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Education/Schools - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Board of Education

The acts referenced below once affected the board of education in Maury County, but are no longer operative. Also referenced below is an act which repeals prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

  1. Private Acts of 1973, Chapter 44, which created a ten (10) member board of education, was repealed by Private Acts of 2012, Chapter 46.

Superintendent or Director of Schools

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

  1. Private Acts of 1933, Chapter 634, provided that the County Superintendent of Public Instruction would not be entitled to receive more than $2,000 per year as compensation for his services during any one year of his term to be in lieu of all other fees, commissions, or salaries.
  2. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 544, amended Private Acts of 1933, Chapter 634 by increasing the maximum compensation for the County Superintendent of Education to $2,400 annually.
  3. Private Acts of 1943, Chapter 203, fixed the compensation of the County Superintendent of Education at $2,800 per year, which amount would include all the money paid to him by the state and county, and would be in lieu of all other fees and commissions.
  4. Private Acts of 1947, Chapter 316, repealed Private Acts of 1943, Chapter 203.

General Reference

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political heritage of the educational structure of Maury County but are no longer operative since they have either been superseded, repealed, or failed to receive local approval.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

  1. Private Acts of 1827, Chapter 31, appointed Isaac S. Thomas, John Matthews, Hinson Grove, Patrick Maguire, James Walker, and Peter R. Booker, as managers of a lottery to raise $5,000 for the Woodward and Little Bigby Academies, one-half of the amount to go to each academy. The managers were required to execute a $10,000 bond to the Chairman of the County Court of Maury County.
  2. Private Acts of 1833, Chapter 47, authorized the Commissioners of the tract of school land in Maury County to divide the township in which the tract lay into four equal school districts. The Commissioners were to pay the money received on account of rents received by them to the school districts in proportion to the number of school children in each district.
  3. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 49, incorporated the Trustees of the Mount Pleasant Academy investing them with all the right, powers, and privileges usually enjoyed and exercised by an incorporated academy.
  4. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 99, incorporated the Trustees of the Union Seminary, namely, Robert Hardin, Robert Campbell, James C. Mitchell, Solomon Bunch, Phillip H. Jenkins, Absalom Thompson, William L. Wellford, John Brown, James W. Brown, William McKisac, Henry Pointer, John Kenedy, and St. Clair Caldwell.
  5. Acts of 1841-42, Chapter 25, amended the corporate charter of the Spring Hill Female Academy to increase the number of trustees from five to thirteen. The subscribers of the Academy were to elect the trustees for two year terms. Vacancies would be filled by the Board of Trustees until the following election.
  6. Acts of 1847-48, Chapter 32, directed the County Trustee of Maury County to make a pro rata distribution of all school monies then in his hands to the school districts according to scholastic population.
  7. Acts of 1847-48, Chapter 154, incorporated Jonathan S. Hunt, Nathaniel H. T. Moore, Green W. Kerr, Martin M. Lane, and William J. Howard as the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Female Academy.
  8. Acts of 1855-56, Chapter 139, appointed James H. Thomas, Samuel D. Frierson, Leonard D. Mayes, George Gault, A. M. Hughes, M. S. Frierson, and W. J. Sykes, as Commissioners for Polk Law School of Maury County. They were empowered to receive subscriptions and donations to fund the organization of the School. The act incorporated those subscribers as a body politic.
  9. Private Acts of 1865-66, Chapter 105, amended the act incorporating the Pleasant Grove Male Academy by increasing the number of Trustees from five to seven and prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors within two and one-half mile at the Institution.
  10. Public Acts of 1895, Chapter 155, prohibited the County Superintendent of Public Instruction in all the counties of the state from teaching in any public school, either as principal or assistant, during their official terms, and from making any contract for building or repairing public school property.
  11. Acts of 1901, Chapter 290, created a special school district from the Twelfth School District of Marshall County and portions of Maury County. The act named the families in Maury County whose land would be a part of this district. The school directors would be elected, and would furnish the scholastic population figures to the respective Boards of Education. Anyone holding a certificate to teach from either county could teach in this District.
  12. Acts of 1903, Chapter 173, repealed Acts of 1901, Chapter 290, above.
  13. Acts of 1903, Chapter 254, created a County Board of Education for every county in the State. One member of each Board would represent each civil district in the particular county. The County Judge or Chairman would be a member and the County Superintendent of schools would be an ex officio member.
  14. Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, abolished the office of District Directors of Education, and created Boards of Education with District Advisory Boards in all counties except those expressly exempted. Each county would be divided into five school districts, composed of whole civil districts, and one member of the Board of Education would come from each district. The County Superintendent would be the Secretary of the Board. The act described the qualifications of the members, prescribed the duties of the chairman, the Secretary, and the County Superintendent, and set forth the authority and powers of the Board. The act did not apply to city schools.
  15. Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 238, set forth the subject matter to be taught in the elementary schools of Maury County and the criteria to be used in establishing one-teacher and two-teacher schools. The act divided high schools into three classifications depending on how many years of instruction were taught in the school. A high school diploma would entitle the holder to enter the State University or the junior year of any State Normal School.
  16. Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 579, authorized W. S. Evins, E. J. Park, and J. I. Finney, members of the Advisory School Board of Culleoka, Tennessee, and Merritt B. Tomlinson, surviving member of the Board of Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Academy near Culleoka, to sell the property of the Pleasant Grove Academy, after advertising the time and place of sale, to execute a deed to the purchaser, and to deposit the proceeds with the Maury County Trustee to the credit of the Culleoka School fund. The money would be used for no other purpose than to erect a public school building at Culleoka.
  17. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 562, directed the Trustee of Maury County to pay over to the Secretary and Chairman of the County Board of Education the funds derived from the sale of the Pleasant Grove Academy in the Fifth District of Maury County. The Board of Education was directed to use said funds in the construction of a school house at Culleoka.
  18. Private Acts 1933, Chapter 731, provided that the Public School Truant or Attendance Officer would be elected by the County Board of Education which would fix his salary at a sum not in excess of $600 per year.