CHAPTER 968 AN ACT TO INCORPORATE AND ESTABLISH THE EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF. WHEREAS, it has been established and recognized by educators special- izing in the education of the deaf throughout the United States that an enrollment of five hundred -500 students in a school is the maximum for effective work as well as skillful and competent education in this field; and WHEREAS, California, Pennsylvania and other states have recognized this standard or maximum enrollment by establishing new schools for the deaf when the level of enrollment of five hundred -500 persons or students was reached in existing schools; and WHEREAS, the current proposed appropriations will provide for an increase to five hundred -500 students at the North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton during the 1961-1963 biennium and the Director of that school and the Board of Trustees at that school agree on the necessity for a new school for the deaf in North Carolina, preferably in Eastern North Carolina, and the necessity for its activation sometime in the bien- nium 1963-1965; and WHEREAS, O. H. Pons, President of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton, has been authorized by his Board of Directors to make a statement relating to this proposed school for the deaf which statement is as follows: It is the opinion of the Board of Directors and of the Administration that the School for the Deaf in Morganton has reached a maximum recom- mended size for ideal educational facilities for the deaf. The Board and the Administration favors new facilities in another location, rather than expanding at Morganton for future requirements due to ever increasing enrollment.; and WHEREAS, in order to provide the physical plant for an initial enroll- ment of one hundred -100 deaf students from preschool age through Grade 8 and the expansion to a student body of two hundred and fifty -250 with education through high school, when recommended by the Board of Directors two million fifty-seven thousand dollars ($2,057,000.00) would be required for capital improvements and renovations to the aforesaid buildings: Now, therefore, The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, as amended, is hereby further amended by adding thereto a new Article which shall be designated as Article 20 and shall read as follows: Article 20 Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf Sec. 116-186. Incorporation and location. There is hereby established and there shall be maintained a school for the deaf of this State which shall be a corporation under the corporate name of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. 1270 As soon as practicable after its appointment as hereinafter provided for the North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf shall meet with the Governor and consider sites, including the proposed site at Wilson, North Carolina, together with any other sites in Eastern North Carolina which may be offered as a location for the school. From all sites offered, the Governor and the North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf shall designate that site considered most suitable as the location for the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, and such school shall thereafter be known as the North Carolina School for the Deaf at ............ Sec. 116-187. Directors; terms; vacancies. The North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton and the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf shall be under the control and management of a board of directors consisting of eleven -11 members known as North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf. The said board of directors, to be known as North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf, shall be constituted and composed as follows: The Governor of North Carolina, within thirty days after the effective date of this Act, shall appoint eleven -11 members or directors for terms of four -4 years each from and after the date of their appointment, and these eleven -11 members shall constitute the North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf. All directors appointed as herein provided shall hold office until their successors are appointed and qualified. The Governor of North Carolina shall fill all vacancies in office of said directors arising because of death, resignation or any reason whatsoever. As soon as the Governor of North Carolina has appointed all directors, as herein provided, to serve as North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf, the Board of Directors of the North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton shall cease to exist and the general control, administration and supervision of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and the North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton shall be under the authority of the North Carolina Directors of Schools for the Deaf as herein constituted. The Governor shall transmit to the General Assembly at its next regular Session the names of his appointees for confirmation but the appointees of the Governor shall have the right to serve and act as said directors until their names are presented to the General Assembly for confirmation. The Governor shall have the power to remove any member of the board of directors whenever in his opinion it is to the best interest of the State to remove such person, and the Governor shall not be required to give any reason for such removal. Sec. 116-188. Organization of board; other officials; salaries. The board of directors shall organize by appointing one of its number president and three an executive committee, who shall hold office for two years; they shall elect a superintendent for each school whose terms of office shall be three years, and such other officers, teachers, and agents as shall be deemed necessary, and shall fix the compensation of same. Sec. 116-189. Superintendent. The superintendents shall be teachers of knowledge, skill, and ability in their profession and experience in the management and instruction of the deaf. They shall possess good execu- 1271 tive ability and shall be the chief executive officers of the institutions. They shall devote their whole time to the supervision of the institution, and shall see that the pupils are properly instructed in the branches of learning and industrial pursuits as provided for in this Article, and under the supervision of the board. The board shall elect all teachers and subordinate officers by and with the consent and recommendation of the superintendents. Sec. 116-190. Pupils admitted; education. The board of directors shall, according to such reasonable regulations as it may prescribe, on application, receive into the school for the purposes of education all white deaf children resident of the State not of confirmed immoral character, nor imbecile or unsound in mind or incapacitated by physical infirmity for useful instruction, who are between the ages of six and twenty-one years: Provided, that the board of directors may admit students under the age of six years when, in its judgment, such admission will be for the best interest of the applicant and the facilities of the school permit such admission. Only those who are bona fide citizens and/or residents of North Carolina shall be eligible to and entitled to receive free tuition and maintenance. The board of directors may fix charges and prescribe rules whereby nonresident deaf children may be admitted, but in no event shall the admission of nonresidents in any way prevent the attendance of any eligible deaf child, resident of North Carolina. The board shall provide for the instruction of all pupils in the branches of study now prescribed by law for the public schools of the State and in such other branches as may be of special benefit to the deaf. As soon as practicable, the boys shall be instructed and trained in such mechanical pursuits as may be suited to them, and in practical agriculture and subjects relating thereto; and the girls shall be instructed in sewing, housekeeping, and such arts and industrial branches as may be useful to them in making themselves self-supporting.