An Act in Relation to Public Schools in the Town of Maxton.
Section 1. The town of Maxton shall be and is hereby constituted a public school district for both white and colored schools.
Sec. 2. The school committee hereinafter provided for shall have entire and exclusive control of the public school interests and property in the town of Maxton, shall prescribe rules and regulations for their own government not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, shall employ and fix the compensation of teachers and do all other acts that maybe just and lawful to conduct and manage the public school interests in said town: Provided, all children resident in the town of Maxton between the ages of six and twenty one years shall be admitted into said schools free of tuition charges: Provided further, that the school committee may receive as students non-resident children upon payment of reasonable tuition charges, to be fixed by the committee.
Sec. 3. A. J. McKimmon, J. W. Carter, J. B. Weatherly, T. B. Pace. W. S. McNair. J. A. McLean and G. B. Patterson are hereby appointed school committeemen for the public schools of said town of Maxton. As soon as the said committee shall have qualified they shall divide themselves by lot into three classes. The first class shall be composed of two members, the second class of two members and the third class of three members. Successors in office to the members of the first class shall be elected by the board of commissioners of Maxton at their first regular meeting in July, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and successors in office to the members of the second and third classes shall be elected by the board of commissioners of Maxton two and four years respectively thereafter. Persons elected school committeemen by the board of commissioners shall be elected for a term of six years. Vacancies caused by death, removal or other cause shall be filled by the board of commissioners of town of Maxton. The mayor of Maxton shall be ex officio chairman of the school committee.
Sec. 4. At the date of the municipal election next ensuing the passage of this act or at any time within twelve months thereafter, as the school committee may determine and request, the board of commissioners of the town of Maxton shall submit to the qualified voters of said town the question whether a special school tax shall be annually levied to supplement the public school fund in said town. Said election shall be held under the rules and regulations governing municipal elections in said town, and for the purposes of said election the board of commissioners shall order an entirely new registration. For the purpose of ordering said registration and election the board of commissioners may meet in special session. At the election to be held under the provisions of this Act those who favor the levying of such tax shall vote a ticket on which shall be printed or written the words "For special tax," and those who are opposed shall vote a ticket on which shall be printed or written the words "Against special tax." If a majority of the qualified voters shall be in favor of said tax the same shall be annually levied and collected as the other town taxes, and the tax collector shall be subject to the same liabilities for the collection and disbursement of the said tax as he is or may be for other town taxes. The taxes levied and collected under the provisions of this Act shall be placed to the credit of the school committee and shall be by them applied exclusively to the support and maintenance of the public schools in the town of Maxton. The special school tax thus levied and collected shall not exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars valuation of property and one dollar and fifty cents on the poll.
Sec. 5. The moneys which shall from time to time be apportioned under the general school law to the public schools in Maxton shall be placed to the credit of the school committee provided for in this Act.
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the said school committee to distribute and apportion the school moneys placed to their credit so as to give each school in the town, white and colored, the same length of school term as nearly as may be each year, and in making expenditures the committee shall have proper regard for the grade of work to be done and the qualifications of the teachers required in each school, white and colored, in said town.
Sec. 7. The school committee shall make an annual report to the board of commissioners of the receipts and disbursements of all school funds under their control.
Sec. 8. The school committee hereby created shall be a body corporate by the name and style of "The School Committee of Maxton," and by that name shall be capable of receiving gifts and grants, of purchasing and holding real and personal estate, of selling, mortgaging and transferring the same for school purposes, of prosecuting and defending suits for or against the corporation hereby created. Conveyances to said school committee shall be to them and their successors in office.