Quorum.

Duties of treasurer.

holding special meetings. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum and it shall keep a proper record of all of its proceedings.

SEC. 22. The duties of the treasurer of such board shall be to keep the funds of said district, to keep proper books of account thereof, to keep an interest account of the interest received from all school funds belonging to the district and credit all interest received thereon to said funds, to pay out the funds belonging to the school district for the purposes specified by law, or in the case of gifts or donations for the purposes for which said money is given or donated, on a proper order signed by the secretary and countersigned by the president of the said board, and such other duties as the Of secretary. said board may in its by-laws prescribe. The said board may prescribe the duties of the secretary, and provide for the salary to be paid the secretary and treasurer thereof and may require proper bonds from such officers. No member of such board of education or officer thereof except the secretary and treasurer shall receive any compensation for any service rendered the district and no member of such board of education or any officer thereof shall be pecuniarily interested in any way, directly or indirectly, in any contract with or for the schools of his district. No member of any such board shall be eligible to appointment to any position carrying with it compensation from the school funds for the space of at least one year following his retirement therefrom.

Powers and duties of board.

Sites, buildings, etc.

Condemnation of property.

SEC. 23. The board of education of any school district of the third class hereunder shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To locate, acquire, purchase or lease in the name of the district such site or sites for school houses, libraries, agricultural farms, athletic fields and play grounds as may be necessary, to purchase, lease, acquire, erect or build such building for school or library or for use in connection with agricultural farms, athletic fields and play grounds, as may be necessary, to pay for the same out of the funds of the district provided for that purpose, to sell any real or personal property of the district which is no longer required thereby for school purposes and to give proper deeds, bills of sale or other instruments passing title to the same;

(b) To institute and maintain proceedings in the proper court for the condemnation of private property for public use for all purposes for which said board is authorized by law to acquire and hold property, when said board shall have first declared the taking necessary for such use and that the same is for the use and benefit of the public. When the board shall have made such declaration such condemnation proceedings shall be instituted and conducted in the court specified and in the manner provided by the general laws of the State relating to the condemnation of private property for public use;

partments,

(c) To establish and carry on such grades, schools and Grades, dedepartments or courses of study as it shall deem necessary etc. or desirable for the maintenance and improvement of public education;

schools.

(d) To establish, equip and maintain agricultural, trade Vocational and other vocational schools and, if deemed necessary by such board, to acquire land outside the limits of the said school district therefor, and to have general control thereover for school purposes;

money.

(e) To borrow for temporary school purposes such sum Borrow or sums of money and on such terms as it may deem desirable and to give notes of the district therefor: Provided, Proviso. That no such loan shall be made for any sum which together with the total amount of any outstanding loan or loans for such purposes shall exceed the sum of ten dollars per capita of the school population of the district;

(f) To borrow such sum or sums of money as it may Idem. deem necessary to purchase sites for buildings, play grounds, athletic fields or agricultural farms and to purchase or erect and equip any building or buildings which it is authorized to purchase and erect, or to make any permanent improvement which it is authorized to make, and to accomplish this by the issue and sale of bonds of such school district in such form or on such terms as the board may deem advisable, or by any other reasonable means: Provided, That no loan shall be made and no bonds shall Proviso. be issued for a longer term than twenty years nor for any sum which together with the total outstanding indebtedness of the district shall exceed two per cent on the assessed valuation of the taxable property within such district unless the proposition of making such loan or of issuing bonds shall have been submitted first to a vote of the school electors of the district at a general or special school election and approved by a majority of the electors actually voting on the same, in which event loans may be made or bonds may be issued for the purposes herein before set forth in an amount which together with the total outstanding indebtedness of the district shall not exceed five per cent on the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the district;

.

custody of

(g) To have the care and custody of all school property Care and and to provide suitable school privileges, sanitary conditions, property. and medical inspection for the schools of the district;

(h) To fix the length of time school shall be kept in Term time. all of the schools of the district and to keep the said schools open and free to all persons over five years of age, residents of the district;

museum.

(i) To establish and maintain or continue a library or Library or art museum for the public schools of the district, if it shall deem it advisable to do so, and to provide for its care and management. For this purpose said board of education may appoint librarians and hire other employes for such library

Library

commissioners.

Census.

Annual report.

Civil service.

Superintend

ent.

Business manager. Annual estimate.

Proviso, limit.

or

museum and fix their salaries, may purchase such books and apparatus as may be necessary, and may include in the general budget for the purpose of the schools such sums as may be necessary for buildings for, and for the maintenance and support of, any library or art museum established, and such board of education may appoint a board of library commissioners of not to exceed seven persons. Such library board shall have control and direction of the public library or libraries in such district subject to the approval of the board of education therein, and shall keep a correct record of its proceedings. All moneys for any such libraries including the fines devoted by law to the maintenance of district or school libraries in such district, which when collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the board of education therein, shall be kept by said treasurer and paid out by him on the order of the board of library commissioners approved by the secretary of the board of education;

(j) To provide for the taking of a school census as required by law;

(k) To make an annual report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction at such time and in such form as he may prescribe;

(1) To adopt if it shall deem it advisable, civil service rules for the appointment of teachers who have satisfactorily served a probationary period of not less than three years in the schools of said district;

(m) To contract with, appoint and employ a suitable person, not a member of said board, who shall be a college graduate or have educational qualifications equivalent thereto, as superintendent of the public schools under the control of the board, who shall hold his office for a term fixed by the board and not to exceed five years, and shall have the same powers and duties as the superintendent of a graded school district under the laws of this State;

(n) To appoint, in its discretion, a business manager for the school district and fix his term of office;

(0) To make an estimate annually on a day to be deter mined by the board of the amount of taxes deemed necessary for the ensuing year for the purpose of expenditure within the power of the board, which estimate shall specify the amounts required for the different objects, and to report the same as the regular school tax levy for such district to the proper assessing officer or officers, who shall apportion the school taxes in the district in the same manner as the other taxes of the city, village or township are apportioned, and the amount so apportioned shall be assessed, levied, collected and returned for each portion of the district in the same manner as the taxes of the city, village or township including such portion of the district: Provided, That no greater sum than twelve mills on the dollar shall be levied in any one year for all pur

poses within the power of the board; and provided in all school districts hereunder in cities having a board of estimates the amount shall be approved by such board of estimates before levy shall be made;

(p) To certify to the treasurer of the district for pay- Claims. ment out of the school funds thereof all claims and demands against the board or district, which shall be allowed by the board under such rules and regulations as it may establish;

(q) To print and publish immediately after each meeting Reports. in such manner as the board shall decide all proceedings of the board at such meeting and to make and publish annually, at the end of the fiscal year, in some daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation in said district, either separately or in connection with the report or reports of the city, village or township in which the said district or the greater part thereof is situated, a complete report of all its receipts and expenditures;

(r) And in general to do anything not inconsistent with this act which is necessary for the proper establishment, maintenance, management and carrying on of the public schools of such district.

SEC. 24. In all matters pertaining to the public schools not provided for in this act the general school laws of the State shall govern and be in effect.

school laws,

SEC. 25. From and after the time when this act shall go General into effect according to its terms all acts or parts of acts when to whether local, special or general, in any wise contravening apply. any of the provisions of this act shall be repealed.

mitted.

SEC. 26. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not take Referendum. effect in any school district having a population which brings it within the classification provided for by this act until approved by a majority of the school electors of such district voting thereon at an election at which the question of the adoption of this act for that district is properly submitted. At some regular annual school election When subwithin three calendar years after the passage of this act, in each school district having a population of five hundred or more and less than seventy-five thousand, ascertained in the manner herein before provided, the question of the adoption of this act for said district shall be submitted by the proper officers to the school electors of said district. In each district which shall thereafter attain a population of five hundred or more and less than seventy-five thousand ascertained in the same manner, the question of the adoption of this act for such district shall be submitted to the school electors thereof at the annual school election following the attainment of such a population, ascertained as hereinbefore provided. In any district having the population Resubmis described the question of the adoption of this act for such district shall be resubmitted to the school electors thereof at the next annual election whenever a petition asking for

sion.

Form of ballot.

How furnished.

How canvassed, etc.

Laws continued in force.

Until new board elected.

such resubmission at the next annual election of the district, signed by at least fifteen per cent of the school electors thereof, shall be filed with the election commissioners of the district at least thirty days before such meeting or election. The vote upon the question shall be by ballot which shall be in substantially the following form:

"Vote on proposition to adopt the act classifying school districts having a population of five hundred or more and less than seventy-five thousand, as districts of the third and fourthi classes, and providing for the government, control and administration of such school districts and the schools therein. "Make a cross in the appropriate square below.

"Shall the act classifying school districts having a population of five hundred or more and less than seventy-five thousand as districts of the third and fourth classes, and providing for the government, control and administration of such school districts and the schools therein be adopted. "Yes [1.

"No [ ]."

Such ballots shall be furnished by the board of education of any district in which the vote is taken, and shall be deposited in a ballot box provided for that purpose in each voting precinct of the district. Such ballots shall be cast, and canvassed and the results of the election certified in each school district in the same manner as are ballots on any school question submitted to the school electors of such district. If the majority of the qualified school electors of any district vote in favor of the adoption of this act, then the provisions hereof shall be in full force and effect in such district and not otherwise.

SEC. 27. The laws governing the public schools in any district having the population provided for herein in force therein at the time of the adoption of this act by the electors of such district shall continue in force and the board of education of said district as provided for in such laws shall continue to act as the board of education therefor, until a new board shall be elected and organized as herein provided, after which time the board of education as heretofore constituted in such district shall turn over to the new board of education, elected under this act, all the property, books, records, material, money and effects belonging to such school district, and thereafter the board provided for by this act and its successors shall be responsible therefor.

Approved May 2, 1917.