Dark gray background with foreground text that says Private Acts Compilations


Education/Schools - Historical Notes

Board of Education

The following acts once affected the Board of Education in Van Buren County but are no longer operative. Also referenced below are acts which repeal prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

  1. Private Acts of 1923, Chapter 166, conferred the right to exercise the power of eminent domain on the Board of Education in Van Buren County to take and use private property for public school purposes. The County Judge, the County Court Clerk, and the County Superintendent would make up a Board of Appraisers to determine the value of the land to be taken in accordance with the method and under the conditions specified in the Act. The manner of appeal was established and provision made for the school Board to take possession of the property upon filing a bond in double the appraised value with the court having jurisdiction of the matter.
  2. Private Acts of 1976, Chapter 202, would have rewritten Private Acts of 1949, Chapter 867, Section 2, to provide for a seven member Board of School Commissioners, one member to be elected by popular vote in each of the six Magisterial Districts, created in Private Acts of 1976, Chapter 201, and one to be selected at-large by qualified voters of the county. This bill was not acted upon by the Van Buren County Quarterly Court and therefore is not in effect.
  3. Private Acts of 1994, Chapter 135, was also an Act to amend Private Acts of 1949, Chapter 867, as to Van Buren County being divided into six (6) school districts and the election of their members to the board of school commissioners. According to the County Clerk at the time of this compilation, this Act also had not been acted upon by the local authorities, and is therefore inoperative.

Superintendent or Director of Schools

The act referenced below once affected the office of superintendent of education in Van Buren County, but is no longer operative.

  1. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 39, provided for the election of the county superintendent of public instruction for counties having a population of less than 3,000 according to the federal census of 1920, and the superintendent would be elected every two years.

General Reference

The following acts constitute part of the administrative and political heritage of the educational structure of Van Buren County but are no longer operative since they have either been superseded, repealed, or failed to receive local approval.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 1847-48, Chapter 91, incorporated the Burrett College, in the city of Spencer, with the following serving as initial incorporators: W. B. Huddleston, D. F. Wood, F. G. Plumblee, John Steward, Daniel Walling, John Gillintine, W. B. Cummings, Uriah York, Joshua Morris, Major Parpson, John Morris, E. G. McKinney, Joab Hill, John Pain, James A. Haston, G. P. Cummings, N. F. Trogdon, G. W. York, J. G. Mitchell, James W. Copeland, John G. W. Woods, George W. Anderson, John A. Minnis, Joseph Cummings, William Worthington, Abijah Crain and William Templeton.
  2. Acts of 1881, Chapter 168, directed the (Quarterly) County Court to appoint commissioners to sell York Academy, in Spencer, on such terms and conditions as the court may decide, with all proceeds to be applied to the common school fund of Van Buren County.
  3. Acts of 1907, Chapter 231, created a special school district for Van Buren County out of part of the Sixth and the Eighth Civil Districts of the county according to the description in the Act. The Special School District was to be called the "Crain Hill School District #3," would be supervised by J. F. Kell, Bill Crain, and A. D. Martin who were named Directors to serve until others were elected in May, 1908, for two year terms.
  4. Acts of 1907, Chapter 236, abolished all the District Directors of the county school systems and established county Boards of Education, and District Advisory Boards for all counties except those who elected to exempt themselves in Section 17, which section did not include Van Buren County. This Act applied only to county school systems, and no city was affected thereby. The County Court would divide the county into five school districts composed of whole civil districts, and a member of the Board of Education would be elected from each district. The County Superintendent of Education would be the Secretary of the Board. The duties of all concerned were spelled out and many administrative procedures established. All these become the basis for the laws which currently apply to our county schools. The Tennessee Supreme Court considered this statute in the case of Whitthorne v. Turner, 155 Tenn. 303, 293 S.W. 147 (1927).