OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Traylor Ruesell
County Attorney
Titur Count?
Ht. Flearant, Texas
Dear Sir:
b'e are In reoel er of January 24,
1941 requesting an oplnio tment whleh reulr
in part 88 r0il0w88
elementary sohoolr.
o rahool (Ilrtrlct 13.
Vhe queetlonr are as r0mm:
::?Flret: Can oohoolr A an% 5 be aoneoll%ate%
with aahool D for elementary sohool purpose89
fJ&ggg: In the event sahoole A and B oan
be oomoli%ate% with rohool D for elsesentary sohool
ptlrpoctea, what eifeHi, If any, would thita have on
gonorable TreyLor Rt~eeell, peg8 2
the prerlouely fore~ed rural high eohool dir-
trlct, If any, and what erreot would luoh a
ooneolldation have on the eohool funds of eohoole
A an% Bt
w: In the event A and B may be oon-
eolldated with eohool D oan thle be done by the
County Board of Trustee8 without an election or
shell an election be’had by the quellfled reel-
dent voter8 of dirtMote A, B end Dt
“In oonneotlon with the flrrt queotion I
alte you Art. 29&2f, R.C.S., 1926, whloh portion
of the artlole applying to this requeet read8 ae
r0il0we :
“The County Board of Sohool Tr ueteee lhall
not have the authority to abolleh or ooneoll%ate
an7 elesentarr eohool dletrlot already eetabllehed
exoept upon the vote or a saJority or the qortified
lleotore lrlng in euoh elementary &l&riot; prorid*
,e% that when ennf eohool withln anr elementary dle-
triot ralle to have an average daily attendemoe
the preoeding year of at least. twenty pupil8 lt
mar be dieoontinued b the Board of Trueteee o?
aal& rural high lohoo f dletrlot, ma eald dletrlot
may be ooneoltdated by the Qounty Bowd of Sohool
Trueteee with eoe18 athor dietrlot or dletrlote ior
elementary lohool purpoeee; provldeti that 21 there
18 more then one white or one oolored eohool In
enoh elementary eohool dletrlot the board of truet-
bee of the la,ld rural high eohool dletrlote or an
lndepenbent dletrlot, a8 the oaee may be, may oon-
eolidete euoh white or solored lohoolr of the ele-
mentary dietrlot; and provided that the board of
trueteee of a rural high lahool dletrlot may tranr-
fer the pup118 of one elementary dletriot to another
within the rural high eohool %letrloD, when the
tranefer ie made fraa en 8lementa.r~ dietriot of low-
er olaeelrloa.tlon to one or higher olaeelfloatlon;
and provided further that the boar% of trustee8 of
a rural hlgh lohool dietriot may tranefer pupiZ8
from en elementary dletriot to MI other elementary
dletrlot within the rural high eohool dletriot upon
applioatton of the parents or guar%lan of the eal%
puplle.'*
Honorable Traylor Rueeell, page S
We also 01311 attentlon to that part 0r Artiole
Bega, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, reaalng as follower
*Provided that the county eohool trumteee
shall have the authorltg to abolleh a rurel high
school dietrict on a petItion elgne% by a majorl-
tJr of the votere of each elementary dletrlot oom-
posing the rural high school aletrlot and when
euah dletrlot has been abollehe% the elementary
dletrlote shell automatlorlly revert baok to their
orlglnal etatue, with the exoeptlon that In the e-
vent there are any outstanding Indebtedness agalnet
the raid rural eohool dietrlot laoh elementary dte-
trlot shell assume Its proportlonal part of the
debts. ”
It la noted from your rtatemsnt of faote that the
lohoole A, 13, and C were grouped under Arttale 2922a, Vernon’s
Texas Clrll Strtutre, Into a rural high eohool %letrlot, and
br virtue of the terme of Artlole 2922b, Vernon’s Texas Civil
Statutes, ebPoh of eald dietrlote oomooelng the rural high
eohool dletriat beoame elementary eohool %letrlote wlthin the
rural hlgh lohool dIetrIot feeMy. Sohool District D I8 en-
tire17 separate and her no relatlonehlp whatever to the rural
high lohool dletrlot or any of lte oomponent parts.
There may be 8-c question or oomfllot as to whether
a rural high school dietrlot may be dlememberea by removing an
elementary Qletrlot, exoept by dieeolutlon as provide% la Art-
lole 29228, quote% above, Elliott Qoeueon Sohool Dletrlot No.
48 vs. County Board or Sohool Trustees, (T.C.A. 1934, writ dle-
a~eeeU) 5’6 S.W. tea) 786; Willow Role Independent Sohool Dle-
trlot vs. smith, (T.C.A. 1938, writ refused), 125 S.W. (2%) 708;
but aeeumlng that an eleaentarf lohool aletrZot may be *un-
grouped’ or *dieannexeda rrom the rural hlgb eohool al8trlot
without the rursl high wahoo1 %letrlot being dleeoloed aa a
whole ae provided in Artlole 29228, eupra, it doe8 not neoee-
eerily follow that the aotlon mentioned tn your first question
would be authcricea. In that question you wleh to know whether
the elementary dletrlot may be ooneolldated with en unrelated
Qletr;ot *for elementary school purpoeee.N No etatute expreeel~
authorlrlng this aotlon has some to our attention unless Art-
lole 2922f, quoted in your letter of request, may be so oon-
etrued.
ConeolldatIone are provl%e% for In Artlalee 2806 %-
riee,d Civil Statutes, 1926 and 2742b, ‘Uernon’e Teur Cld
Statutes, but these statutes oontaln no express mention of
,
Bonorable Traylor Fluesell, page 4
*elementary dletrlcte.* When a ooneolldatlon under either of
there statutes Is effected, a new and dtetlnot entity oomee
into exletenoe and the ioreier %letrIots’~loee their ldentlty.
Zhe new ooneolidated dletrlot la governed by Its board of
trustees with authorltr to eetablleh, maintain and oontrol all
eohoole, both high lohool and grade eohool, wlthln the
llmlte of the bounderlee of the dietriot. Authority la oon-
*._- ferred to vote, levy and oolleot trxee whioh a,reuniform over
the entire %l#trlOt. It la oontemplated that all resident
I eoholaetloe of the ooneolldated %ietrIot shall attend the
lohoole thereln unleee transferred to another aletriot under
the provleIone of the applioable transfer etatutee.
A rural high eohool dietriot la a grouping or annex-
ation for high lohool purposes only, and unlere oertaln oon%I-
tione exist, elementery eohoole must be maintained in eaoh of
the elementary %latrlote. Phle I8 not true of ooneolidated
dletrlote. For oertaln purpoee8, In the aotlve operatloa 0r
the grouped dletrlot, the orlglnal dletrlote brought vlthln
the group retain their Identity. The rural high lohool dle-
trlot la governed by a board of trustees eleoted from the
grouped aietriot as a whole, with authority to lerr an% ool-
lest taxer over euoh dletrlot as a whole, and the elementary
lohoole for eaoh of the underlying dIetrlote are governed by
the oentral board of trustees, As pointed out In Chaetaln vs.
Nauldln, 32 S.W. (2d), 235;
** l l
e grouping provided for doe8 not have
&
the efieot of abollehlng the several dletrlote In
the group. * l * It merely groups them for high
lohaol txmpoeee and plaoee the grouprd board ln
oharge of all the eohoole in the aietrlot, thus
abolishing the several dletrlot boards. l l l The
trustees of the grouped dletrlot were Invested with
the power and oharged with the duty of oonduotlng
eohoole and tilnleterlng all lohool property and
runde of all bhe dletrlote within the boun%arlee
of the ooneolIdate% dletrIote.* (The oourt In epeak-
Ing of eooneolI%ate% dietrIots* had reference to the
rural high wahoo1 grouping.)
The taxes and runde oolleoted over the rural high eohaol
%Ietriot are managed by the rural high eohool board for the main-
tenanae and eupbort, not only of the oentral hlgh lohool ror the
benerlt of all thoee within the unit but also the varlo;; ;;men-
tary eohoole wIthin eaoh of the elementary UIrtrlote.
readily be eeen that an attempt to leave an elementary dIetrIOt
grouped with others ln the rural high eohool district for high
wahoo2 purposes, and at the lLpLetime ooneolldate it with another
district outride the group ror elementary purposes, woulh neoee-
genorabl8 Troylor kreoll, page 6
raIly lead to numerous oonfllotr In authority between the
verlou8 governing boardo; an overlapplng of taxing authorltr
rlth no eeanr for dividing or 8egregatIng the dlrtrlot for
tax PUrPO8.8, oonfurlon In election8 and ths right to vote,
and many other queetlonr whlsh would neoe88arlly arise.
The lcglrleture ha8 not attempted to make my pro-
vlrlon for any of there oontlngenoler, nor ha8 It oloarly pro-
vlded that an elementary dirtriot may be detaohed from the
Ural high rohool dirtrlot from the ravonth grade down and
oonrolldated wlth an adJoIning dlrtrlot outride the group.
It I8 our oplnlon that the r8a8onab1e and prop8r
OOn8tNOtiOn Of Artlolo 2922f, Vernon’8 ToXa8 Civil 8tBtUt88,
rhould be that the OOUnty board of 8OhOO1tN8t.88 8ay, when
the oondltlon8 therein provided 8xl8t, aon8Olidat8 or oollblnr
an elementary dirtrlct with another e18mentary dl8trl6t with-
lath8 high 8ohool group for 0188l8nta~ rohool ~0lp08.8, but
ur not oon8olldate ruoh 8lsIaentary rohool dlrtrlot for *lo-
88ntary rohool purporer only with another dI8tPlOt oUtrid th8
Rural High Sohool DI8trIot. Your flr8t qur86lon 18 therefore
ln8UOmd ln th8 n8gatlve and it beOOme8 unneoe88uy to anlwer
tour reoond and third que8tlons.
YOUI’8 V8m 6NlJ
ATTORHEXOEWERAL
OF TIEA%
Dix: Jr
B’-4idti i88i8tMt
I,PPROVEDm I, 1941