CHAP. 368.—An ACT to authorize the school board uf Claremont school
district, No. 4, of the county of Surry, Virginia, to borrow money and
to issue bonds for the purpose of erecting and furnishing one or more
school houses, and to purchase sites therefor, and to provide for the
payment of such bonds and the interest to accrue thereon.

(H. B. 545.)
Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
whenever the school board of Claremont school district number
four, of the county of Surry, shall, by resolution duly spread
upon the minutes of the proceedings of the said board, declare
that an additional school house, or school houses, are necessary
to provide additional public school facilities for the children of
school age in the said district, and that the school funds of said
district will not be sufficient to provide such additional school
house, or school houses, and to purchase the site, or sites, there-
for, and to furnish the same, and the statement of facts con-
tained in the said resolution shall be confirmed and approved
by resolution of the board of supervisors of said county, the
said school board shall, when authorized by a vote of a majority
of the qualified voters of said school district, as hereinafter pro-
vided, borrow money for the purpose of erecting a school house,
or school houses, therein; purchasing necessary sites therefor,
and furnishing said school house, or school houses, and may
issue either registered or coupon bonds for the sum of money
so borrowed; the said bonds to be payable at a period not ex-
ceeding thirty years after their date, and to be made redeem-
able at the option of said school board at any time after their
date as may be specified in the bonds, and such bonds shall bear
interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, pay-
able either annually or semi-annually as the school board may
prescribe; provided, that the said bonded indebtedness shall not
exceed twenty-five thousand dollars; and, provided further, that
such bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value.

2. That the said bonds shall be of such form and denomina-
tion as the said school board, by resolution, spread upon the
minutes of the board, may prescribe, and shall be signed by the
chairman and attested by the secretary of the board, and there
shall be a lien upon all the school property of the said school
district for the payment of the principal of said bonds and the
interest to accrue thereon.

3. That the proceeds realized from the sale of such bonds
as may be issued under the provisions of this act shall be used
only for the erection of school houses, furnishing the same, and
purchasing sites therefor.

4. That no bonds shall be issued under the provisions of
this act unless authorized by a vote of the majority of the quali-
fied voters of the said school! district, voting at a special election
to be ordered and held as hereinafter provided.
5. When the resolutions of the said school board and the
board of supervisors shall be certified to the circuit court of
Surry county, together with the location of the school house, or
school houses, to be erected, with the plans, specifications, and
estimated cost thereof, approved by the division school super-
intendent of said county and the superintendent of public in-
struction, the said court shall order a special election to be held
in the said school district at such time, and after such notice
(which shall be not less than two weeks), as the court may pre-
scribe by order entered upon its minutes, to pass upon the ques-
tion whether such bonds shall be issued or not, for the amount
recommended by the said school board.

And the clerk of the court shall give notice as required by
the court of such special election by publication in some news-
paper of the county, and by having the same posted by the sheriff
of the county in at least ten conspicuous places in said school
district, which notice shall state the amount of bonds to be
issued, the purpose of the proposed issue thereof, and that the
said bonds shall be a lien on all the school property of the said
district, and that a special tax shall be levied for the payment
of the principal and interest of said bonds.

The clerk and sheriff of the county shall each receive for
their services hereunder three dollars, to be paid out of the
county treasury.

6. The board of supervisors shall prepare the tickets and
all other necessary details for said special election, and they
shall pay the expenses thereof out of the funds of the county,
and the said election shall be conducted and held in like manner
as regular elections, and the laws of the State applying to gen-
eral elections shall apply to said special election, except as here-
inafter provided, and the judges and clerks shall be designated
in the same manner as in regular elections, and shall receive
the same compensation, and the voting precincts in said school
district for general elections shall also be the same for the said
special election.

The judges and clerks of the said special election shall
canvass the vote and certify the same to the county clerk in the
same manner as required by law in general elections, and on
the second day following the said special election it shall be the
duty of the county clerk, the Commonwealth’s attorney and the
commissioner of the revenue for the said county of Surry, who
are hereby appointed and constituted a board of canvassers for
that purpose, to meet in the clerk’s office of the said county of
Surry and to canvass the return of the said special election,
and to certify the returns ascertained by them to the board of
supervisors of the said county, who shall spread the same upon
the minutes of said board, and when this shall have been done,
if no notice of contest of said election shall have been filed
within ten days after said election, the certificates of the said
canvassing board, hereby created as above, shall be conclusive
of the legality and regularity of the said special election and the
result thereof.

All registered voters of the said Claremont school dis-
trict who were qualified by law to vote in the last preceding elec-
tion shall be qualified to vote in the said special election.

If the result of said special election, ascertained as here-
inbefore prescribed, shall be favorable to the issuing of bonds
the board of supervisors of the said county shall levy a special
tax not exceeding seventy cents on the one hundred dollars of
the assessed value thereof on all property in the Claremont
school district assessed for school purposes.

The tax so levied shall be collected by the county treasurer
of said county, and from the sum so realized shall be paid the
interest on the bonds hereby authorized, as it matures; and there
shall be set aside annually, as a sinking fund, such a sum as
will provide for the payment of the principal of said bonds as,
and when, they mature.

Such sinking fund shall be invested in the bonds hereby
authorized, or in such other securities as the said school board
with the approval of the division superintendent of schools for
the said county and the county board of supervisors may select.

The said school board shall annually report to the said board
of supervisors the amount of the outstanding debt and the
amount and condition of the sinking fund.