CHAPTER 92.
OF FREE SCHOOLS.
AN ACT to provide for the organization and control of the Public Schools of the City of Wilmington.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met, (two-thirds of each branch of the Legislature concurring therein):
Section 1. That the City of Wilmington with the territory within its limits, or which in the future may be included by additions thereto, shall be and constitute a consolidated school district, and the supervision and government of public schools and public school property therein shall be vested in a board of thirteen members, to be called and known as the "Board of Public Education in Wilmington". Said Board of Education as hereinafter constituted, is hereby created a corporation, having perpetual existence and succession, and by and in said name shall have power to purchase, lease, receive, hold and sell property, real and personal, sue and be sued, and to do all things necessary to accomplish the purposes for which such school district is organized, and shall succeed to and be vested with, and be seized and possessed of all the privileges and property of whatever kind or nature granted or belonging to any previous school corporation, or Board of Education, or school districts in the City of Wilmington and said territory, or officers thereof authorized or empowered by an enactment of the General Assembly of the State to do anything in reference to public education, or to hold any of said property.
Section 2. The Board of Education in Wilmington shall have general and supervising control, government and management of all the public schools and all public school property of the city; shall exercise generally all powers in the administration of the public school system therein, appoint such officers, agents and employees as it may deem necessary and fix compensation; shall have power to fix the time of its meetings, to make, amend and repeal rules and by-laws for its meetings and proceedings, for the government, regulation and management of the public schools and school property of the city, and for the transaction of its business. The said board also shall have power:
1. To establish kindergartens, elementary schools, one or more high schools, manual training schools, or classes, evening school, special and truant schools, training schools or classes for teachers, and to discontinue or consolidate any of such schools.
2. To establish or change the grades of all schools and to adopt and modify courses of study therefor.
3. To fix a standard of .minimum qualifications as a necessary requirement for the service of all superintendents, principals and teachers, to fix their salaries, and to dismiss them at any time for incompetency, neglect of duty or immorality; after an impartial hearing of charges to prescribe and enforce such rules and conditions as it may deem proper for the admission, suspension or expulsion of pupils of said school.
4. To purchase, lease or improve land and sites for school houses and school purposes; to build, purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, alter and repair school houses and their appurtenances; to purchase, improve, exchange and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages; to procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of schools under its control; to pay the salaries and wages of all officers, principals, teachers and employees of said Board of Education.
5. To appoint as herein provided:
1. A Secretary of the Board of Education, who will serve during the pleasure of the Board.
2. A Superintendent of Public Schools who shall serve and assistant, during the pleasure of the Board. The Board may from time to time appoint one or more persons to assist the Superintendent in the discharge of his duties.
6. The Board of Public Education shall have power to enact rules and regulations for the proper execution of all duties devolved or devolving upon said Board, its members and committees; for the transaction of all business pertaining to the same; for defining the duties of all its officers, clerks, superintendent, principals, teachers, subordinates and employees; for regulating the manner of making disbursements from any of the funds appropriated for school purposes; for the execution of all powers vested in it by law, and for the promotion of the welfare and best interests of the public schools and public school system of the city.
Section 3. On and after the thirtieth day of June, 1905, the Board of Education ill Wilmington shall be composed of thirteen members, one of whom shall be elected from each of the wards of the said -city by the electors residing in each ward respectively, and the remaining member who shall be the President, shall be elected by the electors of the city at large. At the city election for members of the Board of Education to be held on the second Saturday in June 1905, one member of said Board shall be elected from the residents in each of said wards by the electors residing in each ward respectively. Members from the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh wards shall be elected for the term of two (2) years; those from the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth and twelfth wards for the term of four (4) years. The President shall be elected for the term of four (4) years. Their terms of office shall commence on the thirtieth day of June, 1905, at 12 o'clock noon. At an election to be held biennially on the second Saturday of June in the city of Wilmington next preceding the expiration of the terms of any of the said members of the Board of Education their successors shall be elected for a term of four years each. Removal of any member of said Board from the ward from which such member was elected shall create a vacancy in his office. In case a vacancy shall occur in the office of a member of the Board of Education for any cause, the remaining members of said Board shall fill such vacancy by the appointment of a suitable person from the ward where such vacancy occurs, qualified by law to be elected thereto; and the person so appointed shall hold office by virtue of such appointment, until the thirtieth day of June following the next succeeding biennial school election, at which election a member shall be elected, as provided in this Act, for the unexpired term. In case a vacancy shall occur in the office of the President, the Board shall fill such vacancy by the appointment of one of its members qualified by law to be elected thereto; and the person so appointed shall hold said office of President by virtue of such appointment until the thirtieth day of June following the next and succeeding biennial school election, at which election a new President shall be elected, as provided in this Act.
Section 4. The members of the Board of Education shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and shall have been residents of the City of Wilmington for at least three years immediately preceding their election; said members shall have been bona fide free holders in said city for at least one month before their election, and must be qualified to vote at School Elections. They shall be ineligible to any elective or appointive office under such Board of Education while holding membership in said Board. They shall not be interested either directly or indirectly in any contract with or claim against the said "Board of Public Education in Wilmington". If at any time after the election of any member of said Board, he shall become interested in any such contract with or claim against said Board, he shall thereupon be disqualified to continue as a member of said Board, and a vacancy shall thereby be created. Every member of said Board shall, before assuming the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation before someone qualified to administer oaths, that he possesses all of the qualifications required by this Act, that he will honestly and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, that he will not, while serving as a member of said Board, become interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with or claim against said Board, and that he will not be influenced, during his term of office, by any political or sectarian considerations, or by anything except that of merit and fitness in the appointment of officers and the engagement of employees, and that he is a bona fide resident of the ward from which elected. No compensation shall be received by members of the Board; but they shall be exempt from jury duty during their term of office. Each member, before entering upon office shall take the following oath or affirmation: I, ______ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have been a bona fide freeholder in the City of Wilmington for the period of one month prior to my election, and a qualified voter in the ward for which I am chosen a member of the Board of Public Education in Wilmington; that I will diligently and faithfully perform the duties of a member of said Board according to the best of my knowledge and judgment; and that I will not be controlled in any vote or action as a member of said Board from political or partisan considerations. Such oath or affirmation may be administered by the president, secretary, or any member of the Board as well as by any officer by law authorized to administer oaths or affirmation.
The Board may remove any of its members upon proof, either of official misconduct in office, or of negligence of official duties, or of conduct in any manner connected with his official duties which would tend to bring discredit to his office or the school system, or of mental or physical inability to perform his duties as a member of said Board; but before such removal of said member, lie shall receive due and timely notice in writing of the charges against him, and a copy thereof, and shall be entitled to a hearing before said Board, and to the assistance of counsel at said hearing.
Section 5. Elections for said Board shall be held under the provisions of the general laws governing city elections, so far as they are consistent with the provisions of this Act. Not later than fifteen days before any election for members of the Board of Education provided for in this Act, electors qualified under the provisions of this Act may present names of candidates for election as members of said Board of Education to a board of canvassers, consisting of the President of the Board of Education, the Mayor, the Treasurer and the City Solicitor of the city, in the manner following: Each candidate shall be proposed in writing by not fewer than twenty-five of said qualified electors. No more than one candidate may be named in any one petition, and no person may sign more than one petition for any one election. Candidates for election in each of the wards must be proposed by qualified electors residing in the respective wards. The candidate for election for President from the city at large, may be proposed by qualified electors resident in any part of the city. Said proposition or petitions nominating candidates for said Board of Education shall be filed with the Secretary of said Board, who shall be ex-officio the Secretary of the said board of canvassers. Upon the presentation of such petitions to the board of canvassers, the said board of canvassers shall publish at the expense of the said Board of Public Education for five secular days next preceding said school elections, and the names so proposed, in at least two daily newspapers of the city, and shall certify at the time required by law such nominations to the Department of Elections for said city. Said Department of Elections shall prepare ballots in form as hereinafter directed printed on plain paper, at the expense of the said Board of Public Education, containing the names of all such candidates, arranged in an order to be determined according to lot by said board of canvassers. Ballots to be used at such school elections shall contain the words "School Election in first ward and likewise for each of the other wards", the date of holding said election, the names of the candidates arranged in so many groups as may be necessary so that there may be appropriate designations and directions at the head of each group showing the terms for which the persons therein were nominated, whether they are nominees for such ward or for the city at large, and the number of persons who may be voted for in each group. The electors shall designate their choice of candidates to be voted for in each of such groups by drawing a line through the names of all persons in each group except those candidates in each group desired to be voted for by them. Defective designation of an elector's choice in one or more of such groups of candidates shall not invalidate said ballot so far as there shall appear to be a proper designation of choice in any other of said groups of candidates. Such ballots shall be voted at said special election and deposited in a ballot box provided by the said Department of Elections for such purpose. The name of any candidate shall not be thus published and placed on the official ballot by said board of canvassers if it shall appear that he is ineligible for membership on the said Board of Education under the provisions of Section 4 of this Act. The candidate or candidates to be elected from each School Election District receiving the plurality of votes from such district, and the candidate or candidates to be elected from the city at large receiving the plurality of votes for the city at large shall be declared elected. It at any election a member is to be chosen to fill a vacancy and to serve out an unexpired term, candidates may be chosen as above provided.
Section 6. Said members of the Board of Education shall be chosen by ballot in manner and form hereinbefore provided by the residents of the city who shall have been qualified to vote at the last preceding city election. Provided that every female inhabitant of said city who is of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and has resided within said city for three months next preceding the election for members of the Board of Public Education in Wilmington, and in the ward where she offers to vote for at least one month next preceding said election, and who shall also be a bona fide freeholder within said city and shall have been assessed for and paid a school tax for the City of Wilmington for the preceding year, shall be entitled to vote for members of said Board. In the absence of objection or challenge, the production of a receipt for said school tax shall be prima facie evidence of the right of said female inhabitant to vote at said school election. In case of objection to or challenge of said female voter, the inspector of said election shall cause said female voter offering to vote at said election to take the following oath:
I, _______ do swear (or affirm) that I am of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, and have resided within the City of Wilmington for three months last past, and in the ward where I now offer to vote for at least one month last past.
The taking of said oath shall not relieve said female inhabitant offering to vote as aforesaid from the production at said election of the receipt for said school tax as aforesaid.
Every female inhabitant of said City possessing the requirements above specified, shall be qualified to vote at all elections for members of said Board, and if 25 years of age or upwards, shall also be eligible for membership in said membership Board.
No member of City Council shall be a member of the Board of Public Education. The Board of Education shall appoint a place or places for holding the school election in each ward, and give notice thereof in two or more newspapers published in the City of Wilmington for ten days previous to the time of holding said election, and shall also give at least four days' notice thereof by hand bills, under the name of the Secretary of the Board, posted in four or more of the most public places in each ward. The Department of Elections of the City of Wilmington shall, at the request of said Board, appoint three men as Inspectors for each polling place designated as aforesaid, whose duty it shall be to hold said election and judge of the qualifications of voters, and otherwise conform to the requirements of law in that behalf. The three Inspectors thus appointed for any polling place shall be from among those persons who at the last preceding city election acted as Inspectors within the ward in which they are appointed to hold the school election, and they shall not all be of the same political faith. Two of said Inspectors may act as clerks, and as a part of their duties shall keep a list of the names and residences of electors who shall have voted at each polling place. The election of members of the Board shall be held on the second Saturday in June in the year nineteen hundred and five, and at the same time in every second year thereafter. Said election shall be held in the afternoon, the polls being opened at twelve o'clock or within thirty minutes thereafter, and closed at six o'clock. If the Inspectors appointed and directed as aforesaid to hold said election shall refuse to serve or are not at the place of election at the time of opening the polls, the voters present, shall by plurality, without ballot, choose an officer or officers for holding the election in the place of the one or more so refusing or not present. The officers holding the election shall, before opening the election, each take an oath or affirmation as follows:
I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that in holding the election this day for members of the Board of Public Education in Wilmington, I will faithfully discharge my duty and make true certificates thereof and deliver the same according to law, so help me God (or, I solemnly affirm).
The Inspectors appointed or chosen as aforesaid to hold said election shall meet at the polling places to which they are allotted, and shall organize as a Board by selecting one of their number to act as chairman, but in case of failure to so organize within fifteen minutes after the time fixed for meeting, the chairman shall be selected by lot. The Inspector selected as chairman is authorized to administer the oath or affirmation hereinbefore provided to the other Inspectors and either of them to him or to each other.
Any person applying to vote for members of said Board may, on any day of election, be challenged by any qualified voter of the City of Wilmington; and any one of the Inspectors of election at the polling place where said person is challenged may, at any such time or times, and one of them shall, administer to any male person challenged the following oath or affirmation:
You do swear (or affirm) that you will fully and truly answer such questions as shall be asked you touching your qualifications as an elector, so help me God (or so you solemnly affirm).
Any person who may be offered as a witness to prove the qualifications of any person so claiming the right to vote, shall also be sworn or affirmed in like manner. Any person refusing to take such an oath or affirmation, if so required, or refusing to answer such questions as may be asked touching his qualifications as an elector, shall not be permitted to vote. If any person, male or female, taking an oath or affirmation provided for in this Section, shall swear falsely, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and upon conviction, shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the trial court.
It shall be the duty of the Department of Elections for the City of Wilmington, on or before the hour of 12 noon, on the day of the holding of any election for members of said Board provided for in this Act, to deliver at the places for holding of said elections so designated by the Board of Public Education in Wilmington, all books of registered voters used at the next preceding city election, containing the names of residents within the voting district for which said polling place is designated as aforesaid. Said books of registered voters shall be used by the officers holding said school election to determine the qualifications of all males offering to vote at said election and who are qualified to vote at school elections, and at the close of the polls of said election, shall be forthwith returned to the said Department of Elections.
The officers holding said election shall, upon the closing of the polls, forthwith proceed to count the votes for the several candidates voted for at said election, and shall prepare and severally sign duplicate returns of said votes upon blanks furnished said election officers by the said Board of Public Education in Wilmington. One of said duplicate returns shall, together with the ballots cast at said election, and the list of electors who shall have voted, be deposited in the ballot box, which box shall be thereupon securely sealed and retained in the exclusive custody of the chairman of the election officers of the respective polling places until the meeting of the Board of Canvass as hereinafter provided. The other certificate of said return shall be forthwith delivered to the Secretary of the said Board of Public Education, in Wilmington.
That on the Monday following the holding of any city school election the chairman of the election officers of the respective polling places where said elections have been held as aforesaid, shall, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, meet at the rooms of the Board of Public Education in Wilmington, where the meetings of said Board are usually held, and shall there produce the said ballot boxes, together with their contents, and shall proceed forthwith to canvass the returns of the vote for the candidates for said Board, using for the purpose of the said canvass and the determination of the votes cast for any candidate for said Board, the certificates of election returns theretofore deposited with the Secretary of said Board.
Recourse to the certificate of election returns remaining in the ballot boxes shall be had by said Board of Canvass only in case of the absence, illegibility, defacement or alteration of the certificate theretofore deposited with the Secretary of said Board. Recourse to the ballots in any one said ballot boxes shall be had only in case of a sworn allegation of the fraudulent miscount or false certification by the election officers at any polling place of the ballots cast at such polling place.
That upon the canvass of said vote, the members of said Board of Canvass, or a majority of them, shall then immediately make out a sufficient number of certificates of the result of said election upon blanks to be furnished them by the said Board of Public Education in Wilmington, under their hands, and shall within two clays thereafter, deliver one of said certificates to the Secretary of the said Board and one to each member elect.
The said Board shall meet for organization on the thirtieth day of June immediately after said biennial election, or on the twenty-ninth of June should the thirtieth day of June fall on Sunday; and it shall be the judge of the election of its own members.
That all and every of the acts and duties relative to the said school election imposed upon or vested in the said Board of Public Education in Wilmington, shall, so far as the first of said school elections to be held under this Act, be imposed upon and vested in the de facto Board of Public Education in Wilmington in existence upon the approval of this Act.
Said election officers shall be entitled to similar compensation and the expenses of the holding of said elections shall be paid by said Board of Education in a similar manner as is provided by law in the case of other city elections.
Section 7. If any person not having the right to vote at any election held under this Act shall vote at such election, or if any person shall vote in a voting district in which he does not reside, or if any Inspector or assistant shall knowingly take the vote of a person not having a right to vote, or shall neglect or refuse to make and deliver certificates of any election as required by Section 6 of this Act, every such person, Inspector, or assistant, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall forfeit and pay a fine of Fifty dollars to be paid to the Board aforesaid for the benefit of the schools under their charge.
Section 8. The Board of Education shall increase the number of schools and improve the condition thereof and do all acts necessary for establishing and maintaining said schools as they shall deem expedient and necessary until there are sufficient schools to accommodate all the children and minors residing in the City of Wilmington whose parents or guardians desire for them the benefit thereof; provided always, that the schools for white children and minors shall be separate and distinct from the schools provided for colored children and minors. If there shall be accommodations in such schools in excess of what may be necessary for the seating and instruction of such resident pupils, the said Board may admit to any of such schools such number of non-resident pupils residing outside the city limits in the State of Delaware, as said Board may deem proper and upon such terms and conditions as said Board may from time to time prescribe.
Section 9. Seven members shall form a quorum for the transaction of business. The officers of the Board shall be a President, who must be a member, a Secretary, and such other officers and agents as may be found necessary. The Board may appoint a person not a member of the same, Secretary thereof, prescribe his duties, require from him bonds with surety for his faithful performance of said duties, if deemed expedient, and allow him compensation for services by stated salary or otherwise, as may be considered proper.
The Board shall, during the month of April in each year, cause to be prepared and laid before them estimates of their of revenue and expenses for the ensuing fiscal year, which estimates they shall lay before the Council on or before the first stated meeting of Council in May following. At the time of presenting to Council said estimates of revenue and expenses, the Board shall, if necessary, also in addition thereto, present to Council an estimate not to exceed Twenty Thousand dollars for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same. The said Board, early in June in each year, after the Council shall have made appropriation for the use of the public schools for the following fiscal year as hereinafter mentioned, shall make appointment and appropriations for their expenditures for that year, based as nearly as may be, upon the estimates made by them in April previous, and such apportionment and appropriations shall be specified and arranged under the heads or items designated in said estimates. The expenditures of the year under any head or item of appropriation, shall not exceed that item of appropriation unless the same be voted for by two-thirds at least of all the members of said Board, a record of which vote shall be made upon the minutes. Under no circumstances shall the appropriation for the erection or extension of school houses, and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same, be used for any other purpose, The said Board shall have no power or authority, except when specially authorized by act of the General Assembly to borrow money, or contract or create any debt or liability except ordinary debts and liabilities incurred in executing the duties imposed on them by law, to be paid out of the said appropriation made by Council and the receipts of the year for the time then current; no money shall be paid from the treasury of the Board unless the same shall have been appropriated as aforesaid.
Section 10. The said Board shall, during the month of July in each year, cause to be published, in two or more of the newspapers of the City of Wilmington, a full report of their accounts and proceedings during the past year, setting forth aggregates under appropriate heads. The Board shall also depute one of its members, together with the Secretary of the Board, to attend with and lay its accounts before the Council at the next regular meeting following such publication, and also to settle with the State Auditor.
Section 10* (*So Enrolled.). The City Auditor shall examine all bills against said Board and endorse them as correct before they are presented to said Board for payment; he shall also examine and countersign all drafts or orders and withhold his signature in case the draft or order is made without sanction of law, or with any circumstances of fraud actually or presumably attached thereto, in all of which cases he shall report his action and the grounds therefor to the said Board at their ensuing meeting; said Board shall thereupon duly, carefully and publicly consider the case and shall sustain or overrule his action by a vote of (2-3) two-thirds of all the members elected to said Board, whereupon it shall be the duty of the City Auditor in case Ile shall be overruled to countersign the said draft or order, in which case Ile shall be exonerated from all responsibility in the premises. He shall also keep a book in which an exact copy of the receipts and expenditures of said Board shall be entered. All money received by the said Board from sales of articles, or from any source whatsoever shall be deposited with the City Treasurer for which a receipt shall be taken. The City Treasurer shall immediately deposit said funds in such bank as may be designated by said Board, and the orders or warrants drawn against such funds, shall be drawn and signed by the Secretary of the Board, signed by the President and countersigned by the City Auditor and City Treasurer. The City Treasurer upon depositing the funds of said Board shall make a certificate of Deposit in triplicate, which shall be signed by the authorized agent of the bank, one of each certificates shall be delivered to the City Auditor, one to the Secretary of the Board and the third be retained by the City Treasurer. The City Treasurer shall pay out all warrants or orders and shall take receipt for same. He shall keep a Cash Book containing the receipts and expenditures of said Board and shall render a statement of the financial condition of said Board at each meeting.
Section 11. The Council shall, every year, when determining the amount necessary to be raised on the persons and estates in the City of Wilmington for public use, also include the sum necessary to be raised on the persons and estates for executing the foregoing provisions; provided, that the amount to be raised for current school expenses as aforesaid in any one year shall be exclusive of the amount designated for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same. The amount collected for school purposes shall be paid into the city treasury as other taxes are paid. At the time of making the annual appropriations for public use, the Council shall also make an appropriation for current school expenses equal in amount to that annually computed and laid before said Council by the "Board of Public Education in Wilmington"; provided that the sums so computed and appropriated shall be exclusive of the amount designated for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same; and, provided further, that any demand made by the Board upon the Council for ordinary and current expenses, exclusive of the amount required for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same shall not exceed One Hundred and Eighty-two Thousand dollars for the fiscal year A. D. 1905-6 and the increase shall not for any succeeding fiscal year, be greater than one and one-half per cent additional upon the aggregate amount for the fiscal year preceding. The Council shall appropriate annually for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same the amount estimated by said Board therefor not to exceed Twenty Thousand dollars per annum.
Provided, however, if the amount appropriated by the Council for the erection or extension of school houses, and for furniture and heating apparatus shall not be sufficient to meet the expenses for which it was appropriated the said Board shall have the right to meet such deficit by using other money in their hands appropriated by said Council for school purposes, provided they shall not use an additional sum of more than Ten Thousand dollars for any one year.
Section 12. The amount of the appropriation for the current school expenses so made by the Council shall be paid in full, in twelve equal installments, on the second Monday in each and every month during the year, by the City Treasurer, upon orders drawn by the aforesaid Board, under the hand of the President, attested by the Secretary. The amount appropriated for the erection or extension of school houses and for furniture and heating apparatus for the same shall be paid by the City Treasurer on or before the first day of August of the fiscal year, for which the same was so designated and raised.
Section 13. The said Board shall have the right to draw dividends from time to time made and entered to the credit of the School Districts Nos. 3, 9, 1O, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 ½ , 78, 78 ¼ , 78 ½ , and 102 .in New Castle County, constituting the Public School District of Wilmington in the account of the trustees of the State School fund with said district respectively; and it shall be the duty of the said trustees to pay said dividends upon an order signed by the President of said Board and attested by the Secretary, accompanied by a certificate signed and attested in like manner, that the said Board has received for the benefit of public schools under their charge a sum equal to the aggregate of the sums required to be paid in every of the said districts in order to the drawing of the said dividends, the said Board being substituted for the school committee of the united school districts composed of the school districts aforesaid.
Section 14. All property, real or personal, vested in the Board of Education in Wilmington shall be exempt from all kinds of taxes, and from sale or execution or other writ or order in the nature of an execution. It shall also be exempt from the payment of water taxes or rents in all buildings used for school purposes; all sewer connections for school use shall also be without tax or charge.
Section 15. The City Solicitor shall be the legal adviser and attorney for the Board of Education; he shall prosecute all actions against a member, officer, agent or employee of the Board of Education for malfeasance or misfeasance in office; he shall be the legal counsel of said Board, or officers thereof, in all civil actions brought by or against it, and shall conduct the same in his official capacity. No compensation other than the regular salary shall be allowed for such service.
Section 16. Said Board of Public Education shall annually, from the funds appropriated to its use as aforesaid appropriate and pay over to the Wilmington Institute, in manner and form as is provided in the Act entitled "An Act respecting a free library and to increase the usefulness of the schools of Wilmington," passed at Dover, April 26, 1893, the sums of money prescribed by said Act, and "The Council" of the City of Wilmington shall annually appropriate for 'City Council the use of said Board of Public Education, in addition to the appropriations for said Board hereinbefore provided for, such sum and sums of money as shall reimburse to the said Board with the excess of the payments made by said Board to the said Wilmington Institute in any year under the provisions of the Act aforesaid above the amount paid by said Board to said Institute in the fiscal year 1904-5.
Section 17. For all work and labor hereafter required to be done and goods, chattels, wares, merchandise, materials, tools and machinery to be furnished, or had and used by or for account of the said Board, where the cost in any particular case will probably exceed the sum of One Hundred dollars, the committee having such business in charge, shall publicly invite sealed proposals for the doing of such work and the furnishing of such goods, chattels, wares, merchandise, materials, tools and machinery, and give the contract to the lowest bidder or bidders; provided that they may require from all or any of the bidders security for the faithful performance of their contract.
Section 18. All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 19. This Act shall be deemed and taken to be a public act.
Approved, March 30, A. D. 1905.