Mar. 31.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 769

(14.) If, by reason of an equality of votes given for two or more candidates, the election is not complete, the Returning Officer shall decide by lot, in the presence of two members of the Board, which candidate or candidates shall be elected, and thereby complete the election.

(15.) (a.) Each candidate may, by writing under his hand, appoint one scrutineer, who may be present at the examination of the voting-papers and the counting of the votes by the Returning Officer.

(b.) The Returning Officer shall, immediately after counting the votes, seal up all voting-papers, and transmit the whole to the Clerk of the nearest Magistrate’s Court, who shall keep the same for six months thereafter, and shall not open or permit to be opened such packet except on the order of some Court of competent jurisdiction, and shall at the end of six months effectually destroy the same.

(c.) Forthwith after the completion of the election the Returning Officer shall, by notice exhibited on the outside of the office of the Board, notify the names of the persons elected, the number of valid votes recorded for each candidate, and the total number of votes rejected as informal, and shall notify to the Board and to the Minister the names of the persons elected.

(d.) The Returning Officer and every scrutineer shall be required faithfully and impartially to perform the duties of their offices, and shall not directly or indirectly make known the state of the poll or give or pretend to give any information by which the state of the poll may be known before the final declaration thereof by the Returning Officer, or make known for which candidate any voter has voted, or communicate to any person any information likely to defeat the secrecy of the ballot.

(16.) If a candidate informs the Returning Officer in writing not later than three clear days before the polling-day, that he retires from the election, the Returning Officer shall give public notice thereof; and if by such retirement the number of candidates is reduced to the number of vacancies to be filled, the Returning Officer shall publicly declare the remaining candidates to be duly elected; but if the said number of candidates is not so reduced the poll shall proceed, but the person so retiring shall not be capable of being elected.

(17.) If any dispute or question arises touching the regularity of any election, such dispute or question shall be determined by a Stipendiary Magistrate in manner provided by sections 33 and 58 to 67 inclusive of the Local Elections and Polls Act, 1925, all the provisions of which shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.

5. The members of the Board elected in accordance with this scheme shall retire on the 31st March in the year 1929 and in each second year thereafter.

6. Retiring members shall be eligible for reappointment or re-election.

7. (1.) A casual vacancy shall be created in the same way and for the same causes as are set out in the Education Act in the case of members of an Education Board.

(2.) Every casual vacancy shall be filled in the same manner and by the same appointing or electing authority as in the case of the vacating member: provided that the member appointed or elected shall hold office only for the residue of the term of the vacating member.

(3.) Whenever a casual vacancy occurs it shall be the duty of the Board forthwith to report the fact to the Minister if the vacancy is to be filled by the Governor-General, or to the Secretary to the Education Board if the vacancy is to be filled by the Board, or to the Town Clerk in the case of a member to be appointed by the Borough Council.

8. (1.) The appointment or election of members to fill vacancies caused by the expiry of the ordinary term of office shall be made in the first week of the month of March at the end whereof such expiry takes place, or as soon thereafter as may be convenient, but shall not take effect until such expiry.

(2.) The appointment or election of a member to fill a casual vacancy shall be made not later than fifty days after the vacancy occurs.

9. The Board shall hold an annual meeting in the month of April in each year, at such time and place as the Board shall direct.

10. From time to time as may be necessary the Board shall appoint a Secretary, and shall appoint him or some other person with authority to receive and to pay moneys on its account. The Board shall in each case forthwith inform the Minister of such appointment.

11. (1.) At the annual meeting and at such other times as may be necessary the Board shall elect a Chairman.

(2.) During the election of Chairman the Secretary to the Board shall preside. The person presiding shall have no vote; ties shall be decided by lot.

(3.) The Chairman’s ordinary term of office shall be one year, and he shall be eligible for re-election.

(4.) If the Chairman shall from any cause cease to be a member of the Board or resign the office of Chairman, the Board shall as soon thereafter as conveniently may be elect another member of the Board to be Chairman in his stead, who shall hold office only until the next annual meeting.

12. At all meetings of the Board the Chairman, or in his absence such member of the Board as the majority of the members assembled shall choose, shall preside, and such Chairman or presiding member shall have a deliberative vote, and in all cases of equality of votes shall also have a casting-vote.

At all meetings of the Board a majority of all the members then in office shall constitute a quorum.

13. Subject to the provisions of this scheme, the Board shall make, and may from time to time revoke, vary, or amend, regulations for the conduct of business at its meetings, for determining how meetings shall be convened, and for such other like matters as may be requisite for the conduct of the business of the Board.

14. Minutes of the proceedings of the Board shall be regularly entered in a proper book to be kept for that purpose, and at every regular meeting of the Board the minutes of the previous meeting and of any special meetings shall be read over and signed by the Chairman of the meeting at which the same are read, and the minutes when so signed shall be held to be a true statement and record of the proceedings of the Board for all purposes whatever.

15. (1.) The Board shall keep full and true accounts, in which shall be entered every sum received into and paid out of the Board fund in the order of date of each such receipt and payment, including all moneys received from rents or profits derived from lands or other property, vested in the Board or under its control or management. All moneys received by or belonging to the Board shall be paid into such bank as the Board from time to time appoints to an account to be called “The Rotorua High School Board Account,” and no money shall be drawn out of the bank except by authority of the Board and by cheque signed by the Secretary and by a member or members appointed by the Board for the purpose.

(2.) The Board shall cause its accounts for the preceding calendar year to be balanced, and a true statement and account to be prepared, in the prescribed form, of the receipts and expenditure of the Board and of its assets and liabilities.

(3.) All such accounts shall be audited by the Audit Office, which for that purpose shall have and may exercise all such powers as it has under the Public Revenues Act, 1910, in respect of public moneys and property.

16. All things required by the Education Act or by the Act constituting the school or this scheme to be done by the Board shall be done in accordance with and in pursuance of a resolution passed at a meeting of the Board, and no act of the Board shall be invalid or liable to be questioned on the ground that one or more than one of the members thereof was or were incapacitated, or had ceased to hold office, or on the ground that the seat of any member was vacant.

17. Subject to the provisions of this scheme, and of the Education Act and regulations thereunder, there shall be vested in the Board the whole control and management of the School, and also the entire superintendence over all the affairs, concerns, and property thereof, with full power to appoint and suspend or dismiss all masters, teachers, lecturers, examiners, and other necessary officers and servants; and in all cases unprovided for by the Education Act and the regulations thereunder, or by this scheme, it shall be lawful for the Board to act in such manner as shall appear to it best calculated to further the purposes intended to be served by the establishment of such school; and the Board shall, subject to the Education Act and the regulations thereunder, and to this scheme, have full power from time to time to make, alter, and rescind by-laws and regulations for defining the courses of study and education in the school, and also for regulating the discipline and examination of the same, the conditions upon which the scholars shall be admitted, and, in general, touching all other matters, purposes, and things regarding the school.

18. (1.) The school shall provide a general course of secondary education and one or more vocational courses.

(2.) The programme of each pupil shall be determined by the Principal of the school after consultation with the parents or guardian of the pupil; but in all cases the programme of each