Chap. 313.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 656 of the Code of Virginia,
relating to the duties and powers of county school boards. [H B 262]

Approved March 25, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
six hundred and fifty-six of the Code of Virginia be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 656. The school board shall have authority, and it shall be
the duty of the school board, to secure, by visitation or otherwise, as
full information as possible about the conduct of the schools; to take
care that they are conducted according to law and with the utmost
efficiency; to provide for the payment of teachers and other officers
on the first of each month, or as soon as thereafter as possible; to
provide, with the approval of the board of supervisors, for the erecting,
furnishing, and equipping of necessary school buildings and appurten-
ances and the maintenance thereof; to provide such text-books as
may be necessary for indigent children attending public schools; in
general, to incur such costs and expenses, but only such costs and
expenses, as are provided for in its budget; to provide for the con-
solidation of schools and for the transportation of pupils whenever
such procedure will contribute to the efficiency of the school system;
to receive and audit all claims arising from commitments made pur-
suant to the provisions of this section and, by resolution or recorded
vote, to approve and issue warrants on the county treasurer in settle-
ment of those of such claims that are found to be valid. Every warrant
issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall bear the date
on which the school board orders it to be issued and shall be made
payable on demand, signed by the chairman or acting chairman of the
school board, countersigned by the clerk or acting clerk of the school
board, and recorded in the form and manner prescribed by the auditor
of public accounts and the State board of education. The acts pro-
hibited by section twenty-seven hundred and twenty-four-a of the
Code of Virginia with respect to the ordering of the issuance of war-
rants by a board of supervisors and the signing and countersigning of
such warrants by the clerk, deputy clerk, chairman, and acting chair-
man of such board shall apply to the ordering of the issuance of
warrants by a county school board and to the signing and counter-
_ signing thereof by the chairman, acting chairman, clerk and acting clerk
of such board, and any clerk, acting clerk, or member of any county
school board who violates or becomes a party to the violation of this
provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition thereto
shall be guilty of malfeasance in office.