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TEE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
September 9, 1948
Eon. Joe. B. Dart Opinion No. V-678
County Attorney
Kendall county Re: Legality of loaning
Boerne. Texas surplus funds of a
cominon sahool dls-
trtot to an indepen-
dent school~dlatrlct.
Dear Sir:
We refer to goir opinion request ooncerning
the following question:
“Can a aommon school dietriot u&e a
loan.of its 1947-48 balanoe to an indepen-
school distriot. ’
Powers of school boards and Offloer0 over
funds belonging to school dlstrlots and the purposes for
whloh those funds my be ex ended are presorlbed by Stat-
37 Tex. JUr p 968; & ve V, city of DallSS, 120
i::: 351, 40 Sd2dj 20.
It is provided In Artlois 2827, Swat 1 and 2,
v. c. s., that;
“1. The State and’aounty avellablei
fund6 shall be used exoluslvely for the
payment of teachers’ and superlntendenta’
salaries, fees for taking the scholastic
oewuo sad Intereat oa money borrowed oa
short kne to pay 6slarlw of teaohers sad
superintendents, whoa these Sal&Pies beoome
due before the sohool funds for the ow-
rent year beoone avallablet provided that
ao loans for the pur 0110of payment of
tea&em shall be pa‘:d .out of fuada other
than those for the then ourrent gears.
“2. Loos1 sohool fund6 from dkstriot
taxes, tuition fee6 of pupils not entitled
Bon. Jos. 8. Dart, page 2 (V-678)
to free tuition and other local sour&~
may be used for the purposes enume’tibted
for State and county funds and for pm-
chasing appliances and supplies, for the
payment of Insurance preinlums, janitors
and other employees, for buy&g school
sites, buylng,bullding and repalrlng and
renting sohoolhouses, and for other pur-
poses neaessary In the conduct of the
publie sohools to be determlned by the
board of trustees, the amount8 and vou-
chers for county districts to be approv-
ed by the county superintendent; provided,
that when the State available school fuud
in any oitg or district is euffioient to
maintain the schools thereof in any year
for at least eight months, and leave a
surplus, suoh surplus may be expeqed
for the purposes mentioned herein.
Under this statute the expenditure of’such
school funds, whether they be.surplus funds or other-
wise, may be made only for the purpose8 therelu entuner-
ated and for other purposes necessaq in the conduct of
the public schools of the dlstrlat. Attorney Qeneral’s
Opinion V-534. Public funds, among which srs inaluded
school funds, collected and designated by statute to be
used’only for particular public purposes cannot lawfully
be diverted to the use of another public pose. Love
v. City of Da las, supra; San Benito I.S. rs” . v. Farmerst
Bank, 78 S.W. t 26) 741; MBdele v. Trustees of Comoe In-
dependent School, 130 S.w.(2d? 929.
We find no statutory authority, expres~sed or
Implied, In trustees of sohool districts, common or in-
dependent, to loan the public school funds of their dls-
trlct to any other school dlstriot, person, or entity.
Clearly, the loan of surplus funds of a common school
district to an independent district would not be using
such funds for a purpose necessary in the, conduot of the
,- public schools of the common district.
SUMMARY
A board of trustees of a school dls-
trict has no authority to loan Its pub110
school funds to another sehool dletriat.
Hon. Jo;. B. Dart; page 3 (V-678)
Article 2827, Sections 1 and 2,-V. 0. S. ~-~
Yours very~truly,
cm:mw
Chestei; E. Ollison
Assistant