North Castle, town of, Westchester county, In the matter of the
appeal from the order dissolving district No. 4 of the, and
annexing its territory to district No. 5 of said town. (Case No.
785), 548.
School districts
Education Law, § 129
appeal dismissed. The order of a district superintendent con-
solidating two school districts will be sustained where it appears
that both of the districts affected need new schoolhouses and
that it is to the best interests of both districts to erect one new
schoolhouse upon a site at a convenient distance to the resi-
dents of both districts.
Under the provisions of section 129 of the Education Law
it is within the power of a district superintendent to make
an order consolidating school districts without consulting the
voters and taxpayers of the districts.
North Collins, town of, Erie county, In the matter of the appeal
from the action of the annual district meeting held in district
No. 6 of the, relative to the designation of an academic school
for the instruction of the academic pupils of said district. (Case
No. 788), 560.
School districts — designation of school for instruction of
academic pupils — appeal sustained. Where it clearly appears
that the academic pupils of a district will be better accommo-
dated if permitted to attend a high school other than the school
designated at the district meeting, the action of the district
meeting will be set aside.
Petregal, Andrew, In the matter of the petition of, from the elec-
tion of trustee and clerk in district No. 22 of the town of Colonie,
Albany county, at the annual meeting held May 2, 1922. (Case
No. 771), 186.
School districts-election of trustee - appeal dismissed.
The election of a school district official will not be set aside
upon the ground that illegal votes have been cast for him,
unless it can be affirmatively shown that such illegal votes
changed the result of the election.
Pierce, Earl W., In the matter of the appeal of Fred G. Lawrence
and, from the election of trustee and collector in common school
district No. 11 of the town of Fallsburgh at the annual school
meeting held May 2, 1922. (Case No. 757), 85.
School districts
collector sustained.
election of trustee set aside
Rockland, town of, Sullivan county, In the matter of the appeal
from the order dissolving common school district No. 9 of the.
and annexing its territory to union free school district No. 1 of
said town and county. (Case No. 758), 87.
School districts — consolidation
the residents of a common school district have been and are
now receiving benefits from the effort exerted by the residents
of a union free school district to maintain a satisfactory aca-
demic department, there is no substantial reason why the people
of the common school district should not assist in bearing the
burden of maintaining the academic school. Appeal from
order dissolving common school district and annexing its terri-
tory to union free school district dismissed.
Rotterdam, town of, Schenectady county, In the matter of the
appeal from the refusal of the district superintendent of schools
to erect a new school district out of the territory of common
school district No. 11 of the. (Case No. 781), 449.
School districts · appeal from refusal of district superin-
tendent to erect a new district dismissed. The fact that the
interests of the inhabitants of a school district and their occu-
pations differ is not in itself a valid reason for dividing the
district. In most instances it is an advantage rather than a
disadvantage to bring together the children of residents who
are engaged in different occupations.
Upon the evidence presented the appeal from the refusal of
the district superintendent to erect a new school district was
dismissed.
Sempronius, town of, Cayuga county, In the matter of the appeal
from an order changing the boundary line between district No.
2 of the town of Moravia and district No. 8 of the. (Case No.
782), 453.
School districts-order of district superintendent transfer-
ring property from one district to another sustained. Where
the district superintendent and the supervisor of a town con-
ducted a hearing upon the order of the district superintendent
transferring property from one district to another, and after
the hearing a vote was taken which resulted in a tie, such tie
vote shall be regarded as a decision for the purposes of an
appeal on the merits.
An order transferring property from a weak district to one
that is stronger in financial resources will not ordinarily be
sustained in the absence of evidence showing that the order
will work a substantial benefit to the children who are affected.
The present case comes within the exception to the rule and
the order of the district superintendent is sustained.
Smithtown, town of, Suffolk county, In the matter of the appeal
from the order dissolving district No. 7 of the, and annexing the
territory thereof to union free school district No. 1 of said town.
(Case No. 784), 459.
School districts — consolidation — appeal dismissed. An ap-
peal from the order of a district superintendent dissolving a
common school district and annexing its territory to a union
free school district will be dismissed, where it appears that
even though a new building were erected in the dissolved dis-
trict it would not insure to the children of the district the
character of instruction which they would obtain in a well-
equipped graded school with high school facilities such as is
furnished by the union free school district.
Southampton, town of, Suffolk county, In the matter of the appeal
from the action of the annual district meeting held in union free
school district No. 5 of the. (Case No. 773), 252.
School districts - annual meeting — notice election of
trustee — appeal dismissed. Notice of an annual meeting posted
twenty days before the meeting in twenty public places in the
district is sufficient notice under subdivision 2 of section 193
of the Education Law.
Where ballots are cast for the office of trustee alone, the
ballot is legal although the words "for trustee " do not appear
thereon.
Stearns, Otis A., In the matter of the appeal of, and Lewis S.
Baker from the proceedings of the annual school meeting held
May 2, 1922, in school district No. 7 of the towns of Friendship
and Wirt, Allegany county. (Case No. 774), 254.
School districts — annual meeting — qualification of voters.
Stewart, H. Lynn, In the matter of the appeal of, from the action
of the board of education of union free school district No. 4 of
the town of Colesville, Broome county. (Case No. 780), 431.
School teachers - alleged contract of employment void-
Personal Property Law, 31-appeal dismissed. An alleged
contract of hiring which cannot by its terms be performed
within one year is void under the provisions of section 31 of
the Personal Property Law in the absence of a written con-
tract or memorandum or record of the board of education evi-
dencing such employment.
Union, town of, Broome county, In the matter of the appeal from
the order of the district superintendent of the third supervisory
district of Broome county and the supervisor and town clerk of
the, made April 28, 1922, vacating a preliminary order made by
such district superintendent, altering the boundary between union
free school district No. 1 of the town of Union and common
school district No. 9 of said town. (Case No. 761), 94.
School districts · consolidation — questions of the national-
ity of pupils may not enter into the determination of district
boundaries as a controlling factor.
Wayland, town of, Steuben county, In the matter of the appeal
from the action of the board of education of union free school
district No. 1 of the, in refusing to dismiss a teacher for alleged
misconduct. (Case No. 765), 145.
School teachers—refusal of board to dismiss teacher for
alleged misconduct sustained. The board of education assumes
under the law full responsibility for the employment and dis-
missal of teachers in the public schools under its control. The
presumption is that the board, in refusing to dismiss a teacher,
has acted fairly and in accordance with the facts presented.
The Commissioner of Education will not, upon an appeal from
the refusal of the board, disturb the determination of the board
in the absence of a convincing proof that the board has failed
to perform its full duty.
Woodward, George B., In the matter of the appeal of, from the
election of trustees at the annual district meeting held in district
No. 10 of the town of Colonie, Albany county, May 2, 1922.
(Case No. 752), 36.
School districts - election of trustees set aside. The annual
meeting of a common school district having one trustee may
not legally proceed to the election of three trustees without the
adoption of a resolution by a two-thirds vote of the legal voters
present thereat to have three trustees.
Young, Josiah L., In the matter of the appeal of, from the action
of the district meeting held in district No. 10 of the town of
Colonie, Albany county, May 2, 1922. (Case No. 753), 38.
School districts -designation of site for new building –
notice of meeting need not describe particular site to be voted
upon. The notice of a special meeting to vote upon the selec-
tion of a site for a new school need not fully describe the par-
ticular site to be voted upon. The adoption of a resolution
describing the site by metes and bounds was in substantial
compliance with the Education Law and should not be set
aside in the absence of evidence that the site thus selected was
such as to endanger the lives or health of the children or
seriously jeopardize the interests of the district.
Yousey, Peter N., In the matter of the appeal of, from the refusal
of district No. 21 of the town of Croghan, Lewis county, to estab-
lish and continue a branch school in said district. (Case No.
776), 298.
School districts - establishment of branch school - Educa-
tion Law, § 275. Where the request of the appellant for the
establishment of a branch school has been submitted to a special
district meeting and has been defeated, the trustee of the dis-
trict may, nevertheless, establish such branch school under the
authority given him by section 275 of the Education Law.
The trustee, having refused to establish a branch school in
view of the action taken at the meeting, is ordered to immedi-
ately establish such branch school for the accommodation of
the appellant's children and other children of the district who
may be served thereby.
Judiciary Law, sections 116, 162 and 315, In the matter of con-
struing, in relation to the selection of stenographers for official
referees and as to the legality of the bill of a stenographer other
than a Supreme Court stenographer, 103.
Official referees not authorized to select other than Supreme
Court stenographers, Judiciary Law, §§ 116, 162, 315. Stenog-
raphers for official referees must be Supreme Court stenog-
raphers. The claim of a stenographer not one of the Supreme
Court stenographers for services in reporting a trial before an
official referee, uncertified, is not a legal claim against the
county nor payable by the county treasurer.
New York Central Railroad Company, In the matter of the Peo-
ple of the State of New York ex rel. the, v. State Tax Com-
mission. (City of Amsterdam assessments for the years
1917-1921, inclusive), 409.
Special franchise tax railroad taxed for value of its user
of a retaining wall which is part of State canal system. A
railroad company contributed to the cost of construction of a
retaining wall on certain lands of the State. The said wall
while being a necessity to the canal is also useful to the rail-
road to the extent that the railroad would need some support
if the wall did not exist. Held, that the retaining wall is a
part of the canal system of the State and the company should
be taxed only for the value of a slope and slope wall which
would adequately furnish the support required by its railroad.
New York Central Railroad Company, In the matter of the Peo-
ple of the State of New York ex rel. the, v. State Tax Com-
mission. (Special franchise assessments -town of Stockport,
1919-1921), 416.
Special franchise tax - railroads · occupation of land under
water to which it has title is not taxable as special franchise
navigability of streams- Tax Law, 2(6). The occupation
by a railroad company of lands under water in the Hudson
river to which it has title by virtue of grants from the State
of New York and a deed from a former owner, is not taxable
as a special franchise.
The test of the navigability of a stream, to meet the require-
ments in the definition of real estate as found in subdivision 6
of section 2 of the Tax Law, is whether or not it is useful
as a highway of commerce over which trade or travel may be
conducted.
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