the overseers of the poor. Passed April 27, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 421. Authorizes the inhabitants of towns to invest certain moneys for the supportof schools to be and remain a permanent scliool fund. An act to authorize the overseers of the poor of the town of Plerrepont, in St. Lawrence county, to pay certain moneys to the commissioners ot common schools in said town. Passed April 29, 1829. Sess. Laws, p, 435. An act appropriating certain poor funds In the town of DeKalb, in the county of St. Lawrence ta the common schools of said town. Passed February 22, 1830. One thousand dollars to be loaned and the Interest applied to the support of common schools. An act authorizing the application of the Interest arising from the poor fund of the town of Russell to the school fund. Passed April 26, 1834, Se&s. Laws, p. 386. An act for the relief of Lewis A. Talman. Passed March 20, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 38. (Portage.) An act to incorporate the Poughkeepsie Lancaster sctiool society. Passed March 11. 1814. Sess. Laws, p. 45. Section 6 of this act made the village a permanent school district, and required the com- mi'sioiiers of common .schools to pay to the trustees of the Lanca.ster school society the share of public money apportioned to that part of the town comprised in the village. • An act to establish free schools in the village of Poughkeep.sie. Passed April 18, 1843. Sess Laws p. 279. ' * An act to incoiporate the city of Poughkeepsie. Passed March 28, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 171. An act to repeal and amend parts of an act entitled " An act to incorporate the city of Poughkeen- sie," passed March 28, 1854, and the amendments thereto, passed April 12, 1855, and April 2 1858 for the beneiit of the common schools in said city. Passed April 6, ISfiO. Sess. Laws, p. 317. ' ' An act to establish a union free school in district No. 2, m the town ot Poughkeepsie Passed Mav 1, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 1304. -^ An act to authorize school district No. 1. of the town of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess toborrownioney forthe purpose of completlngaschool, building In said district and to orovide for the payment thereof. Passed March 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 96. An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of districts in the village of Pulaski into one distiict, and provide for a school therein. Passed June 4, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 648. An act to amend an act entitled " Aiiact to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dis- Sssid Aprii^slfs^?' ^Se's^La^^rp. to73."'* '"' ^^""^'^ ''' * '''''''' '"^^^^^ '' ^"'''^ ^'"^ '»• '^' Eelating to Schools. 1019 An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dis* trlcta in the villafje of Pulaski^ Into one district, and to provide for a school therein." Passed April 9» 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 336. An act authorizing the comptroller to loan money to the Fulaski school district, and for other pur- poses. Passed April 17, 1854, Sess. Laws. p. 715. A n act to amend an act entitled " An act authorizing the comptroller to loan money to the Pulaski school district, and for other purposes." passed April 17, 1854. Passed April 13, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 767. An act to authorize the village of Potsdam to issae bonds and levy taxes to aid in procuring a site for normal school buildings. Passed March 28, 1868. Sess. Laws. p. 102. An act to make ths town of Providence a part of the first Bchool commissioners* district of Saratoga- county. Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 204. An act to legalize the election of trustees in free union school district No. 1, of the town of Platts- burgh, and the several acts of the board of education of said district. Passed May 1, 1868. Sess. Laws» vol, 2, p. 1070. An act to repeal an act entitled ' ' An act in regard to school district No. 16. in the town of Pittstown^ In the county of Kensselaer," passed March 15, 1866. Passed May 3. 1S69. Sess. Laws, p. 1203. An act authorizing the trustees of the academy of Datchess county, in Foughkeepsie. to sell real estate and bestow its proceeds, with other personalty, on the board of education of the city of Pough- keepsie, and providing for the dissolution of such academy. Passed February 17,1870. Sess. Laws^ p. 24. An act to authorize the board tff education of district No, 9, in the town of Perrinton, to construct a. school building, and provide means for payment therefor. Passed February 8, 1872. Sess. Laws, p. 49. An act legalizing the conveyance of the trustees of Joint school district. No, 9, of the towns of Plattsburgh and Peru, Clinton county. Passed April, 9, 1674. Sess, Laws, p. 171. An act in relation to the high school In the city of Poughkkeepsie. Passed May 8, 1874. Sess. Laws. p. 484. An act In relation to free union school district No. 1, of the town of Plattsburgh. Passed May 21, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 718. An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Poughkeepsle to appoint a superintendent of public schools and dx his compensation. Passed June 2, 1877. •Sei>s. Laws, p. 405. An act to authorize the issue oi bonds by the board of education of the village of Port Byron, in the county of Cayuga, to pay a bond and mortgage to the State on the school property in said village, and to raise mon<^y by tax on the Port Byron free school district for the payment of such bonds. Passed March 27, 1819, An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1S58, entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomtret, a union free school district." Passed February 19, l!i80. An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled " An act to make school district No. 9, in the town of Pomfret, a union free school district. " Passed April 30, 1881. An act to amend chapter 34, of the Laws of 1858, entitled * ' An act to make school district No. 9, Itt the town of Pomfret, a union free school dlsirict." Passed March 31, 1883, An act authorizing the board of education of union free school district No. 1, of the towns of Pots- dam and Norfolk, In the county of St. Lawrence, in the State oi New York, to Issue bonds for the pur- pose of buying lands and premises for a school-house site, and the erection of a new school-house build- ing thereon. Passed April 3, 1883. An net authorizing the board of education of the city of Foughkeepsie to sell and convey certain real estate owned by said city. Passed March 1, 1884. An act to enable ' * the board of education for the village of Penn Yan " to raise money for school purposes. Passed February 2, 1886. An act to amend chapter 305, of the Laws of 1857, entitled " An act to consolidate school districts No. 6 and No. 15, In the town of Mentz, In the county of Cayuga, into one school district, and to provide- for the organization of a school and academy therein, and to enable the said district to loan money t» erect the necessary buildings therefor," as amended by chapter 448, of the Laws of 1B77. Chapter 598. Passed June 18, 1887. Q. An act to provide for the partition and division of the Joint libraries of school district No. 18, and union free school district No. i, of the town of Queensbury, and to repeal chapter 424, ot the Laws of 1851. Passed April 2, 1883. R. Revised Statutes, passed In 1827, 1828 and 1829, chapter 15, of part 1, related to public instruction The act creating the board of Regents of the University, all the acts relating to common schools the laws relating to Lancaster schools (Sess. Laws of 1821, p. 54), and all special acts relating to vlllages- and cities, were included In said chapter 15. An act to legalize the acts of the Inhabitants and trustees of school district No. 12, formed partly out of the town of Ridgeway and partly out of the town of Shelby In the county of Orleans. Passed March 4, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 45. An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 12, in the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby Orleans county, to raise money by tax. Passed January 28, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 14. An act to incorporate the Rochester high school. In the county of Monroe. Passed March 15 1827. Sess, La\vs, p. 55. This was a Lancaster school. The first section constituted districts Nos. 4 and 14 In the town of Brighton, one district, declared to be a school dlstrici, and appointed the first trustees* with power to keep and maintain a school, and to hold and own property with an Income not to- exceed $3,000 a year. They were authorized to levy a tax of $4,000 on the district, to build a school- house. 1020 A List of Acts An act to amend the act entitled " An act to Incorporate the Rochester high school, In the cotinty ov Monroe.'* Passed March 28, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 134. Authorizes the levy of a tax. An act to amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the Rochester high school, in the county of Monroe. " passed March 15, 1827. Passed April 30. 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 513. Authorizes the trustees to mortgage real estate, and make the payment of such mortgage by either of them, individually, operate as a valid assignment of the mortgage to the payor. An act to authorize the Rochester high school to raise money by tax. Passed February 23, 1831. Sess. Laws, p. 62. Authorizes the raising of $3,0u0. An act to constitute the colored children of Rochester a separate school. Passed April 14, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. 211. Authorized the school commissioners of the towns of Gates and Brighton to establish and maintain a separate school for colored children in the village of Rochester. An act to incorporate the city of Rochester. Passed April 28, 1834. Title six relates to schools. An act authorizing the trustees of school district No. 10, in the city of Rochester, to sell a part of their school-house lot. Passed April 23, 1835. Sess. Laws, p. 158. Authorizes the sale of half an acre from the north end of the lot, and the expenditure of the avails in the reparation of the school-house. An act further to amend the act entitled " An act to incorporate the Rochester high school, in the county of Monroe," passed March 15, 1827. Passed April 20, 1836. Sess. Laws, p. 220. Authorizes the division of the school district attached to the high school into two common school districts. An act further to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the city of Rochester." Passed May 14, 1840. The sixth section authorized the levy of taxes for the support of schools, making them free. An act further to amend an act entitled " An act to Incorporate the city of Rochester," passed April 2S, IS34. Passed May 20, 1841. Sess. Laws, p. 185. An act relative to school district No. 5, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 3G7. An act relative to school districts Nos. 5 and 3, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 10, 1844. Sesa. Laws, p. 131. An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Rochester, passed April 28, 1834, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 11, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 138. Title 6 relates to schools. Section 8 of the title piovided for a tax sumclent to make all the schools free. An act relative to district No. 2, in the city of Rochester. Passed April 24, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 74. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Rochester," passed April 11, 1844. Passed May 2, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 98. An act providing for the election of city superintendent of common schools of the city of Rochester ty the electors of said city. Passed April 4. 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 285. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate and amend the act to incorporate the city of Rochester, " pa.«sed April 11, 1844, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed February 28, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 96. An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the city of Rochester. Passed April 10 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 601. Title 6 relates to schools. An act in relation to the free schools in the city of Rochester. Passed March 2, 1850, Sess. Laws, An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise $10,000 for the use of tha public schools therem. Passed April 6, i860. Sess. Laws, p. 316. An act to authorize the city of Rochester to borrow money for the purpose of erecting school build- ings. Passed March 23, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. I, p, 206. e " An act for the relief of certain school districts In the town of Rome, in the county of Oneida Passed January 21, 1828. Sess.. Laws, p. 12. Requires forfeited money to be apportioned to certain districts. An act to provide for the erection of a school-house in district No. 5, in the town of Rome and to change the site thereof. Passed March 1, 1850. Sess. Laws, p. 30. ' An act to amend an act entitled "An act to make the common schools free in district No 5 in the town of Rome, In the county of Oneida, and to provide a tax for that purpose," passed Aorfl W 186'' and to authorize the raising of money by tax. Passed March 28, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 263. "' An act in relation to school district No. 8, in the town of Royalton. Passed May 12 1847 Sess Laws, p. 347. -, > . An act for the relief of the town of Rye. Passed February 9, 1821, Sess. Laws p 32 Orders the sale of four acres of land in said town for the benefit of schools. An act to legalize the election of trustees of school district No. 14, in the town of Ridgeway Orleans county, N. Y., at the annual election of trustees held in October, ^^m and 1867, and to confirm and legalize their acts, and to allow said district to elect three trustees in said district Passed Anril 13 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 2lU. ^ * An act to incorporate the city of Rome, of which title 10 relates to education. Passed Febmarv n 1870. Sess. Laws. pp. 40 and 82. ^ ^* An act to amend an act entitled "An act to Incorporate the city of Rome," passed February 23 1870 Passed February 18, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 61, of which sections 3, 24, 25, etc., relate to educallbnal mat- ters, pp. 72 and 73. An act to authorize the removal of the remains of all persons interred in Monroe street cemetery in tbe city of Rochester, to Mount Hope or other cemeteries in the city, and the taking of the lands included withm the bounds of said Monroe street cemetery by the city of Rochester lor DUblic school and park purposes, also the issue of bonds by said city to defray the expense thereof Passed Mav 8 1872. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1446. «w«c« t^^j o, An act for the benefit of common schools In the county of Richmond. Passed April 25, 1873. Sess. 6° f?.^ ?^^**°'^^'5^ *^^ ^'*y of Rochester to Issue $15,000 of bonds for the purpose of erectine a nnwir school building. Passed June 10, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1066. Jjurpose oi erecting a public Delating to Schools. 1021 An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of completing public school buildings. Passed April 10, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 179. An act to extend the limits of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Ovid, in the county of Seneca, and to dissolve school districts Nos. 3 and 4, in the town of Komulus, in said county. Passed April 9, 1874. Sess. Laws, p. 165. An act to Authorize the common council of the cl^ of Rochester to raise money to provide for the deficiencies in the funds of the board of education. Passed March 20, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 65. An act to authorize the city of Rochester to issue its bonds for the construction of a new school build- ing. Passed March 29, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 70. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to provide for the deficiencies in the funds for the support of the public schools of the city. Passed March 5, 1879. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to provide for deil- clencies in the funds for the support of the public schools of said city. Passed April 14, 1882. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to enlarge and erect school buildings to relieve the overcrowded schools of said citv. Passed May 2, 1883. An act to authorize the common council of the city of Rochester to raise money to enlarge and erect school buildings to relieve the overcrowded schools of said city. Passed April 25, 1884. An act to amend the charter of the city of Rochester, as contained in chapter 14 of the laws of 1880> Passed May 19, 1884. An act to empower the city of Rochester to acquire title to lands taken for, or in addition to, sites for school buildings. Passed February 21, 1685. An act to amend chapter 457 of the Laws of 1857, entitled "An act to incorporate the industrial school of Rochester. " Passed May 6, 1886. An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of erecting new school build- ings. Passed April 24, 1886. An act to authorize the city of Rochester to levy a tax for the purpose of erecting new school build- ings. Chapter 94. Passed March 29, 1887. An act to separate the union free schools of the city of Rome from the third commissioner's district of Oneida county. Chapter 200. Passed April 25, 1887.. S. An act to consolidate certain school districts within or adjoining the corporate limits of Sag Harbor, Suffolk county, and to establish a union school therein. Passed April 22, 1863 . Sess. Laws, p. 799. An act to legalize certain expenditures of the board of education of the union school district of Sag Harbor, for the purchase of text-books, ani for teachers' wages, and to authorize the levying of a tax for the payment of the same. Pabsed April 16, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 464. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate certain school districts within or adjoining the corporate limits of the village of Sag Harbor, Suffolk county, and .to establish a union school therein," passed April 22. 1862. Passed April 22, 1864. Sess. Laws, p. 720. An act to constitute school district No. 1, In the town of Salina and county of Onondaga, a free school. Passed April 9, 1860. Sess. Laws, p. 354. An act to amend an act entitled '*An act to constitute school district No. 1, in the town of Salina and county of Onondaga, a free school.'* Passed March 25,1865. Sess. Laws, p. 340. An act authorizing the formation of a new school district hi the town of Salina, in the county of Onondaga, to be called school district No. 6, of said town. Passed April 24, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1863. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate the several school districts, and parts of dis- tricts, within the corporate limits of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union school or schools therein." Passed April 26, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1958. An act to Incorporate the Schenectady Lancaster school society. Passed November 12, 1816. Sess. Laws of 1817, p. 10. Theflrstand second wards of said city were divided, and a portion formed by section 3 into a school district, and all the money raised for the support of the school, In such portion, and all the money received from the State, was required to be paid to the trustees of said society. An act relative to certain school districts in the city of Schenectady. Passed April 6, 1827. Au- thorizes the formation of certain school districts out of the bounds of that portion of the city known as the police, and prescribes how the money raised by taxation shall be divided between such districts and the Lancaster school society. An act relative to the city of Schenectady Passed April 21, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 437. Requires the school moneys to be apportioned between the district schools and the Lancaster school society. An act to provide for the apportionment of school money In the city of Schenectady. Passed April 30, 1829. Sess. Laws, p. 484. Provides tor a distribution of the public money, partly to the district schools, and partly to the Lancaster school society. An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Schenectady. Passed April 9, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 373. An act to provide for an equitable apportionment of school moneys to certain districts heretofore within the limits of the city of Schenectady, but now in the towns of Rotterdam and Niskayuna, Passed April 3, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 803. An act to create a free school in the town of Schroeppel. Oswego county, and to create a hoard of education therein, with powers of taxation and other powers for school purposes. Passed April 17, 1865. Sess. Laws, \). 826. An act for the relief of Richard Perkins, William M. Smith and Joseph IT. Blood. Passed April 10, 1845. Sess. Laws, p. 39. (Scrlba, Oswego county.) ■ An act in relation to school district No. 1, in the town of Seneca, and in the county of Ontario. Passed April 22, 1844. Sess. Laws, p. 270. 1022 A List of Acts An act in relation to school districtNo, 1, In the town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario. Passed April 15, law. Sess. Laws, p. MO. An act in relation to school district Xo. 1, in the town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario. Passed April 12, 1855. Sess. Laws, p. i'i9(i. An act relating to schools in the town of Seneca Falls, Passed April 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. I, p. 924. An act for the relief of consolidated school district No. 7, in the town of Sherburne, county of Che- nango. Passed March 29, 1S53. Sess. Laws, p. 83. An act to establish Iree schools in the village of Sing Sing. Passed April 15, 1854, An act to amend the act entitled "An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing," passed April 15, 1854. Passed April 10, 1857. Sess. Laws, p. 689, An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing, passed April 15, 1854. " and the act amendatory thereof entitled '" An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing,' passed April 15, 1854," passed April 10, 1857, Passed April 8, 1859. Sess. Laws, p. 455. An act to amend the act entitled " An act to establish free schools in the village of Sing Sing," passed April 15, 1854, and the several acts amendatory thereof. Passed April 29, 1863, Sess. Laws. p. 480. An act to consolidate school districts Nos. 2 and 15, in the town of Smyrna. Passed March 19, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 71. An act to repeal an act entitled "An act to incorporate the trustees of Somers village school." Passed April 9, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 255. The act repealed was passed April 3, 1811. An act for the relief of the trustees of district No. 2, In the town of Southeast. Passed July 9, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 856. An act to authorize the trustees of school district No. 1, in the towns of Southfield and Castleton, and county of Richmond, to mortgage the property belonging to said distrieffor certain purposes. Passed April 7, 1852. Sess. Laws, p. 215. An act for the coilectiou of unpaid taxes In school districtNo, I, in the towns of Castleton and South- field, Richmond county. Passed March 31, 1857. Sess. Laws, p, 453, An act in relation to school district No. 6, in the towns of Southfield and Castleton, Richmond county. Passed April IS, 1859, Sess. Laws, p. 1056. An act to incorporate a part of Stephentown for the purposes therein mentioned. Passed March 23, 1799. Sess. Laws (Webster &■ Skinner's ed.), vol. 2, p. 251, Incorporates the freeholders of that part of the town known as the twelve thousand acres, and authorizes them to choose annually, on the last Tuesday of May of each year, three trustees of a fund given for the support of schools. The fund is limited to $3,000, and the income is to be distributed for the benefit of schools within the bounds of the corporation. An act relative to the school fund of Stephentown, in the county of Rensselaer. Passed April 11. 1866. Sess, Laws, p. 1113. An act for the relief of Cyril Carpenter, Isaac Joslyn and Isaac Barnes, now or late trustees of dis- trict No. 10, in the town of Steuben, Passed April 2, 1846. Sess. Laws, p. 56. An act for the relief of Cyril Carpenter, Isaac Joslvn and Isaas Barnes, late trustees of school dis- trict No, 10, in the town of Sweden. Passed March 26. 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 35. An act to provide for a permanent district school in SjTacuse. Passed April 20, 1832. Sess. Laws, p. .356. Makes district No. 4, Salina, a permanent school district, and authorizes a tax of $4 000 to build a school-house. An act to repeal " An act to provide for a permanent district sehool in Syracuse." Passed March 25 1837. Sess. Laws, p. 87. Repeals act of May 23, 1832. An act in relation to public schools tn tfie city of Syracuse. Passed April 11, 1848. Sess Laws p. 344. An act to amend an act entitled " An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Svracuse " passed April 11, 1848. Passed May 26, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. ai^. a^-ut^c, An act to revise the charter of the city of Syracuse. Pa.ssed February 25, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. S7. An act to authorize the city of Syracuse to raise money for the establishment of a hieh school Passed March 16, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 136. An act to authorize the election of school district No. 7, of the towns of RIdgeway and Shelhv Or- leans county, to elect trustees. Passed January IS, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 2. An act to amend subdivision 5, of section 5, of title 11. of the charter of the city of Syracuse entitled " board of education," passed March 3, 1857. Passed March 27, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 94. An act to legalize certain acts of the trustees of school district No. 14, Schroeonel and Volnpv Passed April 3, 1868. Sess. Laws, p. 204. *^ »wuej.. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of dls tTicts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free union school or schoQls therein," passed April 12, 1867. Passed May 6, 1868. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 1324 An act in relation to school district No. 1, of the town of Seneca, Ontario county. Passed March 16 joov. oess. juaws, p. 73. An act to enable the board of education of the city of Syracuse to transfer the fund belonelnE to p and county of Onondaga, a free school," passed April 9,.186n. Passed May 3° 1869 Sess Laws p las' .„£S ^JV" """V"?* ">« trustees of the Geneva cla.ssical and union school, of district No i In the &ed°'rSSy^?l'8?S.™"ser"L7w^rp?"r''''' '^^'"* '"" ""''' " ^chool-houLe'^ s^a^ 'ddUl! Relating to Schools. 1023 An act to amend an act entitled " An act to continue In force ' An act to incorporate the New York Institution Tor the blind/ passed April 21, 1831, and to extend the benefits ot said institution,'* passed April 16, 1852. Passed April y, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 441. Of which section 3 of chapter 180 relates to terms ot admission, and uf superintendent of public instructiuu, passed May 22. 1404. An act tn amend an act entitled " An act relating to schools In the town of Seneca Falls/' passed April Ifi, 18fi7. Passed March 27, 1871. Sess. Laws, p. 34]. An act to enable the board of education of the village of Salem to borrow or raise by tax money for school purposes, au'l to provide for the payment thereof, with interest, if borrowed, by tax on said village. Passed March 2y, 1872. Sl-ss. Laws, p. 450. An act to amend chapter 874 of the Laws of 1872, in relation to the boundaries of the school districts therein mentioned. (Saratoga Springs and Milton.) Passed May 12, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 741. An act to authorize and empower the trustees of Yates uuion free school district No. 2. of the town of Sullivan, to sell and convey a portion of the school site of said district. Passed June 26, 1873. Sess. Laws, p. 1253. An act for the relief of school district No. 17, of the town of Southport, In the county of Chemung, Passed March 5, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 35. An act to amend chapter .324 of the Laws of 1871, entitled "An act to Incorporate 'The Sisterhood of Orey Nuns' in the State of New York," Passed May 15, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 338. An act authorizing the city of Schenectady to raise money for school purposes. Passed June 9, 1875. Sess. Laws, p. 621. An act in relation to the St. Joseph's institution for the improved instruction of deaf mutes, at Ford- ham, in the county of Westchester. Passed June 2, 1877. Sess. Laws, p. ^9. SCHOOL FUND. An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Merchants' Bank in the city of New York. Passed March 26, 1805. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed,), vol. 4, p. 62. Section 11 authorized the secre- tary of State to subscribe for 1,000 shares of the stock, on the part of the State, without paying for the same, to form a fund for the support of common schools. An act to raise a fund for the encouragement of common schools. Passed April 2, 1805, Sess. Laws {Webster & Skinner's ed. ), vol. 4, p. 126. Appropriates the net proceeds of .'iOO.OOO acres of land as a fund for common schools. The interest for moneys loaned was to be annually added to the principal, and no distribution made until the income should amount to $50,000, the money to be loaned on bond and mortgage at six per cent. An act further to Increase the common school fund. Passed March 13,1807, Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. .5, p. 40, Orders all moneys arising from the stock of the State in the Merchants' Bank, and all moneys coming from the proceeds of certain lotteries, under act of April 6, 1803, to be invested in the capital stock of said Merchants' Bank. An act sivlng an additional term of the general sessions of the peace for the county of Ontario, and Authorizing the building of a fire-proof clerk's office therein, and for other purposes. Passed April 8, 1808. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 5, p. 364. Section 5 directs " that all moneys which have or may come into the treasury belonging to the common school fund, and which are not directed toy law 10 be invested in the stock of the Merchants' Bank, shall be loaned by the comptroller, pur- suant to the directions of the act entitled *An act to raise a fund for the encouragement of common jschools,' passed April 2, 1805." An act to render the fund for the support of common schools more productive. Passed April 5, 1810. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 6, p. 62. The first section authorized the comptroller to Invest all the moneys in the treasury, or to be received, belonging to the common school fund, in the stock of the Merchants' Bank, the Columbia Bank, the Hudson Bank, and the Mohawk Bunk, until the amount reserved to the State should be exhausted. After such stock should be fllled up, the moneys were to be Invested on bond and mortgage. An act concerning the clerks of the supreme court, and for other purposes. Passed April 6. 1810. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed ), vol. 6, p. 85. Section 5 set apart the surplus fees of the supreme court to increase the capital of the common school fund. An act respecting the subscription of this State to the Mechanics' Bank in the city of New York, and for other purposes. Passed April 8, 1811. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 6, p. 268. Section 4 directs the payment, on the first day of June, each year for five years, of $2,500. " for the use and •encouragement of common schools." The comptroller was authorized to subscribe $250,000 in the stock of the bank. This stock was to be paid for by the State. An act for the establishment of common schools. Passed April 12. 1812, Sess. Laws (Webster t;w lorit, a Relating to Schools. 1025 An act to amend chapter 385 of the Laws of 1862jentitled "An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relative to the city of Schenectady," Passed April 22. 1885. An act to ampml section 30, ni chapter 353, of the Laws of 1S67, entltled"An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of districts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a free nnion school or schools therein," Passed May 22, 1885. An act authorizing the Phoenix union free school and academy, district No. 12, of the town of Schroeppel, Oswego county, to borrow money for the payment of the existing indebtedness of said district. Passed April 24, 1886. An act to authorize the school district No. 13, in the town of Taghkanick, in the county of Colum- bia, to reorganize under the free school act, passed April 12, 1851. Passed April 2. 1855. Sess. Laws, p. 220 An act to incorporate the city of Troy. Passed April 12, 1816. Sess. Laws, p. 129. The fortieth and concluding sections relate to schools. The first four wards were erected into a permanent district, with power m the common council to raise by tax $500 annually to repair school-house and support a school, and also power to build a school-house and raise by tax the necessary money. This law re- mained In force, substantially, until 1819. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to prevent the sale of tickets of unauthorized lotteries, and to prevent the forgery of lottery tickets." Passed March 21, 1828. Sess. Laws, p. 100. Requires the mayor ot Troy to apply all the money received by him for granting licenses to the vendors of lot- tery tickets in Troy, to the trustees of district No. 1, to be by them expended in the establishment and support of a high school on the monitorial plan. An act concerning the tirst school district in the city of Troy. Passed April 12, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 331. An act co;icernIng the flrst school district in the city of Troy. Passed March 1, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 22. An act in relation to the flrst school district in the city of Troy, Passed April 5, 1848. Sess. Laws, p 292 An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to provide for the establishment of free schools in said city. Passed April 4, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 299. This act made the city a school district and declareil the schools free. An act to amend an act entitled " An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to establish free schools therein," passed April 14, 1849. Passed April 11, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 1409. An act in relation to free schools in the city ol Troy, and school district No. 10, in the town of Lan- =ilngburgh. Passed April 10, 18tO, Sess. Laws, 765. An act to amend the act entitled ' ' An act to amend the charter of the city of Troy, and to provide tor the establishment. of free schools in said city," passed April 4. 1849. Passed March 17,1851. Sess. ijaws, p. 55. An act to amend an act in relation to free schools in the city of Troy, and school district No. 10, In the town of Lanslngburgh, passed July 1, 1851 ; and to amend the act providing for free schools in the city of Troy, passed April 4, 1849. Passed March 28, 18.'>4. Sess. Laws, p. liiS. An act to enable the hoard of education of union free school district No. 1, of the town of Tona- waiida, Erie county, to borrow money to build a school-house, and to issue the bonds of the district, therefor. Passed March 9. 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. lOfi. An act to amend an act entitled ' ' An act to enable the board of education of union free school dis- trict No. 1, of the town of Tonawanda, Brie county, to borrow money to build a school-house, and" to issue the bonds of the district therefor," passed March 9, 1867. Passed March 8, 1870. Sess. Laws, p. 124. An act to organize a board of school commissioners in and for the city of Troy. Passed March 25^ 1873. Sess. Laws. p. 210. An act to amend chapter 353, of the Laws of 1862, entitled " An act to incorporate the Ten Broeck Free Academy." Passed April 3, 1879. An act to set aside the union free school district in the town of Tyrone, in the county of Schuyler, and the town of Wayne, in the county of Steuben. Passed April 30, 1879. An act to amend chapter 126, of the Laws of 1873, entitled " An act to organize a board of school commissioners in and for the city of Troy," ^nrt the several acts amendatory thereof. Passer! April 15,1881. An act to provide for the erection and furnishing of certain public buildings in the city of Troy, an ^^^ Buffalo, Special School Act 817 State Normal school ■*'" Building Committee 259 Cambridge, Special School Act 818 Camillus and Geddes, District No. 1, Special School Act 820 Castleton, Districts Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 7, Special School Act 820 Castleton and Soutliiield, District No. 1, Special School Act 820 Census, U. S. and State, when taken 296 Superintendent to follow, in making apportionment 15, 395, 296 Central New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes 156 Certificate of Apportionment of Public Moneys, By State Superintendent 16, 298 By school commissioners 21, 303 Town clerk to keep and record 25, 412 to notify trustee of the filing 25, 412 Certificates, Teachers', Annulment of, generally by Superintendent 5, 383 Commissioners' certificates, examinations for, granting, etc.. .10, 384-392 State certificates : 5, 879 annulment of 5, 383 examination for 5, 379 - 383 granted by State Superintendent 5, 379 list of, kept by Superintendent 5, 383 Temporary certificates 5, 380 Chaiuplain, District No. 1, Special School Act 821 Chairman of School Meeting, Appointment of 33, 190 in neighborhood 33, 190 To require declaration of challenged voter 33, 189 Challenge. {See Voters.) Cities, Children of adjoining district can be taught in schools of 99 Common Council to report school trust funds 17, 342 Evening schools for free-hand or industrial drawing in 116, 117 Not to be included in commissioner district 112,226, 227 Schools for colored children in 73, 221 State school moneys apportioned to 13, 14, 293, 293 Index. 1033 Clarence, Special School Act 821 Clarkson, Special School Act 832 Clerks, In the office of the State Superintendent 2, 314 Clerk. (-See Town Clerk.) Clerk of District, Acceptance of office 39, 140, 141 Costa in actions against 78, 126 Duties of 41, 141 - 144 attend meetings of trustees and keep minutes 43, 148 call special meetings, when 43, 142 deposit books and records of dissolved district 41, 143 give notice of annual meeting 41, 143, 185 give notice of special meetings 41, 142 keep all records, books, etc 41, 143 notify trustees of acceptance of their resignation 41, 143 post notices of adjourned meeting 41, 142, 185 ■ record all district proceedings 41, 141 record all reports made by the trustees 41, 141 report to town clerk the names and post-office address of all dis- trict officers 41, 142 To rocord amount of costs and expenses on appeal to county judge to adjust 80, 128 Election of 33, 101, 139, 140 Eligibility to hold the office 88, 103, 140 Filing appointment of 40, 141 Loss of public money through 77, 162 Notices for special meetings served by 30, 31, 180 - 184 Penalty for not delivering books and records to successor 41, 143 Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 Refusal to serve 39,140, 141 Resignation, how made and accepted 40, 161 Term of office 38,40,140, 141 To notify district officer of his appointment 40, 141 To notify district officer of his election 39, 41, 140-142, 420, 421 Vacancy, how filled 40,140, 141 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Minutes kept by should be accurate 510 not conclusive evidence 510 Must permit persons to have access to school records 510 No power to authorize other person to give notice 509 Not entitled to compensation 510 Notice of meetings given by 509 Records kept by 510 Special meeting, when can be called by 509 Clyde High School, Special act 824 Code of Public Instruction, Act for distribution of 117, 118 Custody of 117, 118 Penalty against trustees for loss of 118 130 1034 Index. Cohoes, Special School Act 825 Collector, Action upon collector's bond 58 369 Acceptance of oflSce 39 Appointment of, to fill vacancy 39, 40, 146 Bond of 34, 55, 56, 145, 363, 363, 365, 369 Bond of, filed and recorded by town clerk 56, 363 363 Certificate of return to tax list, made by 369 Costs in actions against 78, 126 Custodian of all moneys raised by tax 57, 368 Duties of, at election of officers in districts having over 300 children 101 103, 103 Electionof 38,34,101, 145 Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 145 Fees of 56, 109, 364, 371 Filing appointment of 40, 146 Forfeits to district amount of moneys lost through his neglect . . .57, 369 Notice of assessment to railroad company 56, 364 Notice of election or appointment 39, 40, 41, 143, 146 Notice of tax list and warrant to be given 56, 363, 364 Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 Payment of moneys to successor 57, 216, 368 Refusal to serve 39, 40 Report to annual meeting 57, 316, 368 Resignation, how made, etc 40, 161 Statement of taxes against railroads made by 109, 110, 371 Tax warrant, how to execute ; 55, 360, 361 where executed 56, 365, 366 Taxes in counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand inhabitants 373 Taxes against railroad companies, collection of 109, 110, 864, 371 Termof 38,40,145, 146 Unpaid taxes to be returned by 53, 356, 357 Vacates his office, how 39, 146 \T lie following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' I)eoisions.'\ Bond of 511, 513 Collector's bondsmen cannot be reimbursed by tax on the district for moneys lost by the collector 511 Custodian of district moneys 512, 513 Eligibility 513 Jurisdiction of 513 Resignation of 518 Trustees not bound to indemnify 512 College Point, Special School Act 846 Colored Children, Schools for 73, 321 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.l Cannot be excluded from district school unless school for colored children is maintained 514, 5] 5 Index. 1035 Commissioner. (See School Gommiamner.) Common School Fund, How apportioned 393, 293 How constituted 288 ComptroUei', Temporary loan made for county 13, 390, 291 Withholding State school moneys from counties 13, 390, 391 Compulsory Education, Act for 91-96 Contingent Fund, Equitable allowance to districts paid from 15, 296, 397 State school moneys apportioned to 14, 393, 293 Supplementary apportionment paid from 16, 289 Contract. (See Teacher.) Trustees of district to make, with boards of education of adjoining city or village to teach the children of the district. . 99 State Superintendent to make, with American Museum of Natural History 488-485 Cornell University, Leave of absence granted to student 487 Record of examinations and appointments to be kept by Superin- tendent 487 State Superintendent trustee ex officio 3, 315 State scholarships in 486 examination of candidates for 486 how awarded 486 notices for examinations 487 qualifications of candidates 486 Corning, Special School Act 838 Cortland, Special School Act 830 State Normal school 473 Costs, In actions against school officers 78, 136, 127 In actions or proceedings brought by or against school officers, and a district meeting has instructed such officers to bring or defend the action or proceeding 79, 126 Proceedings before county judge to adjust 79, 80 Power of meeting to levy tax for 34, 139, 195 When disputed by a district meeting, countyjjudge to adjust. . . .79, 80 127-139 When meeting did not instruct officers to bring or defend 79, 127 Counties, Loan for, in case of deficiency 13, 290, 291 State school moneys apportioned to 15, 295, 396 Supplementary apportionment to 16, 298 What counties are excepted from act relating to election of officers in districts having over 300 children 103 1036 Index. County Clerk, Notice of the election or appointment of school commissioner to be given State Superintendent by 7, 233 Notice of a vacancy in the cflSce of school commissioner to be given county judge and State Superintendent 7, 834 County Judge, Appointment of school commissioner by 7, 334 Costs and expenses in actions by and against school oflScers, ad- justed by 79-81,137-129 To designate person to receive the public moneys 33, 307 County Treasurer. (See Treasurer.) Deaf and Dumb, Duties of Superintendent respecting the institutions 3, 153 Examination of Institutions by State Superintendent 3, 153 Institutions under supervision of State Superintendent 3, 153 Institutions: Central New York Institution for Deaf Mutes 156 Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes 155 New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb 3,147,153-155 Northern New York Institution for Deaf Mutes ." . 157 St. Joseph's Institute for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes 157 The Le Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruc- tion of Deaf Mutes 156 Western New York Institution for Deaf Mutes 156 Pupils, appointment of 3, 147 board, lodging and tuition 4, 148 clothing for 149 county pupils 157 form of application 150 form of appointment 151 form of notice to supervisors 152 high class 148,149, 156 qualifications for appointment 3, 147, 148 regulations for admission 4, 148 term of appointment 4_ 148 Report of Superintendent to Legislature concerning 3, 152 Debts of a dissolved district 39,354, 355 Decisions of the Courts, Appeals 132 Collector ]^4g Meetings 186-188, 193-194," 196,' 197 Schools 218 School districts 348," 250, 255 School-houses 260, 271 273 School-house sites 374-376' 287 State school moneys ' 3]^ Taxes. . .331-334, 336, 338-840, 844^346, 349, 353, 855, 361," 364,' 365, 367 ^ , 373,375-377 Teachers 4Qg Trustees.... ". ".■.■.".".■.■ 439', 430 U nion free schools 4g0 451 Index. 1037 Deerpark, Special School Act 833 Deerpark and Johnstown, Act authorizing appointment of a Superintendent 982 Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., Assessment and collection of taxes against 106, 107, 372 Deputy State Superintendent, Appointment of 2, 313 List of Deputies 313 Dictionary, Trustees may purchase 46, 435, 436 Diplomas, Normal School Diplomas: Annulment of 5, 383 Certificates of qualifications to teach 465 List of, to be kept in office of State Superintendent 5, 383 Districts. (See School Commissioner Districts; School Districts.) District Attorney, Embezzlement by 19, 160 Report of concerning fines and penalties collected 19, 159 Drawing, industrial or free hand. Evening School for 116, 117 State Superintendent may excuse union free schools from teaching it 98 To be taught in the Normal Schools 98 To be taught in the schools of each city 98 To be taught in the union free schools under special act 98 Dunkirk, Special School Act 833 East Chester, Special School Act 835 Elbridge, Special School Act 838 Election, District ofiicers 33, 34 Clerk 33,34, 101,189, 140 Collector 33,34,101, 145 Librarian 33, 34. 101, 166 Trustees 33, 34, 101, 416 - 41 8 In districts having over 300 children 101-103 Of officers in union free school districts 63, 440 - 443 New election in districts having over 300 children may be ordered by Superintendent 103 School Commissioner 6, 233, 234 State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1, 312 [Tlie following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Adjourned meeting cannot rescind election of 516 Cannot accept incompatible offices 520' 1038 Index. Election — {Continued). Chairman cannot pass upon the qualifications of voters 522 Chairman cannot pass upon legality of election 524 Changing the number of trustees 521 Election cannot be rescinded 521 Election vitiated by illegal votes, vifhen 418 Election set aside when opportunity for voting vras not given 573 Failure to declare the vote will not invalidate the election 522 Illegal votes 418 In common school districts a majority vote is required to elect 517 Intention of voters controls when name on ballot is not correct. . . . 520 Ineligibility of candidate not being known to electors, the opposing candidate cannot be declared elected 525 Member of board of education must be by ballot 418 Setting aside an election on the ground of illegal voting, what must appear 523, 527 Terms cannot be chosen by lot 571 Trustees can be elected by ballot or otherwise 531 Trustees elected at meetings not legally called, tenure of oflace, etc. . . 517 Vacancy may be filled by meeting at any time 516 Vacating office by announcing at meeting that he will not serve 522 Vote how taken 526 When vote is a tie, another vote must be taken 419 Elmira, Special School Act 838 Equalization, Taxes on land of district lying in different towns 52, 349 - 852 [The following references are to tlie Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Of taxes when school district lies in two or more towns 539, 530 Supervisors have no power to change the valuations as contained in town assessment-rolls 530 Evening Schools. {See Schools.) Examination, Of applicants for admission to State normal schools 465 Of applicants for State scholarships in Cornell University 486, 487 Of teachers for school commissioners' certificates 10, 384 - 394 Of teachers for State certificates 5, 379 _ 383 Fines and Penalties, Against school commissioner for acting as agent for bookseller or publisher 8, 237 Against clerk for refusing to record name of voter, etc 102 clerk for refusal to keep records '. 41, 142 district officer for refusal or neglect to serve 40 161 school officer for loss of public money 77 ig2 supervisors for refusal to give bond 23 307 trustee for not reporting to annual meeting 48 215 for refusal to pay funds to successor 48, 215 for false report to commissioner 50 203 for paying public moneys to unqualified teacher 43' 401 for loss of library money 61 178 for loss of Code of Public Instruction ' 118 for not closing school during teachers' institute 409 Apportionment of by commissioners 20 300 Index. 1039 Fines and Pen-a.lties — (.Continued). Apportionmeat of by Superintendent 18, 19, 159 Commissioners to procure list of 20, 300 Disturbing school or school meeting 78^ 1(33 Duly of officer to sue for penalty 77, 162 Embezzlement of moneys paid for 19, 16o! 161 For the benefit of what schools 18, 159 For illegal voting at school meetings 33, 190 For false declaration of right to vote 33, 190 For violation of Compulsory Education Act 93 For violation of Text-Book Act 100 In reference to library books 60, 174 Loss of public money to a district 77, 162, 256, 257 Refusal to deliver books, papers and records of dissolved school district 29, 256 Refusal to serve notice for special meeting ' 31, 183 Report of by district attorney 19, 159 Report of by county treasurer 18, 159 Sole trustee subject to same as joint trustee 43, 422 Supervisor for not making return of unexpended moneys 24, 307 Supervisor to sue for and recover ; 25, 323, 324 To what town or district paid 18, 19,159, 160 Where to be paid 18,19, 159 Flushing, District No. 3, Special School Act 842 District No. 5, Special School Act 844 District No. 7, Special School Act 846 Forest Commission, To approve of tax for school-house upon State lands 114 Forest Preserve, Taxes upon, for school-houses, how levied and collected 113, 114 Forms, Alteration of school district where trustees consent 246 Alteration of school district where trustees do not consent 246, 251 Appointment of trustees 420 Blind pupils, application for the appointment of 133 Blind pupils, appointment of 134 Blind pupils, notice to supervisors of appointment, etc 135 Bond given by supervisor 306 Certificate of trustees to accounts and inventory of property 427 Collector's bond 363 Collector's return to tax-list 369 Condemning school-house by commissioner 265 Consent of trustees to alteration of district 246 Deaf and Dumb pupils, application for the appointment of 150 Deaf and Dumb pupils, appointment of 151 Deaf and Dumb pupils, notice to supervisors of appointment, etc. . . 152 Memorandum of teachers' contract . 400 Notice for first meeting in new district 180 to school officer of an application for his removal 316 to teacher of charges preferred 394 to trustees of alteration of school districts 28, 248, 249 Order upon supervisor for teacher's wages 309, 401 Taxes, equalization of , in districts lying in different towns 351 Tax-list 330 Teachers' certificates 388-392 1040 Index. Forms — (Continued). Teachers' oath to register 404 Testimony taiien by commissioner in appeals 11, 125, 126 Union free school district, call for formation of 438 notice for meeting 438 Unpaid taxes, return of tax list 357 Warrant to tax list 381 Fort Covington, Special School Act 847 Fort Edward, Special School itct ... 849 Fredonia, Special School Act 849 State Normal School 478 Free School Fund, Apportionment of 292, 293 Bank booli for, furnished Superintendent 13, 289 Checks for, to be countersigned and entered by Superintendent. .12, 290 Clerk of board of supervisors to Include in tax levy 12, 289 Depository of 12, 289 How constituted .- 288, 289 How paid out 12, 289 Salaries of school commissioners paid from 107, 235 Statement of, by State treasurer 12, 289 To be paid into State treasury 12, 289 Fuel... ..34,44,46,258, 424 Geneseo Normal School 474 Geneva, Special School Act 956 Glens Falls, Special School Act 849 Globes, etc 34,46,193,198,425, 426 Library money, when used for 59, 170, 171 Go wan da. Special School Act 849 Gospel and School Lots. (See Trust Vunds.) Grand Island, Special School Act 849 Hamilton, Special School Act , 850 Hempstead, Special School Act 852 Holidays, Act defining. 96, 97, 293, 294 Included in school term 14 293 Index. 1041 Hoosick, Special School Act - 853 Homellsville, Special School Act S53 Hudson, Special School Act 855 Huntin^on, Special School Act 857 Indians, Apportionment of moneys for 14, 81, 392, 293 Children not to be enumerated in trustee's report 49, 203 when not admitted to district school 43, 219, 320 Public money drawn by 86 Report of Superintendent to legislature 86 Reports required by Superintendent 86 Schools established for children 85 - 87 School-houses for 86 State Superintendent to provide for the education 6f Indian children. 3 85, 315 to visit reservations 86 Superintendents of Indian schools , 86 Title to lands to be protected 86 Inhabitants, Duty to attend school meetings 33, 186 Penalty against, for illegal voting at school meetings 33, 190 Taxable inhabitants, who are 53, 353 Who are legal voters at school meetings 33, 33, 186 - 189 Inspectors of Election, For school officers in districts having over 300 children 101 - 103 Institute. {See Teachers' Institute.) Institution for.tlie Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes. 155 Insurance, Of apparatus 44, 45, 266 Of libraries 45, 168 Of Normal School buildings 468 Of school-house, appendages, etc 34, 44, 266 Must be in company created by laws of this State 84, 45, 266 Trustees must comply with conditions of policy 45, 168 Islip, Special School Act 859 Ithaca, Special School Act 860 Jamaica, Special School Act 864 Jamestown, Special School Act 866 131 1042 Ijsidex. Johnstown ..District No. 16, Act authorizing appointment of superintendent 983 Judgment for Teachers' Wages, Payment of • 35, 403 Justices of the Peace, Jurisdiction under Compulsory Education Act 95 in cases of trespass in or injury to buildings and grounds of Nor- mal Schools 467 Kingston, Special School Act 866 Laud, Defined • 335 Non-resident lands, assessment of 51, 53, 333, 354, 355 Liansingburgh, Act authorizing appointment of a superintendent 983 Legislature, Election of State Superintendent of Public Instruction by 1, 313 To control and regulale trust funds 17, 431 Trust funds for schools, accepted by 17, 431 liicenses. {See Certificates and Teachers.) Librarian, Acceptance of oflSce 39 Dutiesof 43, 167 Election of 33, 34, 101, 166 Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 166 Filing appointment of 40, 167 Joint library, appointment of 59, 60, 173 Liability for books lost 59, 173 Notice of election or appointment 39-41, 143 Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161 Refusal to serve 39, 40 Resignation, how made, etc 40, 161 Subject to direction of trustees 59, 171, 178 Term of office 38, 40, 166 Vacancy, how filled 40, 167 [The following reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'\ Librarian not entitled to compensation 563 Libraries, Books may be selected by Superintendent 61, 178 Book-case 34, 58, 168, 169 Expense of repairing books 59, 171, 173 Insurance on 44, 45, 168 Joint library. Appointment of librarian 59, 60, 173 Division of books, when dissolved 60, 173 How dissolved 60, 173 How formed 59, 60, 173 Liability of officers for books lost 59, 172 Index. 1043 Libraries — (Continued). Moneys (Public) apportioned for 14, 20, 58, 169, I'TO, 393, 393, 299 how forfeited. 61, 178 loss of, to a district 61 178 to be applied to 39, 172 used for maps, globes, etc 59, 170, 171 used for teachers' wages 46, 59, 168, 170, 171, 403 withholden from a district 61 178 Money collected as penalties, used for 118 Repeal of act concerning . 63, 179 Report of trustees concerning 61, 178 Rules and regulations concerning 60, 174 - 178 Selection of bobks for 61, 170, 178 Taxforboolts 34, 58, 168, 169 Teacher to assist in examining 61, 178 Trustees of the library 59, 171, 173 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Exchange of old books for new ones 568 Part of district set ofE not entitled to a part of library 564 Selling 563, 564 liittle Falls and Manheiin, Special School Act 870 Act authorizing appointment of a Superintendent 983 Liocal Board, For alteration of school district 38, 349, 350 liOckport, ' Special School Act 870 Ijong Island City, Special School Act 875 Liyons, Special School Act 880 Malone, Districts Nos. 1, 14, 15 and 33, Special Act 883 Maps, Library moneys used for < 59, 170, 171 Meeting to provide , 34, 193, 193 Trustees to purchase 46, 435, 436 Medina, Special School Act 885 Meetings, Annual, Changing the number of trustees 39, 416-418 Notice of 41,142, 185 Text-books to be adopted by 100 how changed by 100 Time and place of holding 31. 103, 184, 185 To determine the number of trustees 38, 416 - 418 To prescribe mode of calling special meetings 31, 183 When illegal for want of notice 31, 186 When not held, special to be called 32, 185, 186 10i4 Index. Meetings, Annual — (Continued). [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Annual meeting, when set aside 570 Notice . 578, 579 Time of day for annual meeting 573, 574 - 576 Meetings, Special, Change of school-house site made at 37, 276 - 278 Dissolution of joint districts decided by 28, 252, 253 Dissolved school district may hold, powers of 29, 256 First meeting in new district, notice for 30, 180 - 183 How called 30, 31, 44, 183 - 184 Illegal for want of notice, when 31, 186 Notice for, contents and service of 31, 41, 143, 182 - 184 Powers of, in case of condemned school-house 10, 264 To be called when school-house has been condemned 10, 264 [ThefoUowinff references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Call for, legality of 570, 584 Commissioner may call meeting for election of officers, when 584 How called 579 Meeting set aside on account of irregularity of notice 578 No business can be transacted which was not stated in notice . . . 584, 587 Notice 578, 579, 584 Proceedings not set aside because notices were served by contractor. 577 Proceedings will not be set aside because majority of inhabitants, having notice, did not attend i 571 Reducing estimate of commissioner in order condemning school- house 583 Trustees to call, when 565 - 569 Meetings, Annual or Special, Adjournment 33, 191, 192 Bail of collector fixed by , 34, 145 Chairman, appointment of, 33, 190, 191 Clerk, appointment of 33, 139 Disturbing, penalty for 78, 163 Duty of inhabitants to attend 32, 186 Election of officers by 33, 34, 38, 39, 139, 145, 166, 193, 416, 417 Illegal voting at, etc '. 33, 190 Insurance of school-house directed by .-34, 44, 266 Insurance of libraries directed by 45, 168 May authorize employment of trustee's relative as teacher 45, 398 Notice of adjourned meeting 41, 142, 185 Records of, how kept 41, 142 - 144 Resignation of district officers accepted by 40, 161, 421 Sale of' school-house and site directed by . . . 37, 371, 378, 379 School -house sites, designation of 3i\ 273 Taxes voted by [ 34 apparatus, maps, globes and blackboards 34, 193, 193 book-case 34, 58, 168, 169 costs and expenses in suits and appeals 34, 79, 137, 129, 195 deficiency in former tax list , 34, 193 for record book 34, 194^ 195 for school-houses 34, 353 for school-house sites 34 273 for teachers' wages 35, 402', 403 Index. 1045 Meetings, Special — {.Continued). fuel 34, 258 library books 84,58,168, 169 text-books for poor children 34, 193, 193 to pay expenses of vaccination of poor children 88 to pay judgment for teachers' wages 35, 403 to replace moneys lost or embezzled ; 34, 195 ^ Voters at, who are qualified 33, 33, 186 - 189 [ThefoUomng references (ure to the Digest of Superintendents Decisions.'] Cannot change term of trustee's office 583 vote to refund moneys paid on . judgment against collector's sureties 583 vote tax for purchase of organ 583 vote tax to build public hall and school-house combined 583 Chairman of, cannot reconvene meeting after adjournment 577 Disorderly proceedings, meeting set aside for 575 Motion to adjourn, entertainment of 573 Notice 578, 579 No power to dissolve or annul a district 580 Powers of 579 Proceedings set aside for disorderly conduct 589 will not be set aside because record was not kept 591 set aside on account of fraud 573 set aside for voting exorbitant sum to pay in advance rent of school-house site, etc ' 579 set aside for uncertainty, where there was a surplus of ballots. . 573 cannot be set aside by trustees 564 carried by illegal votes set aside 585 will not be set aside because declaration was not administered to persons challenged 571 Prosecution of delinquent trustees cannot be controlled by 579 Rescinding action of former meeting 587 Rules for 573 Vote upon estimate of expenses must be taken item by item 580 Middletown, Special School Act 886 Milton, District No. 1, Special School Act 888 Milton and Ballston, District No. 12, Special Act 891 Misdemeanors, Embezzlement of moneys paid as fines or penalties 19, 160 Embezzlement of trust funds by supervisor 33, 333, 435 False report by trustee 50, 303 For false declaration of right to vote at school meetings 33, 190 Injury to Normal School buildings or grounds 467 Misdemeanor defined (Penal Code) 161 Payment of State moneys to unqualified teacher 43, 401 Supervisor's refusal to give bond 23, 307 To procure or solicit a school commissioner to act as agent for book- seller or publisher 8, 337 Trustee not to close school during a teacuers' institute 410 104:6 Index. Moneys. (See State School Moneys.) Balance in hands of trustees to be paid to successor 48, 438 Collection of moneys due a dissolved district 39, 355 Collector the custodian of moneys raised by tax 57, 368 From sale of property of dissolved district 39, 354, 355 Loss of public money to a district through school officer 77, 163 Library moneys, -when used for teacher's wages 59, 170, 171 loss of, to a district 61, 178 when used for maps, globes, etc 59, 170, 171 when withholdeu or forfeited 61, 178 Loss of money to a district by neglect of collector 57. 369 Of dissolved district, apportionment of 29, 254 - 256 Replacing district moneys lost or embezzled 34, 195 Trustee to sue predecessor for .48, 438 Monticello, Special School Act 891 Morrisania, Special Act 892 Morrisville, Special Act 892 Mount Morris, Special School Act 892 Neighborhoods, Annual meeting in 31, 184 Apportionment of State school moneys to ,15, 30, 296, 397, 299 Certificate of apportionment of public moneys to 21, 303 Clerk, duties of 41, 141 Description of 27, 344, 345 Excusing default of 15, 297 First meeting in. 80, 180 Formation of 27, 244 Loss of public money to , 77, 163 Qualifications of officers 38 Special meeting in 81, 182, 188 Term of officers 38 Newburgh, Special School Act 896 New Paltz, State Normal School 475 New Rochelle, Special School Act 898 Newtown, Special School Act qqq District No. 11, Special School Act 902 New Tork, Institution for the Blind 3, 130, 183, 135- 137 Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. . . .2, 147, 158 - 155 Index, 1047 New York City, Chamberlain of, to apply for State school moneys 16, 298 Special School Acts • • • • 903 New York State, Institution for the Blind at Batavia 3, 130, 137, 138 Asylum for Idiots, State Superintendent to be ex officio trustee of ..3, 315 Normal Schools, An act in regard to Normal schools 463 Buildings and grounds, custody and management of 467 Diplomas, annulment of by Superintendent 5, 383 Diplomas certificates of qualification to teach ' 465 Drawing to be taught in 98, 466 Examination of applicants for admission 465 Injury to buildings or grounds a misdemeanor 467 Insurance of buildings 468 List of normal school diplomas to be kept in office of State Superin- tendent 5, 383 Local board, appointment of, by Superintendent 464 Physiology and hygiene to be taught in 112, 220 Powers and duties of local board 463 - 466 : Powers generally of Superintendent over 463 - 466 Report of local board 464 Special acts for: Albany 468, 469 Brockport 470, 471 Buffalo 472 Cortland 473 Fredonia 473 Qeneseo 474 New Paltz 475 Oswego 476, 477 Oneonta 478 Potsdam 478 Special policemen to protect property of, appointment of 467 Sta:te Superintendent to have supervision over 2, 315, 464 Northern New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes 157 Notice, Appeal to county judge for adjustment of costs and expenses. . . .80, 128 Of adjourned district meeting 41, 142 Of annual distrtfct meeting 41, 142 Of apportionment of State school moneys by Superintendent 16, 398 Of certain taxes in union free school districts 67, 446 Of examination for commissioners' certificates 386 Of examination for State certificates 5, 380 Of examination of applicants for State scholarships in Cornell Uni- versity 487 Of first meeting in new district, service,, etc 30, 180 - 183 Of meeting Of board of trustees 44, 423, 434 Of original assessment 51, 347 Of special meeting, service of 31, 41, 44, 143, 183 - 184 Of tax list and warrant by collector 56, 363, 364 to railroad company 56, 364 Of teachers' institutes 74, 406 Of the annulment of certificates by commissioner 10, 393 Ofthesaleof bonds for school -house 37,263, 263 1048 Index. Notice — (Continued). Of vaccination of pupils 87 Of vacancy in the office of school commissioner to be given county judge and State Superintendent by county clerk 7, 234 Supervisor to notify successor of the filing of his account 25, 308 To district officer of his election 39, 41, 140-142, 420, 421 To school commissioners, election or appointment of 7, 333 To school officer of an application for his removal 316 To trustees of alteration of school district 28,248, 249 To trustees of the acceptance of their resignation 41, 142 Union free school district, formation of 63, 63, 437 - 440 Nuisance, Abatement of, ordered by school commissioner 9, 268 by trustees 46, 269, 425, 436 Oaths, Administered by school commissioner 11, 135 Office, oath of, by school commissioner 7, 234 Teachers' oath to register 47, 404 Officers, [ThefoUowing reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.1 Where certain duties are required of public officers, their perform- ance will be presumed unless the contrary is shown 591 Ogdensburgh, Special School Act 913 Olean, Act authorizing appointment of a superintendent 983 Oneonta, State normal school 478 Onondaga, Special School Act 916 Orangetown, Special School Act 918 Orphan Asylums, Apportionment of State school money to 83, 304 Subject to the rules and regulations of common schools 83, 304 Oswego, Special School act 9I9 State normal school 476 477 Out-buildings, Expense for constructing, how levied 116, 369, 370 Repairs upon, directed by school commissioner 9 268 made by trustee 46, 368-270, 435,' 436 Separated by fence, etc 116 269 270 To be kept clean, etc '. ] ng Two in number to be provided for each school 116, 269' 270 Index. 1049 Owego, Special School Act 923 Oyster Bay, District No. 4, Special School Act 925 District No. 5, Special School Act 937 Palmyra, Special School Act 937 Penalties. (See Fines and Perudties.) Penn Yan, Special School Act 938 Phelps, Special School Act 932 Phoenix, Special School Act 932 Physician, Appointment by trustees to ascertain children vaccinated and not vaccinated 87 To vaccinate poor children 88 To give certificates of vaccination • 88 Fees paid by trustees 88 Physiology and Hygiene, To be taught in the schools 112, 320 Teachers to pass examination in 113, 330 Pipe-line companies. Taxes against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 370, 371 Plans and Specifications for school-houses. Superintendent to procure and publish 118, 119, 363, 364 Plattshurgh, Districts Nos. 1, 3 and 5, Special School Act 934 Policemen, Appointment of special policemen to protect property of Normal Schools .• 467 Port Byron, Special School Act 936 Port Richmond, Special School Act 938 Post-ofQce address, Of school officers to be furnished town clerks 41, 143 Of school officers to be furnished commissioners 36, 414 Potsdam, State Normal School 478 Poughkeepsie, Special School Act '. 939 132 1050 Index. Privies. (See OiU-bUildings.) Property, Exemptions from taxation. . , 341 - 345 List of district property made by trustees 4'?, 437 Of Normal Schools, custody and protection of 467 Personal, defined, assessment of .SI, 332 - 335 Real, defined, assessment of 51, 333 - 338 Beal estate, equalization of, for taxes 53, 349 - 853 Trust funds for schools 17, 431-433 Trustees of school district to hold as a corporation ^, 438 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents Decisions.] Apportionment of property of dissolved district 593 Fence about school-house, sale of, replacing, etc 593, 594 Loss of, when officers are not responsible for 593 Property bequeathed to a town for the use of common schools 593 Sale of, when district is annulled 593 593 Public Money. {See State School Moneys.) Pulaski, Special School Act 941 Pupils, Non-resident, how admitted to schools . 43, 317, 219 Not vaccinated to be excluded from school 87 Tax of non-resident deducted from tuition 42, 113, 317, 319 Tuition of non-resident 43, 113, 217, 219 Vaccination of poor children gg Who are entitled to attend the district schools 42, 217 [The following references an-e to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Abuse of discretion in the enforcement of discipline 601 Authority of trustee and teacher, when it ceases .* . . 602 Course of study for g05 Cruel and unusual punishment gOl Discipline and punishment gQl Exclusion of tardy pupils 605 Expelling, rale for, etc g03 Non-resident, rights of g03' go4 Studies of, etc. ' ggs Suspension ....'.'.".'.". .603^ 606 Trustees cannot impose fine upon pupil gOl Tuition of non-resident ■ _" ' gQ^ Quota. {See Teachers.) Railroads, Apportionment among different districts 90, 91, 370 Assessment of property. '90' g^n Change in apportionment when districts are altered. * .'.91', "I'o"?, 37l' 372 Collection of taxes against .'. .56 109* 364 Delaware and Hudson Canal Co. taxes 106* 107* 372 Duties of county treasurer respecting taxes ..'. '.'.109 HQ 371 Payment of taxes by \ I1O9', 1 lo' 371 Statement of apportionment furnished by town clerk. .'.91,'l07i 370* 372 Inbex. 1051 Rate Bills, Abolished 82, 317, 331-224 Records, Of appeal to couuty'judge to adjust costs and expenses 80, 81, 138 Of dissolved school districts 37, 415 Of neighborhoods, how and where kept 41, 141 Of normal school diplomas 5, 383 Of school district, clerk to keep 41, 143 - 144 Of State certificates 5, 383 Of supervisors' accounts 26, 413, 414 Of teachers' examinations by commissioners 386 Of the examination and appointment to State scholarships in Cornell University 487 Town clerk to file 25, 412 to report injury to supervisor , 26, 412 Register, Teachers', Aggregate attendance ascertained from 21, 301 Contents of 47, 404 Delivery to district clerk 43 Teachers to keep, etc 43, 47, 404 Teacher to verify 47, 404 Relationship, Degrees of, defined 395-398 List of relations within two degrees 898 Table of 397 Religious Meetings, [ThefoUowing references are to the Digest of Superintendents Decisions.'] ' Closing school-house against 606 Fuel furnished by societies occupying school-house 007 Use of school-house for 606-608 Repairs, Upon school-house, directed by commissioner 9, 268 directed by district meeting 34, 44 made by trustees 46, 269, 435, 436 Repeal, Of laws inconsistent with Consolidated School Act of 1864 81 Reports, Blanks for, to be prepared by State Superintendent 6, 317 Collector to annual meeting 57, 316, 368 Fines and penalties reported by district attorney 19, 1.59 county treasurer 19, 159 I Local boards of normal schools 464 Of joint districts lying in two counties 49, 303, 312-214 Of neighborhoods, contents, etc 50, 202, 303 Penalty for false report 50, 203 Record to be made of trustees' reports 41, 142 School cbmmissioriers to make, as required by Superintendent. . .11, 199 300, 201 State Superintendent: annual report, to legislature 3, 18, 136, 152 distribution of 119, 199 number of copies of 119, 199 1052 Index. Reports - Trust funds, by different ofllcers 18, 433 Trustees' report to annual meeting 47, 48, 315 Trustees to school commissioner 48-50, 301 - 215 filed with town clerk 48, 201, 204 when made 48, 201 Contents of trustees' report: Amount raised by district tax and expended 49, 203 Concerning teachers' institutes 75, 407, 408 Drafts of trustees 49, 201 Items required by Superintendent, explanations, etc 203 - 215 Number of children vaccinated 87, 208 attending school 49, 201 residing in district 49, 203, 307, 208 taught in adjoining city under contract 99 Time school was maintained 48, 201, 308 What children are resident 49, 202, 207, 208 Town clerk to deliver trustees' report to school commissioner. . . .26, 413 Kesidence, Of school district officers 38, 140, 145, 166, 419 What children are residents of district 49, 203 What constitutes residence IS"? - 189 [The following references are to fhe Digest of Superintendents Decisions.] Changing residence to avoid enumeration 608 Children residing with grandparents 613 of temporary residents to be enumerated 608 Facts proving residence 610 Gaining residence, how 608 Of children at boarding-school 609 .' Question of residence to be liberally construed in favor of pupil. . . . 611 Removal from district, what constitutes. . . '. 613 With guardian 613 What constitutes residence 610 613 designation. Of district officers 40 161 421 Of school commissioner 7' 234 Kochester, Special School Act 943 Rome, Special School Act g^g Rooms, Trustees can hire when necessary for keeping school 46, 435, 426 Rules of Practice, In appeals j23, 124 Sag Harbor, Special School Act g^g Salary, Of State Superintendent 3 gj^ Of clerks in Superintendent's office * g' 314 Of school commissioners 7,' si 13,335,' 236, Soi - 293 Index. 1053 Salem, Special School Act 948 Salina, District No. 6, Special School Act 950 Saratoga Springs, Special School Act 951 Schenectady, Special School Act 953 Schools, Children of district to be taught in schools of an adjoining city 99 Closed during teachers' institute 75, 407, 409 Disturbing school, penalty for 78, 103 Evening (schools 295 Evening schools for industrial drawing 116, 117 Excluding children not vaccinated 87 For colored children 73, 221 Free to all resident children of school age 42, 217 History of 221-224 Indian schools 2, 85-87, 315 Indian children not to be admitted, when 42, 219, 220 Non-residents, how admitted 42, 217, 219 Physiology and hygiene to be taught in 112, 220 State tax for 11, 12, 289 Temporary rooms for 46, 425, 426 Visitation of, by State Superintendent 5, 316 [These references we to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Branch schools, trustees have the power to establish, etc 614 appeal from trustee's action in establishing 616 district meeting cannot restrain establishment of 616 restraining trustees from establishing 616 when to establish 614, 615 Board of Education cannot make contract to employ only " sisters " . 623 Duty of trustee to maintain school 617 Meeting cannot direct that no school be maintained in the district. .. 617 Religious exercises in 618, 619, 621 Sectarian schools 622 Studies in 621 School Commissioner, Appointment of 7,234, 235 Apportionment of State school moneys by 20-23, 299 - 805 of fines and penalties 20, 300 of moneys of dissolved district 29, 254 - 256 Approval of tax exceeding $500 for school-house 36, 261, 262 Approval of plans for school-house 36, 261, 262 Ballots for 6, 233 Boundaries of school districts, to examine and amend record. . . .8, 9, 253 Cannot act as other school officer 7, 234 Cannot be trustee of school district 38, 225, 418 Certificate of apportionment of public moneys by 21, 303 Condemning school-houses, order, etc 9, 264 265 Consulting and advising district officers 9, 288 1054 Index. School Commissioner — (Oontinued). Correcting errors in apportionment of public moneys .33, 304 Duties generally 11, 338 - 240 Eligibility to hold the office 253 Election of 6,333, 334 Endorsing Regents certificate Ill, 457 Examination of school-house and grounds 9, 238 Expenses of amending or defining district boundaries 8, 9, 253 Fines and penalties, to procure list of 20, 300 First meeting in new district, called by 30, 180, 183 Jurisdiction of 236 Loss of public money through neglect of 77, 163 Neighborhoods, formation of 27, 344 Notification of the election or appointment to be sent to State Super- intendent 7, 233 Nuisances, order of abatement 9, 268 Oaths administered by 11, 125 Oath of office 7, 234 Office of 6, 235 Out-buildings, to order repairs upon 9, 268 Performance of the duties of a commissioner of an adjoining district, 8, 2S6 Removal from office 6, 8, 337, 343 Report made by, etc 11, 199 - 201 Resignation of 7, 234 jRecommending the excusing a district in default 15, 297 Salary of.... 7, 13, 107, 285, 391-293 increase of, by supervisors 7, 8, 235, 236 withholding, by Superintendent 8, 236 School districts, to divide territory into 27, 344 joint, to form '. 37, 344 to form, alter and dissolve 37-29, 344-354 School-houses, alterations and repairs directed by 9, 368 Shall not act as agent for bookseller or publisher 8, 387 Special meeting called by 30, 183, 184 Subject to the rules and regulations of State Superintendent. . . 11, 243 Teachers' certificates, granted by 10, 111, 884, 457 annulment of, upon charges 10, 393 examinations for, etc 10, 384 - 393 Teachers' institutes organized by 73, 406 to give notice of 74, 406 to send catalogue of persons attending, to Superintendent 76, 408 Term of commis3ioner appointed 7, 235 Term of office 7, 234 Testimony in appeals taken by 11, 125, 136 To order a delivery of books, papers and records of a dissolved dis- trict to town clerk 29, 356 To approve of expense of constructing out-buildings 116, 269, 270 Trust funds granted to 17, 431 Union Free School districts numbered by 64, 441, 442 Unexpended moneys, to procure list of 30, 299 Vacates his office, how 7, 334 Visiting and examining schools 9, 337, 238 [The foUomng references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'\ I Cannot adjudicate upon the validity of predecessor's order 635 * Cannot continue in other business or teach school 637 Caunot set aside proceedings of district meeting 636 Index. 1055 School Commissioner — (Continued). Evidence of appointment of, must be received by Saperintendent before salary can be paid 635 Indorsing teacher's certificate 636 Residence in district which elects him not required 636 School Commissioner Districts, Alteration and formation of, by supervisors 108, 336 Cities not included in, when 113, 336, 237 Division of, into school districts 37, 344 List of districts by towns 237-333 Organization of 6, 335, 336 [ThefoUomng reference is to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Order of Board of Supervisors forming 627 School Districts, Alteration, formation and dissolution of 37-39, 344 - 353 Alteration when trustees refuse to consent 38, 347 - 350 when trustees consent 37, 346 Boundaries, examination of and defining by commissioner 8, 9, 253 Certificate of apportionment of public moneys to 21, 303 Children of, taught in schools of adjoining city 99 >'' Confirming or vacating, order of alteration 28, 249 ■' Default, excused by Superintendent 15, 397 Descriptions of 27,244, 345 Descriptions of, recorded by town clerk 26, 143, 414 Dissolved districts, books, papers and records of 37, 39, 41, 142, 356, 414 mayhol'd special meetings 39, 356 moneys belonging to, disposition of 39, 355, 356 moneys from sale of property, how used 39, 354, 355 officers of , to continue 39, 356 powers of special meetings in 29, 256 property of 39, 354 sale of property of 29, 254, 355 to continue for the payment of its debts 39, 256 Equitable allowance of public money in case of default 15, 297 Fees of supervisor and town clerk 28, 353 First meeting in new district, notices, etc 30, 180 - 183 Joint districts, formation of 37, 344, 353 dissolution of , 28, 353, 353 reports of 49, 50, 303, 212-214 what are 245 Local board for confirming or vacating commissioner's order. .28, 249, 250 Lossofpublicmoneyto.throughueglectofofficer. 39,30, 77,162, 356, 357 Meetings in. {See Meetings.) Moneys of, lost or embezzled, replacing 34, 195 Moneys belonging to, trustee to sue for 48, 428 Notice of alteration to be given trustees 28, 248, 249 Numbering 27, 244, 345 Reports of, made to commissioners 48-50, 301 - 315 Reclaiming moneys erroneously apportioned to 16, 397, 298 State school moneys apportioned to 14, 31, 293, 301, 303 State school moneys, when entitled to .14, 33, 293-295, 305 Supplementary apportionment to 16, 298 Taxes on, assessing and collecting 51-58, 338 - 377 Unexpended moneys re-apportioned 20, 399, 300 1056 Index. School Districts — (Gontinued). [The following references are to the Digest of /Superintendents' Decisions.'] Accommodation of individuals... 531 -533 After the same alteration had previously been passed upon by the Superintendent 557 All districts affected by the alteration have a right to the voice of its town authorities upon local board 588 Altering districts only for the purpose of equalizing valuations not sauctioned 546 Annulled, when 553 Bonded district, division of " 559 Boundaries must not be defined by names of occupants of lands 589 correction of not subject to review by local board 539 irregularity to be avoided 539 Commissioner can act when supervisor and town clerk fail to attend. 586 Commissioner to obtain jurisdiction must obtain consent or refusal of trustees 543 Consent must be given at meeting of board of trustees 543, 644 Consent, when material 546 Consent of trustees, how given 541 Confirmatory order ■ 560, 563 Contents of order 540 Date for the taking effect of an order cannot be changed 552 District can be annulled for refusal to build school-house 559 Description, how made 540 Filing confirmatory order 546 Form of consent or dissent 543 Irregularity of proceeding 553 Joint district, requires the joint act of the commissioners 542, 560 Local board for alteration 534 does not have original jurisdiction 536 how convened 537 jurisdiction of, how acquired 536 relative to parties in interest not prohibited from membership on. 537 Majority vote of local board controls 535 Misapprehension 553, 554 Must recite consent or refusal of trustee 553 Notice to trustees, effect of insufficient notice 548 Notice to trustees of order 540, 544 Notice of meeting to hear objections, waiver of 546 Notice to trustees, iri-egularity of 541, 545 No rule of Department requiring certain population 560 Notice to dissenting trustees must be given after the order is made. . 545 Order must recite consent or refusal 543, 543 Order to take effect several months after its date, not invalid 551 Order will not be set aside on the ground that the inhabitants of one district are opposed 531 Petition of majority of inhabitants not sufficient reason for dissolution. 583 Preliminary order necessary 537^ 553^ 5g0 Property should be made to bear its share of taxation for the main- tenance of a good school 55I Record of order ] , I555 _ 557 Separation of contestants not ground for alteration of district! 549 Staying an order on appeal \ 5gg To secure better school facilities '.'.".!".'.!!'.! 532 Trustee cannot consent to his own lands being set off ...'. 545 Index. 1057 School Districts — (Continued). Trustees do not join with commissioner in order 537 Weak districts, consolidation, alteration of 548, 550, 551 When supervisor and town clerk can act with commissioner 535 When opposition arose after alteration 558 School-houses, Alterations directed by commissioner 9, 268 Bonds, when and how issued 36, 87, 263, 263 Building committee 259 Building new house for condemned one 10, 264, 265 Building, purchasing or hiring 44, 358-261, 424 Cleaning school-room 46, 425, 436 Condemning by commissioner 9, 10, 864, 265 Custody of 44, 266, 267 Examination of, by commissioner 9, 268 Fires in, providing for 46, 425, 426 Insurance of 34, 44, 266 Moneys arising from sale of, how applied 38, 271, 279 Plan of, to be approved by commissioner 36, 261, 363 Plans and specifications for 118, 119, 263, 364 Removal of 37, 376 - 278 Repairs by direction of meeting 34, 44 by commissioner 9, 268 bytrustee 46,269,435, 426 Sale of old building 37, 271, 378, 379 Shall not stand upon town line 36, 361 Tax for 34, 258, 259 Tax exceeding $500 to be approved by commissioner 36, 261, 262 Tax, voting and raising in installments 36, 362, 263 Use of, permitting and forbidding 47, 166, 167 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Approval of schoolcommissioner to tax of over $500 for new school- house 639 Building committee, powers of 637 Condemning 629 Consent of inhabitants to expenditure for repairs 638 District cannot be compelled to build new school-house 559 New building must be accepted by the trustees before it becomes the school-house 632 Plans, changing after contract is made 581 Powers of trustees concerning 640 Repairs upon , 685, 636 Repairs on a school-house that has been condemned 636, 637 Repairs pursuant to direction of school commissioner 636, 687 Tax list for repairs 635 for school -house, when amount was not fixed by a district meeting 638 Tax to be raised in installments for, must exceed $500 689 Trustees have no power to lease school-house so as to lose control of it 631 Use of 640 Vote to build rescinds former vote to repair 637 Voting upon the question of repairs not limited to taxpayers 638 When Superintendent will review order condemning 639, 630 When there is no school-house, district must pay for rent of rooms. 631 133 1058 Index. School-liouse Sites, Changing site 37, 376-278 Designation of 34, 273 - 276 Hiring or purcHaSing 34, 44, 273-276, 424 Moneys arising from sale of, how applied 38, 379 Sale of old site 37* 98, 378, 279, 324 Tax for 34, 273 - 376 \T he following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Annual meeting no power to change 646 Appeal brought from proceedings of meeting 655 CJhange of . . 646 what vote is necessary 644 Committee to purchase 657 Cannot be condemned 655 Consent of supervisor to change of 647 - 650 Consent necessary to change of site 643 Division fences 655 Departlnent will not locate site 646 will not compel chainge ■ 645 Designation and purchase of new site when districts are consolidated. 647 Description in resolution designating 653 Enlarging 642 Establishing, the mere act of voting does not 653 Lease of, not permitted 650 Location of school-house upon 643, 656 Location by arbitrators 581 Money must not be paid until title is obtained 654 Power to lease 650 Record of vote to change 652 Sale of old site 647 not required 655 Selection of, power cannot be delegated 641, 657 Tax for, cannot be raised in installments 639 Tax for not limited 642 Two sites in same district, how located 645 Vote for 652 change of, may be taken before supervisor consents 649 When Department will set aside proceedings designating site 656 School Visitor, Appointment of, by State Superintendent 4, 315 Duties of visitor 4, 315 School Year, To consist of twenty -eight weeks 14, 393 - 295 Seal, Of State Superintendent 2, 314 State certificates granted under 5] 379 Seneca, Special School Act 956 Seneca Falls, Special School Act 957 Sing Sing, Special School Act ^ 960 Index. 1059 State School Moneys, Apportionment by commissioners 15, 296, 297, 299 an equitable sum as directed by Superintendent 30, 299 of fines and penalties paid to county treasurer 20, 300 of library moneys 20, 21, 299, 300 of unexpended moneys 20, 299, 300 time and place of making 20, 299 to neighborhoods 20, 299 to orphan asylums 83, 804, 311 to school districts, how made 21, 301, 302 Apportionment by State Superintendent IB, 391 for contingent fund 14, 292, 393 for Indian schools 14, 292, 293 for library money 14,15,393,393, 295 for salaries of school commissioners 13, 108, 391 - 293 for teachers' quota 14, 393 - 295 to cities and villages for supervision 12, 391 , 393 to cities having more than one member of Assembly. . .14, 292, 293 to counties according to population 15, 295, 396 to neighborhoods 15, 396 Bond for safe keeping by supervisor 22, 305 - 307 Certificate of appoHionment by school commissioners 21, 26, 303, 413 made by Superintendent 16, 298 Common School Fund 388, 293 Disbursement of, by supervisor , 24, 308 District, when entitled to 14, 33, 393 - 395, 305 Division of, into parts for each term 45, 401, 402 Equitable allowance made to districts in default 15, 296, 397 Errors in apportionment corrected by commissioners 32, 304 Free School Fund 13, 288 bank book for, furnished Superintendent 12, 289 clerk of board of supervisors to include in tax levy 12, 289 checks for, to be countersigned and entered by Superintendent. 13, 290 depositoryof 13, 289 how paid out 13, 289 statement of, by State treasurer 12, 289 to be paid into State treasury 12, 389 Library moneys 13, 58, 169, 170, 391 money, when used for teachers' wages ... .46, 108, 402 Loss of, to a district by neglect of officer 39, 30, 77, 163, 256, 257 Misdemeanor to pay to unqualified teacher 43, 401 Payment, to whom 23, 23» 305 - 307 Re-claiming moneys erroneously apportioned 16, 397, 298 Report of apportionment by State Superintendent 5, 198 Supervisor to keep account of 24, 308 - 310 account of, recorded by town clerk 26, 414 to file account with town clerk 25, 308 to have book of account 24, 25, 308-310 to lay his account of, before town auditors 24, 308 when to demand them of predecessor. 35, 308 - 310 when to pay them to successor 35, 309, 310 Supplementary apportionment 16, 298 Temporary loan made for county to supply deficiency 13, 390, 291 Unexpended moneys, return of, by supervisor 24, 307, 299 re-apportioned i 20, 299 United States Deposit Fund. ; 13,107,388, 393 Unqualified teacher cannot be paid 48, 400, 401 can be paid by direction of Superintendent 15, 296, 397 Used for teachers' wages * 13, 391 1060 Index. State School Moneys — (Continued). What constitutes the State school moneys 13, 291 When payable to counties 16, 298 [The following references are to the Digest of /Superintendents' Decisions.] Branch school when set off to form a new district entitled to a share of 598 Duty of county treasurer concerning 594 For what terms of school it can be used 595 How applied 594 Supervisors cannot pay to trustees or persons other than the teacher. 595 Trustees cannot be custodians of 597 When district is annulled, what becomes of the public money due it . 596 State Superintendent of Public Instruction, American Museum of Natural History, powers and duties of State Superintendent concerning 483-485 Annulment of teachers' certificate by 5, 383 Appeals to, powers and duties concerning 76, 77, 121 - 139 Appointment of school commissioner by 7, 235 Apportionment of State school moneys by 13-15, 81, 291 - 298 Blind, powers and duties in reference to 2, 8, 130, 131, 135, 136 Certificate of apportionment made by 16, 298 Checks for Free School Fund to be countersigned and entered by. 12, 290 Clerks, appointment and salary of 2, 314 Consent to amend tax-list 57, 367, 368 Cornell University, appointment of State students to 486 - 488 examinations of applicants for State scholarships conducted by. 486 - 488 record of the examination and appointment to State scholarships kept by 487 trustee, ex-officio 2, 315 Deaf and dumb, powers and duties in reference to. .2, 3, 4, 130, 131, 147 148, 152, 156 Deputy, appointment of, and duties 2, 313 Distribution of Act of 1864 by 81 of the Code of Public Instruction (1887) by 117 Election and term of office 1, 312 Examinations for teachers' certificates, rules for, etc 5, 379, 380 - 383 Excusing district in default 15, 297 Excusing the teaching of drawing in union free schools under Special Act 98 Fines and penalties apportioned by 18, 19, 159 Indian children, admitted to district school by 42, 219, 220 Indian children, to provide for the education of 2, 85, 315 Library books, may select for district 61, 178 List of State certificates and normal school diplomas to be kept by .5, 383 List of Superintendents 313 Deputy Superintendents 313 Local boards for Normal schools appointed by 464 -466 removed by 464 May order new election in districts having over 300 children 103 Normal Schools, course of study, approval of 484 diplomas prepared by 465 general supervision of 2, 315_ 464 pupils assigned to ' 465 reports directed by 464 rules and regulations, approval of 464 Index. 1061 State Superintendent of Public Instruction — {Continued). Superintendent may exercise duties of local board, when 466 teachers, approval of appointment, etc 464 to direct expenditure of moneys received for tuition 466 Organization of union free school district 62, 63, 437, 440 Papers under seal of Superintendent to be evidence S, 314, 315 Plans for school-houses to be procured and published by. 118, 119, 263, 264 Reclaiming moneys erroneously apportioned 16, 397, 298 Registers, blanks and forms to be prepared by 6, 317 Removal of member of board of education by 72, 453 Removal of any school officer by .... 6, 316 Repairs upon out-buildings ordered by 46, 269, 425 Report required of school commissioner 11, 199 - 201 Report of 3, 5, 18, 86, 136, 152 Salary ." 2, 814 Salary of school commissioner withheld by 8, 236 Seal 2, 314 School visitors, appointed by 4, 315 Schools visited by 4, 316 State school moneys, draft for transfer of, countersigned by 12, 289 Supervision over union free school districts 72, 452 Supplementary apportionment made by 16, 298 Teacher's Institutes, may make rules respecting the granting of certificates to teach- ers who attend 74, 406 to certify expenses of 75, 408 to employ conductors for 74, 406 to visit and supervise 74, 406 Teachers' certificate granted by 5, 379 Temporary licenses issued by 5. 379 Temporary loan made' for county to supply deficiency, 12, 290, 291 To direct money received as penalty to be used for teacher's wages. . 118 To call special meeting when annual was not held 32, 185 To compel school commissioner to perform duties for another .... 8, 236 To decide what are ordinary contingent expenses in union free school districts 70, 450 To direct trustees to make report of library 61, 178 teacher to assist in examination of library 61, 178 To require boards of education to report 72, 452 Trustee, ex officio, of certain institutions 2, 3.15 Trust funds, granted to 17, 4bl supervision of '. .17, 431 report of, required by 17, 432 Vacancy, appointment to fill 2, 313 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Jurisdiction of 657, 752 St. Joseph's Institute for the Improved Instruction of Deaf Mutes 152 Stephentown, Special School Act 961 Studies, Commissioner to recommend proper studies 9, 238, 239 Industrial or free-hand drawing 98 Physiology and hygiene 112, 220 Teachers to be examined in, for certificates 113, 381 - 387 1062 Index. Supervisors. Appointment of district trustees to fill vacancy 39, 40, 420 Bond for trust funds 436 Bond to be given county treasurer 33, 305 - 308 Board of supervisors : loan made by Comptroller and Superintendent for county to be levied by IB, 290, 391 to authorize the sale or exchange of real estate belonging to a school district 98, 324 to authorize boards of education to increase or diminish the membership of such board 98, 824 to audit and pay expenses of the examination of applicants for State scholarships in Cornell University 487 proceedings for dissolution of union free school district 104, 105 453-455 Board of supervisors: school commissioners' salary increased by 7, 8, 235, 236 expenses audited by „ 8, 236 school commissioner districts divided by 108, 112, 226, 337 Certificate of apportionment made and deposited by 32, 305 made to 21, 303 Change of school-house site, to consent to 37, 376 - 378 Clerk of board to include State school tax in levy 13, 389 Costs in actions against 78, 126 Embezzlement of trust funds by 23; 323, 435 Equalization of taxes on land of district lying in different towi^s. ... 52 .'549-353 Filing trustee's appointment 40, 141, 420 Fines and penalties, to sue for and recover 25, 323, 324 report of, to school commissioner 25, 333, 324 Gospel and school lots, report of 18, 433, 433 Local board, for confirming or vacating commissioner's order altering, forming or dissolving school districts 25, 350, 279 fees as member of such boarij \ 28, 253 Moneys unexpended, to make return of 24, 307 Penalty for not making return of unexpended moneys 24, 307 Property of a dissolved district, sale of, by 29, 254, 355 Eailroad property, to make apportionment of 91, 106, 107, 370, 373 Resignation of district officer, accepted by 40, 161, 431 State school moneys paid to 33, 305, 306 account of, kept by 34, 308-311 given to town auditors 24, 308 account to be filed with town clerk 25, 26, 308, 414 book of account to be kept by 24, 35, 308-310 to be delivered to successor 24, 35, 308 - 310 how disbursed by 24, 308 notice to successor of the filing account of 25, 308 when to demand them of predecessor 35, 308 - 310 when to pay successor 25, 309, 310 To sue for and collect moneys due a dissolved district 29, 255 Tax warrant, consent to renewal 57, 368 Town school funds, report of 18, 433, 433 Trust funds for schools reported by 17, 432 Trustees of school trust funds 18,23,431,433, 434 Trustees of gospel and school lots 23, 433-434 [TJie following references are to tlie Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Apportionment of taxes upon the real estate of a district lying in two or more towns 660, 661 Must pay over public money upon the order of tlie trustees 659 Indez. 1063 Syracuse, Special School Act 963 Taxes, Apportionment and assessment of 51, 332 - 349 against person working laud on contract 52, 352, 353 corporations 51, 382 Delaware and Hudson Canal Co 106, 107, 372 exemptions 341 in counties containing upwards of three hundred thousand in- habitants 378 non-resident lands 51, 53, 832, 354, 355 notice of original assessment 51, 347, 348 on land lying in one body but in different districts. .51, 332, 336, 337 original assessment, how made 51, 346 - 348 personal property 333 - 335 pipe Ime companies, assessment and collection of 90, 91, 370 railroad companies, assessment and collection of . 90, 91, 109, 110, 370 871 real property 335 - 338 reduction of assessments 51, 345 - 349 stockholders in banks 51, 88-90, 332, 388 - 341 telegraph companies, assessment and collection of .90, 91, 870 telephone companies, assessment and collection of 90, 91, 370 to whom property shall be assessed 51 , 332 valuations, how ascertained 51, 845 - 847 Bcind of collector for 34, 55, 56, 362, 363 Collector the custodian of all moneys collected by tax 57, 368 Decisions of the courts 331-334, 336, 388-840, 344-346, 849, 853, 855 861, 364, 365, 867, 372. 875-377 Dissolved district to raise tax for certain purposes 39, 256 Equalizing when district lies in different towns 52, 349 - 853 Exemption from t£tx to build new school-house, when 53, 354 For apparatus, maj)s, globes and blackboards 84, 192, 193 For book-case 34, 58, 168, 169 For construction and repair of out-buildings. .46, 116, 268-270, 435, 426 For costs in actions by or against school officers 78, 79, 126 For costs and expenses in suits wd appeals 84, 195 For district record book 34, 194, 195 For deficien,cy in former tax-list 34, 193 For expenses directed by nieetjng or by law 47, 426, 427 For fuel 84, 358 For insurance premiums 44, 45, 168, 366 For library books 34, 58, 59, 168, 169, 171, 173 For moneys lost or embezzled 34, 195 For payment of judgment for teachers' wages 35, 403 For school-house site 34, 373 For teachers' wages 35, 45, 46, 401 - 403 For text-books for poor children 34, 193, 193 For vaccination of poor children 88 For school-houses, authority of meeting to raise 34, 258 bonds, when and how Issued 36, 37, 262, 363 exceeding $500 to be approved by commissioner 86, 261, 263 exemption from tax to build 53, 354 installments, how voted, etc 36, 362, 363 repairs upon 46, 368, 435. 436 when old house is condemned 10, 164, 165 Non-resident pupils tax deducted from tuition 43, 113, 31 7, 219 Rate-bill abolished 82,217,221-234 1064 Index. Taxes — [Continued). Statetax 11,12, 289 Tax-list, amending and correcting' 57, 367, 368 contents of 44, 434 decisions of tlie courts 381 execution of, where 56, 364, 365 filed with town clerk 58, 370 formof 339, 330 heading of 50, 338 - 330 notice of, to be given by collector 56, 363, 364 trustees to make out, when 44, 50, 338, 434 warrant to be annexed 44, 50, 338, 434 Taxable inhabitants, who are 53, 353 Tax lost through neglect of collector 57, 369 Unpaid taxes, return of 53, 356 - 358 payment of, by county treasurer 54, 358 trustees may sue for 57, 366, 367 supervisors to levy 54, 55, 358, 359 proceedings for levying, collecting, etc 55, 359 Upon Forest Preserve 114 Warrant, form of ,. ...331, 333 contents, etc 55, 360, 861 how executed 55, 56, 360, 361, 364 - 366 may be renewed, how 57, 366 - 368 to be filed with town clerk 58, 370 delivery to collector, when 55, 862 When tenant may recover tax paid from owner 52, 853, 854 [The foUomngkreferences are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Appeal from corrections in tax list 663 Amending heading of tax list 664 Assessment against person set off before order takes effect 672 who has removed from district before tax list is issued but after tax was voted. 672 Assessment against minister of the Gospel 666, 667 of turnpikes 690 Assessing property beyond boundaries of district 671 Bank stock, where taxable, etc 676, 683 District has no power to exempt inhabitant from assessmeut . ... 667 Department will not order land placed upon tax list when bound- aries are in dispute i 663 Equalization made by supervisors must be followed 664 Form of tax list 663 Gas pipes, cannot be considered as land lying in one body 677 Increase of assessment ". 680 Installments, tax for site cannot be raised by 668 Items erroneously included in tax list 689 Land lying in one body but in different districts 674, 677 Land worked upon contract 671 Mortgages, assessment of 669, 678 Original assessment, notice of, etc 679, 680, 683i 684 Railroad property, valuation fixed by assessors 687 Beduction of assessment 684 affidavit not sufficient for 681 Rescinding vote to levy tax 688 Tax cannot be paid in labor or materials ' 686 assessed upon railroad property 687, 688 for building scliox)l=liouse ......! 686 Index. 1065 Taxes — {Continued). ' for school-liouse site 685 for teachers' wages 687, 689 for unqualified teacher illegal 689 list, time for making out 668, 661 to be assessed against person in possession 669 To elect in which town to be taxed, when property is on town line. . 690 Territory added to district after tax is voted but before tax list is is- sued is liable 676 Trustees must follow supervisor's equalization 663 act judicially in levying tax list 663 may levy tax without vote of meeting to pay the expense of some act directed by the meeting 685 must all consent before making out tax list 663 must follow town assessment-rolls - 664 - 666 Teachers, O&rtipiaites, School commissioners': annulment of 5, 10, 383, 393, 393 examinations for, rules, etc 10, 384 - 393 forms of 10, 388-393 granting , 10, 384 re-examination for , 10, 393, 393 annulment of 5, 383, 393 examination for 5, 379 - 883 lists kept by Superintendent 5, 383 Regents' testimonial: when endorsed by commissioner to constitute a license. .111, 457 Charges against, examination of 10, 393, 394 Contract with trustees 45, 394 - 400 Degrees of relationship defined 395 - 398 Form of memorandum 400 Memorandum of contract to be made and delivered 115, 399, 400 Meeting may authorize employment of relative 45, 398 Relative within two degrees cannot be employed 45, 894 - 400 Term of contract by sole trustee 45, 399 board of trustees 45, 399 Trustees when liable for wages, not the district 45, 395 Decisions of the courts 405 Monitors, not teachers 14, 393 Qualifications, who are qualified 43, 43, 111, 378, 379, 457 Quota, apportionment of 14, 893 - 395 Register kept by 43, 47, 404 Teachers' Classes, in academies and union free schools. 110, 111, 456 - 460 Time allowed at teachers' institute 14, 74, 75, 393, 406, 407, 409 To assist in examining library 61, 178 To prefer charges against person disturbing the school or school meeting 78, 163 Unqualified teacher cannot be paid State or district moneys. 43, 400, 401 may receive wages by direction of Superintendent 15, 296, 397 Wages: district taxes for 35,45, 46, 401-403 judgment for 35, 403 library money used for 46,168, 403 of an unqualified teacher 15, 43, 396, 397, 400, 401 payable monthly 115, 400 penalty money, when used for , , 118 134 1066 Index. Teachers — (Gontinued). State school moneys, used for 13,15,291, 297 how paid to teacher not qualified 15, 297 orders for 24, 45, S08, 309, 401, 404 trustees to give orders for public money 45, 401 trustees to raise district tax for 45, 46, 401 - 403 trustees, when liable for 45, 395 [TTi^ foUomng references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Annulmpnt of certificate, for cruel punishment of pupil 692 for incompetence 695 for intemperance 694 for want of ability to teach , 695 not for inflicting proper punishment 694 notice must be given 693 should not be for moral delinquencies before certificate was granted 696 upon charges against moral character 695 in proceedings for, the present character should be considered. .' 696 for incompetency , . 697 must not be for the purpose of removing teacher from a certain school 69*7 Can teach another school during Yac?ition 7IO Certificates, refusal to grant ][ 698 cannot be withheld on the ground, that the teaeher will be em- ployed in a certain district , 699 teacher cannot dictate pls^ce w.here he shall be examined for... . ." 699 refusal to grant upon the ground of profane sweating 700 some partieuiaiT district cannot be excepted in .'.'.'.. 700 withholding until charges of immoral conduct are disproven. '. '. 700 State certificate conclijgiye evidence of qualification 701 aunulment of upon charges ', 703 holders of, not exempt ifrom examination by local authorities'. 701 Contract, appointment to fill vacancy construed ] 725 can only be made at regulw meeting of board .'..'.'.".'"..' .' 727 cannot be.for longer period than teacher holds certificate. .!.'.".. 712 can be made when there is a vacancy in the hoard .' 720 consent of trustees canpot be given separately ',',,, 7I6 for a month — calendar month meant .'..'."!!."!.'.' 719 for " one day only," not good " ', 735 made with two trustees "717-7'l'9 721 made when teacher does not hojd certificate ' ' 731 may be ratified .'.!.'.'.".*.' 720 must be regularly made by board '.!!!!!!!!! 713 prevented by sickness from fulfilling !."!."!!.!."! 723 relative of members of boards of education !..!!!!!. 718 termination of at will ."!!!!!'! 721 trustee may act as agent for board !^. !."!!!.' .'!!!i 717 , what " general satisfaction " means .!!!!!!."" 722 which calls for teaching in a " satisfactory manner.". !.'.'!!!!!.'.' 726 when there is a conflict as to the contract ".'.'.1'.'"' 722 with relative within two degrees of trustee '. .". .'.'.".'.720 721 District meeting cannot direct employment of certain teacher! ' 715 Dismissal, when inhabitants are dissatisfied. .....'.'.. 728 before expiration of term, when justifiable *.".'.'.'.'.'.'.' 729' 731 district meeting cannot dismiss ..".'...' '.'.'.' ' ' 728 for closing school without authority '..'.'."..."... 731 for cruel punishment of pupil ..'..' noo Index. 1067 Teachers — (Oontmued). for difference of opinion between teacher and trustee as to dis- cipline 732 for failure as a disciplinarian 733 for failure to produce certificate wlien demanded by trustee. . . 732 for refusal to obey orders of board 734 when contract was for one month on trial 72& Not entitled to extra compensation for building fires 705 Not entitled to damages for injury to reputation because of discharge. 705 Pay for vacation time 707 Teacher responsible for school register 705 Wages, cannot pay relative more than the district meeting authorizes. 721 cannot he paid when certificate is not held 709 entitled to wages when school is closed on account of an epi- demic 708, 710 for extra weeks taught 708 for legal holidays 719 sum allowed for board should be denominated wages 710 time spent at a teachers' institute not to be deducted 707, 711 trustees cannot offset note or private claim against teacher. . , . 704 707, 708 when teacher abandons school 705 when teacher leaves school because trustee will not sustain him. 703 when teacher voluntarily leaves school 704 when teacher was employed by de facto trustee 709 Teachers' Institute, Apportionment of public moneys to districts closing schools 75, 408 Catalogue of persons attending 76, 408 Coimmissioners to organize 73, 406 to give notice of 74, 406 History of 408, 409 Loss in public money when school is continued 75, 407 Report of trustees whether schools were closed 75, 407 Rujes and regulations concerning 410, 411 Schools closed during institute 75, 407, 409 Superintendent to employ conductors ; 74, 406 njay make rules respecting the granting of teachers' certificates to persons who attend 74, 407 tQ certify expenses of 75, 408 to supervise 74, 406 to visit 74, 406 Teachers not to forfeit time spent at 14, 74, 293, 407, 409 Telegraph Companies, Ta^^s against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 870, 371 Telephone Companies; Taxes against, apportionment, assessment and collection. .90, 91, 370, 371 Tenant, Taxes assessed against 52, 352, 353 Taxes paid by, when recoverable from owner 52, 353, 354 Text-hooks, Adoption of 100 Change of, how made 100 For poor children 34, 94, 192, 193 Penalty for violation of text-book act 100 School commissioner to examine, etc 9, 237, 238 1068 Index. Text-books — (Continued). IT/ie following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.] Acts of boards of education in designating or cliauging, fully dis- cussed 737, 739 The Lie Couteulx St. Mary's Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes 156 Town Clerk, Certificates of apportionment kept and recorded by 36, 308, 412 Duties of 25,412-415 Pees and expenses of 37, 415 as member of local board 28, 253 for filing collector's bond 56, 363 Member of local board for alteration of school districts. .36, 28, 249, 414 Notifying trustees of filing of certificate of apportionment 26, 412 Records kept by 35, 412 Report to supervisors injuries to records 26, 413 Statement of apportionment of railroad property to be furnished trustees 91,107,370, 372 To deliver trustees' reports to commissioners 26, 413 To distribute blanks and circulars 26, 413 To file tax list and warrant 58, 370 To furnish names of school officers to commissioner 26, 413 To keep records of dissolved districts 26, 414 To record collector's bond 56, 363 To record county treasurer's certificate 26, 414 To record descriptions of school districts 26, 414 To record supervisors' accounts 26, 414 To see that trustees' reports are filed 26, 413 Treasurer, County, Certificate that supervisor's bond is given 26, 414 Fines and penalties, how credited 18, 159 report of ■ 18, 159 Taxes against railroad companies, duties respecting 109, 110, 371 To apply for State school moneys 16, 298 To require bond of supervisor 32, 305, 806 To sue bond of supervisor 22, 305 306 Unpaid taxes, to lay certificate of, before supervisors 54, 358 359 Treasurer, State, Payment of expenses for teachers' institute 75, 408 State moneys transferred by 13, 289 Statement of free school fund made by 12, 289 Troy, Special School Act 964 Truant Children, Act relating to care and instruction 83 - 85 Compulsory Education Act, provision of 94 Trustees, Acceptance of office 39_ 420, 421 Accounts of, book for 46, 47, 425 -427 Apparatus, may purchase 46,425, 436 Board of trustees 43, 44, 422' - 434 Index. 1069 Trustees — (.Continued). acts of, when valid 43, 44, 423, 424 composed, liow 43, 44, 423, 424 meeting, how ordered, etc 44, 423, 434 recital of act in minutes, conclusive evidence 44, 423, 424 vacancy in, other or others act 44, 434 Bond of collector required by 55, 56, 363, 363 delivered to town clerk by 55, 56, 362, 363 to bring suit against 58, 369 Cannot hold other school oflBce .38, 418, 419 Changing from three to one 39, 416 - 418 Changing from one to three 39, 416 - 418 Cleaning school room, etc 46, 425, 426 Contract with teachers, to make. (See Teachers) 45, 116, 394 - 400 Costs in actions against 78, 126 or proceedings by or against 79-81, 126 - 129 Costs and expenses in suits and appeals 35, 195 Consent to alteration of school district 27, 28, 246, 247 Custodian of school-houses and sites 44, 266, 367 Custodian of Code of Public Instruction 117, 118 Decisions of the courts 429, 430 Determining the number of, in new districts 38, 39, 416-418 Dictionary, may purchase 46, 425, 426 Duties of, under Compulsory Education Act 91 - 95 Duties of at election of officers in districts having over 300 children . 101 102, 108 Duties of,in appeal to county judge to adjust costs and expenses. .80, 81 Election of 33, 34, 101, 416-418 Eligibility to hold the office 38, 103, 419 Expenses of defining district boundaries to be allowed by 9, 253 Filing appointment of trustees by supervisor 40, 420 Filing appointment of clerk, collector or librarian 40, 141, 146 Fires, building, etc 46, 435, 436 ^Forfeits office by refusal to report 48, 315 Fuel provided by 46, 435, 436 Globes, may purchase 46, 435, 436 Holding over 38, 419 Insurance, to procure 45, 168, 266 to raise tax for 45, 168, 366 Issuing bonds for school-house. 36, 37, 262, 263 Liability for teachers' wages 45, 395 Library, to be trustee of 59, 171, 173 books lost, liability for 59, 173 what moneys to be applied to 59, 173 report concerning 61, 178 penalty for refusal to report 61, 178 penalty for loss of library money 61, 178 Loss of public money to district through 77, 162 Maps, may purchase 46, 425, 436 May appoint collector to fill vacancy 39, 40, 146 district clerk to fill vacancy 40, 140, 141 librarian to fill vacancy 40, 167 Misdemeanor to pay unqualified teacher public money 43, 401 Moneys, balance in hand to pay to successor 48, 438 Non-resident pupils admitted to schools by 43, 217 Notice of school meeting given by, when clerk is absent 44, 183 - 184 Notice of election or appointment ' 39-41, 142, 421 Nuisances abated by 46,269,425, 426 Order for teacher's wages given by 34, 368, 309 library moneys given by 24,308, 309 1070 Index. Trustees — (Continued). Pails and brooms provided by. ... 46, 435, 426 Penalty for refusal or neglect to serve 40, 161, 431 Penalty for continuing school during teachers' institute 409 Penalty for loss of Code 118 Penalty for not reporting to annual meeting 48, 315 refusal to pay funds to successor 48, 315 ' Penalty for making false report 50, 303 Power to exclude from school children not vaccinated 87 Property of district, to hold as corporation 4S, 432 Property of district entered in account book by 47, 437 Public moneys divided into parts for each term 45, 401, 403 Refusal to serve 39, 430, 421 Register purchased by 47, 404 Removal of 6, 316. 317, 409, 433 Repairs upon school-house made bv 46, 268, 425, 436 outbuildings. . . , ". 46, 268-370, 435, 426 Report concerning teachers' institute .75, 407 Report of, to annual meeting 47, 48, 31 5 Report to school commissioner by ... 48-50, 88, 301 - 315 Requesting supervisor and town clerk to act with commissioner in altering school district 38, 249 Resignation, how made and accepted 40, 161, 421 Resignation of, notice of acceptance 41, 143 Sale of old school-house and site by 37, 271, 378, 279 School-house, to contract for 10, 364, 265 School-house site, to purchase or lease 44, 373i-376, 424 Sole trustee subject to duties and penalties of joint trustees 43, 423 Special meetings called by 31, 44, 183 - 184 Special meeting to be called by, when school-house is condemned. 10, 364 365 Taxes assessed by 51, 332 Tax-list to be made out by 44, 50, 338, 434 Tax-list and warrant filed by, with town clerk , . .58, 370 Tax-list and warrant renewed by 57i 366 - 368 Teacher's wages for time spent at institute, must pay 75, 407 - 409 Temporary rooms for school, hired by 46, 435, 426 Term of office 38, 419, 420 To prefer charges against person disturbing school or school meeting. 78 163 To sue for district moneys .48, 428 Trust funds, granted to 17, 431 for schools, reported by 17, 433 Unpaid taxes, to sue for 57, 366, 367 return of, made to county treasurer 54, 357, 358 Use of school-house, permitting and forbidding 47, 366, 267 Vacancy, how filled.. , . ., 39, 40, 430 Vacates the office, how 30, 431 Vaccination of poor children, to provide for 8'!', 88 Wages of teachers paid by. (See Teachers) 45, 46, 115, 400 - 402 Warrant to be annexed to tax-list 44, 50, 328, 434 IT 7ie following references are to the Digest of Swperintmidents' DeciHons.'] Absence from district, when successor can be appointed 764 Account for building school-house must be submitted by 744 Annual account rendered to meeting 758 Appointment of, setting aside 764 Building committee cannot interfere with 751 Index. 1071 Trustees — (Continued). Cannot pass upon the election of librarian 748 Cannot be teachers 744, 765 Cannot take note in payment of tax 748 Cannot borrow money on credit of the district 748 Challenge as to the right to hold the ofBce, cannot be made 765 Compensation for services rendered by trustee, cannot fix the value of. 752 Compensation, cannot receive any for services as trustee 750 Contract for building school-house, letting, etc 751 Contracts, trustees have sole power of making 749 Costs and expenses in defending appeal 747 of committee jjefore county judge 747 Costs in district litigation 753 in suits against district officers may be allowed by district 755 Costs and expenses in proceedings against district 745 De facto trustee, acts of 748 Duties of, pertaining to construction of new building 753 Duty to employ good teachers and have school taught 744 Election of, appeal from 755 at adjourned meeting 758 Fuel furnished by trustee 750 Have no lien on district moneys for expenses 754 Judgment against district, to be included in tax-list 745 May employ person to make out tax-list 756 Meetings of inhabitants, when to call 743 Non resident pupils, district meeting cannot admit to school 751 Oath of ofiBce not required 765 Pay for services in repairing school house 745 Power to cal 1 special meetings discussed 743 Proceedings of district meeting to be given effect 744, 749 Reinstating, Superintendent has no power to ... 760 Removal for non-concurrence with associates 759, 760 for neglect or violation of duty 757, 760, 761 ' for refusing to maintain a school 762 what will justify 759, 761, 763 Repairs on school house, made by 745 Report of, what it must contain 763 must be made in writing 763 Settlement of controversies 755 The drawing of an order for public money a ministerial act 743 To make contract for building school-house as district meeting directs 743 Vacating office by failure to attend meetings 766 Vote of thanks to trustee 765 Warrant, renewed by 744 When trustee is imprisoned, appointment of successor 763 Trust Funds, Bond of supervisor for 436 Embezzlement of 23, 435 Gospel and school lots 18, 433 - 434 Legislature to control and regulate 17, 481 Property given in trust for schools 17,43,433, 431 Reports required 17, 433 Town school funds 18, 433, 433, 435 Trustees of district to hold as corporation 43, 423 State Superintendent to supervise 17, 431 Supervisors' powers and duties concerning 17, 18, 33, 433 - 485 1072 Index. Tuition of non-resident pupils. Of children when taught under contract with adjoining city 99 Tax of non-resident pupil, parent or guardian, to be deducted from tuition 42, 113, 317, 319 Trustees to fix 43, 217 Union Free Schools, Board of Education, academical department, to establish 68, 71, 448, 452 annual meeting of board 66, 445 bonding district 67, 446 borrowing money. 67, 446 by-laws, to pass 68, 447 changing number of members of board 98, 324 clerli;, appointment by 65, 443 collector, appointment by 65, 443, 444 committees to visit schools 70, 451 constitute a board of education 64, 440-442 Board of Education, created bodies corporate 65, 443 division into classes 63,440-442 election of 63,440-442 fuel, furniture, apparatus, etc., to provide 68, 448 grade and classify schools 68, management of schools 68, may contract to teach children of an adjoining district. , meetings of .^ 70, moneys, how applied by , 70, 71; moneys (public) apportioned districts, custody, use, etc. .71, 451 not to exceed expenditures 70, number of 63, 440, power to exclude from school children not vaccinated president thereof 65, 442, removal of member removal of member by Superintendent, report of 72, rules of order and discipline 68! same powers and duties as trustees of common school districts . 69, school -houses, sites and other property, to have charge of. . . .68 special meetings called by 69! statement of expenditures presented to municipal authorities. 66 statement of estimated expenses to meeting 69, taxes assessed by 67 taxes levied without vote of meeting 69^ teachers, to contract with 69, teachers' wages, how raised by 66, terms of office in new district 63, 69, 440 - 442, text-books, to prescribe, to adopt how to change treasurer, appointed by 65, 443, trust funds, held by 68, tuition fees of non-residents, to regulate 68, vacancy in board, to fill 69, vaccination of poor children, to provide for 87 Clerk, appointment of 65, duties of 65! salary of 65 447 448 99 451 451 452 451 441 87 443 449 73 453 447 449 447 450 444 450 446 450 448 445 449 147 ioo 100 444 447 448 449 88 443 443 443 Index. 1073 Union Free Schools -^ (Continued). Collector, appointment of 65, 443, 444 bond of 65, 443, 444 Decisions of the courts 460, 461 Dissolved districts, academy in, transferred to former board 105, 454 division of property 105, 455 bow dissolved 104-106, 453 - 455 meeting for dissolution, how called, etc 104, 453 moneys belonging to, division of 105, 455 proceedings to be laid before supervisors 104, 454 supervisors approval of proceedings 105, 455 territory divided into districts 105, 454 vote required • ^ 104, 454 Drawing to be taught in schools under special act , . 98 Formation of 62, 437 -441 adjournment of meeting 63, 440 call for meeting. 62, 437, 438 expense of publication of notice 63, 439, 440 form of call 438 form of notice 438 meeting, how organized 63, 440 notice of 63, 437 - 439 numbering district 64, 441, 442 order of proceedings at meeting 441 place of meeting 63, 439 proceedings of meeting, where filed 64, 441, 442 when two or more districts unite in call 63, 439, 440 Meetings, for dissolution of district 104, 453 rescinding vote to raise money 67, 446 salary of clerk, fixed by 65, 443, 444 taxesvotedby 66,67,69,117,445,446, 450 Ordinary contingent expenses, what are 70, 450 Kchools for colored children in , 73, 2'il State school moneys, payment by supervisor to 24, 308, 309 State superintendent to have supervision over 71, 452 Taxes, assessment and collection of 67, 446 bonds to be issued in certain cases for 67, 446 how raised in districts corresponding with incorporated village or city 66, 444 installments 67, 445, 446 levied without vote of meeting 69, 450 moneys raised by tax not rate-bill 67, 447 notice of certain taxes must be given 67, 445, 446 rescinding vote to raise money 67, 446 voted by district whose limits do not correspond with an incor- porated village or city 66, 67, 69, 445, 446, 450 Teachers' classes in 110, 111, 456 - 460 Treasurer, appointment of 65, 443, 444 bondof.. 65,443, 444 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.^ Academical department, abolishing 771 Alteration of districts, school commissioner has power to alter 780 Board of education, appointment of member 766 appointment of collector or treasurer can be made at any time. . . 770 collector appointed by 769, 771 contingent expenses of 776 135,/ 1074 Index. Union Free Schools — (Continued). costs and expenses of, wHle defending suit 771 election of, manner of voting. 779 expulsion of pupil by 770 member cannot be treasurer or collector 769 power to employ architect 773 removal of member 768, 770 report of, to school commissioners 769 rules of, relating to hiring teachers 774 successors of former trustees , 768 term of office in new district 769 treasurer appointed by 769, 771 vacancies cannot be filled by the voters 770 Clerk, election and duties 776 Formation of district, department cannot order that district be formed. 779 duty of trustees to call meeting for 776 notice of meeting for, contents, service of, etc 777, 778 should be within the limits of a single town 780 Taxes in, no power to rise tax for services in affecting legislation. . . . 783 power of district to raise tax 783 tax for school-house 783 tax for teacher's wages 783 tax to pay architect 773 Uniform Ballot Act, construed 784 United. States Deposit Fund, Appropriations from 169, S93, 293 Deficiency in, supplied 107 How constituted 333, 323, 388 University of the State of New York, State Superintendent ex officio Regent of 3, 315 Utica, Special School Act 968 Vacancy. [T lie following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisioiis.] Collector vacates office by refusal to serve 786 by inability to perform duties 786 Legal appointment by supervisor to fill vacancy cannot be set aside by Superintendent 787 Supervisor cannot fill until after one month 786 Trustee vacates office by leaving State 787 by accepting incompatible office 785, 786 Vacancy on account of ineligibility of trustee must be declared by the Department 786 Vacate office where set ofE from district 785 Vaccination, Children not vaccinated to be excluded from school 87 Physician to examine and vaccinate 87 Report of trustees as to children vaccinated and not vaccinated 88 Tax for expenses of vaccination .' _ '_ ' 88 Trustees to furnish vaccination to poor children ]][ 87 Villages, May contract in certain case to teach children of adjoining district. . . 99 Schools for colored children 73 221 State school moneys apportioned to ,.,.,#, , , 14, 39l' 292 Index. 1075 Votes, Challenge to 33, 102, 189, 190 Declaration of 33, 103, 189, 190 Penalty for false declaration 33, 190 illegal voting 33, 190 Who are legal voters at school meetings 33, 33, 186 - 189 [The following references are to the Digest of Superintendents' Decisions.'] Alien, when entitled to vote 789, 790 Alien voter may hold district office 788 Chairman of school meeting can vote upon all questions 788 Constitutionality of the act conferring upon women the right to vote at school meetings 791 Not a voter by reason of real estate owned by his wife 791 Proceedings carried by illegal votes will be set aside on appeal 788 Quantity of real estate to entitle a person to vote, not fixed 789 Right to vote does not depend upon fact of having been taxed 790 What hiring of real estate is essential to qualify voter. 791 Warrant, Annexed to tax list 44, 434 Contents of, etc 55, 360, 361 Delivery to collector, when 55, 363 Form of 331, 333 Howexecuted 55,360, 361 Renewal of 57,366-368 Warsaw, SpecialAct 972 Waterford, SpecialAct 972 Waterloo, Special School Act 972 Watertown, Special School Act 973 "Watkins, Special School Act 976 Weedsport, Special School Act 979 Western Xew Tork, Institution for Deaf Mutes 156 Women, Eligible to serve as school officers 103 Year, School year defined 33 Youkers, Special School Act ....,,., 980 i X'