The school law of Illinois, enacted by the Forty-sixth General Assembly online

an election will be held at for the purpose of electing

school trustee., for township No Range No

The polls will be opened at o'clock, m., and closed at

o'clock, ...... .m. .

By order of the trustees of schools.



Township Treasurer.

24. If the township treasurer shall fail or refuse to give notice of
the regular election of trustees, as required by the foregoing section, and
if, in case of a vacancy, the remaining trustee or trustees shall fail or
refuse to order an election to fill such vacancy, it shall be the duty of
the county superintendent to order such election.

25. If, upon, the day appointed for the election of trustees of
schools, the trustee or judges shall be of the opinion that, on account
of the small attendance of voters, the public good requires it, or if a
majority of the voters present shall desire it, they shall postpone the
election until the next Saturday, at the same place and hour, at which
time and meeting the voters shall proceed as if it were not a postponed
or adjourned meeting: Provided, however, that if notice shall not have
been given of such election, as required by section -23 of this Act, the
election may be ordered and held on any Saturday, notice thereof being
given.

26. The time and manner of opening, conducting and closing the
election, and the several liabilities appertaining to the judges, clerks
and voters, separately and collectively, and the manner of contesting
the election, shall be the same as prescribed by the general election laws
of this State defining the manner of electing magistrates and constables,
so far as applicable, subject to the provisions of this Act.

27. The trustees of schools shall act as judges and choose a clerk
of the election. If the trustees, or any of them, shall fail to attend, or
refuse to act when present, or if, from any cause, there are no trustees
of schools, or not a sufficient number to act as judges, the qualified
voters present shall choose from among themselves the number of judges
required to open and conduct the election.

28. In townships in which for general elections there are more
than two polling places, the trustees shall give notice that polls will be



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opened for such elections in at least two places; in which case at least
one of the trustees shall be assigned to each place, so far as practicable,
and additional judges shall be chosen by the qualified voters present:
Provided, however, that there shall be at least one polling place for each
800 voters in the township.

29. The judges shall return the ballots and original poll books, with
a certificate thereon showing the result of election in such precinct, to
the treasurer of the township in which the election shall be held, where-
upon it shall be the duty of the trustees of schools, within five days
after the election, to meet and canvass the returns from each precinct, to
make out a certificate showing the number of votes cast for each person
in each precinct and in the whole township, and to file the certificate
with the county superintendent of schools.

30. Upon the election of trustees of schools, the judges of the
election shall, within ten days thereafter, cause a copy of the poll book
of the election to be delivered to the county superintendent of schools,
with a certificate thereon showing the election of trustees and the names
of the persons elected ; which copy, with the certificate, shall be filed by
the county superintendent and shall be evidence of such election.

31. At the first election of trustees in a newly organized township,
the trustees shall, at their first meeting, cast lots for their respective
terms of office for one, two and three years; and thereafter one trustee
shall be elected annually, at the usual time for electing a trustee of
schools, to fill the vacancy occurring. In case of a tie vote, the election
shall be determined by lot, on the day of the election, by the judges.

32. At the first regular election of trustees after the passage of
this Act, a successor to the trustee whose term of office then expires
shall be elected, and thereafter one trustee shall be elected annually.
Such trustees shall continue in office three years.

33. Within ten days after the annual election, the trustees of
schools shall organize by appointing one of their number president, who
shall hold his office for one year. It shall be the duty of the president
to preside at all meetings of the board and to sign the proceedings thereof
when recorded. If the president be absent from any meeting, 'or refuse
to perform any of the duties of his office, a president pro tempore may
be appointed. The president may be removed by the trustees of schools
for good and sufficient cause.

34. It shall be the duty of the trustees of schools to hold regular
semi-annual meetings on the first Mondays of April and October.
Special meetings may be called at any time by the president or by two
members. Two members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction
of business.

35. At the regular semi-annual meetings on the first Mondays of
April and October, the trustees shall ascertain the amount of funds
subject to distribution, and shall appropriate and distribute the same as
required by this section, and not otherwise. All valid claims shall be
paid before distribution, in manner following: First, the compensation
of the treasurer; second, the cost of publishing the annual statement;



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third, the cost of a record book, if any; fourth, the cost of dividing
school lands and making plats. The balance shall be apportioned and
distributed to the districts and parts of districts in the township in
which schools have been kept as required by law during the preceding
year ending June 30th, according to the number of persons returned
under 21 years of age. The funds so distributed shall be credited to the
respective districts and parts of districts.

36. The trustees of schools of each- township in this State shall
prepare, or cause to be prepared, by the township treasurer, the directors
of the several districts, or other person, and forward to the county super-
intendent of the county in which the township lies, on or before the
15th day of July, annually, and at such other times as may be required
by the county superintendent of schools, or by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, a statement exhibiting the condition of the schools
in their respective townships for the preceding year, commencing on
July 1st and ending June 30th, which statement shall be in the form
and shall contain the information required by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction. Any township from which such report is not received
in the manner and time required by law, shall forfeit its portion of the
distributive fund for the next ensuing year.

37. In case a township is divided by a county line or lines, the
trustees of schools of such township shall make, or cause to be made,
separate enumerations of all statistics and other information required
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and report the same sepa-
rately to the several county superintendents; and all parts of such
statistical information which cannot practicably be reported separately
shall be reported to the county superintendent of the county in which
the sixteenth section of such township is situated.

38. At each semi-annual meeting, and at such other meetings as
they may think proper, the trustees of schools shall examine all books,
notes, mortgages, securities, papers, moneys and effects of the corpora-
tion, and the accounts and vouchers of the township treasurer, or other
township school officer, and shall make such order for their security,
preservation, collection, correction of errors, if any, and for their proper
dispositions, as may be necessary.

39. The trustees of schools may receive any gift, grant, donation
or devise made for the use of any school or library, or for any other
school purpose, within their jurisdiction. They shall be and are hereby
invested in their corporate capacity with the title of all school buildings
and school sites. All conveyances of real estate made to the trustees of
schools shall be made to them in their corporate name, and to their
successors in office.

40. When a school site or building has become unnecessary or
unsuitable or inconvenient for a school, the trustees of schools, on petition
of a majority of the voters of the district, shall sell and convey the
same, after giving at least twenty days' notice of such sale, by posting
written or printed notices thereof describing the property and the terms
ot sale, which may be in the following form, to wit :



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NOTICE OF SALE.

Notice is hereby given that on the day of , 1 . . . ,

the trustees of schools of township No , Range No , will sell

at public sale, on the premises hereinafter described, between 10:00 o'clock,
a. m., and 3:00 o'clock, p. m., the school house situated on the school house
site known as (here describe the site by its number, commonly known
name, or other definite description) and located in the (here describe its
place in the section), which sale will be made on the following terms, to-wit:
(Here insert as "one-third of the purchase money cash in hand, and the
balance in two equal payments, due in one and two years from day of sale,

with interest at the rate of . per cent per annum from date.")

A B [ Seal]

C D [Seal]

E F [Seal]

Trustees.

The -deed of conveyance shall be executed by the president and clerk,
and the proceeds paid to the township treasurer for the benefit of the
district.

41. The trustees of schools shall cause all moneys for the use of
the township and the districts to be paid to the township treasurer.

42. The trustees of schools shall have power to purchase real
estate in satisfaction of any judgment or decree in any action wherein
the trustees or the county superintendent of schools are parties, if, in
their opinion, the interests of the township fund will be promoted thereby.

43. The trustees of schools shall have power to make all settle-
ments with persons indebted to them in their official capacity ; to receive
deeds to real estate in compromise; and to cancel notes, bonds, mort-
gages, judgments and decrees for the benefit of the township; and their
action in the premises shall be valid and binding.

44. The trustees of schools shall have power to lease or sell any
lands that may come into their possession in the manner described in
either of the two preceding sections. The sale shall be made in the
manner provided for the sale of the sixteenth section.

45. The trustees of schools in newly organized townships shall
divide the township into school districts, to suit the wishes or conve-
nience of a majority of the inhabitants of the township, and shall
prepare, or cause to be prepared, a map of the township, on which the
district or districts shall be designated by their respective numbers.

46. When such division into districts has been made, the trustees
of schools may, in their discretion, at the regular meeting in April,
change the boundaries of districts situated wholly within the township,
so as:

First To divide a district into two or more districts, when petitioned
by a majority of the legal voters of the district.

Second To consolidate two or more districts into one district, when
petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each district.

Third To detach territory from one district and add the same to an
adjacent district, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of
each district; or, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters
residing within the territory described in the petition, asking that
such territory be detached from one district and added to an adjacent
district.



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Fourth To create a new district from territory belonging to two or
more districts, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each
district; or, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters residing
within the territory described in the petition, containing not fewer than
ten families, asking that such territory be created into a new district.

Fifth To create a new district by dividing the territory of an exist-
ing district, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters residing
within the territory described in the petition, containing not fewer than
ten families, asking that such territory be created into a new district.

47. Changes in the boundaries of districts which lie in separate
townships, and of districts formed of parts of two or more townships,
may be made at the regular meeting of trustees in April, by the con-
current action of the several boards of trustees in which the district or
districts lie, each board being petitioned, as provided in the preceding
section of this Act.

48. In school districts, whether operating under this Act or under
a special charter, the request for a change of boundary may be submitted
to the trustees by vote of the people, instead of by petition. The school
directors, when petitioned so to do by twenty-five legal voters of the
district, shall submit the question of the change desired to the voters
of the district, at a special election called for that purpose, and held at
least thirty days prior to the regular April meeting of trustees. If a
majority of the votes cast at such election shall be in favor of the change
proposed, then, due return of the election having been made to the
township treasurer, the trustees of schools shall consider and take action
the same as if petitioned therefor by a majority of the legal voters of
such district. Such question shall not be so submitted more than once
in any year.

49. A majority of the legal voters of a district lying in two or
more townships may secure the dissolution of the district by petitioning
the trustees of schools of the several townships, at their regular meeting
in April, to add the territory belonging to the district in their township
to one or more adjacent districts. Upon receipt of such petition, or the
returns of the election, in districts containing one thousand or more
inhabitants, the trustees of "schools of the several townships shall make
such disposition of the territory of the district that lies in their township,
and they shall jointly make such division of the property of the district
between or among the districts to which its territory is attached, as
provided in the case of the organization of a new district from a part
of another district.

50. If any school district shall, for two consecutive years, fail to
maintain a public school as required by law, 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 or more adjoining
districts; and, in case the territory is added to two or more districts, to
divide the property of the district among the districts to which its terri-
tory is added, in the manner provided for the division of property in
case of the organization of a new district from a part of another district.



1C

.51. Any city, township or district in which schools are now man-
aged under any special Act, may, by vote of its electors, cease to control
its schools under such special Act, and becomes part of the school
township, or townships, in which it is situated. Upon petition of fifty
voters of such city, township or district, presented to the board having
the control and management of the public schools, it shall be the duty
of such board to cause to be submitted to the voters at the next ensuing
election to be held in such city, township or district, the question of
"organizing under the general school law." Notice shall be given by
posting notices in the five most public places in such city, township or
district, at least fifteen days before the date of holding such election,
which notices shall be in the following form, to wit:

NOTICE OF ELECTION.

Notice is hereby given, that on the day of , 1 . . . ,

an election will be held at , for the purpose of deciding the

question of organizing under the general school law. The polls will be

opened at o'clock, ...m., and closed at o'clock, ...m.

(Signed)

If it shall appear, upon a canvass of the returns, that a majority of the
votes cast at such election are in favor of organizing under the general
school law, then the board having the control and management of schools
in such city, township or district shall give notice of an election to be
held on any Saturday thereafter, according to the provisions of this
Act, for the purpose of electing a board of directors or board of education,
as the case may require; but all subsequent elections shall be held on the
third Saturday of April annually.

62. No petition shall be acted upon by the trustees .of schools
unless such petition shall have been filed with the clerk at least twenty
days before the regular meeting in April, nor unless a copy of the
petition, with a notice in writing, signed by one or more of the peti-
tioners, shall be delivered by the petitioners, or one of them, at least ten
days before the day on which the petition is to be considered, to the
president or clerk of the school directors of each district whose boundaries
will be changed if the petition is granted. Such notice may be in the
following form, to wit :

NOTICE OF PETITION.

The directors in district No , in county, will

take notice that the undersigned and others have made and filed with the
trustees of schools their petition, a copy of which is herewith handed to you.

(Signed)

53. When a petition shall come before the trustees of schools
asking for a change in the boundaries of districts, it shall be the duty
of the trustees to ascertain whether the foregoing provisions have been
strictly complied with. If it shall appear that they, or either of them,
have not been complied with, the board shall adjourn, for not longer
than four weeks, in order that the foregoing provisions may be complied
with. There shall be but one adjournment for such purpose.

54. If it shall appear on the day of the regular meeting, or, in
case of adjournment, at the adjourned meeting, that such provisions have



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been complied with, the trustees shall consider the petition, hear any
legal voters of the district or districts affected by the proposed change
who may appear to oppose the petition, and shall grant or refuse the
prayer of the petitioners without unreasonable delay. After the trus-
tees of schools have considered the petition, no objection shall be raised
as to its form, and their action shall be prima facie evidence that all
requirements have been complied with.

-55. The petitioners, or the legal voters who appear to oppose the
change of boundaries, shall have the right of appeal to the county super-
intendent of schools. The appellant shall file with the clerk of the
trustees a written notice of appeal within ten days after final action by
the trustees, which notice may be in the following form, to wit:

NOTICE OF APPEAL.

To the trustees of schools of township No , Range No ., of

county, Illinois :

You are hereby notified that the undersigned will appeal from your de-
cision made on the day of , 1 . . . , 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)

56. When an appeal is so taken the clerk shall transmit, within
five days after the notice of appeal has been filed, all papers in the case,
with a transcript of the records of the trustees showing their action
thereon, to the county superintendent of schools. The clerk shall take
no further action in the matter, except upon the order of the county
superintendent, who shall investigate the case, make such change or
changes, or refuse to make them, reversing, if need be, the action of the
trustees, and give the clerk immediate notice of his decision; and his
action shall be final and binding. If the changes askod by the petitioners
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 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.

57. In all cases in which the district affected by a proposed change
of 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 the district is partly located; and upon 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 district is located shall meet at such time and place, and

2 SL



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together hear and determine the appeal. In case the county superin-
tendents shall be unable to arrive at an agreement, the county judge
of the county in which such appeal is pending shall become a member
of the board of appeal, by which the appeal shall thereupon be heard
and determined. 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.

58. When a change in boundaries is made by the trustees of
schools, and no appeal is taken, the clerk shall make and file with the
county clerk for record, within twenty days of the action of the trustees,
a copy of the record of such action, certified by the president and the
clerk, together with a map of the township showing the districts, and a
list of the taxpayers of the newly organized districts.

59. In case any territory shall be set off from .a district that has a
bonded debt, the change not being petitioned for by a majority of the
legal voters of the district, such original district shall remain liable for
the payment of such bonded debt, as if not divided. The directors of the
original district, and the directors of the district into which the territory-
taken from such original district has been incorporated, shall consti-
tute 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 property embraced within the original district as if it had not
been divided.

60. When the trustees of schools shall organize a new district, it
shall be the duty of the clerk of the trustees of schools, if no appeal is
taken, to order within fifteen days after the action of the trustees, an
election, to be held at a convenient time and place within the boundaries
of such newly organized district, for three school directors, notice being
given by the township treasurer, who shall post notices of such election
in at least three prominent places in the district, at 3ec.-st ten 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 the election, and may be in the
following form, to wit :

NOTICE OF ELECTION.

Notice is hereby given that on the day of , 1 . . . ,

an election will be held at for the purpose of electing

three school directors for the new district known as district No

in county, Illinois. The polls will be opened at

o'clock m., and closed at o'clock, m.

By order of the trustees of schools.

( Signed)

Township Treasurer.

61. At the time appointed for opening the polls for such election,
the qualified voters present, five of whom shall constitute a quorum, shall
appoint two of their number to act as judges and one as clerk. The
election, in all other respects, shall be conducted as other elections of
school directors.



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62. Within ten days after the election the directors shall meet at a
convenient time and place previously agreed upon by them, and organize