FLAGS.

AN ACT to provide for placing United States national flags on school houses, court houses and other public buildings in this State, and to repeal certain acts therein named.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors in counties under township organization, and the board of commissioners in counties not under township organization, to provide United States national flags of not less than 4x8 feet in size, to be unfurled and kept floating from a suitable flag staff to be placed on the top of the court house in their respective counties, and is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of each and every county in the State to see that the flag so provided shall be hoisted on its flag staff above the court house and kept floating from 8:00 o'clock a. m. to 5:00 o'clock p. m. on each and every legal holiday of the year, and on such other days as the board of supervisors or the board of county commissioners may direct.

§ 2. The commissioners or trustees of all penal and reformatory, State educational and State charitable institutions of this State shall provide United States national flags of not less than 10x20 feet in size, and cause the same to be unfurled and kept floating above the said penal and reformatory, State educational and State charitable institutions, or on a suitable flag pole from 8:00 o'clock a. m. to 5:00 o'clock p. m. on each and every legal holiday in the year, and on such other days as the commissioners or trustees may determine.

§ 3. The directors or board of education of every school district in the State of Illinois shall have power to cause to be erected and to keep in repair upon all public school houses or within the school grounds surrounding such public school buildings, which may be in their respective school districts, a good and sufficient flag staff or pole, together with all necessary adjustments, and that they shall provide a United States national flag of not less than 4x8 feet in size, which shall be floated from such flag staff or pole during the school hours of such days as the directors or board of education may determine: Provided, that the flag shall not be hoisted on any court house, State institution or public school building during any day when a violent storm or inclement weather would destroy or materially injure such flag.

§ 4. The flag used by any and all State institutions, as provided for in this act, shall be paid for out of the funds appropriated for the running expenses of said institutions, the same as other necessary supplies are bought and paid for, and the flags for use over court houses and public school buildings are hereby declared to be necessary supplies, and may be paid for out of the public funds of the respective counties or school districts.

5. Any person or persons who shall wilfully injure, deface or destroy any flag, flag staff or pole, or adjustments attached thereto, erected and arranged for the purpose of carrying out the requirements of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than $1.00 nor more than $15.00.

§ 6. That an act entitled, "An act to provide for placing the United States national flags on school houses, court houses and other buildings in the State," became a law June 26, 1895, in force July 1, 1895; and an act entitled, "An act to require the United States flag to be placed upon all public buildings in Illinois, or upon a flag pole erected within the school grounds surrounding such school buildings," became a law June 26, 1895, in force July 1, 1895, be and the same are hereby repealed.

APPROVED June 2, 1897.

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

AN ACT to authorize the organization of high school districts. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: When any school township not constituting the whole or any part of a township high school district shall contain a school district having a population of not less than eight thousand (8,000) and not over one hundred thousand (100,000) inhabitants, whether such school district is acting under the general school law or organized and acting under a special charter, such school township may become organized as a high school district by submitting the question of such organization to a vote of the people of such township at a special election to be called and held in the following manner, to-wit: Upon a petition of not less than fifty (50) legal voters of any such school township, filed with the county sup erintendent of schools of the county wherein such township or the greater part thereof may be situated, he shall within ten days thereafter notify the voters of said township that an election "For" or "Against" a high school district in said township will be held at the usual place or places of holding elections in said township for the election of trustees of schools, by posting notices of such election in at least ten of the most public places throughout such township for at least ten days before the election, which notices may be in the following form:

for the purpose of voting "For" or "Against" the proposition to establish a high school district in and for the benefit of township No......Range No. The polls of said election will be open at ....o'clock and close at.. ..o'clock of said day.

Such election shall be held within twenty days after the filing of said petition and shall be conducted and the ballots cast thereat shall be canvassed and the returns thereof made to said county superin

tendent of schools as and within the time and the manner provided for election of school trustees in and by article three (3) of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois entitled "An act to establish and maintain a system of free schools," approved May 21, 1889, and the amendments thereto, and if a majority of the votes cast at such election shall be found to be in favor of a high school district such township shall constitute a school district under this act for high school purposes.

§ 2. The members of the board of education of such school district so containing not less than eight thousand (8,000) inhabitants together with such additional members to be selected from the respective boards of directors or boards of education, as the case may be, of the several other school districts situated within such school township as may be determined upon, shall constitute the board of education of such high school district, and such board, when chosen, organized and qualified, shall have the powers and discharge the duties respectively of the board of education of said school district in such township having over eight thousand (8,000) inhabitants.

§ 3. The county superintendent of schools of the county wherein such township or the greater part thereof shall be situated, shall within ten days after the returns of such election shall have been made to him, determine the number of members of the board of education of such high school district to be chosen from the respective boards of the several school districts in such school township in the following manner, to-wit: He shall first obtain a ratio of representation by dividing the number of persons under twenty-one years of age residing in such school district containing over eight thousand (8.000) inhabitants as ascertained by the last preceding enumeration, by the full number of members constituting the board of education thereof and then assign to each of the other districts in such township one member of such board for each time such ratio may be contained in the respective number of such persons under the age of twenty-one years residing in each of such other districts as ascertained as aforesaid: Provided, however, that in case the total number of such members determined in the manner aforesaid shall exceed fifteen, then the said superintendent shall divide the entire number of such persons under the age of twenty-one years residing in such township by fifteen (15) and thereby obtain a new ratio and then make an apportionment between all the primary school districts in such school township, upon the basis of such new ratio, assigning one member for every time such ratio shall be contained in the number of such persons residing in each of such districts respectively, and one member for the largest fractions of such ratio, if necessary, to make the total number equal to fifteen, and within three days thereafter said superintendent shall notify the president of each of the said boards of said primary school districts of the result of such apportionment and that said boards must make a selection of the number of members of said high school board of education, each of their respective school districts shall be entitled to. When ten days after such notice shall have been given, the said respective boards of the primary school districts in such township shall meet upon a call of

the president thereof and elect by ballot the number of members of said high school district, such primary school districts may be entitled to respectively, and the president and secretary of said boards shall certify the result of such election in writing to the said county superintendent within three days thereafter, and thereupon the said county superintendent shall appoint a meeting of the several persons so chosen, for the purpose of organization, and give each person so chosen, notice by mail postpaid of such meeting and the time and place thereof.

§ 4. Said board shall organize by appointing one of their number president and some person who shall not be a member of such board but who shall be a resident of such high school district, treasurer, who shall be ex officio clerk of such board: Provided, that this board may, by a resolution to be adopted by a two-thirds vote of all the members thereof, determine to elect one of its own members secretary and fix his compensation and the term of his office, and by a like resolution, said board shall determine when the term of office of the president and treasurer shall commence. The treasurer shall execute a like bond to the board of education in the same manner with like sureties and with the same force and effect as the bonds which are required to be given by township treasurers in and by article four (4) of said act, and shall exercise the power and discharge the duties of his office in the same manner, as near as may be, as is required by such township treasurers and shall hold his office for one year and until his successor is appointed and qualified, but may be removed by the board for good and sufficient cause.

§ 5. The president shall hold his office for one year and until his successor shall be appointed, but he may be removed by the board for good and sufficient cause. It shall be his duty to preside at all meetings of the board and it shall be the duty of the clerk to be present at all meetings of the board, and to record in a book to be provided for that purpose all of their official proceedings, which book shall be a public record, open to the inspection of any person interested therein. All of said proceedings when recorded shall be signed by the clerk. If the president or clerk shall be absent or refuse to perform any of the duties of his office at any meeting of the board, a president or clerk pro tem may be appointed.

§ 6. For the purpose of building school houses, supporting schools and paying other necessary expenses, the townships for the benefit of which high school district may be established under the provisions of this act, shall be regarded as school districts and the board of education thereof shall have power and authority to levy a tax annually upon all the taxable property of such high school district of one-half the amount which boards of education of township high schools organized and acting under the provisions of sections 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of article three (3) of said act, now have power and authority to raise. It shall be the duty of such high school board of education to establish at some central point most convenient

to a majority of the pupils of the district, a high school for the education of the more advanced pupils and said board may establish and maintain a manual training department and a domestic science department.

§ 7. High school districts organized under the provisions of this act may borrow money and issue bonds therefor for the purposes and in the manner authorized and provided in and by an act entitled, "An act to authorize the certain school districts to issue bonds for certain purposes," approved May 10, 1901: Provided, however, that the amount so borrowed shall not exceed three-fourths the amount authorized by said act.

§ 8. One or more school districts adjoining any high school district organized and existing under this act may be annexed to such high school district and become a part thereof by a joint resolution or resolutions to be adopted by a vote of a majority of all the members of the board of directors or board of education of the district or districts so to be annexed, and by a majority vote of all the members constituting the said board of education of such high school district, which joint resolution or resolutions shall set forth specifically the terms and conditions of such annexation, and shall provide that such district or districts so to be annexed shall contribute such amount as may be agreed upon toward the cost of any school house or school house lot or other such school property owned by such high school district at the time of such annexation, which amount or amounts so agreed upon and fixed, shall be raised by the respective boards of the district or districts so being annexed in the same manner as such district might have raised a like amount for the purpose of building school houses therein, and when so raised, the same shall be used to pay any existing indebtedness theretofore incurred by such high school district, in the manner to be determined upon by said board: Provided, however, that before any such resolution for the annexation of any such district or districts shall take effect and be in force, the question of the adoption of the same shall be submitted to the legal voters of such said high school district and of the districts proposed to be annexed at elections to be called and held in the same manner as elections for township high schools under sections 38, 39 and 40 of article three (3) of the act mentioned in the first section of this act, and a majority of the votes cast in each district at such elections shall be required in order to adopt such resolution. APPROVED May 12, 1905.

KINDERGARTEN SCHOOLS.

AN ACT authorizing school districts managed by boards of education and directors to establish and maintain kindergarten schools.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That in addition to other grades or departments now established and maintained in the public. schools of the State, any school district managed by a board of edu. cation or a board of directors is hereby empowered, when authorized -23 S L