The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That an Act to consolidate the school laws and to provide for a system of public instruction, ratified the twelfth day of February, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two be, and the same is hereby amended, so as to read as follows:

Section 1. That the State Board of Education shall meet at such times as a majority of the members may appoint: Provided, That the Governor may call a meeting at any time.

Sec. 2. The State Board of Education may, from time to time, as the same shall accumulate, invest the public school funds in United States bonds.

Sec. 3. The State Auditor shall keep a separate and distinct account of the public school funds and of the interest and income thereof, and also of such moneys as may be raised by State, county and capitation tax, or otherwise, for school purposes. He shall draw his warrants on the State Treasurer in favor of any county treasurer, whenever such county treasurer shall present an order from the State Board of Education.

Sec. 4. The State Treasurer shall be the Treasurer of the State Board of Education.

Sec. 5. The State Treasurer shall receive and hold as a special deposit all school funds paid into the Treasury, and pay them out only on the warrant of the State Auditor, issued on the order of the State Board of Education, in favor of a county treasurer, which warrant, duly endorsed by the county treasurer in whose favor it is drawn, shall be the only valid voucher in the hands of the State Treasurer for the disbursement of school funds.

Sec. 6. The county commissioners of each county shall constitute a board of education for the county. The chairman of the county commissioners shall be the chairman, the register of deeds the secretary, and the county treasurer the treasurer of the county board of education.

Sec. 7. The county board of education shall have supervision of the public schools in their respective counties, shall decide all controversies relating to the boundaries of school districts, or which may arise upon the construction of the school law, and shall see that the school law is enforced. An appeal, however, may be taken from any decision of a county board to the State Board of Education.

Sec. 8. The county treasurer of each county shall receive and disburse all public school funds. But before entering upon the duties of his office he shall execute a bond with sufficient security in double the amount of money which may come into his possession during any year of his official term, for the faithful performance of his duties as treasurer of the county board of education. The county commissioners shall from time to time, if necessary, require the county treasurer to give bond and sufficient security by additional bond or bonds, so as to secure the faithful administration of the school funds, and in default thereof, the commissioners shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sec. 9. All orders upon the county treasurer for school money for the payment of teachers, for the purchase of sites for school-houses, and for half the cost of building, repairing, and furnishing school-houses, shall be signed by the school committee of the township in which the school is taught or in which the site or school-house is situated, which orders, duly endorsed by the persons to whom the same are payable, shall be the only valid vouchers in the hands of county treasurers for disbursements of school money.

Sec. 10. The secretary shall record all of the proceedings of the county board of education, issue all notices and orders pertaining to the public schools, school-houses, sites or districts, which notices or orders it shall be the duty of the sheriff to serve, and record all school statistics which shall be reported to him by school committees and board of county examiners in a book to be furnished by the county commissioners for the purpose.

Sec. 11. In all cases in which an appeal may be taken from the decision of the county to the State Board of Education, it shall be the duty of the secretary to send up a transcript of the proceedings and evidence in the case, together with the written statements of the parties.

Sec. 12. The county board of education of each county shall hold two regular meetings every year on the first Mondays of February and August for the purpose of looking after the interests of the public schools: Provided, That the chairman may call a meeting of the board at any time. At each regular meeting it shall be the duty of the board to examine the books and vouchers of the county treasurer, and audit his accounts, and report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a full account of all school funds received and disbursed by the county treasurer.

Sec. 13. The county board of education of each county shall appoint three residents of their county of good moral character and suitable attainments, who shall be styled "The Board of Examiners," one of whom shall be designated as chairman. They shall hold their office one year and until their successors are appointed. If a vacancy should at any time occur in the board of examiners, the same shall be filled by the county board of education.

Sec. 14. The board of examiners of each county shall examine all applicants for teachers' certificates at the court house of the county on the first Thursdays of January and July of every year, and continue the examination from day to day during the remainder, of the week, if necessary, till all applicants are examined. They shall grant certificates to all applicants of sufficient moral and mental qualification. The board of examiners shall give certificates in three grades as follows: If applicants are qualified to teach classes in the higher branches of English they shall receive certificates of the first grade; if qualified to teach only in the ordinary branches of English, they shall be given a certificate of the second grade; and all applicants qualified to teach primary classes only, shall be given certificates of the third grade. If any person shall apply for an examination and certificate at any other time, the applicant shall pay the board of examiners a fee of one dollar. If the board of examiners should become satisfied that any person to whom a teachers' certificate has been granted is guilty of any immoral or disreputable conduct, or is neglectful of or in any way incompetent to the discharge of the duties of a teacher, they shall revoke the certificate and give notice to the secretary of the county board of education.

Sec. 15. The board of exaininers shall deliver to the secretary of the county board of education on or before the first day of October of every year, a catalogue of all the teachers to whom they gave certificates during the year, also an abstract statement of the number, race and sex of the teachers, and report the same to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Sec. 16. In each township there shall be biennially elected by the qualified voters thereof a school committee of three persons, whose duties shall be as prescribed in this Act. If there should at any time be a failure to elect school committee-men in any township, or if a vacancy should at any time occur, it shall be the duty of the county board of education to appoint suitable residents of the townships to fill the vacancy, and the persons thus appointed shall exercise all the powers and duties of a school committee until their successors are elected and qualified.

Sec. 17. The school committee of each township shall be a body corporate by the name and style of "The School Committee of Township ____________ , in the county of _______________ ," as the case may be, and in that name shall be capable of purchasing and holding real and personal estate, and of selling and transferring the same for school purposes, and of presenting and defending suit for and against the corporation. All conveyances to school committees shall be to them and their successors in office.

Sec. 18. The school committee of each township, within fifteen days after their election or appointment, shall meet at some convenient point within the township, and organize by electing one of their number chairman, and another of their number clerk of the school committee.

Sec. 19. The school committee of the several townships shall lay off their respective townships into convenient school districts, consulting, as far as practicable, the convenience of the neighborhood, and the wishes of persons interested, and disregarding the township boundaries where convenience require it. They shall designate the districts by number, as School District No. 1, School District No. 2, and of township ______________ , in the _____________ of _________________ , as the case may be: Provided, That where a district lies in two or more townships, it shall be designated as school district No. ______ of the township in which the school-house is situated; and the commissioners of adjoining counties shall have power in cases of great inconvenience to arrange for the sending of pupils to schools across the lines of such counties and provide for their payment from the fund of their school district.

Sec. 20. The school committee shall consult the convenience of the white residents in settling the boundaries of districts for white schools, and of colored residents in settling the boundaries for colored schools. The schools of the two races shall be separate; the districts the same or not, according to the convenience of the parties concerned. In cases where there are two sets of districts in a township they shall be designated as school districts numbers one, two, three, etc., for white schools, or school districts, numbers one, two, three, etc., for colored schools, as the case may be, of township ___________ of ______________ etc., as before stated.

Sec. 21. The school committee may receive any gift, grant, donation or devise made for the use of any school or schools within their jurisdiction, and in their corporate capacity they shall be and are hereby entrusted with the care and custody of all school-houses, school-house sites, grounds, books, apparatus, or other public school property belonging to their respective jurisdiction, with full power to control the same as they may deem best for the interest of the public schools, and the cause of education. When, in the opinion of the committee, any school-house, school-house sites, or other public school property has become unnecessary for public school purposes, they shall return the land to the original owner, his heirs or assigns, if he or they so desire on the payment of first cost, and remove or sell the building after advertisement for twenty days at three public places in the townships. The deed for the property thus sold shall be executed by tlie chairman and clerk of the committee, and proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the township treasurer for the school expenses in the township.

Sec. 22. The school committee may receive suitable sites for school houses by donation or purchase. In the latter case they shall report the price to the chairman and secretary of the county board of education. If the latter are satisfied that the price is not excessive they shall approve the order of the committee on the county treasurer, which said committee are hereby authorized to give for the purchase money in favor of the grantor of the land, and upon payment of the order the title to said site shall vest in the committee and their successors in office. Whenever the committee are unable to obtain a suitable site for a school by gift or purchase, they shall report to the county commissioners, and the latter shall thereupon appoint three disinterested citizens, who shall lay off not more than one acre, and assess the cash value thereof, and report their proceedings to the county commissioners. If said report is confirmed by the commissioners, the chairman and secretary of the board of education for the county shall approve the order which the township school committee shall give on the county treasurer in favor of the owner of the land thus laid off, and upon payment or offer of payment of this order, the title to said land shall vest in the school committee and their successors in office: Provided, That improved land shall not be condemned under the provisions of this section; and provided further, That any person aggrieved by the action of said commissioners, may appeal to the Superior Court of the county in which said land is situate, upon giving bond to secure said commissioners against such costs as they may incur on account of said appeal not being prosecuted with effect.

Sec. 23. Every school to which aid shall be given under the provisions of this Act shall be a public school, to which children between the ages of six and twenty-one years shall be admitted free of any charge, subject to the restrictions contained in section twenty.

Sec. 24. If the tax levied in this Act for the support of the public schools shall be insufficient to maintain one or more schools in each township for the period of four months then the county commissioners of each county may levy annually a special tax to supply the deficiency for the support and maintenance of said schools for the said period of four months. The said tax shall be collected by the sheriff in money, and he shall be subject to the same liabilities for the collection and accounting for said tax as he is or may be by law in regard to other county taxes. The said tax shall be levied on all property, credits and polls of the county, and in the assessment of the amount upon each the commissioners shall observe the constitutional equation of taxation; and the fund thus raised shall be appropriated in the county in which it is collected as provided in section thirty-one of this Act: Provided, That the question of the levy and collection of said tax shall have first been submitted to the vote of the qualified voters of the county at an election to be held at the different election precincts of the county, under rules and regulations to be fixed by the commissioners, and conforming as near as may be to the rules and regulations for conducting other elections, except that no new registration need be made, but the registration books of the next preceeding general election may be used. The penalties for illegal and fraudulent voting shall be the same as provided in annual elections.

Sec. 25. The school committee shall have the authority to employ and dismiss teachers of the schools within their townships, and shall determine the pay per month to be paid the same: Provided, however, That teachers of the first grade shall not receive out of the school fund more than two (2) dollars per day; of the second grade not more than one dollar and fifty cents per day; and of the third grade not more than one dollar per day, but no teacher shall receive any compensation for a less term than one month. No committee-man shall be a teacher. Nor shall any committee-man in any way be interested by contract or otherwise in the erection or repairing of any school-house in his district.

Sec. 26. The school committees of each township shall annually make an estimate of the amount of money necessary for maintaining the schools within their jurisdiction for a period not less than four months, and a certified report of said estimate shall be made to county commissioners on or before the regular meeting in February: Provided, That the first estimate and report as herein required shall be made on or before the first Monday in April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.

Sec. 27. The school year shall begin July first, and end June thirtieth.

Sec. 28. Every teacher or principal of a school to which aid shall be given under the provisions of this Act, shall keep a daily record of all absences of pupils and of the grade in scholarship and deportment of each. The grade in scholarship shall be indicated by the numbers 1, 2. 3, 4 and 5; 1 representing the highest or first grade, and 5 the lowest, and the three intermediate numbers the three intermediate grades. The grades in deportment shall be represented by the same numbers and in the same order. At the end of every term every teacher of a public school shall deliver to the county treasurer a statement of the length of the term of the school, of the race, number, sex and average attendance of pupils, and the name of the district and township in which the school was taught.

Sec. 29. At the middle and end of every four months' term of a public school, the teacher or principal of the school shall exhibit to the school committee of the township a statement of the number of pupils, their average attendance, the length of a term and the time taught. He shall also exhibit a teacher's certificate, dated within one year of the time. If the committee are satisfied that the provisions of this Act are complied with, they shall give an order on the county treasurer, payable to the teacher for the sum due his school for the time taught. But they shall in no case give such an order unless the teacher produce a certificate of mental and moral qualifications from the board of examiners, dated within one year of the time.

Sec. 30. The county board of education of every county shall, on the first Monday of February of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, apportion among the several townships in the county, according to the number of children in each between the ages of six and twenty-one years, (which number shall be ascertained by a census to be taken by the school committee and reported to the county board of education,) all school funds which may then be in the possession of or due to the county treasurer, specifying how much thereof is apportioned to the children of each race, and give notice thereof to the school committees of the several townships of the county. And the school committees in the several townships shall apportion the same in like manner among the several school districts, and publish the same by an advertisement posted on the court house door of each county. The sums thus apportioned to the several townships shall be subject to the orders of the school committees thereof for payment of the school expenses mentioned in section nine as amended in this Act: Provided, however, That in no case shall the school fund thus apportioned to either race be expended for the education of the other race: And provided further, That so much of said school fund as shall not be expended in any school district for the education of the race for which it was apportioned in any year, shall be added to the final apportionment to said race in said school districts for the succeeding year. If the pupils of any public school reside in different townships, the school committes of each shall give an order to the teacher for such part of the amount due him as is proportionate to the number of pupils attending his school from their township.

Sec. 31. The county treasurer of each county shall report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on the first day of July of each year, the entire amount of school money received by him during the preceding school year, the several sources from which it was derived and the disbursements thereof made by him, designating the sums paid for schools for the white and colored children respectively, for school-house sites in the several townships. At the same time the secretary of the county board of education shall report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction the number of public schools taught in the county during the year for each race, the number of pupils of each race, their average attendance, the number of males and the number of females, according to the reports made to him by the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 32. It shall be the duty of all teachers of free public schools to maintain good order and discipline in their respective schools, to encourage morality, industry and neatness in all their pupils, and to teach thoroughly all branches which they profess to teach. If any pupil should wilfully and persistently violate the rules of school, such pupil may be dismissed by the teacher for the current term.

Sec. 33. That the State Board of Education may recommend the course of study to be pursued, the text books and other means of instruction to be used in the public schools: Provided, That no sectarian or political text books or influences shall be used in any public school.

Sec. 34. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have the school laws of the State published in pamphlet form and distributed to all school officers in the State, on or before the 1st day of April, of this year, shall have printed all the forms necessary and proper for the purposes of this Act, and shall look after the school interests of the State at large, and report to the Governor of the State on or before the third Monday of November of every year, which report shall give information and statistics of the public schools, and recommend such improvement in the school law as may occur to him, he shall keep his office at the seat of government, and shall sign all requisitions on the Auditor for the payment of money out of the State Treasury for school purposes, copies of his acts and decisions, and of all papers kept in his office and authenticated by his signature and official seal, shall be of the same force and validity as the original. He shall be furnished with such room, fuel and stationery as shall be necessary for the efficient discharge of the duties of his office as heretofore.

Sec. 35. All State and county capitation taxes which shall be levied and collected for school purposes under the Constitution, and all other levied by and in pursuance of this Act for school purposes shall be collected and paid to the county treasurer of the counties respectively in which the same are collected, at the same time and under the same rules, regulations and penalties as are or may be prescribed for the collection and payment of county taxes, and shall constitute a revenue and fund for the support of the public schools in said counties respectively, and shall not be used for any other purpose. The sheriff or other person collecting such taxes shall take the duplicate receipts of the county treasurer for such payments, one copy of which shall be transmitted to the Auditor of the State: Provided, That in his settlement with the sheriff for the taxes mentioned in this section, the county treasurer shall only receive money.

Sec. 36. All the school funds which shall not be required to pay the school orders of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, shall be added to the school fund for the counties for one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. And the school funds for any year which may not be required for the school expenses of that year, shall be added to the school fund for the following year.

Sec. 37. In addition to the State and county capitation taxes, appropriated by the Constitution, and other revenues heretofore provided by law for the support of public schools, there shall be levied and collected every year for the support and maintenance of public schools eight and one-third cents on every hundred dollars worth of property and credits in the State, and twenty-five cents on every poll in addition to the taxes in the revenue law.

Sec. 38. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the board of education for each county to report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on or before the first day of July of every year, full and accurate statistics, showing the number of public schools in the county, the length of term of each, the race, sex, number and average attendance of pupils, as reported to him under the provisions of the fifteenth section of this Act; and also the number of school children in the county, as reported to the county board of education under the provisions of section forty-five of this Act. And if any secretary of a county board of education shall fail to comply with the provisions of this section at the time above stated, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in the Superior Court of his county, he shall be fined not less than fifty dollars and not more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned not less than one month, or more than six months in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 39. The county treasurer of such county shall receivc such amount of commissions as are now allowed by section two, chapter one hundred and thirty-nine, Acts of one thousand eight hundred and seventy and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, on the entire amount of school funds which may pass through his hands each year, but he shall state the amount of his commissions in his annual statement to the secretary of the State Board of Education, as provided for in the thirty-first section of this Act. The secretary of each county board of education shall receive such compensation for his services as may be allowed by the county commissioners, which shall be paid out of the school fund.

Sec. 40. The school committee shall be exempt from military duty, from working the public roads, and from serving on juries, and shall receive no other compensation for their services. Before entering upon the duties of their office they shall take an oath before a Justice of the Peace for the faithful discharge of the duties of that office.

Sec. 41. The share of the public school fund arising from the increase thereof by investment or otherwise to which each county may be entitled, shall be paid to the county treasurer, or his lawful attorney, upon the order of the board of education and the warrant of the Auditor, and in like manner shall all payments from the school fund be made.

Sec. 42. It shall be the duty of the State Board of Education, on the first day of January of every year, to apportion among the several counties of the State all the school funds which may then be in the treasury of the State Board of Education, and order a warrant for the full apportionment to each county, upon the requisition of each county treasurer, approved by the chairman and secretary of the county board of education.

Sec. 43. Each member of the board of examiners who shall comply with the provisions of this Act shall receive as a compensation for his services two dollars a day for every day he may be actually engaged in the examination of teachers at the times mentioned in the fourteenth section of this Act. It shall be the duty of the chairman and secretary of each county board of education to draw an order on the county treasurer for the amount due each member of the board of examiners by virtue of this section, payable to said examiners. This order shall be paid by the county treasurer out of the school fund.

Sec. 44. Every person who shall wilfully interrupt or disturb any public or private school, or any meeting lawfully and peaceably held for the purpose of literary or scientific improvement, either within or without the place where such school or meeting is held, or injure any school building, or deface any school furniture, apparatus or other school property, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars, at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 45. It shall be the duty of the school committee of each township to take and return to the county board of education on or before the first day of August in every year a full and accurate census of the children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, giving the number in public schools, and the number who attended no school, designating the race and sex in all cases. They shall also report the number of public school-houses and the number of private school-houses, and the number of academies and colleges in each township.

Sec. 46. Chapter one hundred and eighty-four of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, and chapter two hundred and thirty-seven of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and seventy and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and all other laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed.

Sec. 47. This Act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

Ratified the 26th day of February, 1873.

Tod R. Caldwell, Governor
James L. Robinson, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Charles H. Brogden, Lt. Governor and President of the Senate

State of North Carolina,
Office Secretary of State,
Raleigh, March 19th, 1873.

I, William H. Howerton, Secretary of State, hereby
certify that the foregoing are true copies of the original
acts and resolutions on file in this office.

William H. Howerton,
Secretary of State.