§ 27. Dissolution, re-formation and consolidation of districts. Any school commissioner may dissolve one or more districts, and may from such territory form a new district; he may also unite such territory or a portion thereof to any existing adjoining common or union free school district.

§ 28. Division of union free school district which contains two incorporated villages. In any union free school district within the limits of which there shall be territory of two or more incorporated villages, the board of trustees of any village whose entire district is within said school district may call a special meeting of the voters, duly qualified under this chapter to vote at a school meeting, to determine whether that portion of any such school district comprising the village holding such special meeting, shall be separated from such school district and be a separate union free school district with limits corresponding with the limits of such village. Notice of the time and place of any such special meeting shall be published by the board of trustees calling the same, once a week for two successive weeks in each newspaper actually printed and published in such village, and if there be no such newspaper published in such village, such notice shall then be given by posting in at least ten conspicuous places in said village.

§ 29. Method and result of election. The village clerk of the village holding such special meeting shall cause to be prepared and furnished for the use of the voters at any such special meeting ballots, which shall conform as near as may be to the election law, in favor of and against organizing the territory within such village into a separate school district. The members of the board of trustees of any village holding such special meeting shall act as inspectors and shall canvass the votes cast, and if a majority thereof shall be in favor of constituting the territory within such village a separate school district said board of trustees shall forthwith certify the result of such canvass to the school commissioner of the school commissioner district in which such village is situated; and said school commissioner shall thereupon declare by certificate under his hand the territory within such village limits a separate school district and designate it as union free school district number.... of the town of ..

§ 30. Apportionment of indebtedness. If at the time. of the organization of any school district as provided in the last two sections and the election of a board of education as provided in section two hundred and twenty-four, there shall bo

any outstanding bonded or other indebtedness chargeable against the school district of which the territory so separately organized was a part, the school commissioner shall apportion said indebtedness between the newly organized district and the remaining portion of the old district according to the assessed valuation of each and the amounts of said indebtedness so apportioned shall become a charge for principal and interest upon the respective districts as though the same had been incurred by said districts separately.

§ 31. Temporary attendance of pupils as before division. Nothing contained in the last three sections shall be construed so as to prevent any child of school age residing in any part of a school district so divided from attending school in the part of the district remaining after any such division until the close of the school year in which such division was made, provided, however, that the tax for said school year has theretofore been levied on the real and personal property of the school district before the division for the support of such school for the current school year.

§ 32. Continuance of dissolved district for payment of debts. Though a district be dissolved, it shall continue to exist in law, for the purpose of providing for and paying all its just debts; and to that end the trustees and other officers shall continue in office, and the inhabitants may hold special meetings, elect officers to supply vacancies and vote taxes; and all other acts necessary to raise money and pay such debts shall be done by the inhabitants and officers of the district.

33. Deposit of records of dissolved district. The school commissioner, or a majority of such commissioners in whose districts a dissolved school district was situated, shall by his or their order in writing, delivered to the clerk of the district, or to any person in whose possession the books, papers and records of the district, or any of them, may be, direct such clerk or other person to deposit the same in the clerk's office in the town in the order named. Such clerk or other person, by neglect or refusal to obey the order, shall forfeit fifty dollars, to be applied to the benefit of the common schools of said town. Such commissioners

shall file a duplicate of the order with such clerk.

§ 34. Property of districts consolidated. When two or more districts shall be consolidated into one, the new district shall succeed to all the rights of property possessed by the annulled districts.

§ 35. Sale of property of dissolved district and disposition of proceeds. When a district is parted into portious,

which are annexed to other districts, its property shall be sold by the supervisor of the town, within which its school-house is situated, at public auction, after at least five days' notice, by notice posted in three or more public places of the town in which the school-house is situated, one of which shall be posted in the district so dissolved. The supervisor, after deducting the expenses of the sale, shall apply its proceeds to the payment of the debts of the district, and apportion the residue, if any, among the owners or possessors of taxable property in the district, in the ratio of their several assessments on the last corrected assessment-roll of the towns, and pay it over accordingly.

§ 36. Collection and distribution of moneys due dissolved district. The supervisor of the town within which the school-house of the dissolved district was situated may demand, sue for and collect, in his name of office, any money of the district outstanding in the hands of any of its former officers, or any other person; and, after deducting his costs and expenses, shall report the balance to the school commissioner who shall apportion the same equitably among the districts to which the parts of the dissolved district were annexed, to be by them applied as their district meeting shall determine.

§ 37. Fees of supervisor and town clerk. The supervisor and town clerk shall be entitled each, to one dollar and fifty cents a day, for each day's service in any proceeding under section twenty-five of this article, to be levied and paid as a charge upon their town.

§ 38. Notice of meeting for establishment of union free school district. Whenever fifteen persons entitled to vote at any meeting of the inhabitants of any school district in the state, shall sign a request for a meeting, to be held for the purpose of determining whether a union free school shall be established therein in conformity with the provisions of this article, it shall be the duty of the trustees of such district, within ten days after such request shall have been presented to them, to give public notice that a meeting of the inhabitants of such district entitled to vote thereat will be held for such purpose as aforesaid, at the school-house, or other more suitable place, in such district, on a day and at an hour in such notice to be specified, not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the publication of such notice. If the trustees shall refuse to give such notice, or shall neglect to give the same for twenty days, the commissioner of education may authorize and direct any inhabitant of such district to give the

same. The qualifications of the inhabitants entitled to vote at such meeting, shall be sufficiently set forth in the notice aforesaid.

§ 39. Posting, publication and service of notice. Whenever such district shall correspond wholly or in part with an incorporated village, in which there shall be published a daily or weekly newspaper, the notice aforesaid shall be given by posting at least five copies thereof, severally, in various conspicu ous places in said district, at least twenty days prior to such meeting, and by causing the same to be published once a week for three consecutive weeks before such meeting, in all the newspapers published in said district. In other districts the said notice shall be given by posting the same as aforesaid, and in addition thereto, the trustees of such district shall authorize and require any taxable inhabitant of the same, to notify every other inhabitant, qualified to vote as aforesaid, of such meeting, to be called as aforesaid, who shall give such notification by reading said notice in his hearing, or in case of his absence from home, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the time, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his abode at least twenty days prior to the time of such meeting.

§ 40. Expense of notice. The reasonable expense of such notices, and of their publication and service, shall be chargeable upon the district, in case a union free school is established by the meeting so convened, to be levied and collected by the trustees, as in case of taxes now levied for school purposes; but in the event that such union free school shall not be established, then the said expense shall be chargeable upon the inhabitants signing the request, jointly and severally, to be sued for, if necessary, in any court having jurisdiction of the same.

§ 41. Notice and expense in case of adjoining districts. Whenever fifteen persons, entitled as aforesaid, from each of two or more adjoining districts, shall unite in a request for a meeting of the inhabitants of such districts, to determine whether such districts shall be consolidated by the establishment of a union free school therefor and therein, it shall be the duty of the trustees of such districts, or a majority of them, to give like public notice of such meeting, at some convenient place within such districts, and as central as may be, within the time and to be published and served in the manner set forth in sections thirty-eight and thirty-nine of this article, in each of such districts. The reasonable expenses of preparing, publishing and serving such notices shall be chargeable upon the union free school district, And be collected by tax, if a union free school shall be established pursuant to such request, but otherwise the signers of the request

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shall be jointly and severally liable for such expenses. missioner of education may order such meeting under the conditions and in the manner prescribed in section thirty-eight of this article.

§ 42. Proceedings at meeting and effect of affirmative vote. 1. Any such meeting held pursuant to the foregoing provisions shall be organized by the election of a chairman and secretary, and may be adjourned from time to time, by a majority vote, provided that such adjournment shall not be for a longer period than ten days; and whenever at any such meeting duly called and held under the provisions of sections thirty-eight and thirtynine of this article, at least fifteen qualified voters of the districts shall be present; or at such meeting duly called and held under the provisions of section forty-one of this article, at least fifteen qualified voters of each of the two or more adjoining districts, joining in the request, shall be present, such meeting may, by the affirmative vote of a majority present and voting, adopt a resolution to establish a union free school in said district, or to consolidate the two or more adjoining districts by establishing a union free school in said districts pursuant to the notice of said meeting. If said meeting shall determine to establish a union free school in said districts as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for such meeting thereafter to proceed to the election of a board of education as provided in sections two hundred and twenty-one and two hundred and twenty-two of this chapter.

2. The school commissioner in whose district the union free school district is thus organized shall designate such district as union free school district number .... of the town of ..... and the said board shall have the name and style of the board of education of (adding the designation aforesaid).

3. Copies of said request, notice of meeting, order of the commissioner of education directing some inhabitant to call said meeting, if any, and minutes of said meeting, duly certified by the chairman and secretary thereof, shall be transmitted and deposited, immediately after such meeting by one of such officers, one to and with the town clerk, one to and with the school commissioner in whose jurisdiction said districts are located, and one to and with the commissioner of education.

4. If at any such meeting, the question as to the establishment of a union free school shall not be decided in the affirmative, as aforesaid, then all further proceedings at such meeting, except a motion to reconsider or adjourn, shall be dispensed with, and no such meeting shall be again called within one year thereafter. And when any such meeting shall have established a union free school in said districts, such union free school district shall