TRUSTEES' SCHOOL MANUAL. THE CONSOLIDATED ACTS RELATING TO COMMON SCHOOLS IN UPPER CANADA; TOGETHER WITH A FULL DIGEST OF THE DECISIONS OF THE SUPERIOR AND Forms, General Regulations, and Instructions FOR EXECUTING THEIR PROVISIONS. WITH A COPIOUS ANALYTICAL INDEX. Edited, with Notes, by authority of the Chief Superintendent of Education, by Printed for the Department of Public Instruction for Upper Canada, BY LOVELL AND GIBSON, YONGE STREET. 1864. Price 35 cents, including postage, which, by post office regulation, must be paid in advance. PREFATORY NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. IT has been considered advisable to collect and arrange for easy reference, in one Manual, all the provisions of the law, and the general regulations and instructions for the government of Common Schools in the rural School Sections of Upper Canada, for the guidance of Trustees, Local Superintendents, and all others officially connected with our Common Schools. By means of numerous notes and references appended to the text, and a copious analytical index, this Manual will be found to contain a complete digest of the existing laws and regulations affecting the Public Schools. Sections of other Statutes affecting Common Schools, have been, for greater convenience, quoted at length, and arranged in the body of the text. It cannot but be gratifying to observe how much the whole tone and character of the Public Schools have been raised within the last few years; and it is to be hoped that their future prosperity will afford the strongest evidence to the Legislature, that the Trustees are anxious to avail themselves, to the fullest extent, of the ample provisions of the law, to adapt our Schools to the highest wants of the community, and to place them in a state of efficiency not yet surpassed by any Schools in the world. This can be easily done, if a true spirit of educational zeal animates us, and if a thorough appreciation of the great Christian and national objects contemplated in the establishment of a public system of education for all classes, guides us in our efforts. The suggestions of the Chief Superintendent on this point, which will be found on pages 133-144, are designed to promote the accomplishment of these noble and patriotic purposes. The Legislature has generously provided means to sustain the Schools, and the public has nobly seconded its efforts.* It has also provided means for the supply of all our Public Schools with well-trained teachers, and with the most approved library books, school prizes, maps, charts, diagrams, and apparatus. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of Trustees are clearly defined, as well as those of the Local Superintendent, in the Act. A summary of the duties of each, and an Educational Calendar of the dates requiring their attention, have been inserted in the appropriate places. No want, therefore, need be felt on any of these points. A complete Summary of the Decisions of the Superior Courts, on various points of the School Law, down to the latest dates, will be found incorporated in the notes which the Editor has appended to the text. The amended School Act of 1860, although included in the text and notes to the Consolidated School Act, has been inserted entire on pages 114-118. Extracts from the Act passed in 1863, authorizing the investment of moneys for school purposes, will also be found on pages 52 and 70. EDUCATION OFFICE, Toronto, February, 1864. J. G. H. * Nearly $1,232,900 were expended in 1862, to sustain the Public Common Schools of Upper Canada. The grand total expended for educational purposes in connection with Common, Separate, and Grammar Schools and Colleges, was $1,535,240. See pages 83 and 84 of the Annual Report of the Chief Superintendent of Education, for 1862. |