CHAPTER 160 n act to amend the charter of the town of Gastonia. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 8. If the board of commissioners shall deem it advisable to establish and maintain public schools in said town, they shall so declare by an ordinance duly adopted, in which shall be set out the maximum rate of taxation which, in their opinion, shall be levied for that purpose, and also the number of school commissioners who shall be elected. The ordinance shall fix a day, not earlier than thirty days after its adoption, when an election shall be held to ascertain the will of the people of the town upon the subject, and it shall be published for four weeks before said election in some newspaper published in said town. At said election those in favor of levying the tax shall vote a ticket on which shall be the words, for graded schools, and those opposed to levying the tax shall vote a ticket on which shall be the words against graded schools. The inspectors shall meet as soon as the polls are closed and shall declare the result, and certify the same to the secretary of the board, who shall record the same. If a majority of the qualified voters of the town shall vote in favor of said school, it shall be the duty of the board of commissioners to levy and collect annually for the use of said school a tax, the rate of which shall be fixed by the school commissioners, not however to exceed the rate mentioned in the aforesaid ordinance. This tax shall be collected as other town taxes, and shall be paid to the treasurer of said town, who shall be ea officio secretary and treasurer of the board of school commissioners. The mayor shall be the president of such board. Within ten days after their election the board shall meet and organize ; they shall hold office until the next regular municipal election, and until their successors are qualified. At the said regular election school commissioners shall be elected under the same rules and regulations as may be provided for the election of commissioners of the town. The board of school commissioners of the town of Gastonia, as herein provided for, shall be a corporation, and shall have power to acquire and hold all such personal and real property as may be needed for the schools to be maintained and established by them under the provisions of this act. They shall employ teachers, fix their pay, and make all rules and regulations for the government of said schools: Provided, however, that the said board must establish and maintain separate schools for the children of the white race, and for the children of the colored race. It shall be the duty of the schoo) commissioners of the county of Gaston, as soon as the schools herein provided for are established, to lay off, as one of the school districts of said county, all that part of said county which is within the limits of the said town of Gastonia, to be known as Gastonia school district ; and all moneys apportioned to said district under the provisions of the school laws of the state shall be paid by the county treasurer to the treasurer of the board of school commissioners of said town, to be by them expended in the maintenance of said schools: Provided, that the privilege of attending is granted to all children who would be entitled to attend the public schools of the state.