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No. 166--[ 144.] It shall be the duty of each county clerk, immediately after the first day of August in every year, in case the town superintendent of any town in his county shall have neglected to make to him his annual report, to give notice of such neglect to the clerk of the town, who shall immediately notify such town superintendent for the purpose of making his report.1

Miscellaneous provisions connected with the foregoing articles.

No. 167-[§ 1.] Common schools in the several school districts in this state shall be free to all persons residing in the district over five and under twenty-one years of age, as herein [before] provided. Persons not resident of a district may be admitted into the schools kept therein, with the approbation in writing of the trustees thereof, or a majority of them.2

No. 168--[§ 145.] Town superintendents, trustees, collectors and clerks of school districts, refusing or wilfully neglecting to make any report, or to perform any other duty required by law, or by regulations or decisions made under the authority of any statute, shall severally forfeit to their town, or to their district as the case may be, for the use of the common schools therein, the sum of ten dollars for each such neglect or refusal, which penalty shall be sued for and collected by the supervisor of the town, and paid over to the proper officers to be distributed for the benefit of the common schools in the town or district to which such penalty belongs; and when the share of school or library money apportioned to any town or district, or school, or any portions thereof, or any money to which a town or district would have been entitled, shall be lost in consequence of any wilful neglect of official duty by any town superintendent or trustees or clerks of school districts, the officers guilty of such neglect shall forfeit to the town or district the full amount, with interest, of the moneys so lost; and they shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of such forfeiture.

No. 169-[§ 146.] In any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against town superintendents or officers of school districts, for any act performed by virtue of, or under color of their offices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and which might have been the subject of an appeal to the superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff in cases where the court shall certify that it appeared on the trial of the cause that the defendants acted in good faith. But this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent.

No. 170-[§ 1.]a Whenever a suit shall have been commenced or shall hereafter be commenced against the trustees of a

(1) Laws of 1847, chap. 480, § 144. (2) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, § 1. (a) Laws of 1847, chap. 172, § 1, 2, 3, 4. Laws of 1849, chap. 388.

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school district in consequence of acts by them performed in pursuance of and by the direction of such district, for any act performed by virtue of, or under color of their office, and such suit shall have been finally determined, or whenever, after the final. determination of any suit commenced by or against any trustees or other officers of a school district, a majority of the taxable inhabitants of any school district shall so determine, it shall be the duty of the trustees to ascertain in the manner hereinafter described, the actual amount of all the costs, charges and expenses paid by such officer, and to cause the same to be assessed upon and collected of the taxable inhabitants of said district in the same manner as other taxes of said district are by law assessed and collected, and when so collected, to pay the same over to the officer by virtue of this act entitled to receive the same; but this provision shall not extend, to suits for penalties, nor suits or proceedings to enforce the decisions of the superintendent.

No. 171-[§ 2.] Whenever any person mentioned in the first section of this act shall have paid any costs, charges or expenses as mentioned in said first section, he shall make out an account of such charges, costs and expenses so paid by him, giving the items thereof, and verify the same by his oath or affirmation; he shall serve a copy of said account so sworn to, upon the trustees of the district against which such claim shall be made, together with a notice in writing that on a certain day therein specified, he will present such account to the board of supervisors of the county in which such school district shall be situated, for settlement at some legal meeting of such board; and it shall be the duty of the officer upon whom such copy, account and notice shall be served, to attend at the time and place in such notice specified, to protect the rights and interests of such district upon such settle

ment.

No. 172-[§ 3.] Upon the appearance of the parties, or upon due proof of service of the notice and copy of account mentioned in the second section of this act, if the said board shall be of opinion that such account or any portion thereof ought justly to be paid to the claimant, such board may by an order to be made by a majority of all the members elected to the same, and to be entered in its minutes, require such account or such part thereof as such board shall be of opinion ought justly to be paid to the claimant, by such district to be so paid; but no portion of such account shall be so ordered to be paid which shall appear to the said board to have arisen from the wilful neglect or misconduct of the claimant. The account, with the oath of the party claiming the same, shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness thereof. The board may adjourn the hearing from time to time as justice shall seem to require.

No. 173--[§ 4.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district, within thirty days after service of a copy of such

order upon them to cause the same to be entered at length in the book of records of said district, and to issue to the collector of said district a warrant for the collection of the amount so directed to be paid, in the same manner and with the like force and effect as upon a tax voted by said district.

No. 174-[§ 1.]6 No person shall wilfully disturb, interrupt or disquiet any assemblage of persons met at any school district, with the assent of the trustees of the school district, for the purpose of receiving instruction in any of the branches of education usually taught in the common schools of this state, or in the science of music.

No. 175-[§ 2.] Whoever shall violate the provisions of the foregoing section, may be tried before any justice of the peace of the county, or any mayor, alderman, recorder, or other magistrate of any city where the offence shall be committed; and upon conviction, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars, for the use and benefit of the school district in which such offence shall be committed.

No. 176-[§ 3.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of any school district in which any such offence shall be committed, to prosecute such offender before any officer having cognizance of such offence.

No. 177-[§ 4.] If any person convicted of the offence herein prohibited, shall not immediately pay the penalty incurred, with the costs of conviction, or give security, to the satisfaction of the officer before whom such conviction shall be had, for the payment of the said penalty and costs within twenty days thereafter, he shall be committed by warrant to the common jail of the county, until the same be paid, or for such term, not exceeding thirty days, as shall be specified in such warrant.

No. 178-[§ 5.] It shall and may be lawful for any person who may be complained of for a violation of the provisions of this act, to demand of such magistrate that he may be tried by a jury. Upon such demand, it shall be the duty of such officer to issue a venire to the proper officer, commanding him to summon the same number of jurors, and in the same manner, and the said court shall proceed to empannel a jury for the trial of said cause, in the same manner and subject to all the rules and regulations prescribed in the act providing for the trials by jury in courts of special sessions.

No. 179-[§ 147.] A school for colored children may be established in any city or town of this state, with the approbation of the commissioners or town superintendent of such city or town, which shall be under the charge of the trustees of the district in which such school shall be kept; and in places where no school districts exist, or where from any cause it may be expedient, such

(b) Laws of 1845, chap. 228, § 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

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school may be placed in charge of trustees to be appointed by the commissioners or town superintendent of common schools of the town or city, and if there be none, to be appointed by the state superintendent. Returns shall be made by the trustees of such school to the town superintendent at the same time and in the same manner as now provided by law in relation to districts; and they shall particularly specify the number of colored children over four and under twenty-one years of age, attending such school from different districts, naming such districts respectively, and the number from each. The town superintendent shall apportion and pay over to the trustees of such schools, a portion of the money received by them annually, in the same manner as now provided by law in respect to school districts, allowing to such schools the proper proportion for each child over four and under twenty-one years, who shall have been instructed in such school at least four months by a teacher duly licensed, and shall deduct such proportion from the amount that would have been apportioned to the district to which such children belong; and in his report to the state superintendent, the town superintendent shall specially designate the schools for colored children in his town or city.

No. 180 [ 15.] Whenever it shall be satisfactorily proven to the state superintendent that any county or town superintendent or other school officer, has embezzled the public money, or any money coming into his hands for school purposes, or has been guilty of the wilful violation of any law, or neglect of any duty, or of disobeying any decision, order or regulation of the department of common schools, the state superintendent is hereby anthorized to remove such officer from such office, by an order under the seal of office of the secretary of state.1

No. 181.-[8148.] The state superintendent may cause to be printed a sufficient number of forms of reports by trustees of school districts and town superintendents and of lists of pupils attending schools, and cause them to be transmitted to the several county clerks, for the use of those officers and of teachers of schools; and he shall cause title second of chapter fifteen and part first of the Revised Statutes to be printed, and shall insert therein all acts and paris of acts which have been passed by the legislature, connected with the subjects of the said title, which are now in force; and where any provisions of the said title have been altered by the subsequent acts, such provisions shall be varied so as to make them conformable to such alterations; but the original numbers of the sections shall be indicated in such mode as he shall judge proper, except as herein amended or altered. Copies of the said title so amended shall be transmitted to the town superintendent, and all other officers charged with the performance of any duty under its provisions, with such explanations and instructions as may be deemed expedient.

(1) Chap. 382, Laws of 1849, §15.

No. 182-[$150.] All such provisions of law as are repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this title, are hereby repealed; but nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to impair or affect any of the local provisions respecting the organization and management of schools in any of the incorporated cities or villages or towns of this state, except as the same are affected by the preceding sections of this act.

Town School Funds.

The acts passed in 1789 for the sale of lands belonging to the people of this State, required the Surveyor General to reserve in each township, one lot for the support of the gospel, and one lot for the use of schools in such township.

The following is a list of the principal reservations of this nature, viz:

One lot of 550 acres, in each of the twenty-eight townships in the Military tract.

Forty lots of 250 acres each, in each of the twenty townships west of the Unadilla river, being ten thousand acres.

One lot of 640 acres each, in each of the townships of Fayette, Clinton, Greene, Warren, Chenango, Sidney and Hampden, then in the counties of Broome and Chenango,

Ten lots of 640 acres each, in the townships along the St. Lawrence.

Sixteen lots of 640 acres each in Totten and Crossfield's purchase.

In the township of Plattsburgh 400 acres were reserved for the use of a minister of the gospel, and 460 acres for the use of a public school or schools in the said township.

In the township of Benson 640 acres were reserved for gospel and schools.

By an act passed in 1798, in relation to gospel and school lots, it is provided "that the moneys arising from the leasing of the said lots of land as aforesaid, and from the trespasses aforesaid, shall be applied to the use of schools or support of the gospel, in the original townships, as surveyed, in which such lots shall be respectively situated, and for no other purpose; which said application shall be made, either for schools or gospel or both, and in such way and manner as the freeholders and inhabitants of the towns in which the same lands shall lie, shall in legal town meeting, from time to time direct, order and appoint."

By an act passed in 1808, the act of 1798 was extended to all the townships where lots of land are reserved for the support of gospel and schools, and the following provision was added: "§ 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the moneys arising from the annual rents and profits of the gospel lots in each township, shall be equally divided by the supervisor and commissioners appointed in each township, between the several religious societies legally organized in such township, and that the money arising from the

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