Chap. 423.—An ACT to create county school boards; to prescribe the powers,
duties, obligations and compensation of such boards; to provide that, in
counties, the county school board shall be the unit ‘of operation of the
public free school system; and to abolish district school boards in counties,
and county school boards as they may exist on September 1, 1922.

[S B 172]
Approved March 24, 1922.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, in the manner
following, that is to say:

Section 1. In each school district of a county there shall be one
trustee selected in the manner provided by law, and for this purpose
only each magisterial district shall constitute a separate school
district.

Section 2, Any vacancy or vacancies which may occur in the
county school board shall be filled for the unexpired term by appoint-
ment by the judge of the circuit court. The school trustees selected
in each county as provided in section one shall constitute the county
school board, and every such board is hereby declared to be a body
corporate under the style of the county school board of ~-----------
county, and may in its corporate capacity sue and be sued, contract
and be contracted with, and purchase, lease, take, hold and convey
property.

Section 3. The county school board as above constituted is here-
by vested with all the powers and charged with all the duties and
obligations hitherto vested in, or conferred or imposed upon, the
several district school boards of the particular county as well as the
county school board of such county as now constituted, except as
herein provided and except in so far as such powers and duties may
be inconsistent with the functioning of the county school board as
the unit of operation of the public free school system in the county.
Section 4. District school boards in counties, and county school
boards, other than such boards as are hereby constituted, are hereby
abolished, such abolishment to become effective on September first,
nineteen hundred and twenty-two, and the terms of office of all mem-
bers of any local school board in any county existing on September
first, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, shall expire on that date.
But nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting the adminis-
tration of the public school system in any city or in any town now
constituting, or which may hereafter be constituted, a separate school
division in pursuance of law.

The trustees of any town constituting a separate school district
shall be.members of the county school board; provided, however,
that such town shall be entitled to only one (1) vote in said county
board. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect the present
plan of levying district as well as county school taxes uur to affect
the obligations of any district for bond issues for school purposes
or other debts peculiar to that district.

Section 5. The members of the county school board as hereby
constituted shall qualify before entering upon the performance of
their duties by taking the oaths of office prescribed for county officers,
and shall hold their first meeting on or before September tenth
following their selection. At such meeting they shall elect one of
their number chairman and shall appoint some competent person
as clerk, and fix his compensation.

The board shall meet at such other times as may be prescribed
by law, or as necessity may require. If the board consist of an even
number, the division superintendent shall have a vote on any question
in the case of a tie vote.

Section 6. It shall be the duty of the county board on or before
the first day of April of each year to prepare, with the advice of the
division superintendent, an estimate of the amount of money which
will be needed during the next scholastic year for the support of the
public schools of the county. These estimates shall set up the
amount of money necessary for overhead charges, for instruc-
tion, for operation, for maintenance, for auxiliary agencies, for miscel-
laneous, including treasurers’ commissions, and for permanent capital-
ization. The estimates so made shall clearly show all necessary de-
tails in order that the board of supervisors and the taxpayers of the
county may be well informed as to every item in the estimate.

Section 7. On the basis of the estimate mentioned in the preced-
ing section the county school board shall request the board of super-
visors to fix such a school levy as will net an amount of money
necessary for the operation of the schools. If the board of super-
visors refuse to lay such levy as is recommended and requested by
the county school board, then, on resolution of the county school
board, the judge of the court may, in his discretion, order an election
by the people of the county to be held during the month of June to
determine whether such levy shall or shall not be fixed.
Section 8. All money, bonds, funds and other property, real or
personal, and all donations made by will, deed or other conveyance,
all school lots and school buildings, and real and personal property
acquired for the use of county school purposes, and for the main-
tenance thereof, shall by proper conveyance be vested in the said
county school board.

Section 9. The county school board may in its discretion provide
for a per diem not exceeding five dollars per day for each member
for each day he is in attendance upon meetings of the board, not
to exceed twenty (20) days in any one year.

Section 10. The county school board shall publish on July first,
or as soon thereafter as is possible, an annual statement showing
all receipts and disbursements of the school fund in the county, which
statement shall be published in some newspaper in the county, if
there be one, and if not, in any newspaper having circulation in the
county. The statement shall have the same general headings as those
in the estimates presented to the board of supervisors, and shall show
with reasonable detail all financial transactions with reference to the
operation of the public schools.

Section 11. At a date not later than July fifteenth of each year
the county school board shall make a settlement with the county
treasurer, on the basis of the treasurer’s accounts as of the last day
of the fiscal year, namely, June thirtieth. All readjustments with
reference to delinquent taxes or outstanding warrants shall be ac-
counted for in the fiscal year beginning July first, in order that
unnecessary delay may be avoided in making the annual settlement
with the treasurer.

Section 12. No federal, State or county officer, or any deputy
of such officer and no supervisor shall be chosen or allowed to act
as member of the county school board, provided that the provisions
herein obtained, shall not apply to fourth class postmasters, county
superintendents of the poor, commissioners in chancery, commission-
ers of accounts, registrars of vital statistics and notaries public. Each
member of the board at the time of his election shall be a bona fide
resident of the magisterial district from which he is elected, and if
he shall cease to be a resident of said district, his position on the
county board shall be deemed vacant.

Section 13. It shall be the duty of the school board to approve
agents to take the census, such agents to be recommended by the
division superintendent. The board shall provide for the consolida-
tion of schools and transportation of pupils wherever such procedure
will contribute to the efficiency of the school system. As trustees
of school property a member of the school board may within the
district from which he is elected provide for the use of schoolhouses
out of school hours, during the school term, or in vacation, for any
legal assembly. The board shall adopt any rules and regulations
necessary to protect school property when used for such purposes.
The school board may, in its discretion, permit schoolhouses to be
used as voting places in any primary or regular election.
Section 14. If in the judgment of the school board the public
interest demands that a schoolhouse be located on a particular spot,
and if no equitable arrangements for its purchase are possible, the
school board is authorized, and it shall be its duty to cause the
desired parcel of land to be surveyed by a competent surveyor, and
a plat of the same to be filed, together with a general statement of
the case, with the clerk of the circuit court ; and thereupon, on appli-
cation of the school board, the same proceeding shall be had as is
prescribed by law relating to the exercise of the right of eminent
domain; but no parcel of land thus condemned shall exceed one acre
in town, or five acres in the country. No dwelling, yards, garden or
orchard shall be invaded, nor in any incorporated town any space
within one hundred feet of a dwelling, nor in the country any space
within two hundred yards of a mansion house, without the consent
of the owner

Section 15. It shall be the duty of the school board to secure by
visitation and otherwise as full information as possible about the
conduct of the schools; to provide for the pay of teachers and
other officers on the first of each month, or as soon thereafter as
possible; to provide adequate facilities and appurtenances including
necessary text books for indigent children, to see to it that proper
repairs are made to the school properties; to examine all claims
against the board, and when approved, order same to be paid; to
pay salaries and other claims by warrant on the county treasurer,
signed by the chairman of the school board, and countersigned by the
clerk thereof, such warrant to state on its face the purpose or service
for which it is to be paid.

Section 16. The county school board may establish all day, part-
time or continuation, or evening classes giving industrial education,
agriculture, household arts or commercial training, and provide for
the support thereof in the same manner as the regular schools are
provided for. Such training shall be of less than college grade and
shall be designed to meet the vocational needs of persons over four-
teen years of age who are able to profit by such instruction.

Section 17. The county school board shall on or before the
first day of August of each year make a report covering the work
of the schools for the year ending the thirtieth of the preceding
June, on form supplied by the superintendent of public instruction.

Section 18. The county school board shall see to it that the
school laws are properly explained and enforced. It shall make
local regulations for the conduct of the schools and for the proper
discipline of students, which local regulations shall be in harmony
to the general rules of the State board of education and the statutes.
The county school board shall employ. teachers and place them in
appropriate schools on recommendation of the division superintendent,
and shall dismiss teachers when delinquent, inefficient, or otherwise
unworthy. No teacher shall be employed or paid from public funds
unless said teacher holds a certificate in full force, in accordance with
the rules of certification laid down by the State board of education.
If a board violate this rule, the individual members of the board
shall be held personally liable to refund to the public school funds
any amounts paid in violation of this law, such funds to be recovered
from him by suit in the name of the Commonwealth at the relation
of the attorney for the Commonwealth. :

The county school board is authorized to appoint a local school
committee of not more than three (3) members for each schoolhouse,
the intent of which committee shall be to advise members of the
school board in regard to matters pertaining to the local school, and
to co-operate with the county school board in provisions for the care
of the school property and for the successful operation of the school,
and the said committee shall serve without compensation. .

Section 19. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act
are to that extent hereby repealed. ,