The money allocated to a county board of education under this act shall be kept by such county board in a separate account to be known as the "free textbook account" and may be used for no other purpose except as otherwise provided by this section. Any balances being held in the "textbook aid account," as provided by law, are by this act authorized and directed to be transferred to said "free textbook account" to be used in accordance with the provisions of this act.
After complying with sections twenty-one-a and twenty-one-b of this article, the county board of education shall use any proceeds remaining in the "free textbook account" for the purchase (including replacement and repair) of textbooks for all pupils enrolled in the public schools of the county, grades one to eight inclusive, who are not provided with free textbooks under the requirements of sections twenty-one-a and twenty-one-b of said article. Such textbooks shall be those adopted by the state Board of Education for the elementary schools of the state.
The order of preference used in providing free textbooks for such pupils shall be either by grade preference in accordance with the plan as stated in subsection one below, or by subject preference in accordance with the plan as stated in subsection two below. The county board of education shall be required to adopt the one of these plans considered preferable for the county, and shall so advise the state Superintendent of Schools in writing before the plan so chosen is made operative through the requisition or purchase of textbooks in accordance therewith.
(1) In furnishing free textbooks by grade preference, the order of such preference shall be to begin with grade one and to continue by consecutive grades to and including grade eight.