Chap. 471.—An ACT to revise, consolidate, amend and codify the school Jaws vf
Virginia and certain laws relating to the State board of education, its powers
and duties; to repeal certain Code sections and substitute in their place such
revised, consolidated and amended Code sections and acts of the general
assembly passed since the year 1916, as relate or pertain to the public schools;
to number such revised, consolidated and amended statutes as sections 611
to section 718 of the Code of Virginia, both inclusive, all of which said
sections relate or pertain to the State board of education, its powers and
duties, the superintendent of public instruction, division superintendents, the
school system in Virginia; the laws relative to the public school system in
the counties in all its phases and relating to every matter that may affect,
or in any manner pertain to the public schools in the counties, including the
abolition of all school boards and the transfer of their powers and duties
after January 1, 1932, to the several boards of supervisors; to provide for
the levying, collecting and expenditure of school taxes or appropriations
made in lieu thereof; to abolish school districts for all purposes save for
purposes of representation for capital expenditures, and the payment of
present existing debts; to make all the provisions of such sections applicable
to city schools, so far as possible; to repeal sections 586, 594 and 595 of the
Code of Virginia and sections 611 to 773 of the Code of Virginia, both in-
clusive, and any and all acts amendatory of such sections, all of which Code
sections relate to the public schools, or matters pertaining thereto; to repeal
chapter 412 of the acts of 1918 and chapter 381 of the acts of 1922, both of
which relate to the compulsory attendance of children between certain ages
upon the public schools of Virginia; to repeal chapter 233 of the acts of 1918
and chapter 327 of the acts of 1920, both of which relate to public health
nursing and medical and health inspection of school children; to repeal
chapter 32 of the acts of 1918, relating to the exemption of school and college
pupils, and the vehicles in which they are traveling, from the payment of
tolls on any roads located in this State; to repeal cMapter 295 of the acts
of 1918, permitting the teaching of high school subjects in primary schools
in certain cases; to repeal chapter 371 of the acts of 1918, providing for
deposit and disbursement of donations for public free school purposes; to
repeal chapter 352 of the acts of 1918, authorizing district or city school
boards to borrow money on short time loans; to repeal chapter 398 of the
acts of 1920, relating to local school taxes, except so much thereof as repeals
sections 740 and 2721 of the Code of 1919, and all amendments to such act
which are found in chapter 29 of the acts of 1923 and chapter 175 of the
acts of 1924; to repeal chapter 106 of the acts of 1924, amending chapter
398 of the acts of 1920, by adding thereto section la, relating to local school
taxes in Lee county; to repeal chapter 143 of the acts of 1922, relating to
contracts for textbooks adopted for use in the public schools of the State;
to repeal chapter 423 of the acts of 1922, creating county school boards, pro-
viding for their powers and duties, abolishing district boards, etc.; to repeal
chapter 148 of the acts of 1922, providing for the establishment of recreation
centers and for the teaching of home-crafts; to repeal chapter 46 of the acts
of 1926, relating to the borrowing cf money by school boards, authorizing
short time loans, prohibiting certain other loans and prohibiting school boards
from expending or contracting to expend, in any fiscal year, any sum of
money in excess of the funds available for that year, unless approved by the
boards of supervisors or the councils, etc.; to repeal chapter 493 of the acts
of 1926, relating to school taxes; to repeal chapter 529 of the acts of 1926,
prohibiting the State board of education from refusing to accredit any school,
or any diploma or certificate issued by such school, for the sole reason that
such school 1s not being conducted in a building meeting the requirements of
said board; to repeal chapter 564 of the acts of 1926, relating to contracts for
textbooks adopted for use in the public schools of the Commonwealth; to
repeal chapter 62 of the acts of 1926, amending chapter 398 of the acts of
1920, in relation to local school levies, and relating especially to school taxes
in Lee county; to repeal chapter 189 of the acts of 1926, authorizing the
issuance of bonds by county school boards for the purpose of refunding
school bonds issued on behalf of the school districts; to repeal sections 1529
and 1530 of the Code of Virginia; to repeal sections 798 and 849 of the Code
of Virginia, and to repeal all Code sections, acts and parts of acts, which are,
or may be, in conflict with the provisions of the statutes embraced in the
contents of this bill. [H B 394]

Approved March 26, 1928

Whereas it is expedient to revise the general statutes of this Com-
nwealth relating to the public school system, the State board of
education, the superintendent of public instruction, division superin-
tendents, and as to all matters in general, which refer to or relate to
the public school system, by revising and codifying the various Code
sections and acts of assembly relative thereto, and enacting the same
into law as new Code sections numbered from section six hundred and
eleven to section seven hundred and eighteen of the Code of Virginia.
both inclusive, and to repeal certain specified Code sections and acts
of assembly herein enumerated; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the genera! assembly of Virginia, That the
following new sections relating to the public school system of Virginia
be, and the same are hereby enacted into law so as to read as follows,
and be a part of the Code of Virginia, numbered as herein set forth,
as section six hundred and eleven to section seven hundred and eighteen
of said Code of Virginia, both inclusive:

Section 611. An efficient system of public schools of a minimum
school term of one hundred and forty school days, shall be established
and maintained in all of the cities and counties of the State. The public
school system shall be administered by the following authorities, to-
wit: A State board of education, a superintendent of public instruction.
division superintendents of schools, the county board and city school
boards. (Code 774, 594 and 595.)

Section 612. If and when section one hundred and thirty of the
Constitution is amended, the general supervision of the school system
shall be vested in a State board of education, to be appointed by the
governor, subject to confirmation by the general assembly, and to
consist of seven members. The first appointment under this section
shall be one member for one year, two members for two years, two
members for three years and two members for four years, and there-
after all appointments shall be made for a term of four years, except
appointments to fill vacancies, which shall be for the unexpired terms.
At the first meeting after the board has been constituted, it shall elect
some person not a member of the board its secretary, and shall from
its membership elect a president. The State board’ of education shall
prescribe the duties of the secretary and of the superintendent of
public instruction, except so far as otherwise provided by law. In
the event that section one hundred and thirty of the Constitution
is not amended the State board shall remain as at present constituted.

Section 613. A majority of the members of the State board of
education shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

The superintendent of public instruction, ex-officio, shall be a
member of all the governing boards of all of the educational institutions
receiving appropriations from the State, of whatever kind or class.
(Code 600, 622 and 623.)

Section 614. The State board of education, in conjunction with the
director of the budget.and the comptroller, shall establish and require
of each locality a modern system of accounting for all school funds,
State and local, and the local treasurers are hereby required to render
each month to the county board, or the city school board, as the case
may be, a statement of the funds in their hands available for school
purposes. The clerk of the county or city board shall keep in a
bound volume a record of the proceedings of the board, and in another
book a receipt and disbursement record as prescribed by the State board
of education, showing a record of his own official acts, and shall keep
on file vouchers, contracts and other official papers, all of which shall
be open to the inspection of the division superintendent of schools and
of every citizen of the county, and shall be subject to such periodical
examinations as shall be prescribed by the State board of education.
He shall discharge, under the general direction of the division superin-
tendent such other duties in connectiom with the school business of the
county as may be required of him by the board, or the State board of
education. (Code 657.)

Section 615. The State board of education shall divide the State
into appropriate school divisions, in the discretion of said board, com-
prising not less than one county or city each, but no county or city
shall be divided in the formation of such division. The division
superintendent shall receive a minimum salary of sixteen hundred
dollars per year, provided he is employed for his full time in a school
division with a school population of not less than three thousand. In
each division with a school population of less than three thousand,
however, the minimum salary shall be one thousand dollars per year
or, in the discretion of the State board of education, for part time
employment, seven hundred and fifty dollars. The superintendent may,
by permission of the State board of education, act as school principal
or undertake other related school work, in which case his salarv as
superintendent shall not exceed one-half of the established minimum
of sixteen hundred dollars per year. In school divisions with a school
population of over three thousand the division superintendent shall
receive, in addition to the minimum of sixteen hundred dollars, ten
dollars per hundred for each hundred of school population above
three thousand, allowing in each computation numbers in excess of
fifty to count as the next higher even hundred. One-half of the salary
thus determined shall be paid by the State treasurer in monthly in-
stalments out of available funds on the warrants of the comptroller
upon the approved voucher or vouchers required by the comptroller,
and the other half shall be paid by the city council or county board of
supervisors out of the general fund of the city or county. The local
school board may, out of the local fund, supplement the salary above
prescribed and provide for the traveling and office expenses of the
superintendent; provided, the specific amounts and the purposes for
which such amounts are designated be reported to and approved by the
State board of education, provided that school boards of those divisions
in which the salary of the division superintendent may be reduced by
the scale herein provided, shall, out of the local school funds, pay such
supplement as is necessary to provide for the year be ‘ginning July first,
nineteen hundred and twenty-cight, a salary at least equal to the salary
paid for the year ending June thirticth, nineteen hundred and twenty-
seven. The State board of education shall, in accordance with the
provisions of this section, fix the salaries of the division superintendents
for the year beginning July first, nineteen hundred and twenty-five,
and for each year thereafter based upon the school population as shown
in the census of nineteen hundred and twenty-five, and in the census
of each succeeding five-year period. (Code 626.)

Section 616. The powers and duties of the division superintendents
shall be fixed by the State board of education. (Code 628.)

Section 617. The State board of education shall select text-books
and educational appliances for use in the public schools, exercising such
discretion as it may deem necessary in the selection of books suitable
for schools in the cities and counties, respectively, subject to the con-
ditions and restrictions set forth in this section. No text-book which
has been, or may be, adopted for basal use in any of the public schools,
shall be changed or substituted until such book shall have been in use
for a period of not less than eight years, subject to renewal for two
years, unless prior to either period such book becomes obsolete, in
which event a change may be made.

_The board is also authorized to change any text-book where its
use 1s detrimental to the interest of patrons, because of a marked
decrease in text-book prices. In the discretion of the State board of
education, exception may be made to the provisions of this section
in those cities and counties which furnish free text-books. (G. L.

11-1.)

Section 618. The State board of education shall enter into written
contracts with publishers of text-books adopted for use in the public
schools of the Commonwealth, the said contracts to contain the fol-
lowing representations, terms and conditions, to-wit:

(1) The contract shall set forth the lowest wholesale price, free
on board publisher, at which books are sold under contracts of similar
date anywhere in the United States; provided, the publishers shall list
with the State superintendent of public instruction the lowest whole-
sale prices at which the text-books involved in the contract have been
sold anywhere in the United States during the preceding three years.
The State board may stipulate a retail price to patrons, which price
shall represent a reasonable compensation for handling and distributing
books, but in no case shall such retail price exceed twenty per centum
added to the wholesale price.

(2) If, subsequent to the date of any contract entered into by the
State board of education, the prices of any or all books named in the
contract be reduced, or any terms of the contract be made more favor-
able to purchasers anywhere in the United States under the same con-
ditions, the same reduction and the same terms shall be granted to the
State board of education of Virginia. If a publisher issue a special
or other edition of any book named in the contract to be sold outside
of Virginia at a lower price than offered in this State, the said publisher
shall furnish the State superintendent of public instruction with a copy
of said special edition, and the State board of education may, in its
discretion, require the publisher to issue a similar edition for Virginia
adapted in text for use in this State, and the said edition for Virginia
shall be sold at the lowest price at which said special edition is sold
outside the State.

(3) In case the publisher is a foreign corporation or a nonresident
of this State, the secretary of the Commonwealth shall be appointed
as agent upon whom process may be served against the publisher in
case any legal proceedings be commenced to enforce any rights or
claims under said contract.

(4) The publisher entering into any contract with the State board
of education shall furnish sample copies of all books mentioned in
said contract, and shall guarantee that the books furnished by him
under the contract shall be equal in all respects to such sample copies.

(5) Each contract made with the publisher of text-books shall
be accompanied by a bond with good and sufficient surety in the
penal sum of not less than one thousand dollars, nor more than
twenty thousand dollars, to be approved by the State board of educa-
tion, and to be conditioned upon the performance of all the terms
and conditions of said contract and the payment of liquidated damages,
as hereinafter provided for, and any damage in excess thereof which
may be proved to be sustained by reason of the violation of such
terms and conditions.

(6) Upon the discovery of any misrepresentation of fact in said
contract, or upon the violation of any of the terms and conditions herein
contained, the publisher shall, upon the demand of the State board
of education, pay as liquidated damages the sum of one thousand
dollars to the Commonwealth of Virginia to the credit of its literary
fund, and in all cases of such violation the said board of education
may, in its discretion, in addition to its demand for liquidated damages,
as aforesaid, declare said contract null and void.

(7) The superintendent of public instruction shall take care that all
the representations, terms and conditions of said contract are complied
with, and shall report all violations of the same to the State board of
education, and if said board be of the opinion that public interest so
require, it shall instruct the attorney general to institute such legal
proceedings as he may deem proper in the premises. (G. L. 611-2.)

Section 619. The State board of education may provide in con-
tracts with publishers that said publisher shall sell direct to local
boards at the wholesale price, free on board, named in the contract, and
it shall require said publishers to furnish an adequate supply of texts
under the terms of the contract. The State board may also stipulate
that the local board may, if it so desires, in turn furnish text-books
to the children of the school free of cost, or at the wholesale price at
which books are purchased or at such wholesale prices plus the cost
of transportation and distribution. The State board of education may
stipulate also that county and city boards shall designate certain
agents for the purchase and the proper distribution of said text-books,
but no agent thus designated shall be permitted to fix a retail price
in excess of twenty per centum, added to the wholesale price, free
on board publisher. The agents thus designated by the local board
shall be required to give reasonable bond guaranteeing the prompt
ordering of books and an ample supply to meet the requirements of
the schools, at prices not to exceed twenty per centum, added to the
wholesale price, free on board publisher. The local board shall also
require the agent to furnish a bond in a penalty to be fixed by the
board indemnifying the board against loss from the failure to pav
the publisher or publishers for said books. When such agent is thus
designated the local board shall be responsible to the publisher for any
default by such agent in the payment for such books. (G. L. 611-3.)

Section 620. On or before June twentieth of each year the division
superintendent shall make up a requisition covering all text-books
needed for the supply of the schools at the opening of the following
session. Such requisition shall be based on detailed reports from
teachers, or from any other responsible sources of information which
may be used. A copy of this requisition shall be sent to the State
superintendent of public instruction and a copy shall be furnished to
each of the local dealers when such dealers are designated by local
boards to handle text-books. In cases where several dealers are desig-
nated in one county the diviston superintendent shall furnish to each
one of such dealers a requisition for all books which will be required
in the territory to be served by such dealers. (G. L. 611-4.)

Section 621. The local board and the division superintendent, shall
see to it that appropriate orders for books are forwarded to each pub-
lisher, either directly from the local board, or through designated
agencies, not later than June thirtieth of each year. In all cases where
these orders are not promptly and completely filled by publishers,
reports shall be made by the division superintendent to the superin-
tendent of public instruction. who shall immediately report all par-
ticulars to the State board of education for any action it may deem
proper to take. It shall be the duty of each division superintendent
to report to the superintendent of public instruction any departures
from contract prices by local dealers, or agents, and also to report
any failure of a publisher to comply with all of the conditions ot
his contract with the State board of education. (G. L. 611-5, 611-7.)

Section 622. The State board of education may, in its discretion.
authorize a central depository, provided such depository be operated
under the general control of the State board of education. In case
such a depository be established or maintained, then orders from local
school boards or from local agents of such boards may be required :o
be filed with the depository, rather than with the publishers; but nozh-
ing in this section shall prohibit special orders of books from being
filled directly by publishers. (G. L. 611-6.)

Section 623. Whenever any school book is sold by any agent or
dealer in this State, to a pupil or other person purchasing such text-
book, or books, for use in the public schools, it shall be the duty of
such agent or dealer to furnish to the purchaser, at the time of
such sale, a price list prepared and furnished by the State board of
education, showing the wholesale price, free on board manufacturer
of the text-book, or books sold.

Agents designated by the local school authorities to sell school books
at retail, and all other persons selling such books at retail, shall not
sell such books in excess of the retail price fixed by the State board
of education, and the publishers, as authorized by section six hundred
and eighteen of the Code, and, in the event that such price is not
agreed on by the State board of education and the publishers, then
such agents and other retailers shall not sell any school book in excess
of twenty per centum of the wholesale price thereof. No compensa-
tion shall be ailowed to a division superintendent of schools who
acts for the board in the sale and distribution of school books.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to books sold
directly by a school board to patrons.

Any violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and
each separate act shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 624. The State board of education shall approve or amend
the schemes prepared by the superintendent of public instruction for
apportioning the money appropriated by the State for public school
purposes among the several counties and cities of the State; and, when
approved, the superintendent of public instruction shall certify to
the comptroller such apportionment for the payment of the same.
(Code section 616.)

Section 625. The State board of education is hereby delegated to
act as the State board of vocational education, to carry out the pro-
visions of the Federal act to provide for the promotion of vocational
education; for cooperation with the States for the promotion of such
education in agriculture, and in the trades and industries; for co-
operation with the States in the preparation of teachers of vocational
subjects, and to appropriate money and regulate its expenditure,
approved February twenty-third (23), nineteen hundred and seven-
teen, and to cooperate with the Federal board for vocational educa-
tion, as provided in this section. The treasurer of Virginia 1s hereby
appointed custodian of any appropriations allotted by the Federal
board for the purposes of vocational education in Virginia, and he is
directed to disburse said money upon warrant of the comptroller
issued on the approved voucher or vouchers of the State board of
education. The State board of education is authorized to provide for
the proper supervision and management of such schools as may
receive the benefits of said appropriations out of such funds as may
be at their disposal for the establishment, maintenance and supervision
of vocational schools or departments in agriculture, trades and industry
and home economics, and is authorized to establish out of such funds
as are available, a department of vocational education for the State,
the purpose of which department shall be the study of the problems
of vocational education, the systematizing of the work in the State,
and the promotion and supervising of the teaching of such subjects
in the schools of the State as will lead to useful and productive
employment in rural and urban communities. Any money appropri-
ated by the general assembly for vocational education shall be used
exclusively for the promotion of vocational education in agriculture
and in the trades, home economics and industries in high schools, and
for the preparation of teachers of vocational subjects, as provided in
the said Federal act, and shall be expended under rules and regulations
adopted by the State board of education, not in conflict with existing
law.

The boards of supervisors in the several counties and the councils
of the several cities are authorized to appropriate such sums of money,
as they may deem proper, for the establishment, equipment and
sie) of such departments of vocational education. (G. L.

16-1-6.

Section 626. The State board of education shall investigate and

assist in the introduction of industrial, agricultural, household arts
and commercial education; aid local school authorities to inaugurate
and superintend the establishment and maintenance of schools and
departments of schools or other agencies for the aforesaid forms of
education; inspect such schools, departments and agencies, and allow
to such schools and departments, as are approved by said board, the
money to which such schools and departments may be entitled from
time to time, out of funds appropriated by the general assembly for
the benefit of such forms of education. (Code 618.)
Section 627. The State board of education is authorized and re-
quired to do all things necessary to stimulate and encourage local
supervisory activities and interest in the improvement of the elementary
and secondary schools.

Section 628. The State board of education shall punish division
superintendents of schools for neglect of duty, or for any official mis-
conduct, by reasonable fines, to be deducted from their pay; by suspen-
sion from office, for a limited period, or by removal from office.

The said board shall, unless otherwise provided by law, appoint a
board of directors, consisting of five members, to serve without com-
pensation, -which shall have the management of the State library
(except the law library), and the appointment of a librarian and other
employees thereof subject to such rules-and regulations as the general
assembly shall prescribe. (Code 617.)

Section 629. The State board of education shall perform such
other duties as may be prescribed by law.

Such reasonable expenses as the members of the board, except
the governor, the attorney general, and the superintendent of public
instruction, may incur in attending the meetings of the board, or any
committee thereof, shall be paid from available funds by the treasurer
on the warrant of the comptroller upon the approved voucher or
vouchers required by the comptroller. (Code 620.)

Section 630. Unless section one hundred and thirty-one of the
Constitution of Virginia is amended prior thereto, there shall be elected,
by the qualified voters of the State, on the Tuesday after the first
Monday in November, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, and every
four years thereafter, a superintendent of public instruction, who shall
be a experienced educator, and whose term of office shall commence
on the first of February following his election. His salary shall be
fixed by the general assembly, and he shall be allowed, in addition
to his salary, for his necessary traveling expenses while engaged in the
duties of his office such sum as may be appropriated by law. Any
vacancy occurring in the office, until changed by the Constitution,
shall be filled for the unexpired term by the State board of educa-
tion. Before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office,
he shall qualify by taking and subscribing the oath required of all
officers of the State.

In the event that section one hundred and thirty-one of the
Constitution should be amended in the manner prescribed by the Con-
stitution, so as to provide for the appointment of the superintendent
of public instruction by the governor, then the superintendent of public
instruction shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirma-
tion by the general assembly, for a term coincident with that of the
governor making the appointment, the first appointment to be made
at the expiration of the term of the superintendent of public instruc-
tion, which began February first, nineteen hundred and twenty-six. If
the Constitution should be amended, any vacancy shall be filled by
appointment by the governor, subject to confirmation by the general
assembly. (Code 1919, section 621.)

Section 631. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of public
instruction to formulate such rules and regulations, and provide such
assistance in his office as shall be necessary for the proper and uniform
enforcement of the provisions of the schools laws in cooperation with
the local school authorities. He shall prepare and furnish such blanks
for attendance officers, .teachers and other school officials as are
required by law. (G. L. 786-9.)

Section 632. There shall be set apart as a permanent and perpetual
literary fund, the present literary funds of the State, the proceeds of
all public lands donated by congress for public school purposes, of
all escheated property, of all waste and unappropriated lands, of all
property accruing to the State for forfeiture, and all fines collected for
offenses committed against the State, donations made for the purpose,
and such other sums as the general assembly may appropriate. The
same shall be known as the “literary fund,” and shall be invested
and managed by the State board of education, as prescribed by section
633. The principal of the said fund shall always remain unimpaired
and entire, and the annual income arising therefrom shall be dedi-
cated exclusively to the support and maintenance of public schools
in this State.

The proceeds of all fines collected for offenses committed against
the State and directed by section one hundred and thirty-four of
article nine of the Constitution of Virginia, to be set apart as part of
a perpetual and permanent literary fund shall be paid into the treasury
and on warrant of the comptroller shall be transferred to the credit of
the literary fund, and shall be used for no other purpose whatsoever.
(Code 738.)

Section 633. The State board of education shall invest the capital
and unappropriated income of the literary fund in bonds of this State;
or of the United States; or in bonds of railroad companies secured
by first mortgage, whose market value for six months preceding the
investment has not been less than ninety cents on the dollar; or in
bonds made by one or more of the county boards or city school boards
of the several counties or cities of the State. When such county
or city bonds are purchased on account of the literary fund, a lien
in favor of said fund is hereby created against all of the funds and
income of said county or city, as well as upon the property upon which
said loan is made. The said board may call in any such investment, or
any heretofore made, and reinvest the same as aforesaid, whenever
deemed proper, for the preservation, security or improvement of the
said fund. Whenever, in accordance with this section, the board shall
invest as aforesaid in bonds of this State, no premium shall be required
or paid on such investment. All securities for money belonging to the
literary fund shall be deposited with the State treasurer for safe-
keeping, who shall return with his annual report, a list thereof with
a statement of their value. (Code 614.)

Section 634. All money belonging to the literary fund shall be paid
into the treasury as provided by law. The treasurer shall be the ac-
countant of the said fund. (Code 615.)

Section 635. Any money which ought to be paid into the public
treasury to the credit of the literary fund shall, unless otherwise pro-
vided, be recoverable with interest by the State board of education, in
the name of the Commonwealth, by a motion or action in the circuit
court of the city of Richmond. The comptroller shall institute and
prosecute the proceedings after a request for such motion or action
shall have been made by the board.

The said board may appoint agents for the collection of its debts
or claims, and authorize them to secure payment thereof on such
terms as it may approve.

When estate of any person taken under execution, or for sale
under any decree or deed of trust, for any such debt or claim, or
for any fine, will not sell for the amount thereof, such agent may
(under the direction of the board as to the price) purchase such estate
for the board. He shall immediately report to it every such purchase
and the terms thereof. The board may sell, or appoint an agent to
sell, any estate so purchased, who shall sell at such time and on such
terms as the board may authorize. It shall take bond from such
agent if any money is to come into his hands. Any agent selling land
under this section shall, when directed so to do by the board, execute
a deed (with the resolution giving such direction thereto annexed )
conveying to the purchaser all the interest which the board may have
in such land. JIor the service of any agent under this section, the
board may allow compensation, not exceeding in any case ten per
centum on the money actually paid into the treasury. (Code 603.)

Section 636. The State board of education is hereby authorized
to lend to the school boards of the several counties and cities in this
State, making application therefor in the manner prescribed by law,
money belonging to the literary fund, and in hand for investment, for
the purpose of erecting or enlarging schoolhouses in such counties
and cities, on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, and
subject to such rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the
said State board of education. (Code 757.)

Section 637. The State board of education shall provide for an
equitable distribution of the funds loaned from the literary fund
along the several counties and cities of the State. (€ode 763.)

Section 638. The school boards of the several counties and cities
in this State are hereby authorized to borrow money belonging to the
said literary fund, and the school board of the county or city desiring
to borrow a part of said fund shall make written application to the
State board of education for such loan, in the following form, namely:

APPLICATION FOR LOAN FROM LITERARY FUND

County or City Of... cece cc ceeeeeeseeeeeeseeees acl 0100)
neceeecesccecesceeeecees » WIPQINIA, «2.2... eee cece eeeeeseeeeereseeeeeeeeey Nineteen hundred
and twenty... essen
The State Board of Education,

Richmond, Virginia.
Gentlemen:

The school board Of...........22..cccesecesceeseeeeeeee ces ceeeeeees county, or of the
1S 0) , hereby makes application for a loan from
the literary fund for the purpose of (erecting or enlarging) the build-
bot C0) X01 0010) OS | re

county or city, and set forth the following facts, to-wit:

One. Said building is to be of (brick or frame) construction, of
aneceececeeseeseeeeeeces rooms and estimated to COSt........0..000.0:ceeeeeeeeee----- Collars.

Two. The amount of the desired loan is.......0000 eee dollars.
But the actual amount of the loans will be based upon the cost of the
building when completed, and will not be in excess of two-thirds of the
actual cost of the building; said two-thirds not to exceed twenty-five
thousand dollars.

Three. (a) The plans and specifications have been approved by
the division superintendent and are submitted to the State board of
education with this application.

(b) The building is to be erected at... , Virginia.

Four. It 1s desirable to make the proposed improvement because:

(a) The old building is unfit for use.

(b) Present accommodations are inadequate.

(c) It means the consolidation of... smaller schools.
(d) Last year’s attendance Of. ........-.......--c--ccsecceecceeceeeeeeees pupils per
teacher will be remedied.

(Note——Place an x in the square or squares representing the
answer or answers which best show reasons for proposed building.)

Five. The present indebtedness of the county, or any part thereof,

or city for school building is.......0..... eee dollars, of which
seneeecceceensseceeesecseseeesseeneecees dollars is owed the literary fund, the loan having
been made tn... , nineteen hundred and..............0......

Six. The board of supervisors for the county or council for the city
have made, and will continue during the existence of the loan to make
levies or cash appropriations sufficient to provide for the loan as

follows: Cash appropriation.................-.::-::ee-:eee0-+ dollars, or levy............
necesnceceeseeeeeencceeceees dollars

Seven. Last year’s income of the county or city for school pur-
POSES, WAS...........-:-ceeeccceeeeececeeeeees dollars.

It is understood that the State board reserves the right to withhold
any part or all of the amount of this loan, if plans and specifications
approved or furnished by the department are not strictly followed:

Given under my hand this the................ CE Ae)
nineteen hundred and................----.:-eceeceeeeeees
The school board of................-2-.2::eeseeeeeee county or city.
ByY.....-..-eeceecceceecceeces cecceesececceeseceeesceseneees , Chairman.
Attest: |

sessouusesssesssesuussssssssssssanusessesssisuinsssesssesssasesee , Clerk. (Code 758.)

Section 639. On the back of the application for a loan from the
literary fund, provided for in the next preceding section, the following
certificate shall be made by the clerk of the circuit court of the county
or the clerk of the court in which deeds are recorded in a city making
application for such loan.

CERTIFICATE OF THE CLERK OF COURT

Whereas, the school board of the county Of....................::2e::ceceeeteeeeee
or of the city Of... eee » OWNS... .eeccceeceeeeceneeeneeees acres of
real estate in said county or City at........--...--ceccecceeeceeceesecesereeees , Virginia,
on which to erect the school building described in this application.
The title deed to this property is recorded in the clerk’s office for
sacecccecnsncceseccessececeeneeseeeeees COUNLY, OF......-eeeeeeeecereeecceeeceeeeteeeee Clty, in deed
book numbet................-...20eeeeceeee » PAC... eseeeeeneees

One. That the title to the said real estate has been examined and
approved in writing by the attorney for the Commonwealth for said
county or the city attorney of said city, and his report filed with
the clerk of the court.

Two. That the certificate of the attorney examining the title shows
that the school board of the county Of... eect esseeneeeseeeeee , or of the
CIty Of nn... eee eeeeceeeeceteeeeeeeeneeees has a good and sufficient title in fee simple
to said real estate and that the same is free from incumbrances.
Given under my hand this the..........000....... ay Of... cece cc esseceeeeenee ,
nineteen hundred and..uuuu oe. ceeeceeeeeeeees

(Code 758.)

Section 640. The application for such loan shall be submitted to
the attorney general for his approval, and to the State board of educa-
tion for its approval, prior to the making of such loan. (Code 758.)

Section 641. Whenever application is made by a county or city
school board for a loan from the literary fund, the title to the real
estate, on which the building has been, or is to be erected, shall be
examined and approved by the Commonwealth’s attorney of the county,
or the city attorney of a city, or by other competent attorney for which
such attorney shall be entitled to the usual compensation for examin-
ing a title, to be paid by the locality. The abstract shall be filed in
the clerk’s office of the county or city in which deeds are admitted
to record. (Code 758.)

Section 642. Upon the approval of the application by the attorney
general, the State board of education may, in its discretion, make such
loan, but no such loan shall exceed the sum of twenty-five thousand
dollars, nor shall it exceed two-thirds of the cost of the schoolhouse
and addition thereto, on account of which such loan is made. No
loan shall be made to aid in the erection of a building or addition to
cost less than five hundred dollars. Whenever such loan is made for
the purpose of enlarging a schoolhouse, any part of the proceeds of
such loan may, in the discretion of the State board, be used to retire
any previous loan, or loans, on such schoolhouse, although not matured
at the time of such additional loan. No loan shall be made in any
case in which the payment of the same with interest would, in the
judgment of the State board of education, entail too heavy a charge
upon the revenues of the county or city to which such loan is granted.
(Code 759 and 764.)

Section 643. All loans shall bear interest at the rate of four per
centum per annum, payable semi-annually. The principal thereof
shall be payable in fifteen annual installments, and shall be evidenced
by bonds or notes payable to the Commonwealth of Virginia, for the
benefit of the literary fund, executed, or signed, by the chairman of
the county or city school board and attested by the clerk thereof.

Payments of interest and principal shall be made to the State
treasurer, and evidence of debt taken for such loans shall be deposited
with the State treasurer and kept by him. (Code 760.)

Section 644. The board of supervisors in counties and the council
in cities in which school boards have borrowed funds from the literary
fund, shall include in the county or city levy, or levies, or appropriate
a fund sufficient, as the case may be, to meet its liabilities on such
contract, and in the event that such school board shall fail to pay
any installment of interest or principal promptly, upon notice in writing
to that effect from the State treasurer, the county or city treasurer
shall pay to the State treasurer, any such past due installment of
interest or principal, out of the funds in his hands belonging to such
county or city. The failure of such board or council to provide for
the payment of such loan, or the interest thereon, when and as due,
shall be deemed a cause for removal of the members thereof from
office on motion before the circuit or corporation court of such county
or city, instituted by the attorney for the Commonwealth of such county
or city, or by the attorney general where the attorney for the Com-
monwealth refuses or neglects to act after demand is made on him
to proceed. (Code 761.)

Section 645. The loans made under this chapter, including interest
thereon, shall constitute a specific lien on the schoolhouse and addition
thereto, for the erection of which such loan was made, as well as the
lots whereon the said buildings are situated. All such buildings shall
be kept fully and adequately insured for the benefit of the literary fund
of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the policy, or policies of in-
surance, shall be kept in the office of the State treasurer. (Code
764.)

Section 646. The fund applicable annually to the establishment.
support and maintenance of public schools in the Commonwealth shall
consist of:

First. State funds embracing the annual interest on the literary
fund; all appropriations made by the general assembly for public
school purposes; that portion of the capitation tax required by the
Constitution to be paid into the State treasury and not returnable to the
localities, and such State taxes as the general assembly, from time to
time, may order to be levied.

Second. Local funds embracing such appropriations as may be
made by the board of supervisors or council for school purposes, or
such funds as shall be raised by levy by the board of supervisors or
council, either or both, as authorized by law, and donations or the
income arising therefrom, or any other funds that may be set apart
for local school purposes. (Code 739.)

Section 647. No State money shall be paid for the public schools
in any county until evidence is filed with the State board of educa-
tion, signed by the superintendent of schools and the clerk of the board.
certifying that the schools of said county have been kept in operation
for at least seven months, or a less period satisfactory to the State
board of education, or that arrangements have been made which will
secure the keeping of them in operation for that length of time;
provided, that whenever the State and local funds shall justify it a
term of nine months shall be maintained, it being the purpose of this
statute to establish, where conditions permit, a standard nine months’
school term; provided, however, that no county shall be denied partici-
pation in State school funds, as provided by law when the board of
said county has: appropriated a fund equivalent to that which would
have been produced by the levying of the maximum local school tax
allowed by law, or has levied the maximum local school tax allowed
by law, provided, such appropriation or levy is based on assessments
not lower than the assessments on real and personal property in such
counties in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-five. (Code 669 and
680.)

Section 648. Any donations made, or to be made, to the State
board of education, or to any member thereof, for the benefit of any
public school, or schools, in the Commonwealth, shall be paid to the
State treasurer, as required by law, and upon certification from the
treasurer to the comptroller the comptroller shall enter the same in
a separate account on the books of his office. Such donations shall
be paid by the treasurer in accordance with the wishes of the donor
on the warrant of the comptroller issued on the approved voucher or
vouchers by the State board of education on the comptroller as required
by law. (G. L. 738-a.)

Section 649. Unless sections one hundred and thirty-two and one
hundred and thirty-three of the Constitution of Virginia are amended
prior thereto, within thirty days before April first, nineteen hundred
and twenty-nine, or as soon thereafter as possible and every four years
thereafter, the State board of education shall, subject to the confirma-
tion of the senate, appoint one division superintendent of schools for
each school division that the State board may, in its discretion, estab-
lish according to law. In the event that the State board of education
fails to elect a division superintendent for each division on or before
June first of the year in which such election is due to take place, the
superintendent then in office shall be declared elected for the succeed-
ing four years from July first of said year. No one shall be eligible
for appointment as division superintendent unless he meets the mini-
mum qualifications set up by the State board of education, and in order
that an applicant for the position of division superintendent may know
what qualifications are required of him, the State board of education
is hereby required to publish on the first of February of the year in
which such election is to take place, a statement showing the minimum
qualifications for the position of division superintendent of schools,
which statement shall be furnished to all applicants. No Federal
officer, no State officer, except a notary public, and no county or district
officer, or the deputy of any such officer mentioned in this section, shall
be chosen, or allowed to act as division superintendent of schools. In
the event that sections one hundred and thirty-two and one hundred
and thirty-three of the Constitution should be amended in the manner
prescribed by the Constitution, so as to provide for the appointment of
the division superintendents of schools by the local school boards, then
such division superintendents of schools shall be appointed by such
local school boards from a list of eligibles certified by the State board
of education, in accordance with the provisions of this section, and
subject to the limitations and conditions thereof, except the appoint-
ments of such superintendents shall not be subject to the confirmation
of the senate; and provided, further, that the superintendents at present
in office shall continue therein until their present terms expire. In
the event that the local school board fails to elect a division superin-
tendent within the time prescribed by this section, the State board ot
education shall appoint such division superintendent. (Code 624.)

Section 650. No officer of a city, county or town shall be eligible
to the office of division superintendent of school. (Code 779.)

Section 651. The term of office of the division superintendent sha:
be four years from the first day of July following his appointment.

The office of any division superintendent shall be deemed vacant
upon the refusal of the senate to confirm his nomination, his engaging
in any other business or employment during his term of office as such
superintendent, unless such superintendent shall have been accepted for
part time employment, his resignation or his removal from office by the
State board of education, or other appointing power. Every division
superintendent, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of
his office, shall take and subscribe the oath prescribed for all officers
of the State, which oath shall be mede and subscribed before a circur:
or corporation court having jurisdiction in his division, or before the
judge or clerk thereof in vacation. As soon as the oath shall have been
taken, subscribed and certified, a minute of the fact shall be entered in
the records of said court and a certificate of the clerk, setting forth
the qualifications and its record shall be furnished the superintendent
of public instruction for record in his office.

In the event that sections one hundred and thirty-two and one hun-
dred and thirty-three of the Constitution should be amended in the
manner prescribed by law, so as to provide for the appointment ot
division superintendents of schools by the local school authorities, then
confirmation by the senate shall no longer be required. (Code 623.)

Section 652. The superintendent of schools shall keep in his office
a record for the purpose of keeping an accurate report of all receipts
and disbursements of school funds, and all statistical information which
may be required by the State board of education in the umiorm
report to be submitted to it by the superintendent of schools. (Code
635.)

Section 653. In each county there shall be a board, to be known
as the school trustee electoral board, which shall be composed of three
resident qualified voters, who are not county or State officers, to be
appointed by the circuit court of each county, or the judge thereof in
vacation, within thirty days after the first day of July, nineteen hun-
dred and thirty, and every four years thereafter. The said members
of the trustee electoral board shall each receive a per diem of two
dollars for each day actually employed, to be paid out of the county
school fund. Any vacancy occurring within the term of the said
appointees shall be filled by the circuit court, or the judge thereot im
vacation, within thirty days thereafter. The county school board
shall consist of one member appointed from each school district in
the county by the school trustee electoral board. ‘The members so
appointed shall constitute the county school board, and every such
board is hereby declared a body corporate, under the style of the county
school board Of.........22.2.2.-:c:::ese:csseeceeeeneeeeeseees county, and may, in its cor-
porate capacity, sue or be sued, contract or be contracted with, and, in
general, is vested with all the powers, and charged with all the duties,
obligations and responsibilities imposed upon such board as such by
law. The members of the county school board shall be appointed on
or before July first, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, and on or
before July first of every four years thereafter, and shall hold office
for a term of four years, and thereafter until their successors have
been appointed and have qualified. Any vacancy in the county
school board shall be filled by appointment by the trustee electoral
board. The present trustee electoral board and county school boards
now in office, shall continue to hold office until their successors have
been appointed and qualified. All of such school trustees shall qualify
before the county clerk, by taking the oath prescribed for State officers.
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 days
im any one year, such per diem to be paid as other school expenses
are paid.

For the purpose of representation and the levying of a tax sufficient
to pay the present existing school district indebtedness and for future
capital expenditures only, each magisterial district shall constitute a
separate school district, but for all other school purposes, taxation,
management, control and operation, the county shall be the unit, and
the school affairs of such county managed as if the county constituted
but one school district. All special school districts and special town
school districts are hereby expressly retained as they exist at the present
time provided, however, in the counties of Henrico and Sussex in the
discretion of the board of supervisors thereof, a district levy may be
made in the several districts of said counties for the operation of the
schools therein.

Section 654. All the provisions of this Code with reference to the
school budget, the levying of school taxes, bond issues and loans for
schools, shall become effective inumediately.

Section 655. The business relating to school matters shall be trans-
acted by the school board at its meetings held as provided by law. At
the first meeting of the school board, after the taking effect of this
section, it shall, on recommendation of the division superintendent,
elect or appoint a competent person as clerk of the school board, and
shall fix his compensation. The board shall meet at such other times
as necessity may require. The division superintendent shall be present
at all meetings of the school board. (Code 638; G. L. 635-5.)

Section 656. The county school board shall have the authority to
check on the county treasurer for the payment of teachers’ salaries and
the payment of officers, and other incidental expenses connected with
the operation of the schools, provided all of such items have been
included in the school budget, approved by the board of supervisors, a
copy of which budget shall be furnished the treasurer. It shall be the
duty of the school board to secure, by visitation or otherwise, as fuil
information as possible about the conduct of the schools, and to take
care that they are conducted according to law and with the utmost
efficiency; to provide for the payment of teachers and other ofhcers
on the first of each month, or as soon thereafter as possible, and with
the approval of the board of supervisors, the county school board shail
have the authority to provide for the erection and maintenance of the
necessary schoolhouses, school facilities, and appurtenances thereto,
and the repairs thereof, to provide necessary school furniture and
appliances, to provide such text-books as may be necessary for indigent
children attending public schools; and any other lawful expense at-
tending the administration of the public school system, so far as the
same is under the control or the charge of the school board. The
school board shall examine all claims against it, and pay such as it is
authorized to pay. The schoo! boards shall provide for the consolida-
tion of schools and for the transportation of pupils whenever such
procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school system. (Code
sections 660, 662, 670. G. L. 635-15.)

Section 657. It shall be the duty of the division superintendent of
schools, on or before the first day of April of each year, to prepare.
with the advice of the school board, 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 be
prepared on forms furnished by the State board of education, approved
by the director of the budget and the comptroller, and shall set up
the amount of money necessary for overhead charges, for instruction,
for operation, for maintenance, for auxiliary agencies, for miscellan-
eous, including treasurers’ commissions, and for permanent capitaliza-
tion and such other headings or items as may be necessary. ‘The
estimate so made shall clearly show all necessary details in order that
the board of supervisors and the taxpayers of the county may be well
informed as to every item of the estimate. On a basis of this estimate,
the division superintendent of schools shall request the board of
supervisors to fix such school levy as will net an amount of money
necessary for the operation of the schools, or in lieu of such levy
to make a cash appropriation from the general county levy tor
operation of the schools. If the board of supervisors reiuse to lav
such a levy or make such cash appropriation as 1s recommended and
requested by the division superintendent, then, on a petition of not less
than fifty taxpayers of the county, qualified to vote, requesting the
same, the circuit court of the county, or the judge thereof in vacation.
may, in its or his discretion, order an election by the people ot the
county to be held during the month of June, to determine whether
such levy shall or shall not be fixed. (G. L. 635-6; Code 645 and 646. )

Section 658. The board of supervisors shall include in the county
budget required by law, and as a part thereof, the budget for the
schools of the county, a brief synopsis of which shall be published, as
required by chapter thirty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and
twenty-seven, Or any amendment thereof. (Code 750 and G. L.

-10.)

Section 659. The school board, with the assistance of the division
superintendent, 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 day of the preceding June to the State board of
education, on forms supplied by the superintendent of public instruc-
tion. (Code 644, and G. L. 635-17.) |

Section 660. It shall be the duty of the school board to see that
the school laws are properly explained, enforced and observed; to make
local regulations for the conduct of the schools and for the proper
discipline of the student, which shall include their conduct going to
and returning from school, but such local rules and regulations shall
be in harmony with the general rules of the State board of education
and the statutes of this State. The 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. The division superintendent shall
have authority to assign to their respective positions all teachers and
principals employed by the board, and to reassign them, provided no
change or reassignment shall affect the salary of such teachers; and
provided, further, that he shall make appropriate reports and explana-
tions on the request of the board. No teacher shall be employed or
paid from the public funds, unless such teacher holds a certificate in
full force in accordance with the rules of certification laid down by
the State board of education. The school board shall not employ or
pay any teacher from the pubiic funds if said teacher is the father,
mother, brother, sister, wife, son or daughter of any member of said
board. If the school board violates these provisions, the individual
members thereof shall be personally liable to refund to the local
treasury any amounts paid in violation of this law, and such funds
shall be recovered from members by action or suit in the name of the
Commonwealth at the relation of the attorney for the Common-
wealth; such funds, when recovered, to be paid into the local treasury
for the use of the public schools. (G. L. 635-18.)

Section 661. It shall be the duty of the school board to call meet-
ings of the people of the county for consultation in regard to the
school interest thereof when deemed necessary by the board. The
board is authorized to appoint local school committees of not more
than three members for each schoolhouse, whose duty it shall be to
advise the members of the board with reference to matters pertaining
to the local school and to cooperate with the board in the provisions for
the care of the school property and for the successful operation of the
school. Such committee shall serve without compensation. (G. L.

635-19.)
Section 662. The school board shall have power, and it shall be
its duty, in the event of any delinquency or any irregularity in the
acts of any treasurer, or any officer, agent or employee handling county
school funds, or of any member of said board, to take such steps
and institute such legal proceedings as may be necessary and proper
in order to secure complete settlement of the accounts of such treasurer,
officer, agent, or employee or member of such board, and a full and
clear exhibit of the transactions of said officer, agent, employee or
member of such boards in connection with the receipts and disburse-
ments of any funds for public school purposes, and to compel the
payment of any balances that may be in the hands of such treasurer
or other person. The school board shall have power, and it shall
be its duty, to take such steps and institute such legal proceedings as
may be necessary and proper to secure a complete settlement of the
accounts of any trustees to whom any funds or other property for
the purposes of common school education shall have been entrusted,
and to secure a full and proper administration of said trusts; and to
this end it may apply to the courts for the removal, for good cause
shown, of said trustee or trustees and for the appointment of new
trustees, either in place of those so removed or to fill vacancies, and
to institute such suits or actions as may be necessary to compel the
payment of any balances in the hands of the old trustee or trustees
so removed, or to correct any defect or irregularity whatever in the
administration of such trust fund or other property. It shall be the
duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth to act as attorney for
the said board, and to institute such legal proceedings as the said
board may think proper and necessary. (Code 650.)

Section 663. It shall be the duty of the school board to suspend or
expel pupils when the welfare and efficiency of the schools make it
necessary; to decide what children wishing to enter the schools of
the county or city should, by reason of the poverty of their parents
or guardians, receive text-books free of charge, and to see that the
census required of children by section six hundred and ninety-five is
taken at the proper time and in the proper manner. (Code 660.)

Section 664. Written contracts shall be made by the school board
with all public school teachers, before they enter upon their duties,
in a form to be prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction.
Such contracts shall be signed in duplicate, each party holding a copy
thereof.

Every teacher in a public school shall keep a daily register of facts
pertaining to his school in such form as the superintendent of public
instruction shall require, and shall be responsible for the safekeeping
and delivery of the same to the clerk-of the board at the close of the
school term, or of the period of his service, whichever shall first happen.
The principal, or the teacher where there is no principal, may, for sufh-
cient cause, suspend pupils from attendance on the school until the
case 1s decided by the school board, which shall be with as little delay
as possible, provided that in such cases of suspension the principal
or teacher shall report the facts in writing at once to the division
superintendent and the parent or guardian of the child suspended.
(Code 689, 690, 691, 692 and 694.)

Section 665. 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. (Code 694.)

Section 666. The school board may establish all day, part time, or
continuation, or evening classes, giving industrial, agricultural, house-
hold arts, or commercial.education, and provide for the support thereof
in the same manner as the regular schools of the county are provided
for. Such training shall be of less than college grade and shall be
designed to meet the vocational needs of persons over fourteen years
of age who are able to profit by such instruction. (Code 663; G. L.
635-16.)

Section 667. Any five interested heads of families, residents of
the county, who may feel themselves aggrieved by the action of the
county school board, may, within thirty days after such action, state
their complaint, in writing, to the division superintendent of schools
who, 1f he cannot within ten days after the receipt of the said com-
plaint, satisfactorily adjust the same, shall, within five days thereafter,
at the request of any party in interest, grant an appeal to the circuit
court of the county, or to the judge thereof in vacation. The pro-
ceedings on such an appeal shall be informal, and no pleading shall
be required, other than the complaint hereinabove provided for. The
court, or judge in vacation, shall decide finally all questions at issue.
The order of the court, or judge determining the appeal, shall be
entered in the current chancery order book. A copy of the order
shall also be entered by the clerk of the board in the minute book of
the county board.

When a school is owned or operated jointly by two or more counties,
all questions arising with reference to said school, shall be voted on by
the county school boards of said counties jointly, and the majority vote
of the combined boards shall be final, unless appealed from as pro-
vided in this section. In the event of an appeal from the joint action
of such boards, the complaint shall be made to the division superin-
tendents of both counties affected, and, if they cannot adjust the same
as provided in this section, an appeal shall be allowed to the circuit
court, or the judge thereof in vacation of either of the two counties,
the appeal to be certified to the court or judge which the party appeal-
ing may request. (Code 666.)

Section 668. 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. (Code 665.)

Section 669. If, in the judgment of the board, the public interest
demands that a schoolhouse be located on a particular spot, or when
a schoolhouse is already located upon land purchased or acquired for
such purposes and more land is needed for school purposes, and no
equitable arrangement proves to be practicable, the board shall be
authorized and it shall be its duty to cause the desired parcel of land
to be surveyed by the county or other competent surveyor and a plat
of the same be filed, together with a general statement of the case, with
the clerk of the circuit court, and thereupon, on application of the
board, the same proceedings shall be had as are prescribed by the laws
relating to the exercise of the right of eminent domain, but no parcel
of land thus condemned shall exceed five acres for any one school,
provided that in rural sections no dwelling, yard, garden or orchard
shall be invaded. (Code 6/2.)

Section 670. The school boards of two adjacent counties shall, with
the consent of the State board of education, have the power to establish
joint schools for the use of both counties, and shall have the power to
purchase, take, hold, lease and convey school property, both real and
personal, in either county, for such joint schools. The title to all such
property acquired for such purposes shall vest jointly in the school
boards of the counties, and such schools shall be managed and con-
trolled by the said boards jointly. (Code 701.)

Section 671. No school house shall be contracted for, erected or
added to, until the plans and specifications therefor shall have heen
submitted to and approved in writing by the division superintendent
of schools and the plans and specifications for said building or add1-
tion have been approved by the State superintendent. No plans for
the erection of any school building or addition thereto shall be ap.
proved, unless the same shall provide at least fifteen square fect of
floor space and a minimum of one hundred and seventy-five cubic
feet of air space for each pupil to be accommodated in each study or
recitation room therein, and no such plans shall be approved uuless
provision is made therein for assuring at least thirty cubic feet of pure
air every minute per pupil, and the facilities for exhausting the foul
and vitiated air therein shall be positive and independent of atmovs-
pheric changes ; provided, however, that a system of ventilation requir-
ing less than thirty cubic feet of pure air per minute per pupil, but i
no case less than three air changes per hour may be adopted by the
State board of education in any single case, subject to the approval of
the State board of health. All ceilings shall be at least twelve feet in
height.

All school houses, as aforesaid, shall provide for the admission of
light from the left, or from the left and rear of the pupils, and the total
light area must be at least twenty per centum of the floor space.
E.very school board shall provide at least two suitable and convenient
outhouses or water closets for each of the school houses under its con-
trol, unless the said school houses have suitable, convenient and sanitary
water closets erected within same. Said outhouses or water closets
shall be entirely separated, each from the other, and shall have separate
means of access. School board shall see that said outhouses or water
closets are kept in a clean and wholesome condition.

All school buildings and additions shall have all halls, doors, stair-
ways, seats, passage-ways and aisles, and all lighting and heating appli-
ances and apparatus, arranged to facilitate egress in case of fire or
accidents, and to afford the requisite and proper accommodations for
public protection in such cases. All exit doors in any school house of
two or more stories in height shall open outwardly. No staircase shall
be constructed except with straight runs, changes in direction being
made by platforms. No doors shall open immediately upon a flight
of stairs, but a landing at least the width of the doors shall be provided
between such stairs and such doorway. Every school house hereafter
erected, of two stories or more, shall be equipped with an adequate
number of fire-escapes, or with internal fire-proof stairways, the num-
ber thereof to be determined by the division superintendent and ap-
proved by the superintendent of public instruction. No public school
shall be allowed in any building which is not in such condition and
provided with such conveniences as are required by a due regard to
decency and health; and when a school house appears to the division
superintendent of schools to be unfit for occupancy, it shall be his duty
to condemn the same and immediately to give notice thereof, in writing,
to the members of the school board, and thenceforth no public school
shall be held therein, nor shall any part of the State or county fund
be applied to support any school in such house until the division super-
intendent shall certify, in writing, to the board that he is satished with
the condition of such building and with the appliances pertaining
thereto. (Code 673, 674 and 675.)

Section 672. It shall be lawful for any county school board, or any
county school boards of two or more adjoining counties, to establish
and maintain a public high school at such place as may be both most
convenient for the pupils to attend, and most conducive for the pur-
poses of such school, provided the establishment of such high school
or the teaching of such high school branches shall not be allowed to 1n-
terfere with the regular and efficient instruction in the elementary
branches. A high school may be conducted either in a separate build-
ing or in the same building in which elementary grades are taught.
The State board of education shall prescribe rules and regulations
governing the conduct of high schools, and shall also prescribe require-
ments for admission, and the conditions on which properly prepared
pupils may attend such schools. Any county not actually conducting a
high school, but paying tuition for its high school pupils in high schools
in other counties or cities out of the public funds, shall be permitted
to share in the State high school fund. The State board of education
shall provide for the inspection of high schools by a competent person,
or persons, and shall see to it that the high schools conform to the
standards prescribed by such board. The State board of education,
under proper regulations, shall encourage the establishment and mainte-
nance of high schools in the counties and cities of the State by the use
of such State appropriation as may be made for high school purposes,
provided the elementary grades of the county or city schools have been
maintained for an average term of at least one hundred and sixty
school days or a term satisfactory to said board of education, based
upon good and sufficient reasons.

No money shall be paid to any locality from State funds for the
maintenance of high schools, however, unless the county school board
or the city-school board shall appropriate from local funds for the
maintenance of such high schools an amount equal at the least to
fifty per centum of the amount allowed from the State appropriation.
No teacher shall be employed in high school instruction whose qualifi-
cations do not meet the standards set up by the State board of educa-
tion. The State board shall appropriate, out of the high school fund,
to the standard four-year high school, an amount not to exceed one
thousand dollars, and to the two-year high school, organized according
to plans prepared by the State board of education for junior high
schools an amount not to exceed eight hundred dollars, unless other
provision is made therefor by the general appropriation or budget bill.
The State board shall have power to make such rules and regulations
as may be necessary for the proper distribution of the funds appro-
priated for high schools, which shall be paid out in the same manner
other funds are paid out of the State treasury.

The county school boards and city school boards are authorized to
charge, under regulations prescribed by the State board of education,
tuition for pupils attending high school, but such tuition shall, in no
case exceed the actual per capita cost for instruction and maintenance
in the high school department.

With the consent and approval of the State board of education and
the division superintendent, in the discretion of the county school
board, high school subjects may be taught in schools having two or
more rooms, when such schools are not less than two mules distant
from a high school operated in said county. (Code 703).

Section 673. Whenever it shall be necessary for a county to erect
a school house, it shall be lawful for the school board of such county
to contract a loan for said purpose, on the credit of the county, in the
manner other loans are authorized to be contracted by sections twenty-
seven hundred and thirty-eight, twenty-seven hundred and thirty-nine,
twenty-seven hundred and forty and twenty-seven hundred and forty-
one of the Code of Virginia; provided, that when such school house
is erected at the expense of the school district, the election provided
for by the Code sections referred to in this section shall be held only
in the district against which such building will be a charge; and pro-
vided, further, that in such case the tax sufficient to pay the interest
on said bonds, and the sinking fund to redeem the same, shall be levied
in the school district only. In all other respects the procedure shall be
as required by said Code sections.

Section 674. All elections heretofore held in any school district of
the State to provide for the issuance uf bonds, for the purpose of build-
ing, rebuilding or otherwise permanently improving the school buual-l-
ings of said district, or for original equipment therefor, be, and the
same are hereby validated, ratified, approved and confirmed, notwith-
standing any defect or irregularity in the calling or holding of such
elections, or in the petitions presented to the circuit court for the hold-
ing of such elections, or said proceedings, or in the order of the court
ordering or confirming same, be, and the same are hereby validated,
approved and confirmed, and said bonds are hereby declared to be the
valid and binding obligations of the school district authorizing the
issuance of such bonds. (G. L. 773a.)

Section 675. No school board in a county or city shall hereafter
borrow any money in any manner for any purpose without express
authority of law heretofore or hereafter, or by this section conferred.
Any loan negotiated in violation of this section shall be void, except
that the prohibitions of this section shall not apply to any loan made
prior to June twenty-third, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, or any
renewal thereof. The school board of a county or the school board
of a city, which may find it necessary to make temporary loans, are
hereby authorized to borrow a sum of money not to exceed one-half
of the amount produced by the county school levy laid in such county
or city for the year in which the loan is negotiated, or one-half of the
amount of the cash appropriation made for schools for the preceding
year. Such loans shall be evidenced by notes or bonds negotiable or
non-negotiable, as said board may determine; shall bear interest at
a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, and shall be repaid
within one year of their date, provided, however, that no loans shali be
negotiated by a county or city school board without the approval of the
tax levying body. No additional temporary loan shall be made until
all prior temporary loans shall have been paid. No county board, nor
city school board shall expend, or contract to expend, in any fiscal
year, any sum of money in excess of the funds available for school
purposes for that fiscal year, without the consent of the tax levying
body. Any member of a county school board, or of a city school board
knowingly violating, or voting to violate, any provision of this statute,
may be removed from office for that cause, in the manner provided by
sections twenty-seven hundred and five and twenty-seven hundred
and six of the Code. (G. L. 773b, ch. 46, acts 1926.)

Section 676. All property of every character and description, real,
personal or mixed, held by individuals by virtue of their office of
school commissioner or overseers of the poor of any of the counties of
the Commonwealth, under any act heretofore passed by the general
assembly of Virginia, acquired by or derived from the sale of glebe
lands, or from any other source formerly belonging to any of the said
counties, and applicable to school purposes; also such real or personal
estate in any of the said counties as belonged to the former board of
the literary fund, together with any other funds or property which
had in any manner been set apart for school purposes, but which had
been practically abandoned or is without trustees; and any funds or
property that may be hereafter set apart solely for county school pur-
poses, and all donations, by will, deed, or other conveyance, heretofore
or hereafter made for county or district school purposes, the lots and
school buildings and all the real and personal property heretofore
acquired for the use of county or district schools or for the mainte-
nance thereof, and all school property, including the above-named
property, whether it be real, personal or mixed, is hereby, by operation
of law, vested in the county school board unless inconsistent with the
grant or devise above mentioned. The several county school boards
shall, when not inconsistent with the terms of the grant or devise,
invest and manage the same and apply the profits thereof for the pur-
pose of education in the same manner and under the same restriction
as the general school fund of the State is applied as required by law,
except that the said county school boards are authorized to apply such
portions of the profits of the funds as in their judgment may be neces-
sary to the erection of school houses in their said counties, respectively,
or to the purchase of school apparatus for the use of schools. But if
such fund does not excced in amount the sum of two thousand dollars.
the said county boards may, if in their judgment expedient, use such
fund in whole or in part in the erection of school houses in their said
counties or in paying any debt which may have been heretofore in-
curred by the county or district school boards in the erection of school
houses ; provided that such disposition is not in conflict with the will
of the grantor or testator. In cases where funds or other property are
held by trustees for purposes of common school education, the county
board shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to examine into the
manner in which said trusts are administered; and all such trustees are
hereby required to render reports to the county school board whenever
called on, and to afford every facility needed by said board in order
to obtain a full understanding of all the points connected with such
administration; and should such examination reveal any detect or
irregularity in the administration of such trust funds or other property,
it shall be the duty of the county school board to institute prompt pro-
ceedings for carrying the matter before the courts. In cases where
donations or other funds have been set apart for the education of the
poor, the county school board 1s authorized to receive and apply the
saine in connection with the public schools in obedience to the will of
the donor. The county board may employ counsel, and provide for
and direct the payment of reasonable attorney’s fees whenever such
action may be necessary for effectuating the purposes and objects of
this section, or for the protection of the public schools of the county
from loss or detriment from any cause; but no such fee shall be paid
or allowed by such board unless or until the same shall have been ap-
proved by the court in which such litigation was had, or in any case in
which the attorney for the Commonwealth is required by law to handle
the same; provided, further, that nothing in this section contained shall
be construed to apply to the twenty-fifth clause of the will of Samuel
Miller, deceased, or in any wise to affect or impair any rights or inter-
ests whatsoever, either public or private, arising under said clause.
(Code 648.)

Section 677, When any real or personal property is given, devised
or bequeathed to any county school board, or city school board, it shall
be vested in the county or the city school board, as the case may he, and
shall be managed and applied by the county school board or the city
school board, according to the wishes of the donor or testator, and the
board having charge of the funds or property shall, in addition to the
regular settlement which it is required to make of all school moneys
given into its hands, settle annually before the commissioner of ac-
counts of its county or city, so far as the management of the property
so bequeathed or devised is concerned, and the court having jurisdic-
tion shall have the right to compel such a settlement, as is provided for
in section fifty-four hundred and ten of the Code.

In the case of any change in the boundaries of any county or city,
the county school board or city school board, as the case may he, shall
make provision for the continuing of the fulfillment of the purposes
of such donor or testator, as far as practicable, and settlement shall
be made, as provided for above. (Code 648; 671 and G. L. 635-8.)

Section 678. The school board shall have the same power to sell
or exchange and convey the real and personal school property of the
county as the board of supervisors has with reference to the power of
sale, exchange and conveyance of other county property under section
twenty-seven hundred and twenty-three of the Code. (Code 649.)

Section 679. A minimum number of pupils, under regulations to be
prescribed by the State board of education, shall be requtred in order
to form or maintain a public school. (Code 723.)

Section 680. White and colored persons shall not be taught in the
same school, but shall be taught in separate schools, under the same
general regulations as to management, usefulness and _ efficiency.
(Code 719.)

Section 681. In all localities where the number of children is suffi-
cient, preference shall be given, under suitable regulations, to the es-
tablishment of graded schools. (Code 699.)

Section 682. The public schools, except as otherwise provided, shall
be free to all persons between the ages of seven and twenty years re-
siding within the county. Persons six years of age may be admitted
to primary grades and persons under six years of age to such kinder-
gartens as may be established by local school authorities and operated
as a part of the public school system. Such kindergartens shall not
be entitled to participate in the State school fund, but shall be sup-
ported by the local authorities. The school board, in its discretion,
may admit as pupils into any of the public schools, persons between
the ages of twenty and twenty-five years on the prepayment of tuition
fees, under regulations to be prescribed by the State board of educa-
tion, provided the admission of such pupils will not, in the opinion
of the board, impair the usefulness and efficiency of such school. The
board in any county or city where day schools are conducted for eight
or more months each year may, in its discretion, establish and conduct
night schools to which may be admitted pupils. regardless of age. “The
State board of education shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to
make regulations whereby the children of one county may attend
school in an adjoining county, or an adjoining city. (Code 719 and
721.)

Section 683. Every parent, guardian, or other person in the Com-
monwealth, having control or charge of any child, or children, who
have reached the seventh birthday and have not passed the fifteenth
birthday, shall send such child, or children, to a public school, or to a
private, denominational or parochial school, or have such child or
children taught by a tutor or teacher of qualification prescribed by the
State board of education and approved by the division superintendent
in a home, and such child, or children, shall regularly attend such
school during the period of each year the public schools are in session
and for the same number of days and hours per day as in the public
schools. The period of compulsory attendance shall commence at
the opening of the first term of the school which the pupil attends
and shall continue until the close of such school for the school
year. The provisions of this section shall not apply to children
physically or mentally incapacitated for school work, nor to those
children suffering from contagious or infectious diseases during the
existence of such disease; nor shall it apply to children between the
ages aforesaid who have completed the elementary course of study
prescribed by the State board of education, or the elementary couse
of study of such grade, provided by the school he attends. and whi 1s
actually, regularly and lawfully employed; nor to children who live
more than two miles by the nearest traveled road from a public school.
unless public transportation is provided within one mile of the place
where such children live. Physical incapacity or disease shall be es-
tablished by the certificate of a reputable practicing physician, made in
accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the State board
of education, and mental incapacity is to be determined by such mental
test or tests as may be prescribed by the State board of education.

Provided, however, that in the several counties and cities the local
board may, in its discretion, after public hearing thereon, at a meeting
held not less than thirty days after public notice shall have been given
in some newspaper having general circulation in the county or city
affected, fix the age for compulsory attendance in such county or city
as applicable to children who have reached the eighth birthday and
have not passed the sixteenth birthday in lieu of the requirements of
this section as to age. (G. L. 786-1-13.)

Section 684. Within fifteen days after the opening of the school,
each principal teacher shall report to the division superintendent the
names of the pupils enrolled in the school, giving age, grade and the
name and address of parent or guardian. With such list shall be sub-
mitted another list giving to the best of the principal teacher’s informa-
tion the names of all children within the ages of seven and fifteen
years, or within the ages of eight and sixteen years when the local
board, pursuant to the provisions of section six hundred and eighty-
three of the Code, has fixed such limits as to the ages of attendance,
who reside within two miles of the school or within one mile of a
wagon route and who are not enrolled in the school. The division
superintendent shall check these lists with the last school census and
with reports from the bureau of vital statistics. From these reports
and from any other reliable source the superintendent shall within fif-
teen days make a list of the names of children who are not enrolled in
any school, and who are not exempt from school attendance. It shall
be the duty of the division superintendent, or the attendance officers,
if one be employed to investigate all cases of non-enrollment and,
when no valid reason is found therefor, to notify the parent, guardian
or other person having control of the child, to require the attendance
of such child at the school within five days from the date of such
notice. A list of persons so notified shall be sent by the superintendent
of schools, or the attendance officers, if there is one, to the principal
teacher of the school. If the parent, guardian or other person having
control of the child or children fails, within the specified time, to com-
ply with the law, it shall be the duty of the division superintendent or
the chief attendance officer, if there be one, to make complaint in the
name of the Commonwealth before the juvenile and domestic rela-
tions court of his city or county, if there be one. If there be no such
juvenile and domestic relations court in his city or county, then the
prosecution shall be instituted against such person in the circuit or
corporation court of the county or city in which the offense occurred,
and, in addition thereto, such child or children may be proceeded
against as a neglected child or children in the manner provided by
chapter seventy-eight of the Code, as amended. (G. L. 786-1-13.)

Section 685. I'very teacher in every school in the Commonwealth
shall keep an accurate daily record of attendance of all children be-
tween seven and fifteen years of age. Such record shall, at all times,
be open to any officer authorized to enforce the provisions of the pre-
ceding or following sections who may inspect or copy the same, and
shall be admissible in evidence in any prosecution for a violation of
any of the preceding or succeeding sections, as prima facie evidence
of the facts stated therein.

Every county school board and school board of a city shall have
power to appoint, with the approval of its division superintendent of
schools, one or more attendance officers who shall be primarily charged
with the enforcement of the preceding sections, and for such purpose
only, such attendance officers are hereby vested with the powers and
authority of a sheriff, provided that, in a county or city where no at-
tendance officer is appointed by the local school board, the division
superintendent of schools shall act as attendance officer with the same
powers conferred on attendance officers. ‘The compensation of such
attendance officers, or of the division superintendent of schools, when
he acts as such, shall be fixed by the board in counties and.the school
boards in the cities. Every attendance officer shall keep an accurate
record of all notices served of cases prosecuted and all other services
performed, and shall make an annual report of the same to the board
appointing him. Attendance officers shall not be entitled to fees, but
the compensation of such officers shall be allowed by the board in
counties and the school board in cities, and paid out of funds provided
therefor in the school budget. (Code 786 and 787.)

Section 686. Any parent, guardian, or other person having control
of a child, who fails to send such child to school, as required by section
six hundred and eighty-three shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any
such parent, guardian, or other person who makes a false statement
concerning the age of a child between the ages of seven and fifteen
years, for the purpose of evading the provisions of the preceding sec-
tion, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who induces or
attempts to induce any child to be absent unlawfully from school, or
who knowingly employs or harbors, while school is in session, any child
absent unlawfully, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person
who violates any of the provisions of this or section six hundred and
eighty-three shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any child or children
permitted by any parent, guardian or other person having control
thereof, to be habitually absent from school, contrary to section six
hundred and eighty-three shall be deemed a neglected child, to be dis-
posed of in the manner prescribed by chapter seventy-eight of the Code
of Virginia, as amended. It shall be the duty of the attorneys for the
Commonwealth of the several counties and cities to prosecute all cases
arising under this and section six hundred and eighty-three.

In cities and counties having juvenile and domestic relations courts,
such courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction for the trial of
such cases. In those counties or cities not having juvenile courts.
such prosecutions shall be before a justice of the peace or police jus-
tice, as the case may be, or the circuit or corporation court. Where it
appears, however, that the parent, guardian or other person having
control of a child, or children, 1s unable to provide necessary clothes
in order that the child or children may attend school, such parent,
guardian or other person shall not be punished, unless the local school
authorities furnish such child, or children, with the necessary clothes,
paid for out of public funds, and thereafter such parent, guardian or
other person fails to send such child or children, to school, as required
by law. (G. L. 786-1-13.)

Section 687. Any county or city which may be without adecuate
buildings for the proper enforcement of the four preceding secttons,
at the time the same become effective, 1s hereby allowed two years
from the date on which they become effective, to make ample provi-
sion for their enforcement; provided, such time may be extended by
the tax levying authorities of any county or city, which exception may
be extended from time to time, or reduced, as to such authorities mav
scem proper.

Section 688. In the elementary grades of every public school the
following subjects shall be taught: Spelling, reading, writing, arith-
metic, grammar, geography, physiology and hygiene, drawing, civil
government, history of the United States and history of Virginia.
In preparing the course of study in civics and history in both the
elementary and high school grades, the State board of education shall
give careful directions for, and shall require, the teaching of the Decla-
ration of American Independence, the Virginia Statute of Religious
Freedom, the Virginia Bill of Rights and section fifty-eight of the Con-
stitution of Virginia, which subjects shall be carefully read and
studied, thoroughly explained and taught by teachers to all pupils in
accordance with the State course of study, which course of study shall
require written examinations as to each of the last four mentioned
great documents of Virginia’s history at the end of the term in which
the course is given. An outline shall likewise be given of the Consti-
tution of the United States and the general principles of that Consti-
tution shall be carefully explained.

In connection with the course in civics and citizenship, training in
accident prevention and traffic laws and in proper conduct on streets
and public highways shall be given. Instructions should likewise be
given in ways and means of preventing loss to lives and damage to
property through preventable fires.

In physiology and hygiene the text-book and course of study shall
treat the evil effects of alcohol and other narcotics on the human
system.

Physical and health education shall be emphasized throughout the
course by proper lessons, drills and physical exercises set up by the State
board of education.

The entire scheme of training shall emphasize moral education
through lessons given by teachers and imparted by appropriate read-
ing selections. (Code 1919, section 702.)

Section 689. The superintendent of public instruction shall pre-
pare or cause to be prepared, upon the advice and approval of the
State board of health, suitable test cards, blanks, record books, and
other needful appliances, to be used in testing the sight and hearing
of the pupils in the public schools, and shall also obtain necessary in-
structions for the use thereof; and shall furnish the same free of ex-
pense to all the schools of the State, upon request of school board of
any county, or city, accompanied with the statement from the clerk
theredf, that the said board had, by resolution, adopted the use of said
test cards, blanks, et cetera, and had directed the use thereof in the
schools under their charge, and within fifteen days after the beginning
of the term, or after receiving the said test cards, et cetera, the princi-
pal or teacher in all said schools shall test the sight and hearing of all
the pupils under their charge, and keep a record of such examinations
in accordance with instructions furnished, and whenever a pupil is
found to have any defect of vision or hearing, or disease of the eyes
or ears, he shall forthwith notify the parent or guardian, in writing,
of said defect, with a brief statement thereof. Copies of said report
shall be preserved for the use of the superintendent of public instruc-
tion as he may require. (Code 724.)

Section 690. Teachers shall require of the pupils cleanliness of the
person and good behavior during their attendance at school, and on
their way thereto and back to their homes. Persons suffering with
contagious or infectious disease shall be excluded from the public
schools while in that condition. Every teacher and every pupil shall,
within ten days after entering a public school, furnish a certificate
from a reputable physician certifying that such teacher or pupil has
been successfully vaccinated, or is entitled to exemption by reason of
peculiar physical condition. But nothing in this section shall preclude
the school board from requiring immediate vaccination in case of an
epidemic of smallpox, or the annual re-vaccination of those who have
not furnished certificates of proper vaccination. Where a pupil has
not been vaccinated, the board shall, after notifying the parent, guard-
ian or other person having the custody or control of such child, to do
so, proceed to have such child vaccinated, where the parent, guardian
or other person having such child under control fails or neglects to
do so within the time specified, the cost of which vaccination shall be
paid out of the school funds of the county. The operation of so much
of this section as concerns vaccination may be suspended in whole or
in part by the school board of any county or city. (Code 1529.)

Section 691. Any parent, guardian or other person having custody
or control of a child required to attend school, who fails to obey the
notice of the school board requiring the vaccination of such child
within the time required by such notice, not less than five days from
the date thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (Code 1530.)

Section 692. The several county school boards and the several city
school boards are authorized, in their discretion, to furnish, free of
charge, to all pupils in public schools, all books adopted for use in
said schools, said books to be paid for by the county or city out of
the fund provided therefor in the school budget. All school books fur-
nished, as authorized by this section, shall remain the property of the
county or city furnishing the same, and shall be loaned to the pupils
on such terms and conditions as the county board or the city school
board may prescribe. The county board and the city school board
shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to provide
for the proper care of said books and for their return by the pupils
at the conclusion of the school year. (Code 725.)

Section 693. The school board of any county bordering on another
State which grants the same privileges to the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia may, in its discretion, admit into its schools, free of tuition, per-
sons of school age residing beyond the limits of this State, but near
thereto. (Code 720.)

Section 694, It shall hereafter be unlawful for any county, road
district, municipality, corporation, public or private, or any person to
collect toll for the use of any of the roads or highways or bridges in
this State by any pedestrian or any horse or horse-drawn vehicle, or
motor vehicle, when such pedestrian is a pupil going to or returning
{rom immediate attendance upon any school, college or educational
institution in this State, or when such horse is being ridden by, or such
vehicle is carrying any pupil or student to or from immediate attend-
ance upon any school, college, or other educational institution in this
State.

Any such pupil, student, or the parent or guardian of any such
pupil or student, may apply for and receive from the principal of any
school, college, or other educational institution in this State, a card
certifying that any child or person is a pupil or student regularly at-
tending such school, college or other educational institution, and such
card exhibited to the keeper, or person in charge of any toll gate on
any highway or bridge in this State shall be accepted in lieu of all
charges for the passage through such toll gate of any such pupil or
any horse ridden by, or any horse-drawn or motor-driven vehicle carry-
ing any such pupil or student to or from immediate attendance upon
any such school, college or other educational institution.

Any person using any such card, except for the purpose herein
specified, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars.
(G. L. 700a.)

Section 695. At a time to be designated by the superintendent of
public instruction, prior to June first, nineteen hundred and thirty, and
every five years thereafter, a census of all persons between the ages
of seven and twenty years, residing within each county and city, shall
be taken on forms furnished by the superintendent of public instruc-
tion. Said census shall be taken by agents appointed by the county
school boards in counties and the school boards in cities, on the recom-
mendation of the division superintendent, and each agent shall receive
as compensation for his services, to be paid out of the county school
funds, an amount to be fixed by the board appointing him, not to ex-
ceed six dollars per hundred cf the children listed by him, subject to
abatement, on the discovery before, or after the settlement of the ac-
count, of errors or omissions in the list; provided, that in the discre-
tion of the local board a reasonable travel allowance may be allowed
such agents. The agents mentioned in this section shall also, at the
time of taking the census aforesaid, gather statistics relating to the
interests of education in their respective districts, according to forms
furnished by the superintendent of public instruction. The list re-
quired by this section shall be submitted for careful revision to the
county board or the city school board as soon as may be after their
completion, and shall, at all times, be open to the inspection of any
citizen. When so revised, they shall be submitted with any other in-
formation required or deemed necessary, to the division superintend-
ent, who shall forthwith transmit same to the State board of educa-
tion. The State board of education is authorized to require a special
census at any time it deems such census necessary for the equitable
distribution of State school funds. (Code 653.)

Section 696. It shall be the duty of the school board to approve
agents to take the school census, such agents to be recommended by
the division superintendent. (Code 653, 654, 655 and 656 and G. L.
635-13.)

Section 697. At the time the quinquennial census provided for by
section six hundred and ninety-five is taken, there shall also be taken,
by the same agents, a separate census of the deaf and blind persons
between the said ages residing within the county or city, giving the sex,
age and residence of each, and a copy thereof, shall be returned to the
division superintendent. For this service the agents shall receive the
same compensation as that allowed for listing other children, and out
of the same fund. The division superintendent shall consolidate the
reports of the county and transmit the same to the superintendent of
the schools for the deaf and blind. (Code 654.)

Section 698. Each county and each city is authorized to raise sums
by a tax on all property, subject to local taxation, of not less than fifty
cents nor more than one dollar on the one hundred dollars of the as-
sessed value of the property in any one year to be expended by the
local school authorities in such counties and cities in establishing.
maintaining and operating such schools as in their judgment the public
welfare may require. In lieu of making such school levy, the board
of supervisors in the counties and the councils in the cities may, in
their discretion, make a cash appropriation from the county or city
levy of an amount not less than the sum required by the county or
city school budget provided by section six hundred and fifty-seven
approved by the board of supervisors in no event to be less than the
amount which would result from the laying of the minimum school
levy authorized by this section for the establishment, maintenance and
operation of the schools of such county or city without the express
permission of the State board of education. In addition to this, the
board of supervisors of any county, or the council of any citv, may
appropriate from any funds available such sums as in the judgment
of such board or council or such city may be necessary or expedient
for the establishment, maintenance and operation of the public schools
in such county or city. For capital expenditures and for the payment
of existing district indebtedness, the board may levy a district tax in
the magisterial district in which the money is to be spent, or the debts
exist, not exceeding twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars of
the assessed value of the property in the magisterial district in any
one year, to be expended for the purpose for which the tax is laid, but
no other district tax for schools for any purpose other than herein
expressly authorized shall he laid. Councils in the incorporated towns
in any county in the State are authorized to levy an additional tax of
not more than one dollar on the one hundred dollars taxable values of
property in said town subject to taxation by the local town authorities,
for the support and maintenance of the public schools in said town.
or, in lieu of said levy, the council may make a cash appropriation
out of the general town levy. Provided, however, that in the counties
of Buchanan, Dickenson, Elizabeth City, Nottoway, Princess Anne
and Prince Edward such tax shall not be less than fifty cents nor more
than one dollar and fifty cents: in the counties of Amherst, Lee, Rus-
sell, Southampton, Craig and Wise such tax shall not be less than
fifty cents nor more than one dollar and seventy-five cents; in the
counties of Floyd and Scott such tax shall not be less than fifty cents
nor more than two dollars, and in the county of Warwick such tax
shall not be less than fifty cents nor more than two dollars and twenty-
five cents on the one hundred dollars of the assessed value of property
in such counties, subject to local taxation; and provided, further, that
nothing contained in this section shall repeal any part of any special
act enacted at the present session of the general assembly which applies
solely to Dickenson county, or to any special acts previously passed
and now in force.

Section 699. All taxes imposed for public school purposes, whether
by the State, or by, or for, any county, district or city, shall be assessed
at the same time and in the same manner as are State, county, dis-
trict and city taxes for ordinary purposes, and in any county or city
where such taxes have been levied by the board of supervisors of the
county, or city council, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the
revenue therein to extend such tax in the copies of the land and prop-
erty books which he returns to the treasurer of the county or city. It
shall be the duty of the tax commissioner to have the land and prop-
erty books so ruled as to provide for the proper assessing of local
school taxes, including those on property, et cetera, not assessed with
State taxes. (Code 752.)

Section 700. All funds for school purposes in the counties, both
State and local, shall be handled by the county treasurer and paid out
in the same manner as other county funds are handled and paid out
by him under the provisions of chapter one hundred and ten of the
Code of Virginia embracing sections twenty-seven hundred and sev-
enty-four and twenty-seven hundred and ninety-two thereof, and in
the handling of such school funds all the provisions of chapter one
hundred and ten of the Code of Virginia embracing sections twenty-
seven hundred and seventy-four and twenty-seven hundred and ninety-
two, both inclusive, shall apply to and govern the duties and habilities
of the treasurer. (Code 726; 727; 728; 729; 732; 733; 734; 735;
736 and 737.)

Section 701. All moneys appropriated by the State for local schools,
unless otherwise specifically provided, shall be used exclusively for
teachers’ salaries. (Code 747.)

Section 702. No treasurer shall receive any commission upon any
money loaned from the literary fund, or upon donations by individuals
or foundations, or upon funds from insurance on any school building
destroyed by fire, or from money derived from the sale of school prop-
erty or on funds derived from loans or bond issues. (Code 2431.)

‘Section 703. All sums of money derived from State funds for
school purposes, which are unexpended in any year in any county or
city shall go into the general school fund of the State for re-division
the next year, unless the State board of education direct otherwise.
All sums derived from county or city funds unexpended in any vear
shall remain a part of the county or city funds, respectively. for use
the next year, but no local funds shall be subject to re-division outside
of the county or city in which they were raised. (Code 730.)

Section 704. All glebe lands and church property, or the proceeds
thereof, which may be appropriated under section thirty-six of the
Code for education in any county or city, shall be vested in the school
board of the county, or the school board of such city, and shall be
managed and applied by the county board, or the city school board.
according to the wishes of the donor, under regulations prescribed by
the county board, or the city school board. The revenue or income
therefrom shall be applied, subject to the same penalties, and under
the same regulations as are prescribed in respect to that portion of the
literary fund which is allotted to such county or city. (Code 586.)

Section 705. The board of supervisors of the several counties and
the councils or other governing bodies of the several cities and towns
be, and they are hereby authorized to make appropriations out of the
county, or city, or town funds, as the case may be, to provide for the
health examination and physical education of school children and the
employment of school nurses, physicians and physical directors. and
such appropriations shall be placed to the credit of the county or city
school funds. Previous to employment, all said nurses, physicians, or
physical directors shall be approved by the health commissioner of the
Commonwealth and the State superintendent of public instruction.

An amount not exceeding one-half of the annual salary of each
physical director appointed in accordance with the provisions of this
section may be paid by the State board of education to the local school
authorities employing such physical director, and an amount not to
exceed one-half of the annual salary of each nurse or physician ap-
pointed in accordance with the provisions of this section may be pard
by the State board of health to the local school authorities employing
such nurse or physician.

All pupils, in all the public elementary and high schools of the
State shall receive as part of the educational program such examuna-
tion, health instruction, and physical training as shall be prescribed
by the State board of education and approved by the State hoard of
health, in conformity with the provisions hereof.

In order that the teachers of the Commonwealth shall be prepared
for health examinations and physical educatiore of school children
every teacher training institution of the State is hereby required to
give a course, to be approved by the superintendent cf public instruc-
tion and the State health commissioner, in health exminations and
physical education, including preventive medicine, physcal inspection,
health instruction and physical training, upon which codrse every per-
son graduating from such an institution must have 42ssed a satis-
factory examination.

No applicant may receive a certificate to teach in the schools of this
State who does not present, first, satisfactory evidence Of having cov-
ered creditably an approved course in general physical education in a
training school or course for teachers recognized by the State board of
education as a school or course in good standing. But the State
board of education may modify-or waive entirely the requirements of
this section whenever in its opinion such modification or waiver is
necessary to prevent the impairment of the teaching force of the pub-
lic school system.

The State board of education, with the approval of the State
board of health, shall appoint a supervisor of physical education, qualt-
fied and authorized to supervise and direct a program of hygiene in-
struction and physical education for the elementary, secondary, and
teacher training institutions of the State, and shall appoint such other
employees and authorize such expenses for personal service, printing,
and so on, as may be necessary to the proper and effective administra-
tion of the program authorized by this section. (Code 702a.)

Section 706. All money, or moneys, which shall have already been
paid, or which may hereafter be paid to the State of Virginia, under
an act of congress, approved May twenty-third, nineteen hundred and
eight, arising from the forest reserve, shall be paid to the State treas-
urer, to be distributed and disposed of as provided in this section.

The treasurer of each county, in which there is located any land
owned by the United States government and held as a forest reserve,
shall ascertain the area of said land so situated in his county, and the
reserve in which the same is located, and make a report thereof to the
comptroller. Upon receipt of such information from the treasurer,
the comptroller shall apportion all money or moneys undistributed
which have been paid, or which may hereafter be paid to the Common-
wealth, under an act of congress, approved May twenty-third, nine-
teen hundred and eight, and arising from the forest reserve, among
the counties in which the said forest reserve is located, according to
the area in each county, or if all of the funds received from one re-
servation lies in one county, it shall all be apportioned to that county,
and the comptroller shall draw his warrant on the State treasury in
favor of the treasurer of each county for the amount apportioned to
said county, and such treasurer shall receive the same and place the
funds to the credit of the public schools of his county. The comp-
troller shall keep separate accounts of all funds received by him under
the said act of congress. (Code 742 and 743.)

Section 707. The school board shall settle with the county treasurer
for the school funds as of June thirtieth of each year. (G. L. 635-11;
Code 750 and 752.)

Section 708. It shall be unlawful for any member of the State
board of education, division superintendent of schools, member of the
school board or any other school officer, principal or teacher in a
public school, except by permission of the State board of education
evidenced by resolution spread on the minutes of said board, to have
any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any contract for
building a public school house, or in furnishing material to a con-
tractor for building such school house, or in supplying books, maps.
school furniture or apparatus to the public schools of this State, or
act as agent for any other publisher, book seller, or dealer in any such
school furniture or apparatus, or directly or indirectly to receive any
gift, emolument, reward, or promise of reward, for his influence in
recommending, or procuring, the use of any book, map, school furni-
ture, or apparatus of any kind in any public school of this State. Any
such officer, principal or teacher who shall violate this provision, be-
sides being removed from his office or post shall be deemed guilty of
a misdemeanor. It shall also be unlawful for any firm or corporation,
in which any member of the board or other officer, principal or teacher,
mentioned in this section, is interested, or for any agent of such ofh-
cers or persons, except by permission of the State board of education
evidenced by resolution spread on the minutes of said board, to be
interested or concerned in any contract or matter mentioned in this
section. Any contract of sale made in violation of this section shall
be void, and if the claim or bill arising out of such a transaction be
paid, the amount paid, with interest, shall be recovered by action or
suit instituted by the Commonwealth’s attorney of the county, in the
circuit court of said county. But the prohibitions of this section shall
not apply to a merchant who, in the regular course of trade and with-
out employing agents to solicit such business, sells either books selected
and adopted by the State board of education, or supplies used in the
schools and by the pupils, nor shall they apply to the writing ot
standard or mutual insurance policies at the regular rate on any school
building, or other school property; provided, such mutual insurance
carries no assessment liability. (Code 682 and 683.)

Section 709. All school officers going out of office shall deliver to
their successors the records and all official papers belonging to the
office. In case of the refusal or failure of any officer to do so, on
demand by his successor, he shall forfeit not less than twenty-five nor
more than one hundred dollars thereof, and a like penalty for each
i during which he shall persist in withholding the same. (Code
685.

Section 710. Any division superintendent of schools, member of
the school board or other school officer, or any principal or teacher
in a public school who shall by malfeasance, misfeasance or non-
feasance, offend against the provisions of the school laws of this
State, if no other specific penalty be prescribed, shall be guilty of a
musdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than five nor more than
fifty dollars for each offense. (Code 686.)

Section 711. All penalties or forfeitures imposed by law upon a
division superintendent or a county treasurer, and all penalties im-
posed upon the members of the board, all other school officers or upon
principals and teachers shall be for the benefit of the literary fund.
Action or suit for such penalties shall be in the name of the Common-
wealth, and it shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth
to institute and conduct the same, upon the matter being brought to his
attention. It shall be the duty of every school officer or teacher having
knowledge of a violation of any law pertaining to the schools by any
other officer or agent to immediately bring it to the attention of the
attorney for the Commonwealth. In those cases, where a penalty has
been inflicted for any such offense by any of the school authorities
pursuant to law, the said party shall not again be subjected to penalty
therefor. (Code 687.)

Section 712. Whenever the word “board” is used in the Code, with
reference to county schools, it shall be construed to mean the. county
school board.

Section 713. Whenever the patrons and friends of any public
school shall raise by private subscription the sum of fifteen dollars or
more, and tender the same to the clerk of the county school board, or
the clerk of the city school board for the purpose of establishing a
school library connected with said school, the board in counties and
the school board in cities shall appropriate the sum of fifteen dollars
for this purpose, and the State board of education, out of any funds
provided for public school libraries, shall appropriate ten dollars, thus
making a minimum of forty dollars for a unit library. The said
library, or libraries, shall be purchased and properly cared for under
the rules and regulations adopted by the State board of education.
The treasurer shall not receive any commission for receiving and dis-
bursing funds for school libraries.

Section 714. It shall be unlawful for any county, district, municipal
or State officer to acquire by purchase at less than its face value, di-
rectly or indirectly, express or implied, any warrant or other evidence
of indebtedness issued by any board of supervisors, or any school
board or common council or board of aldermen of any county or city
in this Commonwealth issued for any school purpose whatsoever. Any
such officer violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall, ipso facto vacate
his office. (Code 684.)

Section 715. All of the statutes, with reference to county schools,
shall be applicable to cities, in Ike manner as to the counties of the
Commonwealth, except as otherwise expressly provided by law.

Section 716. The school board or any member thereof or the divi-
sion superintendent subject to the approval of the board, may provide
for, or permit, the use of school houses out of school hours during
the school term, or in vacation, for any legal assembly, or may permit
the same to be used as voting places in any primary, regular or special
election. The board shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to
protect school property when used for such purposes. (Code 677 and
G. L. 635-137.)

Section 717. Upon a petition of the majority of the patrons of any
school in this State, the school board in each county and citv shall
provide for such public schools, on buildings already erected, flags of
the Commonwealth of Virginia and of the United States of America,
of a size not less than four by six feet, together with a flagstaff or pole
for each of said flags, and the ropes, pulleys and other equipment
needed for flying said flags. The board shall provide flag poles, rags
and the necessary equipment, as hereinbefore mentioned. ‘The said
flag poles may be either attached to the building, or the flags may be
flown from poles, located within the school grounds. The poles, flags
and necessary equipment for flying the same shall be paid for, main-
tained and replaced out of the county school funds. It shall be the
duty of each teacher in a school employing one teacher only, or the
principal of each school employing more than one teacher, to see that
said flags shall be flown from said flagstaffs, or poles, during schoo:
hours of each day in the year, from the hour of opening until the hour
of closing the school under his or her charge, except upon such days
as injury to the flags would be likely to result from flying them, by
reason of inclement weather conditions. It shall also be the duty of
each teacher in every school to thoroughly instruct every pupil coming
under his charge as to the history of the flags and the objects for
which they stand. (Code 678 and 679.)

Section 718. The State board of education shall not refuse to ac-
credit any school in this State, or any diploma.or certificate issued by
such school, for the sole reason that such school is not being conducted
in a building meeting the requirements of the State board of educa-
tion. (Ch. 529; acts 1926.)

2. Be it further enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
sections five hundred and eighty-six, five hundred and ninety-four and
five hundred and ninety-five of the Code of Virginia, and section six
hundred and eleven to section seven hundred and seventy-three of the
Code of Virginia, both inclusive, and any and all acts amendatorv ot
such sections, all of which Code sections relate to the public schools,
or matters pertaining thereto, be and the same are, hereby repealed:
and be it further enacted by the general assembly of Virginia. that
chapter four hundred and twelve of the acts of nineteen hundred and
eighteen and chapter three hundred and eighty-one of the acts ot
nineteen hundred and twenty-two, both of which relate to the com-
pulsory attendance of children between certain ages upon the public
schools; chapter two hundred and thirty-three of the acts of nineteen
hundred and eighteen and chapter three hundred and twenty-seven of
the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty, both of which relate to public
health nursing and medical and health inspection of school children:
chapter thirty-two of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighteen, re-
lating to the exemption of school and college pupils, and vehicles in
which they are traveling, from the payment of tolls on toll roads:
chapter two hundred and ninety-five of the acts of nineteen hundred
and eighteen, permitting the teaching of high school subjects in pri-
mary schools in certain cases: chapter three hundred and seventy-one
of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighteen, providing for deposi!
and disbursement of donations for public free school purposes; chap-
ter three hundred and fifty-two of the acts of nineteen hundred anc
eighteen, authorizing district or city school boards to borrow money or
short time loans; chapter three hundred and ninety-eight of the acts
of nineteen hundred and twenty, relating to local school taxes, except
so much thereof as repeals sections seven hundred and forty and
twenty-seven hundred and twenty-one of the the Code of nineteen
hundred and nineteen, and all amendments to such act which are found
in chapter twenty-nine of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-
three and chapter one hundred and seventy-five of the acts of nine-
teen hundred and twenty-four; chapter one hundred and six of the
acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-four, amending chapter three
hundred and ninety-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty,
by adding thereto section one-a relating to local school taxes in Lee
county; chapter one hundred and forty-three of the acts of nineteen
hundred and twenty-two, relating to contracts for text-books adopted
for use in the public schools of the State; chapter four hundred
and twenty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-two,
creating county school boards, providing for their powers and duties,
abolishing district boards, et cetera; chapter forty-six of the acts of
nineteen hundred and twenty-six, relating to the borrowing of money
by school boards, authorizing short time loans, prohibiting certain
other loans and prohibiting school boards from expending, or contract-
ing to expend in any fiscal year, any sum of money in excess of the
funds available for that year unless approved by the boards of super-
visors or the councils, et cetera; chapter four hundred and _ ninety-
three of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-six, relating to school
taxes; chapter five hundred and twenty-nine of the acts of nineteen
hundred and twenty-six, prohibiting the State board of education from
refusing to accredit any school, or any diploma or certificate issued by
such school, for the sole reason that such school is not being conducted
in a building meeting the requirements of said board; chapter five
hundred and sixty-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-
six, relating to contracts for text-books adopted for use in the public
schools of the Commonwealth; chapter sixty-two of the acts of nine-
teen hundred and twenty-six, amending chapter three hundred and
ninety-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty in relation to
local school levies, and relating especially to school taxes in Lee county;
chapter one hundred and eighty-nine of the acts of nineteen hundred
and twenty-six, authorizing the issuance of bonds by county school
boards for the purpose of refunding school bonds issued on behalf of
the school districts; chapter one hundred and forty-eight of the acts
pf nineteen hundred and twenty-two, providing for the establishment
of recreation centers and for the teaching of home crafts; sections
fifteen hundred and twenty-nine and fifteen hundred and thirty, and
sections seven hundred and ninety-eight and eight hundred and forty-
nine of the Code of Virginia, and all Code sections, acts and parts of
acts which are, or may be, in conflict with the provisions of the sta-
tutes embraced in the contents of this bill, be, and the same, are hereby
repealed.