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Education/Schools - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Superintendent or DIrector of Schools

The acts referenced below once affected the office of superintendent of education in Blount County, but are no longer operative.  Also referenced below are acts which repeal prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

  1. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 45, established the office of County Superintendent of Public Instruction in Blount County to be elected by the qualified voters of the county beginning with the August 1930 general election and each two years thereafter.  This office was replaced with the employment position of director of schools pursuant to the general law Education Improvement Act of 1991. Therefore, this act, as amended is superseded. See T.C.A. § 49-2-301.
  2. Private Acts of 1933, Chapter 266, amended Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 45, to change the term of office of the County Superintendent of Public Instruction in Blount County from two years to four years.  This office was replaced with the employment position of director of schools pursuant to the general law Education Improvement Act of 1991. Therefore, this act, as amended, is superseded. See T.C.A. § 49-2-301.

General Reference

The following acts constitute part of the administrative and political heritage of the educational structure of Blount County but are no longer operative since they have either been superseded, repealed, or failed to receive local approval.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 1806, Chapter 8, incorporated Porter Academy as the county academy for Blount County, naming Gideon Blackburn, John Montgomery, John Lowry, Joseph B. Lapsely and Andrew Kennedy as the trustees of this academy.
  2. Acts of 1813, Chapter 26, named William Aylett as an additional trustee of Porter Academy.
  3. Acts of 1813, Chapter 30, established the Maryville Female Academy in Blount County.  Andrew Thompson, David Caldwell, James Berry, John Montgomery, John Gardiner, James Houston, William Aylett and Isaac Anderson constituted a body politic and corporate for the academy.
  4. Acts of 1815, Chapter 67, authorized the trustees of the Maryville Female Academy and the Porter Academy to draft a scheme for raising not more than $8,000 by lottery.
  5. Acts of 1817, Chapter 105, named James Turk and Thomas Henderson as additional trustees for Porter Academy, and as additional trustees for Maryville Female Academy Alexander McGhee, John McGhee, James Turk, Thomas Henderson, and John Lowry were named.
  6. Public Acts of 1825, Chapter 73, appointed William Gott as commissioner in charge with the payment of money for the use of colleges and academies and to ascertain what portion of them may be of the third and last class and the value of all such lands that the academies may be on.
  7. Public Acts of 1826, Chapter 34, amended Public Acts of 1825, Chapter 73, above, by re-appointing William Gott as commissioner.  His duties remained the same.
  8. Acts of 1853-54, Chapter 95, set aside $3,000 out of the county treasury to used as the county school fund to benefit the townships composed of the seventeenth civil districts in the counties of Blount and Monroe.
  9. Acts of 1855-56, Chapter 267, Section 9, required the comptroller of the treasury of the state to issue his warrants for the interest on the sum of $3,000, created as a school fund for the seventeenth civil district in Blount and Monroe counties, by Acts of 1853-54, Chapter 95.
  10. Private Acts of 1897, Chapter 228, created a new school district out of parts of Monroe, Loudon and Blount counties which was known as the Trigonia High School District.
  11. Private Acts of 1901, Chapter 353, amended Private Acts of 1897, Chapter 228, by excluding the farms of James Norwood and S.O. Montgomery from the Trigonia High School District.
  12. Acts of 1905, Chapter 356, created a special school district out of the ninth and nineteenth civil districts in Blount County, which were the town of Maryville.  This was repealed by Acts of 1907, Chapter 286.
  13. Acts of 1909, Chapter 236, was the first compulsory attendance law for Blount County students.  This act required that children between the ages of eight and sixteen attend school for sixteen weeks or eighty days of each year, for at least four hours per day.  There were certain exemptions from this act, such as proficiency in the subjects taught in public school, attendance at a private, parochial or tutorial school, or physical or mental infirmity.  This act also made it a criminal offense for any person, firm or corporation to hire children of school age to work during school hours.
  14. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 248, established the Frigonia High School District out of parts of Blount, Loudon and Monroe counties.  This act was amended by Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 665,  to remove the applicability of its provisions to Blount County, but his amendment was itself repealed by Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 74.
  15. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 583, was the next compulsory attendance law for Blount County.  This act required parents of children between the ages of eight and sixteen "to cause such child to be instructed in elementary branches of knowledge," for at least fifteen days in four consecutive weeks.  Children who lived more than two and one half miles form the nearest public school were exempted from this law, and this act also specified that children could attend public schools in Blount County until they reached their majority.
  16. Private Acts of 1913, Chapter 75, Extra Session, established the Meadow High School District out of parts of Loudon and Blount counties.  While this act has never been specifically repealed, all special school districts which were not taxing districts, and the Meadow High School District was not, were abolished by Public Acts of 1925, Chapter 13, Section 33.
  17. Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 508, established the Trigonia Independent School Districts in sections of Blount, Monroe and Loudon.  The purpose of this act was stated as insuring that Blount County be a part of this special district, and that this act in no way repealed Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 248.  However, Blount County was again removed from this special school district by Private Acts of 1919, Chapter 779.
  18. Private Acts of 1927, Chapter 358, authorized a special tax levy of $.03 per $100 assessed valuation for a special high school fund.  The board of education was authorized to issue short term warrants of not more than $25,000; and the funds from this special tax levy were to be used to retire those warrants.
  19. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 436, created a county board of school supervisors in Blount County, dividing the county into seven educational districts and providing for the election of a school supervisor from each district.  The superintendent of public instruction was to serve as the ex-officio secretary of the board.  This act was first amended by Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 356, which required the custodian of the county school buildings to perform the duties of truant officer, under the supervision of the county superintendent of public Instruction.  The boundaries of the seven school districts were changed by an amendment found in Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 378.  Private Acts of 1949, Chapter 524, amended the original 1929 act to raise the salary of the board of school supervisors to $5.00 per day for each day's attendance at meetings of the board.  The last amendment to the 1929 act was Private Acts of 1959, Chapter 262, which once again changed the boundaries of the seven school districts.  Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 436, and all its amendatory acts were repealed by Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 60, which, as amended, may be found on the preceding pages of this volume.
  20. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 445, directed the county trustee to transfer to any municipal corporation in Blount County a pro rate share of the high school fund per student for any student living within one mile of the corporate limits of the municipality, provided that the students lived nearer to a city high school that to any county high school.  This was amended by Private Acts of 1933, Chapter 208, to drop toe one-mile radius requirement, so that any high school student who lived nearer a city school than to a county school could attend the city school with the county reimbursing the city school system.
  21. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 358, authorized the trustee to transfer a pro rate share of school funds to municipalities for elementary students living within one mile of the municipality and closer to a city school than to a county school.
  22. Public Acts of 1933, Chapter 98, authorized the county boards of education in the counties of Blount, Cocke and Sevier to convey to the State of Tennessee any school property lying within The Great Smoky Mountain Park Area, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by said county boards of education and the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountain Park Commission.
  23. Private Acts of 1972, Chapter 243, would have amended Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 60, by providing for the apportionment of the membership of the Blount County Board of School Supervisors, however, according to the Blount County Clerk’s Office, this act was never acted upon by local officials and therefore never became law.
  24. Private Acts of 1987, Chapter 30, would have amended Chapter 60 of the Private Acts of 1961, as amended, relative to the election of the County Board of School Supervisors, but was not acted upon locally and therefore never became effective.
  25. Private Acts of 1988, Chapter 122, would have amended Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 60,  by dividing Blount County into educational districts and provided for the election of one person from each district to be on the county school board.  This act was rejected by the county legislative body of Blount County and therefore never became effective.