OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF l’&ZXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable X. 3. kuxm
county Attorney
UcCulloch Countg
Drady, Texas L
..r\,. '.
Dear Sir;
ate08 of.the K'oldrig
01 District aUthGZizcd
8X the buildi.!?? k.llGWIl
erage or the land Gpon
a locat0d at private nale
Ith or wlthout the con-
8 oounty trusteee?
for an opinion of thts.nspsrt-
Ion has been reo0loed.
the mldrip Conmon School
ountpt dosire to sell th0 teacher-
n the echooi kind haretofore dsedsd to
of the %%ldrip School.DfKtrict for school
ordur to obtain filnnsvflihMhlCh to a0
~ditionol bukl~iog on the school b,uild-
a uchool building is not new being:used I'cr
school g~~-poms fi~o to tix?fact;that the student3 w-6
011 ott.oadingschool in another district. xt in not now."
th8 1ntenttc.n of the trustsa $3 wmr 2i.9~3school ut
thu %ldrlp 8ahool hollae. Xt 13 the dooira of the truat-
honorable 1. J. Burns, Psse 2
em, however, to -sell the -teachersgo end ap;llythe
money $0 lwxovements on the school hcuse in order
to use the EChGOl house as a co.mq;nitycenter, and
else save insurance that they are now pspiq on the
teacherage.
~"Pleaaeadvise me whether or notthe trustees of
the 'CaldripCo.mmonbohool Diatrict are authorized to
sell either the baiLdin known as the taacherage or
the building known as thexthe teaoherage an6 the land
upon which it is located at private sale for cash,
with or ~witboutthe consent of the oounty trustees.
Ir they are authcrized to sell this buildiqi, either
with or .withoutthe consent of the Cbunty trustees,
then ecPfi,se mo whether or not the money derived there-
from can lawfully be applied to repair the existing:
sohool buildina,,which iB thereafter $0 be used for
.oommualty >urposea, such aa relipious eatharin&s,
pol$.tioalmeetings, social functions, eto., under tha
direction of the Board of Trustees of ibuohdfstrict.W
Two nttttutas in Terns provide for tho sole of sohool
property. They are Artioles 2753 and 2773, Vernon*s Annotated
Civil Gtatutes. The former statute read8 as followa:
"The trustees of any echool diat~ict, upon the
order of ths county trustees preccrlbl~ the terns
thereof, when deemod ad*Iseble, may make ~6x10of
any prrpertj belongins,to 6eia school district, and
a,7pl.g
the prooeeile to the puchsse of necessary @xunds
or to tha bulLdinji or repa$.rir& of'school hcuoes, or
place ths proceeds to the credit of the available sohool
runi?of the district.*
) ‘An
to iion.
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,: 502
f!onorabfe i. J. ?3wns, Pegcr 3
f&tie. K; Wilson; -County Attorney, Bey 'City, 33~88, &ate&
geptanber 10, 195%; (2) .Gur Dpfnion Ho. O-450.
Numroua d.ecM.ons both in Texas and In other juria-
ulotiona point out that sohool tliatrlctg am corporations with
very Ur.ited pawera.
W.?bool.districts am Dublie quasi-cxuiclyal
oorporati&, 635etluea termd involuntary corpora-
tiOAS They w&e contracts, levy texes, and
pom3e;l &&rtg. They are orgehized not for the
pu?ipue of prcii.tor gain, but solely for the public
benefit, and have only such limlteO powera aa nay
be necessary for that pur~%ee. They havo thersfore
been aaia to bo corpomtlons OS the nest limited
powers ]rnowRta the wOXld.P86%hi8ARSohool District
Y. Pasadena, lG6 Cal. 7, 134 Rec. 985, LSUL Gas, 1015-Y,
1039, 47 L. R. A, (ES) -.692. They are ,but the egsnta
of the state for the sole purpose of adtnlnisterlng
*the state ogqten of gublio eduostion end hsvs only
6UOh pOW8XB ,RSQl'%OGnferr%d tXQX83fdy Or by ABCCaS-
sary i~pllaation.~ 24 Rcl. 864, Sec. 7, (Op~nlon No.
.o-lwO~~*~
as quote Pron the case of IZarlfngenZmiapartdantsahool
Distrfct 'v. Pa@ Rroa., 48 6. w. (zd) 983 628r0lmt3;
~~ "T!qboerrd of trustees @f6@36586 powers ex-
presnly aoaferred upon,it by law or neoeaearily iri-
;il.ied firm the pwm3re so aonferred.*
Corpue Jur3.spoints out that progsxty Cevotec¶to a
public WM cm only be d2apoeed of by exsross authority, and
a pmernl gave of dinpasition h&inbaen held to be restricted
to property not nesdad for the use of public schools. 55 Cm.
Jur. 437, sec. 417. This authority stateo t!zmFthe sale mat
be mde ir.ccm~linnce with the term cifthe statute,authoriz-
iq it, but that substantial procedure:lccm~llnncs io sut'fi-
ciarlt.
7% iheh to atreas the ,faittthat ~111of those authori-
t10s !xlb t&t oohool.bow&a hnva oniy the ezpraea authority
~;iv6t3
th= IR th6 otatut9 aei ~n2.yp:h 3.wliad wma a8 km-4
neocssary to oxeoute suoh siwr?PasEgoawera.
viaquote from Texa0 Jurlsprudenoe, Vol. 37, page 960
a0 followsr
"A eohool dlstrict~can convey its property
only in the mnncr providad by law. 11, by lar, an
~--orderof th0 ocmieaioner8~ CGurt, tha oonsont of the
county suparintendent, of the state suporintondont
or the State Board ol.~LdusetiGn,Is nocassarg tG the
validity of a aale, such ordar or oonsantnust bo
obtained."
blso see the ceee cf Crouch v. komy, 69 S. I?.1001.
Zf the provisions of ,"trtSclo
2753, sups, are fol-
Lied, as8wdng; of courno, tbnt fee simple title is in the
boerd, sllch title racy bs oonvoywd to a person who is not a
mabar of the school board. Said Article Ijrovidss,in ef-
fect, that the .trustsesof any~school district in rsakinga
.aale af any property belon@g to said aohoo1 district mat
obtain an order of tbo c,ountytrunteob pzssorlbing the terns
of such sale end also p~ovidas t*t tha ~roceadn of mob sale
shall be applied to the purc>aao of necessary grounds or to
the building or repairing of achooL houaas, or such proceeds
nay be placed to the oredit of the available aohool fund of
the dietriot.
In vioviof the fcroF,cing.&uthoritisayou are respaat-
fully advised that it is the opiriionGf this Department that
the truoteas of tba Xaldrip ComGn School Dfstriot are author-
ized to sell either tho buildis@ knowi RS the teacheraCe or
the land u?nn ;s!iahit Is located, or both, In cosi~llanoewith
Article 2753, SUJDX. Eoowever,it is our further opinion that
tho p20tmae3 of CIUD~ad,0 0~ not be used to inprovo or x0-
pair R school house Y;?tsnthe school house is hot used for
school pux~oeee or %sre it is t;haintention of the trustees
that the school house aba1i naver be used again for school pur-
p0f30Et.The proceeds cf‘ such sala mst be ap:>15.edto the pur-
posts specifically provided for in Arttole 2753, oupra.
Trustin that the foregoir~ fully an&v&r'syour in-
quiry, we ar_e
Tour8 vary truly~