own number in their places, who shall perform the duties prescribed by law for such officers in the primary school districts in this State, except as hereinafter provided. The trustees shall have power to fill any vacancy that may occur in their number, till the next annual meeting. Whenever, in any case, the trustees shall fail, through disagreement or neglect, to elect the officers named in this section, within twenty days next after the annual meeting, the school inspectors of the township or city to which such district makes its annual report, shall ap point the said officers from the number of said trustees. Sec. 151. Whenever two or more contiguous districts, hav ing together more than two hundred children between the ages of five and twenty years, shall severally, by a vote of two-thirds of the qualified voters attending the annual meetings in said districts, determine to unite for the purpose of establishing graded or high schools, under the provisions of this act, the school inspectors of the township or townships in which such districts may be situated, shall, on being properly notified of such vote, proceed to unite such districts, and shall appoint, as soon as practicable, a time and place for a meeting of the new district, and shall require notices of the same to be posted in each of the districts so united, at least five days before the time of such meeting; and at such meeting the district shall elect a board of trustees, as provided in section 1 of this act, [sec. 147 above,] and may do whatever business may be done at any annual meeting. (2399.) Sec. 152. The qualified voters in any school district, having more than three hundred children between the ages of five and twenty years residing in such district, shall have power, when lawfully assembled, to designate by a vote of two-thirds of those present any number of sites for schoolhouses, including a site for a union schoolhouse, and to change the same by a similar vote at any regular meeting: Provided, That in case two-thirds cannot agree upon a site for said school. house, that a majority of the voters of said district shall have power to instruct the district board to locate said site. (2412.) Sec. 165. Any school district having more than three hundred children between the ages of five and twenty years residing in such district, shall have power and authority to borrow money to pay for a site for a union schoolhouse, to erect buildings thereon, and furnish the same, by a vote of two-thirds of the qualified voters of said district present at any annual meeting, and by a like vote at any other regular meeting: Pro vided, That the times of holding such meetings shall not be less than five days.nor more than six months apart, and that the whole debt of any such district, at any one time, for money thus borrowed, shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars. THE "DOLLAR A SCHOLAR TAX." It was the design of the Legislature in 1859 to repeal the the following section (formerly 140, in the school law,) under which districts could raise not exceeding one dollar for each child, by tax; but it was afterwards discovered that it was omitted in the enrolled bill, signed by the Governor; and of course it was not repealed. The law is therefore still in force, as follows: "The qualified voters of any school district may, by vote at their annual district meeting, raise by tax upon the taxable property of the district a sum not exceeding one dollar for every scholar in the district between the ages of four and eighteen years, for the support of common schools in the district, and such tax shall be reported to the Supervisor of the proper township, and shall be levied, collected and returned in the same manner as township taxes are levied, collected and re turned." |