§ 1511 — Request for meeting to consolidate districts; notices of meeting

§ 1511. Request for meeting to consolidate districts; notices of\nmeeting. 1. Whenever two-thirds of the qualified electors of each of\ntwo or more districts in which there shall be less than fifteen\nqualified electors, or if there be fifteen or more qualified electors in\nany of such districts whenever ten or more of such electors, shall sign\na request for a meeting to be held for the purpose of determining\nwhether such districts shall be consolidated as a common school district\nor as a union free school district, as the case may be, and submit the\nsame to the trustees or board of education of each of such districts, it\nshall be the duty of such trustees or board of education to submit such\nproposed consolidation to the commissioner of education for approval. If\nthe commissioner approve such proposed consolidation, it shall be the\nduty of such trustees or board of education to give public notice that a\nmeeting of the qualified electors of such districts will be held at some\nconvenient place within such districts, as centrally located as may be,\nto vote upon the question of consolidating such districts. Such notice\nshall specify the day and hour when such meeting shall be held, not less\nthan twenty nor more than thirty days after the posting, service or\npublication of such notice. If the trustees or board of education shall\nrefuse or neglect to give such notice within twenty days after such\nrequest is approved by the commissioner of education, the commissioner\nof education may authorize and direct any qualified elector of the\ndistrict to give such notice.\n 2. If any part of any of such districts is situated wholly or partly\nwithin an incorporated village in which one or more newspapers are\npublished, such notice shall be published once in each week for three\nconsecutive weeks before such meeting in all the newspapers published in\nsuch village, and shall also be posted at least twenty days prior to\nsuch meeting, in at least five conspicuous places in each district. In\nall other districts such notice shall be published once in each week for\nthree consecutive weeks before such meeting, in a newspaper circulated\nin said districts, and in the event no newspaper is circulated in said\ndistricts, such notice may be given by publication thereof in a\nnewspaper circularized and generally distributed through the district or\ndistricts involved, and it shall be also posted at least twenty days\nprior to such meeting in at least five conspicuous places in each\ndistrict. In districts which by the latest census are shown to have a\npopulation of two hundred or less, the trustees or board of education of\nsaid districts may dispense with publication and posting as hereinabove\nrequired, and in the event that such publication and posting are\ndispensed with, said trustees or board of education of each of said\ndistricts shall authorize and direct a qualified elector thereof to\nnotify each qualified elector of such district of said meeting by\ndelivering to him a copy of such notice, or in case of his absence from\nhome, by leaving a copy thereof, or so much thereof as relates to the\ntime, place and object of the meeting, at the place of his abode, at\nleast twenty days prior to the time of such meeting.\n 3. The reasonable expense of the publication and service of such\nnotice shall be chargeable upon the districts, if the vote be in favor\nof consolidation, and if not, shall be paid by the persons signing the\nrequest for such meeting as provided by section fifteen hundred\ntwenty-two.\n