sists of six or nine members, the term is 3 years, one third of the number being elected each year.

III. Clerk, collector and librarian, each hold the office for one year.

Who are eligible to school offices in this State?

All voters, except as follows: No school commissioner or supervisor is eligible to the office of trustee, nor can either be a member of any board of education within his district or town; and no trustee can hold the office of district clerk, collector, or librarian.

DUTIES.

What are some of the Duties of school district officers?

TRUSTEES.

I. To hold and keep district property for the use of the school.

II. To hire and pay a qualified teacher or teachers, and maintain a school for at least 32 weeks during the school year.

III. To make to the school commissioner an annual report between the 25th day of July and the first Tuesday in August in each year.

IV. To make out all district taxes and issue a warrant for their collection, etc., etc.

CLERK.

I. To record the proceedings of the district.

II. To give notice according to law of annual and special meetings.

III. To notify each person elected or appointed to office, and also to report their names and post-office address to the town clerk.

SALARY OF SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICERS.

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IV. To notify the trustees of every resignation accepted by the supervisor.

V. To keep and preserve all books, records, and papers belonging to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor, etc., etc.

COLLECTOR.

I. To collect all district taxes made out by trustees and placed in his hands.

II. To pay out the money as directed by their order.

NOTE. He must give to the trustee a bond for the faithful performance of his duties in collecting and paying over all moneys so collected.

LIBRARIAN.

To have charge and supervision of the school district. library.

SALARY.

What is the Salary of these officers, and how paid?

The collector alone is entitled to pay. He receives 1 per cent on all moneys collected during the first 14 days after advertising; after that time, 5 per cent.

How shall we find hereafter that officers are paid?

Some are paid a salary; some by the day; some by a fee; some by a per cent.

What is meant by a Salary? a Fee? a Per Cent?

NUMBER OF TRUSTEES.

How can a school district having three trustees Change to one trustee?

By adopting a resolution at any annual meeting, that the district shall have a sole trustee; when the terms of those in office shall have expired, the district shall elect a trustee annually.

Can a district having a sole trustee Change Back and legally elect three?

Yes. It may adopt a resolution by a two-thirds vote of all the legal voters present thereat, at an annual meeting, to have three trustees instead of one. It will then proceed to elect one for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, and thereafter one annually for a term of three years.

SCHOOL MEETINGS.

When does the annual School Meeting take place?

I. On the first Tuesday in August.

II. If a district contains three-hundred or more children of school age, the meeting for the election of school district officers must be held on the Wednesday following the first Tuesday in August, in each year, between the hours of 12 o'clock, noon, and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, at the principal school-house in the district, or at such other place as the trustee designates.

How are Special school meetings called? By the trustees. The clerk or some other person, if the office be vacant or he refuses to act, must serve a notice upon each qualified voter at school district meeting, at least 5 days before the day of the meeting. Said notice must state the purpose for which it is called, and no other business can be transacted.

The inhabitants of any district may, by a resolution at an annual meeting, prescribe some other mode for calling special meetings, which shall continue in force until rescinded or modified at a subsequent annual meeting.

What are the Qualifications for voting at school meetings? There are four classes of persons entitled to vote at school meetings in this State.

1st. Every person of full age, who is a resident of the District, entitled to hold lands in this State, who either owns or hires real estate in the district liable to taxation for school purposes.

2d. Every resident of the district, who is a citizen of the United States, 21 years of age, and who is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding.

3d. Every resident of the district, a citizen of the United States, 21 years of age, not being the parent, who shall have permanently residing with him or her a child of school age, which shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks within one year preceding.

4th. Every resident and citizen of full age, who owns any personal property assessed on the last preceding assessment roll of the town, exceed.ing fifty dollars in value exclusive of property exempt from execution.

In either class the voter may be male or female.

In the second class both father and mother are entitled to vote.

In the third class (cases of children residing with others than their parents) the phrase "him or her" in the statute must be held to limit the suffrage to one person only, and that the head of the household. Therefore, where husband and wife living together have such a child residing with them, the wife is not on that account entitled to vote, although she may be for other reasons.

VACANCIES IN SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICES.

How are Vacancies in school offices filled?

I. The office of trustee may be filled (a) within 30 days by the district, by an election; (b) after 30 days by appointment by the School Commissioner.

II. Vacancies may be filled in the offices of clerk, collector, or librarian by appointment by the trustee.

SOME GENERAL PROVISIONS.

I. No person within two degrees of relationship to either of the trustees can be legally engaged to teach school, without the approval of two-thirds of the voters of the school district.

II. A teacher is deemed qualified by law, if he possesses a normal school diploma, or a State certificate (unannulled), or an unexpired certificate given by the school commissioner of the district in which he is to teach, or by the school officer of the city or village in which he is employed, authorized by special act to grant such certificate.

III. No person shall be deemed to be qualified to teach public schools who is under the age of 16 years. (Law of 1885.)

IV. No legal contract can be made with a person to teach school, unless said person is duly qualified by law by holding a certificate of qualification. V. Trustees have sole power to hire teachers and determine the wages to be paid, without reference to a vote of the district.

VI. Whenever the school commissioner of a district shall certify in writing, that more than $500 are necessary for building a new school house, the inhabitants may vote such sum as the commissioner approves of, and the trustees may legally levy the tax for the same. (Law of 1883.)

VII. Persons wilfully disturbing a school or school meeting or an assemblage of persons occupying a school house for the purpose of receiving instruction, shall forfeit $25.00.

VIII. Trustees may permit the school house when unoccupied to be used for educational purposes, or for religious meetings; but if one of the three trustees objects to such use it can not be permitted.

IX. Trustees alone have the power to expel a pupil from school for habitual misconduct, or when afflicted with a contagious disease.

X. No school house is allowed to be built in this state until the plan, so far as ventilation, heating, and lighting is concerned, shall be approved in writing by the school commissioner in whose district such school house is to be built. (Law of 1883.)

XI. A sole trustee can hire a teacher for a term that commences before the expiration of his official term.

XII. A school tax for building or repairing may be raised in equal instalments: but the last one shall not extend beyond ten years from the time the vote was taken.

XIII. Trustees may be removed from office, for wilful neglect of duties, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

XIV. Trustees have the custody of the school house or houses and appurtenances.

XV. Trustees are authorized to prescribe a course of study in the school under their charge.

XVI. The official acts of two trustees, without notifying or consulting the third, are illegal and void.

SCHOOL MONEYS.

I. The school commissioners must apportion the public money among their several districts, commencing on the third Tuesday of March in each year.

II. The State school moneys apportioned in 1885, were derived from the