Toward his successor. To bring suits. Generally. 8. Upon receiving such a certificate from his successor, and not before, to pay to him all school moneys remaining in his hands, and to forthwith file the certificate in the townclerk's office. 9. By his name of office, when the duty is not elsewhere imposed by law, to sue for and recover penalties and forfeitures imposed for violations of this act, and for any default or omission of any town officer or school-district board or officer under this act; and after deducting his costs and expenses, to report the balances to the school commissioner. 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection or alteration of a school-district, as in the sixth title of this act provided, and to perform any other duty which may be devolved upon him by this act, or any other act relating to common schools. Duties of town-clerk. To preserve records. To record apportionment. To notify trustees. To obtain reports. To distribute blanks. To record annual accounts. Final accounts. TITLE V. OF THE DUTIES OF THE TOWN-CLERK UNDER THIS ACT. S1. It shall be the duty of the town-clerk of each town: 1. Carefully to keep all books, maps, papers and records of his office touching common schools, and forthwith to report to the supervisor any loss of or injury to any of them which may happen. 2. To receive from the supervisor the certificates of apportionment of school moneys to the town, and record them in a book to be kept for that purpose. 3. Forthwith to notify the trustees of the several schooldistricts and separate neighborhoods of the filing of each such certificate. 4. To see that the trustees of the school-districts and separate neighborhoods make and deposit with him their annual reports within the time prescribed by law, and to deliver them to the school commissioner on demand. 5. To distribute to the trustees of the school-districts and separate neighborhoods all blanks and circulars which shall be delivered or forwarded to him by the state superintendent or school commissioner for that purpose. 6. To receive from the supervisor, and record in a book kept for that purpose, the annual account of the receipts and disbursements of school moneys required to be submitted to the town auditors together with the action of the town auditors thereon, and to send a copy of the account and of the action thereon, by mail, to the superintendent of public instruction, whenever required by him, and to file and preserve the vouchers accompanying the account. 7. To receive and to record, in the same book, the supervisor's final account of the school moneys received and disbursed by him, and deliver a copy thereof to such supervisor's successor in office. tificates. 8. To receive from the outgoing supervisor, and file and To file cerrecord in the same book, the county treasurer's certificate that his successor's bond has been given and approved. 9. To receive, file and record the descriptions of the schooldistricts and neighborhoods, and all papers and proceedings delivered to him by the school commissioner pursuant to the next title of this act. To record districts. district. 10. To act, when thereto legally required, in the erection Altering a or alteration of a school-district, as in the next title of this act provided. meetings. 11. To order notice of a special district meeting to be given To notify in the case specified in the seventh title of this act, in the manner therein provided. records. 12. To receive and preserve the books, papers and records To preserve of any dissolved school-district, which shall be ordered as hereinafter provided, to be deposited in his office. 13. To perform any other duty which may be devolved Generally. upon him by this act, or by any other act touching common schools. penses. $ 2. The necessary expenses and disbursements of the His extown-clerk, in the performance of his said duties, are a town' charge, and shall be audited and paid as such. TITLE VI. OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION AND ALTERATION OF SCHOOL-DISTRICTS AND SEPARATE NEIGHBORHOODS. $1. It shall be the duty of each school 'commissioner, in Commis respect to the territory within his district: sioner's duties in respect to tricts. 1. To divide it, so far as practicable, into a convenient school-disnumber of school-districts, and alter the same as herein provided. 2. In conjunction with the commissioner or commissioners of an adjoining school commissioner district or districts, to set off joint districts composed of adjoining parts of their respective districts. 3. To set off by itself any neighborhood adjoining any other state of the union, where it shall be found most convenient for the inhabitants to send their children to a school in such adjoining state. 4. To describe and number the school-districts, and joint districts, and to deliver, in writing, to the town clerk the description and number of each district lying in whole or in part in his town, together with all notices, consents, and proceedings relating to the formation or alteration thereof, immediately after such formation or alteration. Every joint district shall bear the same number in every school commissioner district of whose territory it is in part composed. May alter any district with the consent of trustees. 5. To deliver to the town-clerk of the town in which it lies, in whole or in part, a description of each such separate neighborhood. S2. With a written consent of the trustees of all the districts to be affected thereby, he may, by order, alter any school-district within his jurisdiction, and fix, by said order, a day when the alteration shall take effect; but no alteration take effect. shall be made to take effect between the first day of April and the thirtieth day of September following. When to Procedure on refusal of trustee to alteration. Ibid. $ 3. If the trustees of any such district refuse to consent, he may make and file with the town-clerk his order making the alteration, but reciting the refusal, and directing that the order shall not take effect, as to the dissenting district or districts, until a day therein to be named, between the first day of October and the first day of April thereafter, and not less than three months after the notice in the next session mentioned. S 4. Within ten days after making and filing such order, he shall give at least a week's notice, in writing, to one or more of the trustees of any district or districts whose trustees have not consented to the proposed alteration, that at a specified time, and at a named place within the town in which either of the districts to be affected lies, he will hear their objections to the alterations. The trustees of any such district may request the supervisor and town-clerk of the town or towns within which such district or districts shall wholly or partly lie, to be associated with the commissioner. At the time and place mentioned in the notice, the commissioner or the commissioners, with the supervisors and town-clerks, if they shall attend and act, shall hear and decide the matter; and the decision shall be final, unless duly appealed from. Such decision must either confirm or vacate the order of the commissioner, and must be filed with and recorded by the town-clerk of the town or towns in which the district affected shall lie. S5. The supervisor and town-clerk shall be entitled each to town-clerk. one dollar and fifty cents a day, for each day's service in any such matter, to be levied and paid as a charge upon their Fees of su pervisor and Formation of joint districts. Alteration or dissolution of a joint district. town. $6. Whenever it may become necessary or convenient to form a school-district out of parcels of two or more school commissioner districts, the commissioners of such districts, or a majority of them, may form such district; and the commissioners within whose districts any such school-district lies, or a majority of them, may alter or dissolve it. S7. If a school commissioner, by notice in writing, shall require the attendance of the other commissioner or commissioners, at a joint meeting for the purpose of altering or dissolving such a joint district, and a majority of all the commissioners shall refuse or neglect to attend, the commissioner or commissioners attending, or any one of them, may call a special meeting of such school-district, for the purpose of deciding whether or no such district shall be dissolved; and its decision of that question shall be as valid as though made by the commissioners. tion of dis $8. When two or more districts shall be consolidated into Consolida one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights of property tricts. possessed by the annulled district. to sell dissolved $9. When a district is parted into portions, which are Supervisor annexed to other districts, its property shall be sold by the property of supervisor of the town within which its school-house is situate, districts. at public auction, after at least five days' notice, by notices posted in three or more public places of the town in which the school-house is, one of which shall be posted in the district so dissolved. The supervisor, after deducting the expenses of the sale, shall apply its proceeds to the payment of the debts of the district, and apportion the residue, if any, among the taxable inhabitants of the district, in the ratio of their several assessments on the last corrected assessment roll or rolls of the town or towns, and pay it over accordingly. $10. The supervisor of the town within which the school- Supervisor house of the dissolved district was situate, may demand, sue outstanding for, and collect, in his name of office, any money of the district, outstanding in the hands of any of its former officers, or any other person; and, after deducting his costs and expenses, shall report the balance to the school commissioner, who shall apportion the same equitably among the districts to which the parts of the dissolved district were annexed, to be by them applied as their district meetings shall determine. to sue for moneys. district to exist in law for settlement of its affairs. etc., to be $11. Though a district be dissolved, it shall continue to Dissolved exist in law, for the purpose of providing for and paying all its just debts; and to that end, the trustees and other officers, shall continue in office, and the inhabitants may hold special meetings, elect officers to supply vacancies, and vote taxes; and all other acts necessary to raise money and pay such debts, shall be done by the inhabitants and officers of the district. $ 12. The commissioner, or a majority of the commissioners Records, in whose district or districts a dissolved school-district was, deposited shall, by his or their order in writing, delivered to the clerk clerk. of the district, or to any person in whose possession the books, papers and records of the district, or any of them, may be, direct such clerk or other person to deposit the same in the clerk's office in a town in the order named. Such clerk or other person, by a neglect or refusal to obey the order, shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be applied to the benefit of the common schools of said town. The commissioner or commissioners shall file a duplicate of the order with such clerk. with town New district and time for ing. TITLE VII. OF SCHOOL-DISTRICT AND NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS, AND OF FIRST ARTICLE. Of school-district and neighborhood meetings, the voters and their powers generally. $ 1. Whenever any school-district or separate neighborhood first meet shall be formed, the commissioner or any one or more of the commissioners within whose district or districts it may be, shall prepare a notice describing such district or neighborhood, and appointing a time and place for the first district or neighbrhood meeting, and deliver such notice to a taxable inhabitant of the district or neighborhood. Notice of such meeting. Ibid. When commissioner may call meeting. Penalty for refusal to $ 2. It shall be the duty of such inhabitant to notify every other inhabitant of the district or neighborhood, qualified to vote at the meeting, by reading the notice in his hearing, 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. $3. In case such meeting shall not be held, and, in the opinion of the 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 or neighborhood, who shall serve it as herein before provided. S 4. 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 cannot be called, as hereinafter provided, the commissioner may in like manner give notice of and call a special district meeting. S 5. Every taxable inhabitant to whom a notice of any serve notice. district meeting shall be delivered for service, pursuant to any provision of this article, who shall refuse or neglect to serve the same, as herein before prescribed, shall forfeit five dollars for the benefit of the district. Special meetings. S6. A special district meeting shall be held whenever called by the trustees. The notice thereof shall state the purpose for which it is called; and the district clerk, or, if the office be vacant, or he 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 five days before the day of the meeting, in the manner prescribed in the second section of this title. But the inhabitants of any dis |