Chap. 419.—An ACT to establish a school for the blind white children of Virginia
of school age, whose parents or guardians are citizens of Virginia, to be known
as the Virginia School for the Blind. [H B 128)

Approved March 21, 1924.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That there is
hereby established, in Albemarle county, near the corporate limits of
the city of Charlottesville, adjoining the lands of the University of Vir-
ginia, upon the site recommended in the report of the commission on the
separation of the schools for the deaf and the blind, made to the general
assembly at its session of nineteen hundred and twenty-four, which site
consists of one hundred and eighty-seven and one-half acres, more or
less, an institution, the name of which shall be the Virginia School for
the Blind, which institution shall be for the education of such blind
white children of school age as cannot be educated in the ordinary public
schools of the State, and whose parents or guardians are citizens of
Virginia.

2. The said institution shall be under the government of a board of
visitors consisting of five members (one of whom shall be a blind person),
to be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation of the senate,
to hold office for the term of four years; provided, that at the first ap-
pointment two members shall be appointed for the term of two years
from the first day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, and three
members for the term of four years from the first day of July, nineteen
hundred and twenty-four; all successive appointments shall be for terms
of four years. The superintendent of public instruction shall be, ex-
officio, a member of the board of visitors. Any vacancy on the board,
caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the gover-
nor, subject to confirmation by the senate, for the unexpired term.

3. The said board of visitors shall be a body corporate under the
name and style of the “Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the
Blind.” It shall have the right to use a common seal; to plead and be
impleaded in all the courts of justice; it shall be capable in law and in
trust to receive all subscriptions, gifts and donations, both real and
personal, from any source whatsoever, the same by it to be held, in-
vested, distributed or expended for the best use and benefit of the said
school, and to exercise such other powers and do such other acts as are
necessary and proper to accomplish the end for which the said school is
established. The said board shall appoint one of their members as
chairman, and in his absence a chairman pro tempore. The said board
shall appoint a secretary, not a member of the board, who shall keep an
accurate record of the proceedings of the board. The board shall, from
time to time, make all needful rules and regulations for the government
and management of the said school, and of the board, and shall prescribe
the conditions upon which the said students shall be received therein.
The board of visitors shall hold one annual meeting at the school, in
Charlottesville, and such intermediate meetings as the chairman shall
designate or as shall be called upon notice signed by three members of
the board. The said board may appoint an executive committee for
the care, management and government of the said school under the
rules and regulations prescribed aforesaid.

4. The said board shall appoint a superintendent of the school who
shall be elected with due regard to his knowledge of the methods and
systems for educating the blind and on account of his sobriety and gen-
eral fitness for the position. The said superintendent shall serve at the
pleasure of the said board. The said board shall appoint the necessary
professors, instructors and assistants who shall be chosen with due re-
gard to their fitness and who shall serve at the pleasure of the said
board. The salaries of the said superintendent, professors, instructors
and assistants shall be fixed by the said board.

5. The board shall be charged with the duty of supervising the
erection, maintenance, equipment and repair of suitable buildings on the
site hereinbefore specified, using the funds hereinafter appropriated for
that purpose. The type and structure of the buildings shall be ap-
proved by the State board of education. The said board of visitors shall
annually make and file with the governor a full report of their proceed-
ings under this act, together with a report of the progress and condition
of the said school.

6. The title to the said property shall be good and sufficient, ap-
proved by the attorney general, and shall be taken in the name of the
Commonwealth of Virginia. The form and sufficiency of the deed
shall be approved by the attorney general.

7. In order to provide funds for the acquisition of the land upon
which there shall be constructed the necessary buildings and structures,
as aforesaid, and for other necessary purposes, there is hereby appro-
priated to the said board of visitors for the year ending February twenty-
eight, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, the sum of twenty-one thou-
sand dollars, and for the year ending February twenty-eight, nineteen
hundred and twenty-six, the further sum of twenty-one thousand
dollars, the said sums to be paid out of the State treasury by the State
treasurer out of any funds not otherwise appropriated, on warrants of
the auditor of public accounts, issued on vouchers signed by the chair-
man and secretary of the board of visitors.