Education/Schools - Historical Notes

Board of Education

The following acts constitute part of the administrative and political heritage of the educational structure of Hamilton County but are no longer operative since they have either been superseded, repealed, or failed to receive local approval.  Also referenced below are acts which repeal prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

1. Private Acts of 1831, Chapter 1, gave the names of the initial trustees of the Hamilton Male Academy and by this act, they were incorporated as such and authorized to purchase, receive and hold any lands, goods or chattels given, granted, devised to them or purchased by them for the use and benefit of said Academy.  They trustees were give the power to hold meetings pertaining to the business of the Academy, to appoint a president, secretary and treasurer of the board, and in case of the death or resignation of any trustee, the successor was to be appointed or elected by the county court.  The board of trustees was also empowered to make bylaws, rules and regulations relating to the Academy.
2. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 138, provided that the clerk of any school section in the Ocoee District in which lay the chief part of arable lands in Meigs, Hamilton or Marion counties was to have the management of the whole section, and rent the school lands from year to year, or longer periods of time not exceeding five years.
3. Acts of 1843-44, Chapter 28, appointed James A. Whiteside, of Hamilton County, as agent for the school lands and authorized him to demand damages from the State of Georgia for the right-of-way granted to the Western and Atlantic Railroad which passed through some of the school properties.  The damages received were to be paid over to the school commissioners.  The agent was to receive a 6% commission for his services.
4. Acts of 1847-48, Chapter 104,  named H. W. VanAldenhoff as president, and Robert M. Hook, William A. Anderson, Allen Kennedy, Milo Smith, Thomas McCallie, James A. Whiteside, John P. Long and John G. Glass as Trustees of the Chattanooga Seminary, with all the usual corporate powers being granted to them as a non-profit educational institution.
5. Private Acts of 1857-58, Chapter 95, Section 10, declared that Lewis Patterson, J. P. Coulter, Thomas J. Coulter, A. A. Pearson, J. W. Grimsley, John H. Shipley, Jesse Shipley, John Gray, Col. William Clift, B. J. McDonald, and Nathan Shipley constituted a body politic and corporate to be known as the Sale Creek Academy in Hamilton County.
6. Acts of 1905, Chapter 115, created the twenty-first school district within the then second and third districts.  A metes and bounds description of the new district was set forth in the act, and three school directors were to be appointed by the county superintendent for the new district.
7. Acts of 1907, Chapter 530, changed the line between the third and twenty-first school districts of Hamilton County such that all that part of the third school district not included within the corporate limits of the taxing district of Hill City was attached to and constituted a part of the twenty-first school district.
8. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 205, amended Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, Section 12, by setting the compensation of all members of the county board of education in Hamilton County at $150 annually, except the chairman, who was to be paid $250 per annum.
9. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 585, authorized county boards of education in Hamilton to contract for the transportation of children to and from their schools in the manner for their best interests, and to issue warrants for payment of same.
10. Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 426, stated that in counties having a population not less than 89,000 nor more than 90,000, according to the Federal Census of 1910, or later, all warrants issued for payment of debts in the operation of the grammar and high schools were to come from the office of county judge; all income of the school system for these schools was to be paid to the county trustee; and, all requests for supplies were to be given to the purchasing agent after having been approved by the county superintendent of schools.
11. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 554, also amended Public Acts of 1925, Chapter 115, by exempting counties with population of not less than 158,000 nor more than 160,000, according to the Federal Census of 1930, or later, from the provisions of the last three paragraphs of Section 19 relating to the enumeration of the school census, thus making it unnecessary to be taken in Hamilton County.
12. Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 620, authorized county boards of education in counties of population not less than 159,000 nor more than 200,000, according to the Federal Census of 1930, or later, to employ teachers, supervisors, and principals of schools, and the minimum salaries to be paid were not to be less than that provided in the schedule set out in the act in Section 2.  This act was amended by Private Acts of 1935 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 82, and both statutes were declared unconstitutional by the Tennessee Supreme Court in the case of State v. Hamilton County, 170 Tenn. 371, 95 S.W.2d 618 (1936), on the ground that the act placed a burden on Hamilton County which was not placed on any other county of the state.
13. Private Acts of 1935 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 82, amended the second paragraph of Chapter 620, above, by permitting all service in the county school system to count towards attainment of the 15-year period required by the act to be eligible for some of its benefits.  The amendment fell with the Act in the above mentioned case.
14. Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 361, created a supplemental pension board, composed of the county judge, county budget director and county auditor, to act as trustees of, administer and supervise whatever money might be appropriated by the county council for such fund.  The board was also responsible for payment to all employees of any educational system of the county who had been retired on a pension prior to the passing of this act and were receiving a pension of $100 or less per month.  Their pensions were to be supplemented such that any retired employee was to receive not less than $125 per month, as specified in the amending act found in Private Acts of 1963, Chapter 146.  The funds for the supplemental pensions were to be appropriated from the Hamilton County general fund.  This act was repealed and superseded by Private Acts of 1981, Chapter 136.
15. Private Acts of 1978, Chapter 229, would have allowed the Hamilton County school system to employ a purchasing agent to obtain food, materials and other supplies, but the act was not acted on by local authorities and therefore did not become effective.
16. Private Acts of 1998, Chapter 109, amended Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 689, transferring duties and responsibilities of the Pension Commission to the Trustee of Hamilton County.  This act did not receive local approval.