deeds to real estate in compromise; and to cancel notes, bonds, mortgages, judgments and decrees for the benefit of the township; and their action in the premises shall be valid and binding.

§ 44. The trustees of schools shall have power to lease or sell any lands that may come into their possession in the manner described in either of the two preceding sections. The sale shall be made in the manner provided for the sale of the sixteenth section.

§ 45. The trustees of schools in newly organized townships shall divide the township into school districts to suit the wishes or convenience of a majority of the inhabitants of the township, and shall prepare or cause to be prepared a map of the township, on which the district or districts shall be designated by their respective numbers. The said trustees of schools shall also cause any territory taken from a school district acting under a special charter to be formed and established into a school district to be governed under the general school laws of the State and shall cause such district to be established within thirty days from the time such territory is taken from such district acting under a special charter; and said trustees shall call an election for the purpose of electing directors for such district within ten days after the organization of such district. In case such territory has not sufficient inhabitants and children to establish and maintain a school, the trustees shall have power to annex such territory to an adjoining district or districts. (As amended by an Act approved June 5, 1911.)

§ 46. When such division into districts has been made, the trustees of schools may, in their discretion, at the regular meeting in April, change the boundaries of districts situated wholly within the township,

so as:

First-To divide a district into two or more districts, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of the district. Second-To consolidate two or more districts into one district, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each district.

Third-To detach territory from one district and add the same to an adjacent district, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each district; or, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters residing within the territory described in the petition, asking that such territory be detached from one district and added to an adjacent district.

Fourth-To create a new district from territory belonging to two or more districts, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each district; or, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters residing within the territory described in the petition, containing not fewer than ten families, asking that such territory be created into a new district.

Fifth-To create a new district by dividing the territory of an existing district, when petitioned by two-thirds of the legal voters residing within the territory described in the petition, containing not fewer than ten families, asking that such territory be created into a new district.

§ 47. Changes in the boundaries of districts which lie in separate townships, and of districts formed of parts of two or more townships, may be made at the regular meeting of trustees in April, by the con

current action of the several boards of trustees in which the district or districts lie, each board being petitioned, as provided in the preceding section of this Act.

§ 48. In school districts, whether operating under this Act or under a special charter, the request for a change of boundary may be submitted to the trustees by vote of the people, instead of by petition. The school directors, when petitioned so to do by twenty-five legal voters of the district, shall submit the question of the change desired to the voters of the district, at a special election called for that purpose, and held at least thirty days prior to the regular April meeting of trustees. If a majority of the votes cast at such election shall be in favor of the change proposed, then, due return of the election having been made to the township treasurer, the trustees of schools shall consider and take action the same as if petitioned therefor by a majority of the legal voters of such district. Such question shall not be so submitted more than once in any year.

§ 49. A majority of the legal voters of a district lying in two or more townships may secure the dissolution of the district by petitioning the trustees of schools of the several townships, at their regular meeting in April, to add the territory belonging to the district in their township to one or more adjacent districts. Upon receipt of such petition, or the returns of the election, in districts containing one thousand or more inhabitants, the trustees of schools of the several townships shall make such disposition of the territory of the district that lies in their township, and they shall jointly make such division of the property of the district between or among the districts to which its territory is attached, as provided in the case of the organization of a new district from a part of another district.

§ 50. If any school district shall, for two consecutive years, fail to maintain a public school as required by law, it shall be the duty of the trustees of schools of the township, or townships, in which such district lies, to attach the territory of such district to one or more adjoining districts; and, in case the territory is added to two or more districts, to divide the property of the district among the districts to which its territory is added, in the manner provided for the division of property in case of the organization of a new district from a part of another district.

§ 51. Any city, township or district in which schools are now managed under any special Act, may, by vote of its electors, cease to control its schools under such special Act, and becomes part of the school township, or townships, in which it is situated. Upon petition of fifty voters of such city, township or district, presented to the board having the control and management of the public schools, it shall be the duty of such board to cause to be submitted to the voters at the next ensuing election to be held in such city, township or district, the question of "organizing under the general school law." Notice shall be given by posting notices in the five most public places in such city, township or district, at least fifteen days before the date of holding such election, which notices shall be in the following form, to-wit:

NOTICE OF ELECTION

وه.

Notice is hereby given, that on the.......day of.. ......1,...., an election will be held at.. for the purpose of deciding the question of organizing under the general school law. The polls will be opened at ........o'clock, ...m., and closed at ........o'clock, ...m.

(Signed)

If it shall appear, upon a canvas of the returns, that a majority of the votes cast at such election are in favor of organizing under the general school law, then the board having the control and management of schools in such city, township or district shall give notice of an election to be held on any Saturday thereafter, according to the provisions of this Act, for the purpose of electing a board of directors or board of education, as the case may require; but all subsequent elections shall be held on the third Saturday of April annually.

§ 52. No petition shall be acted upon by the trustees of schools unless such petition shall have been filed with the clerk at least twenty days before the regular meeting in April, nor unless a copy of the petition, with a notice in writing, signed by one or more of the petitioners, shall be delivered by the petitioners, or one of them, at least ten days before the day on which the petition is to be considered, to the president or clerk of the school directors of each district whose boundaries will be changed if the petition is granted. Such notice may be in the following form, to-wit:

NOTICE OF PETITION

The directors in district No........, in....... ........county, will take notice that the undersigned and others have made and filed with the trustees of schools their petition, a copy of which is herewith handed to you.

(Signed)

§ 53. When a petition shall come before the trustees of schools asking for a change in the boundaries of districts, it shall be the duty of the trustees to ascertain whether the foregoing provisions have been strictly complied with. If it shall appear that they, or either of them, have not been complied with, the board shall adjourn, for not longer than four weeks, in order that the foregoing provisions may be complied with. There shall be but one adjournment for such purpose.

§ 54. If it shall appear on the day of the regular meeting, or, in case of adjournment, at the adjourned meeting, that such provisions have been complied with, the trustees shall consider the petition, hear any legal voters of the district or districts affected by the proposed change who may appear to oppose the petition, and shall grant or refuse the prayer of the petitioners without unreasonable delay. After the trustees of schools have considered the petition, no objection shall be raised as to its form, and their action shall be prima facie evidence that all requirements have been complied with.

§ 55. The petitioners, or the legal voters who appear to oppose the change of boundaries, shall have the right of appeal to the county superintendent of schools. The appellant shall file with the clerk of the trustees a written notice of appeal within ten days after final action by the trustees, which notice may be in the following form, to-wit:

NOTICE OF APPEAL

To the trustees of schools of township No.........., Range No.........., of

......county, Illinois:

You are hereby notified that the undersigned will appeal from your decision made on the.........day of... 1...., granting (or refusing the prayer of the petition in regard to ) (here give substance of the petition concerned) to the county superintendent of schools of

......county, Illinois, as provided by law.

(Signed)

§ 56. When an appeal is so taken the clerk shall transmit, within five days after the notice of appeal has been filed, all papers in the case, with a transcript of the records of the trustees showing their action thereon, to the county superintendent of schools. The clerk shall take no further action in the matter, except upon the order of the county superintendent, who shall investigate the case, make such change or changes, or refuse to make them, reversing, if need be, the action of the trustees, and give the clerk immediate notice of his decision; and his action shall be final and binding. If the changes asked by the petitioners be made by the county superintendent, he shall notify, in writing, the clerk by whom the papers in the case were transmitted to him, of his action, and the clerk shall thereupon make a record of the same, and shall, within ten days thereafter, make a copy of the same, and a map of the township showing the districts, and an accurate list of the taxpayers of the newly arranged districts, and deliver them to the county clerk for filing and record by him, the same as if the changes had been ordered by the trustees.

§ 57. In all cases in which the district affected by a proposed change of boundaries is divided by a county line or lines, the appeal may be taken to the county superintendent of schools of any one of the counties in which the district is partly located; and upon appeal being taken in any such case, the county superintendent of schools to whom such appeal is taken shall forthwith give notice to the county superintendent or superintendents of schools of the other county or counties of the pendency of such appeal, and of the time and place when and where it shall be heard; and the county superintendents of schools of the counties in which the district is located shall meet at such time and place, and together hear and determine the appeal. In case the county superintendents shall be unable to arrive at an agreement, the county judge of the county in which such appeal is pending shall become a member of the board of appeal, by which the appeal shall thereupon be heard and determined. The county superintendent of schools to whom such appeal is taken shall at once notify, in writing, the clerk by whom the papers in the case were transmitted to him, of the action taken on such appeal, as hereinafter provided.

§ 58. When a change in boundaries is made by the trustees of schools, and no appeal is taken, the clerk shall make and file with the count clerk for record, within twenty days of the action of the trustees, a copy of the record of such action, certified by the president and the clerk, together with a map of the township showing the districts, and a list of the taxpayers of the newly organized districts.

§ 59. In case any territory shall be set off from a district that has a bonded debt, the change not being petitioned for by a majority of the

legal voters of the district, such original district shall remain liable for the payment of such bonded debt, as if not divided. The directors of the original district, and the directors of the district into which the territory taken from such original district has been incorporated, shall constitute a joint board for the purpose of determining and certifying, and they shall determine and certify, to the county clerk the amount of tax required yearly for the purpose of paying the interest and principal. of such bonded debt, which tax shall be extended by the county clerk against all property embraced within the original district as if it had not been divided.

§ 60. When the trustees of schools shall organize a new district, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the trustees of schools, if no appeal is taken, to order within fifteen days after the action of the trustees, an election, to be held at a convenient time and place within the boundaries of such newly organized district, for three school directors, notice being given by the township treasurer, who shall post notices of such election in at least three prominent places in the district, at least ten days prior to the time appointed for holding such election, which notices shall specify the place where such election is to be held, the time for opening and closing the polls, and the object of the election, and may be in the following form, to-wit:

NOTICE OF ELECTION

Notice is hereby given, that on the.......day of.

..1,....,

an election will be held at... ....for the purpose of electing three school directors for the new district known as district No.......... in. .....county, Illinois. The polls will be opened at........ o'clock ......m., and closed at ......o'clock, ....m.

By order of the trustees of schools.

(Signed)..

Township Treasurer

§ 61. At the time appointed for opening the polls for such election, the qualified voters present, five of whom shall constitute a quorum, shall appoint two of their number to act as judges and one as clerk. The election, in all other respects, shall be conducted as other elections of school directors.

§ 62. Within ten days after the election the directors shall meet at a convenient time and place previously agreed upon by them, and organize by appointing one of their number president and another of their number clerk. At this meeting of the directors they shall cast lots for their terms of office for one, two and three years, respectively.

§ 63. In case a new district is organized by the action of the county superintendent, the clerk of the trustees of schools shall, within five days after he has received notice of the action of the county superintendent on the appeal, order an election of directors in the new district the same as if the change had been made by the trustees, and such election shall be held in the same manner as the election provided for when the trustees have formed a new district.

§ 64. When a new district has been formed by the trustees, or by the county superintendent or county superintendents, from a part of a district or parts of two or more districts, the trustees of the township or townships concerned shall make forthwith a distribution of tax funds,