Civil Government for Common Schools | Page 2

Court Judges.
Q. Name the civil divisions in regular order and tell what a
combination of each forms?
A. Road and school districts form towns; towns when united form
counties; counties when united form a State; and also in many instances,
Senatorial, Congressional and Judicial districts. States when united
form a Union.
Q. How many States are there?
A. Thirty-eight.
Q. How many counties in New York State?
A. Sixty.
Q. How many towns in New York State?
A. Nine hundred and forty; the number is changing from year to year;
the exact number can be found by consulting the almanacs that give the
election returns.
Q. How many cities in the State of New York?
A. Twenty.
Q. How many School Commissioner districts in New York State?
A One hundred and twelve.
Q. How many Assembly districts?
A. One hundred and twenty-eight.
Q. How many Senatorial districts?
A. Thirty two.
Q. How many Judicial districts?
A. Eight.
Q. How many Congressional districts?
A. Thirty-three.
Q. How many School districts in New York State?
A. About twelve thousand.

Q. By what authority are counties organized?
A. By the State Legislature.
Q. How are Towns formed?
A. By an act of the board of supervisors.
Q. By whom are School districts formed?
A. Generally by the school commissioners, sometimes assisted by the
supervisor and town clerk of the town; sometimes by special
legislation.
Q. What power defines the number of Assembly, Senatorial and
Judicial districts?
A. The State Constitution.
Q. What power decides upon the number of Congressional districts?
A. The Congress of the United States.
NOTE--The following table will be the guide for questioning through
all the succeeding pages:
I. Name of office
II. Number of Officials holding the same office at the same time.
III. Term of office.
IV. Eligibility. V. Duties.
VI. Salary or how paid.

II--THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Q. What is a school district?
Q. How many school districts in your town?
Q. How many school districts in your county?
Q. How many school districts in New York State?
Q. What are the names of the officers in a school district?
A. I. Trustee or trustees; or a board of education.
II. Clerk.
III. Collector.
IV. Librarian
Q. What is the number of officials holding the same office at the same
time?
A. I. One or three trustees, as a district decides. If a board of education,
it may be not less than three nor more than nine.
II. One clerk
III. One collector.

IV. One librarian.
Q. What are the names of those districts in which there is a board of
education?
A. Union free school districts; and they are allowed to have an
additional officer, called a treasurer.
Q. What is the term of office of each?
A. I. If there be only one trustee, his term is one year.
II. If there be three trustees, the term is three years, one being elected
each year; if the board of education consists of six or nine members, the
term is three years; one third of the number being elected each year.
III. Clerk, collector and librarian, each hold the office for one year.
Q. Who are eligible to school offices in this state?
A. None but males; they must be twenty-one years of age; and trustees
can hold no other school office.
Q. What are some of the duties of school district officers?
TRUSTEES.
A. I. To hold and keep district property for the use of the school.
II. To hire and pay a qualified teacher or teachers, and maintain a
school for at least twenty-eight weeks during the school year.
III. To make to the school commissions an annual report between the
first and second Tuesdays of August in each year.
IV. To make out all district taxes and issue a warrant for their
collection, etc., etc.
CLERK.
I. To record the proceedings of the district.
II. To give notice according to law of annual and special meetings.
III. To notify each person elected or appointed to office, and also to
report their names and post-office address to the town clerk.
IV. To notify the trustees of every resignation accepted by the
supervisor.
V. To keep and preserve all books, records and papers belonging to his
office, and to deliver the same to his successor, etc, etc,
COLLECTOR.
I. To collect all district taxes made out by trustees and placed in his
hands.
II To pay out the money as directed by their order.
LIBRARIAN.

To have charge and supervision of the school district library.
Q. What is the salary of these officers and how paid?
A. The collector only is entitled to pay; he receives one per cent. on all
moneys collected during the first fourteen days after advertising; after
that time five per cent.