Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Yaroh lb, 1939 Hr. C. A. hsltsrs cgrl~~b~ttorney , Tars8 Dear slrr March 7, 1939, wherein in San Saba County eeoh oontaln more than 6 end eeoh is more then nine miles In 1e flood iestroyed a number of brldfe the Sen Seba and Colorado River8 with the 6 pu~ilr were out dr from the above so other and dirrorsnt soho&l# y, the enrollmsat In Dlstriot the normal tsaoher-pupil load. ba number or ,lupilrin the dviae the number of teeohers em- th you we understood ne m&m tsroher than eotlon 4 of the iiuralAId Lau. your olear $uat what queetlon fou mat ana- at your oontsntion iu that thsro ir somr n the Rurcl Aid Lew uhloh exam ts these oher-pupil load limit as oontasned In oonoludr that your question 15 who- such limit. Seotion 2 of raid Rural Aid Lsw provldes that State aid may be distributed in suoh a ray as to emiet all sohool dlatriota oi not fa-xerthan tvientyscholastics and not more than five hundred soholsstlos, and provides that sohools ln sparsely settled oouatles mjrybe exempt from the minimum rsstrlotlons or twenty eoholastlos, Mr* G. A. Walters, Usroh lb, 1939, Page 2 as herelnatter provldod. SIn:e we understand eeoh of these districts ooatalna more than 20 soholaatloa, then, is no no Ed to oonoera our- relvra with what odvantaeea a dlatrlot of.Ieaa than 20 aoholastlos in a sparsely settled oounty has. Said Seotlon 2 llkeivlae provides that the msxlmum limitation as to aoholaatlo population shall not apply ror any type of aid to aohool district& oontaining forty-eleht aqusre miles or more, or whloh is nine mllea or more in length with c certain provlao thereto. iie are advised thst neither of these aohool dlstrlota has more than 500 aoholaatloa and, therefore, the provlalon last above mentioned would not apply. Seotlon 4 provides that old msy be alloted upon the basis of one teeoher for any number of aoholastloa from 20 to 35 and one additional teacher for esoh addltlonal 30 aoholaatIoa, or fraOtIOns1 part thereor, residing In the district. There is rurther provlaion that In making suoh oom- putetlon, trsnatera into the district shall be oounted and transrers out or the district shall be excluded ror the ourrent yecr. Thnt seotlon likewise provides thut where unusual or extraordlnsry conditions osuse an actual lnoreese in enrOllmint, an adjustment may be made as to the number of teaoherrr. Seotlon 18, to whloh you rerer, defines 8 sparsely settled ~dlatrlot as being one of less than 20 enumerated acholaatlos end lying wIthin a oounty hevlng lest then 1400 scholastlos enumerated in all oi the soholastloa or the county. In other words, to be a sparsely aetzled dlatrlot, there must not only be less than 1400 saholastloa enumeruted within all the oorinon sohool dlstrlots of the county but the partloular school district ln question must have less then 20 scholostloa. That Scctlon proviCes the exemptIOn from the mlnlmum teaoher-cup11 load shall in no instenoe be extended to any dlatrlot employing more than one te::cher exoept that the State Superintendent may grant aid for not more than one additional teaoher for any WauohWoommon school district. The vrord wsuohW refer8 to districts of 1er.s than 20 scholastics in counties huvlng less than 1400 soholastlos ln all their oonnoq sohool districts. The/iot noxhere con&&i any provlslon tor exceptional relief to any dlstrlct whose number oi aoholastloa la reduced below the norraal teacher-pupil load by oulemlty. UDder the rccts outllnod to us, your .:ueatlon must be answered in the noee- t1ve. Yours very truly XI’TORN~YGZNG. OF Ti?&S EY (Slcned) Glenn 3. iewla ~aalstant GPL:N APSPTIOVLD: (Send) Gerald CJ. :%nn, Attornev Caner.31 0r Texas