CHAPTER 236 AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE REVISAL OF 1905 OF NORTH CAROLINA AND CERTAIN CHAPTERS OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF NORTH CAROLINA OF 1907, 1909, 1911 AND 1913, ALL BEING PARTS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL LAW OF NORTH CAROLINA. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That chapter eighty-nine of the Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five be and the same is hereby amended as follows: (a) Amend section four thousand and eighty-six by inserting between the word blood and the word in in line eight of said section the words or what is generally known as Croatan Indian blood. (b) Amend section four thousand one hundred and fifteen, as amended by chapter five hundred and twenty-five of Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and nine and chapter one hundred and thirty-five, Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and eleven, by adding at the end thereof the following: Special tax districts may be formed as provided herein out of portions of contiguous counties. The petition for such a district must be endorsed by the boards of education of both counties. The registrar and one poll holder shall be appointed by the board of commissioners of the county in which the larger number of petitioners reside, and one poll holder must be appointed by the board of commissioners of the other county. All the provisions of section four thousand one hundred and twenty-nine in regard to districts in contiguous counties shall be applicable as far as may be to the establishment of special tax districts out of portions of contiguous counties herein provided. (c) Amend section four thousand one hundred and twenty-five by adding at the end thereof the following: In all actions brought in any court against a county board of education for the purpose of compelling the board to admit any child or children who have been excluded from any school by the order of the county board of education, the order or action of the board shall be presumed to be correct, and the burden of proof shall be on the complaining party to show to the contrary. Pub.20 (d) Amend section four thousand one hundred and seventy-two by adding at the end thereof the following: Provided, that after any school district shall have had a library for ten years or longer under the provisions of this section, said school district shall be entitled to receive a second library in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section. (e) Amend section four thousand one hundred and sixty-seven by adding at the end thereof the following: Provided, further, that the counties holding institutes on alternate years shall be equally divided in number, as nearly as may be, by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction after consultation with the county superintendents of schools and the county boards of education; and that teachers in such counties as may be exempted from holding institutes in one thousand nine hundred and sixteen, under this provision in order to divide the two groups of counties evenly, shall not be debarred from teaching for the school year ending June thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen, because of non-attendance upon an institute or summer school in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixteen. (f) Strike out all of section four thousand one hundred and forty-eight, as amended by chapter one hundred and thirty-five of the Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and eleven, and insert in lieu thereof the following: 4148 (substitute for). The school committee of each township or district is hereby required to furnish annually to the county superintendent of schools a census report of all the children of school age in the township or district by name, age, sex, and race, and the names of their parents or guardians. The blanks upon which such reports are to be made shall be furnished to the various school committees by the county superintendent at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the school term in each district, and the report, duly sworn to by the person taking the census, and signed and approved by the members of the committee, shall be returned to the county superintendent on or before the first day of the school term of each school year; and any committee failing to comply with the provisions of this section, without just cause, shall be subject to removal. The school committee is authorized to designate one of the teachers, or some other competent person in each school district, to take the census. The committeeman, or other person taking the census, shall be allowed a sum not exceeding three cents per name for all names reported between the ages of six and twenty-one. The committee shall furnish to the teacher at the opening of the school a complete copy of the census furnished to the county superintendent, which shall be recorded by the teacher in the school register. The census record entered in the register shall show the name, age, and sex of each child of school age in that district, together with the names and addresses of the parents or guardians. The census report shall show also the number of children of compulsory attendance age, and the committee shall furnish the attendance officer a separate list of all children subject to compulsory attendance, containing the name, age, race, and sex of each and the name of their parents or guardians. There shall also be reported, by race and sex, the number and names of all persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-one who can not read and write and the number and names, by race and sex, of all persons over twenty-one years of age who can not read and write, and the number of deaf and dumb and blind between the ages of six and twenty-one years, designating the race and sex and the address of the parents or guardians of such children. The committee shall also report to the county superintendent, who in turn shall report to the county board of education, the number of public schoolhouses and the value of all public school property for each race, separately. (g) Amend section four thousand one hundred and fifty-eight by adding at the end thereof the following: In all counties in which the office of county treasurer has been abolished all banks or other corporations handling the public school funds shall be required to make all reports thereof required of the treasurer of the county school funds under sections four thousand one hundred and fifty-seven and four thousand one hundred and fifty-eight of the Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five as amended by any subsequent legislation.