Act of Jul. 5, 1917,P.L. 693, No. 256 Cl. 23 - SPECIAL SCHOOLS, ESTABLISHMENT BY COUNTIES Statute Update Generated 2017-05-03 03:17:34 PMSPECIAL SCHOOLS, ESTABLISHMENT BY COUNTIESAct of Jul. 5, 1917, P.L. 693, No. 256Cl. 23 AN ACT Authorizing and empowering the several counties of this Commonwealth to establish and maintain schools for the care and education of children, under the jurisdiction of the courts of quarter sessions of the peace, or other courts, sitting as juvenile courts, and to acquire land therefor by purchase or by condemnation; defining the scope and character of such schools; regulating the proceedings for the establishment, maintenance and management thereof; authorizing the county commissioners to make appropriation, levy taxes, and to incur indebtedness therefor; and providing that all such schools heretofore established by any county shall be continued and maintained under the authority of this act; removing the persons in charge thereof; and providing that any property heretofore acquired for any such schools shall be held and used for the schools provided for in this act.Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the county commissioners of the several counties of this Commonwealth are hereby authorized and empowered to establish and maintain a school or schools for the care and education of children, under the jurisdiction of the courts of quarter sessions of the peace, or other courts, sitting as juvenile courts, whenever, in the opinion of the county commissioners or a majority of them, such school or schools are required in any county for the proper care and education of such children.Section 2. Whenever, in the opinion of the county commissioners of any county, a school or schools for the care and education of such children is required, they may petition the court of common pleas of the proper county, in writing, for their approval of the establishment and maintenance of such school; and if, in the opinion of said court, such school or schools are required, said court shall enter an order approving the establishment and maintenance thereof. If, in the opinion of said commissioners, or a majority of them, and in the opinion of said court, such school or schools are required, the county commissioners of any county are authorized and empowered to establish and maintain the same, upon the entry of such order by said court.Section 2.1. Any county which has established a school or schools for the care and education of such children under the jurisdiction of the court of quarter sessions of the peace or other court sitting as a juvenile court may transfer, pursuant to an agreement between the county commissioners and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the terms of which have been approved by the court of common pleas of the county in which the school or schools have been established, the school or schools to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for maintenance and for the care and education of the children committed thereto. Upon transfer of any such school to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the terms of office and the powers and duties of the board of managers of the school shall terminate.(2.1 added July 14, 1961, P.L.623, No.318)Section 2.2. Whenever the commissioners of any county deem it unnecessary to continue the operation of any school or schools established pursuant to this act, the commissioners may, by ordinance or resolution, terminate operation thereof and dispose of all or any part of the school property in the manner prescribed by law. Upon such cessation of the operation of any such school, the terms of office and the powers and duties of the board of managers of the school shall terminate.(2.2 added July 14, 1961, P.L.623, No.318)Section 3. For more effectually carrying out the establishment and maintenance of said school or schools, in the event that such order is made, the said court of common pleas shall appoint a board of managers, consisting of nine citizens of the county, three of whom shall serve for one year, three for two years and three for three years, and thereafter three shall be appointed annually in the same manner. The members of said board shall be appointed, as herein provided, as soon as convenient after the court of any county approves the petition of the county commissioners for the establishment and maintenance of such school or schools. Any vacancy occurring in said board shall be filled by said court, and any member of said board may be removed at any time by the said court. Persons appointed to fill vacancies shall serve for the unexpired term.Section 4. Said board of managers shall meet, from time to time as fixed by them, and shall report at least every six months to the county commissioners of the proper county, in the form by them prescribed. They shall have power to recommend the amount of money required for the establishment of the school or schools provided for, and the amount necessary for their annual maintenance, to appoint a superintendent and employes thereof hereinafter provided for, and to manage, supervise, and regulate the conduct of the said school or schools.Section 5. Any such school established shall be established on the Cottage Home plan, and the buildings thereof shall be substantially constructed, and adequately lighted, and ventilated, and provided with baths, playrooms, sleeping rooms, and kitchens; and there shall be adequate provisions for playgrounds, as well as provisions for instruction in the common branches, and for manual, domestic, and moral training, to the end that said schools shall, as far as possible during the period of detention, adequately provide for the mental, moral, and physical welfare and advancement of the children therein detained, and in order that said schools may be supplementary to the public school system of the Commonwealth.Section 6. The schools herein provided for may be established upon farms, within or without the limits of said counties, or at such other places in said counties as shall be selected by the commissioners thereof, with the approval of said board of managers; and for said purpose such counties may acquire as much land as shall, in the judgment of the county commissioners, be necessary for said purpose, by purchase or condemnation, with the same power and under the same procedure as land is now acquired, under existing laws, by school districts for school purposes, the county commissioners exercising the authority exercised by school directors for that purpose.Section 7. Said school shall be presided over by a superintendent, who shall be a person trained in educational and social work, and said superintendent shall have the power of detention over the children committed thereto. When any child committed to said school shall have attained a condition of mental and moral advancement satisfactory to the superintendent and the board of managers, they shall so certify to the juvenile court which committed said child to said school; whereupon the said court may order the release of said child, upon parole, under conditions which shall be prescribed by said board, by general rule and subject to the approval of the proper juvenile court; and in case the conduct of any child released upon parole shall be such as to satisfy the board of managers that a further period of training and detention is necessary, such board shall certify said fact to the proper juvenile court; and thereupon such court shall have power, at any time during the minority of said child, to direct the apprehension and return of said child to said school, where it shall remain, subject to the same control as when originally committed thereto.Section 8. Said schools shall receive children upon the commitment of the juvenile court of such county, or other court of such county sitting as a juvenile court; and such school may, upon a proper compensation being arranged for, receive children committed thereto by the juvenile courts of counties other than that by which said school is maintained.(8 amended May 5, 1931, P.L.88, No.63)Section 9. The several counties of this Commonwealth are hereby authorized and empowered, by and through their county commissioners, or a majority of them, to appropriate annually, out of the general funds of such county, such amounts as are necessary to establish and maintain any such school or schools; and to levy taxes therefor, and to borrow money and to incur indebtedness, in compliance with the laws regulating the increase of indebtedness by the counties of this Commonwealth, for the purpose of acquiring lands and erecting buildings necessary therefor, and for the purpose of enlarging, extending, or making additions to any such school or schools; and to issue, as evidences of such indebtedness, registered or coupon bonds, payable within thirty years from the date of their issue, and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, payable semiannually, which bonds shall not be sold for less than their par value and accrued interest; and to levy and collect taxes on all taxable property in the several counties, in addition to all other taxes, for the purpose of paying any indebtedness so incurred. Any county incurring any such indebtedness shall, at or prior to the time of incurring the same, make provision for a sinking-fund to pay at maturity for any indebtedness so incurred.Section 10. Said board of managers shall have power to elect a superintendent, hereinbefore provided for, and such teachers, officers, and employes as are necessary for the proper management of said school. The number of said employes, and the salaries of said superintendent and employes, shall be fixed by said board of managers, with the approval of the county commissioners and the county controller or auditor of the county.Section 11. The county commissioners are authorized and empowered to pay, from time to time, to the board of managers, out of the funds appropriated to it, sums not exceeding ten thousand dollars, by warrants countersigned by the county controller or county auditor, in the manner now used in the disbursement of funds of the county from which the expenditures necessary to the conduct of said school shall be made by the said board of managers, all of which said expenditures shall be subject to audit by the county controller or county auditor of the proper county.Section 12. (12 repealed Oct. 4, 1978, P.L.909, No.173)Section 13. (13 repealed Oct. 4, 1978, P.L.909, No.173)Section 14. Any school or schools, for the care and education of children under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, heretofore established and maintained by any county, under or by virtue of any act of Assembly heretofore enacted, shall forthwith come under the terms of this act; and any board of managers heretofore appointed for the purpose of managing any such school, under any act heretofore passed, shall be, and the same is hereby, removed; and it shall be the duty of the court of common pleas to forthwith appoint a board, in conformity with the provisions of this act, for the purpose of maintaining and managing the said school under the terms hereof.Section 15. (15 repealed Oct. 4, 1978, P.L.909, No.173)Section 16. Any money realized from the sale of any products of said schools, or the farms connected therewith, or for the maintenance of children from other counties, may be used by said board of managers for such purposes as, in its discretion, it may decide will further the interests of the school. At the end of each calendar year, all such money shall be properly accounted for to the county commissioners or the county controller of such county by the filing of paid vouchers, properly approved, or by depositing in the county treasury in cash such balances as may remain at the end of the said each calendar year.(16 added May 5, 1931, P.L.88, No.63)