ship treasurer, the township trustees shall consider and take action. the same as if petitioned therefor by a majority of the legal voters of such district: Provided, that no question of change of boundaries shall be submitted to a vote of the school district more than once in any one year. (As amended by act approved June 18, 1891.)

1. Prior to the act approved June 18, 1891, the trustees of schools were not authorized to change the boundaries of districts existing by virtue of special charters. Schaefer v. The People, 20A-605.

§ 50. No petition shall be acted upon by the board of trustees unless such petition shall have been filed with the clerk of the said board of trustees at least twenty days before the regular meeting in April, nor unless a copy of the petition, together with a notice in writing, signed by one or more of the petitioners, shall be delivered. by the petitioners, or some one of them, at least ten days before the date at which the petition is to be considered, to the president or clerk of the board of directors of each district whose boundaries will be changed if the petition is granted. Which notice may be in the following form, to-wit:

The directors in district No......in township No......range No......of the .... principal meridian, will take notice that the undersigned and others have made and filed with the board of trustees of said township their petition, a copy of which is herewith handed to you.

Signed...

1. These are essential and substantial requirements. It is thoroughly settled, by numerous adjudications in this State, that in a proceeding by certiorari to review the action of an inferior tribunal of limited jurisdiction, the reviewing court is limited to inspection of the record of the inferior tribunal, and that the record must affirmatively show jurisdiction. Board of Education v. Trustees of Schools, 74A-401.

2. A petition may be amended in certain cases. Where the official action which is the subject of a proposed amendment has in fact been had, but by reason of some accident or oversight, or for some other cause, has been omitted by the clerk from the record of the proceedings of the board, both reason and authorities show that it is competent to amend the record to correspond with the facts, and that when such amendment is made, the record, as amended, unless impeached, is conclusive. Ibid.

3. Where it appears from the return that a petition was filed with the clerk of the board of trustees within the time prescribed by section 50, article 3 of the school law, and that notice in writing was served on the boards of directors of the districts from which the territory of the new district was to be taken, it is held that the board of trustees acquired jurisdiction, and having jurisdiction, an order establishing a new district is valid, whether the evidence upon which the board predicated its judgment was incorporated in the record or not. Parr v. Miller, 146–596.

§ 51. At the said April meeting, by the concurrent action of the several boards of trustees of the townships in which the district or districts affected lie, each board being petitioned as provided for in section 48 of this article, the same changes may be made in the boundaries both of districts which lie in separate townships, but adjacent to each other, and of districts formed of parts of two or more townships, as are permitted to be made in districts which lie wholly in one township.

1. There is no authority given to call or organize a joint meeting of the trustees of schools of several townships, or the transaction of business by such a body. Rayfield v. The People, 144-332.

2. The boards of trustees of two or more townships, when acting concurrently, may, under section 51, article 3, when duly petitioned, make changes in districts lying adjacent to each other but in separate townships, or in single districts formed of parts of two or more townships, the same as may be done by the trustees in the case of districts lying wholly in one township. People v. Keechler, 194-235; Webb v. The People, 11A-358.

3. The word adjacent used in section 51, means, that the districts, the territory of which may be taken, should be so united or joined together as to form a compact district. Ibid.

4. Where part of the boards of trustees affected by the proposed formation of a new school district refuse to grant the prayer of the petition, the petition is defeated unless their decisions are reversed on appeal, and to that end appeals must be taken from the adverse decision of each board and must be taken to the same tribunal. Mason v. The People, 185-302.

5. The tribunal to which is taken an appeal from the decisions of school boards refusing to grant the prayer of a petition to form a new school district should give notice to the boards whose decisions are appealed from, and has no jurisdiction to grant the prayer of the petition unless the adverse decisions of all the boards are before it on appeal. Ibid.

6. In order that the formation of a new school district from parts of others shall be legal, it must be alleged in the petition and be found as a fact that at least two-thirds of the legal voters living within the territory to be made into a new district signed the petition and that said territory contained at least ten families. Ibid.

7. When it is desired to form a new district out of territory lying in several different townships, the formation of such district must be petitioned for by two-thirds of all the legal voters living within such territory containing not less than ten families. The territory proposed to be erected into a new district must contain not less than ten families, and the petition presented to the board of trustees of any one of the townships interested must allege that the proposed territory contains not less than ten families. Carrico v. The People, 123-198.

§ 52. When, at the regular meeting of the trustees in April, any petition shall come before the trustees, asking for any change in boundaries, it shall be the duty of the trustees to ascertain if the foregoing provisions have been strictly complied with; and if it shall appear that they, or either of them, have not been complied with, then, in such case, the board shall adjourn for not longer than four weeks, in order that the foregoing provisions may be complied with; but there shall be but one adjournment for such purpose.

1. Every petition of this nature, seeking to effect a division of a long established school district, should make a case within the express provisions of the statute, before the trustees can be required to act. School Trustees v. The People, 71-559.

2. It is not necessary that the boundaries of the districts as they exist be set out in the petition. The form and boundaries of the several school districts are known to the trustees in fact, as they are presumed in law, to be known to the public in general. The inquiry which the trustees are to make must, to a great extent, be of a summary nature and might be wholly met and answered by facts within their own personal knowledge. Trustees of Schools v. The People, 25A-25.

3. Formal statutory documents, prepared without a form for guidance, by persons unskilled in technical composition, are seldom found to be models of neatness and accuracy. In the construction of petitions, if a legitimate

object and sense can be reasonably ascertained from what is expressed, the court will supply its appropriate expression. Scott v. Trustees of Schools, 71A-95.

4. The trustees can act only in pursuance of law. They cannot be compelled to act unless the law is complied with in every substantial particular; nor are they permitted to act, until it is so complied with. They have no power to waive anything that is necessary to compel their action. They may not, as a matter of grace or favor, take territory from one district and add it to another. They may do this only in the cases provided by law, and whatever is essential to be done, before they are bound to act, they must require before they do act. They must know that the petition conforms to the law before they proceed. Potter v. Board of Trustees, 10A-343.

5. Trustees of schools have no power except those conferred by the statute, nor can they exercise the powers conferred upon them in any other mode than that prescribed by the statute. They cannot be compelled to act, and will not be permitted to act, until the law is complied with. The territory proposed to be erected into a new district must contain not less than ten families, and the petition presented to the board of trustees of any one of the townships interested must allege, that the territory contains not less than ten families. If such allegation is absent from the petition, the board of trustees, to which it is presented have no power to act in the formation of the new district. Carrico v. The People, 123-198.

6. A plea stated that two-thirds of the legal voters living in a certain territory, which contained not less than ten families, filed petitions with the trustees. This was not sufficient to make it a good plea. It should have alleged, that the petitions, filed with the several boards of trustees, set forth the fact that the territory to be formed into a union district contains not less than ten families. A petition setting forth that the proposed territory contained not less than ten families, was necessary in order to give each board the power to act in the matter of forming a new district. The presentation of a petition making the allegation in question was a jurisdictional fact, and, without it, all proceedings of the board were void. lbid.

§ 53. If, on the day of the regular meeting, or, in case of adjournment, at the adjourned meeting, it shall appear that such provisions have been complied with, then the trustees shall consider the petition, and shall also hear any legal voters living in the district or districts. that will be affected by the change if made, who may appear before them to oppose the petition, and they shall grant or refuse the prayer of the petitioners without unreasonable delay. After the trustees shall consider the petition, no objection shall be thereafter raised as to its form, and their action shall be prima facie evidence that all the former requirements have been complied with.

§ 54. The petitioners, or the legal voters who have appeared before the trustees at the meeting when the petition was considered, and opposed the same, shall have the right of appeal to the county superintendent of schools; Provided, that the party appealing files with the clerk of the trustees a written notice of appeal within ten days after the final action upon the petition by the trustees, which notice may be in the following form, to-wit:

To the trustees of schools township No......., range No.......of........ county, Illinois: You are hereby notified that the undersigned will appeal from your decision, made on the... ...day of..... A. D.... granting (or refusing) the prayer of the petition in regard to (here give substance of the petition concerned) to the county superintendent of schools of... county, Illinois, as provided by law.

Signed.....

......

8 55. When an appeal is taken from the action of the trustees to the county superintendent, the clerk of the trustees shall, within five days after the written notice of the appeal has been filed with him by the appellants, transmit all the papers in the case, with a transcript of the records of the trustees, showing their action thereon to the county superintendent, and, in case of an appeal, the township treasurer shall be required to take no further action in the matter, except upon the order of the county superintendent, whose duty it shall be to investigate the case upon such appeal; and if, in his opinion, the change asked is for the best interests of the district or districts concerned, he shall make such change or changes; but if he considers the proposed change unadvisable, he shall refuse to make it, and shall reverse, if need be, the action of the trustees, and shall give the clerk, from whom he received the papers, immediate notice of his decision; and his action shall be final and binding, If the changes asked for by the petitioners shall be make by the county superintendent, he shall notify, in writing, the clerk by whom the papers in the case were transmitted to him, of his action, and the clerk shall thereupon make a record of the same, and shall, within ten days thereafter, make a copy of the same, and a map of the township, showing the districts, and an accurate list of the tax-payers of the newly arranged districts, and deliver them to the county clerk for filing and record by him, the same as if the changes had been ordered by the trustees.

1. Prior to the revision of 1889 the county superintendent had no power to act except in cases where the trustees refused to grant the prayer of the petitioners. He had no power to reverse the action of the trustees where the prayer of the petitioners had been granted. Badger v. Knapp, 7A-222.

2. Proceedings of an inferior tribunal cannot be brought before the circuit court for review upon writ of certiorari, where the right of the review of the proceedings upon appeal exists, and if a writ be improvidently issued in such case, it should be dismissed. Trustees of Schools v. Shepherd, 139-114.

3. Where part of the school boards of districts affected by the proposed formation of a new school district refuse to grant the prayer of the petition, the petition is defeated unless the decisions are reversed on appeal, and to that end appeals must be taken from the adverse decision of each board and must be taken to the same tribunal. Mason v. The People, 185-302.

4. The tribunal to which is taken an appeal from the decisions of school boards refusing to grant the prayer of a petition to form a new school district should give notice to the boards whose decisions are appealed from, and has no jurisdiction to grant the prayer of the petition unless the adverse decisions of all the boards are before it on appeal. Ibid.

5. It is the duty of the county superintendent, on the hearing of appeals, to investigate and determine whether the proposed change will be for the best interest of the districts affected, and the statute provides that his action shall be final and binding. He is vested with discretion to determine what is best for the people and the cause of education. The rule is well established that when public officers are so invested with discretionary powers, a court of equity will not interfere to control or review the exercise of the power unless fraud, corruption, oppression or gross injustice is plainly shown. Trustees of Schools v. School Directors, 190–390.

§ 56. In all cases where the territory affected by a proposed change of district boundaries is divided by a county line or lines, the appeal may be taken to the county superintendent of schools of

any one of the counties in which said territory is partly located; and upon any appeal being taken in any such case, the county superintendent of schools, to whom such appeal is taken, shall forthwith give notice to the county superintendent or superintendents of schools of the other county or counties, of the pendency of such appeal, and of the time and place when and where it shall be heard; and the county superintendents of schools of the counties in which the said territory is located, shall meet together at such time and place, and together hear and determine said appeal. In case the said county superintendents shall be unable to arrive at an agreement, then the county judge of the county where such appeal is pending shall be called, and shall constitute one of the boards of appeal, and thereupon the appeal shall be heard and determined by them. And the county superintendent of schools, to whom such appeal is taken, shall at once notify, in writing, the clerk by whom the papers in the case. were transmitted to him of the action taken on such appeal, as hereinafter provided.

1. Where petitions to form a new school district out of different districts lying in three townships and two counties have been denied by the trustees of the respective townships, and an appeal is taken, the two county superintendents, who, with the county judge, decide to form the new district, such decision is final and conclusive of the question whether the petitions were designed to evade the requirements of the law relating to petitions to detach territory from one district and add it to another. Hamilton v. Frette, 189-190.

§ 57. Whenever change in boundaries is made by the trustees of schools, if no appeal is taken to the county superintendent, the clerk of the trustees shall make a complete copy of the record of the action of the trustees, which copy shall be certified by the president of the trustees and the clerk who shall file the same, together with a map of the township, showing the districts, and an accurate list of the taxpayers of the newly arranged districts, with the county clerk for record within twenty days of the action of the trustees.

1. The filing of a map, properly certified, of a new school district, when formed, with the county clerk, is not essential, but only directory. It is in nowise connected with the formation of the district. The law requires it to be made, and filed with and recorded by the county clerk. The obvious purpose of such a map is to enable that officer to correctly extend the taxes levied by the directors in the various districts. School Directors v. School Directors, 73-249.

2. That there should be such a map filed for that purpose is true, but if not filed, and the clerk were to extend the taxes on the property in districts from the records of the board of trustees, it would not form a valid objection to the tax thus levied, nor can it, to the legal organization of a school district, that the map is not properly made or filed. The officers failing to perform that duty map become liable to respond in damages for any loss the district may incur by such neglect, but it cannot be held to disorganize a district otherwise regularly formed. Ibid.

3. A failure of the township trustees to file with the county clerk a map showing the lands embraced in the new district will not have the effect to destroy its corporate existence, or to prevent the directors of a new district from leving taxes for school purposes therein. School Directors v. School Directors, 135-464.

4. Upon the formation of a new school district the law requires a map of the school districts of the township to be filed with the county clerk. This is not an essential requisite to the valid organization of such district

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