§ 35. All children between the ages of four and twenty-one, 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 imposition for the tuition of any children, other than is herein before provided.

§ 36. The free academy in the city of New-York shall be entitled to participate in the distribution 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 the city and county of New-York, the distributive share of the said funds to which the said free academy shall by law be entitled,and which shall be applied and expended for library books for the said free academy.

§ 37. The clerk of the board of education is hereby authorized to admin ister 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 the fees or emoluments thereof.

§ 38. No school officer shall be interested in any contract, payments under which are to be made, in whole or in part, out of moneys derived from the school fund or raised by taxation for the support of common schools. No teacher employed in any of the schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of the school moneys, shall hereafter be eligible to the office of commissioner, inspector or trustee of common schools.

§ 39. The common council shall provide and furnish suitable rooms, for the meeting of the board of education, and for the transaction of its busi

ness.

$40. The act entitled, "An act to extend to the city and county of New York the provisions of the general act in relation to common schools," passed April 11th, 1842, and, an act amending the same, passed April 18th, 1843; and the act entitled, "An act more effectually to provide for common school education in the city and county of New-York," passed May 7th, 1844, and the several acts amending the same, passed respectively on May 11th, 1847; March 27th, 1848; April 11th, 1849; and the act authorizing the board of education of the city of New-York to establish evening schools for the education of apprentices, and others, passed March 25th, 1848; and an act authorizing the board of education of the city and county of New-York to establish a free academy in caid city, passed May 7th, 1847, and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with or repugnant to the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

OSWEGO.

By chapter 116, laws of 1848, a city superintendent of common schools is authorized to be elected, who "shall have all the powers and perform all the duties, and be subject to all the liabilities and obligations of town superintendents of common schools in any town of the county of Oswego; and he shall also commence his term of office at the same time, and hold it for the same period as town superintendent." $20.

By 10 of the same act, as amended by the first section of chap. 182, laws of 1849, it is provided that "in case a vacancy, from any cause, shall happen in the office of superintendent of common schools, the common council may appoint, by ballot, a qualified person to fill such vacancy.”

POUGHKEEPSIE.

[Laws of 1843. Chap. 211.]

AN ACT to establish Free Schools in the village of Poughkeepsie.

Passed April 18, 1843, by a two-third vote.

The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

§ 1. The village of Poughkeepsie shall form a permanent school district, not subject to alteration by the commissioners of common schools for the town in which the said village is situated.

§ 2. There shall be elected in said district the first year, twelve commis. sioners of common schools, as soon after the passage of this act as the trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie can order an election, for the choice of said commissioners, after giving one week's notice in all the papers of the village, of the time and place of holding said election; the twelve commissioners then elected shall constitute, and are hereby denominated, the Board of Education for the village of Poughkeepsie. Four of the said board shall go out of office at the expiration of the first year, four at the expiration of the second year, four at the expiration of the third year-four persons being annually elected to supply their places, who shall hold their office in said board for three years. The annual election shall be held on the first Tuesday in June of each year.

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§3. The trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie shall appoint inspectors of the said elections, and of all other elections to be held under this act, within thirty days next preceding the time of holding the same; and notice thereof shall be given in the same manner, and 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 officers of the said village.

4. In case of vacancy in the office of any such commissioners, or in case no person shall be elected thereto, by reason of two or more persons having an equal number of votes, the trustees shall appoint an inhabitant of the village to fill the same, and the person appointed shall hold his office until the next election of commissioners of common schools.

§ 5. Immediately after the election of the said board of education, they shall proceed, under the provisions of this law, to build and furnish one good and substantial school-house, containing two rooms, of sufficient capacity to accommodate not less than one hundred and twenty-five pupils each, and to rent five other rooms for primary schools; said primary schools to be opened for the reception of pupils by the first of May next ensuing, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and the other schools on or before the first of November next ensuing. Whenever the board may deem necessary, they shall have authority to establish other primary schools; and for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the five primary schools, and the schools to be kept in the building provided for in this section, for the first year after the passage of this act, the trustees of the corporation of the village of Poughkeepsie shall levy and raise the sum of fifteen hundred dollars.

6. The trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie are hereby authorized and required to borrow on the bond of the corporation, at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent. per annum, for such a term of years as they may deem proper, the sum of three thousand dollars, for the purchase of a site and erection of a school-house, as is provided for in the preceding section; the money loaned to be payable in equal annual instalments of five hundred dollars per annum, after the expiration of the term of years for which it may be borrowed.

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the board of education to make to the trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie, who shall cause it to be published in at least two papers of the said village, an annual report, on or before the first Tuesday in February of each year, setting forth the number and condition of each school under their charge, and a detail of all the expenses during the past year, and all other particulars relating to the schools.

§ 8. In their annual report, the said board of education shall fix and determine, and certify the amount of money which, when added to the money annually apportioned to the said corporation, out of the funds belonging to the state, shall be necessary to support all the schools under their superintendence. The said amount shall in no case exceed four times the amount which shall have been apportioned out of the funds belonging to the state as aforesaid, for the year next preceding.

§ 9. On the day of the annual charter election of said village, the trustees shall state to the citizens the amount recommended by the board of education to be raised for the support of schools for the ensuing year, and the electors may vote the sum reported by said board, or any other amount they shall deem proper, not inconsistent with the preceding section.

§ 10. The trustees of said village shall annually levy and raise the amount of money so voted, at the same time and in the same manner as the other general taxes of the said village are levied and raised; and a separate column shall be provided in the general assessment rolls of the said village, in which shall be inserted by the village trustees the amount of tax assessed for the support of common schools.

§ 11. All moneys levied and raised for the support of common schools, together with the public moneys received from the state, shall be paid to the treasurer of the village of Poughkeepsie, and shall be kept by him in the same manner as other moneys of said village are kept, and shall be paid out by said treasurer from time to time, upon the resolution of the board of education, duly certified by the clerk thereof, and not otherwise.

§ 12. Whenever the said board of education shall deem an additional school-house necessary, they shall mention the same in their annual report, together with the location they propose for it, the cost of a lot for the building, a plan of the building and an estimate of the cost of it. And the electors of the village, at the annual election on the first Tuesday of June for four members of the board of education, as is herein before provided for, shall vote by ballot for or against the erection of said school-house, under such regulations for conducting the election as the trustees of the village shall prescribe; and it shall not be lawful to erect said school-house until a majority of electors voting at such election shall decide in favor of it; and the cost of building and furnishing of said school-house shall in no case exceed the sum of three thousand dollars.

§ 13. Whenever the electors shall decide in favor of the erection of an additional school-house, it shall be the duty of the trustees of the village of Poughkeepsie to borrow on the bond of the village, at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent. per annum, the sum of three thousand dollars, for the erection of said school-house; but no part of said loan shall be payable in a less term than twelve years and then to be payable in equal annual instalments of five hundred dollars each. And all the loans authorized by this act, for the purchase of sites and erection of school-houses, shall not exceed the sum of twelve thousand dollars.

14. The trustees of said village are hereby authorized to raise by tax upon the real and personal property of said village, in the same manner as the general taxes of said village are levied and collected, the annual interest of the above mentioned loan or loans, and to pay over the same in discharge of such interest; and also in each year in which an instalment of the above loan or loans shall become due, to raise, levy and collect, in the same manner, a sum equal to that instalment, and to pay over the same in discharge thereof.

§15. The said board of education, in addition to the powers and duties prescribed by this act, shall perform all the duties, and shall have and possess all the rights, powers and authority of commissioners of common schools in the several towns of this state, which shall not conflict with the provisions of this law.

§ 16. The said board of education shall have power to establish and cause to be kept, a school or schools in said village for the instruction of colored children.

§ 17. The said board of education, in addition to performing all the duties of commissioners of common schools, shall require three of their number to visit each school once a week, and render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as may be expedient.

§ 18. The said board of education shall make by-laws to regulate their proceedings, and shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools of the village, and the property connected therewith.

§ 19. The said board of education shall annually report to the commissioners of the town of Poughkeepsie, the number of children over the ages of five and under sixteen years, in said district.

$20. The commissioners of common schools of the town of Poughkeepsie shall pay over to the treasurer of said village the amount of the public money that said village is entitled to receive from the State.

21. The said board of education shall have control of the district library, shall employ a librarian, and shall, from time to time, make such regulations respecting it as they shall deem necessary.

22. The services of the board of education, designated by this act, shall be gratuitous, and any person elected a member of said board who shall refuse to serve, shall be liable to a penalty of twenty-five dollars, to be sued. for and recovered by the trustees of the village, and the money to be applied to the purposes of education.

§ 23. The present Lancaster school may, with the consent of the trustees thereof and not otherwise, constitute one of the common schools in said village, and shall be conducted and supported as other schools under this

act.

§ 24. All previous acts relating to common schools in the village of Poughkeepsie, conflicting with this act, shall be, and are, hereby repeal

ed.

$25. This act shall not take effect unless approved by a majority of the legal voters of the village of Poughkeepsie, at a special election to be called for that purpose by the trustees of the village, within thirty days after the passage of this act, public notice of which shall be given in all the village papers, and by hand-bills, for at least one week before holding the election. The electors shall vote by ballot, the ballots having written or printed upon them the words "for free schools," or "against free schools;', and the election shall be conducted as the trustees of said village may prescribe, and they shall certify the result thereof; and if a majority of the said ballots shall be "for free schools," then this act shall take effect immediately.

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ROCHESTER.

[Chap. 262, laws of 1850, as amended by chap. 389, laws of 1851.]

By S9 of Title II, two Commissioners of Common Schools are required to be annually elected in each ward, on the first Tuesday in March.

"For the election of commissioners of common schools the electors of each ward shall deposit their ballots, containing the name of one person designated for the office; the two persons having the highest number of votes shall be declared to be elected; no ballot which contains more than one name shall be counted" § 17. By § 30. in case a vacancy shall occur in the office, "the Common Council may, in their discretion, fill such vacancy, by the ap

pointment of a suitable person who is an elector, and if appointed for a ward or district, who is a resident of the ward or district for which he shall be appointed; and any officer appointed to fill a vacancy, if the office is elective, shall hold by virtue of such appointment, only until the first Monday of April next succeeding. If an elective officer whose office shall have become vacant, was one of a class, a successor for the unexpired term shall be elected at the next annual election."

By $ 32 every person so elected or appointed to the office of commissioner, shall, before he enters on the duties of his office, and within five days after being notified of such election or appointment, take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the State, before some officer authorized to take affidavits to be read in courts of justice, and file the same with the clerk of the city; and by § 34 his neglect to do so, or if required by the common council, to execute an official bond or undertaking, the neglect to execute and file the same in manner and within the time prescribed by the common council, shall be deemed a refusal to serve.

TITLE VI-SCHOOLS AND BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§ 161. The several wards of the city of Rochester shall constitute one school district, for all purposes except as herein otherwise provided, and the schools therein shall be free to all children between the ages of five and sixteen [twenty-one] residing in such wards.

§ 162. The titles of the school houses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall, within three months from the passage of this act, be transferred and conveyed by the trustees of the several school districts in the said city, to the said city of Rochester.

§ 163. The several school districts now in the city of Rochester shall, within three months from the passage of this act, deliver over to and place in the care of the board of education hereinafter mentioned, all school district records, account books, vouchers, contracts, papers and other school property; and the said school officers of the said city and the several school districts thereof shall continue in office until the unfinished business of said districts shall have been finally closed up and settled, not exceeding three months after the passage of this act, with all the power and duties now by law imposed upon them for the purpose of closing such unfinished business.

§ 164. The common council of said city may, upon the recommendation of the board of education hereinafter mentioned, 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 proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the city treasurer of the city, and shall be by the said common council again expended in the purchase, repairs or improvements of other school houses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances.

§ 165. The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a board to be styled the "Board of Education of the city of Rochester," which shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of this act; they shall meet on the first Monday of each and every month, and as much oftener as they shall from time to time appoint; a majority of the said board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The said board shall appoint one of their number president, who shall, when present, preside at all the meetings of said board, and shall have power to call special meetings of the board, in the manner described by this act for the calling of special meetings of the common council. In the absence of the president, the board shall appoint some other member to preside at such meetings and perform the duties of the president. No member of said board of education shall, during the period for which he was elected, be appointed to, or be competent to hold any office of which the emoluments are paid from the city treasury, or paid by fees directed to be paid by any act or