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and liabilities of districts affected. Any district so altered shall retain its corporate existence for the purpose of paying its liabilities. Appeal may be made to board of county commissioners from decision of county superintendent.

Miscellaneous.-If a district shall contain less than five school children or shall not have maintained at least required minimum term of school during year preceding, or in case of territory not a part of a district, or in which there are no school children, the county superintendent may, without petition, annex such territory to a contiguous district; the property of any district so disorganized shall be holden for outstanding indebtedness of such district. In all cases of alteration of districts, county auditor shall certify the same to county assessor. No school district shall contain less than four sections of land, unless said district can support six months' school per year, but county superintendent may, upon petition of 80 per cent of all heads of families of a proposed district, and by and with consent of superintendent of public instruction, establish a district containing less than four sections of land.

See also A (c2), County officers; A (d), District boards and officers; B (a), General State finance and support; B (e), State aid for elementary education; H (e), Consolidation of districts, etc.; K (c), Uniformity of textbooks; N (a), High schools.

West Virginia: Every magisterial district in each county shall be a school district, which shall be divided into such number of subdistricts as may be necessary for convenience of the free schools therein.

See also B (a), General State finance and support; N (a), High schools. Wisconsin: Town board may alter or unite existing districts or form new districts; territory of a district shall be contiguous; no district having outstanding indebtedness shall be altered so as to leave such indebtedness exceeding 5 per cent of assessed valuation; town board shall make a written order describing territory affected by alteration, union or formation of districts and file same with town clerk, and shall in case of union or formation of districts direct some inhabitant of each such district to notify voters of time and place of district meeting; if district is to be formed from adjoining towns, boards of such towns shall make joint written order; a district shall be deemed legally organized when any two district officers elected at first meeting have filed acceptances of offices, or when district has exercised privileges of a district for two years; school district shall be a body corporate. When alteration of a district is contemplated, town board shall notify district clerks of districts affected of time and place of hearing; district clerks shall notify other members of boards; a district may be dissolved and its territory attached to other districts. In cases of alteration of districts, town board shall file notice thereof with town clerk and with clerks of districts affected. The chairman of the town, mayor of the city, or president of board of trustees of the village, in which schoolhouse of a joint district is situated, shall, upon application of at least two members of town board of any town containing part of joint district, call joint meeting of town and municipal boards interested to determine matter of alteration of such joint district; any board may make aforesaid application when deemed advisable, and shall make such application upon petition of one-third of voters of town, or of two-thirds of voters of that part of town included in such joint district.

See also A (d), District boards and officers; B (e), State aid for elementary education; E (b), Teachers' certificates, general; H (f), Compulsory attendance; K (c), Uniformity of textbooks; N (a), High schools; O (c), Trade schools; S (b), Public-school libraries.

Wyoming: Boundary board.-County superintendent of schools and county commissioners shall constitute a "district boundary board" for laying off county into convenient school districts; such board may change boundaries of districts and shall do so when petitioned by majority of legal voters of districts affected; it shall join to a contiguous district any district in which no school has been maintained for 12 months, and may take similar action in case of district having fewer than eight pupils. Superintendent shall notify clerks of districts affected when new districts are formed or district lines are changed. A corporate city shall be included in one district, but board may annex contiguous territory thereto. Majority of voters in any district affected may appeal from decision of boundary board to State superintendent.

School districts.—When a school district is formed, county superintendent shall give notice thereof and appoint time and place for district meeting, at which three trustees shall be elected by qualified voters; term of trustees, three years, one being elected each year. In districts having a population of 1,000 or more, number of trustees may be increased to six by majority of qualified voters. Each school district shall be a body corporate. Qualified electors, when assembled, shall have power to appoint a clairman and a secretary; determine number of schools and length of term; locate schools; vote such sum as may be deemed sufficient for school purposes; direct the sale or disposition of any school property; vote not exceeding $100 in any one year for district library; delegate all powers mentioned above, except voting or raising money, to board of trustees. In voting money, meeting shall designate objects and amount to be raised for each object. Voters on questions of taxation and issuance of bonds shall be property owners. Board of trustees shall make all contracts, etc., necessary to carry out vote of the district; members of board may administer oaths pertaining to school business; board may admit pupils from other districts and charge for tuition. and may suspend or expel disorderly pupils. Trustees shall advertise for bids on all contracts costing more than $200; they shall audit treasurer's accounts; they shall appoint a committee from their own number to visit schools of the district monthly; they shall, on request of five legal voters, call a special district meeting; they shall fill vacancy on board until next annual meeting. County superintendent and district trustees may determine whether a high school shall be established within the district, the number of teachers to be employed, and course of study to be pursued; they may erect for the purpose one or more schoolhouses. When county lines are changed, district separated from county to which it formerly belonged shall continue to belong to such county for school purposes until next school election. See also N (a), High schools.

B. STATE FINANCE AND SUPPORT.

(a) General.

See also Appendix A-State constitutional provisions relating to public education.

Alabama: Appropriations for public schools. Six per cent interest on the proceeds of the sale of school lands; 4 per cent on United States Government deposit of June 23, 1836; proceeds of lands given for school purposes; sums that may accrue to the State as escheats; net amount of poll tax that may

be collected; proceeds of licenses required to be paid into the school fund; $500,000 annually, and an additional $100,000 if in the judgment of the governor the state of the treasury will permit. Arkansas: The common-school fund shall consist of the proceeds of lands granted by the United States; moneys and other property belonging to any fund for educational purposes; property accruing to the State by escheats, estrays, unclaimed dividends, or distributive shares of estates of deceased persons; 10 per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of State lands; grants, gifts, and devises not otherwise appropriated by said grant, gift, or devise. But the proceeds of the sale of the sixteenth section of land shall not be included in the common-school fund. The principal arising from the sale of the sixteenth section shall never be apportioned or used, but the income therefrom, together with $1 per capita from every male inhabitant over 21 years old and so much of the annual State revenues as may be set apart, shall be appropriated for maintaining a system of free public schools. The per capita tax levied in any single or special school district and the school tax levied by vote of the qualified electors of the district shall be collected by the county collector at the same time and place that the State taxes are collected and shall be paid to the treasurer of said district.

See also A (b1), State boards; A (b2), State officers.

California: Collateral inheritance tax collected up to $250,000 shall be paid into State school fund.

Colorado: General fund.-It shall be unlawful for any school board to use any part of the general school fund for school buildings or sites unless a portion of said fund remains after all expenses are paid for running the schools 10 months. A "permanent school emergency or call fund is created and $20,000 is set apart from the general school income fund for said purpose; when on account of unavoidable misfortune a school district is in financial distress and the special tax and apportionment of school funds are insufficient to provide proper school facilities in said district the State superintendent may give the necessary aid to said district from the "permanent school emergency or call fund," such aid to be approved by the governor and attorney general.

Connecticut: The committee of each school district, or the clerk, shall annually in September enumerate every person belonging to said district over 4 and under 16 years old, together with names of parents or guardians, and shall return the same to the school visitors of the town' before September 25; returns shall show children in school and those not in school and the reasons for nonattendance; also the names of employers where children are employed; the school visitors shall correct returns and lodge the same with the town treasurer; they shall also transmit to the State comptroller a certificate of such enumeration. In like manner each town school committee shall have enumeration made and returns filed. Any person having control of a child between 4 and 16 years old who shall refuse to give the enumerator the required information shall be fined $3. The comptroller shall after February 28 draw orders for the support of the common schools at the rate of $2.25 per child enumerated, and the State fund thus provided shall be distributed to towns in proportion to enumeration, but no money shall be distributed to any town which has not filed a certificate that schools have been kept for term required by law and that all moneys drawn from the State treasury have been expended only for teachers' wages. Every town having

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a valuation of not exceeding $2.500,000 may receive annually from the State a sum which will enable such town to expend annually $25 per pupil in average attendance, but payments of principal and interest on indebtedness and the expense of new buildings, sites, and permanent improvements shall not be included in obtaining the cost per pupil. Such towns must have levied taxes as follows: Five hundred thousand dollars of valuation or less, 21 mills on the dollar; $500,000 to $1,000,000, 3 mills; $1,000,000 to $1,500,000, 3 mills; $1,500,000 to $2,000,000, 41 mills; $2,000,000 to $2,500,000, 6 mills. Secretary of the board of school visitors or town school committee shall annually certify to the State board of education the average attendance and that the schools have been taught by qualified teachers for the time required by law, that the amount of tax required has been levied and expended for the schools, and that the amount received from the State has been expended for teachers' salaries only. Deduction shall be made for any district which has not kept its school according to law, and only the enumeration for the remaining portion of the town shall be taken into account. The income of the town deposit fund and of any other town fund for the support of the schools shall be paid annually into the town treasury for the schools; the income of any district shall be paid into the district treasury, but if such district shall cease to exist said fund shall be paid over to the school-fund treasurer of the town and the income thereof shall be expended for the school within or nearest to the former district to which it belonged. The school visitors and selectmen of any town which has not voted to consolidate its districts shall annually estimate the cost of running each school in the town and shall notify the several district committees of the amounts so fixed.. The school year shall extend from July 15 to July 14 of following year. Any district of a town not consolidated may, by contributing an amount in excess of that estimated by the school visitors and selectmen, extend its term beyond that required by law. Teachers shall be paid at the end of each month unless otherwise ordered by the district at its annual meeting; selectmen shall at the close of each month draw an order for teachers' wages, including board, and for incidental expenses; if expenses of district exceed those fixed by the joint board of selectmen and visitors, said board shall decide whether such excess is necessary, and if found necessary town shall pay it, otherwise district shall pay it. At the close of the period for which teachers are paid school visitors shall report to selectmen as to whether schools have been kept according to law. No town which contains a city shall be required to expend annually for school purposes a greater sum than would be raised by a tax of 1 mill on the dollar, if said city is organized into one or more school districts by which a sum has been appropriated for the support of public schools during the year in which such tax would be payable sufficient, with the income derived from other sources, to pay the wages of teachers, cost of fuel and incidental expenses of the public schools of said district or districts for at least 36 weeks. Every town which shall refuse or neglect to provide public schools shall forfeit to the State a sum equal to the amount which it is required to raise. When the number of pupils in any district shall be so small as to render the maintenance of a separate school in said district inexpedient the board of school visitors may unite the school of such district with the school of an adjoining district and may pay for the transportation of pupils out of the town treasury. School district shall pay expenditures incurred in addition to those provided for by the town. No district shall receive any money from the State or town unless said district shall report to school visitors as required by law. In all cases where a school has not

been kept according to law the secretary of the State board of education shall be the judge as to whether forfeiture therefor shall be set aside.

See also A (b1), State boards.

Delaware: The money appropriated by the legislature for the public schools and the income from the investment of the public-school fund shall constitute the school fund for the year. The State treasurer shall, while in office, be the trustee of the school fund and shall apportion such fund to counties and distribute each county's share to districts in proportion to number of teachers employed, but no discrimination shall be made between districts for white schools and districts for colored schools; such fund shall be used for the payment of teachers' salaries only, but no teacher not in an incorporated district shall receive exceeding $40 per month from the State fund. No school district shall be entitled to any part of the State school fund, unless such district shall levy the local tax required by law. The provisions of this act shall apply to incorporated districts when not inconsistent with the acts incorporating such districts; none of the provisions of this act shall affect the rights, privileges, and immunities of the city of Wilmington.

Georgia: The common-school fund shall consist of poll tax, special tax on shows and exhibitions, dividends on stock of the State in the bank of Georgia and Georgia Railroad & Banking Co., one-half of the proceeds of the rental or annual net earnings of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, gifts and bequests, proceeds of commutation tax for military services, taxes on domestic animals destructive to other property, any educational funds belonging to the State (except university endowment), and such other funds as legislature may raise by taxation for educational purposes; said fund shall be kept separate from other funds and shall be used for school purposes only.

(In lieu of the above a direct State appropriation of $2,550,000 is made.) Idaho: School fund shall consist of proceeds of school lands, other grants to State for school purposes, and moneys accruing from estates of deceased persons. Lands acquired by foreclosure on loans of school funds and those which escheat to the State shall be held as school lands. Tax for public schools in the several counties must be levied by county commissioners and must be collected in same manner as other taxes and paid into county treasury. All moneys from fines, forfeitures, or breaches of the penal laws shall be apportioned to school fund. County commissioners shall levy a county school tax of not less than 15 nor more than 50 cents on $100 of property; governing authorities of cities, towns, districts, etc., authorized to levy taxes must, on or before third Monday of September, certify to county auditor the tax rate levied in city, town; district, etc., and he shall file levies in offices of the assessor and the collector; all taxes of every city, town, district, etc., shall be collected, paid into county treasurer, and apportioned to such city, town, etc. One and one-half per cent of taxes collected from districts, etc., shall be set aside for current-expense fund to pay county officers for assessment, collection, etc. State school funds shall be apportioned by State superintendent to counties on basis of school census; State superintendent shall certify to State auditor and to county superintendent and county treasurer amount apportioned to each county. County treasurer shall report quarterly to county superintendent amount of money on hand and superintendent shall apportion the same to districts. Superintendent shall apportion two-thirds of whole amount on basis of school 3966°-15-18

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