Notice of first meeting of district.

Whenever any school district shall be formed, or two or more common school districts are consolidated as provided in section one hundred and thirty-two the district superintendent of schools, or any one or more of such district superintendents within whose districts it may be, shall prepare a notice describing such district, and appointing a time and place for the first district meeting, and deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district.

Education Law, § 190, as amended by L. 1913, ch. 129. In effect March 25, 1913.

Service of notice of first meeting of district.

It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify every other inhabitant of the district qualified to vote at the meeting, by delivering to him a copy of the notice of such meeting, or in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the time, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his abode, at least six days before the time of the meeting.

Education Law, § 191.

Second notice of first meeting of district.

In case such meeting shall not be held, and in the opinion of the school commissioner it shall be necessary to hold such meeting, before the time herein fixed for the first annual meeting, he shall deliver another such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district, who shall serve it as provided in section one hundred and ninety-one.

Education Law, § 192.

Notice of annual meeting.

1. The district clerk of each common school district shall give notice of the time and place of the annual meeting by posting five notices of such meeting in five conspicuous places in the district five days previous to the date of such meeting. One of such notices must be posted on the front door of the school house.

2. The clerk of each union free school district shall give notice of the time and place of the annual meeting by publishing a notice once in each week for the four weeks next preceding such district meeting, in two newspapers if there shall be two, or in one newspaper if there shall be but one, published in such district. But if no newspaper shall then be published therein, the said notice shall be posted in at least twenty of the most public places in said district twenty days before the time of such meeting.

Education Law, § 193.

Time and place of annual meeting.

The annual meeting of each school district shall be held on the first Tuesday of May in each year, and, unless the hour and place thereof shall have been fixed by a vote of a previous district meeting, the same shall be held in the school house at seven-thirty o'clock in the evening. If a district possesses more than one school house, it shall be held in the one usually employed for that purpose, unless the trustees designate another. If the district possesses no school house, or if the school house shall not be accessible, then the annual meeting shall be held at such place as a trustee, or, if there

be no trustee, the clerk, shall designate in the notice. Provided, however, that in union free school districts whose limits do not correspond with those of an incorporated city or village, the board of education may at any regular meeting, by resolution duly adopted and entered upon its minutes, determine that the annual meeting of such union free school district shall be held on the first Tuesday in August; and thereafter until such determination shall be changed, such annual meeting shall be held on the first Tuesday in August of each year; and where any such district shall have heretofore or hereafter determined that the election of the members of the board of education shall be held on the Wednesday next following the day designated by law for holding the annual meeting of such district as provided by section three hundred and three of the education law, such election shall be held at the time so determined until such determination shall be changed.

Education Law, § 194, as amended by L. 1910, chs. 140 and 442; L. 1913, ch. 440; L. 1915, ch. 232, in effect April 7, 1915.

Annual meetings of districts re-formed after dissolution.

The districts formed by the dissolution of a union free school district, as provided in sections one hundred and forty-six and one hundred and fortyseven of this chapter shall hold their annual meetings on the first Tuesday of May next after the dissolution of such union free school district, and shall elect officers as now required by law.

Education Law, § 195, as amended by L. 1913, ch. 129. In effect March 25, 1913.

Special meeting to transact business of annual meeting.

Whenever the time for holding the annual meeting in school districts shall pass without such meeting being held in a district, a special meeting shall thereafter be called by the trustees or by the clerk of such district for the purpose of transacting the business of the annual meeting; and if no such meeting be called by the trustees or the clerk within ten days after such time shall have passed, the school commissioner of the commissioner district in which said school district is situated or the commissioner of education may order any inhabitant of such district to give notice of such meeting in the manner provided in section one hundred and ninety-one, and the officers of the district shall make to such meeting the reports required to be made at the annual meeting, subject to the same penalty in case of neglect; and the officers elected at such meeting shall hold their respective offices only until the next annual meeting and until their successors are elected and shall have qualified.

Education Law, § 196.

Special meetings in common school districts.

1. A special district meeting shall be held whenever called by the trustees. The notice thereof shall state the purposes for which it is called, and no business shall be transacted at such special meeting, except that which is specified in the notice; and the district clerk, or, if the office be vacant, or the clerk be sick or absent, or shall refuse to act, a trustee, or some taxable inhabitant, by order of the trustees, shall serve the notice upon each inhabitant of the district qualified to vote at district meetings, at least six days before the day of the meeting, in the manner prescribed in section one hundred ninety-one.

2. The inhabitants of a district may, at any annual meeting, adopt a resolution prescribing some other mode of giving notice of special meetings, which resolution and the mode prescribed thereby shall continue in force until rescinded or modified at some subsequent annual meeting.

Education Law, § 197.

Special meetings in union free school districts.

1. Boards of education shall have power to call special meetings of the inhabitants of their respective districts whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper, in the manner prescribed in subdivision two of section one hundred and ninety-three of this chapter.

2. In union free school districts whose limits correspond with those of any incorporated village or city, the boards of education shall have power to call special meetings of the inhabitants of their respective districts for the purposes mentioned in section four hundred and sixty-seven, in the manner prescribed in said subdivision two of section one hundred and ninety-three. Education Law, § 198.

Call by school commissioner of special district meeting.

When the clerk and all the trustees of a school district shall have removed from the district, or their office shall be vacant, so that a special meeting can not be called, as hereinbefore provided, the school commissioner may in like manner give notice of, and call a special district meeting.

Education Law, § 199.

Effect of want of due notice of district meetings.

The proceedings of no district meeting, annual or special, shall be held illegal for want of a due notice to all the persons qualified to vote thereat, unless it shall appear that the omission to give such notice was willful and fraudulent.

Education Law, § 200.

Penalty for failure to serve notice.

Every taxable inhabitant, to whom a notice of any district meeting shall be delivered for service pursuant to any provisions of this article, who shall refuse or neglect to serve the same, as hereinbefore prescribed, shall forfeit five dollars for the benefit of the district.

Education Law, § 201.

Duty to attend district meetings.

Whenever any district meeting shall be duly called, it shall be the duty of the inhabitants qualified to vote thereat, to assemble at the time and place fixed for the meeting.

Education Law, § 202.

Qualifications of voters at district meetings.

A person shall be entitled to vote at any school meeting for the election of school district officers, and upon all other matters which may be brought before such meeting who is:

1. A citizen of the United States,

2. Twenty-one years of age,

3. A resident within the district for a period of thirty days next preceding the meeting at which he offers to vote; and who in addition thereto possesses one of the following four qualifications:

a. Owns or hires, or is in the possession under a contract of purchase of real property in such district liable to taxation for school purposes, or

b. Is the parent of a child of school age, provided such child shall have attended the district school in the district in which the meeting is held for a period of at least eight weeks during the year preceding such school meeting, or

c. Not being the parent, has permanently residing with him a child of school age who shall have attended the district school for a period of at least eight weeks during the year preceding such meeting, or

d. Owns any personal property, assessed on the last preceding assessmentroll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, exclusive of such as is exempt from execution.

No person shall be deemed to be ineligible to vote at any such meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifications required by this section. Education Law, § 203.

Declaration in case of challenge of voter.

If a person offering to vote at any school district meeting shall be chal lenged as unqualified, by any legal voter in such district, the chairman presiding at such meeting shall require the person so offering, to make the following declaration: "I do declare and affirm that I am, and have been, for the thirty days last past, an actual resident of this school district and that I am qualified to vote at this meeting." And every person making such declaration shall be permitted to vote on all questions proposed at such meeting; but if any person shall refuse to make such declaration, his vote shall be rejected.

Education Law, § 204.

Penalty for false declaration or unauthorized vote.

A person who shall willfully make a false declaration of his right to vote at a school meeting, after his right to vote thereat has been challenged, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. And a person not qualified to vote at such meeting, who shall vote thereat, shall thereby forfeit ten dollars, to be sued for by the supervisor for the benefit of the common schools of the town.

Education Law, § 205.

Powers of voters.

The inhabitants entitled to vote, when duly assembled in any meeting, shall have power, by a majority of the votes of those present: 1. To appoint a chairman.

2. To appoint a clerk for the time, if the district clerk is absent. 3. To adjourn from time to time as occasion may require.

district

4. To elect one or three trustees as hereinafter provided, a district clerk and a district collector, and in any district which shall so determine, as hereinafter provided, to elect a treasurer, at their first meeting, and so often as such offices or any of them become vacated, except as hereinafter provided.

5. At the first meeting, or at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, the qualified voters of any school district are authorized to adopt by a vote of a majority of such voters present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, a resolution to elect a treasurer of said district, who shall be the custodian of all moneys belonging to said district,

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and the disbursing officer of such moneys. If such resolution shall be adopted, such voters shall thereupon elect by ballot a treasurer for said district. Any person elected treasurer at any meeting other than an annual meeting, shall hold office until the next annual meeting after such election, and until his successor shall be elected or appointed, and thereafter a treasurer shall be elected at each annual meeting for the term of one year.

6. To fix the amount in which the collector and treasurer shall give bonds for the due and faithful performance of the duties of their offices.

7. To designate a site for a school house, or for grounds to be used for playgrounds, or for agricultural, athletic center and social center purposes, or with the consent of the district superintendent of schools within whose district the school district lies, to designate sites for two or more school houses for the district. Such designation of a site for a school house, or for such grounds, can be made only at a special meeting of the district, duly called for such purpose by a written resolution in which the proposed site shall be described by metes and bounds, and which resolution must receive the assent of a majority, of the qualified voters present and voting, to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, or by ballot.

8. To vote a tax upon the taxable property of the district, to purchase, lease and improve such sites or an addition to such sites and grounds for the purposes specified in the preceding subdivision, to hire or purchase rooms or buildings for school rooms or school houses, or to build school houses; to keep in repair and furnish the same with necessary fuel, furniture and appurtenances, and to purchase such implements, apparatus and supplies as may be necessary to provide instruction in agriculture and other subjects, and for the organization and conduct of athletic, playground and other social center work.

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9. To vote a tax, not exceeding twenty-five dollars in any one year, for the purchase of maps, globes, reproductions of standard works of art, blackboards and other school apparatus, and for the purchase of text-books and other school necessaries for the use of poor scholars of the district.

10. To vote a tax for the establishment of a school library and the maintenance thereof, or for the support of any school library already owned by said district, and for the purchase of books therefor, and such sum as they may deem necessary for the purchase of a book-case.

11. To vote a tax to supply a deficiency in any former tax arising from such tax being, in whole or in part, *uncollectable.

12. To authorize the trustees to cause the school-houses, and their furniture, appurtenances and school apparatus to be insured by any insurance company created by or under the laws of this state, or any other insurance company authorized by law to transact business in this state.

13. To alter, repeal and modify their proceedings, from time to time, as occasion may require.

14. To vote a tax for the purchase of a book for the purpose of recording their proceedings.

15. To vote a tax to replace moneys of the district, lost or embezzled by district officers; and to pay the reasonable expenses incurred by district officers in defending suits or appeals brought against them for their official acts, or in prosecuting suits or appeals by direction of the district against other parties.

16. To vote a tax to pay whatever deficiency there may be in teachers' wages after the public money apportioned to the district shall have been applied thereto.

So in original.