Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

December'10, 1952 Hon. J. W. Edgar Opinion No. V-1551 Commissioner of Education Texas Education Agency Re: Authority of State Commis- Austin, Texas ~- sioner of Education to allot Bracket& independent School District profess,ional unitS:under the sparse district clause, Par. 4. of Dear Sir: Article2922-lj, V.C.S. We refer to your request for'an oplnlon of this office concerning t)Leapplidation of the sparse district clause (,Par.4 of Sec. 1, Art:2922-'i3,V.C.S.) to 'a submitted fact situation. This clause appears in the Cilmer-Aik$n law, effective.Jirne8; 1949. S.B., H-6, Acts 5ist L+gr, R.S. 1949, ch. 334, p. 625, Art. III, Sec. 1. Your Lnqulryreads In substance as follows: The firstand fourthparagraphsof Artl- cle 2922-u, V.C.S., read; ~ln part, as followst "Section 1. The number of,professional units allotted for the purposes of this Act to each achooldistrlct, except as othernise provided herein,.shallbe baaed upon and determined by the average dally attendance for the district for the next preceding school year, separate for whites and separate for negroes. ~. . . ., "Provided further, that any school dls- trictcontalnlng one hundred (100) square' miles or more and having fewer than one (1) pupil per square ,mlle,andwhich is now equipped with school fac1llitlesto maintain, and is now operating and maintaining a four- yearaccredited high school, may be allotted by the State Commlssloner of Education as many professional units as,were provided during the school year 1948-1949; provideId that the State Commlssloner of Education shall Hon. J. W. Edgar; pc)ge2 (V-1551) take Into considerationthe density and distributionof.populationin,the district, road cond,itloq,and the proximity of the : school to another fou+year.accredlted high school in maklngsuch al3otments." In 1949 (,durl the X948-49 school year when Senate E.i$l11 2 supra, became effective) the Braokett Indepeh$entYSchoolDistrict, containing then more than 100 square miles of area, operated and maintained a four-year accreditedhigh school. During the 1948-1949 school year this district yas provided 18 white and 6 colored profeslonal units under the 'generalellglbilltyprovisionsof the thenStat& Ald'Law ,(Pari'l,.Sec. 1 of Art. I Acts 50th,Leg.,R.S.,,1947, ch. 228, not by.vlrtue.of'thesparse dis- triot ~exemptlonolause (Par..3,Sec. 1 of Art. I,R.B.295, supra). .Tj-~esps?ciec~@use ~in&~uee Bill 295 read In m aspfo@e~:~, _ . .,.-An&be it further provided that IndependentSohQol Districts comprised of . . .:(100) square mll&s or more, and that are no.naccredited and equipped to maintain a twelve.,(12)grade school with sixteen (16) br moye.affllUted high school units, and havlng,a scholastic population of .less thhn . ; . (1) per square mile In the mrict may be exempt from the'avwage dally atten- dance and teacher-pupilquota requirements of this Act. . .- For the 1948-1944 year the atiolastlcpopula- tion 6i?Bracket& independent district averaged more than one pupil per square mile. In May 1951,~theiSpofford Common School District was arinexed,tothe .Brackettdistrict. During the 1948-1949 year, the~spofforddis- trict was provlded~3'whiteprofessionalunits under House Bill 295;supra. Thus the terri- tory now constitutingthe area of the enlarged Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 3 (V-1551) Brackett district was .provided 21 white and 6 c~olor'ed,professional:un~t$ In ~the1948-1949 school year. The 1952 schol~a&c'oensus disoloses that tlieBrackett distrl&t;with an area of more W&n lOO,.square miles, now,has fewer than (l)pupSl.per square mlle~;::Thedistrict is eqiilppedwith school 'fabilltlesto maintain and-is'now maintainlng'a~iid:operatlng a four- year'accreditedhigh school. On the basis of its~a.tiragedally attendanbe~thedistrict will be'~entitled~to 15 whiee and:4 colored profes- .slonalunits 'forthe,school year'l952-1953, unWr 'thegeneral pr~ovlsions of Par. 1 of Art,+p+ '2922-l.; 'TheTexas Central Education &ency oon- tends that the sparse:di'strlctolause,~(Par. 4‘of"‘ATt'. 2922-13)~applle's :onl to those dis- trlcts',whibhwere.sparseXn 1948-1949, and whlhh,me.tthe otherssp:ec&fi,catlons of the Act; The Braokett district contends that it aBplles to their ,~d1strSc't,.which~~ though not ~, sparse.in 1$@-1949,.'iEj: now~a.sparsedistrict wz~thin' the meaning'bf'thatstatute. As originally sub.mittedin the Legislature, Senate Blll'llg, supra,;'eontafned no-sparse-district exception provision.: S.:J.5lst Leg;, B.S. 1949 p. 81: S.J. Supp. Jan. :25;::1949i.Sudha.provislonwas adopted in the Senatesas~anamendmeritto Section 1 of Article III of that .. bill, adding thereto the following: '- 11 . . . "p&i'&d 'ipu&& c&&t'iln'&j school dls~rl~t ,oontainingone:hundred(100) square m.tIes~'oraoreandhav%g'fewer than one (1) pupil'per 'sq~are.,mile,~ :and'which3s now erjutppea with’ school.:fatin;itses to.malntain and‘is nowoperatlng~Lana:InBintaining a .four (4) year'accredited.hlghschool, additional classroom4eaoher unitaoverand above those listed below may begallowed,by.theCentral Educatlon~Agency.",(,%I.,supra, p. 231). . . Hon. J. W. Edgar, page,4 (!;+5.51) Later amendmentswere offered in, but tabled by, both the Senate aiidHouse'khiXti--read> ,.,." "Provided that every.publlcschool in Texas.shall'be,gUaran%&3'as a minimum, at least the 'same~nkmbeli'~f'teaohers to which they nepe entitled for'the 1948-49 school y&u- uflderthe'provislotiti'of S.B.'167'en- acted by the'50th L+gislatFe"',(S.J.supra, p. 252;cHope 'Journal;' ,.,STis't.Le'g., ,____ R.S.'1949, p. 1807). The reference therein to "S-B. 167" was erroneous; it was House Bill'295 +5fthe 50th IKiXature which provided for tea~cherSZIotments . for th&Yi~: & I??:49&ho,o,l 'year. Another amendment offered In, but tabled by, the Semte~ &aa:' (,I,,~ ; .'',' Y<.“'-~' '~,ii '&y county-wide~shh~oldistrict having fewer.thtiti~'& 'pupfl~:~per~~uare'ldil'and ,whioh 1s .”fioy. ope~~~ingrana,~,~~~‘d~~-~e;d’ four-year ;hiBh; * s&&l"&&11 TBe' pefi~~Y&&:tb: emplojr Ias my teachers-88' were"&iplog&d'by'&aiddistrict dU+lxig'the 254) ; ;, .: y+‘ stihool' ,~.::~+8+ (S:.J.,~ p. Senate Bill 116, as amended,;eventuallywent to a Con- fetienoe~Cihimltt&e of ~the,U~g141Xture,. The c~odference' report "ado'tedby the SenatF&id 'theHouse,(S. J. pp. 1290;,1302p oontalne'd'the~Bp,a&s'edistrict clause quoted herein as p&graph 4'oi Ar't$'&l&i ., ~., .: ,..2922-13. This legislative&story demonstratesthat as originally frziinad thengene+1 ~~~ovlslonsof Article III of Senate.Bill116;,appert$fnii&to district'ellgiblllty for professIona iuiSta,'we~& td"apply generally to 'all school dl$tridtawlttiotit, &X+&ion. The cited rejected amendmetit~~Pcjfledt"th~'effoPt'&de to preserve for school districts at least tH0nini@M:naimber of tbachers al- lowed th&ln.'the',1$k8-194g‘$fdti,'underHouse Bill 295, supra. "lliecite& adop%ed amendment was more limited in Its scope, and~as it 'em&rg&d'.&t'~ofconfezence.bommlttee, the dlsoretldnof the allotment.a$encywaa further 1lmLted to~all+Monly ,inits'dlsoFetS:bn,as many professional units as were provided ~~lrig'the.schoolyear 1948-1949." . , Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 5 (V-1551) In shorty .Ithe apparentpurpose'of paragraph 4 of Article 2922-13; was to%lIow thcis.eschool districts coming within its.exceptlon~niore'.IjrQfessidnal.oYlits. than they might be entltled.under',tkie'~'gerieral provisions of the Act. It was to prcvldethose'districts then existing as sparse .dlstricts'whlch'metthe'sparse requirementsof the Act, and whlc'hthen had facilities for and were then operatlng and mafnta'lnlnga four-year accredited high school, with a teaching 'orprofessionalstaff a,tleast comparable~ln'numbers;,, at the discretionof the Commls- sloner, to that enjoyed by the district In the 19484949 year under House Bill 295, supra. Had the,Legislature 1ntended:~that the exception provided.q-~.paragi+i:=4 "of Artlole 2922-1.3, ,shouIdhave applloatlon' to.districts wh$ch subsequentto:the"schoo1 yearIg48-49 metthe sparse'reqiilrements.of that provl- slon, lt‘cbuld and~would havedeleted 'the' word ~"now!,from Its Immediately followlng requiziements, orprepared~ the phrase'to read "nor or-hereafter"equipped wlth school facilities to maU&s; and :J&?iowor hereafter operatlng and maintalnlng'afou+ye& ‘accredl~d~hfgli 'school." To give effect to'the 'words~'how"appearing In that excep-- tlon clause,:In the manner contended by'the Brackett district,would 'b,e to construe such words as surplusage and without meaning, and to'attrlbute~tothem a meaning at variance with the Intended purpose for which they were Inserted In the Act. '. Therefore,we agree,with the Texas Central Education Agency that the sparse district clause (Par. 4 of Article 2922-13~‘applles'onlyto those school distrl&ts which metthe sparse requirements In the school year 19&a- 1949, and which met also theother specificationsof the Act. The~Bra~okett district; under the facts submitted not having met the sparse requirements In the 1948-1949 school year, such.sparsd district clause could have appllcat'lon~~thereto'. The leglslativehistory concerning then enactmentof paragraph 4 of Article 2922-13, V.C.S., reveals that same should have appllca- tlon only to such districts as were sparse districts in the schcol'year 1948G949: under . . . . . . Hon. J. W. Edgar, Page 6 (V-1551) the submitted facts, the Brackett Indepen- dent S&ho01 District was not a sparse dls- trict in 1948-1949 year, therefore paragraph 4 of Artlcle'292243, V.C;S..,:wculd have ~no application in the deterinlnatlonof Its pro- fessional unit allcwabUs. ' Yours v:~y truly, APPRMED: PRICE DANIEL Attdrney General J. C. Dgvls. Jr. County .~ffalrsDivision E. Jacobson Rev%wXng .,. ,-._ i .&sir&ant ., ,. ,. * ,,. Charles D. Mathews First~Asslstant ' BW:am