LAWS RELATING TO COMMON SCHOOLS. ARTICLE I.-STATE SUPERINTENDENT. II. COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. III.-SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IV.-DISTRICT OFFICERS. V.- DISTRICT SCHOOLS. VI.-TEACHERS, NORMAL INSTITUTES, AND CERTIFICATES. IX.-FINES AND PENALTIES. X.- PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS. XIV. SCHOOL LANDS. XV.-STATE PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND. XVI.-STATE ANNUAL SCHOOL FUND. XVII.-COUNTY SCHOOL FUND. XVIII. COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL. XIX.-SCHOOLS IN UNORGANIZED COUNTIES. XX. PROVIDING FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF SCHOOL FOUR ARTICLE I.-STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 21. Official oath and bond. 2. Shall have supervision of the educational interests of the state. 3. May appoint an assistant superintendent and a clerk of the board of school fund commissioners. 4. Apportionment of the annual school fund; time of making and basis of the same. 5. Manner of apportioning the state annual school fund. 6. Official opinions to be given at the request of county superintendents, and a record of all such decisions to be kept. 27. May publish the school laws in force, and shall cause the printing and distribution of blanks required in the transaction of the common-school business. 8. Shall visit schools and recommend text-books. 9. Office at seat of government; books, apparatus, reports, etc., to be preserved therein. 10. Evidence. 11. Biennial report; when it shall be made, and what it shall contain. Official Qualification.-SECTION 1. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 78.] The state superintendent of public instruction shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the proper oath of office, and shall execute to the state of Kansas a bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars, with two or more sufficient sureties, to be approved by * the executive council, conditional that he shall faithfully perform the duties of his said office, which oath and bond shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. General Duties.-SEC. 2. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 79.] The educational interests of the state shall be under the supervision and management of the state superintendent of public instruction, subject to such limitations and restrictions as are or may be prescribed by law; and he shall have and exercise the powers and perform the duties prescribed in the acts relating to common schools. Assistant Superintendent.-SEC. 3. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 80.] The state superintendent shall have power to appoint an assistant superintendent of public instruction, who shall take the proper oath of office, which shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state; and such assistant shall perform such duties as his principal shall prescribe, not inconsistent with law. Such assistant shall be styled the "assistant state superintendent of public instruction," and the state superintendent shall be responsible for all of the official acts of such assistant. Such superintendent may also appoint an additional clerk, who shall act as clerk of the board of commissioners for the management and investment of the school funds; and such clerk shall perform such other duties as the superintendent may require, and for whose official acts such superintendent shall be responsible. Apportionment.-SEC. 4. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 81.] Such state superintendent shall distribute the income of the state school fund and the annual taxes collected by the state for the support of common schools to those counties of the state from which the proper reports have been received by said state superintendent. Such distribution shall be made twice in each year, as follows: All such moneys received up to the fifteenth of February shall be distributed between the fifteenth and last day of such month, and that received up to the fifteenth day of August shall be distributed between the fifteenth and last day of such month. The apportionment to each county shall be made in proportion to the number of children over the age of five years and under the age of twenty-one years, resident therein, as shown by the last annual report of the county superintendent to the state superintendent. SEC. 5. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 82.] Such superintendent shall draw his order on the state treasurer in favor of the county treasurer of the counties respectively entitled to school moneys for the amount of such moneys apportioned to his county, and certify the amount of such order to the state treasurer and state auditor, and also to the county clerk and superintendent of the proper county. Official Opinions.—SEC. 6. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 83.] Such superintendent shall, at the request of any county superintendent, give his opinion, upon a written statement of the facts, on all questions and controversies arising out of the interpretation and construction of the school laws in regard to the rights, powers and duties of school-district boards, school officers and county superintendents, and shall keep a record of all such decisions. Before giving any such opinion, the superintendent may submit the statement of facts to the attorney general for his advice thereon, and it shall be the duty of the attorney general forthwith to examine such statement, and suggest the proper decision to be made upon such facts. School Laws and Blanks.-SEC. 7. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, SEC. 84.] Such superintendent not oftener than once in two years may publish the school laws in force, with such forms, regulations, instructions and decisions as he may judge expedient thereto annexed, and shall cause the same to be forwarded to the persons entitled to receive them. He shall prescribe and cause to be prepared all forms and blanks necessary in the details of the common-school system, so as to secure its uniform operation throughout the state; and shall cause the same to be forwarded to the several county superintendents, to be by them distributed to the several persons or officers entitled to receive the same. Visitation, and Text-Books.-SEC. 8. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 85.] It shall be the duty of such superintendent to visit each county of the state at least once in two years, and as much oftener as consistent with the discharge of his other duties, for the purpose of advancing and promoting the cause of education throughout the state. It shall be his duty to recommend the most approved text-books for the common schools of the state, and to open such correspondence as may enable him to obtain all necessary information relating to the system of common schools in other states. Office.-SEC. 9. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 86.] Such superintendent shall have an office in the capitol, where he shall keep all books and papers pertaining to the duties of his office; and all books, school and other, and all apparatus, maps and charts now belonging to the office of the state superintendent, and such as may hereafter be received for such office by purchase, exchange or otherwise, shall be kept and preserved in such office, and delivered by the superintendent to his successor. He shall file and carefully preserve in his office the official reports made to him by the county superintendents of the several counties, trustees or directors of academies, graded schools or colleges. Copies of Papers.-SEC. 10. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, SEC. 87.] Copies of all papers filed in his office, and the record of his official acts, may be certified by him, and when so certified shall be evidence equally and in like manner as the originals. Biennial Report.-SEC. 11. [Laws 1879, Ch. 166, Sec. 88.] The superintendent shall, on the first day of December preceding each regular session of the legislature, make out and deliver to the governor a report containing First: A statement of the number of common schools in the state, the number of scholars attending the same, their sex, and the branches taught; a statement of the number of private or select schools in the state, so far as the same can be ascertained, and the number of scholars attending the same, their sex, and the branches taught; a statement of the number of normal schools in the state, and the number of students attending them; the number of academies and colleges in the state, and the number of students, and their sex, attending them; and such other matters of interest as he may deem expedient, drawn from the reports of the county superintendents of the several counties in the state, and from other reports received on the subject of education from trustees or other school boards within the state. Second: A statement of the condition of the common-school fund of the state, including moneys, school lands or other property held in trust by the state for the support of common schools, and giving a full statement of the school-land account of each county. Third: A statement of the receipts and expenditures for the year. Fourth: A statement of plans for the management and improvement of common schools; and such other information relating to the educational interests of the state as he may deem important. ARTICLE II.-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. 212. Official oath and bond. 13. General duties; quarterly report to state superintendent. 14. Apportionment of state and county school funds. 15. Report school-district boundaries to county *clerk. 16. Annual report to state superintendent. 17. Compensation, how determined. 18. Vacancy in board of directors of school district, how filled. 19. Vacancy in office of county superintendent, how filled. 220. Superintendent shall require clerks' reports 21. Power to administer oath, in what cases. 25. Other duties; delivery of records of office. Oath and Bond.-SECTION 12. [Laws 1881, Ch. 152, Sec. 1.] The county superintendent of public instruction shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to sup port the constitution of the United States and of the state of Kansas; to faithfully discharge the duties of such office, and execute to the state of Kansas a bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned to the faithful performance of his official duties; which bond, after having been approved by the board of county commissioners, together with his official oath, shall be filed in the office of the county clerk. General Duties.-SEC. 13. [Laws 1881, Ch. 152, Sec. 2.]. It shall be the duty of the county superintendent of public instruction to visit each school in his county at least once each term of six months, correcting any deficiency that may exist in the government of the school, the classification of the pupils, or the methods of instruction in the several branches taught; to make such suggestions in private to the teachers as he shall deem proper and necessary to the welfare of the school; to note the character and condition of the school house, furniture, apparatus and grounds, and make a report in writing to the district board, making such suggestions as in his opinion shall improve the same; to examine the accounts and record books of the district officers, and see that they are kept as required by law; to encourage the formation of associations of teachers and educators for mutual improvement, and, as far as possible, to attend the meetings of such associations, and participate in the exercises of the same; to attend the normal held in his county, using his influence to secure the attendance of teachers; to make daily a personal inspection of the work of the institute in session, and keep a record of the same in his office, and do such work in connection with the exercises of the institute as he may deem necessary; to hold a public meeting in each school district. of his county at least once every year, for the purpose of discussing school questions and elevating the standard of education; to keep his office open at the county seat, Saturday of each week, and in counties in which the county superintendent receives a salary of more than six hundred dollars per annum, he shall keep his office open when not necessarily absent attending to his official duties. He shall keep a complete record of his official acts; a record of the name, age and post-office address of each candidate for a teacher's certificate, with the number of weeks said candidate has attended a normal school or institute, the number of weeks he has taught, his standing in each SEC. 13. (a) “At least once each term of six months" is held to mean at least once each half-year. (b) The power to correct deficiencies in government, classification and methods of instruction, implies a direct responsibility of the teacher to the superintendent. The language of the law is clearly intended to establish this relation somewhat as it exists in city schools. Failure to pay reasonable attention to the suggestions of the county superintendent in these matters is held to be sufficient ground for withholding the teacher's certificate. (c) The county superintendent cannot receive compensation for work in connection with the normal institute. (d) The provisions of this section require the entire time of every county superintendent receiving a salary of over six hundred dollars. |