Hon. J. W. Edgar Opinion No. M-1055
Commissioner of Education
Texas Education Agency Re: Questions relating to the
201 E. 11th Street areas from which trustees
Austin, Texas 78701 of the Dallas Independent
School District may be
Dear Dr. Edgar: elected
You have requested the opinion of this office on the
above matter. In connection with your request you have fur*
nished the following information:
"The Dallas Independent School District has
a nine member school board. Currently six of
which .are elected on a place-member basis from
six designated areas or districts within its con-
fines (one from each district): the other three
are elected at large. See Section 6 of Article
2783d, and Section 6a as amended in 1967. All
qualified voters of the Dallas district may vote
on candidates for each of the nine places.
"By resolution the Board of Trustees of the
District has proposed (1) that each of its trustees
be elected only by the qualified voters in the
district-area from which he runs, except for the
three elected at large who would be elected as
before: or (2~)in the alternative: that the Board
of Trustees designate nine districts-areas, and
that each trustee be elected only by the qualified
voters in the district-area from which he runs.
Under either of these proposed plans, the voting
district-areas with the school district would (it
is contemplated) have approximately the same number
of population.
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Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 2, (M-1055)
"The Board of Trustees of the Dallas Inde-
pendent School District has requested that I
immediately obtain an opinion from the Office
of Attorney General on the following submitted
question:
"Legally, may either or both of these
above proposed new plans be accomplished
by resolution or action of the Board of
Trustees of the Dallas Independent School
District?"
In connection with your request, the following is quoted
from Section 6 of Article 2783d*, Vernon's Civil Statutes:
"The Board of Education or Board of Trustees
of such independent school district, after separ-
ation from municipal control, shall consist of
nine (9) members, elected by the qualified voters
of such school district, six (6) of whom shall be
elected from districts hereinafter provided to be
created and three (3) at large, and when elected
shall serve for a term of three (3) years; the
terms shall be so arranged that three (3) members
will be elected annually at an election to be held
on the first Saturday of April. The present mem-
bers of the Board of Education of any such district
shall, one hundred and twenty (120) days before
the first Saturday in April, 1950, cause such school
district to be divided into six (6) districts accord-
ing to the population so that all such districts will
have approximately the same population, and shall
designate such districts, numbers one to six (1 to
6) inclusive. From time to time the Board shall
* This Article was not affected by adoption of the Texas Educa-
tion Code: see Sec. 3 of the Code.
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:
Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 3, (M-1055)
have authority to change the boundaries of
the six (6) districts so that the population
in these districts may remain approximately
equal. . . .It (Emphasis added.)
The following is quoted from Section 6a of Article
2783d:
"Capdidates for election to said Board
shall be nominated by a majority vote of the
electors voting in such election, and in the
event no candidate receives a majority of the
votes cast therein the Board of Education,
after canvassing the results thereof, shall
cause the names of the two (2) candidates
receiving the highest number~of votes to be
placed on the ballot to be voted upon at a
special ~run-off election. . .n
You inform us that Article 2783d has been interpreted
and applied by the district so that all qualified voters in the
district may vote upon all of the candidates at each election,
whether the candidates are running from designated districts or
at large.
You ask whether the Trustees of the District may now
change this interpretation so,
‘I. . . (1) that each of its trustees be
elected by the qualified voters in the district-
area from which he runs, except for the three
elected at large who would be elected as before:
or (2) in the alternative: that the Board of
Trustees designate nine districts-areas, and
that each trustee be elected only by the qual-
ified voters in the district-area from which he
runs. . . .'I
The proposed action is clearly contrary to the pro-
visions of Article 2783d ads it has been interpreted and applied
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.
.
Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 4, (M-1055)
by these Trustees for the past four years and acquiesced in
by all parties concerned. Under these circumstances we feel
constrained to give this interpretation great weight. 53
Tex.Jur.2d 259-263, Statutes, Sec. 177.
Our opinion is that the Board of Trustees of the
District may not now alter this interpretation nor act
contrary to it.
SUMMARY
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The provisions of Art. 2783d, V.C.S.,
governing the 'election of trustees of D~allas
Independent School District, may not be altered
by any action of the Board of Trustees of the
District nor may the Board legally act contrary
to them.
Ve$y truly yours,
Prepared by Austin C. Bray, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman
W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman
Bart Boling
Brandon Bickett
Scott Garrison
Dan Green
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. .
Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 5, (M-1055)
SAM MCDANIEL
Staff Legal Assistant
ALFRED WALKER
Executive As.sistant
NOLA WHITE
First Assistant
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