PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEY GENERAL
May 4, 1950
Hon. James H. Moore Oplnlon No. v-1051.
County Attorney
Angelina County Re: The validity of a
L&kin, Texas teaaherls contraot
exeouted by a Board
of School Trustees
In the absence of
three new trustees
eleoted three daya
pHor to the oon-
Dear Sir: treat date.
We quote from your inquiry as follows:
“On April lst, 1950, one of the Rural
High School DistrIcta In ,this County held a
trwtee election at vhlch three new truateea
were elected e On April @th, 1950, five of
the members of the Board of Trustees met and
employed the teachers for the ensuing year.
None of the nevly eleoted trustees were pre-
aent or algned the oontract .
“Our queatlon is this: Ia the contraot
a8 made by the old Board of Truateea with the
teaohera a valid and blnding oontraot notwlth-
standing the provlalon in the laet sentence
in Article 2750a-1, o . .’
4rtiole 2750e-1, v.C .S., provides :
“The truateea of any CommonBohool DLa-
trlotor Comolldated CommonSchool Distrlot
ahall have authority to make oontraota for a
period of, time not in exoeaa of two (2) years
with principals, superintendents and teaohera
of said CommonSchool Dlatrlota or Consoll-
dated CommonSchoot Mstriota, provided that
awh contraote shell be approved by the Coun-
ty Superintendent. lo oontraot may be sinned.
by the Trustees of CommonSchool Dlstrlots
or common Consolidated Sohool Dlatrlots un-
11 fhe nevly elected trustee or tmf5teea
Hon. James H. Moore, page 2 (V-1051)
haire quallSled and taken the oath of of-
Roe .‘I (Emphasis added)
Section 4 of Artlole 27746, V.C.S., provides
In pert:
“The oontrol and management of the
aohoola of a rural high school dlatriot
shall be vested in a board OS seven
C&Gee6 who shell be elected and
aerve Ui ~o~o~ance with the provlelons of
the generel law (beotion Xi Artiole 2745)
relative to common sohool diatriota exoept
aa may be otherwise provided herein; . . .‘I
(netter in parenthesis added.)
By virtue of your reference to Article 2750a-1,
we aasuma the dlatrlct In queatlon’is classified aa com-
mon under Article 2922b, and that the nevly elected trua-
tees had not qualified or taken the oath of oifloe when
the purported contracta in question were made.
Attorney Qeneral Oplnlon O-765, dated July 1,
1939, held that a provision of Artlole 2750a similar to
the one underaoored above vaa unoonstltutional because
OS the deSeotlve aaptlon of the Aot. In Opinion O-4595,
dated lay 26, 1942, it was polrkted out that the Leglala-
ture, apparently to remedy this defect, enacted In 1941
the lav oodified as Artiole 2750a-1 in Vernon’s Civil
Stetutea - That opinion further states that the language
used in Article 2750a-1 very plainly lndioates that the
Se&we sought to be remedied was the praotloe whereby
deSe%ted school truatees would join in exeoutlng teaaher
oontraota before the “never elected’ trustee or truatees
‘,oould qualiiy.
In o inions O-8595 and O-3064, the latter dat-
ed July 21, 1 9t 1, it was held that Article 275Oa-1 had
no opplioation to the Saot situationa conaidered there-
in; for the maaon that the oontraota there in question
we= aigned at a time, prior to the regular election Sor
dew trustees in April.
Under the faots presented herein three nev
trustees wera cleated on April 1, 1950. On April 4;1950,
five members OS the old board met and oontraoted for
teaohepa D This vaa done aiter the trustee election OS
April 1 and prfor to the qualffioatfon of the newly eleot-
ed trusteea.
Eon. Jama If.lawa, pago 3 ('I-l@jl)
Was.
Uulorfwta amhmltt8d,~ amU tmhr Ui-