Chap. 47.——An ACT to amend and re-enact Sections 656 and 2724 of the Code of
Virginia, as amended, relating to the authority and duty of school boards and
boards of supervisors, to provide for the use of certain warrant-checks in pay-
ing obligations, and to authorize governing bodies of counties to provide petty
cash funds for certain purposes. [S B 9]

Approved February 26, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections six hundred fifty-six and twenty-seven hundred
twenty-four of the Code of Virginia, as amended, be amended and re-
enacted, as follows:

Section 656. The school board shall have authority, and it shall
be the duty of the school board to secure, by visitation or otherwise, as
full information as possible about the conduct of the schools; to take care
that they are conducted according to law and with the utmost efficiency :
to provide for the payment of teachers and other officers on the first of
each month, or as soon thereafter as possible; to provide for the erecting,
furnishing, and equipping of necessary school buildings and appurten-
ances and the maintenance thereof; to provide for all public schools an
adequate and safe supply of drinking water and see that the same 1s
periodically tested and approved by or under the direction of the State
Board of Health, either on the premises or from specimens sent to said
board; to provide such textbooks as may be necessary for indigent chil-
dren attending public schools; in general, to incur such costs and ex-
penses, but only such costs and expenses as are provided for in its bud-
get without the consent of the tax levying body ; to provide for the consoli-
dation of schools and for the transportation of pupils whenever such
procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school system; to re-
ceive and audit all claims arising from commitments made pursuant to
the provisions of this section and, by resolution or recorded vote, to ap-
prove and issue warrants on the county treasurer in settlement of those
of such claims that are found to be valid. The school board may pro-
vide, by resolution, for a petty cash fund of not exceeding one hundred
dollars, from which the clerk of the board may pay all claims, not ex-
ceeding ten dollars each, arising from commitments made pursuant to
the provisions of this section; if such fund be so created the clerk shall
pay therefrom, without necessity of prior receipt and audit of the claims
by, or approval and issuance of the warrant of the board on the county
treasurer, all such claims; the clerk, at the meeting of the board in the
month following the month in which he has paid any such claim, shall
report his action to the board for approval and reimbursement. Every
warrant issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall bear the
date on which the school board orders it to be issued and shall be made
payable on demand, signed by the chairman or acting chairman of the
school board, countersigned by the clerk or acting clerk of the school
board, and recorded in the form and manner prescribed by the State
Board of Education, arfd the warrant may be converted to a negotiable
check by the treasurer, or appropriately designated deputy treasurer,
by affixing his signature thereto in conformity with the provisions of
section three hundred fifty of the Tax Code of Virginia, and by desig-
nating thereon the bank by which it is to be paid. The acts prohibited
by section twenty-seven hundred and twenty-four-a of the Code of Vir-
ginia with respect to the ordering of the issuance of warrants by
a board of supervisors and the signing and countersigning of such
warrants by the clerk, deputy clerk, chairman, and acting chairman of
such board shall apply to the ordering of the issuance of warrants by a
county school board and to the signing and countersigning thereof by the
chairman, acting chairman, clerk and acting clerk of such board, and any
clerk, acting clerk, or member of any county school board who violates
or becomes a party to the violations of this provision shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, and in addition thereto shall be guilty of malfeasance in
office.

The school board may provide, by resolution, for the drawing of
special warrants on the county treasurer, payable out of the school funds,
in payment of compensation, when such compensation has been earned
and is due, for (1) all employees and school bus operators under written
contract, and (2) upon receipt of certified time sheets or other evidence
of service performed, the payment of all other employees whose rates of
pay have been established by the school board or its properly delegated
agent, and (3) for payment on contracts for school construction projects
according to the terms of such contracts. All such special warrants so
authorized shall be signed by the clerk of the school board and counter-
signed by the division superintendent of schools or the chairman of the
school board, provided, however, that when the division superintendent
and clerk is one and the same person said special warrants shall be
countersigned by the chairman of the school board. Any special war-
rant may be converted to a negotiable check in the manner hereinabove
provided.

The clerk of the school board shall be bonded in an amount not less
than five thousand dollars.

Such payrolls and contracts so paid shall be reviewed and approved
by the school board at its next regular meeting.

The school board shall encourage meetings of teachers to be held
from time to time in the county under such regulations as the division
superintendent of schools may prescribe.

It shall be the duty of the school board to perform such other duties
as shall be prescribed by the State Board of Education or are imposed by
any other section of the Code.

Section 2724. Audit and allowance of claims against counties.—
It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to receive and audit all
claims against the county, except those required to be received and
audited by the county school board, and, by resolution or recorded vote,
to approve and order warrants issued in settlement of those claims that
are found to be valid, provided that in counties governed under chapter
one hundred and nine-a of the Code the county manager may sign and
issue Warrants under such conditions as the county board may prescribe.

very warrant issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall
bear the date on which the board of supervisors orders it to be issued
and shall be made payable on demand, signed by the clerk of the board
of supervisors or his deputy, countersigned by the chairman or acting
chairman of the board of supervisors, and recorded in the form and
manner prescribed by the auditor of public accounts; and the warrant
may be converted to a negotiable check by the treasurer, or appropriately
designated deputy treasurer, by affixing his signature thereto in con-
omity with the provisions of section three hundred fifty of the Tax
Se Ss Virginia, and by designating thereon the bank by which it 1s to
ai

The board may, in its discretion, destroy the papers constituting
any Or all claims allowed and paid, at any time after five years from the

t€ of payment thereof.

The board of supervisors or other governing body of any county may
Provide by resolution for a petty cash fund of not exceeding one hundred
dollars, from which its clerk may pay all claims arising from commit-
Ments made pursuant to provisions of law.

If such fund be so created the clerk shall pay such claims therefrom,
without necessity of prior receipt and audit of the claims by such board

Of €overning body and without approval and issuance of the warrant
Ot the board of supervisors or other governing body or the county
treasurer. The clerk at the meeting of the board or other governing body
in the month following the month 1n which he has paid any such claim,
shall report his action to the board or other body tor approval and re-
imbursment.