130

PUBLIC EDUCATION. [ART. — .

Powers of
county board.

4. The board of county school commissioners shall
have the general supervision and control of all schools
in their respective counties; they shall build, repair
and furnish the school houses ; they shall fix and pay
the salaries of teachers ; they shall purchase and dis-
tribute text books, and shall perform such other duties
as may be necessary to secure an efficient administra-
tion of the public school system, subject to the provi-
sions of this law.

State school
tax and free
school land.

5. The state school tax and free school fund are pri-
marily intended under this act, to pay the salaries of the
teachers of the several counties, and to provide school
books and stationery for the children of the state ; if,
however, in apportioning the said state school tax among
the different counties and the city of Baltimore, the
share of any county should prove inadequate for the
purposes aforesaid, then the county commissioners of
such county are hereby authorized, empowered, di-

Tax by county
board.

rected and required to levy and collect such a tax upon
the assessable property of such county, as the board of
county school commissioners shall designate as suffi-

Proviso.

cient, to make good the deficiency ; provided, said tax
shall not exceed ten cents in the hundred dollars,
unless the county commissioners shall approve and

How levied
and collected.

sanction an additional tax; the taxes so levied and
collected shall be paid quarterly on the day fixed for
the payment of the state school tax to the several
counties, but the proceeds from special taxes may be
paid oftener, upon the order of the board of county
school commissioners to the treasurer of the said board
of county school commissioners, in order that the
schools of such counties may be kept open for the
time herein set forth, and said tax shall be levied
and collected as other taxes; any sums of money
which may have been specially collected or levied
on any election or school house district for educa-
tional purposes connected with those districts, shall
be collected for and applied to the purposes so in-
tended originally, and shall be used for no other
purpose, and if said funds have been used otherwise,
they shall be returned and applied as aforesaid.