CHAPTER 221

AN ACT to provide for the submission of proposed amend-
ments to § 188 of the Constitution of Virginia to the qualt-
fied voters for ratification or rejection, and to prescribe
when and how such referendum shall be had, and the man-
ner in which the results thereof shall be ascertained and
certified, the returns canvassed, and the vote thereon pro-
claimed by the Governor.

[ H 310]

Approved March 15, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. It shall be the duty of the officers conducting the election
directed by law to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday
in November, nineteen hundred fifty, at the places appointed
for holding the same, to open a poll and take the sense of the
qualified voters upon the ratification or rejection of the pro-
posed amendment to the Constitution of Virginia, contained in
the joint resolution proposing the amendment to the Constitu-
tion of Virginia, and directing a submission of the proposed
amendment to the people for their approval and ratification,
to wit:

Strike from the Constitution of Virginia section one hundred
thirty-three, which is as follows:

§ 133. School districts; school trustees.—The supervision
of schools in each county and city shall be vested in a school
board, to be composed of trustees to be selected in the manner,
for the term and to the number provided by law. Each magis-
terial district shall constitute a separate school district, unless
otherwise provided by law, and the magisterial district shall be
the basis of representation on the school board of such county
or city, unless some other basis is provided by the General
Assembly; provided, however, that in cities of one hundred and
fifty thousand or over, the school boards of respective cities shall
have power, subject to the approval of the local legislative bodies
of said cities, to prescribe the number and boundaries of the
school districts.

There shall be appointed by the school board or boards of
each school division, one division superintendent of schools, who
shall be selected from a list of eligibles certified by the State
Board of Education and shall hold office for four years: In the
event that the local board or boards fail to elect a division super-
intendent within the time prescribed by law, the State Board
of Education shall appoint such division superintendent.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

§ 1838. School districts; school trustees.—The supervision
of schools in each county and city shall be vested in a school
board, to be composed of trustees to be selected in the manner, for
the term and to the number provided by law. Each magisterial
district shall constitute a separate school district, unless other-
wise provided by law, and the magisterial district shall be the
basis of representation on the school board of such county or
city, unless some other basis is provided by the General Assem-
bly; provided, however, that in cities of one hundred and fifty
thousand or over, the school boards of respective cities shall have
power, subject to the approval of the local legislative bodies of
said cities, to prescribe the number and boundaries of the school
districts.

The General Assembly may provide for the consolidation,
into one school division, of one or more counties or cities with
one or more counties or cities. The supervision of schools in any
such school division may be vested in a single school board, to
be composed of trustees to be selected in the manner, for the
term and to the number provided by law. Upon the formation of
any such school board for any such school division, the school
boards of the counties or cities in the school division shall cease
to exist.

There shall be appointed by the school board or boards of
each school division, one division superintendent of schools, who
shall be selected from a list of eligibles certified by the State
Board of Education and shall hold office for four years. In the
event that the local board or boards fail to elect a division super-
intendent within the time prescribed by law, the State Board of
Education shall appoint such division superintendent.

SCHEDULE

At such election a ballot shall be furnished each voter which
shall have printed thereon the following:

Question: Shall section one hundred thirty-three of the Con-
stitution of Virginia be amended so as to authorize the General
Assembly to provide for the consolidation, into one school divi-
sion, of one or more counties or cities with one or more counties
or cities, and the supervision of schools in any such division ?

([] For

(] Against

The ballot shall be prepared, distributed and voted, and the
result thereof ascertained and certified, in the manner prescribed
by § 24-141 of the Code of Virginia. It shall be the duty of the
clerks and commissioners of election of each county and city,
respectively, to make out, certify and forward an abstract of the
votes cast for and against said proposed amendment in the man-
ner now prescribed by law in relation to votes cast in general
elections.

It shall be the duty of the State Board of Elections to open
and canvass the said abstracts of returns, and to examine and
make statement of the whole number of votes given at said
election for said proposed amendment and against the proposed
amendment, respectively, in the manner now prescribed by law
in relation to votes cast in general] elections; and it shall be the
duty of the State Board of Elections to record the certified state-
ment in its office, and without delay to make out and transmit to
the Governor of the Commonwealth an official copy of the state-
ment, certified by it.

The Governor shall, without delay, make proclamation of the
result, stating therein the aggregate vote for and against the
amendment, to be published in such newspapers in the State as
may be deemed requisite for general information; and if a ma-
jority of the votes be cast for the ratification of the amendment,
he shall annex to his proclamation a copy thereof. The State
Board of Elections shall cause to be sent to the clerks of each
county and corporation, at least thirty days before the election,
as many copies of this act as there are places of voting therein;
and it shall be the duty of such clerks to forthwith deliver the
same to the sheriffs of their respective counties and cities for
distribution. Each such sheriff shall forthwith post a copy of
such act at some public place in each election district at or near
the usual voting place in the district.

The expenses incurred in conducting this election shall be
defrayed as in the case of the election of members of the General
Assembly.