Education/Schools - Historical Notes

The following acts once affected the Crockett Mills High School District in Crockett County, but are no longer operative.

1. Private Acts of 1979, Chapter 101, amended Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 781, Section 7, the current law, and authorized, subject to a successful referendum, a tax levy for the year 1979 and thereafter of eighty cents (80¢) on each one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property, both real and personal, in the Crockett Mills High School District.  The purpose of the tax was to secure funds for the support, operation and maintenance of the schools in the said district.  Further, the 1979 Act authorized a bond issue of one million six hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) for the purpose of constructing, improving, and equipping school buildings in said school district.  The bonds would bear eight (8%) percent interest annually and mature within thirty (30) years from the date of issuance.  This Act was repealed by Private Acts of 1981, Chapter 38.
2. Private Acts of 1980, Chapter 226, amended Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 781, the current law, and authorized the Crockett Mills High School District, subject to a successful referendum, to issue bonds in an amount not to exceed one million four hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000) at ten (10%) percent interest annually, payable within thirty (30) years from date of issue.  The funds would be used to construct, improve and equip buildings in said school district.  A tax of three dollars and ninety-five cents ($3.95) would be levied on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in the district to pay the interest and principal on the bonds when due.  This Act was repealed by Private Acts of 1981, Chapter 38.
3. Private Acts of 1980, Chapter 227, amended Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 781, the current law, and its amendments and authorized the tax levy specified in said Act be so amended to encompass the year 1980.  This Act was repealed by Private Acts of 1981, Chapter 38.

The following acts once affected the Gadsden School District in Crockett County, but appear to be no longer operative.

1. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 887, subject to a successful referendum, authorized the Gadsden School District to issue bonds in an amount not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for the purpose of securing funds for repairing, enlarging and/or building new school buildings in said school district.  Neither the amount of the interest nor the maturity schedule were set out in the Act, but a tax levy of ten cents (10¢)  on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in the said district would levied in 1937 and subsequent years to pay off the principal and interest on the bonds when due.
2. Private Acts of 1970, Chapter 308, attempted to amend Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 303, the Act which created the Gadsden School District, by decreasing the amount of the tax levy on the school bonds issued in the 1935 Act to fifteen cents (15¢) on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in the district.  This Act did not receive approval from the proper authorities and never became operative.

The act referenced below once affected the office of superintendent of education in Crockett County, but is no longer operative.

1. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 855, provided that the county superintendent of public instruction be elected by the qualified voters of Crockett County for a term of two years at the regular August 1922 elections and biennially thereafter.

The following acts constitute part of the administrative and political heritage of the educational structure of Crockett 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. Acts of 1845-46, Chapter 189, made it the duty of the Trustees, of the old counties from which the newly organized Crockett County  was taken, to ascertain the scholastic population of their counties and pay over to the Trustee of Crockett County, said County's proportion of common school funds as might be due said County.
2. Private Acts of 1893, Chapter 21, authorized the school directors of the Alamo School District to sell and convey a lot deeded to the school district from E. T. Austin, for the purpose of securing funds to reinvest in other property for the said school district.
3. Public Acts of 1901, Chapter 473, created the Union Grove and Porter's Grove School District out of parts of Crockett and Gibson counties.  The Board of Directors, three (3) in number, would be composed of one (1) member from Gibson County and two (2) from Crockett County.  The said school district was to be under the control of the County Superintendent of Public Instruction for Crockett County.
4. Acts of 1905, Chapter 226, created Maury City Special School District also, but would appear to be superseded by Private Acts of 1959, Chapter 147.  The 1905 Act provided for three (3) elected individuals to serve as school directors for said district.
5. Acts of 1905, Chapter 282, created School District No. 16 in Crockett County and set out its boundaries.
6. Acts of 1905, Chapter 287, created School District No. 18 in Crockett County out of portions of the Seventh and Ninth Civil Districts, with a metes and bounds description of the school district set out in the Act.  The County Superintendent, under the Act,  would appoint three (3) citizens in the district to serve as school directors until their successors were elected.  The management and control of the schools was to follow the general laws of the State.
7. Acts of 1905, Chapter 536, created the Hellen's School District in the Thirteenth Civil District of Crockett County with the boundaries described in the Act.  The County Superintendent would appoint three (3) residents of the area to serve as Directors until the people could elect their successors.  The Act provided for the County Trustee to keep the per capita school tax of all the scholastic population in the district in 1905 for the benefit of the citizens in said district.
8. Acts of 1907, Chapter 61, created the Cross Roads School District in Crockett County, which would include the area embraced within the description contained in the Act.  The County Superintendent would appoint three (3) citizens of the district to serve as School Directors until a regular election was held to elect three (3) Directors.
9. Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, abolished the office of District Director and provided for schools to be under the management and control of a County Board of Education and a District Board of Advisors.  The Act provided for the respective County Court to divide the county into five (5) school districts, composed of whole civil districts, from each of which school district, one (1) member of the Board of Education would be elected. The County Superintendent would be Secretary of the County Board of Education.  The qualifications, terms, duties, responsibilities, compensation and authority, where applicable, for the Chairman of the County Board of Education and the Secretary of the County Board of Education were specified in the Act.  The duties of the Advisory Board, composed of three (3) members from each civil district and elected by the people of said civil district, were enumerated in the Act.  (See Whitthorne v. Turner), 155 Tenn. 303, 293 S.W. 147 (1927).
10. Acts of 1907, Chapter 278, created Special School District No. 23.  The County Superintendent was authorized to appoint the first three (3) members of the Board and the Trustee would keep the per capita school tax and pay it to the new school district.
11. Acts of 1907, Chapter 279, took portions of the Eleventh and Twelfth Civil Districts of Crockett County and formed School District No. 22 in said County.  The County Superintendent was authorized to appoint the first three (3) members of the Board and management and control of the schools in said district would be in accordance with general public school laws.
12. Acts of 1907, Chapter 285, created the Badgett School District. The County Superintendent was authorized to appoint the first three (3) members of the Board.
13. Acts of 1907, Chapter 385, established the Perry School District in Crockett County.  The schools in said district would be under the supervision and oversight of the County Superintendent and the Trustee would give the school directors their pro rata share of public school funds after the scholastic census was furnished to the Trustee by the Board of School Directors.
14. Acts of 1909, Chapter 186, amended Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, Section 17, above, so as to exclude Crockett County from its operations. The 1907 Act had abolished the office of District Director and provided for the schools to be under the management of a County Board of Education and a District  Board of Advisors.
15. Acts of 1909, Chapter 588, provided for the public school funds available to the County schools under Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, to be distributed to the school districts in the counties in proportion to each district's scholastic census.  Further, the Act provided that school districts and civil districts would be coextensive and that the District Advisory Boards then serving would constitute the District Boards of Directors until the next regular election..
16. Private Acts of 1913, Chapter 181, repealed Acts of 1909, Chapter 186, above, and provided for Crockett County to be under the operation of a County Board of Education and District Advisory Board.
17. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 380, created a special school district in the Fifteenth Civil District of Crockett County.  The County Superintendent was authorized to number the school district and W. H. C. Hall, G. T. White, and R. G. Watson were appointed as school directors until their successors could be elected.  The school district was vested with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of other school districts in the County.
18. Private Acts of 1919, Chapter 454, abolished the County High School Board in Crockett County and transferred all the powers and duties once held by said board to the County Board of Education, whose additional duty it was to establish and maintain one (1) or more high schools out of the high school fund.
19. Private Acts of 1919, Chapter 602, created and established a school district in Crockett County called the Fourteenth School District.  The Board of Education for said district would consist of five (5) members.  The Act authorized, subject to the outcome of a successful referendum, a tax levy on polls and property of taxpayers within said district for school purposes.
20. Private Acts of 1920 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 45, created the Crockett High School District.  The Board of Education would consist of seven (7) members.  The powers and duties of the Board were prescribed in the Act.  For school purposes the Act authorized a tax levy of twenty-five cents (25¢) on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in said district and a one dollar ($1.00) poll tax on all males between the ages of twenty-one (21) and fifty (50).  This Act was specifically repealed by Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 530.
21. Private Acts of 1920 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 89, created the Friendship High School District out the Eleventh and Twelfth Civil Districts of Crockett County and the town of Friendship in said county.  The school district would be managed by a five (5) member Board of Director, whose powers and duties were prescribed in the Act.  A tax of thirty-five (35¢) cents on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in the said district was authorized to be levied to support and maintain the schools in said school district, as well as, a one dollar ($1.00) poll tax on all males between twenty-one (21) and fifty (50) years of age.  This Act was repealed by Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 893.
22. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 954, amended Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 380, above, by levying a special tax of twenty-five cents (25¢) on every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of taxable property in the Fifteenth Civil District.
23. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 893, repealed in its entirety, Private Acts of 1920 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 89, above, and thereby abolished the Friendship School District.
24. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 301, abolished the position of attendance officer in the Crockett County school system.  As a result, the sheriff, his deputies, and constables were authorized to execute all the warrants issued under the compulsory attendance law at the instance of the County Superintendent of Public Instruction for which services these officer's would receive the same fees as the law provides for like service of process.  This Act was repealed six (6) years later by Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 861.
25. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 530, specifically repealed Private Acts of 1920 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 45, above, which had created the Crockett High School District.
26. Private Acts of 1935 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 69, authorized the County Board of Education to pay to D. T. Williams a sum of money, not exceeding five hundred fifty dollars ($550), for the construction of the Crossview school house in the First Civil District of Crockett County.  The warrant for said amount would be drawn on the elementary school fund.
27. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 861, expressly repealed Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 301, above, which had abolished the position of attendance officer in the school system of Crockett County.