Chap. 310.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 655 and 656, as amended, of
the Code of Virginia, relating to school boards. {S 256]

Approved March 17, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections six hundred fifty-five and six hundred fifty-
six as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted
as follows:

Section 655. Meetings of school boards; selection of chairman
and clerk; tie vote——The school board shall meet annually in July
at which time the board shall fix the time for holding regular
meetings for the ensuing year, and may adjourn from day to day,
or time to time, before the time fixed for the next regular meeting,
until the business before it is completed. It may also hold special
meetings when necessary, at such time and places as they may find
convenient, and shall have power to adjourn from time to time, as
they may deem necessary; and at any meeting a majority of the
school board shall constitute a quorum.

Special meetings of the school board shall be held when called
by the chairman or requested by two or more members thereof.
Each school board shall fix its own procedure for calling and hold-
ing of any special meeting. Complete and accurate minutes of all
meetings shall be kept and signed by the chairman and clerk.

The business relating to school matters shall be transacted by
the school board at its meetings held as provided by law. At the first
annual meeting of the school board of any county, city or town, as
hereinafter provided for, it shall elect one of its members chairman
and on recommendation of the division’ superintendent, elect or
appoint a competent person as clerk of the school board, and shall
fix his compensation. The chairman and clerk shall be selected
annually. The board may in its discretion also select a vice chairman
and a deputy clerk, who shall be empowered to act in all matters
in case of the. absence or inability to act of the chairman or clerks,
respectively or otherwise as provided by resolution of the board.
The division superintendent shall be present at all meetings of the
school board, except on affirmative vote of a majority of the mem-
bers of the board, his attendance may be dispensed with at a special
meeting of the board, except when matters pertaining to the divi-
sion superintendent personally are under discussion, at which time
he shall remain subject to the call of the board. In any case in
which there shall be a tie vote of the board upon any question,
or if such tie vote occur at a meeting when all the members are
not present, the proceedings thereon shall be in conformity with
the proceedings prescribed by section twenty-seven hundred and
seventeen in case of a tie vote of the board of supervisors, and the
commissioner in chancery appointed under the provisions of section
twenty-seven hundred and eighteen to cast the deciding vote in
case of a tie vote of the board of supervisors, shall be deemed to
have been also appointed for the purpose of casting the deciding
vote in case of a tie vote of the school board, and shall be called
in by the school board for that purpose.

Nothing in this section shall apply to the election of the division
superintendent of schools of any division in said county or counties,
city or town.

Section 656. The school board shall have authority, and it
shall be its duty to secure, by visitation or otherwise, as full infor-
mation as possible about the conduct of the schools; to take care
that they are conducted according to law and with the utmost
efficiency ; to provide for the payment of teachers and other officers
on the first of each month, or as soon thereafter as possible; to
provide for the erecting, furnishing, and equipping of necessary
school buildings and appurtenances and the maintenance thereof ; to
provide for all public schools an adequate and safe supply of
drinking water and see that the same is periodically tested and
approved by or under the direction of the State Board of Health,
either on the premises or from specimens sent to said board; to
provide such textbooks as may be necessary for indigent children
attending public schools; in general, to incur costs and expenses,
but only the costs and expenses of such items as are provided for
in its budget without the consent of the tax levying body ; to provide
for the consolidation 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 pursuant to the provisions of this section and,
by resolution or recorded vote, to approve and issue warrants on
the county treasurer in settlement of those of such claims that are
found to be valid. The school board may provide, by resolution, for
a petty cash fund of not exceeding two hundred dollars, from which
the clerk of the board may pay all claims, not exceeding fifty dol-
lars each, arising from commitments made pursuant to the provi-
sions of this section; if such fund be so created the clerk shall pay
therefrom, without necessity or prior receipt and audit of the
claims by, or approval and issuance of the warrant of the board
on the county treasurer, all such claims; the clerk, at the meeting
of the board in the month following the month in which he has
paid any such claim, shall report his action to the board for approval
and reimbursement. Every warrant issued pursuant to the provi-
sions 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 vice chairman of the school board, counter-
signed by the clerk or deputy clerk of the school board, and re-
corded in the form and manner prescribed by the State Board of
Education, and the warrant may be converted to a negotiable
check by the treasurer, or appropriately designated deputy treasur-
er, by affixing his signature thereto in conformity with the provi-
sions of section three hundred fifty of the Tax Code of Virginia,
and by designating thereon the bank by which it is to be paid. The
acts prohibited by section twenty-seven hundred twenty-four-a of
the Code of Virginia with respect to the ordering of the issuance of
warrants by a board of supervisors and the signing and counter-
signing of such warrants by the clerk, deputy clerk, chairman, and
vice chairman of such board shall apply to the ordering of the
issuance of warrants by a county school board and to the
signing and countersigning thereof by the chairman, vice chair-
man, clerk, and deputy clerk of such board, and any clerk,
deputy clerk, or member of any county school board who violates
or becomes a party to the violations of this provision shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor, and in addition thereto shall be guilty of mal-
feasance in office.

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

The clerk of the school board shall be bonded in an amount
not less than five thousand dollars; and the deputy clerk, before
performing any of the duties herein authorized shall be bonded in
like amount.

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

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

The school board shall perform such other duties as shall be
prescribed by the State Board of Education or imposed by law.