ceeding of a district meeting, upon the district clerk or one of the trustees, whose duty it is to cause information of such appeal to be given to the inhabitants who voted for the decision. 3. Manner of service. Such service must be made by delivering a copy of the appeal to the party to be served personally, or, in case he cannot be found in the supervisory district in which he resides, after due diligence, by delivering and leaving the same at his residence, with some person of suitable age and discretion, between 6 o'clock in the morning and 9 o'clock in the evening. 4. Affidavit of service. Immediately after the service of such copy the original, together with an affidavit proving the service of a copy thereof and stating the time and manner of the service and the name and official character of the person upon whom such service was made, must be transmitted to the Education Department at Albany. 5. Time of perfecting appeal. Such original appeal and all papers, etc., annexed thereto, with proof of service of copies, as required by rules 3 and 4, must be sent to the Education Department within 30 days after the making of the decision or the performance of the act complained of or within that time after the knowledge of the cause of complaint came to the appellant, or some satisfactory excuse must be rendered in the appeal for the delay. If an answer is received to an appeal which has not been transmitted to the Department, such appeal will be dismissed. 6. Answer; when to be made; verification; service. The party upon whom an appeal shall be served must, within 10 days from the time of such service, unless further time be given by the Commissioner of Education, on application, answer the same, either by concurring in a statement of facts with the appellant or by a separate answer, and of all affidavits, papers, maps, etc., in support thereof. Such statement and answer must be signed by all the trustees or other officers whose act, omission or decision is appealed from, or a good reason, on oath, must be given for the omission of the signature of any of them. Such answer must be verified by oath and a copy thereof and of all the statements, maps, papers, etc., intended to be presented in support thereof, served on the appellants or some one of them, in like manner as is provided in rule 3 for the service of a copy of an appeal 7. Submission of answer to department. Immediately after the service of a copy of such answer and the statements, papers, etc., presented in support thereof, the original answer and papers, etc., together with an affidavit of the service of such copy and stating the time and manner of the service and the name and official character of the person upon whom such service was made, as hereinbefore provided for the service of a copy of an appeal, must be transmitted to the Education Department at Albany. 8. Reply, replication or rejoinder. No reply, replication or rejoinder shall be allowed, except by permission of the Commissioner of Education; in which case, such reply, replication and rejoinder must be duly verified by oath, and copies thereof served on the opposite party. Immediately after the service of such copy, the original, together with an affidavit of such service, and stating the time and manner of the service, and the name and official character of the person upon whom such service was made, must be transmitted to the Education Department at Albany. 9. When oath not required. So far as the parties concur in a statement, no oath will be required to it. But all facts, maps, or papers, not agreed upon by them and evidenced by their signature on both sides, must be verified by oath. 10. Who may answer appeal. When any proceeding of a district meeting is appealed from, and when the inhabitants of a district generally are interested in the matter of the appeal, and in all cases where an inhabitant might be an appellant had the decision or proceeding been the opposite of that which was made or had, any one or more of such inhabitants may answer the appeal, with or without the trustees. II. Appeals in relation to alteration, formation or consolidation of districts. Where the appeal has relation to the alteration or formation of a school district, or the consolidation of two or more school districts, it must be accompanied by a map, exhibiting the site of the schoolhouse, the roads, the old and new lines of districts, the different lots, the particular location and distance from the schoolhouses of the persons aggrieved, and their relative distance, if there are two or more schoolhouses in question. Unless excused by the commissioner there shall also be presented a list of all the taxable inhabitants in the district or territory to be affected by the question, showing in separate columns the valuation of their property taken from the last assessment roll, and the number of children between 5 and 21 belonging to each person, distinguishing the districts to which they respectively belong. 12. Stay of proceedings. An appeal, of itself, does not stay proceedings. If the party desires such stay he should apply for it by petition, stating the facts upon which such stay should be made, duly verified. The Commissioner of Education will grant a stay, or not, as in his judgment it may be proper, or may subserve the interests of either party or the public, and may direct a copy of the petition to be served on the opposite party, and a hearing on both sides before deciding upon the application. 13. Affidavit of verification. The affidavit of verification, required by these rules to an appeal, answer, reply, replication and rejoinder, must be to the effect, that the same is true to the knowledge of the affiant, except as to the matters therein stated to be alleged on information and belief, and that as to those matters he believes it to be true. 14. Oaths. All oaths required by these rules may be taken before any person authorized to take affidavits. 15. Papers to be legibly written. All appeals, petitions and other papers therein must be fairly and legibly written; and if not so written, may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Education be returned to the parties. 16. Names of parties or attorneys to be indorsed on paper. When any party, appellant or respondent, is not represented on the appeal by an attorney, the name of such party, with the names of the district, town and county and his post-office address must be indorsed upon each paper of the party so represented, filed in the Department on such appeal; and, when represented by an attorney, the name of such attorney, with the name of the distrist, town and county affected and his post-office address, must be so indorsed upon each paper of the party so represented, filed in the Department on such appeal. 17. Oral argument; briefs. Submission of appeals may be made upon the papers filed therein, with or without oral argument, or the filing of briefs, as the Commissioner of Education, upon application, may determine. Arguments and hearings in appeals and other proceedings pending before the Commissioner of Education may be held before the Deputy Commissioner of Education, when authorized by the commissioner. 18. Decision. The decision of the Commissioner of Education in every case will contain the order, or directions, necessary and proper for giving effect to his decisions. 19. Decision to be filed. A decision upon an appeal will be forwarded by the Commissioner of Education to the clerk of the school district in which the appeal arose, or to the town clerk of the town, when the appeal relates to the alteration of a district in which the order appealed from is filed, whose duty it will be to file the same in his office as a public record. 20. Records and reports. The Commissioner of Education will, in his discretion, in the determination of an appeal, take into consideration any official records or reports on file in the Education Department and relating to the issues involved in such appeal. REVIEW QUESTIONS Who may appeal to the Commissioner of Education? What actions are appealable? Why was judicial authority conferred on the Commissioner of Education? What general power has the Commissioner in such matters? Are his decisions reviewable? Give in substance case 159 N. Y., 162. How was this affected by the amendment of 1910? What additional power was given the Commissioner of Education in 1910? |