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FORMATION OF DISTRICTS.

§ 1. Amends section 33 of the act of 1872, by making the action of the trustees prima facie evidence that all forms have been complied with. Providing that when townships are divided by county lines appeals may be had to the county superintendent of either county. Also providing that when districts are located in two or more counties election places may be fixed.

AN ACT to amend section thirty-three (33) of an act entitled "An act to establish and maintain a system of free schools," approved April 1, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, as amended by act approved May 23, 1877, in force July 1, 1877, as amended by act approved June 3, 1879, in force July 1, 1879, as amended by act approved May 31, 1881, in force July 1, 1881.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section thirty-three (33) of an act entitled "An act to establish and maintain a system of free schools," approved April 1, 1872, in force July 1, 1872, as amended by act approved May 23, 1877, in force July 1, 1877, as amended by act approved June 3, 1879, in force July 1, 1879, as amended by act approved May 31, 1881, in force July 1, 1881, be amended so as to read as follows:

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"Section 33, Trustees of schools in newly organized townships shall lay off the townships into one or more districts to suit the wishes and convenience of a majority of the inhabitants of the township, and shall prepare or cause to be prepared a map of the township on which map shall be designated the district or districts, to be styled, when there are more than one district: 'District No. -, in township No. -, range of the P. M. (according to the proper number) county of -, and State of Illinois.' And when petitioned so to do, as hereinafter provided, they may, having discretion in the matter, at the regular meeting in April, change such districts as lie wholly within their townships so as to divide or consolidate districts, to organize a new district out of territory belonging to two or more districts, or to detach territory from one district and add the same to another district adjacent thereto, and at the same 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 hereinafter provided, 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: Provided, that none of these changes shall be made unless petitioned for (1st) by a majority of the legal voters of each of the districts affected by the proposed change; or (2nd) by two-thirds () of the legal voters living within certain territory described in the petition, asking that said territory be detached from one district and added to another, or (3rd) by two-thirds () of all the legal voters living within certain territory containing not less than ten (10) families, asking that said territory be made a new district. But in case any territory be set off from any district that has a bonded debt, the change not being petitioned for by a majority of the legal voters of said district, such district shall remain liable for the payment of such

bonded debt as if not divided. The directors of the original district having such bonded debt, and of the district into which the territory taken from such original district has been incorporated or formed, shall constitute a joint board for the purpose of determining and certifying, and they shall determine and certify to the county clerk the amount of tax required yearly for the purpose of paying the interest and principal of such bonded debt, which tax shall be extended by the county clerk against all the property embraced within such original district as if it had not been divided: Provided also, that in school districts having a population of not less than one thousand (1,000) inhabitants, any desired change of boundaries may be submitted to the trustees by a vote of the people instead of by petition as herein before set forth; and when petitioned so to do by twenty-five legal voters of the district, the school board of the district shall submit the question of change desired to the voters of said district at a special election called for that purpose, and held at least thirty (30) days prior to the regular meeting of the trustees at which they consider change of district boundaries. If a majority of the votes cast at any such election. shall be in favor of the change proposed, then due return of the election having been made to the township 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; but no question of change of boundaries shall be submitted to a vote of the school district more than once in any one (1) year: Provided, further, that no petition shall be acted upon by any board of trustees unless it shall have been filed with the clerk of said board of trustees twenty days before the regular meeting in April, nor unless a copy of said petition together with a notice in writing, which notice may be in the following form, to-wit: "The directors of district No. ..., in township No. of the .... principal meridian, will take notice that the undersigned have made and filed with the clerk of the board of trustees of said township their petition, a copy of which is herewith handed to you," shall be delivered by the petitioners, or some one of them, at least ten (10) 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. When, at the regular meeting of the trustees in April, any such petition shall come before the trustees, it shall be the duty of the trustees to ascertain, first, whether the foregoing provisions have been strictly complied with, and if it shall appear that they, or either of them, have not been complied with, in such case the board shall adjourn the hearing for not longer than four (4) weeks in order that the foregoing provisions may be complied with; but there shall be but one adjournment for such purpose. After the trustees shall consider the petition, no objection can be raised as to its form, and their action shall be prima facie evidence that all the foregoing provisions have been complied with. If, on the day of the regular meeting, or 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

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may appear before them to oppose the petition; and they shall grant or refuse the prayer of the petitioners without unreasonable delay. But 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, the party appealing files with the clerk of the trustees a written notice of appeal within ten (10) days after final action upon the petition by the trustees: Provided, further, that in all cases where a township 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 the said township 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 will be heard, and the said county superintendents of schools of the counties in which the said township is located, shall meet together at such time and place, and together hear and determine the said appeal, and in case the said county superintendents of schools shall be unable to arrive at an agreement, then the county judge of the county in which such appeal is pending shall be called and shall constitute one of the board 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: And provided, further, that where a school district is now, or may hereafter be, located in two or more counties, the directors of such district may fix a place of holding general or special elections for school purposes in said district, in either of said counties, in the same manner as is now provided for holding school elections. And the legal voters of said. school district shall be entitled to vote at such election the same as though such election was held in the county where he resides. Whenever any changes as provided in this section are 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 within twenty (20) days of the action of the trustees. When the trustees of schools shall organize a new district under the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the trustees, if no appeal is taken to the county superintendent, to order within fifteen (15) days after the action of the trustees an election to be held at some convenient time and place within the boundaries of such newly organized district, for the election of three (3) school directors, notice being given by the township treasurer, who shall post up three (3) notices of such election in three (3) prominent places in said district at least ten (10) days prior to the time appointed for holding such election, which notices shall specify the

place where such election is to be held, the time for opening and closing the polls, and the object of said election. It shall be the duty of the legal voters present, five (5) of whom shall constitute a quorum, to appoint three (3) of their number, two (2) of whom shall act as judges and one (1) as clerk of said election. Within ten (10) days after the election it shall be the duty of the directors. elected at said election to meet at some convenient time and place previously agreed upon by said directors and organize as a district board by appointing one (1) of their number president, and also some suitable person clerk of the board, who shall, by virtue of his office, be clerk of the district. At the first meeting of the directors they shall draw lots for their respective terms of office, one (1), two (2) and three (3) years, each of which shall be considered a fractional term, ending at each annual meeting according to the length of term drawn. When an appeal is taken from the action of the trustees to the county superintendent, the clerk of the trustees shall, within five (5) 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 for 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 such refusal, and his action shall be final and binding. If the changes asked for by the petitioners shall be made 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 (10) days thereafter, make a copy of the same and the map and list of taxpayers, and deliver them to the county clerk for filing and record by him, the same as if the change had been ordered by the trustees. And new district is organized by the action of the county superintendent, the clerk shall within five (5) days thereafter order an election of directors in the new district the same as if the change had been made by the board of trustees. Whenever a new district has been formed by the trustees, or by the county superintendent, from a part of a district or from parts of two (2) or more districts, the trustees of the township or townships concerned shall proceed, forthwith, to make a distribution of any tax funds or other funds which are in the hands of the treasurer, or to which the district may, at the time of such division, be entitled, so that both the old and new districts shall receive part of such funds in proportion to the amount of taxes collected next preceding such division, from the taxable property in the territory composing the several districts. If the new district be composed of parts of two (2) or more districts, the trustees shall make distribution of said funds between the new district and the old districts respectively, so

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that the new district shall receive a distribution of the funds of each of the old districts in the proportion which the amount of taxes collected from the property in the territory of the new district bears to the whole taxes collected, next before the division, in the old district; and the town treasurer shall, forthwith, place the sum so distributed to the credit of the respective districts, and shall, immediately, place the proportion of the said funds to which said new district may be entitled to its credit on his books, and the funds on hand shall be subject, at once, to the order of the directors of the new district, and those not on hand as soon as collected. The trustees of the township or townships concerned, shall, at the time of the creation of a new district, or within the period of thirty (30) days thereafter, proceed to the appointment of three appraisers, who shall not be citizens of the township or townships interested. It shall be the duty of said appraisers, within thirty (30) days after their appointment, to appraise the school property, both real and personal, of the district or districts interested, at its fair cash value. Within thirty (30) days after such appraisement, the trustees of the township or townships concerned shall proceed to charge the property to the district in which it may be found and to credit the other district interested therein with its proportion of such valuation: Provided, that the bona fide debts, if any, of the old district shall first be deducted and the balance charged and credited as aforesaid, and of the funds then on hand, or subsequently to accrue, belonging to such district to which such property is charged, the trustees shall direct the treasurer to place to the credit of the district not retaining said property its proportion of the value of said property. If trustees shall fail to observe the provisions of this section in reference to distribution of funds and property, they shall be individually and jointly liable to the district interested in an action on the case, to the full amount of the damages sustained by the district aggrieved. Where trustees have heretofore failed to make distribution of property to districts as provided in this section, any district interested in the making of such distribution may, by its directors, request the trustees, in writing, to proceed to make such distribution; and said trustees shall proceed to make distribution in the manner herein prescribed, and shall be liable in like manner for neglect or failure. The clerk of any board of trustees who shall fail, neglect or refuse to perform the duties imposed upon him by this section, or any of them, within the time and in the manner prescribed, shall, for each offense, forfeit not less than ten dollars. ($10) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25) of his pay as clerk of the board of trustees and township treasurer, which forfeiture shall be enforced by the trustees. If any school district shall for two (2) consecutive years fail to maintain a public school, as required by law to do, it shall be the duty of the trustees of schools of the township or townships in which such district lies, to attach the territory of such district to one (1) or more adjoining school districts; and in case said territory is added to two (2) or more districts, to divide the property of said district between the districts to which its territory is added in the manner hereinbefore provided for the division of property in case a new district is organized from part of another district, and the action of the trustees in such a

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