THELI~~~ORNEY GENERAL
OF-XAS
May 5, 1959
Dr. J. W. Edgar
Commissioner of Education
Texaa Education Agency
A,ustin, Texas
Opinion No. WW-617
Re: Where an Bria or community
is now included within the”
botihd&rl&s of a munidipally
controlled independent
schbol district for ‘sdhool
purpose& only, &id. that
cotimunitt ihctirpoFat.eB~ihto
a dity. or town; will such
fncorporatlon’ aiitoiatlcally
affect any~‘rightb ‘that thb~
muni~lpally controlled dib-
triot may”have to exe*ci&e
and’ continue jurisdidtion
theticlln for school purposes
Dear Dr. Edgar: onl)?
We quote from your request at3 follows:
"Fadtual situatiofi: There is a munioi-
pally controlled lndependent’schtiol district.
The oity cbtiprising that’city contrblled in-
dependent echo01 district ha8 ~bn several oo-
OabionE extended hits city’ boundaries fbr
sohool purposes 6nly ufider~Atitlole 2803, so
that till-: ,lty conttibllsd dohool district
boundiii*r=Y bxtend btfond the”botindaHes of
the oitJ ,‘or~ city purposds ~to include con-
stderbti&e area not ‘a pert ol’ the city~ proper.
A Oom~~r(,.rt~ has de%loPe~d In’ this area not a
paFt of thC city prbper~ but within’ the boun-
darlea~ of city oontrblli?d school sytititi as
extended for schbol p,tirposes L Purri aant to
Articles 1133, et seq., V. T. C. S., an eletid
tidn has been called to lncorpbrate this oom-
munity, to make of It an incorporated city.
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 2 (WW-617)
“We have needy for and would appre-
ciate an oplnlon’from your office on the
following question:
“Where an area or community ia
now Included’ within the boundaries
of ‘a municipally controlled inde-
pendent school dlstrlct for school
purposes only, and that communify~
Incorporates into a city or town,
will such~ Incorporation automatic-
allyaffect any rights that’ the
municipally ~bnt~olled”dlitrict’
may have-to ‘exercise and continue
jurisdict.fonthereln for school
purposes only. ’
It is elementary that school districts may be
organized or- abolished and’ the ‘boundaries thereof altered
only in accordance with the constitution or stat,utes.
Section 10 of Article XI of the Texas Constitu-
tion provides that:
“The ‘Legislature ‘may ‘constitute any
city or town a separate and independent
school district. . . .‘I
Article 2768, Revised Civil Statutes, provides:
“Any city or town in this~ State
may acquire the exclusive control of
the publics free ‘schools within its “limits.
Any city” or town which has heretofore,
under the Act’ of Marc’h 15;’ 1875, or any
subsequent law, assumed c’ontfol of the puol3.c
free’ schools ‘within its Iimlts, and’ has con-
tinued~ to eierc3se”the same- until the”
present time,: or any”dity or town’~tifilch”may
hereafter determineso to’ d&by majority
vote 0T the ‘property tax”payers ~of said
tiity~ or~townvoflng atan eletition’held
for’th~at ~‘purpose;~ may h;iVi? exc1iisivo “’ “’
control of ‘tke pubIic free schools within
its limits. Acts 1905, p. 263.”
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 3 (W-617)
The special nature of a ,munlcipal school'dlstrlct
is illustrated by thelanguage used by the court In the
case of Towh of Sunnyvale; Texas'v. DallasCounty Board
of School Trustees, 283 S.W.2d 296 (Clv. App. 1955) as
folLows:
'The adjudicated ca,ses lead us to
the~tionclusion that ~a municipal school
dintrict whlch'lncludes~a11 the.terrl-
tory within 'the "limits' of'~a city~~or"
town and which meets all the'reqiiire-
tierit of Art'. 2768, R;C'iS;',' cannot be
changed inoofar as the'territory with;~
In Its city Ilmits' lKcohcerned;~exce~t
by"the~vote or consentof 'a majority of
the Citizens of the-town'as~ a whole.
Tn~other words; it"canhot be changed by
the vote of ~the persons residing only
In a portionof the-towh who seek to'
disannex"suCh"portion'from the"balance
of the munidlpal school dl.atrltit within
the'city llmlts of"the tbwn;~ or by the
County'Board of' School Trustees based
on such a vote byonly the'qualifled
voters of the territory dlsannexed.
"Underthe record, if the trials
court had jurisdiction of'this proceed-
ing we should sustainappellant's conten-
tion in its asserted question for review."
The incorporation of a city or town pursuant to
Artidles~ 1133 et'seq,'Vernon's 'Civil Statbtes,'does'not~
automatically~glve the'municipality'so~formed control of
then s~hools'i~cated"withln'its corporate limits. ~The'
mode of organlslng~munl~lpally controlled tichool districts
as prescribed by Article 2768 is exclusive.
Your question is therefore answered In the nega-
tive.
SUr.lPlARY
Where an area or community is now
Included within the boundaries of
amunicipally controlled independ-,
ent school-district for school pur-
poses only, and that area or com-
Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 4 (W-617)
mtinity incorporates into a~ city
or town, such lntiorporatloti'will
not atitomatically affect ai-iy
rights that the mtitilci~~lly'coh-
trolled' distl'ict 'ti&y'have to'ei-
&clsKand~ cdntihue~jurlsdicflo~.
therein for school purposes only.
Very truly yours,
WILLSWILSON~
Attorney General of Texas
-" Leonatid~ Passmore
Assistant
LP:rm:sd
APPROVED:
OPINION COMFTITTEE
Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
Zellner J. Turllngton
Robert H. Walls
Llnward Shivers
REVIEWEDFOR'THE~ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY: W. V. Geppert